Ryan clocked out, but instead of heading straight out the front doors, he took the long way. Murphy’s Law: When employees saw you were about to go on break, they quickly developed last minute emergencies requiring urgent response.
Ryan, a customer said the strawberries taste off.
Ryan, the bathroom is flooded; we need to call a plumber.
Ryan, my baby’s got a sore throat; I need to take off, and no, it doesn’t have anything at all to do with that concert I have tickets for.
That was just the employees. Customers were worse. Ryan was amazed that most people managed to get through the day without his help.
Ryan slipped on his black jacket and made his way to the back of the store before sneaking out the front doors. He found that the fewer people who knew he was on his way to lunch, the quieter his break would be. And when it came to dealing with a problem like Pete, the less attention on Ryan, the better. Once he was certain the cashiers and stock-boys were otherwise engaged, he made his way out the front doors and scanned the parking lot for Pete.
Pete was sitting in his black sedan about 10 rows back, listening to loud rap music, bouncing his head under a black skull cap and dark shades, looking as suspicious as, and not unlike, a drug dealer in a family park.
Ryan glanced around to make sure nobody was paying attention to him, then approached Pete’s car and squatted on his knees beside the driver’s side.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Ryan asked.
“Viktor wants to know your answer.”
“I said no, the answer’s not changing,” Ryan said, through clenched teeth.
“I was really hoping you wouldn’t say that,” Pete said, taking a deep drag on his joint. “He’s not gonna be happy.”
“I don’t care if he’s unhappy. This isn’t an option. I’ll pay him back, but it’s gonna take time. Another week, at most. What’s seven days to Viktor?”
“I don’t get it, man,” Pete said, taking his shades off and meeting Ryan’s eyes, “The dude is giving you an out. An EASY fucking out. Most people would kill for this, and you’re saying no?”
Ryan shook his head, refusing to waver. “I’m not putting innocent people at risk. You tell him I said no. He will HAVE to wait.”
Pete shook his head, “Don’t be stupid, Ryan. We’ll be in and out, nobody gets hurt, nobody knows you were involved. Easy. As. Shit.”
Ryan closed his eyes, stared at the pavement, littered with chunks and slivers of broken glass. Pete had a point. The problem of Viktor could turn to vapor if Ryan would just play ball. No more debt. No hovering threat of Viktor’s goons. It would all go away. But the risk was too great. He couldn’t live with himself if something went wrong. He couldn’t look Mary or Paola in the eyes if innocent people were hurt because of him.
“I can’t,” Ryan said, “tell him no.”
Pete let out a deep sigh, “Shit, dude, you are either the dumbest fucker ever, or the ballsiest. You sure you want me to make this call?”
Ryan nodded yes and watched as Pete dialed Viktor on his burner cell.
“Hey, it’s me . . . No, he’s saying no deal. He wants another week.”
Ryan couldn’t hear what was being said on the other end, and Pete’s face was blank, save for his usual stoner expression.
Then, something Viktor said dilated Pete’s eyes.
He handed Ryan the phone. “He wants to talk to you.”
Ryan’s felt the acid in his chest rise as his pulse quickened. He reached for the phone, then stole another glance around the parking lot to make sure nobody was watching.
“Yes?”
“Am I to understand you’re saying no?” Viktor’s voice said, smooth and reptilian.
“Yes, sir,” Ryan said, “It’s too risky. We don’t need to do it like this. I just need one more week.”
“No, you’ve had enough time,” Viktor said, “It’s time to pay. You either pay now, or we’ll have to settle. How we settle is up to you, but I’d take the easy way if I was you.”
“It won’t work,” Ryan said, “Someone could get hurt. Someone will find out I was involved. Too much risk. If you can’t wait a week, just come and get me. I’m tired of living under the threat that you’re gonna send someone after me. You’re a businessman; you realize if your guys come after me, you’ll never get your money. So why not just wait another week?”
