“Next thing he’ll tell me is that he made his desk something that hasn’t even been invented yet.” Jenny mumbled as she took her own seat.
Hearing no comment from Markus, she slowly turned her head to the man, who was shrinking in on himself yet again.
Jenny pursed her lips. “You did, didn’t you?”
Markus’ eyes darted from the floor to hers, and back again. “Did you ever watch Iron Man?” He asked sheepishly.
“Mother fucker.”
“I can’t help that my imagination is crazy wild. It just seemed the most efficient way…”
Jenny shook her head as she opened the left hand drawer and pulled out an ornate pen, setting it onto a slight depression on her desktop. She sighed heavily as she rubbed her temples. “Markus. I’m not mad. I’m a little irritated that a fresh fish like you is doing things that some of us older hats can’t. That’s all. I’m sure you’re a good guy, and I’m sure that Asase Ya wouldn’t choose someone that would be a poor fit. I apologize for my outburst.”
Markus gave her a half-smile. “Don’t worry about it, Jenny. I took no offense. You just have a rather powerful air about you, is all. I wasn’t expecting it.”
Jenny barked a laugh. “I do? Maybe that’s why the souls do as I say. When I first started, I had to get real forceful with more than a few of them. You can imagine why.”
Markus thought for a moment, letting his eyes travel around the office, taking in the details he had skimmed over before. The paintings seemed to have a tribal and ancestral motif. There were several small figurines on the shelves, too far away for Markus to make out clearly. What he could see were two different flower pots on either side of the door. One held several small sunflower-looking plants and the other flower pot held several delicate trumpet-like flowers in varying shades of violet and white.
“You’re from Africa, aren’t you?” he said quietly.
“Good guess, Markus! I am. What gave it away?”
“You called Death ‘Asase Ya’, for starters. Now, I don’t know who that is, but I am fairly certain I know who it ain’t. Not European in the slightest, didn’t sound Aztec or Mayan, and your accent paints you as someone from somewhere that isn’t Polynesia or Australia. Africa is the only place left, I think.”
“Good. What else?” The lights shifted color, signaling the imminence of the shift.
Markus’ eyes flicked to the ceiling, then back to Jenny. “The small statues to your gods and goddesses don’t resemble anything I’ve ever seen before. And then there are the only two flowering plants in the room. I’d guess that one is a sunflower of sorts, and the other resembles a moonflower. I think they’re beautiful and I’d only be guessing at their symbolism.”
“You’ve seen a few things, haven’t you, Markus? Yeah, that one is what you’d call a Jerusalem Artichoke. In fact, that exact plant kept me alive for more than twenty years. The other? Let’s just say that it did the opposite for quite some time. You’d call it Devil’s Trumpet.”
The lights had shifted to yellow as they talked, and then back to white as the door clicked open. In walked a man of middle years wearing blue jeans and a tank top.
“What the fuck is goin’ on in here?” He jumped and spun to face the door as it closed behind him, then casually walked around the office, examining the plants and statuary.
Jenny took the time to skim the man’s file as he looked around her office, and Markus watched her smile fade, only to be replaced with a malicious grin. She picked up the pen, then pulled a sheet of paper from…somewhere, and began to draw as the man slowly approached her desk in his meanderings.
“So, who’re you s’posed to be? Some kinda maid or something?”
“No, ‘Brick’. I’m no maid.”
“How’d you know my name?”
Jenny looked up from her drawing and pointed at her monitor. “All in your file, honey. Everything you’ve ever done, said or thought is there for me to see.” She calmly returned to her sketching. Markus stood up and moved closer to see what she was drawing. It seemed she had a talent for art, as it was the beginnings of a person.
“My file? You can’t judge me! You’re not better than I am!” He placed his hands on the desk and leaned forward menacingly.
Jenny shrugged. “You’re right that I can’t judge you, Brick. But the thing that sets us apart, you see, is the fact that I never hid my face when I did what I did.” The smile that spread across her countenance caused Markus to edge away from her.
Brick slammed his fist onto the desk. “I hid my face in honor of the family that died fighting against the North! Can’t expect a savage to understand family ties.”
