The Secret Word

“This is the bumpiest bus ride ever!” Tory screamed.

“Oh honey, it's not so bad.” Says Ms. Mable, as she is getting off the bus, slowly. “You'll be ok… I promise.” She spoke. The doors closed on the older woman. Tory watched Ms. Mable's grey hair cover a slight smile as the wind blew from the bus taking off again.

Tory looked down where the strange woman had been sitting. In that same seat was a sharp-looking little black book. She picked up the book and thumbed through it. Realizing that her stop was coming up, Tory tossed the little book into her tote, stood up, and pulled the cord.

“Hey Tory, over here!” Dinada yelled. She was waiting in line at the company Starbucks.

“Hey Nada, thanks for holding,” Tory replied. Unfortunately, they were two spots behind Liz, the 'Queen of Sales.' Or so she had deemed herself, arrogantly.

“Nice of you to join us.” Snubbed Liz as she ordered with her nose in the air.

“Nice of you to spill your hot drink on yourself and have to go home,” Tory whispered to Mandy, snickering.

“What did you just say?” asked the mean girl of all mean girls…

“I said: 'Good morning Sniz, I mean Liz,” Tory said firmly with a smirk. “Let's just have a good day Liz, I'll see you upstairs.” Tory rolled her eyes as she and Mandy stepped up to give their order.

Suddenly, they heard Liz cry out: “Aaaaah! Ouch! Wait! Get off of-”

“What happened?” asked the security guard.

“I don't know! One minute we're going up the stairs, and she just tripped! She spilled her drink everywhere!” replied Kris, Liz's best friend.

“It burned me! It was so hot!” Liz cried. “Get me up and get me home. NOW!”

Kris mumbled to Liz as she and the security guard lifted her from the floor. As they helped Liz to her car, Tory stared in horror. Dinada grabbed her arm and pulled.

“C’mon. We’re already late.” She spoke.

“But I was just kidding,” Tory replied.

“I know.”

“So, what just happened?”

“I don’t know!”

“Nada, I- “

“Tory! We’re late; let’s go!” Dinada said as she guided Tory towards their cubicles. She was just as shocked as Tory at what she had seen. But she couldn’t explain it if she tried. Tory quickly followed, her heart racing. What had just happened? Did she cause Liz to fall? They were both puzzled, but Tory hadn’t said anything yet to Dinada about the book.

There was just one word in it. But Tory hadn’t said it. Was it the book? Tory’s head was starting to spin as she wondered how Liz was doing. Liz could be a pain, but Tory was kidding. She didn’t intend to cause her harm. Tory pulled the book from her tote. She sat it on the desk but stared at it for a few minutes before she could pick it up.

Yes.

There was just one word in the entire book: ABRACADABRA. How strange, because Tory had never actually said the word. She thought she had only made a joke. Did this little black book have power?

“Hey, what’s that?” asked Dinada.

“A book that this old lady left on the bus this morning,” Tory replied.

“The bus? What were you doing on the bus? Where’s your car?”

“It wouldn’t start, and luckily I was just in time to catch the bus. Can you take me home?”

“Only if I can see that book.” Dinada inquired with a sly smile. Tory handed the book over, interested in what Dinada thought about it.

“Ok. It’s blank. Hmh, well, I dunno, maybe it was for you since nobody has used it.” Dinada laughed.

“What do you mean it’s blank? It’s not blank.” Tory replied. “It says ‘ABRACADABRA’ all through the book!”

“Um, no… These pages are completely blank, girl. Tory, are you ok?” Dinada asked as she thumbed through the book in front of Tory to show her the blank pages.

“Yes, I’m ok. What? You don’t see it?” she replied nervously.

“Are you seeing things? Maybe you should go home too.” Dinada joked.

“No, I’m fine.” but Tory wasn’t so sure. She was so confused. Dinada couldn’t see the word. Did that mean that she was the only one who could? Now Tory wondered about the strange old lady from the bus. Where did this woman get the book, and why did she leave it? Is that why she promised that Tory would be ok?

She decided to try something. Tory quickly googled bad weather and looked for a storm. She chose a hurricane and watched the live stream in horror at the news coverage of the devastating storm. She closed her eyes and envisioned the hurricane coming to an end as she whispered, “This horrible hurricane should stop right now ABRACADABRA!” She imagined the winds slowing down, the rain stopping, and the sun breaking up the clouds.

“You ready crazy girl?” Dinada interrupted.

“Let’s go!” Tory logged off for the day and gathered her things to go home. “Hey, on second thought, maybe I should take the bus. I should try to find that woman.”

