Jury

by David Dada

  Location will be formed by the last set of letters. The rest of the message should

  Be clear to you now. Enjoy.”

  Emily followed the instructions and got back to writing.

  “MEET _ _ _ _ _ _ _ PARK _ _ 7

  YTAMBETHE

  MEET _ _ _ _ THE PARK _ _ 7

  YTAMBE.”

  The smile on Emily’s face grew wider. She did not have to search too long to get the message. “Meet me at the park by seven.” She said and looked at the clock. 6:45 p.m. Fifteen minutes was enough time for her to freshen up and get to the park.

  “Let’s go get some answers.”

  ***

  Malia looked at her watch and sighed. It was 6:58 p.m. and Emily had not shown up yet. It was freezing cold and Malia could feel it even with the fur coat she had on. Stupid weather. She heard footsteps approaching and did her best to stop herself from shivering.

  “Thought you did not get my message.” Malia said without looking at the person that had just arrived.

  “Took me a while to get the first clue. The rest was easy thanks to you.” Emily said.

  Malia smiled. “Lucky me.” She started turning around. “We have a lot to talk about Emi…” Her words got stuck in her throat as she stared at Emily. It cannot be. Those striking blue eyes and brunette hair were so familiar and even after not seeing them for so long, she still remembered them.

  Emily too wore a look of shock on her face as she slowly walked towards Malia, her gaze not shifting away from her face. She stopped in front of Malia and smiled. Malia closed her eyes and Emily lowered her lips, taking Malia’s lips in hers. They stayed that way for almost thirty seconds and Emily stepped back.

  “We really need to change our way of saying hello, Monkey.” Malia smiled. “Someone might mistake it for something else.”

  “Since when did you care about what other people think?”

  “Since you started liking my brother.”

  Emily smiled. “Please don’t tell him.”

  “Why end his torture?” Malia chuckled. “How have you been? It has been too long.”

  “I know, but hold on. If you didn’t know it was me, why did you send me the brown envelope?”

  Malia started walking and Emily joined her. “I hacked into the database “JURY” has and saw your name on it. You had the fourth highest rating and you were the closest to me so I made the decision to send it to you. I never knew you by your actual name so it did not cross my mind that it was you I was giving the files to.”

  “Why not just give it to Taylor?”

  Malia sighed. “He is trying to stay far away from anything related to the agency.”

  “Okay, but what exactly do you want to do with the information you’ve gathered?”

  Malia looked off into the distance for a while and then looked at Emily. “There is not much I can tell you due to my lack of information, but from what I have gathered, there is trouble coming and the director is not happy about our development. He only gave us a grace period of one year to impress and if after this one year there is no improvement, we will be of no use to him and we will be gone.”

  “So you’re trying to gather the best of the best together to make a show that we are ready?”

  “Basically, yes.” Malia hugged herself, trying to give herself added warmth. “But let us talk about something else for now.”

  “Sure.” Emily smirked. “I’m guessing you want us to talk about Taylor.”

  “Yup. Taylor still has not told me the “interesting” story of how you guys met.”

  Emily guffawed. “It’s a really good story.”

  “Come on. Tell me.”

  “Fine.” Emily smiled. “Well, it was a cool Sunday evening…”

  ***

  It was the night before Emily was to start college and she had gone shopping for the rest of the things she had not gotten earlier. She was so eager to start classes so she could meet new people. She hated being at home so much since her parents were always traveling and she had to stay alone. She was whistling the tune of Für Elise as she walked home when she felt something poke her in the back.

  “Turn around slowly. Do not try anything funny.” The masculine voice that came from behind her was rough and deep.

  Emily did as she was told and saw the gun in the man’s hand. She looked at the man and took in his features. Six foot one or two, not too muscular, no visible tattoos or piercings, just a bald head, a shaggy beard and a gun, nothing she could not handle.

  “Give me all your money.”

