A Taste of True Power

How's a man supposed to get good grub these days? Doesn't anybody make good beignets anymore? Almost makes me wish that froggy princess was still cooking up surprises in her kitchen. Even with all the money my doll could spare me I couldn't find one restaurant serving good food to go. Hell, I would've even paid Tiana's a visit if I didn't hold such a grudge against that place. That good for nothing princess only got her restaurant after sending me to the other side and I still despised her for that.

Could you believe I had to walk all the way to the other side of town for these? Maybe with all this cash I oughta get myself a car. It can't be too hard to learn how to drive now, can it? After all, that wrinkled old bozo who drives Charlie around can pull it off. Come to think of it, forget about the driving part. I'd rather pay somebody else to do it for me. Yeah, make me feel big and important. Hey, that fat cat La Bouff never drove his own car. No, he always got some other slave to do it for him.

At least all my daydreaming made the walk back home a little less tiresome. I was ready to take the weight off my feet and park my tush on my throne, I deserved it after walking around for more than an hour looking for some lunch. And you know what? I opened the door and there was this cute little smile all ready to welcome me home.

"Doctor Facilier! Thank goodness you're back." You know, it was kinda nice having somebody who was always pleased to see me like this. I think I was starting to like having this girl around.

"I'm sorry, my doll." I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. "You haven't been waiting long, have ya?"

"Only since, um, half ten. I must have just missed you this morning." She was all ready to come running up to me but something stopped her mid track. Her pretty smile vanished and suddenly she didn't look so cute no more.

"What's the matter?" What the hell was she worked up about all of a sudden? All I was doing was standing there.

"I'm alright…" She took in a few sudden gasps. "…I'm alright."

I saw right through her. Don't I always? "You're not 'alright', Charlie doll."

"It's just… I don't like… Umm…"

"Oh, the beignets." That's right, this doll's got issues with food, I remember now. I found out last time I took another peek inside her soul.

A simple fix, just put the leftovers in the box and close the lid. "There now, problem solved." I set the box down and hid it behind some of my merchandise. What was she so afraid of? It's not like it'd jump out and bite her. "What's the deal with you and food anyways?"

"I… I don't really know." She turned herself around but she made sure to aim her face away, acting like a frightened kid. "I'd rather not talk about it."

I still didn't get this doll's problem, but I didn't wanna push her. "Fine, I won't bring it up again. I promise." I beamed her a kind smile, I didn't want her getting too uncomfortable so I tried to be all friendly-like.

She took in a deep breath and somehow managed to look me in the eye once again. "On a much more approachable topic, I have some pressing concerns about my magic."

I could feel my smile turning into a grin. 'What has she done now?' I thought to myself as the possible slip-ups passed through my mind. "Whatever it is, it's nothin' I can't handle." So long as she hadn't turned somebody into a frog, y'all folks know what kinda mess that slip-up gets ya into.

"Well, it happened earlier today." My doll began to explain. "When I tried to turn my sister's beverage into sherry it...it turned into sand."

I tried not to, but I couldn't help myself. I let a little snicker escape through my grin.

Suddenly the doll didn't look so sad no more, staring at me with those sapphire eyes, looking all confused. "Is it funny?"

I shook my head. "Nah. It's just you're kinda cute when ya mess things up."

She looked all confused, but she sounded a little embarrassed. "I'm… cute?"

Now she had me feeling a little bashful. "Well, sometimes ya are." Any other gentleman might have backed off at this point, but not me. I'm as cool as they come. "Take it as a compliment."

And it looks like she did when she looked away and tried to hide her face so modestly. "I can't remember the last time someone complimented me."

I saw the way she fidgeted with her hands and tried to fight her embarrassment. I made a little bet to myself, that I could make her smile by charm alone. "That's because they spend too much time criticizing y'all. They don't appreciate what they got."

"Do you appreciate me?" Her eyes sparkled as she tried to looked at me.

And obvious answer needs an obvious tone. "Of course I do." Even though I could have been lying, I hadn't made my mind up yet.

