Just Friends With An Enemy

Lopez

He had just completed his first official mission for the Circle. There was obviously a lot of shade around the permission badge and whatever Romero and his g**g were up to. He wasn’t really interested in whatever they were up to. Derek dropped himself on the couch. He was going to sleep off, right there, if he didn’t struggle to get himself to his room. He was just weak to get up. He could hear some indistinct mumblings. Rather, they were noises, probably from a long distance. He could barely hear what the argument was but he knew someone was yelling at another person who was yelling back.

Derek punched the couch, as the noise seemed to get louder. He was too weak to push himself up. The noise was also too irritating to let him sleep. “f**k!”, he muttered and pushed himself up. It took a lot of physical strength and mental effort to get off the couch. He staggered and almost fell on the glass table at the center. His head ached badly. All he needed was a soft bed and some cool breeze so he would fall asleep. He managed to walk to the door. If his aching head wasn’t making him hear the wrong things, he was able to trace where the indistinct noise was coming from. He held the door handle and pulled gently. His eyes were still half closed, like he’d fall asleep while standing. His weak slumbering hands tugged at the door, expecting it to open. He jerked himself awake, suddenly, after a few seconds of wasting his time, and pulled down the door handle, getting the door to open. The noise was right outside his house. The closed door had muffled the noise, making it seem far off He rubbed his hand on his face, forcing his eyes from closing again. He could see Lopez; one of the old men in the Circle.

Lopez stood by the road, looking at a direction with an expression that suggested hidden fear. He was still dressed in his work clothes. Derek walked a little closer and looked at the same direction Lopez was staring at. He could see someone slowly towards Lopez. The noise had stopped but the two seemed to still be conversing. Derek couldn’t hear anything, though. Whoever it was was holding a weapon. Derek could only see the silhouette of the man.

Derek walked to a corner and hid himself from sight. “Shoot if you will. I’m done running”, Lopez shouted. “Pull the trigger, you coward!”

“Your howl wouldn’t save you, anyway. You didn’t think I considered sparing you, did you?”, a voice replied. Derek knew that voice. He looked at the scene, again. There was another man, hidden from the light.

The man with the weapon had walked directly under a streetlight and his face had become clear. “Gretel?”, Derek muttered. The man in the dark was Jordan. He would never mistake that voice with anyone’s. He recognized it, anywhere.

“Shoot him, Gretel”, Jordan said.

“Yes. Do it! Do it, you i***t! You’ll never get what you want!”, Lopez yelled. “You and the Circle will-“

Gretel pulled the trigger, shooting Lopez, repeatedly. Lopez dropped to the ground. “That’s my boy”, Jordan said and walked to Gretel, patting him in the back.

Jordan walked to where Lopez’s body laid. He bent down, reached into Lopez’s pocket and pulled out the Circle badge. He flung it at Gretel. “Keep this for the replacement”, he said and Gretel picked it up

Jordan’s eyes darted at Derek’s house, like he just remembered something. Derek stared from where he hid. He was definitely covered in the darkness so he couldn’t be seen. Jordan’s eyes darted all around him, like he suspected someone watching him. His eyes fell on Derek. Derek moved back a little, though he was confident. He looked back at Jordan and Jordan was still staring. His weirdly split left eye was pretty visible under the streetlights, which made the scene scarier. His eyes had been darting around but he didn’t keep his gaze on any spot for so long. “f**k! He can see me!”, Derek panicked and turned back, quickly. Immediately he turned to look at the spot again, Gretel was already standing in front of him, pointing a g*n.

Derek’s legs vibrated, like he’d be swallowed by the ground. His eyes opened and he was staring at the ceiling. He was on the bed and it was very early- too early for him to get up. His left leg seemed to still be vibrating. It was aching from the inside, probably as a result of the cold night. He wrapped himself in his blanket and laid back on his bed. His aching leg made it hard to fall back to sleep. He was going to the countryside, that morning, He would deal with the office and the Circle, whenever he returned.

**★**

“Hey, Frank!”, the man walked in, stylishly. He had a styled hair and decorated himself in obviously expensive jewelries and designers. “It’s been a while, man. What’s up?!”

Frank rushed out of the kitchen and walked to him. “Oh. Calvin!”, Frank greeted him cheerfully and tried to shake his hands. “it’s nice to have you here again”

“Yea, I know that. Right?”, Calvin replied, proudly, smiling widely. He looked at his beeping phone and ignored it.

“What can I offer you, Calvin? You can name anything”, Frank asked.