Viktor settled into a quiet that lingered too long; every silent second twisted the anxiety rising in Ryan’s gut.
Finally, Viktor spoke. “You’re right; if I hurt you, I won’t get my money. But I have a feeling that if I send some of my men to Warson Woods, pay a visit to your family, maybe that might change your mind?”
Ryan froze, rage threatening to boil over.
“You stay away from my family,” he said, doing his best to keep his anger contained.
“Then you pay me tonight. Your choice. Put Pete back on.”
Ryan handed the phone to Pete, hand shaking. Pete listened for 10 seconds or so, then said, “OK, boss” and hung up.
“So, what’s it gonna be? You in?”
Ryan stared, paralyzed by fear. He knew Viktor was dangerous. Knew he’d gone in too deep with his gambling. Knew that someday his luck might run out, and maybe he’d get a beat-down. But never did he consider that Viktor would go after his family. Hell, he didn’t even think Viktor knew about Mary or Paola.
This was it.
Ryan was finally out of options.
He’d gone too far this time and now there was enough shit to make sure the fan stopped spinning forever.
He nodded to Pete, “I’m in.”
* * * *
5 - LUCA HARDING
Luca moved his Bishop in a diagonal line across the board, removed a black knight from the other side, and settled his bishop in its place. There was silence in his head. The Black Pieces weren’t talking. They were probably mad because Luca had just taken the knight.
The Black Pieces were like that sometimes, even when they weren’t playing chess with Luca. Sometimes they would start talking from nowhere, capturing his attention and demanding that he keep it. There were four of them, so far as he could tell. They all sounded similar, weird and kind of high pitched in voice, almost like he imagined elves would sound. They said they didn’t have individual names, and instead called themselves Black Pieces because that was how he’d first noticed and thought of them during a game of chess. Luca thought it weird that they didn’t have names before now. But that was the least of all the weirdness in his life these days, so he didn’t fight the idea.
Most of the time the Black Pieces said the same sorts of things; things he mostly understood, though every once and a while they said something that sent a cold chill through Luca’s body.
The Black Pieces came back and told Luca to move one of its pawns two spaces to make room for a rook. Luca moved the pawn, then returned to his thoughts while pondering his own next move.
The Black Pieces were nicer than most of the voices. Always calm and reasonable. And they always answered back. The other voices ignored his responses and questions. They were like TV or the radio since he could only hear the voices, and they only went one way. Luca could sometimes see them too, but only when he slept.
The Black Pieces were always around. That’s why they could play chess together.
Luca moved one of his pawns forward, then waited for the Black Pieces.
Luca caught his reflection in the mirror on the far side of the room, then quickly looked away. He hated his reflection. It was worse than the worst scary movie he ever saw, which was probably this movie called Lovely Bones he saw last summer. Mom said he shouldn’t see it, but Dad insisted he was old enough. Mom was right because Lovely Bones had given him nightmares for a month.
Luca hated how old he looked. It was weird. Paola had been looking at him like he was from another planet since they met. Now that he looked like the college kids who hung out at the Town Center in Las Orillas, she probably
wouldn’t want to be around him at all. Paola laughed at his jokes and seemed to enjoy being around him, but Luca was sure that if the world was filled with more people, she wouldn’t care about him at all. They were probably just friends because Paola didn’t have a choice.
He caught his reflection again, but this time he held it. Not because he was comfortable - the mirror still made him feel yucky - but because looking into the mirror gave him a view of a younger but still breathing version of his father, and he suddenly couldn’t bear to turn away.
Luca moved for the Black Pieces, still transfixed.
Even if Luca looked just like his father, he had still only been on Earth for eight years. It was making him feel weird; how the thoughts in his head were starting to feel so much older than his eight years. Luca didn’t think as old as he looked, but he also didn’t think nearly as young as he was.
