neatly and put it in his briefcase.
I felt my need to sneeze ease up. But my need to pee did not.
I pretended not to notice what Malcolm was doing and rubbed my wrists. They really needed some healing because that twine had rubbed them raw. Malcolm opened his brief case to get a business card with his number. I saw his magician’s cape all crammed inside. “Here's my card.” I took his offered card. I half expected it to disappear before I got my hands on it. Then I remembered Devon’s backpack with my purse inside of it and the fact that I really had to pee.
“Do you see my purse?” I asked. He looked around the room and this distracted him long enough for me to get to the backpack and dig out my bag.
Inside I found one of my little cans of magic hairspray. “Here’s my card,” I said. When he turned around to me, I gave him a little zap of the hairspray. I meant to douse his hair; instead I accidentally sprayed him in the eyes!
He was too tall!
Boy, did he scream! And he couldn’t open his eyes. I actually felt kinda sorry for the guy, but hey, this was the man who, only moments ago, was going to take advantage of me and only let me go because I’d promised him he could take advantage of me later.
I had to do some duck and cover because Malcolm was going berserk. He was trying to grab me but couldn’t tell where I was. I saw him listening carefully to hear where I might be, but then his eyes would sting and he’d yell and hit something.
“You stupid effing bitch. I'm gonna kill you.”
“I'm sorry, sorry. I wanted to fix your hair. You look beautiful. Look in a mirror and see what a dude you are.” I should have kept my mouth shut. I was hoping the spell in the spray still worked even though I’d accidentally shot him in the eyes.
It didn’t.
Malcolm felt around for his briefcase and found it. He flipped it open and pulled out the crumpled up cape. It was huge, like the sheet for a king size bed, even bigger. He snapped it open and spun it around expertly, like a toreador's cape.
The spinning, snapping cape made a wonderful sound, like the vibrating wings of a dragonfly dive bombing my ear. It also had its own light show, as if Malcolm was shaking out hundreds of lightning bugs that were trapped in its folds. The cape was mesmerizing as tried to trap me within it. I think he wanted to toss it over me.
All his whirling and swirling with the cape did something to the room because I began to feel ill. I doubled over in agony. I wanted to vomit, but I hadn’t eaten a thing in ages, and all I managed to make was a dry gack in the back of my throat.
The heaves took over.
“What've you done?” But he never answered my question. I felt hot and sweat beaded on my forehead. I hated the way I felt. I doubled over until my nose practically touched the ground. My knees gave out and I collapsed to the floor. My fingers and toes balled up and I knew I was in trouble.
Malcolm had done something nasty to me.
It took awhile to figure out what exactly he’d done, but I knew I was changing, transformed into something hideous. When I realized that I was becoming one of the things I most hated, it was too late for me to scream.
Malcolm had changed me into a spider, but not any spider, a big one, a tarantula and I thought he intended for me to be his pet.
Wrong again.
He made me big to make it easier for him to find me. Malcolm stomped the floor viciously.
“I'm gonna kick your guts out, you crazy witch.”
The only thing to do was leap on to his pant leg and cling like crazy. It was the only safe place for me. All eight of my eyes opened wide as I swung wildly around on the hem of his pants.
*
Much, much later, over coffee and chai tea Emilia told me that while I became a spider, she had her own predicament. According to her, Officer Day started to drive a handcuffed Emilia back to the police station. Emilia sat quietly in the back seat of the police car.
Well, almost quietly.
“Where we
I felt my need to sneeze ease up. But my need to pee did not.
I pretended not to notice what Malcolm was doing and rubbed my wrists. They really needed some healing because that twine had rubbed them raw. Malcolm opened his brief case to get a business card with his number. I saw his magician’s cape all crammed inside. “Here's my card.” I took his offered card. I half expected it to disappear before I got my hands on it. Then I remembered Devon’s backpack with my purse inside of it and the fact that I really had to pee.
“Do you see my purse?” I asked. He looked around the room and this distracted him long enough for me to get to the backpack and dig out my bag.
Inside I found one of my little cans of magic hairspray. “Here’s my card,” I said. When he turned around to me, I gave him a little zap of the hairspray. I meant to douse his hair; instead I accidentally sprayed him in the eyes!
He was too tall!
Boy, did he scream! And he couldn’t open his eyes. I actually felt kinda sorry for the guy, but hey, this was the man who, only moments ago, was going to take advantage of me and only let me go because I’d promised him he could take advantage of me later.
I had to do some duck and cover because Malcolm was going berserk. He was trying to grab me but couldn’t tell where I was. I saw him listening carefully to hear where I might be, but then his eyes would sting and he’d yell and hit something.
“You stupid effing bitch. I'm gonna kill you.”
“I'm sorry, sorry. I wanted to fix your hair. You look beautiful. Look in a mirror and see what a dude you are.” I should have kept my mouth shut. I was hoping the spell in the spray still worked even though I’d accidentally shot him in the eyes.
It didn’t.
Malcolm felt around for his briefcase and found it. He flipped it open and pulled out the crumpled up cape. It was huge, like the sheet for a king size bed, even bigger. He snapped it open and spun it around expertly, like a toreador's cape.
The spinning, snapping cape made a wonderful sound, like the vibrating wings of a dragonfly dive bombing my ear. It also had its own light show, as if Malcolm was shaking out hundreds of lightning bugs that were trapped in its folds. The cape was mesmerizing as tried to trap me within it. I think he wanted to toss it over me.
All his whirling and swirling with the cape did something to the room because I began to feel ill. I doubled over in agony. I wanted to vomit, but I hadn’t eaten a thing in ages, and all I managed to make was a dry gack in the back of my throat.
The heaves took over.
“What've you done?” But he never answered my question. I felt hot and sweat beaded on my forehead. I hated the way I felt. I doubled over until my nose practically touched the ground. My knees gave out and I collapsed to the floor. My fingers and toes balled up and I knew I was in trouble.
Malcolm had done something nasty to me.
It took awhile to figure out what exactly he’d done, but I knew I was changing, transformed into something hideous. When I realized that I was becoming one of the things I most hated, it was too late for me to scream.
Malcolm had changed me into a spider, but not any spider, a big one, a tarantula and I thought he intended for me to be his pet.
Wrong again.
He made me big to make it easier for him to find me. Malcolm stomped the floor viciously.
“I'm gonna kick your guts out, you crazy witch.”
The only thing to do was leap on to his pant leg and cling like crazy. It was the only safe place for me. All eight of my eyes opened wide as I swung wildly around on the hem of his pants.
*
Much, much later, over coffee and chai tea Emilia told me that while I became a spider, she had her own predicament. According to her, Officer Day started to drive a handcuffed Emilia back to the police station. Emilia sat quietly in the back seat of the police car.
Well, almost quietly.
“Where we
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