WE ARE MAGIC
Giselle Renarde
Body parts gleamed like polished bone as Parker lifted them from their cardboard crates. “I love hanging out with you,” Nabila said. She picked up a sheet of Bubble Wrap and draped it around her waist like a miniskirt. “What do you think of my new look?”
He handed her a legless torso. “Here, hold this for a sec.”
She dropped the Bubble Wrap before hugging Parker’s mannequin to her chest. The plastic was so slippery she had to squeeze it hard. “You’ve got the coolest job.”
He snorted, laughing. “If you say so.”
“You get to be alone in the store after dark, when the mall is closed. It’s so exclusive.”
Parker’s smile fell as he flicked his bangs out of his eyes. “It’s not like I went to design school to become a window dresser.”
“Nobody ends up doing what they went to school for. I didn’t get my masters so I could sell cheap denim to teens.”
His gaze bore into her, like he was seeing something internal, something private. “You’ll find a better job.”
“I’m not even looking anymore.”
“Yeah. Me neither.”
Parker popped in one leg while Nabila gripped the body.
“What do you think of the new mannequins?” he asked.
“They sure are white. Did you order them?”
“No. Corporate picks the dolls.”
“I wonder if there are any brown ones.” Her skin looked darker than usual against the mannequin’s shiny plastic whiteness. “When I was a kid, I watched a children’s show set in a department store after hours. Ever see that?”
Parker found another leg and worked it into the empty socket. “Doesn’t ring any bells.”
“One character was a window dresser. She always wore a pink and red jumpsuit. Then there was a guy who was a mannequin. He came to life when you put on his magic hat. That’s what I think of every time I stay after hours with you.”
“I’m sure we could find you an ugly-ass jumpsuit,” he said.
Nabila let go of the mannequin once it could stand on its own two feet. Grabbing a sunhat off the rack, she set it on Parker’s head. “There’s your magic hat.”
“Am I supposed to come to life?” Parker asked. “Because I’ll need a serious dose of coffee before that happens.”
Nabila watched Parker sort through packing peanuts until he found a head. “What about the arms?”
He said, “It’s easier to put them on after she’s dressed.”
Nabila played with the new summer stock while Parker flipped through his sketchbook. The mall was on a conservation kick, which meant most lights were turned off. Fortunately the place was built with so many sunroofs and windows that the moon and parking-lot lights kept their shop front pretty bright.
“You’d look great in this,” Nabila said, holding up a sundress.
He barely looked up from his sketchbook before saying, “Not all fairies prance around in florals.”
“But if you’ve got the body for it…” “Who says I do?”
There wasn’t exactly a glint in his eye, but she saw something impish in him.
“Do you believe in magic?” she asked.
Before he could answer, she sang Olivia Newton-John at him, dancing with the dress, hopping over scattered body parts.
“Well,” he said, “I didn’t believe in magic before, but that performance convinced me.”
“Then you believe me when I say your hat’s magic? And if you take it off you won’t be able to move?”
His brow furrowed. “Nabila, I’ve got work to do.”
He set down his sketchbook and started across the window riser. When he arrived center stage, Nabila plucked the sunhat from his head. “Abracadabra! Without your magic hat, you can no longer move!”
She expected him to either yell at her or ignore the gag, but he didn’t say a word.
Nabila moved around front to get a look at his expression. It read blank, even when she waved a hand in front of his face.
“Haha, Parker. Very convincing.”
He didn’t even twitch.
“Okay, then.” She tossed the sundress over one shoulder and took hold of his top button. “Time to dress my mannequin for summer.”
She slowly unbuttoned his shirt. She figured he’d knock her hand away before she got all the way to the bottom, but his body remained stiff even as she pulled out his tucked hem.
She’d undone his shirt and he hadn’t reacted in the slightest, not even to the cool mall air creeping inside his shirt, tickling his sides.
“Time to take off your top,” Nabila said, hoping he’d break. “Here I go…”
When he didn’t respond, she felt challenged to follow through. She took hold of his collar and pushed his shirt across his shoulders, then pulled it down. His arms were like tree branches hanging at his sides. He was right—this process would be easier without the arms.
His chest was lean, white. Tight pink nipples. Sparse golden hairs leading to his belt.
“Next I take off your pants. And without your magic hat, you can’t stop me.”
She expected him to laugh and say, “Okay, enough of this.”
But he didn’t say a word. Eyes forward, two glass beads.
“Here I go.” She took hold of his belt, slowly slipped leather across leather. Unbuttoned his jeans. They were loose-fitting enough that they started sliding down his narrow hips even with the fly done up. She wasn’t prepared for that to happen. She almost pulled them back up as they travelled the length of his shorts. The weight of his belt carried them down his legs.
No, not legs. Leg. One leg. And one prosthesis.
Nabila would never have guessed. “I didn’t know you were bionic! So that’s why you walk with a limp.”
He didn’t laugh, didn’t even flinch.
“Parker?” she asked. “You’re scaring me. Say something.”
She watched his slender body for signs of life. His chest didn’t expand. His eyes didn’t blink.
Cupping his cheeks in her hands, she said, “Breathe! Why aren’t you breathing?”
She stood just a whisper away. If he’d breathed, she’d have felt warmth on her lips. But she didn’t feel a thing.
She pressed her mouth to his and breathed into him. Her breath disappeared inside his body.
“Stop screwing with me, Parker! Breathe!”
But no matter how many times she planted the kiss of life on his parted lips, he remained stiff and still.
Tears welled in Nabila’s eyes as she spotted the sunhat discarded on the riser. She scooped it up and placed it on his head and his whole body jolted.
“Oh thank goodness,” Nabila cried, wrapping her arms around his nearly naked body.
“Did you strip me?” He stepped out of his pants, then plucked the sundress from Nabila’s shoulder and put it on. It clung to his skin with sweet insouciance. “There. Satisfied? It even matches my hat.”
“Good,” Nabila said, panic stricken, amazed by the powers she apparently possessed. “Because you can never take off that hat. It’s magic.”
“Magic is just another word for obedience,” Parker said, flinging the sunhat across the store. “Now help me with these mannequins. A window dresser’s work is never done.”