“You don’t have what I want. I’m waiting for some clients of mine”, Calvin replied. “You can give me a cup of coffee. I’ll just take that while I attend to them”.

His phone beeped again. He picked the phone and answered the call. “Hey, Damien. You know the spot, do you?”, he said, walking out of the restaurant. “I’ll be waiting outside. Be early, please. The place is not so conducive…. Frank? You can bring the coffee out here!”

A car approached the restaurant. Calvin waved his hand. It was probably his clients arriving. The car parked beside the restaurant and a man stepped out. Calvin’s smile faded, slowly. It wasn’t his client. It was a total stranger, dressed corporately and looking rich. He waved at Calvin and walked past him into the restaurant. The next thing he heard was the sound of a breaking ceramic.

“Derek? Oh my God! I’m so sorry!”, Emily apologized. “I’m very sorry”

“Did Emily just spill the coffee or what?”, Frank said to Sharon, from the kitchen, judging from her loud apology. “Oh no. That proud motherfucker’s going to have something to say”.

Calvin looked back, immediately he hears the sound. He was sure it was his coffee that got spilled. “Wait! Did you just spill my coffee?”, Calvin asked, furiously, walking closer to her. “You spilled my coffee?”

“I’m sorry, sir. I’ll serve you another one”, Emily replied, quickly, looking down. She could tell, from Frank’s earlier expression, that their new rich guest was an asshole. Derek wondered when to intervene.

“You’ll serve me another one? Frank! Come over here!”, Calvin commanded. Frank rushed out quickly, wearing another fake smile. “I asked you to serve me coffee and you gave it to a b***h?”

“She’s Emily and she works for me so yes”, Frank replied, still smiling. “You wanted me to serve you?”

“What do you take me for? You let this stupid b***h spill my cof-“, he raised his hand, about to slap Emily in the face. Derek caught his hand.

“I’ll pay for the spilled coffee and I’ll pay for a new one. She’s sorry”, Derek said, boldly.

“I’m sorry. Who are you?”

“I’m her boyfriend. Frank’s friend too”, Derek replied. “And, in case there are more people whose introductions you might need, Frank owns this place so you won’t be pushing him around. She is Emily, not a b***h. Not your b***h… and you’ll never raise your voice or your hand against her… never again”

“What are you going to do about it?”, Calvin asked, smiling and sweating nervously.

“You want me to say it or you want me to show you what I got?”, Derek asked, stepping closer to him, towering above Calvin’s head, and squeezing Calvin’s hand.

“Frank? You’ll let him do this?”, Calvin asked, proudly. “You don’t know what you’ll lose, Frank”

Frank was also sweating. He was going to say something but he swallowed it, his eyes darting at the faces of the three of them. He walked to the door and looked outside. He saw the new expensive car beside Calvin’s car. He looked at Derek. “The black car’s yours?”, he asked.

“Yea”, Derek replied.

Frank stepped back and looked at Calvin. “f**k you, Calvin!”, he said, loudly, showing his middle finger. “f**k! You”

“Wow! That’s a pretty good move, Frank”, Calvin jerked himself out of Derek’s hold. “Don’t call me back when you begin to regret this?”

“What? I don’t even have your number”, Frank replied, loudly, walking after Calvin to make sure he was listening. “You were too proud to let someone like me call you, remember?”

Calvin pulled out his phone, as he walked into his car. “Hey, Damien”, he spoke to his client on the phone. “Let’s shift the meeting… I don’t care. I’m not in a good mood. The meeting is shifted… or f**k the business!”

Calvin started the car and drove away.

“Wow!”, Derek exclaimed and chuckled. “That was one hell of a person”

“I’m very sorry for your cloth”, Emily apologized again. She had grabbed a rag and was cleaning the coffee off Derek’s tuxedo.

“It’s okay”, Derek said, with a mild smile, and held her hand and the rag. They stared at one another for a second. “I’ll just clean it myself”

“Before the love story continues, what’s your name again?”, Frank asked.

“Derek. It’s a pleasure to meet you”, Derek said and held out his hand.

Frank shook his hand. “It’s a greater pleasure here. Thanks for the speech. It’d be better if you actually patronize us more often, you know?”, Frank said and turned to walk back to the kitchen. “He’s a good boyfriend. Hold him tight”.

Emily blushed. The two of them walked out of the restaurant and stood outside. Do you want us to sit inside?”, Emily asked.

“I’m ok, anywhere”, Derek replied. “Who was that man?”

“He’s just some pretty rich man. As proud as a peacock”, Emily said.

“He might be rich. That doesn’t mean he has to make you kiss his a*s”, Derek replied. “I was wondering when to step in”.