"Even when I make a mess of things?"

I came real close to her, if she'd just lay those pretty eyes on me we'd be in business. I used a little gentle persuasion, placing my fingers under her chin and encouraging her to raise her head. "Nothin' could be cuter."

And there ya have it, folks. One cute little smile and a pair of blushing cheeks, all courtesy of my gentleman charm.

Hey, and you know what? This time she didn't try to shiver away. Y'all remember that she don't like being touched. But now she was looking right at me with my fingertips still touching her ghost skin. And then, would you believe it? She reaches up with her pale palm and takes hold of mine.

Are her hands always this cold? It was summer time in the middle of New Orleans but her fingertips were like ice. Well, not exactly as cold as ice, just a ghostly chill. Ghostly? That figures. I should have expected as much from a girl who hangs around with dead people.

She took her eyes off mine and aimed them down at where her fingers were wrapped around my hand. She was acting like this was something new to her. Hey, maybe it was. It wouldn't surprise me if this shy little cherie hadn't been touched before. I wondered if any man had ever the pleasure of entertaining this little doll under the covers? Maybe these hands of her's might hold the answer to my question.

I turned her palm up so I could get a good look at those lines. I made sure to be real gentle as I ran my finger along them, feeling for any tenderness.

"Are you looking for something?"

I didn't want her to know what I was really looking for. "Let's see now. You're shy, but you don't need a palm reader to know that one."

She shivered as I rubbed my finger tip across her skin.

"You're sensitive too, you bruise easily." And I wasn't talking about her tender flesh. I know how she takes everything to heart. "Piano fingers. You a lady with a musical background?"

"My mother forced me to have out of school classes. My piano lessons was the only ones I enjoyed." That smile of hers almost vanished, bad memories I guess.

"You like dark places." I continued. "You're a little agraphobic. You're naturally curious." And you're not a virgin. Not a virgin? This shy little pixie not a virgin? Wow, every time I think I have this girl figured out she surprises me. Maybe she's not so shy after all if she's already let a man get his hands on her.

Speaking of which, the hands of this gentleman must have gotten a little too touchy when my doll retracted her wrist and her palm slid out of my grasp. Ah, that smile of hers, so innocent, so demure.

"Um, so anyway." She took a few steps back but retained that same smile, so at least I hadn't scared her off. "About my magic problem?" Desperate to change the subject was she?

"Go on." I found myself starting to chuckle again. "Tell how me you managed to get from sherry to sand."

"Well, that's just it. I don't know." She sighed in self pity. "And turning coffee into sand wasn't the only thing that happened. It turned back into coffee again after just a few short minutes. Do you know what might have gone wrong?"

I ran my finger across my mustache while I thought about it. "Did ya pushy little sis pressure you at all?"

"Actually, um, she did. She blackmailed me." Well, there ya go. "It was only after I cast the spell that I learned she was only joking."

Why am I not surprised? That rotten little punk ain't nothing but trouble. But I couldn't let her nasty trick dampen my doll's spirits. "You want my advice? Work on your confidence a little more. Show those people who try to walk all over y'all that cha mean business. Don't let 'em put any pressure on you. Heck, I don't."

I just couldn't get enough of this doll's smile. When I first met this girl I couldn't get her smile for me no matter what I tried, now it was about as difficult as putting on a hat.

"What would I do without you?" Was that her way of saying 'thank you'?

"Well, you wouldn't have your magic, for starters."

She looked down again and I thought she was starting to look a little sad. But then I felt that same cold touch on my hand again. Seemed to me like she'd gotten a little more confident already when she took hold of my hand and started admiring me again. I knew this doll was the curious type.

But just as I was starting to enjoy her icy touch she goes and spoils the moment by snatching her hand away yet again.

"Oh, I almost forgot." She sounded pretty excited as she turned herself around. "I have something for you." Those black pumps pattered on the floor as she rushed to my table.

"Darlin', you didn't have to get me anything." I lied. I wanted whatever she had to give, even if she didn't wanna give it.

