Is it ever a good idea to meet up with old friends?
BLOOD-HOUNDS:
THE PLAYERS:
Will
Rich
Wes
ACT I
What do you do about the past?
You leave it there - where it belongs.
That's right, you forget about it, like it hasn't ever happened.
That is what a sensible person does.
I should have declined...
I should have said NO!
WHY DIDN'T I SAY NO?
Want to know another bad thing about the past? You can't go back to change it... Once you have taken those steps into the mud, you can't walk back into the clearing.
And so it was for me, that evening when I accepted an invitation to school reunion to meet some old friends.
We were going to meet at the old house where the road turned, strange place for a get together because I always thought the place was abandoned.
Not so! Turned out it was open to the public and fitted out, and there was food and drink and it looked very lovely indeed.
And who should be the first person I meet on arrival then an old school bully, Will.
I couldn't believe it. He walked up to me all smiles. he offered us a drink and then shook my hand and even hugged us.
It was all very unnecessary and over-the-top, I was not a touchy feely kind of person, but because of the nature of the occasion I was willing to make an exception.
He was a nasty piece of work was Will, back in the day, but I knew well that people changed.
And it was a long time ago.
We were both adults now and so it was time to let bygones be just that, and I was fully prepared to receive the man with a fresh perspective.
He said:
'It's good to see you again Rich.'
I replied.
'You too, Will. It's really good to see you again. Gosh! How man years has it been? Twenty five years! Damn! Long old time. And it has gone by so fast! The years have become months, and the weeks have turned into days. And the world has changed so much and I didn't notice it until the drive here. The school has been knocked down! The shop we used to knick sweets from too! And the playing field is now covered in all those ugly houses. The people who built that estate should be in prison - it was such a beautiful field, I remember it well:
'The flowers were such lookers. All year round the place was a wonder. That tree we built a den in. The stream that we used to throw rocks in. Remember that swing? We built it together from rope and an old car tire! We had such a laugh! And I was so fat back then, and you used to joke about it, but the rope held we did such a good job! It didn't snap! You all said it would, fat old Rich. But it didn't break, and I did't fall into the stream.
'And now it is all gone.
'And now the only thing that still stands is this old house. Very odd. Looks so old from outside. I thought it was a ruin when I was a kid! But standing here it looks like it has been refurbished! Strange! This old place is the only thing standing in the world where I grew as a kid. This old place. A building I never even went inside. I used to be so scared. You remember how you used to tease me about this place? You used to say it was haunted by a witch. Remember? Damn that story used to scare me to the bone!'
Will replied:
'I am so sorry that I used to tease you, I really regret it now. We used to joke about you being fat, but look at you now! As slim as a wisp!'
AS SLIM AS THE WILLOW WISPS THAT USED TO GROW IN THE PLAYING FIELD.
He was joking again, good old Will!
Such a joker!
I could tell by the way he talked alone that he had changed. Maturity is a strange thing, and the boy I remembered who used to pick on me was now a man.
This was somebody who I immediately knew I was really going to get on with!
'Congratulations on that business of yours,' Will continued. 'I remember back in the day when you were getting all that money together to make the initial investment. We all said you were a fool! I am sorry about that. But look at you now! I was the fool for trying to discourage you. Makes me wish I had out my hand in my own pocket while I had the chance. Today I might have been as rich as you, Rich!'
We both chuckled.
'No hard feelings,' I replied. 'It is what it is. You take a risk. Sometimes it works. other times it doesn't It's just life. Life is a game, as act. There is one in a hundred million chance of you ever being born, and about the same odds that you might fail. That's what I mean when I say life is just a game. Right from the start, we playing inside a huge gambling machine. You take your chances, you roll the dice, and you hope the sun shines on you. when the numbers roll in your favour it's nothing to do with skill: it's just pure unadulterated luck. Nothing more nor less. Some people have the universe at their back, others are stuck in the pit, forever climbing, but never feeling he touch of the sun. Like I said, it's all a game!'
'I like that!' Will replied. 'I am certainly in the pit... But heck! Whatever. Let me get you a drink!'
And like that the liquid started to flow, cup after cup, before long we were caught in the flow. O yes! We were one with it! Darn! One drink, three drinks - o yes! We were brothers locked in the juice. We talked about the good days. The lost days stored in our forgotten youth.
