2Remnants of a Broken Memory
I don't remember what my parents looked like, all I know is that I was loved. Now, I live in an abandoned auto garage with another guy named Alie. He wears an old faded jean jacket that has a huge sewn on the back which read: Live Or Die. Just another trend that dissipates, much like humanity. My name is Witiker, Witiker A. Lomalé. The jet blackness of my hair was probably only believable if it was clean and my brown eyes carried with it all too much of what I'd seen and been through. I was ten when my parents died. It's only been a matter of years and the only thing I can remember is the pain of hunger that constantly fills my belly. Alie relies on drugs to sooth his aches and pains, I merely take advantage of his state and curl up next to him on such occasions.
Sometimes I find it hard to believe we really exist in a world so full of competition. Constantly we are fighting, fighting for jobs, fighting for love, fighting for air, fighting for life in general. I stopped trying a long time ago when my parents died. You never know which bottle of water is safe or if the bottle in your hand will be your last. People like to believe that they are unstoppable, that they can live forever. Those are the people I feel bad for the most. Life's most cruelest lessons are always learned best by the less fortunate. We are all subject to the same pain and sometimes it just varies with class.
Currently I was pick pocketing the generous crowd around me. A good meal never comes for free never. As Alie once said, "The harder you work, the greater the outcome." I like to think I put quite the flare on that saying. Alie hardly speaks, but when he does, you could tell he was well educated and cultured. Sometimes when he's asleep I stare at him. During those still moments I can tell he use to be, quite handsome. Underneath all that hair somewhere is his gorgeous greenish-blue eyes.
Considering pick pocketing can be a very strenuous job I buy myself something to eat and head off to my favorite spot in the park. Benches, bushes, and trees make for a perfect spot. Everyday I eat at the same spot. So most people who frequent that park as much as I do know that's my spot. So, seeing two guys sitting at my bench irritates me, but I'd never let it get to me and just sit under the tree on the opposite side.
"There's a different parasite for almost each state. Hard to believe he wasn't more careful."
"What was it there?"
"The food…"
"I think I'd go crazy if I had to watch what food I ate."
"But is it any batter than us?"
"I suppose not, but it's the luck of the draw. Nothing we can really do about it."
He was right, though rather, it was the unlucky draw of the straw. I bit into the sandwich I'd bought and sat back. How was it, that good people had to die? What were those left suppose to do? Everyone seemed to be numb. If someone you knew died, oh well, it happens. It's not till it hits close to home that anyone seems to care. They'll spend a few days mourning. Get over it, start anew. If it just so happened to be you, well, that was just your luck. But I knew, deep down in me, I wouldn't be one of the fallen. I wouldn't let myself. No, I was going to keep on living. Not just for myself, but for my family. One day, I knew it would end, all those deaths. And when that day comes, I'll be proud to say, yeah. I survived. That's just how it had to be. Maybe even, Alie would still be around, perhaps even with him. Yeah, one day.
Back at the abandoned auto garage I found Alie staring into a cracked mirror. I often found him like that. On days he decided to speak. I would also find myself alone on those days. When Alie decided he wanted to be coherent and heard, you listened. So, I waited intently for what he had to say, because I knew one day, he'd be gone and someone had to be ale to recall his legacy. Alie once told me, "With great knowledge, comes great expectations, but also the possibility of great failure. You must never be afraid to fail. Because eventually, you'll succeed." and I believe him. I will succeed and I will have him by my side.
"I think," said Alie picking up a piece of his hair, "today, I'll try."
"What do you mean?"
He turned and looked me dead in the eyes, "Today I'm going to try."
"To try?" I watched him walk to the only running water faucet we had. There was an old, but efficient filter hooked up to it.
"You'll see," he brushed his teeth with his old purple toothbrush, "You'll benefit the most from it."
"Alie, what're you going to do?" I had a strange feeling bolt through me, "I have money if you need some."
"Keep hold of your money, you're going to need it. I'm going somewhere. So you'll be alone for a few days. In a few days, everything will be alright."
With that he finished brushing his teeth and haphazardly ran a comb through his hair. I didn't want him to go. Something just felt wrong. I had no doubt in my mind that he'd come back. It was the long run I was worried about.
Days later I woke up to the sound of heavy footsteps and the familiar sound of a suit rustling. Someone was here, but this someone was not Alie. Quickly I rushed up the old metallic steps into what was most likely an old supply room. I dogged my way through the aisle and found the metal baseball bat I'd been looking for. I crouched down and waited. I'd known already that I wouldn't have been able to find my way out the garage without being caught. My only bet was to hide and wait for him to give up. But I must've been one of the unlucky ones, because he found me.
He was a homely looking guy, wearing an old brown suit. He didn't look like someone to be wary of, but you could never take a chance. I jolted up and made sure he saw the bat in my hand. He started to reach for something in his pocket so I lunged at him, but as my luck ran, he easily grabbed the bat and tripped me to the ground. I stare up at him, frightened. I couldn't help it. I wondered if this meant I wouldn't be able to achieve what I'd wanted?
