Shamrock Samurai

1 | BEEF WITH A WIZARD

You don't plan to fight with a wizard in a laundromat. It just happens.

I drove my Dad's old Black '69 Mustang Fastback into the grocery store plaza. How did I forget to buy meat for the barbeque? So stupid sometimes.

There were several other businesses nearby such as a pizza parlor, laundromat, and liquor store. As I drove past the liquor store I noticed a tall black man in a trench coat walking the same direction I was driving.

When I say I noticed him I don't mean I saw him, although that's true. A nauseated sensation in my gut amplified as I rolled by him. At the last second he faced me and our eyes locked. Chills assaulted me but I shrugged them off. Ever since my sister died I knew supernatural things were real. I'd done my best since then to suppress my newfound awareness of the dark creatures lurking in the shadows. He wasn't doing anything, I was just frustrated.

I looked for a spot in front but had no luck. Parking in the back of the lot, I slammed my door and ran inside. I looked at my watch. "Dang it!" Only ten minutes until the preliminary fight started, and I wanted to catch all of it.

I located the meat section but a plethora of choices ambushed me. I had to choose between buying discounted meat on clearance because it would go bad soon or buying the more expensive, delicious meat that was already pre-seasoned. Since I was in a rush and dinner would already be starting late, I picked the pre-seasoned meat and headed for checkout. This grocery store wasn't up-to-date yet so they didn't have self-checkout cashiers. And the available cashiers were backed up. Great. Just great.

My unease lingered this whole time. But I tried to ignore it and kept telling myself I was just feeling overwhelmed because I was rushing to get back to start the meat and watch the fight.

I reached the front of the line, declined the plastic bag they wanted to give me, and hurried to pay in cash. I didn't pay attention to the price because my mind wandered elsewhere. When they handed me the receipt I groaned realizing it cost a lot more than I intended to spend on barbeque meat. Whatever. It was too late now. Time to rush to Mom's.

As I drew near the car the sense of wrongness grew stronger still and I looked around and happen to glimpse the tall guy in the trench coat walking into the laundromat. I told myself I was messed up for racial profiling and jogged to my car, fumbling for my keys, then started it up. I threw it in reverse and promised myself I'd get to my Mom's ASAP. Being at the back of the parking lot I should be able to simply exit another way to get home. But for some stupid reason I drove by the laundromat.

I noted that trench coat guy barred the door and that there was a young woman, a quite fair and attractive twenty-something year old I might add, facing him. In the milliseconds that I observed them, their body language showed that they were at odds with each other. What the heck was the guy trying to do to that lady? Hold up. If there's one thing I hate, it's a helpless woman. I wasn't gonna have it rest on my conscience that I just rolled by and did nothing. A parking space opened right in front of the laundromat. Of course. Not when I need to shop but when there's a damsel in distress, of course a spot's open.

I pulled into the parking spot and hopped out. My heart pounded fast and that feeling in my gut grew ten times worse. There was something supernatural about this guy. Part of me thought I was being crazy, that I judging the book by its cover, that I was reading the situation wrong. But another part of me deep inside believed that this guy was more than he appeared on the surface.

As I approached them, I saw that he held a long staff. Not a stick, not a cane, but an actual staff. It was no Gandalf staff. The onyx finish seemed to absorb light altogether, and it might pass as a martial arts weapon, but it wasn't a walking stick by a long shot. Weird. A second ago he didn't have that. The lady was arguing with him and had a slight grin on her face. They spoke slightly above a normal volume but anyone could tell they weren't exchanging pleasantries.