Luca took the final black knight and wondered again what Paola really thought of him. He loved playing with her. Mary and Desmond were like his new mom and dad, or at least the closest thing to parents that he had now. So that meant Paola was like his sister. But he didn’t feel about Paola like he did about his sister Anna. Not at all. Paola gave him a weird feeling, and reminded him of something his dad once said:
Young love softens the mind too much to control the body’s tingles.
Luca hadn't really known what it meant; still didn’t. But he was somehow sure it had something to do with how he was feeling now, sure it had to do with the weird feeling he never had before tingling in the place he wasn’t supposed to talk about.
Luca moved for Black Pieces again, taking his own white knight, with the Black Pieces’ rook.
He wished Jimmy were still alive. Jimmy probably would have had good advice on the subject. Luca didn’t have the courage to discuss his feelings with any of the grownups, though he did manage to ask Will if he thought Paola might ever like him as more than a friend. Will said, “Chicken pox and puppy love are both terrible after 20, so you’re definitely in the right time frame.” Will’s answer mostly confused Luca, so he asked Will about the funny feelings he was getting. Will laughed and said, “Girls will melt your brain and make blood run to your lips, cheeks, and everywhere else. You can’t and won’t ever be able to do anything about it. Might as well stop trying now.” That left Luca more confused than ever.
That was a month ago; after they’d found the house and farm but before Will started acting weird. Luca thought Will was weird most times now, even though no one else really seemed to notice. Will hadn’t acted weird today, though. Will had been all business. Like the old Will who found him in California and flew him to Missouri.
He’d come up the stairs a step behind John, just after Luca healed Scott. There was no mistaking the looks Will traded with Desmond. Neither knew what to think about John coming back, but one thing was certain – neither liked it. Luca overheard Desmond saying, “This scene seem a bit too well written for you?” Will barely nodded, but his eyes were burning.
Luca moved his rook to the top of the board.
John had been insistent; they had to leave immediately. They weren’t safe. The bleakers who breached the gate were only the beginning, he said. More were coming, too many to count. It was easy to believe. The outside looked like burned food. The black bodies of the dead bleakers were in gross piles everywhere. Bullets usually ripped them to pieces because their bodies were so soft.. All their arms and legs and insides on the ground looked like a nightmare exploded.
John told them about a place in Alabama where he had been living for the last few months; a place where they would be welcome and safe, with plenty of food, supplies, and good people – some of who had come to help them today. They would be well taken care of, he promised.
Luca listened to everything John said, just like everybody else. He couldn't tell what Desmond and Mary were thinking even though he tried to read their faces. Paola didn’t like it at all, he was sure of that. This was her new home, and she wouldn’t want to leave. It didn’t take Luca long to decide he didn’t like it at all. Listening to John talk about Alabama only made him suddenly miss Jimmy all over again. And worse, it got him thinking about Dog Vader.
Just like the nightmare piles outside.
Luca’s rook disappeared; Black Pieces had infiltrated the back row and put Luca’s queen in jeopardy.
Paola told Luca that after John left she heard Will whispering to Desmond and her mom. Will said he’d been dreaming of the place John was talking about; said John showing up was odd, no doubt, but the place John was talking about seemed like the same place they were supposed to go. It’d been the place he’d been thinking about night and day for nearly a month but didn’t know how to get to. Luca protected his queen with his remaining knight, then waited for Black Pieces to tell him their next move.
Paola sounded scared when she told Luca what she overheard. Luca said not to worry, it was a good thing John had come back. They were going to be saved. Paola believed him, even if he didn’t even know whether or not he should believe in John himself. John made him think about Dog Vader an awful lot, and several of the voices agreed that John shouldn’t be trusted, which was funny since the Black Pieces rarely agreed on anything.
Thinking about Paola made the funny feeling come back. Though, if Luca really thought about it, it had never gone away. Ever since healing Scott, and him getting old fast again just like he had back at the Drury Inn, the feeling had never left. But now it was stronger than ever. It used to feel like part of his body was waking up from sleep. Now it kind of hurt. Luca felt a need to touch himself, which is why he kept his hands at the edges of the chessboard.
