Conspiracy?
#9 of Human Enough
_Author's Note: It seems like it's been forever since I've last posted anything. Things have been kind of busy, but hopefully this latest chapter will be worth the wait. As always any votes or comments are appreciated. Thanks for reading, you guys are great- AK _
I woke up cringing in pain. The night had not been an easy one on my back. An inspection of my back showed a large bruise and a long, but not serious scrape. I rolled my eyes in the mirror. This was going to be fun. I reached into my medicine cabinet and took a bottle of pain killers out. I popped two, hoping that they would provide some relief.
In a weird way I found what I did liberating. Not because I enjoy pain, but because I was able to stand my ground, even if it did get me slammed into a tree. A quick glance at the clock told me it was nearing 11; another late morning. I showered, got dressed, and headed downstairs. I could hear two female voices. One was definitely my mother, the other sounded familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
I peeked into the living room. My mom was talking to a very thin bottle blonde I recognized as Mrs. Harding. Sitting next to her was Marie. Now my back AND my head hurt. I guessed they were here to offer condolences about our window and to catch up on gossip. Well, I wasn't going to bother them. I went back upstairs. I needed some excuse to get me out of the house. As I wracked my brain, my phone rang. It was Riley.
"Hey Riley. What's up?"
"Hey man. Haven't seen you in a while. Was wondering if you wanted to get lunch or something."
"That sounds great. Where do you want to head?"
"I'm really in the mood for pizza. Wanna go to Mr. B's?"
"Sounds good. I can meet you there in about 15."
"Awesome. See you there buddy."
I hung up. Don't you love when things like that happen? I grabbed my coat and went downstairs into the kitchen. I figured taking the back door was probably better. Lisa was in the kitchen washing dishes.
"Good morning." I said to her.
"Good morning." Lisa answered. "Although I'm not sure how good it is with those two here."
"You mean Marie and her mother?"
"Yes." Lisa whispered. "Mr. Harding is bad enough, but at least he acts like he appreciates us. Those two, they think we're even less than slaves."
I didn't know what to tell Lisa, so I just gave her a hug, which she returned.
"I can hardly stand it." she said. "I'm so glad you're awake, though. It means I can send Michelle to tidy up your room instead of deal with the Harding's."
"That's probably a smart idea. Could you do me a small favor when you get a minute; just tell my mom that I went out to lunch with Riley."
"Of course. Let me guess, you can't bear to stay here?"
"Considering my mother still thinks Marie and I are destined to marry, yes."
"Alright. I'll tell her."
"You're a saint. I'll see you when I get back."
Lisa smiled at me and I snuck out the back door. I walked quickly away from my house and got on the road to the center of town. I felt bad for Lisa and Michelle having to deal with Marie and her mother while I got to sneak away. I had to think of something to make it up to them.
I got to Mr. B's right on time. Mr. B's was the best pizza place in town, and, in my opinion, the best period. I think they even won a few awards from newspapers. Overall, the place was just great. I walked into the restaurant and saw Riley sitting at a table. He waved as I walked up to him.
"Sorry it's been so long." He said. "I've been really busy."
"Me too. It's been an interesting couple of days."
"Really?" he asked. "How so?"
I told him everything that had happened: my dad's refusal to sell Michelle; the brick through our window; and about my confrontation with Sam. I didn't tell him that Sam was Mr. Cunningham's son. I thought it was enough just to mention how Sam had control over him.
"How's your back doing?" Riley asked me when I was done.
"Hurts like hell. Painkillers aren't working."
"Kinda like how I felt when I took a sack last year. It takes a couple of days."
"I could imagine. So how have you been?"
"Alright, just really busy. My coach wants me to start getting ready for the season."
"I thought the season just ended."
"Baseball. I tried out for the college team and I got third base."
"Congrats."
"Thanks. From what I hear, the team will need a lot of luck."
"What school are you playing at again? I know it's a Division II."
"Oh I go to Smithstown. It's not too far from here."
I laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"I'm transferring to Smithstown for next semester. I got my dad to sign off on it."
"That's awesome!" Riley said. "I think you'll like it there."
"I think so too. At the very least, it's better than where I was."
Riley and I continued to chat about Smithstown for a bit. It made me happy to know that at the very least I'd have one friend there which was a hell of a lot more than I had at my old school. I think even the teachers hated me because I would cause them grief in class, usually by, big surprise, defending anthros' rights, or at least the idea that they had some natural rights. After that, I'm pretty sure my professor passed me with a 'B' just because my dad gave money to the school.
