“Looks that way.”
“Well, good luck with that,” said Fresh, feeling ever so much cooler.
“I’ll call you,” said Rivera. “Let you know how it goes.”
“If you feel you have to.”
Rivera turned as if to leave, then turned back. “Didn’t you have a pizza and jazz place at Charlie Asher’s building in North Beach?”
“For a while. Didn’t pencil out.”
“You were in it with that spooky girl from Asher’s shop?”
“Also didn’t pencil out.”
“Sorry,” said Rivera, and he seemed genuinely so. “That can be tough. I’m divorced.”
“No damage can’t be buffed out.” said Minty. “Girl ain’t nothin’ but tits and sass.”
Rivera nodded. “Well, good luck with that.” He turned and left the shop, once again, chill as a motherfucker.
Minty Fresh shuddered, then picked up his mobile and began to scroll through his contacts, stopping on Lily’s number, but before he could hit call to set in motion another humiliating surrender of his cool, the phone buzzed and the screen read Three Jewels Buddhist Center.
“Sheeiiiiiiit,” said the Mint One, slow and dreadful, pronouncing the expletive with a long, low sustain of dread.
An iguana in a musketeer’s costume ran under Minty Fresh’s chair and through the beaded curtain into a butler’s pantry, where Charlie Asher sat on an empty mixed nuts can.
“Nice hat,” Charlie said.
The musketeer removed his hat, holding it with perfect little hands (previously raccoon paws, Charlie guessed), and bowed grandly over it.
“You’re welcome,” Charlie said.
The musketeer scampered on through the butler’s pantry into the kitchen. Charlie looked through the swinging beads at Minty Fresh, who was sitting on an inverted dining room chair, his knees up around his elbows, putting Charlie in mind of a very large, mint-green tree frog.
“You never seen that hat before?” asked Minty.
“Every day, but it makes him feel special if you notice it.”
“Ain’t you sweet.”
Charlie slid off his can and started through the beaded curtain.
Minty Fresh waved him off. “Ease on back there, Asher. I need to talk to you.”
“Why can’t you talk to me if I’m on the same side of the curtain as you?”
“Because I start looking at you, and before I know it I forget what I’m talking about, and I think maybe I should chase you away with a stick.”
“Ouch.” Charlie slunk back into the pantry and sat on his can. “What’s on your mind?”
“You called me.”
“But you showed up.”
Minty Fresh hung his head, rubbed his scalp. “I’m thinking maybe us talking isn’t the same now as it was before.”
Charlie was happy to hear it. “So you think now that Sophie is the Luminatus, everything is over, so we don’t have to worry about the rise of the Underworld?”