by Mani, A.
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Copyright (c) by A. Mani
All rights reserved. The scanning, uploading and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the author constitutes unlawful piracy and theft of the author's intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author's rights.
“Please, help me! I have been robbed! You have to help me!” the young girl cried.
The documenter listened to the girl and recorded her on camera. This could be a great story for him. One that can promote him straight to the network guard’s position.
“You remember me, right?” the young girl cried, “I am Diamond! Diamond, the singer. I was two points away from fame. My entire life was about to change only, this morning I found out I was robbed! Are you listening to me?” she knocked on his helmet.
She was a beautiful young girl, who wore tight light cloths, which flattered her nice figure and dark skin. She had a long, dark curly hair and big green eyes.
The documenter nodded without saying any word. That was the only way to communicate with them and the only way to bring justice into light.
“What should I do now? Will you pass my complaint? Should I turn to the cyber police myself?” the young girl kept asking but he just ignored her and jumped on his bike.
“Hey! Are you going to help me?” she shouted but her voice disappeared in the street’s commotion.
People were walking by but nobody listened to the young girl. Everyone were too busy in their own life. So she just stood there quietly. Her life was no longer in her hand or at least that’s what she thought.
“So you have been robbed?” I turned to her.
“What? Yes… do you know me?” she wondered.
“I just met you…” I said with a smile.
“No, I mean from the net. Are you a member of the music network?” she asked.
“No. I am not. I just heard you talking to the documenter. Is everything okay?” I asked.
“No, it is not! I lost everything, I have nothing, I am nothing!” she cried.
“Where do you live?” I asked her.
“Live? Well, nowhere! I am homeless until they will find the stealer!” she answered with tears in her eyes.
“The process with these issues can take up to three months. Do you have a family who lives here?” I asked her.
“No… I have nobody… I came here by myself to try to fulfill my dreams and I almost did. But now it is all gone…” she cried.
My heart went out to her. Not that I had a heart but who can understand this girl better than me?
“You can stay at my place”, I finally offered.
“Can I? Why are you doing this? You don’t even know me…” she wondered.
“I don’t. I only know how you feel…” I mumbled and started walking.
“I didn’t introduce my self, my name is Diamond. Well, that is my stage name”, the young girl grabbed her bag and ran after me.
“That is a beautiful name Diamond”, I kept walking to the bus station, “I live at the valley, you are okay with that, right?” “Yes, I guess... You didn’t tell me your name”, she was confused.
“No, I didn’t”, I turned to her and looked into her eyes, “I am Almas”.
The bus arrived and we both went up. We didn’t exchange any word on the way. The young girl was too concerned about her future and I, I just did what I was used to do; I picked up all the lost and the lonely. And on these days, we all were.
The bus drove fast through the highway and soon the view of giant, luxurious towers alternated with an exhausted version of itself.
“You actually live here?” Diamond asked me once we had arrived my house.
It was a boarding house for retired civilians with a little shelter for deserted animals.
“You can always go back to the city of lights and the streets of darkness”, I said with a smile.
“Why would someone like you, live in a place like this?” she wondered and searched around.
The parlor was filled with our dear residents. It was dinnertime.
“I see you brought a guest”, an old man on a wheel chair approached Diamond, “Welcome to our humble house”, he greeted her with a smile.
“This is Diamond. She will be staying with us for a while. Diamond, this is Leonard”, I made a short introduction and quickly instructed Diamond to her room.
“I’ll bring you clean towels so you can shower before dinner”, I said to her as she hesitated her way to her room.
“A girl named Diamond. Let me guess… what would bring my love to have her here?” Leonard asked me with his warm smile.
“The same reason that brought us together…” I gazed into his eyes.
I met Leonard long time ago while I was volunteering at the local hospital. He was an injured soldier who was rushed to get help and every time I heard the name Leo or any other version of it, my heart stopped. Could it be? Was he my lost son? I could never count the number of times I had experienced the cruelness of the unbearable integration of anticipation and frustration.
The incident with Leonard was one of many yet, very different from the previous ones. I was hoping to find my son and to heal my wounded heart and instead, I found a friend for life. Someone who didn’t give up on me and taught me how to love again. How to participate in life and not just play the part of the passive crowd. He was the only one I could trust and the only one who knew my secret. He tried so hard to fill the emptiness I was feeling all these years. But that was an impossible mission, even for him, the courageous warrior of our Army. I was a mother to a lost son. How could anybody live with that?
“So you found a diamond on the streets of fame?” he laughed.
“She is helpless. Another victim of the system. She has no place to go, I had to bring her here”, I explained while I was setting the table.
“My love, you can bring any guest you wish but deep down you must know. Saving others will not save your soul. You have to do it Almas”, he urged me with his calm voice.