"I'm so sorry, he told me you might be hostile. I was only reaching for my wallet. Don't cry, everything's going to be alright."
"Who are you? And who told you about me?" I stared up at him.
"I work for Mr. Alie. He sent me for you."
"Mr…..Alie?" he helped me up, "What's going on?"
"I need you to come with me."
"Where are we going?" I followed him out of the place.
"To Mr. Alie's estate," he opened the door to a limo for me.
"…What…..what is Alie's last name? He never told me." I stared at him as I sat.
"It's Conway, as in, Conway Distributing Inc." he closed the door.
I sat there in shock. That's probably why he'd never told me his last name before. He was a Conway. He was one of them. The destroyers. Conway Distributing Inc. supplied the bottled water, they were the ones who'd initially agreed to the Tainted Water Contract. His families company likely killed people. Alie's family, most likely killed my family. The long limo pulled into a long driveway, no other way would I have been able to crass those beautiful tall gates. When I stepped out of the limo I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing. I'd never seen a mansion before in my life. Alie had been well cultured.
I was let into the large domicile and was escorted into a rather lavishly decorated room. I sat down on the sleek black stylish couch and watched the expression of the maid as she poured me a drink. I felt severely out of place and wondered why Alie would think to bring me here. Once the maid left I sipped at the pleasantly warm tea. I have no idea how long I was sitting alone in that room for, but eventually I'd finished of two cups of tea when Alie let himself into the room. He was wearing a suit made especially for him, form fit to form, he looked like he belonged in that suit. His hair had been cut and looked slightly prim, but I realized at that moment I was so glad to know that Alie was a live. Without really thinking, I jumped up off the couch and latched onto Alie, my arms firmly around him not wanting to let go for fear he might just be gone again.
"Witiker, it's ok," he patted me on the back and when I looked up at him he had a soft smile adorning his face.
"I was so scared that you'd been killed, Alie, don't ever leave me alone again, please. Promise me," I couldn't let go of him.
"I promise Wit."
There was that feeling again, like he was saying something, just to make me feel better. I didn't want that kind of reassurance I wanted true honesty. I never wanted to be alone again. It's one thing to fend for yourself and live with some stranger for about four and a half years, but to be solely on your own? I don't think I could bear not having Alie to home to. It wouldn't be much of a home otherwise. At least the abandoned auto garage had been ours. Alie led me down a hall and up a white spiraling staircase with intricate carvings of angles and persimmon trees, for some odd reason I got this distraught feeling from all this carvings. When he'd opened the door to a large room and told me it was mine I'd become lightheaded more so when he told me he had papers drawn up to legally be my guardian. It would only be a matter of weeks, he'd also told me that he wanted me to change my name.
"Why? I still don't understand, Alie," I'd taken a shower and was currently trying to figure out what I should be wearing. Everything my closet seemed so, not me.
"Witiker is an odd name, no one will take you serious or give you any notice if they think you're not normal," he was standing next to me as I stared awkwardly at all the clothing.
"Normal..….." the oddest pain shivered at the base of my spine and dangled somewhere just before my pelvis.
"I was hoping we could drop your first name and you could go by your middle," he picked a shirt and pants out for me to put on.
"Allen?" I stared down at the articles of clothing and walked over behind the bathroom door to change.
"Allen is a very trusting warm name, people will like you just for that."
"That's awfully foolish. And I don't see why I'll be needing people to be taking a liking to me at all." I finished zipping up my pants and stepped out the bathroom.
"You'll be attending a private school, Witiker, it is in your best interest to make a good impression on people," he stopped for a moment and stared at me with a look I'd never seen on his face before, it almost made my heart stop.
"Yeah," it came out breathy, I felt embarrassed, but it seemed as if Alie didn't even notice.
When I was introduced at school for the first time in my life, I was introduced as Allen C. Lomalé. Somehow, Conway ended up in my name. When it all came to an end, I braced myself for another last name, but that happens later on at the end of my story. I supposed Alie was right though, people warmed up to me automatically, who knows whether it really was the first name switch or the bath and haircut, either way, I could have cared less. These were not the people I was trying to impress in my life. Sometimes I wouldn't even turn around when people called me, I'd gone my Witiker for all my life, how could I have been expected to except it so quickly? After about a month of that though I'd easily assimilated to the name and lifestyle, but in that month I felt as if I'd somehow grown estranged from Alie. He was always away on business, or talking to some men in nice pristine black suits, or just off on his own and came back smelling of weed and cigarette smoke. Every time I saw him when we did see each other I felt as if somehow he was collapsing in on himself, that there was something going on that he just wasn't going to tell me about. A day came when…..Alie just disappeared from the world altogether.