Riley and I talked about other things while we ate. It was a nice break from all that had been going on in my life. I was able to distress a while. It was nice to have someone who I could talk to about normal things. I mean, sure I had Michelle, but thanks to her current lot in life, she didn't have a lot of knowledge on the subject of video games or professors at Smithstown. I resolved quietly as Riley talked about a new game called Starwing to fix that soon.
"Well, I'd better get going." Riley said after we had paid our check. "Dad needs me to help with something in the garage. We should hang out soon again soon though."
"Yeah, definitely." I responded.
"Maybe we could do a double date one night your parents aren't around and Michelle is free. I mean my girlfriend is a really good cook and I can boil water, so you and Michelle would be more than welcome at my place."
"That sounds like fun. Michelle is good a cooking and I can make one or two things. We should set something up."
"Alright, we'll work on finding a day. I'll see you around Andy."
"Yeah, see you."
I was lucky to have exchanged numbers with Riley that day at Mr. Harding's. It seemed like we had been friends for years already. I couldn't wait to tell Michelle that soon, with a little luck, we would get to have our first official date where we didn't have to pretend she was my slave. Perhaps one day, I wouldn't need to pretend at all.
I saw a limo parked in our driveway as I approached my house. I guessed that it was for Mrs. Harding and Marie. I decided it would be a good idea to go in through the kitchen again. However as I got closer to my house I could hear someone talking angrily. I followed the voice which led me close to the kitchen side door. It was Marie talking to Michelle.
"I don't know what you're trying to do, fur, but you'd better stay out of my way."
"I swear I have no idea what you're talking about Miss Harding."
"Don't give me that. Listen to me you flea-bitten mutt, if I hear that you were by the Cunningham's again, I swear to God I'll..."
"Do what, exactly?" I asked as I walked up to the two of them.
The second the words 'flea-bitten mutt" came out, I had to step in, if only to prevent Michelle from giving Marie a righteous punch in the face. Marie's angry tirade was stopped dead in its tracks. She turned to me with a fake smile plastered on her face.
"Andy. So nice to see you! I was just having a discussion here with your pet. Personally, I think you could do a lot better."
"Funny," I heard Michelle mutter under her breath, "I said the same thing a few years ago."
"I'm sorry did you say something?" Marie said with a glare.
"Nothing, Miss Harding."
I had to bite my lip to prevent myself from laughing. What's funny is that it was true: Michelle did tell me I could do better almost every day I was dating Marie.
"Back to the point," I said when I was sure my laughter was completely gone, "you didn't just threaten Michelle, did you?"
"No, not at all." Marie said as her face turned pink, "I was just suggesting that your pet should not harass Mr. Cunningham. After all, he is a very delicate man."
"Well you can tell Mr. Cunningham if he has any problems with Michelle to let me know and I'll take care of it. Now, I think that's your Limo in my driveway."
"I suppose it is. We should get together Andrew. Your Mom tells me you're going to be commuting to school from now on, so we'll get to see each other much more."
"I suppose we will."
"Well, good bye Andy."
Marie threw her arms around me. I returned the hug slightly. She walked off to her limo.
"Bitch." Michelle said once Marie was well out of the way. "And you hugged her."
"She didn't give me much of a choice." I said. "What was she yelling about?"
"I have no idea. She just asked to talk to me outside and began warning me about getting close to Cunningham."
"Why would she care about that?"
"I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with Mr. Cunningham being on the "outside" of a conspiracy?"
"I still don't know what's going on. And the more I think of it, the less I understand it."
"So you think Mr. Cunningham is wrong?"
"I don't know what to think. It seems like everyone is on edge or acting weird. It's like something big is close and the people who know it are either waiting for it or terrified by it."
"You know, you're right. But we should talk about this inside. I'll make some cocoa for us. Your mom went shopping with Mrs. Harding so we have the house to ourselves."
"What about Lisa? Shouldn't we tell her? "
Michelle shook her head.
"No. She's worried enough as it is. She's afraid that someone is going to find out about us and let your dad know. I don't want to give her anything else to worry about; especially if it's not true."
I nodded and followed Michelle back inside. Within a few minutes, each of us has a steaming cup of cocoa in front of us and we were about start talking when the front door opened. I got up to see who it was. To my surprise, my dad was there holding his briefcase. He looked like a disheveled mess. His tie hung loosely around his neck and the top button of his shirt was undone. My dad was way too meticulous to look like this.
"Dad? Are you alright?"
"Fine. I'm fine." He said, slightly out of breath. "Just a little under the weather, so I decided to come home. I'm going to get a glass of water."
Before I could say anything or stop him, he walked in the kitchen. He looked at Michelle who was now standing up with two cups of cocoa sitting on the kitchen table. It didn't take an Einstein to figure out what had been going on.
