Doubt

 Three 

Doubt 

Tom soon found himself on a busy street, he was was sure of this move, it had to add up, he couldn't fail this time, his life depended on every decision, it all had to work. He noticed from afar two men who were speaking to themselves with a lot of gestures and he tried to make out what they were saying. He gave up immediately, there was a pressing issue that required his focus, something was missing, he needed something but he couldn't place his hands on it.

The bank was now in view, the buildings were of good structure, he pictured himself sitting in an office on the first floor of the  building, he had always wanted an office of his own. There was going to be paintings, coffee would be waiting every morning, it will be on his table before his arrival, he was going have a secretary, it was going to be a lady,  a pretty one,  she had to be, on second thoughts, he couldn't get involved with his employee,so she had to be an older figure, that was it. A man interrupted his thoughts by handing him a bill, he didn't look up as he collected it but he could see that the man was smiling from the corner if his eyes. He read through the paper, it was a painting competition, all auditions were starting the next Saturday and an extra slot was needed for the judges, he knew art, he taught to himself. He and Julie were always at premiers of art shows and gallery, he thought of giving it a try but he was going out of town, so, that was a lost course, he couldn't go, he would have made a good judge he thought to himself, he was sure of this.

He was about to move a little faster when a man stopped him,. The man had a brown suit on, he smelled of coffee mixed with vanilla, one couldn't miss that, he hand very dark hair which was finely cut, his collar had a pin on it, it shone as he moved his neck from left to right, he had correcting lenses on with a red tie  that had black lines crossing.

"Good morning sir " he said as he dragged Tom to a near by chair, simultaneously checking his watch to see what the time was .

Tom simply replied with silence, he was really confused and was getting impatient but he couldn't be angry at the man, he smelled like food.

"You wouldn't mind giving five minutes of your time, would you?" The man said as they sat down in front of a cafe.

The man signaled the waiter as he fixed his glasses. He removed them and brought out a tissue from his pocket, wiped  them and a placed them on, slightly lowering them to fit just right on the tip of his nostrils.

"Sorry about that, my name is Mark, and I'll like  to ask you a few questions, it wouldn't take long I promise" he said, with the waiter just in time to take their order.

"Would you like juice or coffee?" He continued as he brought out a few documents.

"Juice" Tom said feeling uncomfortable.

He placed his fingers on the table, he pressed the edges with the tips of his fingers, balls of sweat were gathering in his scalp, he felt the heat in his boots, he wanted a stick,but the only thing that stood firm in his mind was what the man in front of him as up. He looked through the glasses into the cafe, it was filled and was busy with people storming in and out, he was excited that the man had chosen outside the cafe for their chat.

"I want you to feel comfortable, stay calm " the man said starring directly at Tom as he spoke in a very calm voice that made Tom felt like sleeping. 

He remembered the times he couldn't sleep a few years ago, his pills were not working either, he had I listen to some clips. The calm flow if the river, some were the cry birds in the A****n, some clips from Bob Tim, those were really helpful.

"We are interested and concerned at the rate of lung cancer infections that has bedeviled our citizens and we feel we could do something drastic and proactive about the current trend and you my friend will be doing us a lot of good by just answering a few questions" he said as he adjusted his document to accommodate their order.

The man kept changing his face expression as he spoke, raising is brawls and ticking a few things on the document  held, looking periodically at Tom to see if he was still paying attention. Tom was now calm, knowing that the issue the man wanted  was not serious as he thought

" I recently lost a colleague of mine to cancer, he fought so much for his life-oh, God bless his soul, fine man I guarantee you he was" he said looking straight into the sky.

" He stop smoking but it was to late,"  He said and paused to clean his lens, Tom found this entertaining.

" so, do you smoke?  Mark asked with a firm, reassuring tone.

"Yes" answered Tom, almost feeling ashamed.

"Which stick do you like most?"

"George, its the best"  Tom said as he dip his hands in to his pocket to count the sticks that were left.

" i see, did you know that that brand is the most smoked and also thee most sued company?"  Mark said sipping his juice for the first time.

" I don't follow the news, its old" Tom said, spreading the table sheet folded by the wind 

The wind grew stronger, the interview had to end mow, Tom was getting very impatient, he had to get to the bank, he couldn't let that wait another day.

"I see it going to rain, lets make this fast" , the man said , now ticking and reading over very fast, almost half aloud.

"So I'll hand these to you, fill the appropriate sections and feel free to ask questions if you have any" the man said as he filled in a few part.

"Why did you chose me?" Tom asked amidst his focus, without looking up.

"No reason in particular, you just looked like the right guy for the interview"

"Really, that's... Wait a minute, I know what this is , you've been following me" Tom declared now looking to see the mans reaction.

The man had a funny expression in his face as he tries to hold back the raging laughter that filed is mouth, pumping it like a ballon filled with helium gas.

"You're a funny man, I give that to you" he said taking a sip from his cup, impatiently trying to to talk as he drops the juice.

"You've got trust issue, don't you?" The man said pulling his glass case from his briefcase.

It had another pair in it, but the one as different, it had round goggles with a thin frame, a little noticeably less thicker than the one he had on, it seemed not so new, Tom could tell he used them interchangeably

"No, you don't have to fill that part, its official."

" I'm done, all filled" Tom  said examining the last part of the document"

"I'll tell you what, I've got a free coupon, for a therapist and a health check up" he said pulling out two short pieces of paper, that were attached and colorfully designed.

"What do you say?" Mark said tossing it to him.

"A therapist? Thats old school, we just talk to our green flakes and our problems are solved, I don't need to sit in front if no lady, asking me all sorts of personal questions, nice try."

"Try it, it works, you'll feel brand new"  Mark said, rising from his chair, signifying the end of their discussion.