“Oh, that’s where you’re wrong, Bricky-boy. I am deeply connected to my ancestors and my surviving family. It’s one of the things your kind never could beat out of me. No, Brick. I understand family ties all too well. Better than you do, it would seem. Says here in your file that your family moved to the South well after the war. Northern supporters, actually.” She added a few touches to the piece of art and showed it to Markus.
He looked at the picture, and then at the seething man in front of them. The likeness was uncanny, but instead of an angry man in a wife-beater, Jenny had drawn him in a rather…compromising position with another man. He cleared his throat and nodded. “An exact likeness, I think. What will you do with it?”
Jenny smiled at Markus and thanked him. “I think Brick here would appreciate it, don’t you?”
“Oh yes! It isn’t every day you get your picture drawn that well. I’d be flattered, were I him.”
“I think you’re right, Markus. Here you go, Brick. In remembrance of that night in Montana with one of your…fellows.” She said sweetly as she handed him the picture.
Brick’s eyes bulged as a vein throbbed in his temple once he took in the drawing. “Who th’fuck d’you think you are? Drawing this filth and handing it to me? As if I’m one of those Nancy-boy fairies from California? I oughta string your black ass up!” He crumpled the paper and jumped at Jenny -
- only to smash into an invisible wall and crumple to the ground. Jenny giggled softly. “Oh, Brick. If I had a penny for each one of you inbred, misogynistic, racist white trash that tried that shit, I’d be a millionaire. Again. Now, get the fuck up!”
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Brick woozily rose to his feet, clutching at his head.
“You will leave my office, turn left and take the third right. Go down that hallway for six miles and you will reach a red door. Go in that door and take a seat. Someone will be by at some point to pick you up. Now, leave.” Jenny had stood up to her full height, towering over the man, and pointed imperiously to her door, her face stormy.
Slowly, Brick staggered to the door, which opened of its own accord. Brick stumbled out and the door closed. The lights dimmed to yellow once more.
“Are you okay, Jenny?”
“Hmm? Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Been dealing with his kind for the past two or three hundred years. Thank you for thinking enough of me to ask. That’s really sweet of you.”
“So where’s he headed?”
A devilish grin split Jenny's face, revealing her pristine white teeth. "Eighth ring, Markus. He's in for a world of hurt."
The lights shifted to white and the door clicked open, allowing a rather rotund housecat to saunter in.
“Aw! Hello, kitty!”
“Who does this fool think he’s addressing? I’m no mere cat. I am Princess Jellybean! You there! Please inform that scoundrel that I am to be afforded all honors at all times.” Princess Jellybean hopped up on top of the desk.
Jenny hid her laughter behind her hand as she scanned the cat’s file. “Markus, you heard the Lady. Be more polite to Her Majesty.”
The cat sniffed. “At least someone here understands. You may now pet me, manservant.”
“As our Lady commands.” Markus got up and began to gently stroke the cat’s head, causing her to purr and drool on the desk.
After a few minutes of this, Jenny cleared her throat, and Markus ceased his attentions. “Princess Jellybean?”
The cat looked up drowsily. “Huh? Yeah? What?”
Jenny smirked at the cat. “My Lady, you have three options from this point. You may reincarnate to the Mortal Realm again or you may go to a Paradise hall, if you wish. Or, if you’re done with your cycles of life, you may walk to Oblivion.”
“I’m stealing your manservant. He will join me in my Kingdom as the Head Scritcher.”
“I’m sorry, but that’s quite impossible. Our management would have you for breakfast if you attempted to steal him from us.”
“Darn. Where is my Kingdom, then?”
“Take a right out of my office and then the next three right turns. Ring the bell, and your transport will pick you up.”
“Fabulous. I shall be off, then.” The door opened once more and the pompous puss exited.
“Four right turns? That’ll bring her right back here to this hallway.”
“In a more ordinary place, yes. But, as I’m sure you’ve seen, this place relies heavily on a ruleset like Escher’s.”
The lights dimmed once again, and the process began anew. They saw several more animals, and three more humans, though none as rude as Brick.
About thirty minutes before the end of the shift, the door opened to reveal a large Rottweiler.
