by Thomas Duffy
Chapter Thirty-One
Finn was shaken and frightened by what Alexis had asked him to do. He went to sleep in the bed that was in the room he found himself occupying. He fell asleep quite quickly hoping that he would awake from the nightmare he was currently living.
When he woke up the next morning, there was a knock on the door. Finn was scared to know who was outside. He then heard Angela's voice say, “It's me, Finn.” He felt momentarily safe.
“Angela, I'm so glad to hear your voice.”
“I'm here for you, baby,” Angela said as she put her arms around him.
“How much longer will you be here?”
“They haven't given me an exact time frame, yet.”
“How close a time frame have they given you?”
“I don't want to worry you. Please don't worry. There's still some time.”
“Time is not my friend anymore.”
“Time is nobody's friend. Time doesn't heal all wounds. Time creates all wounds.”
“I'm so scared, Angela.”
“Don't be. I think it will be painless.”
“Are you sure?”
“No. I hope so, though.”
Finn and Angela sat beside one another on the floor holding hands. Angela was dressed in a polka dot dress while Finn hadn't changed his clothes, yet.
“Do I get a change of clothes?”
“Of course, Finn. I'll bring you some clothes. Do you want them now?”
“I'd like that. I'd also like a quick shower.”
“The bathroom down the hall has a shower. I'll walk you over there when I get back. Let me go get you some clothes.”
“That would be great. Thanks, hun.”
When Angela left to get his clothes, Finn took a deep breath. He believed that when she returned that he'd find a few moments of peace and sanity in the world which had become so cruel and unpredictable in nature. Finn wanted to find peace of mind for a few hours where he would collect his thoughts and examine the realization that he didn't have long left on this Earth.
Mr. Franklin brought Finn some food. He brought him pancakes and sausage. Finn looked at the meal and wondered how Franklin knew what Finn liked.
“Angela told us what you like. I'm not psychic.”
“How did you know I was just thinking that, Mr. Franklin?”
“Well, what else is someone going to think when they see a plate of their favorite food. It didn't get there without someone suggesting we put it there.”
“Tell me about yourself, Mr. Franklin. What is it that you do, exactly?”
“I'm not at liberty to discuss myself.”
“What about your partner? Can you discuss him?”
“He's the last man you want information about. I'm going to leave now. Enjoy your breakfast.”
“Thanks, sir.”
“You won't be thanking me much longer.”
“Good to know. I figured that much.”
After Finn ate, he sat down on the floor in silence as thoughts went through his head of his meaningless life. Finn believed it was actually meaningless knowing about the opposite sex and the child he helped create. Everything he once thought that mattered about mathematics and his career seemed not to be pivotal to his happiness anymore. Angela was the only thing that truly mattered to him once he learned he wasn't going to be moving forward as a teacher anymore. He yearned for Angela to return and to make love to her at least one more time.
Angela returned and informed him that Alexis was no longer alive. Finn didn't know why she felt the need to address that topic and declined to ask her for any more information regarding Alexis. Angela slid down to Finn's level at which he was sitting on the floor.
“What is life?”
“Why would you ask me that now, Finn?”
“Now is as good a time as ever, don't you think?”
“Life is a facade. A mirror that we look at our existence through.”
“I knew you'd get all philosophical. I love that.”
“Why? What do you think life is?”
“What is life if not the pursuit of a dream?”
“What is your dream, Finn?”
“You were the dream I never knew existed until now.”
“I appreciate the kind words, Finn.”
“I hoped you would because I want to make love again.”
“That's going to be tough. I have no pills for you to get aroused.”
“Why can't you get them?”
“I don't know if that's allowed anymore. We had our last hurrah. I am pretty sure of that now.”
“Why are you so sure now? What do you mean?”
“Do you pray, Finn?”
“I have had a love/hate relationship with religion. That's the best way I can put it.”
“You need to embrace your faith now. More than ever.”
“My faith is in you, Angela.”
Finn started crying as he reached out for her and wished she would pull him closer to her. Angela held his hand as tight as she could. Finn didn't know where he was going but knew he was cherishing this last moment with Angela by his side. He thought of all the selfishness he experienced when he let the divorce happen. It was so heartbreaking to Finn. Time was going faster than he hoped it would as the two of them sat on the floor holding one another.
“Angela, promise you'll remember me when I'm gone.”
“I'll never forget you, Finn. You were the great love of my life.”
“There will be good things for you ahead, Angela.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know they'll be better than what we're experiencing now.”
“They have to be. For sure, right?”
They both started to laugh as Mr. Franklin came to tell Angela that their time together was soon going to be up. Finn kissed Angela so deeply and she returned his affection for the few moments before Mr. Franklin escorted Angela to the door so she could exit.
