Just Friends With An Enemy

Geared Mistakes

★{ONE YEAR AGO}

He had been sitting there for a few minutes, looking around him, frequently. Marco hadn’t shown up. He also wanted to make sure no one was watching.

An officer showed up on the other side of the glass and Marco was right beside him. He had a low cut hair and some weird beards on his face.

“You have five minutes”, the officer said and walked away.

“Hey, Derek. I didn’t think you would abandon me for so long”, Marco said. “But I didn’t think you would show up, either”

“I’m sorry. How have you been?”, Derek asked. He wasn’t sure of how to start the conversation.

“I’ve been in jail, Derek”, Marco said. “I’ll be out, soon, though”.

“It’s good to hear that”, Derek replied. “I came with questions, Marco”.

“I didn’t see that coming but I hoped you’d come around, though”, Marco said. “It’s the same message I tried to pass, right?”

“I want to know what message you were trying to pass”, Derek asked. “But, uhm… did you do it?”

“I don’t know what they told you but I did nothing… at least, nothing to land me here”, Marco replied. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have joined the Circle. I joined and now they control all parts of my life”

“I don’t understand”, Derek said. “I’m about to join the Circle and I need to know why not to”

“Because they can see everything, the moment you join”, Marco said, “They will control everything you do and everything that surrounds you. You want to know what brought me here? I almost got the secret”

“You didn’t get the secret and they put you in here for that?”, Derek asked, doubtfully.

“My advice for you is that you stay away from the Circle while you still can”, Marco sighed. “When Jordan has his eyes on you, you’ll know he’s watching… I was charged with defrauding a client of the company. I don’t even work in that department but, guess what, there are a lot of proofs against me. When I think about it, all I see is Jordan’s broken eye staring at me”

“Your story is ridiculous but”, Derek said and shook his head. “I believe you”.

“Ypu don’t-“

“I do. You’re the same Marco I’ve always known”, Derek said. “I’ll get out of there while I can”

A different officer walked in to take Marco away. “Time’s up”, he said.

Marco got up on his feet. “You can only leave if you are not in it yet. The moment you step in, there’s no turning back”, Marco said and followed the officer.

“Hey, dad”, Derek spoke to Mr. Biden, over the phone, immediately he left the prison. “I have to speak with you”

“You want to do it over the phone or you’ll wait for me to get home?”

“I don’t know how much time I have left to make this request”, Derek said. “It’s about the Circle”.

“Don’t worry about it, Derek”, Mr. Biden replied. “I have spoken to Jordan about it, long ago already, and he’s probably through with signing you up”.

“No, actually, I don’t want it anymore. I don’t want to be part of the Circle”

“What do you mean? Why’s that?”

“I’m just not interested in it, anymore”, Derek replied. “Can you just stop the signup?”

“Did your mom tell you something? Trust me when I say she knows nothing about the Circle”

“No. No one had to convince me. I just want to be free. Please, just get it done”

“We can’t reverse signups, son”, Mr. Biden replied. “You know what? Let’s talk about this when I get home. I’m pretty busy, right now”

**** ★ **** {PRESENT}

He was falling asleep, going through the files. Work at the office was pretty strenuous, coupled with the disturbing thoughts in his head. He heard the door open. His father was back from work. He rushed out of the room and walked down the stairs.

“Dad?”

“Derek?”, Mr. Biden called back, in a dull voice.

“I got a call from the guy. He wants me to bring the money and meet with him”

“When did he call you?”

“This morning, when I left the meeting”, Derek replied.

“That’s the last call you’d hear from him. We already took care of him”* Mr. Biden said and kept walking towards his room.

“How did you take care of him if you didn’t give him money?”, Derek asked. “What is the blackmail shield stratagem?”

“I don’t want to lie to you, Derek. Don’t make me”, Mr. Biden said and kept walking.

“If you don’t want to lie, why don’t you just tell me the truth?!”

“Because I’m not meant to!”, Mr. Biden yelled back. “Do you think I wanted you to be part of this in the first place?”

“When I asked that you cancel the signup, why didn’t you just do it? Why did you go ahead with it?”

“I wanted to cancel the signup, long before you even knew anything about the Circle!”, Mr. Biden said. He looked broken, like he had no control. “There’s a whole lot of money but there’s no peace, son”

“Just talk to me”, Derek said, softly. “I want to know everything. What are you scared of? What are you hiding? What did you do to the man with the badge? What happened with Marco?”

