Levitation: Chapter OneInside MagicMagic News Updated Daily for the Professional Magician

Calvin ?MagiCal? Webster walked into the Dew French Drop bar with a slight limp. He looked tired, frustrated and thirsty. He pulled up a stool by the end, towards the bathrooms, near the payphone and just a half-hearted card toss from the juke box. There was nothing playing tonight, Monday night.

He signaled for a drink and Felicia smiled, poured his favorite in a frosty mug and brought it to the young ? but not as young as he once was ? magician.

Felicia waited in front of the usually cordial magic man. He usually had a quick line, or joke or a pick-up line he?d try on the bar maid. He looked up from his beer and tried to smile as his eyes met Felicia?s but he lacked the energy and the desire to muster the energy.

?You okay, Cal?? Felicia asked. She leaned forward and was tempted to touch his hand as it clutched the beer mug. She held back and just looked. She?d never seen Cal like this before.

Although she looked no older than 18, Felicia was a staple at the DFD. The DFD, in turn, was a staple in the Mystic Hollow magic community. It was the bar where young magicians waited to impress their elders and their elders waited to be impressed. Felicia considered her position behind the bar to be the perfect vantage point to learn from both ends of the age continuum.

She?d known Cal since he came to the big city and settled into the life of a suburbanite in Mystic Hollow. At first, he came on like one of the young bucks; trying to impress and secretly learn from the masters that were crowded by students around the bar. He was always ready with a quick line or a helpful turn of a phrase to even out another magician?s patter. In exchange for his writing and spontaneous patter-aid, he sought only to learn from the masters.

That?s why, tonight, it seemed so odd. This wasn?t like Cal. If he was upset, it was unlikely that he?d be in the bar. She had to assume that was the case because she had never seen him upset. He was always positive and optimistic. He supported even the most hopeless cases and had the patience of a parent as he heaped on the encouragement even when none seemed warranted.

Cal was not a big man. He stood barely over 5?10? but he was not slight in build. Unlike many of the young men and women who came through the DFD on their way to the big city or to one of the coasts, he avoided the anemic or anorexic look. It used to be that his day job at the cement factory on the river kept him in shape but now that he had gone pro, the manual labor was traded for hours at the gym.

His dark and serious looks were belied by his quick, sincere smile. Felicia had often told others Cal had a 10,000 watt smile. He could and did light up a room with that smile. Its absence today made the room all that much darker, she thought.

Felicia watched as Cal finished his beer and then asked for another. She obliged but watched him carefully as she brought the beer towards his place setting of cigarettes, matches and a deck of blue backed Bicycle cards. Cal looked up and slid his empty mug to the young girl in exchange for its replacement.

He?d always had something for Felicia but considered her more of a sister than a prospect. She?d been running the bar…

He signaled for a drink and Felicia smiled, poured his favorite in a frosty mug and brought it to the young ? but not as young as he once was ? magician.

?You okay, Cal?? Felicia asked. She leaned forward and was tempted to touch his hand as it clutched the beer mug. She held back and just looked. She?d never seen Cal like this before.

He?d always had something for Felicia but considered her more of a sister than a prospect. She?d been running the bar since he first arrived in Mystic Hollow and he watched as she treated everyone about the same. She was always ebullient, positive and welcoming. She handled drunks with aplomb, rebuked inevitable leers of young and old magicians with grace, and always carried herself with dignity and true poise.

Her entrance to the world of magic was through her father?s stairwell door. They lived above the DFD since her birth 26 years ago. In fact, due to a miscalculation on her father?s part in lending their family automobile to a magician in need of transportation to a show, she was born in this very building.

She served as an assistant to her father and mother in their school shows throughout the Tri-County Area and was with them during their one big swing through Vegas right after she graduated from Junior High School. Her mother passed away after Felicia graduated from High School and she took up the position of assistant for her father. They worked almost non-stop setting up the bar in what was once a garden apartment in the building and perfecting the school assembly show.

When she wasn?t tending bar downstairs, she was helping build or rehearse for the show.

Cal didn?t know much more about Felicia than that. He wondered if it was because he never asked or if she never said. Perhaps it was a combination of both. Her knowledge of the business was intimidating. She knew good magic when she saw it. She could bust knuckles with the best of them but she was always willing to watch an amateur try his or her stuff. When the lecturers or visiting magicians would come through town, they?d usually stay in one of the apartments set aside for such dignitaries upstairs and often spend most of the time downstairs in the bar.

Cal often found himself jealous at Felicia?s renown in the world of Magic compared to his own. Although he appreciated her willingness to introduce Cal to the visiting celebrity, he felt envious of her position over him.

None of that mattered to Cal tonight. He appreciated Felicia?s concern. He debated whether to come to the DFD in this mood ? he wasn?t looking for pity and certainly not from Felicia. He looked up from his beer and tried to smile. Her light blonde hair and pale skin clearly came from her late mother, he often thought. He usually had this thought when he saw her father. He sported a full head of dark thick hair ? usually greased back ? with olive complexion and piercing brown eyes.

He was a heavy man but not fat. He looked to be in his mid-fifties but was, in fact, in his late sixties. Looking young must have been his contribution to Felicia?s genetic make-up.
?Thanks,? MagiCal offered slowly and quietly as he took the second beer.

?No problem,? Felicia said as if by rote. ?Cal, you okay??

He nodded. He smiled and then he took a big sip.

The front door to the DFD opened and a second patron of the early evening entered. He too sat at the bar but at the opposite end. Cal didn?t look up.

Felicia smiled as she walked towards the far end of the bar, close to the front door and the small cluster of four-top tables. She pushed a napkin towards the stranger.