I began to panic. Was I going to have to hold him back from beating Michelle again? I prepared myself for the worse.
"Michelle." Said my dad, "could you get me a glass of water?"
"Yes, of course."
Michelle rushed and poured my dad some water. I still was on my guard as she gave the glass to my dad. He drank down the water in one gulp.
"Ahhh." He said. "Much better."
He took a glance at the mugs on the table.
"What's in those?" he asked rather calmly.
"Cocoa." I answered. "I...uh...wanted some and..."
"Are the upstairs rooms clean, Michelle?" my dad interrupted.
"Yes sir." Michelle answered. "If they're not, then my mother is taking care of them as we speak."
My dad was quiet for a moment. But then he nodded to himself and smiled.
"Good. Very good. I will be in my office for a little while. Please make sure to rinse out your mugs when you're done."
Michelle and I gave each other a quick glance. The scene before us was surreal, almost like my dad was drunk. I'd even bet he was if I didn't know he detested alcohol.
"Dad, are you sure you're alright." I asked.
"Yes, Andrew." He said. "I'm fine. I just need a little rest is all."
He turned to go upstairs but turned back to me.
"Oh and please don't tell your mother about this. She'll have me in a hospital bed."
With that he went upstairs, leaving Michelle and I even more confused than we were before.
"Ok now that was weird." I said.
"I know." Michelle responded. "He saw me with a cup of cocoa and didn't yell. Hell, I got yelled at for sneaking a cookie once. Something really must have your dad rattled."
"Yeah but what."
I thought for a moment.
"You don't think it has something to do with this conspiracy, do you?"
Michelle shrugged.
"I don't know. I mean, there still might not be anything, but let's play with the idea. I'm guessing that, if this actually is happening, that it's Mr. Harding on one side and Mr. Cunningham and your dad on the other. We also have Marie and Sam to worry about. I'd bet they're both on Mr. Harding's side."
"I don't think so." I said. "At least not with Marie. I don't think she has a role here, if there is something here. Sam I'll give you, but Marie isn't smart enough. Nor do I think she really cares."
"Heartless witch. I'm sorry, but you never saw how she would act when you two were together."
"What do you mean?"
"She'd always hug you or ask for a kiss when I was around. It was almost like she knew how much I loved you. A couple of nights it was so bad, I cried myself to sleep. I mean, I was so close to you but so far."
I could see tears beginning to form in Michelle's eyes. I grabbed her close and kissed her forehead.
"You know I love you." She said. "More than anything in the world."
"And I love you too." I said.
I held her close to me for a moment or two. Despite all the stress that surrounded us, these moments with Michelle were worth it. It was a feeling I never had before, and I couldn't get enough.
"We should get back on track." Michelle said. "At the very least we know who may be involved with this whole conspiracy."
"Yeah. We have Mr. Harding, Mr. Cunningham, My dad, Sam, and perhaps Marie all aware of what's going on, regardless of who's on what side."
"So now were left with two questions: who else knows what's going on, and what actually is going on?"
What actually was going on? As much as I tried I just couldn't see some big conspiracy, yet it did seem like everyone was on edge for some reason. It seemed the quicker I dismissed the possibility; the quicker evidence seemed to pile up. I turned towards Michelle hoping she would have an answer, but she seemed to be as stumped as I was.
After a few more minutes of thinking about the situation, we both agreed it was useless. Michelle and I went up to my room and I looked through my DVD's to find a movie for us to watch. I wasn't worried about my mom coming back, because she could shop for a week straight. And my dad seemed too preoccupied to care that his "pet" was watching a movie with his son. Michelle decided on Casablanca. I turned my TV over to the local news channel as I prepared my DVD player.
"I should have guessed you'd pick the love story." I said. "Actually, this is one of the all-time greats. No one can say a bad word about it."
"Andrew." Michelle said with a trace of seriousness in her voice. "I think I know another person who may be involved with a conspiracy."
"Who?" I asked.
"See for yourself."
I looked up at the TV screen. The local news was airing footage from some kind of demonstration that had to be broken up by police on the other side of town. All the protesters looked to be anthros. The police were in full riot gear and engaging the anthros. Some went down quietly, others fought hard. As I watched in horror, I wondered how this could have happened. It was only then that I realized who Michelle was talking about. It was so obvious that we didn't notice it.
"Joshua Black." I said with a sigh.
Michelle nodded. Of course he'd be involved. It made too much sense. All the chaos happened after he arrived. As the images of a near riot being broken up flashed on my TV screen I quietly was forced to admit what I had feared; the conspiracy was real.