joe continued along the road with his new acquaintance magnus.
they did not encounter any other foot travelers.
a few vehicles - trucks, buses, and motorcycles - passed them, all headed into the city.
joe began to feel hungry, and he took one of teresa’s chocolate cupcakes out of his pocket.
he felt that it would only be polite to offer the other one in his pocket to magnus, and he did so.
magnus regarded the proferred cupcake a bit dubiously but accepted it. “why thank you, young man, that is very kind of you. are you sure you can spare it, and will not suffer any pangs of hunger because of your generosity?”
“oh no, sir,” joe laughed. “i am sure civilization has progressed to the point where no one need suffer pangs of hunger, except perhaps in pursuit of some religious ideal.”
magnus had started to put the cupcake in his mouth but stopped. “hmm. so you are an expert on religion, are you?’”
joe blushed a little. “no, sir, far from it, i am sorry to say. of course we had a little library in our home with copies of the basic texts of all the major religions - buddhism, christianity, judaism, islam, marxism, darwinism and so forth - as required of mother to be granted a license to procreate - but i am afraid i did not peruse it as assiduously as i might.”
“i see, “ magnus replied. “well, nothing to be ashamed of there. few in this ignorant age avail themselves of the opportunities for knowledge so dutifully provided by such authority as prevails in these degenerate and unredeemed times - but, you are young yet, and who knows…” the sage seemed to lose his train of thought, and took a bite of the chocolate cupcake.
“that is true, sir, who knows?” joe agreed.
“i say, this is quite tasty.” magnus , having bitten off and swallowed half the cupcake, flourished the remaining half at joe. “did you make it yourself? you should sell them, if you do. make a bundle.”
“i did not bake it myself, my sister did,” joe admitted. “i was never much for cooking or baking, almost all of my experience in day to day life consisted of taking care of animals, particularly pigs, with whom i enjoyed a natural rapport.”
“mmm,” magnus replied, with his mouth full of the other half of the cupcake.
“what exactly did you mean by a bundle, sir, when you spoke of the commercial possibilities of my sister’s cupcakes? the recipe for them has mutated through several generations of smith females. by a bundle do you mean a billion dollars? because i would very much like to be a billionaire.”
“no, no, nothing like that.” magnus brushed a few cupcake crumbs off his jaw. “but a person might survive selling a few on the street corner, that is all i meant.”
“oh.”
“ha, ha! do not make such a long face. survival is not to be sneezed at, in these perilous times. why i, myself, an accredited poet and sage of the twelfth degree, am quite happy to survive.” magnus sighed. “yes, happy just to survive.”
joe did not care for the direction the conversation was taking, and changed the subject.
“do you know, sir, how i would go about becoming a homicide detective? al things considered, i think that is the path i would like to pursue in the great city, at least at first.”
“why, i have never given the matter much thought. i suppose you could inquire at any police station, of which there are no lack in this city or in any city. i would guess you would have to start out as an ordinary patrolman, unless you had some sort of extraordinary qualifications.”
“but surely, sir, you must know some homicide detectives?” joe persisted.
“why no, i do not believe i have ever made the personal acquaintance of one.”
“you haven’t?”
joe was shocked. how could a person reach an advanced age living in a large city and not know a single homicide detective?
he wondered if he should ask the sage if he knew any trained deadly assassins, or any vampire hunters?
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