"Alie, Alie, Alie, Alie, Alie…" I gently tapped my head against the closet wall where I was sitting from the inside. I missed him, I wanted to see him. "Alie, Alie, Alie, Alie, Alie….you promised…"
I heard heavy footsteps, those same heavy footsteps, I knew who they belonged to, something was wrong. He was looking for me, like that day in the auto garage, his suit had that same sound, he walked slightly funny, there was something wrong with his right ankle. The footsteps stopped outside the closet and I clenched my eyes shut I couldn't bear to know who wasn't outside the door.
It opened slowly and he stared down at me, "Mr. Allen, I have….news for you."
"…." I stared up at him, tears already streaming down my face, I was distraught and he didn't even have to tell me why I should be feeling this way.
He helped me up out from the corner of Alie's closet and we walked downstairs and found myself back in that lavishly decorated room again. It ends where it starts.
"Alie's gone Mr. Allen," he set down a cup of steaming tea for me.
"Gone? WHERE DID HE GO?"
"…..You can't expect him to come back Mr. Allen, because he can't…" he looked sullenly down in to his own thin cup.
"WHY?" I attempted to compose myself but only slightly managed to drop my voice down a bit, "I don't understand."
"This," he slowly gestured to the room, most likely the house, "was set up so that when Mr. Alie made his decision, you would not be left alone like before, so that you could everything you wanted."
"Everything…..I wanted?" I stared down at my clenched hands in my lap.
"Mr. Alie, has passed…..he wanted me to give you this and to tell you he'd like most in the world if you could share a name."
I took the letter from him and let my hand fall limply back to my lap. I didn't know whether to be angry or upset, I was hurt, passed?
"Alie died? How?!" I stared pleadingly at him, begging him to tell me this was all a horrid lie, that I'd wake up curled next to Alie while he was on his next high, no such thing happened.
"….water…."
I stared in shock, how could Alie do something like that? How could he do that to me? My head started to swim and I felt ready to vomit, but next thing I knew, I was falling. I awoke to find myself in bed, not my bed, Alie's. I reached over to turn on the bedside lamp and cocooned myself in Alie's silk and satin blankets. They smelled so richly of him. The letter I was handed earlier sat on the dresser drawer where the lamp sat and I reached with shaking hands to pick it up. I carefully tore open the letter and unfolded all three pages of it. I had to read it five to six times to completely register half the things he said, but I kept reading one page in particular.
Dear Witiker,
I'm sorry, I know I promised that I'd never leave you alone, but I couldn't keep it. I care deeply for you, I'd hoped that my taking you in and giving you the best of everything you deserved was enough, but who really knows. To be honest, you're the only reason I never killed myself when I'd wanted to. I remember the day we met so clearly. You'd been running from some police officers and I was in the midst of debating whether to overdose or not. Then you came barreling down the asphalt and crashed straight into me. Heh, that cop came not even two seconds later chasing after you and I helped you escape into an empty alley behind a batch of crates and trashcans. After I'd made my escape from the police officer I'd gone back to see if you were still there and there you were, sitting, crying, all alone. You were so young then, still are, and ever since I found out how you lost your parents I'd been spending all my time trying to decide whether or not I wanted to do right by you somehow. I'd just wanted to make sure that you would be taken care of Wit, and now that I know you will, I can go happy. And please Wit, it would mean everything if you could be close to me in one way, like a family, like a little brother. And don't grow to hate me, nothing good comes from such things, hate sunders the soul Wit, and I want you to keep hold of everything you have, deep inside…..
It continued on that way for another page, but I didn't want to read that.
"Brother?! Screw you!" I crumpled the paper up again and threw it hard across the room.
I spent the rest of the week lying in Alie's bed, crying, crying, not really moving except when necessary. I wanted the world to come to an end and take me with it. I wanted Alie back, but Alie had chosen to carry the guilt his parents should have felt. It had weighed down on him, heavy, crushing him slowly, till he couldn't take it anymore. I spent the rest of my life wishing we were back in that abandoned auto garage, poor desolate, slowly dying. Wherever Alie was, I wished it wasn't Hell. And when I came back to school I was then addressed as Allen Conway, eternally discontented.
Tainted Water Contract
To whom this may concern,
We are eternally grateful that you agreed to the TWC, as you are currently aware, population growth surpasses our ability to supply food to the ever increasing growth of the people. We cannot rely on such things as disease, war, and untimely accidents. We are glad you understand such matters and are willing to help aid us in our struggle to achieve a more ideal way of regulating the mortality rate. We understand your need to compromise on the amount of the item dispensed in the product and will stand behind you on your decision to lower the dosage. Enclosed is the final contract and we are eternally grateful once again for your involvement.
Sincerely,
XXX
Ps. Enjoy the cruise.
A/N: Second chapter, finally, Yay! So we have some of the reason behind the population control. I'll be installing another chapter eventually. Lol hopefully this was an interesting read.