“We will talk after dinner”, I said firmly and went to Diamond’s room.
“What is that noise?” Diamond asked me as I entered the room.
“Cats and dogs”, I said, “I run a little shelter for lost and wounded animals. The kind that nobody desires to adopt”.
“No wonder…” Diamond mumbled.
“Oh, I am sorry. A famous singer as you is probably used to the glamour of Hollywood. I guess I should thank you for honoring us with your presence”, I said with sarcasm.
“I am sorry Almas. It was very kind of you to open your house to me, if you could call it a house but I really don’t understand, how come a hot mama like you lives in a dump like this!” she raised her voice.
“Hot mama?” I repeated her words.
“Yeah girl. You do have mirrors in this house, right? And all these old people… I know it is none of my business but this Leonard, is he your sugar daddy?” she whispered the last two words.
“No honey. I can promise you, any connection between this dump and sugar is a sheer coincidence!”
“Exactly!” she stated and pointed her finger to me.
“Exactly what? What does it mean? What is it with you young people? Why are you so cheap with your words? I don’t even understand what you are trying to tell me!” I yelled at her.
“Young people? How old are you Almas? You just sounded like my grandmother…” she said with a strange l
ook on her face.
Sometimes I forgot that externally, I looked just like these young girls while underneath I was an old soul, who refused to integrate into this world.
“How old are you?” I asked back.
“Twenty one”, she answered.
“Well, me too”, I said and turned away so she wouldn’t sense my lie, “dinner will be served soon!”
“Is it safe to talk now?” Leonard asked me quietly. We were sitting at the parlor by ourselves. Everybody had already gone to their rooms and an absolute stillness embraced our house. It was our time. We used to sit like that for hours and just talk. Sometimes I would dance for him. He loved to watch me dancing. We could not do that in front of other people since I looked like his granddaughter, so at daytime, I was his employee and at night, when nobody was around, I was his partner in crime.
“I think everybody is asleep”, I sat on his laps and hugged him.
“I mean is it safe to talk about what you choose to ignore?” he rested his head on my chest.
“Why are you so stubborn?” I whispered.
“My love, I don’t have much time…” he tried to speak.
“Shhh…” I stopped him. I hated these conversations. Why did we have to talk about the day, the devil would gladly knock on my door again.
“I am afraid this is the circle of life and there is nothing we can do about it”, he whispered.
“What about my circle?” I mumbled.
“I guess you managed to break it somehow”, he sighed.
“Break it? Oh no, my love. I am walking in the exact same circle for so many years; the only breaking point I can wish for right now is death!” I stated.
“Almas, you are both in the same place and on the same time, don’t you think that is a sign?” he whispered, “Don’t you think it is time for forgiveness?”
I paused for a long minute and finally answered.
“How can I forgive the man who is responsible for the loss of my son?”
“You don’t know that Almas!” Leonard insisted, “I heard your story many times. You don’t know what happened to Leo. Nobody knows!”
I remember that day so well. The day I had everything I ever wished for in the palm of my hand. That was the same day I had watched it all slipping away.
“Where is he? What did you do to him?” I yelled at Dark beast.
“What do you mean, Almas? Do you think I took him? Do you think I would hurt my own son?” he cried out.
“You wanted it. I could see it in your eyes. You desired the eternal life and you were willing to do anything to get it!” I screamed.
“My love…” he tried to hold me but I pushed him away.
“What did you do, Dark beast? Where is my son?” I screamed out my lungs.
“He is my son too!” Dark beast cried, “I don’t know where he is… I don’t know…” he sat on the ground and wept like a little boy. My heart went out to him. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to say that everything will be fine and that we could fight this together. But I didn’t. I was the furious lioness craving for her lost young. The wild ones stood around us in silence. At that moment, nobody understood what had happened that night.
“I will find him!” Dark beast got up and wiped his tears, “I will bring him back to you!” he said without looking.
He turned away and left, carrying his shame and sorrow on his back. He could not bear our gazes so he didn’t look back. I was watching his huge, muscular body fading in the horizon. He was leaving our kingdom to an unknown journey all by himself. There was no demon or an angel tiger to accompany him. Suddenly, I didn’t see the strong, savage leader of the wild zone. I saw the little boy that was abandon by his family. I saw the outcast and I wanted to run after him. I wanted to hold him in my arms and never let go. He didn’t have to go through that journey all by himself. We could have done it together. I had a chance to break the circle and I didn’t. That was the last time I saw my love.
“He is meeting with the press and with his supporters tomorrow morning. Almas, my love, I have never asked you for anything. Please, Do it for me”, he whispered.
“It is late… let’s go to bed”, I ignored his request and led his wheel chair towards our room.
