People Watching Part 24 - Tonight
When he first heard it was going to happen, it seemed so far
away. He’d carefully written it into his diary, in block capitals and red ink
so that in the highly unlikely event that he forgot, it would stand out front
and centre when he flicked through the pages.
Normally with a big event like this, he’d work out how many weeks and
days he had to count down, but because this was so many months away, he hadn’t
bothered. That could wait. First he had
to deal with the issue of his partner in crime.
He’d spent so many sleepless nights, worrying about how he
was going to pull this off that he’d lost track of time. What had been months was now only a matter of
days away and still he had no idea how he was going to convince his best mate
to go through with it. They’d known each
other since they were eight and through thick and thin, they’d stayed best of
friends. He’d realised straight away
that handled badly this could destroy their friendship, but he’d kill for this
opportunity, it was THAT important to him and to pull this off he needed an accomplice.
He had two
choices. On the one hand he could take his mate by the arm and lead him through
the whole thing, make him an active participant. But there was a risk he’d say
‘no’ – in the cold light of day, the whole thing did seem pretty hair-brained.
Maybe he could work it so that his mate thought it was was his idea? maybe if
he was bought into it, he’d also want it to work. But the second option seemed
far more sensible.....involve him but don’t tell him. Just let him roll with
the situation as it developed. This would be better for him – no sleepless
nights worrying about it - and knowing him, he’d probably make the right calls
once everything kicked off. So explain everything and run the risk he’d say no,
or keep him in the dark and spare him the anxiety???
He paused….he
could hardly recognise himself. How could he be so manipulative? And with his
best mate? And what if his mate sussed something was going on? How would he
react to their friendship being abused like this? Then he realised one other
thing. It seemed so obvious that he couldn’t understand why he hadn’t realised
it earlier. He actually needed his mate’s involvement – there were things only
he knew….the numbers, the papers…they were all his. So he had to spill the
beans. He had to confide in him.
He tried not to
sound too anxious when he called. “Up
for a drink, mate? OK see you in half an
hour.” There was a round waiting for him
on the bar when he arrived. It didn’t
cross his mind that it was unusual for his mate to be early – or to have got
the first beers in. After the small talk
and the week’s news were out of the way, he summoned up his courage and simply
said “I need your help with something – something big - and we have only a few
days”. For the next hour he ran through
everything that was about to happen. For
most of the time, his mate was silent, asking only the odd question, though
none of the questions seemed that relevant.
Maybe he should have spoken to him about this earlier? He seemed fine about the whole thing. He seemed to get the enormity of it - calling
it the night the towers crumble, the mountains fall – but he didn’t seem phased
at all. Almost as if he’d been expecting
it…..
With a
sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach, he realised that his mate had been
playing him for weeks. By themselves and spread out over all these months, the
little things he’d said over the phone or the little prods he’d made when they
were in the pub, hadn’t seemed like anything. But looking back and taking the
whole thing together, it was clear his mate had planned this. Carefully
checking him out, then reeling him in. He’d been taken hook, line and sinker.
Initially, he
felt a wave of relief wash over him – all those sleepless nights worrying had
been for nothing. His mate was in on this and clearly well up for it. The two
amigos would be in the thick of it together – again. But then came a succession
of more sinister thoughts. In setting him up like this, his mate had clearly
been prepared to let him take the rap if something went wrong. Plus his mate
surely couldn’t be doing this by himself. Who else was behind this? Who else
had he been slumming’ down with to think this one up?
He’d spent all
these weeks trying to protect his mate and now it was clear his mate hadn’t
been worrying about protecting him. He stood up, all the excitement he’d felt
seeped away and left him feeling cold and alone. The biggest event of his life
wasn’t in a few days time, it was tonight, the night their friendship ended.