?What can I get you?? She asked in a cheerful voice.

?Is this a magic bar?? the stranger asked.

He looked to be in his mid-forties, slightly balding and sporting a slight paunch in his mid-section. He wore a goatee but no mustache and had glasses befitting a 1960?s era rocket-scientist. His trench coat was soaked and clearly not water-repellent.

Before Felicia could answer, the stranger said, ?Can I smoke here??

He already had his cigarette pack out, a cigarette selected and placed to his lips.

Felecia nodded and turned to get the stranger an ashtray. Cal watched as the stranger watched Felicia?s movements in turning away and returning with the ashtray. He felt anger build easily.

?Yeah,? Cal shouted without looking at the stranger again. ?This is a magic bar. Why??

Felicia and the stranger seemed surprised by the loud response.

?I was just wondering,? the stranger said first to Cal and then to Felicia. He continued his response to the young woman before him. ?I was just wondering because of the name. It?s the name of a sleight, you know.?

Cal kept his head motionless. The refused to make a sarcastic statement or protect Felicia?s dignity by jumping on the insight.

Felicia nodded.

?Can you do a French Drop?? the stranger asked of Felicia.

?Oh, I don?t know. I don?t really get into the tricks. I just like to watch the guys.?

The stranger took a quarter from his pocket and awkwardly set it in his left hand, between his thumb and forefinger. He held his right hand in a position that looked almost spastic and painful. His four fingers were held together stiffly and his thumb was presumably somewhere behind.

He pretended to take the quarter from his left hand ? forgetting to close his right hand as he did ? and then he mimicked what he had apparently seen another, more accomplished magician do. He acted as if he was throwing the quarter into the air. Almost immediately, he thrust his left hand behind Felicia?s right ear and painfully extracted the quarter from behind it.

Felicia straightened her hair and smiled.

?Have you seen that one before?? the stranger asked.

Felicia said something along the lines of ?not like that? but in a way that sounded pleasant and encouraging.

?Do you like magic?? the stranger asked.

?I really do,? Felicia responded. ?What can I get you??

?A Diet Coke,? the stranger responded. ?Yeah, I figured that if you were working here, you probably knew it. It?s a good one, though. Huh??

Felicia smiled again and turned to pour the drink. Cal watched again as the stranger?s eyes followed the young barmaid?s movements with unabashed pleasure. She set the cola before the stranger and looked back towards Cal.

?I?m here for the big show,? the stranger said. He seemed to be talking to Felicia and/or Cal. Only Felicia looked interested in the conversation.

?What big show is that?? Felicia asked as she busied herself mid-way between the two patrons by cleaning glassware that was likely already cleaned.

?The magic show,? he said as he took a big, loud slurp of his drink. ?I?m doing an article for GQ on the show coming up.?

?Oh,? Felicia said. She was puzzled. ?What show is that? Is it this weekend??

The only show she knew of was the annual ?It?s Magic!? variety show at the armory. She couldn?t imagine that GQ magazine would want to cover a ?best of the locals? magic show.

?Yeah, it?s at the Mystic Hollow Armory. They call it ?It?s Magic!??

Felicia was confused. She looked down towards Cal and he looked sheepishly towards the barmaid.

?Hon, do you know about something special about the show this year?? she asked Cal.

He shook his head.

The stranger spoke up. ?Well, it is going to be special. We got a press release that some magician is going to do the bullet catch trick with a SWAT Team member shooting.?

Felicia felt her jaw clench and turned involuntarily towards Cal. She asked the stranger over her shoulder, ?What did you say the magician?s name was??

?Magic Al,? he said as he drained his glass.

?Do you mean, ?MagiCal??? Felicia asked without looking at the stranger. She was still trying to read Cal.

?Could be, could be a typo,? the stranger said. ?Apparently this guy just decided to do this at the last minute. I guess he hopes to make it to the big time in one shot.? The stranger waited as if Felicia or Cal should react to the horrible joke.

?Last shot, big shot, one shot, same thing, huh?? the stranger said.

The barmaid and the patron at the far end of the bar seemed to be ignoring the stranger. Maybe they didn?t hear his joke. It was clear from the way they were talking in hushed tones that they were busy and he was probably not going to be able to get another drink right away. He took matters into his own hands and walked around the bar to pour another Diet Coke, but this time with a shot or two of rum.

?Why?? Felicia asked Cal silently. It was as if the words were formed by her lips but not spoken. ?Why??

?I?ve got to do something,? Cal said quietly.

?Why that trick, though??

?It already got me one magazine article,? he said. ?Besides, it?s fine. It?s wired tight. I have a new method.?

She stared at Cal without saying another word. She couldn?t turn away but she couldn?t say anything either. He didn?t have to do this to get attention. He had his escapes to draw the press. He was an up and comer in all of the magic magazines. His time would come; he just had to be patient.

Cal worried Felicia was about to cry. That would say too much about how she felt about him and how foolish his decision really was. He knew it was insane to do the trick famous mostly for the names of magicians it killed. He knew it was insane to do it with just six days of practice and with his ?new,? untried method. He also knew he could not sit in this holding pattern waiting for his big break. He was tired of watching the anemic and anorexic get the great spots on TV or in theaters in New York or LA. He had more talent than they did and more of a love for this art than they could hope to gain through their practice of effete dance steps while manipulating nothing more difficult than self-working, store-bought crap.

Cal finished his second beer and stood up. He pushed a ten dollar bill towards Felicia and, to his surprise, she accepted it without protest. He said nothing more but walked along the bar, past the stranger and out into the rain. He wondered if she watched him leave but realized he shouldn?t care.