“Marco did the same thing you are doing!”, Mr. Biden retorted. “Put an end to this curiosity or-“

“Or what?! I’ll end up in jail like Marco did? I’m sure he never actually committed a fraud, did he?”, Derek asked and sat on the couch. He was nervous and sweaty. “I came across a file in there. I haven’t seen it in my life; not before yesterday.. There was my-“

“Signature. You found your signature on it”, Mr. Biden completed his statement and say down too.

“Did you forge my signature?”, Derek asked, calmly.

“No, I didn’t… The Circle did. That’s one of the things the Circle is capable of doing”

“You said you wanted to cancel the signup before I even got to know about the Circle. What did you mean by that?”

“When you said you wanted to be a part of the Circle, I would have shut you up”, Mr. Biden said. “I would have convinced you to detest it and stay away from it… but I was needed to convince you to join. Since you already showed interest, it was easier for me to get you to join. You didn’t choose to be a part of the Circle, the Circle chose to pull you in… and trust me, it wasn’t my choice, either…. ‘Cause they see everything, they control everything, and the moment you step in, there’s no turning back…”

***★***

If he just played along, said nothing and acted normal, things could just seem normal and there would be nothing to worry about. He just didn’t want to be part of a team of criminals, if that’s what the Circle was about. He didn’t believe the part where they see everything or that they control everything but he wanted to know what his father meant by that. Marco had said the same thing, too.

It was morning. He remained on his bed, staring at the ceilings for a lot longer than he should. He looked at the wall clock, consistently, and it was obvious he was late, already. Amy could call him, at any time. He picked up his phone and dialed his mom’s number. The phone beeped for a few seconds and it stopped. His mom wasn’t picking up the phone. He called again. His mom didn’t pick up the phone. He hadn’t called his mom, for a pretty long time. He dialed her number again, intended to be the last time for the day.

“Hello, Derek?”

“Hey, mom”

“Wow, Derek. You haven’t called in a very long time”, she said. “I wasn’t expecting you to call anymore”

“I have questions, mom. I didn’t call you. You didn’t call me, either. We both have faults”

“The last time you visited Uncle Jack, I told him to pass a message to you. Did you get it?”

“Yea. Was it so important?”, Derek asked. “I didn’t think you’d remember that. It’s almost a year, now”

“Yea. It’s damn important. Did you check on him?”

“Yes. I checked on Marco”, Derek replied. “He gave me an advice but I didn’t take it. That’s one of the reasons I’m calling”

“You didn’t join the Circle, did you?”, his mom asked. She was trying to control her voice from shaking but Derek could sense her efforts at it.

“I’m sorry, mom. I was already signed up before that day”, Derek said. “I want to know why you gave me the advice. I want to know what you know about the Circle”

“I can’t say a lot, Derek. You’ve made a mistake by joining”

“I really didn’t have a choice, mom”, Derek said. “Dad’s acting weird about this and you are doing the same. Tell me what you know, mom”

“I know less. Your dad portrayed the Circle to be great but I was the one who saw his pain. They were controlling him and when he said they demanded that you join the team, I fought against it. I was going to leave with you but you chose to stay with your dad. I don’t know what he did to brainwash you or maybe the Circle controlled that too. I had to leave before I become a target”.

“What do they do?”, Derek asked.

“Your father will never tell”, his mom replied. “You’ve stepped in, son. I’m afraid for you”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t stop it, son”, Derek said. “But, trust me, I will end this”

“Be careful, son. They are powerful”.

“Goodbye, mom”, Derek said. “I’ll call you, as often as everyday. Promise you’ll pick up the phone”

“I have no reason not to”, his mom replied. “Have a good day”.

He wasn’t sure of what to do next. He definitely wasn’t thinking of going to work and he was mentally prepared to face whatever the consequences are. He got up from his bed and stood in front of the mirror. His exhaustion was obvious on his face, unlike the other vibrant days. The warnings were slowly beginning to sink in, stealing his desired rest from him His phone beeped. Amy was calling. He knew Amy would call him. It was her job, after all.

“Morning, Amy”, he answered the call.

“Good morning, Derek. Where are you?”

“I’m home, on my bed”, Derek replied, casually.

“You’re late, already… and I think there’s some Mr. Jordan here to see you”, Amy replied. “What should I tell him?”

“He’s with Mr. Biden, right?”

“Perfect guess. They are both waiting in Mr. Biden’s office”

Derek sighed. “Tell them you couldn’t reach me”, he said. “Listen! This call never happened, ok?”

“Uhm.. ok”, Amy replied and ended the call.

