“Where’s that phone book… god. This is ridiculous.”

Another swallow slammed against the window, leaving a bloody mark and falling to the ground, unmoving. Buck moved around the room from window to window, looking out, but with no pattern. He was like a flightless moth drawn to light. And at every stopping point, within two minutes a bird dipped from its flight and bashed itself against the glass, just beyond Buck’s face. He didn’t even flinch at the impact, though Lily did each time. The bird’s death was enough, though, to send Buck wandering across the room, in search of another source of light.

Lily found the phonebook beneath a stack of newspapers and ad circulars. She flipped it open to the yellow pages and stopped. What in the world would she look under? The emergency room they’d visited yesterday hadn’t been able to tell her much. Fluids. Food. Rest. That was easy, since that’s all he seemed to do anyway. But what about changing his condition? The psych consult had been inconclusive, but while they were there, he’d been particularly animated and alert. Still nonverbal, but it seemed as if the moment he stepped into the sterile white corridors and was bathed in the fluorescent lights, he came to life again. So very strange.

She looked down at the page she’d opened to. Odd. “Psychic Readings—Madame Smirnovsky.” Another further down the page: “Trancendental Meditation for Health and Success.” Lily skimmed the listings. Nothing seemd to really jump out at her or make her feel anymore confident about the situation or the qualifications of the advertisers. Wait. This one made sense. She wrote the number down on a stick-note and went to the telephone.

As she dialed, Buck trundled across the floor, hands out before him. He seemed drawn to only two things, really: light, and the smell of cooking food. She’d made breakfast that morning while he slept, and no sooner had the sausage hit the pan than he was in the kitchen, looming over her as she browned the meat. She noted the response and made a few extra patties. He finished it all, and seemed to search for more. She caught him dipping his hand in the soup can she used to catch the grease, and had to take it out to the dumpster so he wouldn’t eat the drippings. Now, he was headed for the window on the east wall of the apartment. No sooner had he arrived by the pane than a THONK! marked the passing of another small bird.

A voice at the other end answered. “Bon jour, Madame. How can we be of service for you today?” The woman had a rich and seasoned voice, full of gumbo and alligator and laced with champagne.

Lily cleared her throat. “I have a problem. Is there any way I can make an appointment to bring in my friend?”

***

She stepped back from Buck, after looking carefully into his eye with the light of a black candle, and then turned back to Lily. She shook her head and made a tsking sort of sound.

“He is a zombi, I think.”

Lily shook her head a moment. “Did you say zombie?” She arched her eyebrow and took off her glasses, resting one temple on her lip as she looked at the woman.

“Oui. Zombi. That is all I can gather from his look and his way. But I don’t know for sure, and I cannot tell you who might be the master. I could, for a larger fee, but I’d be needing your assistance for the ritual, and we’d have to wait until the sun sets.” She pursed her lips and looked at Lily very seriously.

Lily put her glasses back on and started doing some calculations. “So… how much larger of a fee?”

The woman told her, and arched her own eyebrow in return.

Lily sighed. It was too much. At least for her cash reserves. “Do you take VISA?”

The mambo smiled wide. “No, Madame. But we do have an installment plan that might be working very well for your needs. I’d just want to take a bit of hair and a fingernail clipping along with the first payment, if you’re agreeable.”

Lily stood. She sighed, and picked up her coat. “I’m afraid I can’t.”

The mambo smiled again and nodded. “I thought you might have some reservations. You didn’t seem like one to be loose with your life. The loa dance away from you, but those that come closest seem to bow, I’m thinking. I hope that your friend here is well and overcomes this.”

Lily nodded. “Thank you for your help.”

She helped Buck to his feet, and led him out to the corner, where they caught a cab and returned to her new home.