Easy Come...

Posted on Fri 12th Feb, 2021 @ 11:57pm by Yuliette Marayan Dr. & Li Kainon
Edited on on Fri 12th Feb, 2021 @ 11:58pm

1,310 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Business Not At All As Usual
Location: Brown Sector

Javir Bonaventura had a new vest. It was hand painted silk and the stitching was very fine. He compulsively flattened and re-flattened it under his fingers, enjoying the new brush of the catchless fibers, while also patting the very full pockets.

After that brute Radak had played his part and hit the mat, not everyone at the fight had been able to settle their bets with Bo in coin or credit but Bo was, as always, quite reasonable about it, and had accepted other valuables in place of cash. Having done so naturally presented him with an extra burden, as not even Bo had need of so many watches, fancy plated communicator brooches, bill folds, bracelets, rings for fingers, bellies, and ears, lucky GPL coins, and the likenesses of various saints and emissaries in trinket form. He had decided to be more careful fencing the small weaponry this time— klingon fighting knives, alloyed knuckles, antique phasers and such— as the last time he’d attempted to move small arms without a permit it hadn’t gone quite so smoothly as he had hoped. Those were secreted away for the time being and definitely not on his person. Aside from the merchandise in need of moving, Bo also was now the not-so-proud owner of certificates of various large farming equipment and had half the deed to an emu breeding operation, but he had plans yet for those.

“I’d like to sell these in a lot—” he said as he displayed a board of jewelry to one very charming Orion second-hand clothing shop owner who liked to chew her gum directly in his face. Bo made a great effort to keep his eyes on hers. He wasn’t about to be manipulated.

“I don’t know, Bo,” she said, “I haven’t got a lot of liquid cash around right now. And stock like that tends to walk. I try to keep more to the clothing than the accessories.”

“I suppose I could be convinced to break it into smaller sets.” Bo sighed as if she were the one making the suggestion...

The clothing store was off the main market, down a narrow and meandering corridor holding shops that couldn’t afford a spot on the regular marketplace. As a result, they had to hustle for business a little more than usual, and Kainon had come to know them pretty well. There were always people looking to either take advantage of or about to be taken advantage of at these smaller, tucked away shops.

Kainon could see which direction things were going as soon as he saw Bo standing in Zereba’s clothing store, toting a small pile in goods. Kainon watched through the open door for a minute while Bo and Zereba talked, and he heard about all the things he was trying to sell.

“These particular pendants have all been blessed at holy sites on Bajor. Look—” Bo held one up for her, turning it in his fingers and taking a magnifying loop from his breast pocket of his new vest. He gave the glass a huff and a polish and held it up for her to see the markings on the back. “Observe for yourself— the inscriptions are genuine. These always fetch a handsome price around here in the gift market.”

“Huh.” Zereba squinted and looked thoughtful, rolling her gum around under her tongue. “Yeah, I guess they are the real deal.”

“These are likely to fetch two hundred fifty each. But I'll give you the set of them at fifty percent of retail. I know you have so much overhead.”

“Alright, yeah. They'll probably move.” She agreed. “I always did like Bajoran stuff.”

“Fantastic. And these timepieces. You would do very well to offer more mens accessories. These are each crafted by some very notable designers and artisans. I’ve checked into each one and, assuredly, none of them are replications.”

“I like that watch,” Kainon said. “That’s a good looking piece.” Kainon came up behind Bo. “Hey, Zee,” he said to the Orion working the counter while he took one of the watches, peering at it. “This is nice, Bo. How much for one of these?”

“Hey Sheriff,” she offered him a stick of gum, holding it out. She’d seen him coming while Bo had jumped just a little at his voice, his teeth suddenly set on edge.

Bo cleared his throat and wondered just how long Kainon had been listening. It hardly mattered. Kainon was not a customer at any price. He was always skeptical of Bo and had to make things unnecessarily difficult at every turn. Bo’s arm throbbed and he rubbed his shoulder defensively. “I’m sorry, I’m not retailing anything at the moment. These are lots.”

“Oh, they’re lots,” Kainon said, taking the stick of gum from Zereba. “So that means you’re not selling them one at a time, or what? I’m not a sales guy.” He popped the gum into his mouth and reached down to pick up one of the Bajoran pendants. “My mom has one of these. Brought it from Bajor.”

“I remember that necklace!” Zereba said. “She let me wear it once, to a dance.”

Bo was miffed. No one had offered him any gum. And he hadn’t recalled being invited to any dances. “That’s right. I’m wholesaling these so our fine shopkeeping friends can make the profit in retail. After Zereba finalizes her purchase, I’m sure she can decide on a fair retail value with you.”

Kainon nodded and set down one of the pendants. “I remember that dance,” he said, picking up another pendant. He held it up in the light, inspecting it. “That looks authentic.” He looked back at Zereba. “Did you have a good time? At the dance? It was the...anniversary thing, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, when they had out all the streamers and the lights and there was live music. It was a lot of fun…” she said a little slyly. “But I didn’t get to dance with—” Zereba shook her head. “Aw, it was a long time ago, seems like.”

Bo was exasperated. Here he had been making progress and Kainon was ruining his sale by cutting in and flirting with the mark. “So the pendants and the watches, then?” Bo attempted to redirect.

“I think they’re great,” Kainon said, looking at Bo. He put down the pendant and picked up one of the watches. “What is this, Klingon numerals. Surprisingly elegant.” He put it over his wrist, and looked at Zereba again. “Who didn’t you get to dance with?”

“Well, we danced, of course, you and me…” She had been just sixteen at the time, energetic and sassy, and Kainon had been a bit older and a real gentleman when she had practically accosted him for a dance. The memory still embarrassed her on account of her younger, filter-less self. “But Radak. He wouldn’t dance. I asked him like two or three times.”

Kainon blew out a sigh and nodded, setting down the watch and picking up another. “I’ve never seen Radak dance. I hope you didn’t take it personal. He’s not what you’d call a demonstrative person.”

Bo’s eyes tracked Kainon as he touched all of the merchandise.

“Ah,” Zereba nodded. “All this time and I thought maybe he didn’t like me! I thought maybe I’d made a fool of myself as a kid and put him off. But that makes sense. He is real quiet.”

“Oh, yeah. Don’t take it that way.” He looked at Bo again. “Bo, jeez, I’m sorry. I forgot you were there. How much for this watch, again?” He held up the watch in his hand.

(TBC in "...Easy Go")

 

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