Derek looked back into the mirror. “Ok, Mr. Derek Biden. We should get a new haircut”, he muttered to himself. “A good drink and, maybe, a makeover”

*★*

“Leonardo? I’m tired. What should we do?”, Troy asked, staring dumbly at the sky.

“We got farm work to do”, Terry replied in a similarly dull voice. “But I’m not doing s**t. Not today”

“I feel like hunting. It’s been a long time”, Leonardo said. “We should try it, don’t you think?”

“We really should try it… and we’ll have to take the other way because of you, right?”, Terry replied.

“You have no choice”, Leonardo said. “None of us can go there, today”.

“Farmers? You’re not off to work yet?”, a female voice called, from the back.

“Good morning, Susan!”, they chorused.

“How was your night?”, Leonardo asked.

“It was beautiful”, Susan replied and the door opened. Emily walked out, getting ready to go to work.

“Hey, Emily. You look like s**t, this morning”, Troy said. “Did Susan wake you, too early?”

“I chose to wake early. I’ve been getting late to work, too frequently. I want to make an exception, today. You’re not going to the farm?”

“Leonardo is keeping us here”, Terry said, looking at Leonardo like he would punch his face.

“What?! I just gave us an idea to go hunting”, Leonardo said.

“Who likes hunting?”, Troy retorted. “Those raccoons have set traps everywhere. If we go hunting, we won’t be blaming you for keeping us here, we’ll be blaming you for turning us to a breakfast meal for filthy skunks.”

“I’ll just get back inside, Emily”, Susan said and waved her goodbye. “Be back early”

Emily waved back and walked to the three arguing farmers. “I don’t care about the hunting idea. Why are you avoiding the farm?”.

“It’s Leonardo’s fault!”, Troy and Terry chorused.

“I did a normal thing. Everybody does it. Mara was just being paranoid”, Leonardo said, looking guilty.

“What did you do, Leo?”, Emily asked.

“I kissed her. It was a swift quick granny kind of kiss”, Leonardo said. “She just snapped and then the other two showed up, staring at me like they all share the same lips”

Emily laughed. “I’m pretty sure you probably didn’t brush your teeth when you did it”

“Come on! Who brushes his teeth so early in the morning?!!”

“Oh, yea. Nobody”, Troy agreed.

“That’s true, though”, Terry also agreed.

“Girls do, you know?”, Emily said. “You guys really should brush your teeth before you speak to a girl”

“What did her lips feel like?”, Terry asked Leonardo.

“You should focus on Tara”, Leonardo retorted. “But those lips were soft as damn! You should have felt it”

“Really? You’d let me?”

“No. Never”

“The three of you are clowns”, Emily said. “I think you guys should go and apologize to them”

“You know what I think? Lara was jealous”, Troy said. “She’s always made that sexy eyes that pulls me to kiss her but I’m always like ‘I’m a virgin. Let’s not do it right now', then we’ll just keep doing whatever we were doing. I think I should kiss her… and you should kiss your girl, too, Terry”.

“That sounds like a bad idea but however way it works. Let me know”, Emily said and checked the time on her phone. “Oh my God! I’m late. You guys delayed me again”.

She got up, quickly, and started running to work. The farmers laughed heartily, mocking her as she ran.

“So we’ll go to the farm now?”, Troy asked.

“You heard what Emily said. We should just apologize and fix this”, Terry said.

“I think the kissing part does the job”, Troy replied. “Let’s do the kissing”

“May I remind you a kiss brought us into this?”, Leonardo said. “Let’s just apologize, please”

“You have no say, Leo. You are the only one who has kissed a girl”, Terry snapped. “We got to do ours, too”

“No problem. As long as it’ll make three of us”, Leonardo replied. “You can’t hold it over my head, anymore”

**★**

“Emily! Welcome. You’re late, again!”, Frank said. “Come here, Jonah. Jot this”

“I’m sorry. I got caught up with some work stuff”, Emily replied and walked straight into the kitchen. They were still cooking. Apparently, they were late, too. “Wow! While I thought I was late!”

“Hey, Emily”, Sharon greeted. “Even Frank was late, today. Did the guy call you? The guy you gave your number to”

“I told you the number was fake. I just made it up”, Emily replied, as she joined in turning the flour.

“Hello? Who’s here? Someone’s hungry!”, a customer yelled from outside.

“Oh my God! Is anything ready?”, Emily asked Sharon.

“Yea, actually. Attend to him”

Emily walked out of the kitchen to meet the clearly hungry customer. “Good morning, sir. What may we offer you?”

