Chapter 19 #2
When all they did was stare at William, he shrugged. “I don’t think so. There were no microphones, either, from what I could tell. I wasn’t exactly looking for one, you know?”
“When was this?”
“Um…” William struggled to remember. “It was so long ago. When I first ran away. Maybe six months ago?”
“Oh, it’s precious that you think six months is a long time,” Caspar said.
He pulled out his phone and opened a blank note in the memo section to write down the information they had so far.
Malek opened his phone and seemed to enter this information into a search engine.
It pleased Caspar, for a brief moment, how easily the two of them began to work together.
“What are the odds you remember the name of the pawn shop?”
“Bluebeard’s,” William said, nodding right away. “I remember thinking never to look in the back room, even if I was given a key.”
“Clever. Glad they still teach fairy tales in school.”
“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure the shop is closed now,” William said.
“Closed?”
“The owner was having a half-price sale. It was the only reason I could afford the guitar as is. I’m pretty sure Bluebeard’s was being bought out so Ariadne’s Storage could take its place.”
Caspar and Malek both exchanged looks. Ariadne’s was owned by a man named George Cosner, who had come up in several of the estate sales when they looked up Caspar’s information earlier.
The Cosner family was also former partners with the person who had bought Caspar’s family’s grocery store after it had closed.
“What does this mean?” Caspar asked. “We’re from different families, but now there’s overlap…?”
“We may have a scavenger. Someone who wants to collect as many djinns as possible so they never run out of wishes, since you can’t wish for three more. While looking for your parents’ information, they may have stumbled on mine.”
“Shit.”
“It’s still a maybe, though. Because this one over here ended up with the guitar,” Malek said. “And he’s not a scavenger. At least, I don’t think he is.”
“No, no. Not at all.” Each shake of William’s head made his long hair sway on his shoulders like a model’s. “I have no idea what a scavenger is, but I swear I haven’t done a thing wrong.”
“Other than breaking and entering, pitpocketing, and possibly underage drinking, no, you haven’t done anything wrong, right?”
“That was, uh… for survival.”
“I know. We all do shitty things to survive. But I think you may be more useful than malicious. Sit with us for a moment?” Malek gestured to the couch.
After assessing Caspar and Malek with wide eyes, William eventually took a seat.
Malek gave William a wide berth on the couch as he sat down, while Caspar took the recliner.
Though his body still ached for something more between himself and Malek, he knew this was far, far more important.
“So, let’s start this questioning again,” Malek said. “Why did you come here, really?”
“You’re a djinn. Like the genie on the card. And I figured if I accidentally had one of your items, that meant you had to give me wishes, right?”
“Not right now. He’s working for me,” Caspar said.
“Okay, that’s cool. I had that in the back of my mind when I was coming here. I don’t mind waiting, though. Whenever…”
“Caspar,” Malek said.
“Cool. Whenever Caspar is done with his three wishes, I can have mine, right?”
“Depends on what you really want.”
“My brother. Cecil. That’s it. He’s all I’ve ever wanted and all I’ve been trying to do since I ran away is find him. I honestly couldn’t care less about keeping your guitar if it means I get him back. It’s not a sob story, I swear. It’s all real.”
“So what happened?” Malek asked, his voice soft. “Why can’t you find him yourself?”
“He’s a water elemental. He manifested at twelve and my parents couldn’t handle it.
He’s older than me by about three years, so I didn’t understand most of what was going on.
All I knew was that one day our basement was flooded and then the next week, Cecil was gone.
I put the rest of the story together when I was older.
Cecil sent me postcards, but they stopped when I turned fifteen.
I started to research where he went and what he did, but when a year passed and he hadn’t turned up, I knew I had to leave and follow the leads.
So I did. From Saskatchewan, all through Manitoba, and into the seedy parts of Southern Ontario, until I finally found Twigs and that brothel.
It’s a dead end, though. So many people there have assured me they’ve heard of him and he’s alive, but nothing beyond that.
He’s disappeared into thin air—or water, whatever. ”
“That’s quite a lot of detective work,” Malek said. “What’s his full name?”
“Cecil Andreas Tran. I know it’s a long shot, but I won’t rest until I find him.”
