The Deal

Hello again, readers. With this retelling, I struggled a little with how to turn literal poison into something I could put into a modern day context, especially since I didn't want to talk about violence. When I'm in doubt, I always seem to end up with metaphors but, once again, I think it worked. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

The importance of a ball of paper cannot be underestimated.

Devin could cut with his words. It was brutal to watch, but the power he carried because of it was unmistakable. Even if he used his poisoned words on his superiors, he seemed to get promoted anyway. They said they liked someone who "told it like it was". Privately, Ru thought that just meant that Devin was a jerk. There were different ways to say the same things that didn't leave the same kind of destruction behind. But Devin seemed to enjoy it.

It was getting pretty bad. The higher Devin went up the food chain at work, or the more powerful friends he made, the more he seemed to use his poisoned words. Ru and their coworkers talked about it, but what could they do? Anyone who spoke against Devin was just a new target for him and the managers who cared didn't have anything useful to say or do to stop him. If they wanted to stop the polluting of the office atmosphere, they'd have to do it themselves.

Ru watched as a few of their coworkers tried to stand up to Devin. Every time, they were smacked down. A few of the more aggressive ones were even put on notice. It wouldn't be brute force that would overcome this. Ru decided to keep an eye on Devin. Maybe they would find out something helpful from watching him. But Ru didn't find out anything interesting until one morning when they dropped their cell phone in the parking lot.

They bent down to pick it up when they heard someone speaking in the car next to them. It was Devin. He was speaking with unusually clear diction, although Ru couldn't understand the language. Ru slowly raised their head up so they could look at Devin. He was reading from a small notebook. When Devin closed the book, a light erupted from it and enveloped Devin. Devin shifted a little in his seat and breathed in deeply. Then he got out of the car. Ru ducked back down and acted like they were just picking up their phone.

The more Ru watched, the more they realized that Devin never let that little notebook out of his sight. Ru had never been one to believe in magic, but what other explanation was there? They began to plan on how to take the notebook away from Devin. Fortunately for them, Devin liked to bet on things. He'd toss in a few dollars to bet on whatever sports tournament was going on, even when there was a casual challenge in the office, Devin would often bet something on who he thought would win.

Ru's opportunity came when Jacqueline and Ashok were in a friendly competition about who could get a ball of paper into the garbage can from furthest away. Ru pretended not to be watching, but they were. "I bet that Ashok will win," Devin said.

Everyone laughed and smiled. "I'll take that bet," Ru said.

"Really?" Devin asked.

"Sure," Ru said with a shrug. "I bet that Jacqueline can get some paper into the wastebasket from farther away than Ashok. My only condition is that Ashok throws first." Jacqueline was one of Ru's friends. So when she looked at them, Ru winked, and Jacqueline grinned. She knew there was some trickery afoot.

"What are we betting?" Devin asked.

"Winner's choice," Ru said, offhandedly.

"You might have to pay for my lunch for a week," Devin warned.

"That's fine," Ru said. "Jacqueline can do it." Ru looked at Ashok. "But I don't have too much time before my next meeting. How about you start about as far back as you think you can throw it?"

"Sure," Ashok said. He stepped back a few paces, looked at the garbage can, and took a half step forward. Then he threw the paper. It bounced on the rim, but it landed inside the garbage can.

"Nice!" Devin said. "I'm already thinking about what I want for lunch."

"Go ahead, Jacqueline," Ru said.

Jacqueline stood next to Ashok to make sure she was far back enough, shifted her stance a little, and threw the paper ball. It landed in the garbage can.

It was back on Ashok. He stepped back a little.

"A little farther than that," Ru said. "There has to be a difference."

"All right," Ashok said, stepping back a bit more. He threw the paper. It sailed through the air and landed just short of the garbage can.

Jacqueline stood next to Ashok and looked at Ru. Grinning, Ru said, "I just wanted to make sure we had the details of the bet right. I'm betting that Jacqueline can get some paper into the wastebasket from farther away than Ashok. And the reward is winner's choice."

"That's right," Devin said, "not that it matters for you. I'm going to have some great lunch this week."

Ru looked over at Jacqueline. "So, how are you going to get that paper in the garbage can?"

"Ru, can you throw this away for me?" she asked.

Grinning, Ru took the paper from Jacqueline, walked it over to the garbage can and threw it away. They turned and looked at Devin.

"That's cheating!" Devin said.

"No it's not," Ru replied. "She just had to get it in the garbage can from farther away. She's standing back there, so she's farther away than Ashok was when he made it in. And she got the paper in the wastebasket."

The crowd was on Ru's side, some of them just because the alternative was Devin's side.

"Fine," Devin said, rolling his eyes. "What do you want?"

"I want that little notebook in your breast pocket," Ru said. "It reminds me of one my father had."

"You can't have that," Devin said. "Pick something else."

"It's winner's choice," Ru said, "and that's my choice. Much easier on you than buying me lunch for a week."

"Well, you're not getting it," Devin said.

"Come on, Devin," Ashok said. "You lost your bet, man. Give Ru what they asked for. It's not a big deal. I can get you another notebook."

Devin bit back whatever he was about to say. He looked around. Everyone was looking at him expectantly. "Fine," he said with a sigh. He pulled the notebook out and tossed it at Ru. Ru managed to catch it.

"Thanks," they said. Then they put it in their pocket, like it wasn't a big deal. Fortunately, they weren't lying about that meeting, so Ru had an excuse to get out of there after that. Devin was in a bad mood the rest of the day. When Ru got home, they found out why. They were right; it was a magic notebook.

Given the page that it opened to naturally, and the pronunciation guide all over it, Devin had been using the spell to make himself protected. That was why he could say such terrible things and get away with it. He'd been using magic to stop any consequences from coming his way. Well, if it was good enough for Devin, it was good enough for Ru. Ru smiled. It would be nice to see what they could accomplish at work if they had this kind of protection.