“So what did you do?”Judge Volkheim asked.
We drove backto the docks, and parked at the far edge, near a stinking dumpster.I was absolutely paranoid.The weight of the heavy tarot card in my hand—my ‘reset the game’ switch—seemed to weigh me down.
“So I should definitely go and try to get Grynfelda to undo this and then slip away again,” I said.
“That’s probably smart.”
“How am I supposed to avoid myself, though?I’m a nosy bitch.”
“Just be careful,” he said.“You screw up and reveal it to yourself without us completing the bootstrap and we’re completely and utterly boned.”
“I get it,” I said.
Vic stayed in the cruiser.There were all of us unloading from the docks—and there was me, in the distance.My hips looked extremely large from this angle, though I decided to give myself some forgiveness.I had just spent what felt like a week trapped in an underwater prison.I stuck to the edge of the crowd and watched myself wander over and whisper something in Grynfelda’s ear.Then the two of them (us?) disappeared around another corner.
“Hey,” I heard Eddie say.“Disguised already?”
I froze.Then I said some curse words.
“Hey, listen,” I said.“Are you still under my control?”
“Pretty sure,” Eddie said.
“Then when I get on the motorcycle in a bit, when I fall off… I need you to keep going and don’t come back for me.You’ll see me a little further on.”
Eddie stared at me quizzically.
“What?”he asked.
I grabbed his shirt with both of my hands and shook him.
“I am going to crawl on the back of your bike.You will give me a gun.I will shoot it, and fall.KEEP ON GOING,” I said.“You’ll see me later on.”
“Stacey, you’re not making any sense,” he said.
“Follow my orders,” I demanded.“I’ll explain later!Now go away already!”
He swiveled, turning, and then marched away.And then I saw Grynfelda and the past me emerge from the back, Grynfelda with a spring in her step, and the past me looking a little sullen.I walked over to what looked like the past me, who I had thought was Grynfelda already disguised, and nodded at her when she was a reasonable distance onto the truck.
“Hey,” I said.“It’s me.Stacey.”
The past me turned and stared at me.
“I’m sorry?”she asked.
Ugh, what a tone.When did Grynfelda become so pissy?
“Look, we were talking about disguises earlier,” I said.
“Yeah.And you just backed out.What happened?You change your mind?”
The cogwheels in my head turned.I remembered Grynfelda changing her mind at first… and then she approached me, and she…
I coughed, caught my breath.Rearranged everything in my head.Heard Vic’s voice in my ear.‘Complete the bootstrap!’
“Hey,” I said.“Give me your hand.We’ll do it anyway.”
I didn’t exactly remember what she’d done—or I had done—but I grabbed her hand and completed what I had thought the transfer mechanism was.And then I could feel the enchantment leave me and slide over to her.