Luca thought of Paola, and for the millionth time wondered what she would have thought of him if they met under different circumstances. He imagined her standing a few feet in front of him, so pretty, with her dark hair and big eyes and lips. Her lips were usually ready to smile and loved to tell the jokes that made him laugh. Her lips were also fierce with her mother, but in a way that Luca liked. Paola said the sorts of things that Luca felt, but would have never been able to say to his own mom.
He hadn’t though much about her body before, but waiting for Black Pieces to make the next move made Luca imagine the slight curve of her hip. And that made him feel the uncomfortable tingle below his waist again.
He turned his attention to the chessboard - moving for Black Pieces and then immediately moving for himself, getting his queen to safety again - when there was a slight knock on the door. Mary poked her head inside.
Luca looked up, surprised. “Just checking on you,” Mary said behind her smile, laced with its usual little bit of sadness. “Are you coming out? Desmond told everyone you needed a minute, but the natives are getting restless. There’s seven cars ready to take us.”
Mary glanced at the board and saw both sets of pieces. Luca could feel her eyes on his right hand hovering just above the Black Pieces’ queen, ready to make his next move; could feel her trying to ignore it. Luca suddenly realized how pretty Mary was, how much she looked like Paola. He felt the funny feeling again, followed by a wave of guilt.
“The clothes fit okay?” she asked.
“They’re a little big,” Luca said, “but not too bad.” He smiled awkwardly, trying to ignore the funny feeling, waiting for Mary to leave and hoping the Black Pieces wouldn’t get impatient and disappear again.
There were plenty of grownup clothes in the house. Even though Luca had grown several inches, he was much skinnier than everyone else and swam in the grownup clothes.
“I’m glad,” Mary said. “Let’s give it another five minutes, okay? We’re loading up now. We’re in the last car, the burgundy van at the end of the line.” Mary smiled once more, then shut the door behind her.
Paola’s mom was harder to read than anyone else in Luca’s new family. She loved Desmond and had an overwhelming need to look out for everyone else, but the only thing she ever really thought about was protecting Paola. Other stuff matt
ered, but not as much. It reminded Luca of when he was five and the only thing he wanted to watch was Star Wars: Episode VI. Other movies were good, too. And he liked them when they were on, but he was always thinking about the Ewoks and Luke’s final battle with the Emperor and his dad, Darth Vader.
Luca moved for Black Pieces, then quickly made his own move to keep the game going so Black Pieces wouldn’t have to wait.
Luca closed his eyes and waited for the Black Pieces, but they seemed to have disappeared. Luca called out in his mind but heard no response.
Luca wasn’t sure what to do. If the Black Pieces were done playing, he could go downstairs and get going. Maybe they would finish later. But if the Black Pieces came back and still wanted to play but Luca was gone, they would be mad. And that wouldn’t be good.
The Black Pieces were usually nice. Luca had only seen them get mad twice before. The first time was back during February’s incident; the one Desmond promised they would never have to talk about. The second was earlier this morning, right before the bleakers came.
When the Black Pieces got mad, they didn’t even act like the Black Pieces anymore. They acted like the Man in the Center instead.
He couldn't help but notice that he was just a couple moves away from checkmating the Black Pieces. Luca wondered if that was why they had disappeared. The Black Pieces hated to lose.
The Man in the Center had been in Luca’s head ever since the Drury. The Man wasn’t the boss of all the other voices, but he seemed to always be in the middle.
Luca scratched his head. This was always so hard, trying to figure stuff out and have it make sense.
The Man in the Center was like the sun. The sun wasn’t the boss of the day, but if it didn’t come out, the day didn’t exist. The voices liked to tell him stuff, especially about Will, but Luca somehow knew they weren’t allowed to say anything without the Man’s permission.
Yesterdays Gone: SEASON TWO (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER) (Yesterday's Gone) Page 5