  Emily chuckled. “I don’t have any more money. I just spent everything in the mall when I went shopping not too long ago.”

  “What did you buy?”

  “Tampons, tissues, facial cleansers. Female stuff.” Emily pushed the bag containing the things she had bought out to the man. “Want them?”

  “Of course not.” The man said. He gave Emily a once over and then looked her from head to toe again, licking his lips.

  Emily rolled her eyes. “You’re that type of guy.”

  “What type of guy?”

  “The type to regard women as mere pleasure objects.”

  “Isn’t that what you all are?” The man smiled.

  “I won’t grace that with an answer.”

  “That is a big gun you have got there, mister.” A voice said with mock excitement from behind the man.

  “Who the fuck are you?” The man turned to face the newcomer, the gun still pointed at Emily.

  “A knight in shining armour it would appear.” The guy leaned to the right and waved at Emily. “Hello there damsel in distress, The name is Taylor. You are?”

  “It’s none of your business.”

  “Well “it’s none of your business”, it is nice to meet you.” Taylor smiled.

  Emily rolled her eyes and smiled. She noticed the British accent he used was false but she liked it anyway. She was happy he had turned his attention to the man or he would have noticed that she was blushing.

  “You should walk away, little boy. ” The man said.

  “I cannot do that, big sir.”

  “You got jokes.” The man laughed.

  “Your sense of humour must be below ground if you found that funny.” Taylor shrugged.

  The man was clearly not a fan of being insulted. He thumbed the hammer of the gun and levelled it at Emily’s forehead. “Well, I’m losing my patience so get to stepping.”

  “Do what he said. It’s not like you’re strong enough to do anything either way.” Emily said.

  Taylor chuckled. “Alright sir. You are free to do whatever it is you want.” He brought out his phone. “I can also help you film the whole thing. You know, make you famous on the internet.”

  “Just leave.” The man said.

  “Alright.” Taylor started walking away.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Emily could not believe that Taylor had just done that.

  Taylor stopped and looked at her. “What?! You said to do what he said.”

  “I wasn’t expecting you to actually listen to me.”

  “Well, next time, expect it and if I am to help you now, you have to apologize.”

  “Not going to happen.”

  “Okay, I will just leave you two to it.”

  “Wait. Are you really going to leave me here if I don’t apologize?” Emily asked.

  “I sure will.”

  “I don’t know what the both of you think you’re doing but I’m not a fan of it.” The man said and wagged the gun in front of Emily’s face.

  Taylor looked at the man. “Sir, could you please not interrupt us? We will be just a few seconds.” He looked back at Emily. “You have ten seconds to apologize or I walk away.”

  Emily looked at Taylor as he counted down. The smile on his face widened as he got to eight and with that, Emily knew he would actually leave. “I am sorry.” She said once she heard nine.

  “Was that so hard?” Taylor smiled when Emily rolled her eyes
and looked at the man. “Sir, I cannot, in my right mind, let you hurt this beautiful young lady here seeing as she has apologized to me, so please walk away.”

  “What are you going to do? I’ve got a gun.” The man said.

  Taylor took a step towards him and the man pointed the gun at him. The man’s hand was shaky and Taylor took another step towards him.

  “Don’t come closer. I swear I’ll shoot you.” The man said.

  Taylor side stepped and slapped the gun out of the man’s hands, caught it in mid-air, removed the magazine and used the butt of the pistol to stun the man before knocking him out with a punch. “Warned you.” Taylor looked down at the man

  Emily just stood there and clapped slowly. Taylor looked at her and cocked his head to the right.

  “Why did you apologize?” Taylor asked. “You are perfectly capable of defending yourself.”

  “I wanted to see how it felt to be the damsel in distress for once.” Emily shrugged.

  “Fair enough.” Taylor put his hand out. “Let us reintroduce ourselves. I am Taylor.”

  “Emily.” Emily shook his hand.

