Thrilled To Death by Jennifer Apodaca Page B

well-deserved invitation to perform at the House of Cards.”
    Everyone cheered and drank. Ali thought all the noise was an invitation to play and ran around the two tables barking.
    Joel slipped Ali a crust of bread, then tried to keep me from noticing by saying, “Hey, Bo, when you do close-up magic, do you have to special order your stuff like the fake fingers to match your skin color?”
    I choked on my wine.
    Bo looked up and covered an amused expression. “Pass me the saltshaker.”
    I set my wine down and watched him. He took the saltshaker and unscrewed the lid. Then he folded one hand to create a hole at the top of his thumb and fingers. He lifted the salt and poured into the hole. He looked around the table, then tapped down the salt and opened his hands.
    The salt was gone.
    â€œCool!” Joel said. “Bring it back.”
    Bo entertained all of us by dramatically making the salt reappear. Joel ran in the house to get his prop and did the same trick. Then he and Bo huddled and decided that there was very little difference in the color of their props.
    Basically, Bo was very light skinned, and when he performed a salt trick, people were trying to find where the salt went to and didn’t notice something like the end of his thumb being a little lighter or darker. Bo went on to explain that his goal was to keep the audience focused on the part of the illusion he wanted them to see.
    Fletch said, “Hey TJ, why don’t you show us your skill at counting cards.”
    Fletch was on the end of the table with his right leg propped up on a chair and the bag of ice on his calf. The lump was already turning vivid colors. I was really impressed that he thought to bring TJ into the conversation. That was nice of him.
    TJ shook his head. “Nah. That’s not magic.”
    Bo said, “You can count cards?”
    TJ shrugged.
    I knew he was pleased though, because I saw him glance up at Grandpa. And Grandpa smiled back.
    â€œHe’s got a huge math brain,” Joel said, and looked at his brother. “Want me to get some cards?”
    â€œLater,” TJ said. Then he looked at Bo. “What is your good news?”
    That was TJ. He was happy just to have a little attention, but then he was even happier to turn the attention off himself.
    Bo glanced at me. I guessed that he was asking if he should let it drop about TJ counting cards. I nodded at him to go ahead with his news. He slipped his fake thumb into his pants pocket, took a sip of his wine, and announced in his deep velvety voice, “I’ll be signing a contract for a cartoon character based on my magic show. It’ll be called Magic Bo.”
    â€œWow!” I was impressed. “Bo, that is fantastic!”
    Everyone else joined in.
    Bo’s face flooded with pleasure. “I don’t have all the details yet, but it’s been pretty exciting.”
    Grandpa raised his wineglass. “To Bo. You made it just like your dad and I knew you would!”
    We all drank to Bo. I thought about how good it was for Grandpa to have both Bo and Fletch here, two of his success stories to offset his guilt and anger over Shane.
    â€œOh crap.”
    I heard the shatter of glass and looked over at Fletch.
    â€œSorry.” He looked up and blushed. “My ice bag was falling. I grabbed for it and dropped the wineglass.” He took his leg off the chair. “Don’t get up. I’ll take care of it.”
    I stood. “No, sit down. I’ll get it. You just keep the ice on your leg.” I went into the kitchen and pulled a long length of paper towels off the roll, then got out the trash can. I went out and wiped up the broken glass and little bit of wine that had been left in the glass.
    â€œI’m really sorry, Sam.” Fletch watched me, looking dejected and miserable.
    He probably thought he ruined Bo’s big moment. “It’s not a big deal, Fletch. Do you want some more