It was a golden moment - I had not felt so relaxed, so... damn I will say it, yes, HAPPY! I had not felt so happy in a very long time. For the past twenty years of signing business deals I was finally conversing with someone who actually knew me, not the business man who got things done no matter what but the real me, and also the world that I grew up in.
I felt like I was with family.
It was a good feeling.
Will pulled my attention to a kindly looking gentleman sat alone at a table nursing a drink.
'Look that's Wes over there! Such a lovely fellow!'
'O yes! Wes! I remember. Wasn't he the cleaner?'
'Yes. And has been most his life. He retired five years ago. Hopefully he is having a nice easy time of it these days! Damn he deserves it! We used to pick on him, bless him! I regret it now...'
'So do I,' I replied. 'What rebels we were, hey?'
We both sighed. Those were the days!
'You know? You are a good lad, really,' I said after we had finished laughing. 'I didn't know how much I liked you. It's a shame that we fell out.'
'Let the past be just that,' Will replied. 'It will do us good to let it rest there, forever.'
I agreed with him.
Will had grown wise with time, it seemed!
I liked him even more!
In that moment I was so glad I had decided to take the plunge and attend the reunion! I thought it was going to be big mistake, drag up old memories, poke forgotten demons back into action.
But no.
In a few hours after my arrival I had settled old debts, stomped out bitter memories, ended a quarrel, and made a new friend!
All was good!
ACT II
After another drink Will started to open up a little bit more about his current personal situation.
He had hinted at the begin about some business that hadn't worked out well for him. Now I was about to learn more.
'You remember I was telling you earlier that I was in a bit of a mess and then I changed the subject? Well, I did that for a reason. It's a bit embarrassing but I really am stuck in a pit, literally. A cash pit. The banks don't like me much these days so it seems! The problem is I can't get a loan and I sunk all my savings into that shop. You know the shop I am talking about, right? The old newsagent round the corner? Yes? The one where we used to pinch sweets as kids. Yeah. It had gone out of business and I thought I would buy it and do it up, extend it into a cafeteria. That was my old plan anyway. But the shop turned out to be a bomb. No one visits the village these days, and it turns out little corner shops are going out of business for a reason. No one is using them anymore! Like you, my friend, I took a gamble, but when I showed my hand the numbers weren't in my favour. I didn't get to see the sunshine, you know, the better side of the deal. I didn't get lucky in business like you. And now I owe money... It's not going well for me, Rich. To be honest I am scared. The future is looking pretty bad for me. I don't know what I am going to do.'
'Is it really that bad?'
Will nodded his head. 'Maybe even a little bit beyond bad. Bad wouldn't be too bad! I would love to have a bit of bad in my life! But what I am facing right now is beyond anything quite like that. Unfortunately for me, I think it might actually be over. You know, I have been thinking so crazy thoughts lately...'
I asked him about these crazy thoughts he was having. I kept my tone casual, I didn't want to make him uneasy. I could see his kind was deeply consumed by trouble, and that he needed somebody to serve as an outlet for his grief to pour into. And I was ready to receive him. My ears were open and ready, and my heart was in the right place. I took another sip of whiskey. Crazy thoughts, hey?
I felt the compulsion as a friend to push Will for more information regarding his latest dilemma.
What was his problem?
'Like what?' I said.
'Like ending it... You know? Pressing the off-switch... Escaping The Matrix. I don't how to be more blunt. Okay. How about this... The other day I came within seconds of standing in front of a car - in the middle of the road. I should have been knocked over. The speed at which the car was moving would have easily killed me. But no. I was pulled away. Someone played the hero. And here I am. Alive and well, and in debt. I should have done it. I mean, if I don't do it then someone else will. Those debts don't pay themselves, and soon the collectors will come knocking...'
I was shocked.
'This is a very bad business,' I replied. 'It's unimaginable that things are THIS bad for you! But I am glad that you didn't take the plunge! You were saved from that car for a reason. Fate works like that!'
The nasty situation that Will had gotten himself in got me thinking. With the idea of fate rolling around inside of my head it made me think that our meeting like this must have been for a reason.
I decided there and then that I was going to help my old friend.
I asked him about the collectors.
Will replied, and told me they were very serious men. Loan sharks who collected in blood.