When Angela left, Finn was feeling horribly afraid that he was going to soon know what happens after death. He started to pray to a God he wasn't sure existed. He wanted to know if he would go someplace where his suffering would end.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Mr. Franklin told Finn he should enjoy the rest of the time he was going to have alone in the room. Mr. Franklin told him that he was coming to get him in two hours to take him to the “final destination.”
Finn curled himself in a ball against the wall afraid of going to sleep and missing the time he had left. He wasn't sure if time went slower or faster while dreaming. When he closed his eyes, he started to remember Leonardo. He hoped his son would be smarter than him and not cause any problems. Finn wanted Leonardo to live a good, long, happy life. He wanted Angela to be safe. He hoped that his ex-wife and his son would one day unite despite what he was told about their futures. It was with great trepidation that he heard Mr. Franklin coming back to the room.
“It's time to go, Finn. Let's get out of here. Get dressed.”
“Get dressed? Why would I get dressed if I am dying?”
“People need to be clothes when they are executed.”
“So I'm being executed?”
“You've been being executed, no?”
“I meant in the literal sense, of course.”
“I'm not at liberty to say. I'm just a driver and an assistant to a higher power.”
“Who the hell is this higher power?”
“I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that. Let's go.”
In a few minutes, Finn and Mr. Franklin walked out of the building together. Mr. Franklin opened the back door of the same car they arrived in so Finn could sit in the back. Finn was, once again, handcuffed. As the car started driving off, Finn wondered where Mr. Douglas was. He didn't ask but, soon, Mr. Franklin pulled the car over and took a blindfold out of his pocket. He put it over Finn's eyes.
After about a half hour drive, Mr. Franklin pulled the car over. Finn was thinking this was the “final destination”
that he had been told about.
“I can't do this shit anymore. Get out of the car.”
“What shit can't you do anymore, Mr. Franklin?”
“I'm just going to tell them you're dead.”
“What do you mean?”
“Get out of the car!”
Finn got out of the car as Mr. Franklin took a key to the handcuffs out of his pocket and released Finn from them. Finn was curious as to what was going on.
“Finn, I like you. Go. You won't make it with no money and, of course, you're never going to be able to work legitimately again. If they see your fingerprints or ID numbers anywhere, they'll come for you and wonder why I lied to them. Go somewhere. Go somewhere and prepare to die until they find you. I want to give you more time.”
“I need more time, sir.”
“Shut up. I feel bad for people like you. Innocent suckers hoodwinked by a society that can't possibly accommodate the expectations it sets for people like you.”
“What expectations?”
“The expectations that love and money are possible to happily obtain knowing they were separated for all those early years.”
“I see. Where are you going?”
“Going to my next job. You've been terminated in my eyes.”
“Wouldn't they want proof.”
“They've trusted me for years. They trust me without any such proof.”
“Where am I?”
“In a place more fucked up than any you've ever been.”
“Do I have a chance?”
“Not a chance in hell. Just go somewhere and die. Die of starvation. Die of some self-inflicted way.”
“I'll go to hell if I do that.”
“This is hell. Anything other than this has to be better. Believe me.”
“Sir. Thanks but I think I want you to do what they told you to do to me.”
“No you don't. Your heart is big. Your ambition is grand. You have a right to see this hell that exists and decide how to check yourself out of it.”
“I see.”
“I'm leaving.”
Mr. Franklin got back in the car and drove off leaving Finn alone. Finn heard the car no more when he removed the blindfold. He walked around the premises before him wondering where he was. He didn't see much except grass. Large leaves of grass. He started to walk through them as the sun shone down upon him. Later, as the day started closing in and turning into night, he found himself hungry. He continued to walk until he came out of the grass to see a large mansion. The lights were on in the front of the large home.
Finn walked towards the home wondering who lived there. From the looks of the home, it was occupied by people who were high up the ranks in society. There was a swimming pool in the back of the house he noticed as he got very close to the home. The mansion had a gate in front of it which was unlocked which Finn found somewhat surprising.
A young, thin, blonde teenage girl came to the window looking out of it when she saw Finn standing there. Finn noticed the girl was too young to know about men and felt the sight of him must have shocked her. When the girl disappeared from the window, Finn turned around and started running. All of a sudden, he felt something hit him on the back of his head very hard. It felt like it was something plastic but it hurt him. He fell to the ground and closed his eyes tight. He heard people talking behind him.
“Who is this guy?”
“I saw him looking at me, Joe.”
“Where did he come from, Anna?”
“I don't know. I looked out the window and there he was.”
“Who are you?”
Finn felt the man who was talking kick him hard. Joe, turned him around. Finn opened his eyes and saw a teenage male and a teenage woman staring at him.
“How are you guys together? What happened to the separation laws?”
“Separation laws? Do we look like we follow the separation laws?”
“He believes separation laws are for everybody, Joe,” Anna said.
Joe and Anna laughed as they asked Finn to get up. They told Finn to walk to the house with them. Finn reluctantly agreed.
“I don't understand. How is there a male and female teenager together? The separation laws. What happened to them?”
