A Reading - Part Two (Pulp 06)

"'This is your past. It is the you that once was, the you that may never be again. It talks of your base nature and root causes.'
"The card she flipped was of a poncy-looking guy standing in front of a table with a cup or something on it, with one hand up and a sideways figure eight over his head. An infinity symbol, I realized.
"'This is the Magician. It speaks of taking action, of concentrating, and of experiencing power.' She looked at me a little funny and I gave her a half-grin.
"'Must be from when I was a cop,' I said, 'but the only power I remember experiencing was from the brass, kicking me out.'
"She didn't look real satisfied, but she flipped another card. This one looked like a queen from a normal deck of cards, except not split in half, and this one was carrying a sword and a pair of scales.
"'This is your present. It is the you that is here now, and it is the focus of your current actions. It talks of your predicament, but not of how to get out of it. This is Justice. It speaks of assuming responsibility, preparing for a decision, and understanding cause and effect.' She went on this time without pause, and I was just as happy. I knew these two, it was the next couple that I was interested in.
"'This is the first branch of your future, if events are not favorable to you. It is the likely outcome if you only react to the doings of those around you.'
I knew as soon as the card hit the table that it was a bad one. It had good old goat-legs satan on it, with two little demons at his feet and a pentagram above him.
"'This is the Devil. It speaks of experiencing bondage, staying in ignorance, and feeling hopeless.'
"Yeah, that was about right. Jail, I never find out what's going on, and I can't do anything about it. Sounded great. 'So what's my other option?' I said, and she flipped the last card.
"This is the second branch of your future, if events are favorable towards you. It is the possible outcome if you are proactive in solving your predicament.'
"It was a guy in armor in some kind of cart that looked like it was being pulled by sphinxes.
"'This is the Chariot. It speaks of achieving victory, using your will, and asserting yourself.'
"I pondered it for a second. It seemed to be an obvious choice. Let things slide and wind up in jail, or keep slogging and beat 'em all. But it was too pat. I didn't like things to be so cut-and-dried.
"And then the guy in the cart winked at me. I mean, the one on the 'Chariot' card, the little painted figure turned his head to the side a little and winked at me in a real exaggerated way, like someone in a bad play - or worse, a car commercial.
"I looked at Venga to see if she was paying attention, but she was lighting up a nasty smelling cheroot and was puffing furiously, head held high. I looked down again, and the guy was writing something on the side of the cart..."

"'TURN THE TRUTH AROUND, AND SEE HOW IT READS FROM THE OTHER SIDE' wrote the man on the Chariot card, in quickly drawn neat block letters, and then rubbed his elbow on it and the words disappeared. It looked for a second like he was going to speak, but then he froze into a normal painting again, and Madame Venga puffed a horrifically dense cloud of smoke at me. It was like being assaulted by a wet and somewhat diffuse angry cat that smelled of poorly burned cherry wood.
"I coughed once out of politeness and then stood up. 'I'll show myself out,' I said, and turned to the door.
"She never even bothered to say goodbye.