"What is something you never leave home without?"
"You're hoping I'll say something fluffy like breath mints or my messenger bag, aren't you?"
Cliftown gulped, justifiably worried where I might take this.
"Well, I do have a tin of Spicy Jam's Gingermints; never know when you'll kiss someone." I grinned to show my teeth. I really didn't have the Kiss of Death. A total misconception I'd nurtured.
Cliftown hazarded a nervous smile, and pointed at the tome still on my lap from the last question.
I nodded, "That, too. Never pays to be bored. I've also used it in my bag to shield against a kick. Worked well, but I think I'll go with something else I aways carry. Bolt. My trophy."
Something bright flashed in the dark beyond the stage lights. I raised my hands and caught the thing that was wider than my hand with a clap. I triggered the bone-handled jackknife.
The mechanism sprung loudly.
The six-inch chromed-steel blade flashed and Cliftown jumped off her stool, stumbling back. She stuttered, "T-t-t-t—that's illegal." And razor sharp, too! From how the woman shook, I'd be willing to wager she'd been mugged once at knife point.
I levitated the knife, spinning it in the air above my palm.
"A woman gang member took exception that her guy wolf-whistled me, then tried to slit my throat when I hid in a dark alley. I took her toy away from her. Didn't get to mug anybody with it again."
Her eyes still locked on the knife, she asked, "W—what happened?"
"I tricked her into running face first into a wall. Since I now theoretically help make the laws, I'd argue it isn't illegal for me. I used it to save lives."
Still standing, my interviewer asked, "I may regret this, but how?"
I rotated my play toy to the horizontal, aligned to the space between a person's ribs—before pointing it away from anybody. I pantomimed throwing the knife with my hands, then with the heal of my hand, pushing it in. "I had to heal both the person I saved and my assassin, whom I stabbed. The whys and wherefores were complicated, let's leave it at that."
I clicked the knife closed. "Never leave home without it."
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