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The night I turnedfor an ounce of Yaksha&039;s blood to serve as an aerobic catalyst The only place to look, I thought, was the ice-cream truck where Eddie Fender had kept Yaksha&039;s tortured body in cold storage There I found the blood I needed, frozen beneath a box of Popsicles But before I scraped it frohly unusual conversation with an elderly horimy face He was obviously down on his luck But when I strode up to say hello, he reacted as if he was expecting ht But I know you&039;re in a hurry"

"How do you know I&039;s You want this truck I suppose I&039;ve been guarding it for you"

"How long have you been here?"

"I don&039;t rightly know I think I&039;ve been here since you were last here"

The ice-cream truck should not have been there The police should have hauled it away a couple of months earlier Yet not only was the truck parked where it had been when it held Yaksha, the refriger?ator unit was still working, and the ho for me That was crucial, because if the blood had melted and rotted, it would have been of no use to me I wouldn&039;t have been able to turn back into a vampire I would have possessed no special abilities hich to protect the child

Now the big question was

Did the homeless man know that?

He obviously knew soer question was how he knew

With the sun setting and with no better place to go, I return to the street where I met thenear the spot where the ice-creaed In fact, he is drinking a carton of milk as he was the last time we met He looks up as I approach and his eyes sparkle in the dull yellow light of the street laetting up is hard on his knees I remember I had to help him up the last tiain," he says "I thought youforaround Don&039;t have a lot to do these days, you know"

I crouch by his side "What do you do when you&039;re not waiting for me?"

He is shy "Oh, I just move around, pick up an odd job here and there, help out where I can"

I smile "Well, you sure helped ood But you&039;re a bright girl You kno to help yourself" He stops "Hey, would you like to play a game of cards?"

I raise an eyebrow "Poker?"

He brushes his hand "No That&039;s too hard a game for an old fella like ame of twenty-one? I&039;ll be the house I&039;ll play by house rules I&039;ll hit on every sixteen and give you a tip every now and then if you need it As long as you promise to tip me if you win in the end How does that sound? You kno to play twenty-one?"

I sit cross-legged in front of hiambler Do you have cards?"

He reaches in his old coat pocket and pulls out a pack "Do I have cards? These are fresh froas Mind if I shuffle? Those are house rules, you know Dealer has to shuffle"

"You shuffle What are we betting?"

He takes a sip of his milk as he opens the pack "It doesn&039;t hs and the sound is likesince I have heard the sound of pure joy "An old buh with him "What&039;s your name, old bum?"

He pauses and catches ster here You&039;ve never told me your name"

I offer my hand "I&039;m Sita"

He shakes o of my hand and shuffles the cards He is a pro with them; he obviously can shuffle both sides of the deck with as few as five fingers Yet a trace of sorrow enters his voice The tone is not painful, more bittersweet

"Lots of places, Sita," he says "You kno it is when you get as old as I a, try to keep my hand in Where are you froolly, that&039;s far away! You must have had plenty of adventures between here and India"

"Tooand start dealing? I&039; anx?ious to beat you at what I know is your favorite ga

"Hold on just one second," he says "We haven&039;t decided e&039;re wagering What have you got?"

"Money"

He nods "Money is good How ot?"

I reach in my back pocket "Three hundred dollars in cash"