The man’s frown quickly faded. “um.. You work here?”, the man asked, smiling.

“You’re married?”, Emily asked, staring at the ring on his finger.

“What? There’s no way that’s possible”, the man said and removed the ring. “My wife- sorry, my mother- wanted me to practice with the ring for when I find my desired partner. Somehow, I may be staring at one”

“Why don’t we talk love after you’ve eaten? It’s sweeter that way”, Emily played along.

“I actually don’t mind the hunger. I feel like my heart will drop out, any moment from now”

“That’s one of the symptoms of impending ulcer. Trust me, when it strikes, the love will disappear”, Emily explained, dramatically. “So let’s save our love story with the nice meal I’m about to serve you”

The man sat down, smiling like he had won a jackpot.

“So what do we have?”, Emily asked Sharon, as she walked into the kitchen. “We can give him anything. I took care of that”.

“Hello? There’s an hungry man here!”, another customer called.

“Where did Frank go?”, Sharon asked, quietly.

“Am I supposed to know?”, Emily replied. “Let me check on him. Serve the other man”.

“I’m going to nibble on your table if you don’t show up in the next-“, the customer was saying when Emily walked out of the kitchen.

“Your food will be served in a few seconds, sir”, Emily said to the first customer and winked at him. He winked back and smiled, widely. Emily walked to the second customer. “Sorry for keeping you waiting, sir. If you nibble on the table, you’ll pay for it without enjoying it”

The man brought his head closer and whispered. “Is that man your husband? I see you have no ring”

“I have no intention of marrying him but I can break up with him for the sake of you alone, the moment you spend a hundred dollars in this restaurant”, Emily said, smiling seductively.

“I have to spend a hundred dollars in a day?”

“You don’t have to spend a hundred dollars in a day”, Emily replied, still whispering. “I will write down your name and calculate how much you spend in here. When it’s up to a hundred dollars, I will show you the true meaning of Love”

“Ok. I’ll take that offer”, the man replied, smiling. “What do you have? I’m pretty hungry and eager to spend”

“Note this; if another man beats you to it and is ready to take me, I’ll withdraw the offer”, Emily said. “You just got to be fast”

“Well, then. Give me your most expensive meal”, the man said. “Your husband won’t know what hit him”.

“At all”, Emily replied and walked back into the kitchen.

“What does the second man want?”, Sharon asked.

“The most expensive meal we have. Let it be noted that I am the source of this restaurant’s net worth and I generate the most revenue for us”, Emily said, proudly. “Please, I don’t want to attend to any more male customer, for the rest of the day”

“Why is that? You want to get a leave or what?”

“I’m sure that man is going to wait after his meal and want us to talk about love. It’s annoying”

“You shouldn’t have allowed him, in the first place”, Sharon replied. “I’m sure the same applies to the second customer. What did you tell that one?”

“He thinks I’m in a relationship with the first man”, Emily replied. “I told him I will break up with the man for his sake, the moment he spends a hundred dollars in this restaurant. He bought the idea”

“As much as I love that idea, that’s fraud. Go and serve him before he changes his mind about loving you.”

***★***

He wasn’t ready to get caught for driving drunk so he went for a ginger ale. Derek had driven around the whole of Novel City, barely seeing the road. He ignored every beep on his phone without even bothering to check who was calling. He turned up the volume.

?I've crossed every line

Broken every boundary

And now it's retribution time

'Cause the church that I went to

It ain't that holy

So strike me down, take me away

Debts are due, it's time to pay

Face what I deserve

Here comes judgement day

I won't run, the guilt is mine

Too long denying all my crimes

Face what I deserve

Here comes judgement day?

He could barely hear any other thing than the song, blasting through the stereo; Judgement Day by Stealth. It wasn’t his favorite song but, at the moment, the melody soothed his feelings. He drove out of Novel City, travelling through a bush path. He couldn’t get lost. He just kept going, travelling into a countryside. He could swear he had never been there, since he was born. The atmosphere seemed a lot different than the city he had just driven out of. He wind down the car window and looked out at the surrounding houses. The village was less packed, compared to the city. The houses were also smaller and scanty.

“Wow! This is a whole new world”, he muttered to himself. “Don’t get lost, Derek”.

His phone beeped again. The music had stopped so the beeping seemed louder. He looked into his phone. “Not now, dad”, he said to himself, losing focus on the road. The car seemed to have driven over something, turning him away from the road. He lost control of the car and slammed it into a tree.