“Has anyone come looking for you?” Malek asked. “Should we be aware of that?”
“I don’t think so. My parents don’t really care.”
“Maybe,” Caspar said. “But are you a water elemental, too? Did they chase you out because of it?”
“No, I’m not. But I could be, right? Since it’s a genetic trait, a recessive gene combination, I could be one, since we share the same parents.
Maybe that’s why they haven’t come looking for me.
They figure it’s for the best to pretend they never had kids, so then they don’t have to feel like they’re raising monsters. ”
Caspar bit his lip, struck by the genuine pain on William’s face.
He was a pickpocket, a runaway hellion, and part of Caspar wanted to be leery of his story, but he couldn’t be.
William was sincere. All his walls broke down as he admitted what he feared to be the worst: His own flesh and blood thought he was a monster, a mistake, and better off dead.
Caspar had spent years thinking the same thing, and even his sudden miraculous djinn heritage couldn’t wash away the seven years thinking he deserved the treatment he received in prison.
“Well, you’re probably not an elemental,” Malek stated matter-of-factly. “You’ve already gone through a ridiculous amount of stress at a young age, and since stress is a trigger for manifestation before the age of eighteen, the fact that you haven’t shown signs yet probably means you’re human.”
“Hmm. Maybe you’re right.” William shrugged, seemingly disappointed.
“I suppose it would make a cooler story to say I’m a water shaper and that’s why I sleep outside, you know?
I don’t want to be lumped in with the rest of the street kids who are there because they’re gay or trans and got kicked out.
It’s just nicer to have a mission beyond myself, you know?
I’m not homeless because I’m gay or trans—I’m homeless because I need to find my brother. ”
Caspar’s heart panged for the kid. “You’re gay? Or trans?”
After a while, William nodded to both. “I’m a guy and I like guys. But I don’t really want to talk about that. So what do you think? About my case? Will you look for my brother after all this is done with Caspar?”
Malek let out a low breath. “I don’t know. It’s hard for me to envision a future when I’m bound to someone. Right now, all I see is Caspar.”
“Okay. I guess that makes sense,” William said. “And how many wishes have you used, Caspar?”
“One, actually,” Caspar said, still shocked at the number. “I have no idea what else to wish for right now, though. Since I have one thousand and one days to do it, I intend on taking my sweet time.”
“That’s almost three years,” William sighed. “Cecil could be anywhere by then.”
“Which is why you should go to a shelter—”
“No. I can’t leave. I’m already so close to finding him, I won’t go back. And you can’t make me. Shelters don’t like people like me. I’m either lumped with the girls or a target for the boys. It’s… none of it makes sense for me. Only Cecil does, so I’m going to find him.”
“Fine, fine. Just give me a second to figure this out.” Malek sighed as he scanned his phone again. “What if I got you some help using outside resources?”
“Like another djinn?”
“No, like Imogen Nicholas. You ever heard of her?”
“Twigs kept trying to get me to see her. But I’m not abandoned or displaced. I chose to leave.”
“You’re still young, and besides, your brother was abandoned. So maybe she’s come across him before. Have you ever filed a missing person’s report?”
“No, actually. I was too young and my parents never did.”
“Then that’s probably where we’ll start. We’ll file an unofficial one with her and see if she can find someone matching Cecil’s description in the system. I’m talking to her now, so we should get an answer soon. It’ll be slow,” Malek warned. “But I assure you, she knows her stuff.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
“No problem. I literally aim to please. It’s the djinn in me. Do not in any way take this as a personal friendship, okay?” Malek narrowed his eyes. “But I would like to thank you for giving me back my guitar. I’m keeping it now.”
William’s face twisted with a mix of relief and disappointment. “That’s fair, I suppose. I’m better at the drums, anyway.”
While Malek continued to work with Imogen on his phone, Caspar started to unpack the IKEA table set.
His muscles were already smarting by the time he’d put up the first leg; each stretch felt like an elastic band pulled too tight.
He swore under his breath as he squatted and started to sort the screws.
William tried to make himself useful by cleaning up the mess of cards that had been discarded during the (near) fight scene, then hovered around Caspar.
“You okay?”