The Day I Wore Purple

1.3 Dust to Dust

"Pick a card, any card!" Jon fanned the deck clumsily on the tray between them.

"I already know this trick," Gavin said.

"Nu uh. The janitor showed me last night."

The brothers sat face to face on the hospital bed. The TV played a rerun of Legends of the Hidden Temple as the sun lit columns of dust around them.

Jon's drawings hung in neat rows above his bed. They were mostly pencil doodles of elaborate, abstract patterns. Sometimes he drew real things like the hospital, their house, or random objects like lamps... but he never drew anything cool. Not like Hannah.

We hardly look related anymore, Gavin thought. Over the past several months, he noticed his own chest and arms had begun filling out... but Jon still looked like the runt of an alien litter. He was bald again, and his eyebrows were gone. The baldness always started with a few hairs stuck to the shower walls. Jon would come out of the bathroom crying, and a couple days later, it would all be gone.

"Just pick one!" Jon said again.

Gavin touched a card in the middle of the deck... but then slid his fingers to the left and picked the card at the end. Three of clubs.

"Don't forget it!" Jon collapsed the deck, then paused as he tried to recall the next step. "Okay, now put the card on top of the deck."

Gavin obeyed.

Jon propped himself forward and put the cards behind his back.

"You can't do that!" Gav said. "What a dumb trick!"

Jon's tongue licked the corner of his mouth as he did something to the cards behind his back. Then he brought the deck in front of him, held it straight up between their faces, and asked, "Is this your card?"

It was the nine of hearts.

"Not even close," Gav replied. "This is the lamest—"

"Hold on!" Again, Jon put his hands behind his back, squirmed as he seemingly rigged the cards, then placed the deck on the tray. "Make sure your card is still there, then shuffle them however you want."

Gavin obliged, though he was getting a little annoyed with the trick. Yes, the three of clubs was still on top. He shuffled the deck three times and gave it back to his brother. Whatever Jon had done behind his back, there was no way he could know Gav's card.

"Okay, here's the magic part." Jon waved his hand over the deck, said, "Abracadabra!" then—one at a time—flipped each card face up between them.

As Jon performed his magic, Gavin glanced at the white petals sticking out of the backpack zipper...

Jon stopped flipping cards. The three of clubs was face up on the tray. "Is that your card?"

"Holy shit, Jonny!" Gavin grabbed the card to make sure it was real. "How'd you do that?"

"Don't curse."

"But how—"

"It's complicated. I don't think you'd understand." Jon smiled and flashed his awkward baby teeth.

"I won't tell anybody," Gav said. "Pinky swear."

"Did you score any money off Chris today?"

He sighed. "I'll give you two bucks."

"Five."

"Four."

"Five and I won't tell Mom you gamble."