“How did you sleep?” I asked Diamond, who was already sitting with our dear residents to the table.
“Not so good. I was too concerned about my situation”, she placed her head over her palms and sighed.
“There is not much you can do. These cases take up to three months until they are noticed, not to mention solved. Do you have any idea who did this?” I asked her.
“No. not a clue…” she mumbled, “Can I please use your smart screen or smart phone? I want to check whether my story was published”.
“Well, smart screen is still sleeping and I am afraid smart phone passed away last summer”, I answered and made everybody laugh.
“What’s so funny?” she wondered.
“These are our pet’s names. We don’t have any of this stuff you mentioned around here”, I explained to her.
“Well, can I please use your laptop?” she sighed again.
“I don’t own a laptop. You can use the one we share at the community centre‘s library”, I offered her.
“You don’t have a computer? Community centre? What year are we?” she raised her voice.
“Twenty thirty- four. You lost your identity or your memory?” I mocked her.
“Who doesn’t own a computer at his house?” she wondered.
“We are!” I answered and served breakfast.
“So how do you keep in touch with your network? How do you get supporters?” she kept on asking.
“Simple, we don’t!” I answered and made Leonard laugh.
“What kind of a life are you living? You have no connection with the outside world? I don’t understand it…” she left to her room.
It would take a long road for her to march in order to understand it was her, who wasn’t connected with the outside world. As a matter a fact, nobody was and I couldn’t blame them. I couldn’t blame the people who had chosen to alienate themselves from society and had drowned themselves into a virtual reality. Diamond was just one of a million. Everyday we hear about another identity that was stolen and another life that was ruined. The system would make people run after fame and success only to find out they had lost their privacy on the way. We were living in a ridiculous era, where privacy was a more required ingredient than fame.
But there was one thing she was right about. In these days, you could not survive without any relevance to a certain network or without having any supporters. These factors determined where you lived, where you worked and the kind of lifestyle you could afford. Luckily, we had the small rent, we had collected from our residents and the money Leonard received from the army, so we managed to live with dignity and even help others.
“Have you decided what to do?” Leonard asked me.
“I am taking the nine o’clock bus”, I answered.
Leonard paused and just looked at me.
“Great! You are going to town, I am coming with you”, Diamond informed us as she walked out of her room with her bag.
“Oh no, young lady, you are staying right here!” I said firmly.
“Young lady? I am older than you!” she raised her voice and made Leonard laugh.
“You think there are free gifts in this world? No Diamond. You will work at the shelter and help with the animals in exchange for the warm bed and good food you receive from us. At noon, you can walk to the community center and reconnect with the world. They open at twelve”, I instructed her.
“Twelve? What is wrong with this place? Was I abducted by cavemen?” she asked herself and made Leonard roll again.
“I see you like her”, I smiled.
“My love, you know I have a weakness for young girls named Diamond”, he said and made us both laugh.
I wore my blue jeans, a white top and my old brown sandals.
&n
bsp; “Why don’t you wear your red dress”? Leonard asked me.
“Why? You think he wouldn’t like me with these casual cloths?” I laughed.
“My love, you are beautiful no matter what you wear. I just know there will be a lot of people there and I want you to stick out”, he smiled.
“You mean a lot of girls”, I laughed.
Dark beast became very popular in California. He had so many supporters that he was nominated to be the next governor of our country. This was how people were elected these days, through networks and amount of supporters who followed them. Dark beast or as he was called these days, The beast, was very popular among females. I guess some things never change and to be honest, I could not blame them. He was the glory of creation just as I had remembered him.
“He is going to announce, he will be participating in the upcoming elections. He will be surrounded with tons of security. How are you going to deal with them?” he worried.
“Well, first I get there and then we‘ll see…” I kissed him goodbye and walked to the bus station.
My heartbeat increased as I came closer to the city. I could hear the crowd chanting his name from a distance. They were all covering the streets of Hollywood as a giant quilt and the police closed all entrances to the meeting point. I had to walk part of the road by foot and decided to take a short cut through the alley. As I was walking, I kept thinking to myself, I should not have come here. This was not my place. Dark beast had a new life and my sudden appearance was nothing but an uninvited occurrence.
“He will not remember me”, I mumbled to myself.
Suddenly I heard a car behind me, I hurried to clear the way and as I moved aside, I looked back and even though the car windows were dark, my eyes caught something and I just froze.
There he was, sitting in the front passenger sit of the vehicle. He was wearing shades but I could tell he recognized me. His head turned towards me as the car drove through the alley. Deep down, I hoped they would stop the car and that for one moment, he would be my Dark beast again before he turned back to ‘The beast’ of the masses. But they didn’t.