“It’s blank. I’m sure that lady won’t need it tonight. Let’s go. I’m hungry. Grab your mask, and we’ll get takeout.” Dinada replied.

Tory headed to the car, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the book. “I’m gonna have to find out what’s wrong with my car; I can’t do takeout.”

“No worries, I got you. I told you, get a fan page like me. Harry Styles just subscribed!”

“Look at you, and I’m sure Harry and every other celeb are going to subscribe to you!” Tory said with a laugh. “I’m still waiting on my stimulus, and trust me; no one wants to see this…”

“I can show you what to do.”

“No offense, but not on my most broke day… which is probably today…” Tory sighed. “Hey, thanks for the ride, and if my stimulus doesn’t come, I might take you up on that.”

Dinada rolled her eyes and laughed. “Whatever, girl, tell me when. I’ll come by to get you in the Morning.” She sang as she drove off.

Tory thought about the fan page as she eyeballed her best friend’s new Mercedes disappearing around the corner. She didn’t know she had it in her. Inside her apartment, Tory quickly unpacked her dinner and decided to check the weather. She eagerly flipped through the channels looking for news about the hurricane.

“What the-” Tory yelped as the remote fell from her hand. The hurricane was dissipating! She couldn’t believe it! Or could she? No! Maybe? Tory could do one more test. For sure, just one more test could prove that this was a wild dream.

She glanced at the clock, 7:55 pm. She had time to make it to the corner store. She grabbed her jacket and headed out the door. As she briskly walked toward the corner, she whispered: “I shall buy the winning lottery ticket right now, ABRACADABRA!” A young couple snickered as they passed her. Tory smirked and continued to the corner store. If this worked, Tory knew that her life would never be the same. She stepped up to the counter and bought the ticket.

On the way home, she thought about her car breaking down, making her ride the bus and meet Ms. Mable, the lady who left the little black book that contained one magic word that no one could read but her. Was this some alternate reality? She drifted to sleep, thinking about what she would do if she won the lottery tomorrow. She definitely wouldn’t need that fan page.

Dinada was downstairs honking for Tory to hurry. “C’mon! We’ll miss our lattes, and we’ll never get through the line on time!” she gushed.

“Morning to you too! Just stop at the corner store. We’ll make it on time.” Tory replied. She hurried into the store, realizing that Dinada would not be satisfied with the store's limited coffee choices. Tory headed to the counter, hoping to avoid any backlash.

“That’s it? You don’t want to check your ticket?” asked the store clerk?

Tory gave him a puzzled look. “Oh, I forgot about that thing. Here, for nostalgia’s sake.” She handed the clerk her ticket.

“Oh joy!” he exclaimed with excitement. “Miss, you have won $20,000!”

“What? No way!” Tory scoffed.

“Look!” The clerk handed Tory the printout and then called to his wife, who clapped with Tory's excitement.

“I WON $20,000!” Tory jumped up and down.

Dinada ran up to her with an unwanted cold coffee in her hand. “No way!” She and Tory bounced excitedly, heads spinning as they soaked in what was taking place. “Tory, $20,000? That’s enough to open the salon.”

“More than enough!” Tory replied. It was time to tell Dinada more about what was happening since she had found the book. Because it had to be the book, or the word, or both. Right?

“Um… so, do you want to go to work today? Or do you wanna become your own boss?” Dinada asked a question to which she already knew the answer. She had been patiently awaiting Tory, saving her half of the business they both dreamed of opening. The time had arrived. Now they both have the money they needed because Tory wouldn’t let Dinada give it to her, or anyone else for that matter. But what was going on with Tory? Dinada had to find out. She didn’t want her best friend getting herself into any trouble over this book.

Tory thought about it for a moment, then she thought about the book. What did all of this mean? She had just won the lottery. A small part of her worried, but deep down, she couldn’t help but be excited. She finally had enough money to do the things that she had dreamed. The timing was perfect because she had begun worrying about holding Dinada back. Not anymore.

What a gift of gifts! She decided that she would have to find that old lady. She had so many questions. She started to realize that she had so much power! She could use this power for good, to cure Covid. Tory realized that with this book, she could change the world!

“Hello?”

“Let’s go cash in this ticket and have lattes while we look for a great place for a hair salon!” Tory replied.

“Good, cuz I didn’t wanna have to bonk you on the head to knock some sense into you!” Dinada laughed.

Tory laughed nervously with her friend. Should she mention the word now? Or should she keep it to herself? Tory didn’t know what to do. The one thing that was for sure was finding Ms. Mable.