I told him I was going to give him a loan. I scribbled out a check and handed the slip of paper over to him. The moment I placed the paper in his hand he started laughing. I must have given him a confused look. I really did not understand his strange reaction.
I was giving him money. I was helping him out of a hole, saving him from a nasty situation. He owed me now not the loan sharks, and he knew for sure that I was never going to break his legs! I thought he would be relieved.
But not so!
He continued to laugh.
I started to feel uncomfortable.
It was a very awkward situation for me to be in, absolutely. I felt like whipping that check right back out of his grubby hands, but in a few seconds he had slipped the into his upper coat pocket.
'Thanks for the free money old friend,' said Will sarcastically. 'That will help pay for the car!'
'What about the business?'
'What business?'
'You told me you had debts to pay?'
'I say a lot of things, Rich. But then you know me, don't you?'
'So you didn't buy the shop?'
'That stupid shop closed down thirty years ago, Rich! If you bothered to visit you would have found that out. But no. You didn't visit. When was the last time you came back to town? You stomped out of school and turned your back on your home and your people. And now here we are! Happy reunion, Rich!'
ACT III
Say what? NO! I couldn't believe it!
Why spin such a yarn! I felt so embarrassed to have fell for it - but I could never have guessed he was making it all up...
Why would he do that?
We were adults... old friends...
Perhaps some people don't change - such people live outside the flow of time. Now I knew such a thing was possible! Time can move mountains, shape seas, kill nations, but it will never deter the whims of a fool!
I told Will I wanted the check back.
He responded by laughing in my face.
'You are not getting anything out of me. Finders keepers,' Will replied.
'I gave you a loan. You have to pay me back!'
'We didn't sign anything did we?' Will replied. 'So what are you going to do about it? Beat me up? Just try it, Rich and we will see what happens. We all know who was the one with the bark and the bite back in the day. Yeah it was me Rich. I barked and you danced, that's how it always was. And if I was not happy with the dance, then well, we all remember what would happen. I aced you back then and I will ace you now jut as well, Rich. So just face the facts that you have been beaten, Rich. It was always a game between us. And we know it is with games. You don't need me to explain any of that business with you, veteran lose that you are. You know how it goes, winners and losers, and today I hold the cards, just like I used to forty years ago. I want to feel sorry for you, Rich, but you were always a mug, and you are still one today. You deserve to be put in your place.'
'You can't steal from me!'
'The money is compensation, for my part in having to endure spending my entire childhood in the same company as your barely existing carcass. You were born old, Rich. No fun. No fun at all. You only wanted to mope around. You were a sad wretch of a human when you were young, and now you have grown into an old dog! You are pathetic!'
'I want my money back Will!'
'Right. You won't the money? Then get your fists out and let's see if you can do better than you used to.'
Will started to taunt me:
'Let's see your fists! Come on. Let's see if use them. You never could back in the day. I remember you back then, walking around with your head down and your hands in your pockets taking all the pinches. Can time really change a man? Let's see. Go on then, Rich! Do it! Hit me! Fight me! Come on you coward! Let's see if you can do this after thirty years! Let's see if you can take control. Or are you just going to bow your head and be the loser forever? What happens next is up to you, Rich. I am handing the dice over to your hand. Now play your hand...'
I responded:
'Handing me the dice, hey? Brave move, Will. You don't know me. You never really did. I walked around with my head down because I couldn't stand the sight of you. I didn't take me hands out of my pockets because I couldn't be bothered. That's why I didn't raise my fists, because the truth is this, Will: You were never worth the effort.
'But listen to me now! I am going to knock you down today, I am going to hit you worse then ever before. But NOT with my fists. I am going to hit you with something way worse. I have been making contacts over the years. I know people who could shake your little world apart. So, Will. I am going to play this game, and this is me rolling the dice and right now I have scored the higher number. So you keep that check in your pocket. Be my guest and cash it in! You would be doing me a favour if you did so. And then I will make a phone call and I will have my people reel you in for fraud. You might pay off your car but you want enjoy it for long! I will see that you are put into prison. If the court goes in your favour you might get ten years minimum. And that will be your life over!'
'You wouldn't do that to me?'