  “Nice to meet you Emily.” Taylor kissed her hand and let it go. “See you around.”

  “I hope so.” Emily said under her breath as she watched Taylor walk away.

  ***

  Back at the park, Emily was smiling dreamily and Malia was laughing hard. The two of them were sitting on a bench, watching cars drive by. Malia could see why Taylor had not told her. He tried to avoid getting into trouble or fights, but whenever it involved a girl, he was going to risk it all. Taylor would not admit it, but she knew he was doing it so he could feel like he was protecting their mum.

  “Sounds like something Taylor would do.” Malia said.

  Emily sighed. “Yeah and now I understand why he does these things. He told me about your parents.”

  Malia smiled sadly. “Of course he did. I am actually surprised he did not tell you earlier.”

  “I understand why he kept it.” Emily looked at Malia. “This happened after camp right?”

  “Yes. A year after.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Why? You did not do anything.” Malia chuckled.

  “It just felt like the right thing to say.” Emily smiled.

  “You have not changed a bit.” Malia’s watched beeped and she checked the time. 8:00 p.m. “I have got to get going and you have a long week ahead of you, so go get some rest.”

  Emily sighed. “You’re right.” She stood and hugged Malia. “It was nice to see you again.”

  “Do not worry. I am still around.”

  They said their byes and left in opposite directions.

  “Why did you have to code the message Malia?” Taylor was watching the both of them from a hidden spot opposite the park. He had thought Malia the art of sending coded messages through calls and he had known something was wrong when she started talking about football; she rarely ever told him about her games, but this time, she had gone into details.

  He had gone back to his room and gone through the parts between the coughs. He was sure she had made a set of instructions to crack the code, but he knew it was nothing more than an anagram. It had not taken him too long to get the message: “Meet me at the park by 7.” He knew Malia was not going to assume he did not get the message too, so he had waited a while before going to the park. He found them chatting and giggling on the park bench like they had known each other for years.

  “You know you should not spy on others.”

  Taylor jumped up and away from the voice, almost tumbling into the path of an incoming car. He picked himself off the ground and groaned. “What in perdition’s flames is wrong with you, Malia? You know how much I hate people sneaking up on me.”

  “Well, maybe you should not sneak up on people too.”

  “Oh please. What were you talking to her about?”

  “None of your business.” Malia said and started walking away.

  “Come on.” Taylor walked after her. “You know how I get when I am curious. Plus you made it too easy to find you.”

  Malia stopped abruptly and Taylor almost bumped into her. “I know. That is why I am not telling you. You will find out yourself.” Malia stopped a cab. “I love you.” She got in the cab and it drove off.

  Taylor sighed. “I love you too, Fish.” He said and started walking. Malia knew what she was doing and Taylor knew that whatever it was, it was worth the wait. Right now, he had to get some rest. He wondered what Mike had done the whole day. Mike had not spoken to him at all and it was unusual.

  “I am overthinking these things.” Taylor sighed and opened the door to his house. He had decided to go home instead of to school because it was closer. He closed the door behind him and rested his back on it. “Sorry mum, but I have to break my promise to you this one time.” he went to his room and went straight to bed.

  FOURTEEn

  For the first time in years, Taylor woke up to the sound of his alarm. He had ignored his doubts and set an alarm for 6:00 a.m. as he was on his way back from the park. He stretched, got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Today was a special day and he could not afford to drag his feet. He jumped into the shower and set a new fastest time record of forty minutes and twenty two seconds which was way better than his previous record of one hour two minutes and eleven seconds. He had reduced the amount of songs he sang as he bathed and he had skipped the part where he would just stand under the running hot water to achieve this feat.