“Don't worry. There'll be plenty of time for explanation,” Joe, a 16-year old teenager with wavy brown hair and blue eyes, stated.
As Finn was walking he felt the pain from the oversized plastic bottle which Joe had used to hit Finn on the head. Joe and Anna told him to enter the house. They all went inside.
“Sit down on the couch. Make yourself at home,” Anna told Finn.
Three other teenagers, two males and one female, came over to see what was going on. When Finn saw them, he grew increasingly more confused.
“What's going on? What about the separation laws? Why are you kids all together? I don't understand. Where am I?”
“You're in a home among homes. We're some of the people the world knows nothing about sir,” Anna said.
Finn asked, “Who are you?”
“It's really none of your business, sir,” Anna told him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“So how have you teenagers managed to find yourselves in a home of this size not obeying the separation laws?”
“If this guy keeps talking about the separation laws, I'm going to kick the shit out of him,” Geoffrey, one of the teenage males in the home, said.
“Let's start off with a simple question, old man. What's your name?”
“My name is Finn. What's yours?”
“I'm Joe. This is my girlfriend, Anna, her brother Geoffrey, and our housemates, Lucas and Jenny. They're a couple too.”
“Now that we got all our names out of the way. Why are you hitting me over the head? I didn't do anything to you people.”
“You're invading our space. Where did you come from? Nobody comes around these parts,” Lucas said.
“I am invading your space. Do you have anything to eat? I am starving.”
“Wait a minute. This is the guy they were talking about. Mommy and daddy mentioned him the other day. I remember, Finn something. I saw it in mommy's emails too. He's a math teacher who disobeyed separation law rules and was sentenced to be executed,” Jenny said.
“That would be me,” Finn said.
“I heard that story. He's got like medals for teaching math and shit,” Joe said.
“Shouldn't you teenagers be in school?”
“We're educated at our home, this home, by our parents,” Anna stated.
“Where are these parents who you speak of?”
“They don't live with us,” Anna replied.
“So how do they educate you guys?”
“You know more than you need to know. You know you can't leave these premises now. We're going to have to tie you up, sir,” Joe told Finn.
Finn asked, “Can't we all just get along?”
Geoffrey wondered, “Rodney King?”
“Yes. He coined the question many, many years ago as we've seen on television but I mean it. What can we do to avoid an ugly situation here?”
“Finn, you should be dead. We should kill you,” said Anna.
“Why don't we do something more civilized?”
“Because you're an asshole, Finn,” Joe said.
“Why am I an asshole?”
“You don't have money like us and you dared try to break the separation law rules like you were powerful enough to do so. Didn't you know what type of person you were when you were born?”
“What type of person am I?”
“A poor person,” Jenny said.
“I wasn't that poor. I made a pretty good living for myself.”
Joe asked, “Finn, how much did you make per year?”
“Six figures.”
“Wow. You were really styling then, weren't you?”
“What do you mean, Geoffrey?”
“Finn, you were a fucking peasant. Do you have any idea how much money we have between
our families?”
“Then why are you all living in the same fucking house, you teenage fuckers?”
“Watch your language, sir,” Jenny said.
“How much money could you possibly have if you're all living together?”
“This house is huge and we're family. Family sticks together,” Joe told him.
“Who are your parents?”
“We'd tell you but then we'd have to kill you,” Geoffrey said.
“Aren't I already dead?”
Joe responded, “Not necessarily. Let me make some phone calls. Are you as good a math teacher as they said you were?”
“I'm the best math teacher you could ever imagine and my son will be the next great instructor of mathematics. I know it.”
“You have a son? That's why you tried to break the separation law rules. So you could see him? I believe that was what we heard,” stated Jenny.
Joe went into another room in the house to make a phone call. Everybody else looked at Finn wondering what to make of the situation and whether or not to give Finn food.
“If we give him food, we'll keep him alive. I'm not sure that's what we're supposed to do,” stated Anna.
Joe came back into the room. He looked at the other teenagers and then looked at Finn before he started to say what was on his mind.
“If we tell our parents you're here, the answer is simple. The answer is that they're going to want you dead.”
“How do you know that, Joe?”
“Finn, you're a fucking outlaw. It's over for you. Because we have hearts here, we could make an arrangement.”
“What arrangement do you have for me?”
“An arrangement that will keep you alive a little longer,” Joe said.
“What's the arrangement?”
“You could teach us. We're so tired of instructional videos and the asshole teachers they send to us. Maybe you could teach us a thing or two about life or mathematics.”
“Don't your parents come to visit you? Or the teachers you already have? They'll find me here. What arrangement could we possibly make?”
Jenny responded, “Joe, any arrangement like that isn't going to work. What if he tries to escape? What then?”
“Finn is safe in here. We can hide him. It's the world out there that's a danger to him. Finn, you would be safe. Very safe here,” Joe said.
