Robbie's Scheme

by Justin Haines

  Unable to think of an alternative, Maya slowly climbs the stairs and joins him. She can feel her hands shaking and prays the nerves aren’t noticeable enough for Teddy to point out to everyone. The spotlight follows her until she takes her place behind Teddy’s right shoulder, then finally releases her and grants the ability to see the audience.

  “Ah, that feels good. Having the spotlight back where the attention belongs.”

  Maya tries to force a smile as the audience giggles at Teddy’s joke. She’s happy to give him back whatever attention is on her. Right now, she wants nothing more than to disappear.

  Standing frozen behind him, she listens as Teddy launches into a speech about the dedication and sacrifice that brings followers up onto this stage. Maya doesn’t remember any form of dedication that warrants her position here, but she certainly feels like she’s making a big sacrifice for Robbie.

  Teddy praises their commitment. He thanks everyone in the room for not choosing to be a victim, and for attending this week. She tries not to roll her eyes when he talks about how easy it is for the world to vanquish well-meaning souls.

  He sounds far more sympathetic than he did when he was standing in her apartment.

  Maya spaces out as he recites each point of the POTCH mission statement. She doesn’t need to hear his hypocrisy about greed. Her mind wanders back to the conversations with Stacy and everything Ralph briefed her on. She knows she’s coming out of this weekend with a great article; she just needs to figure out what she wants it to focus on.

  When she finally tunes back in, Teddy’s concluding a story about making his own luck. While the audience applauds his lesson, another woman appears on stage and hands Maya a bunch of badges. As Teddy starts calling out names, people come running out from backstage, and she realizes that she’s expected to pin the badges on each of the newly promoted followers. She shudders as her mind compares herself to the nameless bimbos who hand out trophies at award shows. But, stuck on stage with so many eyes on her, Maya complies with the role and starts congratulating everyone as they run out onto the stage.

  Teddy calls each of POTCH’s newest guides based on their hub city. The sheer number of places sending people to POTCH surprises Maya. The Church must have some excellent recruiters; the army should be taking notes.

  She doesn’t understand the appeal a New York based cult holds for people around the country and throughout South America or Asia. What possesses someone from Indonesia to fly to New York and listen to Teddy?

  As he works his way down the list, Maya marvels at all of the Asian cities falling for his schtick. She knows there are a lot of people living over there, but surely the vast majority of them have better critical thinking than this. Teddy finishes the Asian promotions and starts calling the Western states up, reminding Maya that people who lack common sense live everywhere, it doesn’t matter which country they’re from.

  What is it about this nonsense that draws people in? She’s sure that Robbie wouldn’t be such a strict follower if Teddy weren’t always watching him. But Teddy can’t keep an eye on so many people all around the world, so what keeps them stringent? Is she pinning badges on guides who act like mini-Teddy’s? Do they go home and start demanding money from people who skip leg day?

  Maya feels a sense of relief as Stacy strolls out onto the stage. They only met this morning and Maya tries to remind herself Stacy is a follower who believes in this crap, but it still feels nice for her to see a friendly face.

  She tries to push the worries out of her mind and tell herself that Stacy’s too nice to enforce Teddy’s policies and methods. She could only be here because she bought her way in, unfortunately for her and her family's future.

  “Congratulations,” Maya whispers as she fastens the badge to Stacy’s chest.

  “Thank you,” Stacy responds with a toothy smile and gleeful eyes. “This took so long, I can’t believe it’s really happening.”

  Teddy calls out the next name and forces Stacy to move on before Maya can say anything more, but she reaches out and squeezes Stacy’s hand as she walks past. She doesn’t care if Teddy notices the preferential treatment. Maya’s happy when nice, good, people are happy.

  Stacy’s one of the last people to cross the stage before Teddy reaches the two guru promotions. The lights change in the auditorium and the music slows to a drumbeat as Teddy builds up the anticipation and excitement for the announcement. Maya does her best not to laugh when Teddy breaks out his air guitar and the audience cheers. Watching him pretend to play the drums confirms it’s a losing battle. She wonders if he’s going to finish the performance by crowd surfing.

