“Those were quite the moves,” says Petra as Big Sal returns to the kitchen. “I had to count the order in the freezer. Looks like you handled things just fine on your own. Good job.”
His hand hovers near his throat, feeling for the zipper, but Petra’s smile warms him. Suddenly, there is space inside.
“My friend!” says Raleigh, jubilant as he walks up. “I have your signing bonus! My goodness that was an amazing routine! This weekend will be swimmingly busy. I couldn’t have asked for a better debut. We’ve needed this.”
Big Sal shrugs, not sure what to say.
“The music just kind of…lifted me. Made me…fly.”
“That’s exactly what I want to hear,” says Raleigh, still inflated like a balloon. “I changed the stinger to Snap and Sweep. That’s your signature emote. The floss is finished.”
“What’s the Snap and Sweep?”
“I’ll go over it with you,” says Petra. “It’s much more your style.”
Raleigh holds a white envelope. His hands smell like onion rings, and when he hands it over, Big Sal snaps his teeth, savoring the onion flavor that has soaked into the paper.
“Mmm…. a little thin. Needs salt.”
Raleigh switches faster than Big Sal can keep up.
“What are you talking about?” he says, defensive.
Aromas Big Sal is familiar with but not on Raleigh suddenly puff out from him.
“I pay my main cast staff well!” says Raleigh. “And why did you just eat your paycheck?”
Uh oh. That wasn’t onion rings. Paycheck?
Petra’s eyes go wide and she holds up a hand to Raleigh
“Hold on,” she says. “He didn’t even see the amount. He ate it right out of your hand.”
Amount? So confusing. It smelled like food!
“Now I have to void that check! What was that?”
“Remember, he comes from the backwoods,” says Petra. “We’re all still getting him up to speed.”
Aromatic frustration pops into the air around Raleigh. For a brief moment, it smells like Henry.
“Uh. I’m sorry Raleigh. I didn’t mean to. I’m hungry and it smelled like onion rings.”
The glitter fades, and Raleigh looks perplexed.
“We’re going to need to pay him a little differently, aren’t we? And if you’re hungry, well, we’ve got that covered.”
“I think a pre-paid card would be a good start,” says Petra. “He’s still learning math. Give him like, thirty percent of the signing bonus on one of those. We’ll figure the rest out when he finds a place to stay.”
“I guess that works,” says Raleigh, his attention drilling into Big Sal. “You don’t have a bank account, do you? Or photo ID?”
“Bank account? What’s that?”
Petra crosses her arms, amused. “You really lucked out hitting Ankerton, you old croc. We’re the only city in the country that lets recognized performers get ID with their costume on.”
“And everyone is going to know you thanks to our viral videos,” says Raleigh with a decisive nod. “He needs to get down to Raven’s Mirage.”
Raven?
“Can you follow a map?” asks Petra.
Big Sal shrugs. “Maybe.”
I hope so. Maybe I can smell my way to Raven?
He tries to remember what Raven smelled like.
“Alright. You’re going to need that ID to find a place. My reputation can only take you so far.”
“Can’t I say here? It’s got a nice bath. And the room is cozy.”
Petra and Raleigh glance at each other.
“Technically, no,” says Raleigh. “But I have made occasional exceptions when performers are between places. But no more than three days. Any more than that and the Hospitality Committee comes prancing around. They seem to just know these things.”
“I’ll finish off your shift with you and then point you in the right direction,” says Petra. “And ask the chef for a Hook’s cast special, it’ll fill you right up.”
The cast special is two double burgers, four crocodile legs, a box of onion rings and a chocolate milkshake. It’s the first time Big Sal has felt even a little satiated in a while.
He doesn’t know what to make of the crocodile legs. They smell—and taste—delicious.
That can’t be what I taste like.
He wonders if he’s still a crocodile.
As the day goes on, the restaurant gets busier. The music still lifts him, seeping into parts of him he didn’t know he had.