“Thank God you stepped in when you did”, Emily replied and laughed about it. “I would probably be crying, by now…. So, you’re my boyfriend?”

“Really? Yes, I’ll love to be!”

“What? I wasn’t asking you to be”, Emily laughed, loudly, and looked back, as if scared that someone was watching. “You said you were. It sounded weird, at first. Nice speech”

“I’m glad it only sounded weird, ‘at first’. That sounds promising for when I choose to ask you out”

Emily smiled. “Would you like to take something? What did you come for? With your car”, Emily looked at his car, again. “I thought your car crashed, the other day”

“Yea. That car crashed, the other day”, Derek replied, indifferently.

“Wow!”, Emily nodded. She understood what he meant. “This is another car. There are probably two more in your yard”

Derek looked at her and smiled. A strand of hair ran down her face. He thought of putting the hair in it’s place, as it’s done in romantic movies, but the romance hasn’t begun yet. He wasn’t even sure if it would happen. “The farmers. You’re closer to them. I need to find them”

“Another wow!”, Emily said and folded her arms. “I actually dreamt about this, you know? You ruined my sleep and asked me to show you the way to the farm and I did”

“Whoa! You dreamt about me”, Derek teased, remembering his own dream. “You know dreams are caused by our most frequent thoughts. Sounds like you’ve been wanting me to come back”

“Flatter yourself, all you want. I never even thought you would come back here”

“Why? Because my type never comes back? The type you admire?”

“That sounds like what you said in my dream”, Emily replied, smiling and staring at Derek, like he was using some sort of voodoo on her. “What have you been doing to me?”

“Asides having a similar dream about you, I probably m*********d once in the shower”, Derek said.

Emily’s smile faded. “Really, Derek? Really?”

“Just kidding. I had a lot on my mind. I would have shown up, earlier”.

“So you actually dreamt about this too?”, Emily asked, smiling.

“My dream was pretty different. I didn’t come here. You came to me, rather, and on my bed”, Derek said, smiling back. “I’m serious. You said you saw ghosts and you ran into my arms. You really smooched me in that dream. I felt everything so close to my chest like damn!”

“You p*****t!”, Emily said, sternly, and threw a light punch at his chest. “That’s probably when you m*********d with my picture in mind”

“Actually, I never m*********d. I was serious when I said I had a lot in my mind”, Derek replied, honestly. “And then, in the dream, you begged me to come back here to see you”

“I don’t believe you. You m*********d”, she replied, comically, and turned her back stylishly, walking towards the restaurant. “Come in. Let me get you something and I’ll show you the farm, later”

Derek laughed, loudly. “Seriously? The farm was an excuse”, Derek replied and ran after her. “We’ll just chat till we black out.”

***★***

“Derek? Come on. The meeting’s about to start”, Liam said, over the phone. “ I don’t know what it’s about. Jordan’s frowning again”.

Another meeting had been called by Jordan. There was probably another issue to deal with. Only Derek was yet to come around. Liam put his phone in his pocket and walked into the room.

“Why are you late?”, Jordan asked.

“I’m not late”, Liam replied, boldly and walked to his seat. “The meeting is yet to start”

Jordan nodded and ignored. “And where’s Derek?”

The door opened and Derek walked in. “Good day, everyone”.

“Why are you late to the meeting?”, Jordan asked.

“I’m not late”, Derek replied and took his seat, confidently. “The meeting is yet to start”

Jordan nodded again. “I needed everyone present here. The first matter I’ll address is the delivery. Derek has successfully completed his first official mission with the Circle. Once Romero crosses the borders, successfully, and makes sales, we’ll be getting our cuts compulsorily.”

They clapped, lightly.

“Derek might have put up a show, over there”, Jordan continued. “That is actually a good thing if it earns us more respect. To new members and every member who is yet to embark on a mission, you’ll have to be confident and unruly, out there. The fear is what we need… so I guess Derek deserves the claps. Moving to the next topic on my list. I mentioned ‘new members', earlier, we’ll be having a new member, very soon. I’m guessing Lopez is already aware of what I’m talking about”

The physically fit old man looked at Jordan, confused. “What do you mean by that?”

Mr. Biden smiled at Derek. Derek wondered what the smile meant.

“Lopez was careless with the badge. His son took a picture of the badge and posted it on social media webpages. That comes with a consequence”, Jordan said. “Majority of us, including Lopez, are aware of the consequence.”

“I will tell him to delete every one of the related posts and his social media accounts will be shut down”, Lopez replied.

