"Listen, ma'am," I said, trying to diffuse the tension. "We're really sorry!"
My friend shrugged. "I'm not."
"Not helping, Jeff," I snarled at him, under my breath.
The old woman merely glared at the both of us. Her right eye bulged out at us, almost as if it were about to pop out of its socket. Her hunched figure shook with rage as she looked us straight in the eyes. Oddly enough, I couldn't bring myself to look away.
It has all started a few minutes earlier when we first got on the bus. We were on our way to meet up with some friends of ours and see a movie. Jeff and I took to only available seats, right next to this old woman. He body was so hunched she was practically doubled over. Her frail shoulders were covered by a shawl that looked hand-made, and I was pretty sure she didn't have any teeth. Across her lap, she held a hook-ended walking cane. She had gotten up to leave, but had left her purse behind, sitting on the floor under her seat. I saw Jeff nudge it with his feet under his own seat.
"Dude, what are you doing?"
He had kept his mouth closed but I could see a satisfied smirk cross his smug face. Jeff was probably the worst person I knew, but we had known each other since elementary school and were now roommates, so I usually let things slide with him. Still, stealing an old woman's purse?
"Dude!"
Jeff had sighed. "Listen, I'll give it back. I just wanna... take a look inside, first. Then we'll turn it in to lost and found."
Suddenly, there had been a commotion at the front of the bus. A thickly accented, elderly voice was calling out. "Wait! Wait! I forgot my things!"
The old woman quickly made her way to the back of the bus, where Jeff and I were sitting. She reached around under the seat. Not finding her purse, she turned to us.
"You two! Where are my things?"
Jeff shrugged and held up his open palms. "Sorry, ma'am. I dunno."
She scowled at Jeff and turned to me. "I know I just had them here. Where are my things?"
I opened my mouth, unsure what to say. I knew telling her that her purse was under Jeff's seat was the right thing to do, but Jeff and I had been friends for almost our whole lives. I couldn't just sell him out like that. So I just sat there, dumb expression on my face and mouth open. That probably didn't help matters at all.
"Liars!" she barked. "I know my things were here! What have you done with them?"
By this point, the entire bus was looking back at us. A couple people had even pulled out smart phones. I glanced over at Jeff, but he just sat there, smugly, waiting for her to leave. That was the thing about Jeff, he always thought he never had to answer to anybody.
She eyed the space under Jeff's seat. With surprising speed for an old woman her age, she thrust her cane between Jeff's legs and fished out her purse.
That pretty much brings us back to the beginning. I immediately began apologizing for both of us, but that only seemed to make the old woman angrier.
She pointed an accusing finger at both of us. "The two of you are liars! Liars and thieves!" Though I couldn't be sure, it felt like the temperature on the bus dropped by several degrees. "From this point forward, everything that you speak, will be the truth!" Despite it being a sunny day outside, there was a clearly audible thunder clap.
The old woman then turned on her heel and marched off the bus, leaving us with out accusing audience.
I was relieved to finally be off the bus and finally join out friends at the theater. Of course, none of this had bothered Jeff one bit.
"You just gotta let stuff go, man." He smirked again. "You win some you lose some."
I shook my head. "How do you even do this kind of stuff? Why did you even try to steal her purse in the first place? Why didn't I say anything? Now everyone on that bus thinks I'm some sort of thief."
Jeff sighed, slightly annoyed. "Drop it, dude. You'll probably never see them again, anyway."
We finally arrived at the theater and I saw Dan and Kent waiting for us. Dan was fairly tall with short, dark hair. He was pretty athletic and it showed in his physique. Kent wasn't as tall as Dan, but he was rail thin with bright red hair. Meanwhile, Jeff was kind of short and a little on the chubby side. Jeff wasn't the kind of guy who cared about appearance, so he had a constant case of bed hair and only shaved about once a week, giving him a messy, stubbly beard.
Dan looked over at us as we arrived and grinned. "Hey, there you guys are. We were beginning to think you were going to be late.
