A Third excerpt from Ne'er Do Well

Chapter 3

           

S

teve knew deep inside that he may have been in deep trouble. Immediately he began to think of possible retreats and back-up plans. He always had a plan. He learned this from reading fiction of the action variety. His face appeared calm, as usual.

 “No sign of emotion and then, no one can read me.” He must’ve thought.

The man moved closer, closer, and closer. Steve backed up.
“Who are you?”
“Please sit. I just want to talk. Let me explain.”
Steve was reluctant. He sat down with the man on a separate bench and began to listen.
“I am here because I noticed your demeanor lately. You have been standing out from the rest of them.”
“Are you working for him?”
“No. I’m not.”
“Are you sure? You aren’t? Proof. Show me it.”
The man pulled out a card. He handed it to Steve. Jerry MacArthur, chief in communications and special operations. NCAHA.
“What is that? N.C.A.H.A.?”
“It is the organization I work for. It Stands for Non Conforming Anti-Headmaster Association. I have come because your choice of attire and language has been noticed by my association. We are here to offer you something: Change. In the NCAHA, we work against the headmaster and any type of normality that exists. We want you to join and remain as who you are today. That is all. Nothing more. When the time comes we will rely on your intelligence, strength, and willpower for assistance.”
War. Steve knew exactly what they needed from him. He knew exactly what war was. It plagued the nations nearly 50 years ago. It was gruesome, terrible, and just plain disgusting. Steve had known that this would be inevitable. He knew what he would have to do.
“Will I still have my private life? Will you people give me my space?”
“Of course we’re friends. Friends help each other, Steve.”
“Let me make this clear. We are NOT friends.”
“I see. Well, perhaps in some time we could-”
“No. I’ll join, but stay out of my life. I like things this way. I wouldn’t mind if it all just stayed the same.”
“Trust me, Steve, change is completely inevitable. I’m sure you’ve read about this in some of those books of yours.”
“You’re intrusive. I accepted your offer. Now stop following me.”
“We aren’t here to hinder your individual spirit, Steve. We only wish to help it flourish into something much bigger.”
“Help from the shadows, right? I won’t need it. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
Steve grabbed his bike and began to pedal off.
“You’ll need our help some day! And when you do, we’ll be right here!”

Steve started pedaling faster than before.The snow was beginning to turn into a blizzard. The blistering cold wind was beginning to take effect as his skin began to burn. Once again, he was not dressed appropriately for the weather. Surprisingly, Ne’er Do Well did not have weather reports. We can assume it just wasn’t normal to know when inclement weather was on its way. Finally, Steve arrived at his frosty front door and placed his key in the nearly frozen door-handle. He turned the key and went inside.

The room was warm, perhaps too warm. He was sure he turned off the space heater when he had left. He walked into his room and began to take off his shoes when he saw it; it was him again.
“Why are you in my house?!”
“You expect me to stay out in that blizzard? I had to take shelter.”
“How’d you get in?”
“Long story short, I used the key under the mat. You’re still just too normal, Steve. ‘Normal people’ leave their keys under the mat, friend. We need to fix that. Love how expressive your emotions are, though. They are about as varied as your clothing.” Jerry chuckled.
“You went through my clothing too?” Jerry laughed much louder than before, creating magnificent sounds of breathlessness, which in turn, created quite the lively atmosphere.

The space heater had assisted in this endeavor. It was no wonder the house had been warmer than usual. Jerry had made himself completely at home. He had a cup of hot cocoa, kicked off his shoes, and had relaxed on Steve’s bed as if he had just awakened from a nap.
“I guess you won’t be heading home anytime soon. Can I get you anything?”
“Yeah. Bread would be nice.”
“Bread? Who eats that? I have none.”
“Oh… I see. A glass of water, then.”
“Will do.”

Steve walked through the living room to his small, almost quaint kitchen. It had barely enough room to fit two people. A large amount of the dishes and foodstuffs were littered across the counter and floor.
“Thanks.”
Jerry happily sipped his drink.
“So tell me. Have you been enjoying your job?”
“Yes, I have.”
“I wouldn’t get too caught up in that mindset, friend.”
“Hmm? Why’s that?”
“They know. They’re planning to fire you, Steve.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope. Don’t worry though. The NCAHA provides a rather large sum of cash to its members. No worries, right?”
“Hmph. I wish.”
“You wish? Is there something wrong with receiving a larger salary than before?”
“Yeah. I had them tricked. I thought they wouldn’t catch me for at least another few years.”
“Let’s be realistic, Steve. It was bound to happen anyway. Actually, you might have held out for much longer if we hadn’t told your supervisor about your little stunt.”
“You guys sabotaged me?! What kind of friends would do that?”
“Now hold on Steve. One of our agents went disguised as a police officer and informed them that you were going to be under the headmaster’s custody. We saved you. They could’ve reported you to the real police. You should be thanking us.”
“Hmph.”
“Why the long face? You know, me and you will become partners one day. How does that sound? Two partners fighting against conformity. It’s practically making me tear up just thinking about it.”
“Yeah, right.”
Silence, for at least five minutes, and then,
“Seems like the blizzard is still going strong isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Might even be the worst one all season.”
Steve and Jerry looked from place to place around the room, bouncing their legs or fiddling with their hands. Then, after what must have been five more minutes, Jerry said
“What do you do for fun around here?”
“Read.”
“What else?”
“Sometimes, I watch TV.”
“Shall we do that?”
“No. I want to ask you a question.”
“Ask away.”
“What would you have done if I had declined your offer to join the association?”
“Well, we would have turned you into a target. You’re too smart to be trusted if you aren’t working with us.”
At this point, Steve was beginning to feel uneasy.
“I don’t think I can really trust anyone. Everyone is ready to pull a dagger on me from the shadows. I can’t even trust you.”
“Perhaps not.”
            As we can assume, Steve was simply not able to trust others. Then again, in his situation, who would be?

“How about we go for a stroll? The snow seems to have settled somewhat.”
“Sure.” Steve said, grabbing his coat and hat. It was the first time he had actually dressed appropriately.

The snow was coming down in slower motions than earlier and was making the yard appear brighter than usual with its white glow. The only noise Steve could hear was his breath. The neighbors were soundly sleeping while Steve and Jerry had been holding an all-night party. They began to walk away from the house, their shadows disappearing in the night’s horizon…