"Thanks for your time man and make sure you see Patricia, she's the best" Mark said waving down a taxi.

Tom sat there thinking of how his plan had failed, he couldn't go to the bank now, although, there was no reason not to, he had all the time in the world, but he felt a huge grip of fear, was his plan going to work? Could he actually run from The Boss? It all seemed perfect until a thought crept into his mind, he could actually loan a huge amount, using his father's house as a collateral, was that going to work either? The steps would be tedious. He contemplated the green flakes drag Jim spoke about, that would fetch a huge stack of cash. He couldn't make a decision, maybe Mark was right, he had to speak to someone

He waved down a taxi, he had to get to the other side of town, Steel's place was his next visit, he had to get armed. He told the cab guy his destination and pulled out a news paper that was handed to him by mark when he told him about the George case.

Apparently, those guys made a huge fortune from the huge sale of cigarettes, theirs was the most expensive yet the best. The article gave a brief history of their establishment, it also stated                  how  they got closed down for issues relating to funds.

Tom could notice the cab man looking through the mirror, he avoided eye contact by any means possible, he couldn't engage in any conversation. He raised the newspaper just above his head to make him seem undistracted, and engrossed in his study.

"Say man, did you catch the game last weekend?" The cab man said ignoring Tom's focus

The man had side burns, a bald hair cut, his arms were huge, he looked like a gym addict, his grip on the wheel was confident. His car smelled of lavender, it was amazing how clean it was, he had a Kung fu panda action figure resting in his dashboard.

"I couldn't, I was busy, did you?" Tom said dropping his act.

"Sure did, it was fun" the man said nodding with a huge smile.

"The game was intense man, The Wolves gave it their all, so much strength," he said as he adjusted the volume on the radio set.

"Hey, that a classic jam" Tom said nodding along to the song that played on the radio.

"This man always played at my folks anniversary, it was always epic" he continued.

"I've got bunch of his records, Steve Rifs's the man when it come to love songs,he sure knows the way to a lady's heart."

The cab man's last statement reminded Tom of his last date with Julie. They met at a restaurant downtown, she loved that place. He could still remember the dress she wore, a nice rose gown that displayed her beautiful legs. He remembered falling so much in love with her just by sighting her figure form a distance. 

She looked like an angel that night and he dreamt of how many kids they would have, they were going to have beautiful kids, their life was going to be perfect .

She loved him, but it just seemed like they weren't meant for each other, Tom was always busy running errands for The Boss and she was always seeking his attention only getting little of it. He always gave flimsy excuses, how he had to work late, to think that she didn't know what kind of man he was, the kind of job he was into, the people he worked with, she knew nothing, she was just the right person he needed for a change if heart but he lost her. He hated himself for that.

"We're here"  the man said with smile, still nodding to the track  that played in the radio

" yeah, this my destination" Tom said handing the man his cash

"See you around" the man said driving into the lonely road

Tom was surprise at the fact that the man didn't ask him his business in this quiet part of town. He walked through a dark hall way, he had to walk fast, it was too dark. He left his torch at Mrs Greenwood's, he needed it now. He blocked his nostrils with his fingers, the place smelled of dead animals

He could hear a radio set playing from a distance. He noticed an old man lying alone, he had gray beards and could barely be seen, he had his radio by his head and slept under a bunch if used clothes. Tom Walked a little faster, turning periodically to see if he was been followed.

He walked past a group of men, he ignored their presence and notice that they shared a wrap of green flakes.

"Hey, nice jacket, wouldn't mind having it" a man  said faintly voiced as he released the volume of air in his mouth.

Tom coughed as the smell of rotten leaves, dead rodents and green flakes filled his lungs, he felt sick, his eyes were sore, he could feel it, his mouth was full of vomit. He stopped for a few seconds and resumed walking

"Hey, I'm talking to you"  the man barked as he and his partner walked towards Tom, squashing some plastics with their feet

Tom stopped, gripped his fist, held in one hand into his pocket, he was sure he could take them out. Something moved on his left side, there was more of them, he couldn't see the men on the other side because of the darkness. 

They were getting close by the second , he heard a man walking right in front of him, they surrounded him, closed him in, there no where to go, he couldn't cry for help, no one would hear, Steel's place was a few meters away, that was of no use to him.

"Give him the jacket and go on your knees, its easy" the man who was in front of him said, almost laughing as he concluded his statement

"Or what?" Tom said making his voice a little deeper.

He reached for his dagger, crap, he left it at Jim's, he thought he had it, he was going to stab the guy in front and make a run for it , no , this couldn't be happening now. He felt his keys, his torch was also in his pocket.  He turned on the torch and threw toward the man in front of him almost at an instant. He could feel his heart beat heavily, his legs trembled vigorously, he could hear the footsteps behind him approaching fast, those guys meant business. What did they want from him really? He had nothing to do with them. His leg hit a stone, he fell face flat to the ground, he could hear movements right in the front of him, those were rats and insects, he felt a bit relieved. He felt a rush of compensating energy, he was just about to lift himself of the ground when he felt a grip on his leg.

The grip was firm and unrelenting, he threw his other leg into the air, to try the horse kick but he missed.

"You can't run forever, can you?" The man said with a voice that sounded like a country song singer.

"I've got him boys, his an animal now, caged by my strength" he said as he chuckle.

 Tom felt a huge dose of adrenaline, he caught a handful of dry grass just by his hands, adjusted the length of his free leg. He threw the dry grass with a mixture if sand at his captor, it was accurate.

"Son of a fish!"

"You worm eating bastard, don't let him get away guys, I'm really pissed now, you're dead, you fish scaled fool" 

Tom made a fast sprint,they were right behind him,shouting and screaming like crazy people. They couldn't catch him, no,  he was faster, wait, what if they did, then he'll be dead.