  Taylor wrapped his towel around his waist as he walked out of the bathroom and headed for his bed. He checked his phone and saw two missed calls from Emily; she always called every time he stayed off campus. He had a few other notifications which he ignored. He put his phone back on the bedside table and was walking away when his phone buzzed. He walked back to pick it up and saw that it was a message from Mike. “You had better not be late today. I won’t forgive you if you are.” Taylor smiled as he read the message aloud. He started typing his reply. “Coming late would mean letting you off the hook. Do not worry your pretty head, I will be there.” He pressed send and dropped the phone. If he stayed to chat with Mike, he would be late for sure.

  Taylor quickly searched through the clothes in his wardrobe and went for something he had no doubt he would look good in. He donned a pink shirt, navy blue pants and a navy blue necktie. He stared at the blazer a long time and decided it was not a good idea to put it on but still grabbed it either way. After gathering his things and doing a quick scan of his room to make sure there was nothing he was forgetting, Taylor went downstairs and made himself a bowl of cereal. He turned on the sound system and slow jazz music started playing. Taylor never rushed his food and it usually made those he went out with get really angry but he still did not change; he liked to take his time with his food. He finished eating, quickly rinsed the bowl in the sink and placed it in the overhead cupboard.

  There was the sound of a car honking outside and Taylor wondered who it was. He turned off the sound system, grabbed his bag and went outside. Once he saw the car that was honking, he started laughing.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Your car, Love. Gets me every time.” Taylor said.

  Emily was leaning on the car, her arms crossed. “Good morning to you too.”

  Taylor stood at the door and laughed. “I am so sorry but I cannot help it.”

  “Just get in.” Emily sneered. “I don’t want to be late.”

  Taylor walked over to where Emily stood and kissed her on the forehead. “Ignore my misdeed, your highness. Thanks for coming to get me.”

  “I still don’t get your fascination with royal titles.” Emily said and walked over to her side of the car.

  “They sound nice.” Taylor said and they both got in.

  “You’re one weird fellow.” Emily said and pulled out of the driveway.

  ***

  Twenty minutes after he had received it, Mike was still staring at the m
essage Taylor had sent. “Coming late would mean letting you off the hook. Do not worry your pretty head, I will be there.” There was one thing Mike knew for sure and that was the fact that this was going to be a fun bout. Taylor knew how to pick his fights and he always gave his all, something Mike knew nothing about, but yet still found himself drawn to trouble making. Taylor won most of their arguments but would readily admit defeat when it was Mike who won and this made it a lot harder for Mike to hate him.

  Contrary to what people thought, Mike was perfectly fine with playing the role of the bad guy as long as it took him out of Taylor’s shadow. He hated that they were alike in so many ways, so he tried to do the opposite of everything Taylor would do, even if it meant making everyone his enemy.

  The crowd that was streaming into lecture theatre 404 made it hard for Mike to think straight. Everyone was grouped up with someone else and they were all murmuring. Mike did not like to gossip and he hated when people did it so he tried his best to block out the noise. He picked his scrapbook from his bag and started going over his opening statement again when he picked up on one of the conversations.

  “I hope Taylor wins.” The girl on the fourth row said.

  “Me too. Mike is too full of himself and it’d be nice to see Taylor level him.” The boy beside her said.

  “I wonder why Taylor is even friends with him.” The girl scoffed.

  “Because he knows me more than you fools.” Mike said under his breath.

  The room went silent all of a sudden and Mike looked around to see why. He looked to the door and saw Taylor and Emily standing in the doorway, looking at the people in the classroom.

  “Good morning everyone.” Taylor smiled. “It is nice for all of you to join us here today, but it would be a lot nicer if you all just shut your mouths while you wait. Thank you.”

  Mike looked at the crowd and smiled. Taylor had left them all speechless and Emily was now seating amongst them, making it hard for them to say anything.

  “Yo Mikey.” Taylor dropped his things on his table. “How was your night? Any nightmares?”

  Mike chuckled. “Nope. Slept like a baby.”

  “That is good. We would not want you to be scared now, would we?” Taylor walked over to where Mike was seated. “May the best man win.”