Queen of Pentacles

The Market—MORNING

I take my place in crafts class in the market. Maggie and Sailor Lou brought me over here. They told me that this sort of enrichment would do wonders for my disposition in these post-Andrea days.

So here it goes.

The tall, unprepared redhead nearby proves to be Iris, also probably here on something of a dare. I discretely pass some supplies her way as a classmate and I are discussing musical chess. A dumb concept. Iris has always appreciated these ridiculous talks on goofy things and she joins the conversation. After class we walk together. We chat a little but when I suggest continuing the conversation elsewhere. She says she has to go shop and disappears.

“Shop?” I think, “She has changed, for sure.”

I find she has pressed an envelope into my hand as she left. Now, I open the envelope. It its taped shut tightly and when I pull it apart an orange powder sprays out. The teacher tells me the orange powder is a riddle.

“It’s just mascara isn’t it?” I ask, mistakenly not calling the make-up correctly. “I mean it’s blush, right?”

The Sailor is in the back of the room reminiscing with an old stock boy about some old-time actor that they grew up with and knew before he made it big. Well, it turns out that only Sailor Lou knew him.

When Lou goes to fetch the car, Maggie tells me to ask about Lou the story when he comes back to the shop. She then goes on to tell me how great Lou himself is with crafts. Woodworking, really. Apparently, he measures the wood just estimating with his hands.

“He drives the same way,” she adds, “That’s why he’s always lost.”