The Future Stinks

My neighbor from across the street,
the gypsy woman from Florida,
is at the door. She's using her skull
and crossbone's ring to bang against
the wooden screen. At night I can
see her red neon Palm Reading
sign pulsating in the dark. I hold the dog
back who is going crazy and foaming
at the mouth when he gets a whiff
of her. "I need to talk, Jimmy," she
says through the screen. I put the dog
out back and let her in. "What's up,
Linda?" "It's Miranda now", she says,
not Linda." "Sorry." I pull out a chair
at the table. She'd heard about
my winning the scratch off lottery
for a thousand dollars and then picking
the longshot winner at the track
for twenty thousand, before taxes.
She's curious about my sudden lucky
streak. Maybe it just isn't luck.
"What can you tell me about my life?"
she asks, unbuttoning the top button
of her dress, revealing another black
dress beneath that one. She loosens
up the kerchief knotted under her chin.
I ask her if she'd like a tuna sandwich.
I was in the middle of making lunch
when she knocked. "Sure," she says,
"but no mayo, please. A little olive oil,
capers? Do you have capers?" I shake
my head no. I tell her that I think
her life is in for a big change, then put
the sandwiches on the table. "A big
change? What do you mean?" I take
a bite of my sandwich and wipe mayo
from the corner of my mouth. She takes
a bite too and motions for something
to drink. "Do you have any Sprite?"
she asks. "Fresca, okay?" I grab two
from the fridge. She shrugs, "Chips?"
I get the bag from the kitchen.
"What do you mean by a big change
in my life?" she asks. I show her
the newspaper, the metro section
and the plans for an office building
to go right where her house
and the 7-11 now stands. It's all going
to be wiped out, I tell her. "Jesus, Mary
and Joseph," she says and takes
the paper to stare at the aerial view
of the land. "I should buy the paper
more often," she says. "I would know
more. My crystal ball is really nothing
but a shiny glass ball that you can
see through." I nod. "Yeah. I figured
as much," I say. She takes a large bite
of her sandwich. "I have very few
customers right now Jimmy," she says
with her mouth full of food. "And the ones
that I do have only want to know
if their boyfriends are cheating on them,
or if they are pregnant or not.
It's the economy. No one is interested
in knowing the future anymore.
The future stinks." She's got potato
chip crumbs all over the front of her
black dress. "An office building?" she says
and shakes her head. "Yup. Twenty stories."
"What else do you know," she asks.
"That's all," I tell her, "I got lucky
with the lottery and the same with the track.
Luck, plain and simple. I've got no fortune
telling skills, at least not like you have."
"I don't know, you have something.
Maybe a gift. It's more than luck."
She gets up and takes a final swallow
of her Fresca. "Thanks," she says
and lets out a little burp. "I have to go now,
but promise me that if you hear
of anything ,or get any feelings about
things to happen, you'll let me know.
Okay?" "It's a deal Miranda. I promise.
you'll be the first to know. "I need
a homerun here, Jimmy, something big."
"Okay," I tell her and let her out the front
door. "Be careful crossing that street,
it's like a goddamn freeway out there."
She nods in agreement as she looks
both ways down the street before
crossing, dodging a bread trucks as
he beeps his horn at her.