Jeff shrugged. "Yeah, whatever. We ran into this crazy gypsy lady on the way here."
Kent had been paying more attention to the movie posters on the walls, but something Jeff had said caught his attention. "Gypsy? Like, what do you mean?"
Jeff rolled his eyes. "Pfsh! I don't know, man. Does it even matter? Are we going to watch a movie or what?"
Dan, nodded. "Yeah, sure. Just let me get some snacks, first."
Jeff nudged Dan in his toned abs. "You sure about that? You're looking kind of soft, guy."
Dan rolled his eyes. "Very funny. I'll only be a minute."
As he left for the concessions stand, Kent turned to Jeff and I, a curious expression on his face. "So, you ran into a gypsy. What happened?"
Jeff scowled, clearly not wanting to discuss it. "She just got mad at us and left. That's it. Why? Does it matter?"
Kent shrugged. "I... I suppose not. I'm just curious is all. She didn't... curse you, did she?"
Jeff suppressed a laugh. "Do you actually believe that stuff?"
Kent's face turned red in embarrassment. "What? I.. No! Of course not! That'd be... that'd be ridiculous."
Thankfully, the tension was broken as Dan returned, carrying a large tub of popcorn in one arm and a handful of theater snacks in the other. "Alright, guys. I'm ready."
I'd never seen him order so many snacks at a theater before. Usually it was just one small container and that'd be it. But that wasn't the only thing I was looking at. As I mentioned, Dan actually had a pretty toned, athletic build. He was by no means a professional athlete or body building, but you could tell he was a guy that liked to stay in shape. However, under his shirt I could make out the prominent bulge of a gut that had most certainly not been there a minute ago. Oddly enough, his clothes still seemed to fit him just fine. As I looked closer, his face seemed to be a bit rounder, as did his arms. Overall he looked... softer.
I looked back at Jeff and Kent. Jeff seemed to be staring at Dan's figure as well. Kent, however, didn't seem to notice anything amiss. He merely nodded at Dan as he approached.
Kent gestured at Dan's myriad of snacks. "I don't suppose any of those are for me."
Dan shook his head. "Not a chance."
"Of course not."
As Dan and Kent made their way toward the theater rooms, Jeff and I lagged behind. Jeff leaned toward me. "When I said Dan was looking softer, I didn't mean that literally."
"He did not look like that a second ago. Maybe it's the lighting?"
"He's eating like a fat boy, too. Did you see all those snacks?"
"Jeff!"
"Well he is! You saw! I swear, he's gained a hundred pounds!"
I shrugged. Jeff was exaggerating to be sure. Dan looked to have gained 30 pounds at most. The point still stood, though.
As we entered the theater, we were a bit early, yet, so the house lights were still up. I watched Dan as he led the way, finding the perfect seat. Then I noticed something very odd. His once athletic figure was filling out. The small gut he had acquired was quickly growing. His face continued to round out, giving him full chubby cheeks. His pecs lost their definition, forming a pair of lumps under his shirt, which, somehow, still fit him perfectly fine. His enlarged gut rounded out and drooped over the waist of his jeans. Even his thighs and rear joined in, filling out in size. Even his arms seemed to soften. Pretty soon, it looked like he had indeed gained one hundred pounds.
Still, Dan didn't seem to notice a thing. Finding a seat, a squeezed himself in. Kent sat next to him, seemingly oblivious to what had happened to out formerly athletic friend. Jeff and I stood back, staring.
Then it hit me. "She said everything we said would be true."
Jeff turned to me, a mix of confusion and annoyance on his face. "What?"
"The gypsy woman. She told us everything we said would be true. What if that didn't mean that we couldn't lie, but that no matter what we said, it would come true?"
Jeff stared at me for a moment, before shaking his head. "No... No, don't be stupid. That would be..." He looked back at Dan, who was quickly shoving popcorn into his face, despite the fact that even the previews had yet to start. "Oh man..."
Dan looked down to us. "You guys coming or not?"