Just Friends With An Enemy

Emily

“Dad?... Dad!”, Emily’s soft young voice called, as she ran out of her room. “Mom?”

She was certain they were leaving again. They had promised to stay with her. Whenever she heard the sound of a revving engine, outside the house, she knew her dad was taking another job. She didn’t understand how important it was for her dad to leave. All she knew was she was always left behind.

“Hey, Emily. You’ve not slept”, Her dad bent on a knee and carefully ran his hand over her hair.

“You’re going again. You said you would stay”

“Yes, Emily… but Daddy has to go now”, he replied. “I will be back in no time. I’ll buy you a teddy and if this works out for us, we can buy a bigger house. You want a bigger house, right?”

Emily nodded. “When will you be back?”

“Very soon, Emily”, her dad replied and opened the door so Emily could see the car. “If the driver smiles, we’ll be back by the morning. If he frowns, that probably means it might take a while. Trust me, Emily”

“Is mom going with you?”

“I’ll stay with you, honey”, her mom said. “Daddy will be back in no time”

The man kissed his daughter on her forehead and placed his hands on her cheek. “Be a good girl”, he said and stood up.

“Go to bed, Emily. I’ll watch your father leave us”, her mom said.

“No, I want to watch too”, Emily replied and remained there.

The man pulled a small bag and walked out, followed by his wife. “Stay in, Emily. It’s dark and dangerous out here”.

“I’m not scared”, Emily said and tried to run out after them. The door slammed itself close. “Mom? Dad?”

She banged her hands on the door, repeatedly, calling their names. It felt like she could see through the door. She could see the car. She could see her parents holding hands and chatting, beside the car. “Open the door!”, she cried, banging harder. The man leaned closer and kissed his wife. He opened the car door and entered. Emily stopped knocking. She just watched from where she stood. She wasn’t going to change anything if she got out, anyway.

The woman stood by the car, holding the door open, for a few seconds. Emily wondered what they were still talking about. She looked away for a second, as her father’s words replayed in her head. She didn’t need to be worried. Things would be better when he gets back. Emily leaned on the door and looked again. Her mother was no longer standing beside the car. The car was still there, still revving, and the door was already closed. She wondered where her mother might have walked to, looking around and searching with her eyes. Then, her eyes caught her mother in the car. She was sitting beside her husband in the car, like they were traveling together. Emily banged the door. “Mom!”.

They looked at her and waved their hands.

“Mom!?”, She banged harder. “Open this door! Where are you going?!!”

The driver looked at Emily. He had no mouth; just his eyes, his nose and every other part of a normal human’s face, except the mouth. He was a mute and he wasn’t smiling. Rather, he looked… Angry.

The car zoomed off and Emily could see nothing else. She found herself staring at the brown wooden door. She stopped banging and simply pulled the door open. There was no car or anyone outside. It was just the car tracks and the cold dark night.

A deafening thunder shook her up from her sleep. It was like the roof was going to drop on her head. There was a storm outside. It was almost as dark as the colour black. She got up from her bed and reached for the torch. She felt cold and weak but the thunder seemed to have scared away her sleep. She walked out of her room, letting the torchlight lead the way. She walked slowly to the sitting room. Her aunt sat by the dining table, holding a frame in hand.

“Aunt Susan?”, she called. “Where’s mum?”

Susan dropped the frame on the table and wiped her eyes, quickly. “Emily. Go back to bed. They will be back soon”

“Where did they go? Why aren’t they back yet?”

“I’m sure they are on their way back, already”, Susan said and walked to Emily. “Come on. I’ll sleep beside you”.

Susan pulled Emily back to a room and forced a smile. “I’m sure they are coming with good news. Your dad won his contract”, she said, to cheer Emily up. That was a lie and she would regret it.

Emily never saw either of his parents again, after that night.

**** {Six Years Later}

“Emily?”, Susan called, from the kitchen, immediately she heard the door open. “I know you’re home.”

“I am… Sorry I’m late”, Emily replied and joined her to do the dishes. “I was helping out in the farm”

“Troy has to give us tubers when it’s time for harvest. Sam asked of you”, Susan said. “He said it was pretty important to talk to you”

“I’ll go see him”, Emily said. “I was hoping he’d show up”

“Ok. I guess he’s the one, now?”

“He’s what?”

“You know what I’m saying”, Susan said. “Your life as a teenager was horrible. You’re grown now and everybody has one special person that makes their heart skip”

“Yea, but he’s never around”, Emily replied. “He’s always too busy to come around.”