'O wouldn't Will? I have rolled my dice. I have made my move. No turning back now. So you walk out of here with that check, and I will have you locked up for a good long time. I will see to it that you are put inside with the lads. The big bad boys. I have got contacts inside as well, Will. O yes I have been a busy fellow these last few years. I will make sure you are set up with a nice little cell with a few nice little people to take care of you. A few days locked up with those fine fellows and I will teach you who the loser really is. Your turn to roll the dice now Will. Let's see what your number is! I bet you can't beat mine. Go on - take the roll.'
'I can't believe you would threaten me in such a way.'
'Believe me. I am doing that right now.'
'But... I thought we were friends.'
'We were never friends. And I have no qualm in throwing inside a prison cell. I will see that the police are called round to your home tonight. So do it Will. Give me the chance to make my move. Leave now with that check, an d let us end this once and for all.'
'No. I don't believe you. You are weak. You were always a coward. No! Your bluffing.'
'Okay. Then call my bluff! There is the door... USE IT!'
'I can't believe you are doing this!'
'Believe it!'
Will started to shake. His nerves had finally tweaked that he was in a bad situation. They were playing an accordion right now up and down his quivering trunk. 'I am going to give you back the check!'
'I don't want it!'
'Then you are going to set me up?'
'You have done this, not I. You played the game. You thought you had the upper hand. You were tricked by your own confidence. Typical Will! You always thought you were unstoppable even as a child, and now here we are.'
'You are scum!'
'You will find there is only one piece of scum here,' I replied. 'Scum from scum. Tell me I am not right? Scum breeds scum, that is the law of nature. You can't grow gold out of filth. Slime sticks to the gutter, and it stinks over the years. Remind me what was your father again? O yes. Drug addicted. Alcoholic. Didn't he used to steal money for his addiction. I remember you telling me about he stole from his own family so that he could get high. What a fine man, I think not! I seem to remember calling your father scum. And what does scum breed, Will? O yes! Here we are again, full circle. It true that time never changes anything!'
'How dare you speak about my father in such a way! You never knew him!'
'I knew him. We all knew him,' I replied. 'He was the talk of town. How could we not know his business, his ins and outs, he made a public display of his shameful acts nearly every single day. I knew your father as well as you. He was the lowest of the low. And remember that one morning while we were walking to school, and your father came meandering into the streets, tripping on his own feet, barefooted, greasy haired unwashed and in the rags he slept in. Drunk, high and lucid, bottle in hand - we all chuckled, but we tried not to show it, because we didn't want to offend you. But everyone laughed about your father behind your back, Will. I remember him that morning, bleary eyed, hadn't slept for days I wonder, and he was singing, "Ashamed of thee! Ashamed of my child! Ashamed of thee! I say it publicly, for I am so ashamed of thee, ashamed of thee my child..."
'There wasn't much lower for him after that other than the bottom of a grave - and o yes! That's how he ended up. I heard about what happened to him, choking on his vomit. At least that is one less lump of scum left festering on the earth. Best thing he ever did was drop down. Shame you haven't joined him, Will. But then there is always time for that...'
We argued from one room to the next.
At that moment we were in the kitchen.
Will grabbed a dinner knife and stabbed me in the guts.
ACT IIII
'I've got you!'
It was Wes, the old school cleaner. He had attended the party, and had been in his own quiet corner until now. He rushed over to my aid just in time, bless is heart! I don't know what I would have done without him without him then...
Wes told me not to touch the knife!
'We can't pull the knife out or you will bleed to death,' he said. 'We need to get you out of here, urgently,' he said. 'Here, I will help you outside into my car.'
Propping his tough bony shoulder under my arm, he practically carried me out of the house, down the pavement, and from their proceeded to direct me into his car.
'I am going to drive you back to my place,' he said.
I was in so much pain and I was fading in and out of consciousness, but I had enough sense to realise that what Wes had just said sounded a little strange, if not bizarre?
Why drive me back to his house?
Surely the hospital was the place to go to?
So I asked him what he was thinking about.
And Wes replied:
'We have got a feast waiting back home, a sumptuous repast indeed. Something I have been planning to cook for a long time... A celebration meal for both of us to remember the good old days! O what a memorable banquet I have prepared for the both of us... Well, I tell a slight lie. The banquet is for me alone, because YOU are providing ALL the food!'
And so it came about, the end of my days...
END
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