“You don’t need to do that. I already brought down the posts”, Jordan replied, smiling mischievously. “You will bring your son in our midst. He will be signed in as a member of the Circle”

“No way!”, Lopez retorted. “I don’t want my family to be part of this”

That was how Derek joined. Something probably happened and he was ordered to join the Circle. Lopez, like his father, probably had no choice at the moment.

“Unfortunately, Lopez, you have no choice in this. The Circle wants your boy in our midst and you are ordered to bring him in our midst”, Jordan said, sternly.

“I said no! He doesn’t want to be a part of this. I don’t want him to be a part of this and he won’t be!”, Lopez snapped.

“You know the consequences of defying the Circle’s orders, do you?”, Jordan asked. “You know I don’t have to argue with you or anyone on this. You’ll make the decision, yourself”

Lopez fumed on his seat and said nothing more. He looked confused, like he really had no choice. He probably knew what the consequence was.

Jordan sighed and continued. “Our clients will be calling soon for more permission badges. More deliveries will be made.. and maybe the other main tasks. This is when the competition might return. Hopefully, not. When it does, we will have to face off with the Triads again”

Derek didn’t understand a bit of the last statement but his father didn’t flinch, he didn’t need to, either. “Is that all?”, Mr. Biden asked, looking around to see if anyone else was going to speak. Jordan nodded. “Ok. Good job to Derek for successful delivery. Lopez might need to bring his son to the Circle. The clients are beginning to pour in and we have to be prepared to work… and maybe face the Triads. That’s all. We can leave now”.

They got up and left the room, one after the other. Jordan remained on his seat while Lopez only walked to the door. He held the door open but he didn’t step out. Derek noticed that. It was just Lopez and Jordan in the room. Lopez closed the door and walked back to Jordan where he sat. “You stupid one-eyed fool! You’ve taken a lot from me. You think you can take this too?”

“What is it, Lopez? You think I make the decision here?”, Jordan yelled back. Derek had walked to the door and was listening to everything. “You think Derek chose to be here? You think Gretel chose to be here?”

“So what is it? Why do they have to be? Stephen is never going to join this dark group”, Lopez replied. “Not while I live”

“You can choose to resist, Lopez”, Jordan replied, calmly. “You shouldn’t have let him break the rule. You already knew the rule, just like you know the consequence now. If you choose to ignore the consequence now, none of your actions and words will matter. Your seat will be filled. Think, Lopez”

The old man broke down in tears, in front of Jordan. “Please!”, he begged. “I don’t want him to be a part of this. Please, you can do something about this”

“You know I can’t, Lopez”, Jordan replied. “I don’t think I remember the last time I said this but I really am sorry”

***★***

Lopez rushed into his office. He was just feeling relieved after completing the pile of work in front of him. “What’s it, Lopez?”

“I need your help, Derek. I know you have a good heart”, he said, rushing the words out of his mouth. Derek stared blankly at him, wondering what the request would be. “You have to stop it, please!”

“Stop what? What are you talking about?”, Derek asked. “If it’s about your son-“

“Please, it’s about him. They are signing it, already”, Lopez said, looking terrified. “Once they do, that’s the end of me. You can stop it from happening”

Derek wondered if he really knew what the man was talking about. “What do you want me to do?”

“Gretel. He is making the final signature”, Lopez said. “You have to convince him not to sign it. Please!”

Derek stood up. “What are they signing?”, Derek asked and looked outside his office, through the transparent glasses. He could see Gretel sitting right outside his office, in place of Amy. Gretel looked at the both of them and wore an evil smile, as he placed his pen on the file and signed on it.

“He has signed it”, Lopez said, sweating and breathing heavily, like he’d have an heart attack. “it’s over…. It’s over for me”

A loud repeated bang echoed in the walls and the office shook, like the roof would fall on them. The bangs continued and got louder, jerking him awake. He was on his bed again. That was the second nightmare on the same topic on two consecutive nights. The door opened, suddenly. His father walked in. “Hey! I’ve been knocking for years!”, Mr. Biden yelled.

“I’m sorry. The sleep was quite deep”, Derek replied. His face was still fixed in a frown. “Good morning, Dad”

“Good morning, Derek”, his father replied. “Are you sure you are ok?”

“Yes, I am”, Derek replied and stood up from his bed. He had worked up later. “I’ve just been having these weird nightmares, lately”

“Hm. Nightmares? You want to talk about it?”

“No. I’d rather forget about it”, Derek replied. “I’ll get over it , soon enough”

“Ok, then. I’m off to work”, his father said and walked out of the room.