On his last break, Petra shows him the Snap and Sweep. He snaps his mouth, turns his body and makes his tail slither along the floor.
“I figured you’d like it. Henry hated it because he didn’t have the jaw control in his costume. You do.”
A line begins to form outside of Hooks, and it begins to get late. The noise and scents of the restaurant press in on him. He keeps moving, tries little variations on the Snap and Sweep. People giggle.
Near closing time, as he’s taking a round of crocodile legs to a table, he smells a very familiar scent.
Lemony persimmon, a little thicker than usual. The pilot sits across.
“…too much to take. I’m sorry to hear it.” The pilot’s scent is the damp of water-return.
He sets the crocodile legs down in front of the two men. Lemony-persimmon is clouded with water-return and…beaver dams broken open by too many floods.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again,” says the trucker. “His mom’s phone was disconnected when I got back from your place, and…yeah…they’re gone.”
They barely register him. Water-return washes over the table from the pilot.
Big Sal studies them for a moment.
Both stare into their cups of coffee.
He almost wishes his proximity band would go off so he could make them laugh.
It doesn’t.
He keeps moving.
The next time he visits, a family of five has replaced them.
Street lights flicker on as Hooks closes. A pink and orange sunset ripples across the sky.
“So where is Raven’s Mirror?” he asks Petra.
“Not Mirror. Mirage. It isn’t far. Bit of a zig zag.”
She pushes a small plastic card towards him. Taking a menu, she draws on the back with a pen and colors using highlighters.
“That’s your prepaid card for tomorrow. See this here? This is Hooks. This line is the street outside our front door. You like birds, right?”
“They’re very…”
Tasty. Or used to be.
“Yeah.”
“I’ve been trying to think about birds you can look for on the way to Raven’s Mirage. So follow this street we’re on, Sparrow’s Strait, until you see a pet store called Mabel’s Moors. You can see birds through the windows. They’re very loud. Take a left.”
Big Sal holds up his left hand with his finger and thumb in the ‘L’ shape.
“That’s ri…correct.” Petra smiles. “Now go down that street until you see a loon on the top of the building with the columns. Again, you’ll hear it before you see it. Creepy sound if you’re not in the right mood. That’s the bank. Take a right. Follow that street until you see a pink flamingo on the side of a bus shack. You should be able to see Raven’s Mirage down the street to your left from there. Call me if you have any questions.”
She hands him the map, and it looks just the way she explained it. Each landmark she described is drawn in detail, down to the pink in the flamingo on a little building next to a bus.
“Uh, call?”
Petra’s eyes widen and her lips tighten. Her hand asks for the map back, and after turning it over, she writes a few things down.
“Go to Raven’s Mirage first. That ID is super important. As for cell phone, you’re going to want one.”
She chews on the back of the pen for a moment, then draws another zig zag with a curve between the zig and the zag.
“Phone Nerds are only a few blocks from the flamingo. There is a bullfrog in the store window next to them. But you will have to go around City Hall to get there. You’ll know City Hall when you see it. After that, go to the bank. Ask for Marley McDuck. Raleigh works with him a lot.”
Handing the map back, cilantro seems to radiate out from it.
“Thanks Petra. I’ll get going,” he says and turns to leave.
“You’re going now?”
“Why not?”
“Uh. I know you’re good. Raleigh knows you’re good. But I don’t think Ankerton is ready for you after dark. Go tomorrow morning before your shift starts. Go get a good night’s rest. Tomorrow’s another day.”
After saying good night, Big Sal makes his way up to ‘The Croc’s’. It still smells of moisturizer, and his heart sinks. The suit in the closet also spews scents, and he recognizes Henry.
Why do I have to smell Henry all the time? I should ask what I can do about that.
He turns the tub to cold and sinks in, one hand feeling for the zipper at his throat.
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Chapter 21 podcast drops May 2
Chapter 22 text drops May 9
