Chapter 12

Spellbound Pages Bookshop, Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States

"Where are you taking college classes that you've been assigned so many books to read?" the guy who Gen supposed was named Boon asked.

She groaned. "Apparently, the school of good and evil taught by the devil himself."

"I don't know, you are pretty lucky in my book," Boon said, his eyes wide with excitement. "This looks like an ultra-violet paradise for me. Can I be your study partner?"

Gen needed help, but probably not from a hipster who wouldn't understand her plight of needing to take a crash course in the last six hundred years of moral philosophy. She smiled politely. "I prefer to study alone. Can you help me find the books?"

"Most of them," he answered, glancing at the list. "But we don't have all of them. Some are rather obscure. But we do have these: Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill, Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre and my favorite, What We Owe to Each Other by T.M. Scanlon."

Boon trotted down a neighboring aisle, scanning the many spines with concentration. His face brightened when he apparently found what he was looking for. "Here we go, the greatest source on how we should live our life." The hipster held up a small book. He tapped the cover. "In this, T.M. Scanlon introduces contractualism which states actions are right if they can be justified to others based on principles they cannot reasonably reject."

"Ummmm…say what?" Gen asked, wondering if her communication device suddenly wasn't working. "I didn't follow what you just said."

He nodded, his tiny mustache twitching with a smile slightly. "Imagine a trendy, eco-conscious coffee shop in LA, known for its strict adherence to sustainability and fair trade practices. The owner faces a dilemma when a popular coffee bean supplier is exposed for using labor practices that, while legal, are widely considered exploitative. Applying T.M. Scanlon's contractualism, the owner decides to discontinue their relationship with the supplier, despite the financial setback and the popularity of the coffee among customers."

"I'm strangely following you so far," Gen said when Boon paused.

"Good," he chirped. "The decision the owner made is grounded in the principle that supporting the supplier could not be justified to the shop's patrons if they reasonably rejected the exploitative labor practices behind the beans. In line with contractualism, the action reflects a moral judgment based on the idea that ethical business practices must be defensible to others based on mutually acceptable principles."

Gen nodded. "So, an action is morally right if everyone affected by it can reasonably agree to the principles behind it…"

"Well, that's a bit oversimplified, but sure," he replied, handing her the book. "Now, the next one on your list is over here, I believe…"

The ghost of the grouchy man floated through one of the shelves, not paying attention to them before crossing through another row. He wasn't carrying a book, making it possible for him to pass through the solid structure without issue.

"So there's a ghost who works here at this bookshop," Gen pondered.

Boon glanced over his shoulder at her, absentmindedly, his focus distracted by his search. "Oh, Bernard Black doesn't work here as much as he won't leave. This used to be his bookshop, but he drank himself to death and now he hangs around, continuing to shelve books. The cat, Fran, is also his and she won't leave either and is about as ornery as him."

"Well, that's nice that he helps around the shop," Gen related, taking one of the books that Boon pulled from the shelves.

The hipster laughed, shaking his head. "Summer doesn't think it's that nice. She feels useless around here and is afraid of losing her job. But really, she is just hoping that Walter will give her the shop."

"Oh, really?" Gen asked. "Is he her father?"

"Nope," Boon answered. "Just an employee but she's been asking to buy Spellbound Pages for ages. Walter won't part with it because he and his wife owned the shop together. She died years ago and he is still mourning her. The shop is all he has left of her, so I can't blame the guy for not wanting to sell even if he is closed off to every one of my ideas."

"Yeah, he said that he had to put bars on the windows," Gen began, pointing to the front of the shop. "What's that about?"

Boon went back to searching for the books on Gen's list. "Crime has gotten even more out of control in this area. Police patrols have pretty much vanished overnight. And with lack of law enforcement presence, well, the thieves are out in droves. I can't argue that it's a problem, but I think Walter is stuck in his ways and unwilling to consider anything to innovate the bookshop. I mean, when we don't change…we die."

"Oh, my God!" someone screamed from the front of the shop. "He's dead!"