“Welcome, Sam!” Jenny smiled widely at the dog.
Sam strode purposefully toward the desk and sat in front of it. “I’m here. Wherever here is.”
Markus placed a hand on Jenny’s forearm. “May I?”
“By all means, Markus. I’d like to see what you do here.”
“Thank you.” Directing his attention to the dog, he said, “Sam? What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Flowers. Lots and lots of flowers. It was a big ol’ field my Human took me to. He threw my ball over and over until I got tired, and the last time I went after it, I heard a loud pop, and then…. I was here. Am I dead?”
Markus looked over Jenny’s shoulder at Sam’s file. It was distressingly short and brutal. “Yeah, Sam. You are. I’m sorry. Was your Human good to you?”
“Not really. Papa Brick didn’t say many nice things to many others. Me least of all. I wouldn’t fight, you see. Not unless I was attacked. That happened an awful lot.”
Markus gripped the desk hard enough for his knuckles to crack. “I see. Well, Sam, you have three choices ahead of you. You can go back to the Mortal Realm as a new animal of your choosing -”
“No!”
“Don’t worry. You don’t have to go back, Sam. You could go to a Paradise hall for as long as you want, instead?”
“What’s there?”
Jenny chimed in, her voice thick. “All the things you were denied in life, Sam.”
Sam nodded. “What’s the third option?”
Markus sighed. “Oblivion.”
“What’s that?”
“You… you will cease to exist, Sam. All your lives, all your experiences, gone. You won’t know anything else if you make that choice. None of us truly know what happens after you make that choice,” Markus stated.
Jenny nodded. “I can have anything you want ready in your Paradise hall. All you have to do-”
“Oblivion, then.”
Jenny froze. “Are… are you sure, Sam? Once you do this, there’s no going back.”
“If you had lived like I did, you’d just want it all to end too, Miss.”
“But I-”
“Jenny. He’s made his choice.” Markus said softly as he laid a shaking hand on Jenny’s forearm.
Jenny nodded. “Once the door opens, take the stairs down. When you get to the next floor, take a right and just… just keep going. The large black hole is there. Just jump in.”
“Thank you, Miss.” Sam turned and slowly padded to the door.
“Sam? Hang on a minute, okay?” Markus walked toward the dog.
Sam looked back and cocked his head to the side. “I’ve made my choice, Sir. Let me go, please.”
“No, yeah. That… that’s fine. Just… can I give you something, first?”
Sam sat and looked at Markus intently. “Go ahead.”
Markus knelt and gently stroked the dog’s head, causing a soft whine to escape Sam’s muzzle. “You were always a Good Boy, Sam. Brick wasn’t worthy of you. In fact, he came through here almost two hours ago, and is now being punished for all he did in life. You don’t have to end it, but I understand and respect your choice. If you still want to go, at least this way you know some love before it’s all over.” He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around the dog’s neck and squeezed him gently. When he broke the embrace, Sam cocked his head in the other direction.
“Thank you, Sir. I’ve never felt that before. I still want it to end, though. These memories… they haunt me. Farewell, Good Human.” The dog rose and walked out the open door and down the steps in front of him.
Markus stayed in his spot, unable to move as the lights shifted back to white, and he heard the door lock. Jenny came over and knelt beside him.
“Time to go, Good Human. Shift’s up,” she said softly.
“But… But I thought he’d at least consider Paradise.” He looked over at Jenny, his eyes brimming with unshed tears. “How can someone do that? To a dog?”
Jenny hugged Markus gently. “I dunno, man. I wish I had an answer.”
Markus sniffled and sighed. “At least he’ll be at peace. Which is more than Brick’ll ever know. Can we visit him?”
“Markus, Sam will be gone in a few minutes. You know that.”
“No. Brick.”
Jenny looked at Markus in surprise and pulled herself away from his steadily heating body. “Visit one of the Damned?”
“Yeah. To assist in his “lessons”.”
“I don’t think they’ll allow that. He may deserve it, but I don’t think it’s allowed.”
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Both faces turned to the door, and Jenny helped Markus up. As she opened the door, a familiar face met Markus’ eyes.
“Amun?”