1 comment
I shook the hands of the unsuspecting man as I brushed the strands of my wig away from my eyes. “I’m Tyler,” I said, confident that my oath brother would not be able to see through my disguise.
“I’m James,” he replied but of course, I already knew that.
I signed the contract, and the deal was complete. I was now his bodyguard.
When the boss first showed me the picture of my next hit, I could hardly believe my eyes.
"Who will I be working with?" I had asked.
"It's just you this time," he said.
"But I'm just the second hand," I argued, despite the hatred that had built up inside me, I did not want to be the one to take my old friend's life or anyone's life for that matter. The contract I had signed stated that I would only have to be the second eye of the hitman, to make sure he's safe, that he successfully accomplishes the hit. There was a time when I have had to drag my partner from a boat that was set to explode after he had broken his leg, but most of the time, my only job was to survey the area and give him a clear or warn him of dangers. But never have I had to do a
hit myself.
"Are you talking back to me?" the boss had narrowed his eyes.
"No."
James and I had parted ways after completing high school - he wanted to sharpen his brain while I chose to make something of my brawn. It led us down very different paths but eventually brought us back to this moment in time. Only now, I was a hitman contracted to kill him, and he was a politician making very powerful enemies. I didn’t want to accept this job, I had no intentions of killing my old friend, but declining the offer was not an option. It was considered a breach in contract and was met with a round of bullets. It’s not all that bad, after five years of
serving, you could retire with a big sum of money and I only had two more months to go before I could take home my own load. So I was not going to let some old friend get in the way. Especially not someone who left me to move to another state so he could attend some fancy college.
It was a two-week assignment. The first week was to earn his trust and the next was to execute the plan. I had to be clever so that I didn’t leave any holes. I had to ensure that his death was reasonable because James had a huge following, so if something were to be left unsolved, his followers would be on our trail.
The first week was simple; I needed to be vulnerable in order to earn his trust. I introduced him to my ‘wife’ and ‘children,’ and he introduced me to his.
It was the middle of the second week when I decided to put my plan in motion. After a successful meeting with the local council for permission to build a solar farm, I offered him a few drinks. After some hesitation, he finally agreed. The first glass was a beer. The second was a cocktail with 2 shots. The third was another cocktail, mixed with highly concentrated alcohol - my own special ingredient. But when I offered his third glass, he shook it away saying, “I’m dizzy Tyler, take me home.”
My mind was already weaving another plan to kill him as I accompanied him to the car. He was slurring words from the backseat as I drove us back home. I was surprised at how quickly he managed to get drunk.
Once home, he fell on the couch and was quickly unconscious. I pulled out a needle from my pocket, I had it there in case something like this happened. I filled it with the concentrated alcohol and approached James quietly so that I didn't wake him. But as soon the needle reached his upper arm, I felt a tight grip on my wrist. James opened his eyes and smirked, "took you long enough Eddy."
The needle fell to the marble floor with a cling as I stumbled back at the mention of my old nickname. It had been years since I heard that name.
"H-how did you know?" I regained myself and asked.
Jame's hand slithered into his coat, looking for something, maybe a gun? I pulled out the dagger camouflaged in my belt and held it infront of him, but he bravely pulled out whatever he was looking for. My muscles relaxed a little when I realised it was just a wallet. From it, he pulled out a photo of two young boys whose arms were wrapped around each other.
"You think I could forget my own blood brother?" he asked.
I had my own copy of that photo, but I had burnt it along with everything else that reminded me of him once he left for college. I had texted him every day while he replied once a week, then once a month, then not at all. He had moved on without me, and I chose to do the same. So why did he have a picture of him and I?
“Why do you think I came back here?” he asked.
It couldn’t have been because of me. “I don’t know and I don’t care!”
He stood up without fear, placed his hands on my shoulders and spoke in a mellow voice, “before I left, I told you I’d come back, and together we’d make changes to this god-forsaken, corrupt world, have you already forgotten?”
I glared at him with disgust, “have I forgotten? Have I forgotten!” I raised my voice, “you were the one who stopped making plans, you were the one who stopped contacting me, you were the one who forgot about me, you were the one who moved on without me!”
“Everything I did was for us,” he said quietly, “I’m sorry I couldn’t talk much, I was overwhelmed with work and college but I kept pushing so that we can execute our plan.”
Ring ring. I answered with a quiet 'hello,' when I realised who was calling. “How’s the plan going,” the boss asked.
I glanced back at my old friend and forced my tongue to speak. “I think he’s onto me,” I said, “I’m going to need a few more weeks to earn back his trust,” I tried to stall, fearing his reaction. The call ended without a conclusion, leaving me feeling paranoid.
“Who was that?” James asked.
“The boss,” I said, and he somehow understood.
