Dinner the next night with the McKenzie’s was a lot of fun. Mark picked me up at home and we met his family at the Olive Garden nearby. Mark confided in me that Andrew had asked my dad where I like to eat and since Connor and Rose both loved the Olive Garden as well, it was an easy decision to make.
Since everyone was familiar with the menu, we ordered quickly. I, of course, chose the ravioli. As we waited for our entrees, the talk around the table centered on the family’s plans for the coming week. Mark would be starting up his classes again and the McKenzie’s were heading home. They had a four-hour trip ahead of them, going back east. Connor and Rose had been pulled out of school for the family emergency and they’d have to play catch-up like Mark was. Andrew was heading back to the corporate headquarters of the family mining corporation, McKenzie Resources, where he was the head of its US legal division, and Stacey looked forward to returning home to split her time between caring for the family and being a Regulatory and Environmental advisor to the company.
Coming from a family of two, it all seemed so hectic and I mostly sat there, listening to their easy banter, learning about them from the clues that they left around as casual remarks. Assuming, I didn’t misunderstand those clues, Mark was a lousy guitar player, Stacey’s latest hobby was flower arranging, Connor was a soccer player, Andrew was all about the golf, and Rose danced.
Throughout the dinner, one thing stood out as very strange. Not one of the McKenzie’s pulled out a phone. They talked and teased and laughed and groaned at Andrew’s bad jokes, but everyone’s phones stayed in their pockets. Without needing to be told, I knew that the closeness that I saw between these family members was not an accident. Andrew and Stacey took their family seriously and were actively keeping it together. Looking around at the other diners, our table was the only one without at least one or two people busy tapping or swiping away.
The family quizzed me about my life, and when the inevitable question about mom came up, I just told them that she had passed away when I was four and didn’t go into any more detail. I told them about Kung Fu with Uncle Magnum and about working with dad. I was happily surprised when Rose took an interest in Kung Fu and started asking me all about it. With her dance background, I thought that would take to martial arts quite handily.
Connor and Mark were both interested when I told them that I could make knives and swords. Connor may have drooled a bit when I mentioned the Batarang that I made for James. Somewhere in the discussion, I may have even convinced Mark to take dad’s ‘Into to Blacksmithing’ course next semester.
Over desert, Stacey asked me about the volunteer work that Eva and I did at the hospital and I told them more about it. Having just been there yesterday, Evan came to mind and I told them all about him doing magic to cheer up his father. Stacey got a little misty eyed at the story and the mood at the table had taken a somber turn until Andrew piped up with, “I used to do magic tricks for the kids all the time!”, and all the kids groaned as one.
“Oh come on! You all used to love my magic tricks.”, Andrew said to a chorus of head shakes.
“They weren’t magic tricks, dad. No magic was involved. They were just tricks or jokes.”, Rose explained.
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“Now I’ve got to see one, Andrew. Maybe I can use it for with the kids next week.”, I said, as Mark did a facepalm and told me to stop encouraging his father and that I’d soon regret it.
Andrew, undeterred, fished out a quarter from his wallet and showed it to me. “Now watch carefully, as I teleport this quarter from my left hand to my right hand.” As he said this, Andrew made a fist of his left hand around the quarter and made a fist of his right hand. He held the two fists away from each other and said, “Here goes!” He stared intently at his left fist and started making a whistling sound. As the sound continued and rose in pitch, his head and eyes tracked an unseen quarter traveling from one fist to the other. When his eyes indicated that the quarter was in his right hand, he immediately reversed the process until the quarter was back in his left hand and with a loud “Tah-dah” he opened his fist and brandished the quarter.
I clapped enthusiastically! “That’s is so going to be part of my next magic act for the kids. It’s brilliant!”
“No! Stop it, Abby. You’re not the one that has to live with him. He’s going to be insufferable for weeks now.”, Stacey said.
“Don’t mind them, Abby. They just can’t recognize true talent when they see it.”, Andrew said as he adjusted the collar of his shirt and then wiped off imaginary dust from his sleeves.
“You said ‘next’ magic act for the kids. Does that mean that you do magic for the kids?”, Mark asked.
“Yes. I just started to last weekend. The kids seemed to really like it.”
“This I’ve got to see. Can you do a trick for us?”, Mark asked.
“If I had a small ball, I could.” I looked around at the table to see if there was anything else that I could use. Surprisingly, Stacey opened her purse and pulled out one of those super-balls that bounces like crazy when you drop it.
“I’m not going to ask why you keep a super-ball in your purse. I’m just going to pretend that it’s completely normal and do a magic trick.” That earned me a few laughs from the table.
“Just to be clear, what I’m about to do is real magic that was taught to me by my grandfather who learned it from his grandfather who learned it from an old swami that lived on the top of a mountain in Tibet and my grandfather made me promise to never tell anyone how I did the magic. I can show you the magic, but I can’t teach it to you, no matter how much you beg and cry. Is that ok?” Once I had everyone’s consent, I began.
Taking my empty water glass, I turned it upside-down and then covered it with my cloth napkin. I placed the ball on top of the glass, over the napkin. I then rolled up my sleeve and covered the ball with my hand. With the ball unseen, I shifted it to R2 for a second and quickly to R1. The ball fell through the glass during the shift to R2 and then bounced on the table when it shifted to R1. The ball continued to bounce a bit within the glass, but it was unseen and unheard by anyone.
“Now I’ll say the magic words, “I Love Chocolate Chip Cookies!” and presto!” I slowly lifted my hand to show that the ball was gone and that it wasn’t in my hand. As I watched the looks of wonder on the McKenzie’s faces, I turned off the field around the ball and it reappeared under the glass.
“Rose? Would you please assist me by slowly pulling the napkin off of the glass?”, I asked dramatically.
Rose took a corner and pulled on the napkin, exposing the upturned glass with the ball sitting calmly inside of it. The amazed silence was broken by Andrew’s clapping.
Connor was the first to speak. “How’d you do that?”
“You seriously forgot the whole swami story already? I promised not to tell, so I can’t tell.”
“See dad? That’s a magic trick with magic in it.”, Rose piped up.
“I won’t dispute that, Rose. That was incredible. Abby, have you considered taking your act on the road. You could headline in Vegas if you had more tricks.”, Andrew replied.
“I do have a new teleporting quarter trick, Andrew. I just learned it recently and I think it’s way better than the trick I just showed you.”