“He wants to see you now. Hopefully, he’s making time to be with you, more often”

“I don’t know what to say about that. I barely know anything about him”

“What more do you plan to know about him?”

“I don’t know. He just-“

There was a knock on the door. Emily walked over to check who it was. “Sam? You want to come in?”

“No. You come out”, Sam replied in a stern voice.

“What’s up with the attitude?”, Emily asked as she walked out.

“What’s this?”, Sam asked, raising his phone which displayed a picture of the two of them.

“A picture of us. You have a problem with it?”

“Yes. Yes, I do”, Sam replied. “The picture and the caption. My girlfriend saw this!”

“Excuse me? What do you mean by ‘your girlfriend saw this'?”

“I hope you’re not insinuating what I’m thinking right now”, Sam said, staring meanly at her. “I barely even know you”

Emily swallowed her words. She barely knew him too. She shouldn’t have thought he liked her. “I’m sorry. What do you want me to do?”

“I need you to delete the post”, Sam replied. “And you can stay away from me, for a while, till I settle things with her”

“Fine. I’ll do that”, she said and walked back into the house. His words echoed in her ears and her brain felt like it was vibrating from the inside.

“Emily?”, Susan called, as Emily stormed into her room. She had heard every bit of the conversation and maybe it was her fault for giving Emily the wrong idea. She walked to Emily’s door and knocked softly. “Come on, Emily. Let’s talk”

“I don’t wanna talk about it”, Emily replied. “Just let me be and cry out my stupidity!”

Susan walked back, guiltily, to the kitchen. She might need Troy and his friends to get Emily back in time.

**********

It was going to be her first day at work. She woke up, as vibrant as she could be. An image of herself stared back at her from the mirror. “I look like crap”, she muttered. Her hair was roughened and her face was dull.

“Emily!? Are you up, yet?”, Susan called from the sitting room. “It’s time to kick a*s!”

“Good morning, Susan”, she replied and got up, quickly, rushing into the bathroom.

*★*

Susan had made eggs and was sitting by the dining table, staring at the hard wall. Emily would leave for work and she would be left at home. It was Emily’s first day so Susan was yet to get over it. She reached out and grabbed a frame from the wall. It was a picture of Emily’s parents. It reminded her of the accident. She had been called after the success of the contract. All she had in mind was all possible aftermaths of their breakthrough. They could get a new house. They could move to the city. Emily could have a normal teenage life and go to college. They’d finally stop their hand-to-mouth style of living. An accident happened and ended their hopes of a better life. Susan had vowed to support Emily with everything she had. Her promise also included making Emily happy and she seemed to have messed it up with Sam.

“Good morning, Susan”, Emily greeted, as she walked out of her room. “I woke up late”

“Yesterday was hectic. How was your night?”, Susan asked, smiling.

“It was beautiful. I slept thoughtlessly”

Susan stared at Emily’s face, turning her head as if trying to look from different perspectives. “You realize you’re not going to a party, right? You’re going to work… and not going to see Sam”

“What? I look too beautiful?”, Emily asked.

“That’s one word for it”, Susan smiled, genuinely. “I see you made no reaction about Sam”

“I told you I’m over it”, Emily replied, indifferently. “it was my fault and I fixed myself”.

“That’s my beautiful girl. There are eggs in the kitchen”

Emily walked into the kitchen and grabbed her food. She felt strong and eager. She had never worked for a salary, before. “How does it feel to work in a restaurant?”

“I’ve never worked in a restaurant”, Susan replied. “But it can’t be too stressful. You’ll make friends too”

Emily smiled as she took her seat. She glanced at the frame on the table. It had hung on the wall for as long as forever but she barely ever looked at it, as though her eyes carefully avoided that part of the wall. “My parents. What happened, that night?”

“You really want to talk about this, now? When you get back, we can talk about it”

“Come on, I’m sure it’s not a long story”, Emily pestered. “You don’t think I would be getting emotional after so many years, do you?”

“Your mom had to go with him. It was probably part of his contract”, Susan said. “She called me and asked me to stay with you for the meantime. I was happy to do that, you know why?”

“She told you about the contract?”

“When she told me to stay with you, I didn’t know about the contract. I was happy ‘cause she sounded happy”, Susan said. “That happiness was not the type that comes with a short moment. It’s the type that says 'our lives are about to change’, without actually saying the words. I was actually elated that the next call on my phone would be a good news from her”.

“But it was about the accident”, Emily added.