  “The launch of our Phoenix community center was a wonderful achievement earlier this year,” Teddy announces once the music quiets. “While we all know the amazing hard work Guru Marion put into launching the center, its success wouldn’t be possible without the recruitment efforts and financial contributions from Leandra Bell. It’s a great privilege for me to call her onto the stage and present her with a guru badge.”

  Teddy bumps past Maya as he moves to greet Leandra on the stage. Apparently, the gurus receive a different kind of badge than the ones she’s holding, and they receive the special treatment of Teddy pinning the badge on himself.

  Realizing she’s no longer needed, Maya doesn’t complain. She’s happy to take this as her cue to escape from the stage. She has no interest in sticking around for Teddy’s final promotion.

  As she disappears backstage, Maya hears a new song come on and turns around to see Teddy dancing with his newest guru. His dancing skills are about as impressive as his guitar playing. Maya lets herself laugh for a moment before starting her search for an exit from the auditorium. She wastes several minutes wandering backstage for an exit, and the effort’s in vain — she only ends up on the other side of the stage right beside the woman Teddy is now calling out for a promotion.

  “Our first center in Malaysia would never have been possible without Miranda Razak. Please, give her a warm welcome for helping bring our message to a new corner of the world. A corner where we’re now thriving and growing faster than ever thanks to her. Come on out Miranda, and take the stage as our first Malaysian guru.”

  While Miranda marches out, Maya slinks around the curtain and jumps off the edge of the stage to a darkened corner of the auditorium. Down the row from her, the glow of an illuminated exit sign beckons.

  Bursting through the doors to the great outdoors, Maya takes a deep breath to fill her lungs with fresh air. The sun feels good on her skin, good enough to ignore the late November chill in the air.

  After a moment of basking in the light, Maya realizes she’s not alone. She knows it’s a risk to insult POTCH to someone attending their retreat, but she assumes he wouldn’t be outside if he wasn’t also sick of the preaching.

  “Couldn’t handle any more propaganda being shoveled down your throat?”

  Thankfully, he smirks in response. “I needed a cigarette,” Jalen says as he offers the pack out to Maya.

  She declines and does her best not to make a face at Jalen’s disgusting habit. She’s already at odds with one important part of Robbie’s life and doesn’t need his best friend hating her as well. She needs people to trust her so they can eventually open up as sources. Or at least not deny her reporting when the media firestorm hits.

  “God forbid Theo catches me indulging in any vice,” Jalen continues. “Besides usury, fraud, greed, gluttony, or the other sins he commits.”

  “I’m glad someone here is of the same mind when it comes to Teddy. I was starting to feel alone on an island full of crazy people.”

  “Why do you think I’m joining you in ditching this place tonight? I can only handle so many days of sober partying. Especially the rest of the week. It’s gonna be days and nights full of activities until a party that’s all about Theo.”

  “Does he really make it all about him?” Maya asks. “That feels like a huge tip-off for a cult, completely abandoning the message th
ey’re following.”

  “Didn’t you see him with the cigar last night? He doesn’t care about breaking rules right in front of these people. Yet he’d be happy to chastise me over this smoke break.”

  “True, Teddy’s quite the piece of work.”

  Jalen blows a puff of smoke into the air and shakes his head. Maya does her best to not choke on the fumes but a short cough escapes when she can’t hold her breath any longer.

  “I can’t believe you get away with calling him Teddy. Robbie’s the only one I’ve ever heard doing that and Theo only tolerates it because Robbie’s bankrolling this whole thing.”

  Getting her coughing under control, Maya doesn’t waste time explaining the irritation she causes Teddy. She finds Jalen’s comment about financing far too concerning.

  “How much money do you think he’s wasting on this?”

  “I’m too scared to ask. I don’t want to know. It’s in the tens of millions for sure.”