Both James and I stared at the floor and stood in silence, trying to take in everything. Trying to decide what to do next. I lifted my head to speak but quickly slumped down after contemplating a little more.
A loud thunder was heard as the doors flung open and broke the silence which caught us off guard. From the darkness of the night stepped in a familiar face.
“Boss!” I said with astonishment. He was in a police uniform, standing at the door like a typical villain. "I'm sorry."
“No, you did everything perfectly. Your only goal was to get close to him and leave him vulnerable. You think I haven't tried killing him before? But he just wouldn't let anyone close. That's why I needed an old friend like you to catch him off guard, Edward" he clarified and stated my real name, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised, "but if you want something done,” he sighed as he placed his hand on his utility belt, above a gun, “you have to do it yourself!” He pointed his gun at James.
Without thinking, I jumped in front of the gun. “Don’t shoot!” I shouted, “if you do that, the public is going to be on your tail!”
He snicked and continued to point his gun, now at me, “you mean your tail, but too bad you’ll already be dead.”
“What?” I didn’t understand what he was saying, it made no sense.
“He means he’s going to kill me and blame it on you. And then he’s going shoot you and say he did it in self-defence or something,” James clarified calmly, “he’s the police, so he could get away with it.”
My eyes widened in horror and I felt my legs began to tremble. Before I could comprehend what just happened, James pulled out the dagger from my belt and grabbed both my hands and held it behind my back. He held the dagger right above my wrists, I could feel the cold unforgiving metal on my skin, threatening to dig inside. He bent my fingers back, almost touching the back of my forearm and causing me to groan in pain.
My head was spinning. I was always the one helping to take lives, never the one fearing for my own. This did not suit me at all.
“Ya know ‘Mr Boss,’” James said humorously, “if I cut the muscles on his forearm, it would render the hands useless. He would barely be able to pick up a gun, let alone shoot it!” he said. “So how are you going to put the blame on him if I cut his arm right here, right now.”
The boss looked at him suspiciously and his face twisted into an ugly expression when he realised what James was saying.
“You could say Tyler shot me and you cut his hands,” James continued to speak as he pushed me close to the man pointing the gun, “but you’re going to have to answer why you cut his hands with a knife you don’t own when you clearly have a gun as a police officer should. Not only that, but Tyler will also be able to bear witness to you killing me.”
He pushed me even closer, “You can kill him if you don’t want a witness, but what are you going to say? ‘Tyler shot James and pointed his gun at me, so I shot him in self-defence?’” He said in an innocent voice, “then how are you going to explain the cut on his arm and how he would be a threat if he can't even hold a gun?”
He pushed me one more step closer until my head was almost touching the barrel. “Go on, shoot,” he demanded. James raised the dagger and brought it down behind my back. I felt a sudden pain on my wrist and screamed in agony as I realised what just happened. But the pain disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared as I realised he had just pinched me. But blood flowed down my hand and onto the floor in front of all our eyes. Had he cut himself?
Now I was lost in confusion. 'What is he doing' I thought. Then the realisation struck me. All this time, he was not talking to the boss, he was talking to me while trying to steal time. I realised why he said the things he said and why he pushed me so close to the boss. My theory was soon confirmed as I felt James lay the handle of my dagger in my hand.
Quick as a flash, I clenched the dagger and swiped it across the boss’ forearms as James said earlier. The gun fell from his hands and blood spilled onto it.
The ambulance and police arrived in a matter of minutes and we were soon bombarded with lights and sounds. The paramedics took the man away while James and I were being interrogated.
“I don’t know what happened,” James lied through his teeth, “I just got back from the bar and this man just broke into my house and pointed his gun at me! Thank goodness I had my bodyguard there to protect me!”
The officer looked at me, “I had to disarm him so that he couldn’t hurt anyone,” I shrugged.
“Thanks for not ratting me out,” I said once the commotion died out and everyone had left, “thank god it’s all over!”
James chuckled as if I had just told him a joke. “You think he was the only corrupt police in that police force? This is far from over, I’m going to have more threats and we’re going to fight harder to even get this guy to face justice,” he explained, “it’s all politics,” he paused. “So do you wanna be my real bodyguard?”
I thought for a second, with the boss gone, I was looking for a new job anyways. “Of course!!” I answered.
“Great, we’re back on track with changing this world” he stated, “but you’d be a hypocrite if you were to just forget the past ever existed, so you’re going to have to make it up to everyone. Donate everything you gained from your old job, help bring the hitmen you worked with to justice and face justice yourself when the time comes. But until then,” he smiled, “let’s start with small steps, like building that solar farm we just got approved.”
You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.
1 comment
A great story with great chemistry between the two friends even without having seen each other for long duration of time.
Reply