“The next call wasn’t about the accident. It was about the good news I expected”, Susan said. “You were asleep. I was going to wait till dawn and break it to you but another call came in. Then, it was about the accident. Then you walked out of your room like you had heard everything. I couldn’t have told you about the accident so I broke the first news to you and delayed the heartbreak.”

“They already won the contract before the accident”, Emily said and nodded. She got up on her feet. “I’ll get going. See you later”

“Have a great day. Be a good girl!”

**★**

“You’re late! On your first day!”, Frank howled, glaring with a stern threatening look.

“I’m very sorry. I got held back-“

“Bullshit! Get to work!”, he ordered and walked by her.

Her heart had skipped a beat. She thought she would get fired before she even started work. She walked into the kitchen and saw the other workers. They just looked at her, staring blankly.

“Come on”, Sharon said, mixing flour. “I’m Sharon. You?”

“Emily”, she replied and dropped her bag. “Should I join you?”

“He hasn’t given you a job?”

“He just told me to start work”, Emily replied.

“Ok. Join me. Some of you will move to the other canteen, down the road”, Sharon said. “If you’re here with me, it will be easier to work together”.

“Thank you”, Emily said and joined her. She hadn’t imagined what it’d feel like so the first day was pretty strenuous.

“Hey, new girl”, a guy called, standing behind the window, outside the kitchen. He was the one receiving the orders. “Pass two sausage rolls… The customers will soon start pouring in. You’ll take my place here”.

Emily served the sausage rolls on a plate and passed it to him. She walked out of the kitchen and walked behind the counter. The guy left, afterwards.

“Someone should join us, soon”, Sharon told her, over the window. “So two people can receive the orders and I will pass the order”

Three guys walked in, through the door. They sat together, around a table. “Afternoon, sirs. What would you like to have?”

“What should we have?”, Troy asked.

“Spaghetti”, Leonardo said.

Emily turned and called Sharon. “Three plates of spaghetti”

Sharon passed the three plates and Emily placed the tray on the table, gently. “Enjoy”, she said.

“Hi”, Terry waved, smiling. “I’m Terry. I need your advice with something”

“What’s that?”

“If a girl wants to ask you out, how do you want it to be done? What are the things you want to hear?”

“You want to ask me out?”

“No. There’s this other girl. She’s really cute… but I don’t want to say the wrong thing”

“Yea, he’s never done it before”, Troy added.

“If you’ve done it, why don’t you give him the advice?”, Emily asked.

“We’ve never done it, either”, Terry said. “We also want to do it”

“Um, ok. You just tell her how you really feel”, Emily said. “Girls like honesty. If she likes you, that’s it”

“His girl is my girl’s sister”, Terry said.

“They are quadruplets”, Troy added. “I’m Troy. It’s nice to meet you”

“I’m Leonardo.”

“I’m Terry and I’ve introduced myself, already”

***★***

Derek walked into the room, confidently. As his father had told him, there was no turning back, no way out of the mess they were in but if he could survive the past year without problems, he could live the next years with the same ignorance and avoid problems. He looked at Jordan and nodded before taking his seat. Mr. Biden walked in, a minute later, followed by the remaining members, and they took their seats.

“Good day, everyone”, Jordan addressed them. “The circle activities have been suspended for the past year and we’ve only had to protect the secrecy of our small team. Now, Romero wants to keep the trade running and he needs our permission badge to access the market. There might be some novices in our midst and the time I have is too short to explain. The explanation of what we do will happen, another day. At the moment, I need the old members to be ready.”

“Who will deliver the permission badge?”, Mr. Biden asked. “We can’t send the thugs for the job.”

“Yes. One of us has to go”, Jordan said, looking round.

Derek stared round. There was an higher probability that Gretel would be chosen to go, since he knew more about the Circle’s activities than any of the other youngsters.

“Is anyone willing to go for us?”, Jordan asked. It was unusual. He gave orders, most of the time. He was probably scared someone could mess things up and he probably didn’t want to give it to Gretel… or he probably just wanted one person to volunteer.

“Can I go?”, Gretel asked, sounding a bit reluctant.

“I’ll go”, Derek said, confidently. “I will deliver the permission badge to Romero”

Jordan stared back at him for a few seconds and smiled. “Ok. That’s done. Derek will go for us”, Jordan said. “The delivery will happen, tomorrow. Take your badge with you. If you have any questions about it, ask Mr. Biden. He’ll tell you everything you need to know”.

Derek smiled and nodded. There was no sign of fear, anxiety or nervousness on his face. He remained bold, as if he were already aware of all that was happening. Jordan liked the confidence, though.