  “Seriously?” Maya can’t believe her ears; it’s worse than her darkest nightmares. “Can you imagine having millions of dollars to waste on this kind of crap?”

  Jalen takes a long drag of his cigarette and turns to look around the lake without answering Maya.

  Realizing her mistake, she waits a beat before continuing the conversation. Her most likely ally in this battle against the Church still isn’t all that comforting. She knows she has some prejudices against rich people, but this entire trip, including Jalen, isn’t doing anything to make her question those biases. To her, they seem spot on and warranted.

  “Oh, right. I forgot who I was talking to. Most of my friends don’t have a spare million lying around.”

  “Just a matter of being lucky, I guess. People need to find the right career.”

  “Right.” Maya rolls her eyes, wishing Jalen had other vices for her to take comfort in. “Maybe you’re not as different from POTCH as you like to think.”

  “You know, Theo’s been saying you don’t have many other friends. Says you push people away.”

  Taking the hint, Maya fights her prejudice and closes her mouth before she annoys Jalen away. The sounds of nature help stop the silence between them from becoming awkward. She wants to let the moment and her insulting comment pass before easing him into a line of questioning about Robbie’s work.

  Or what’s increasingly looking like his fraud.

  Suddenly, before Maya can start asking questions, Robbie bursts out of the auditorium door. He’s relieved to find both Jalen and Maya at once.

  “Hey, the pilot just called me and said he’s ready to take off when you guys are.”

  They both react with a little too much excitement for Robbie and feel bad when he scowls and looks over at the lake.

  “Didn’t think there was a rush to leave,” Robbie mumbles as his eyes drop to his shoes. “I thought I’d let you guys know, but I’m happy to make the pilot wait for as long as either of you want to stay.”

  “Is there anything else planned for tonight after the ceremony?” Maya asks.

  “Not really. It’s finishing up now and I think some people are going to hang out by the lake with some music. Teddy will probably hold court in the lobby with all of the out-of-towners listening to his wisdom.”

  Maya thinks she hears an edge in Robbie’s voice and chooses to believe he’s referring to Teddy sarcastically. She can’t imagine him actually believing Teddy’s wise.

  “Yeah, I think I’ll pass on that,” Jalen says as he throws his cigarette into the dirt and stomps it out. “I’ll go grab my stuff.”

  “Fine. I just want to talk with Maya for a second before you guys go.”

  Jalen nods his head like he’s agreeing, but Maya notices he stops walking back to the resort entrance while still within ear’s range of them. After a second, he leans against the log cabin’s wall and lights another cigarette, a clear signal that he plans to eavesdrop on the conversation.

  Robbie doesn’t seem to mind. Instead of waiting Jalen out, he runs a hand through his hair and offers Maya a sheepish grin.

  “When I’m back in the city on Wednesday, do you want to meet for dinner?”

  “Of course, Robbie. I’d like that.”

  He digs his hands into his back pockets and looks down at the ground for a moment. While his foot rubs Jalen’s cigarette further into the dirt, she wonders if he’s waiting for Jalen to stop eavesdropping on them. If so, it’s a battle he loses.

  With Jalen still watching them less subtly than he realizes, Robbie pulls a blue Tiffany jewelry box out of his back pocket. Maya clasps her hands to her face; she can already tell this will be the most expensive gift anyone’s ever given her.

  “Robbie you shouldn’t have.” Her words are saying one thing, but she quickly snatches the box out of his hands, eager to open it.

  Hiding inside the blue jewelry box, Maya finds a beautiful silver necklace. Pulling it out of the box to place around her neck, she notices it’s decorated with sparkling diamonds running along the chain with a shining light blue jewel pendant.

  “It’s a whale,” Robbie mumbles. “You might be a dolphin, but I want you to always have a whale around your neck to think of me.”

  “I love it,” Maya says as she fastens the clasp behind her neck and admires the diamonds cascading down her against her chest.