After a few seconds of rummaging through a little paper bag she took out a box no bigger than my fist. "Here. I thought you might need it in the twenty-first century. Everyone has one these days, I didn't want you to be left out."

I took the gadget out of my doll's hands, slid it out of it's cover, lifted the lid and there was this shiny black mirror gleaming back at me.

"Well now." I lifted the shiny toy out of its box so I could get a good look at it. "If it ain't one of those little gizmos you and your mom got."

"It's called a smart phone." She smiled. "Now you can always get hold of me, wherever I am."

'Getting hold of you sounds like a good idea…' Gosh! What am I thinking!?

"And you don't have to travel all the way to the other side of town if you want to talk to me. All you have to do is ring my number." Ya know, I think this doll might have something here. "It might take time to learn how to use something like this, but I can teach you."

"Eh, I think I can work it out." How hard could it be?

"Are you sure?" She sounded so concerned. "It's much harder to understand than any voodoo I know."

"But what you know ain't gonna compare to what I know." I gave her a playful little tap on the nose. "You probably don't even know what an ouangas is."

"I do, it's the broken talisman you're trying to fix." Looks like she's a pretty fast learner.

"Alright, so you're smarter than I give ya credit for." 'You're still dumb enough to trust a sneaky sinner like myself' "You've still got a long way to go, so keep practicing."

"I will, of course." She said in an obvious tone. "But in the meantime I'm going to give you my number." The doll took out her own shiny gizmo and started tapping at the screen and running her finger across it. "When you're ready just add this to your contacts." She showed me the bright side of the toy. But to tell you folks the truth I couldn't make out what was what. "On your own phone you might need to scroll down to the bottom of the screen and search for the right app first before you can add me."

What the hell was she talking about? "Scroll? Screen? App? What kind of jumbled up mumbo jumbo is that?"

She just stared at me, her eyes full of worry. Then she gave me an embarrassed smile and started taking all these little papers out of the box. "Here's the instructions. I don't mean to question your intelligence but I really think you'll need these."

I was starting to think that maybe my doll had a point. This ain't voodoo, it's technology. And I'm eighty years behind the times!

"I'll just...go and write my number down for you." She was sounding so worried, she didn't honestly think that I could pull this off and hey, I was starting to doubt myself.

She hurried over to her handbag that was still flopped over all my merchandise on the counter and started poking around inside for something. I left her to it while I did some poking around myself. How do ya turn this thing on? I don't think I've ever seen that broad turn hers off! You just touch the shiny part, right? And do some tapping around. Nope, nothing. Maybe this thing needs some kind of key. I decided to take another look in the box. I tossed the instructions aside, maybe as a last resort I might take a peek, but not just yet.

Speaking of taking a peek, as I put my new toy aside I looked up to check on the girl. She was poking around a little too close to my stuff so I kept a close eye on her. I didn't want that magic of hers reaching out and getting into any of my contraptions. But all she was doing was writing down a bunch of numbers, what kind of trouble could that get her into?

Hold on a sec… Now as I watched her zip everything up again I noticed that there was more than just a pen in her hand. But nah, she wouldn't steal, she's not that kinda girl. Or maybe she was too shy to ask before taking something because she did!

That little imp... I couldn't believe it! She thought I hadn't noticed her but I'd noticed alright. What, was she too shy to ask? Heheh, she probably was. Just think how embarrassed she'd be if I suddenly busted her. I was all ready to call her out when something made me change my mind. Maybe I'd let her have them, they were only waterstones. What was she gonna do? Make it rain? So long as she didn't make it rain in my place I didn't care.

"Here you go." My doll, completely unaware that I'd caught her in the act, came strolling over to me with a piece of paper in her hand. "This is my number. When you've got the hang of your new phone just give me a call."

"Much appreciated, cherie." I tucked the little note in my inside pocket next to my business cards.

I still couldn't stop thinking about it. A little angel like that? Nabbing my gear? What do y'all folks make of that?