  Finally pulling her attention away from the jewelry, she notices Robbie’s clenching his jaw and still rubbing his foot into the ground. He’s almost standing at an angle, with half his body falling into the hole he’s digging. She can tell that there’s more on his mind and waits patiently as he tries to verbalize the thoughts. She’s not sure what he’s about to confess, but he’s building up his courage to spit it out.

  “Look, I don’t know what Teddy’s going to put me through for the rest of this week. I hope I come out of this thinking straight, but I never know with him.”

  “So don’t do it,” Maya pleads, her voice a little more desperate than it sounded in her head. But she’s hopeful, thinking this is the beginning of Robbie questioning Teddy’s practices.

  “No, I’ve promised him the lockdown so you could enjoy the past two days. I know it was worth it. But, before you go, I want you to hear this from me. I know it’s true and I hope I remember this when I come home next week.”

  “Robbie, you’re starting to scare me.”

  “I’m sorry, that’s not what I’m trying to do.”

  “What are you trying to say? Just tell me.”

  “Maya, I love you.”

  It’s a moment that breaks her heart. She can see that Robbie means it, but his eyes are also full of fear. She’s not sure which is worse, him being afraid of his feelings or of what Teddy’s about to subject him to.

  Either way, she shares the fear for him. They’ve only known each other for a month, and with all of her suspicions about him, she hasn’t developed the same level of feelings. But she knows deep down that Robbie’s a fundamentally good person and she wants to reward his honesty, emotion, and openness. Who knows what Teddy has in store for him.

  She doesn’t see any harm in letting him hear what he wants, what he needs right now. This could be the last time they ever see each other.

  “I love you too, Robbie.”

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Riding back home on the helicopter, Maya tries to ignore the sympathetic looks she keeps receiving from Jalen. She hates when anybody pities her, but especially a guy like Jalen.

  She tries to look out the window and admire the view of New York from the helicopter. Unfortunately, watching out the side of the helicopter makes her feel motion sick again, forcing her eyes back inside. Back to Jalen’s waiting condolences.

  After a moment, Maya decides to take advantage of his sympathy and their time alone. She still has a lot of questions about how Robbie’s fund, or fraud, is specifically working compared to the rest of the Street.

  “How does the fund do without Robbie being around for an entire week?”

&nb
sp; The question seems to catch Jalen off guard. The pity finally leaves his face, replaced by minor surprise, but he doesn’t hesitate to answer her question.

  “Oh, it’s no big deal. We don’t hold any contribution meetings, but we can go months without accepting new investors anyway. Luka’s set it up so most of our trading is done by computers with his fancy algorithm that doesn’t care where Robbie is. Al handles the rest of our trading and I just try to walk around and look like I’m in charge.”

  “So, he doesn’t make any difference?”

  Jalen considers the question for a moment and proceeds slightly more cautiously than before. “I suppose his presence inspires confidence from everyone else. But honestly, I don’t think Robbie being in the office makes any major impact.”

  “Is that usual for a hedge fund? I thought their founders are normally a huge part of the process and day-to-day.”

  “It’s normal for us. I don’t really know what the rest of the Street is up to, Robbie’s the only person I’ve ever worked for.”

  “You’ve never had another job on Wall Street?” The admission shocks her, but Maya doesn’t want to offend Jalen, and she keeps finding herself towing that line, so she jumps ahead to her next question. “What about the guys you went to business school with? Don’t they tell you about what their funds are like?”

  Jalen snorts in response. “The guys I went to school with are working as insurance brokers and real estate agents. I went to Temple, not Wharton. There’s no fancy MBA with my name on it like most of the other guys in this business.”

  Maya can’t believe what she’s hearing.

  “How did you get the job with Robbie then?”

  “We’ve known each other since we were young. He trusts me. As soon as he started his own fund and needed a right-hand man, I was the only person he thought of to call.”

  This is the most incriminating information Maya’s heard about Robbie since John approached her. How could he be running a legitimate major investment fund with a second in command who has no experience or qualifications to be in the business?