Monday, October 02, 2006

The Disillusionists cont'd...
Mike sat alone on the couch at his house, talking on the phone to his old buddy Aaron, whom he had not talked to for while.
"What do I owe this honour to?" asked Aaron on the other end of the line, clinking a beer against the phone's handset. Mike smiled thinly as he recognized this gesture from years ago.
"I can't talk for long, I've got a few things to take care of but, I need you to do me a favour."
Arron furrowed his mono-brow into a perfect 'W' and looked at the floor, "You sound like shit bud."
"Thanks."
Arron took a sip from his bottle and asked, "So what's going on?"
"I need a gun..." came the reply.
"Seriously."
The blood drained from Mike's face an the other end of the line, "I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it."
Aaron laughed nervously, "Brother, you nearly had me there... What kind of operation do you think I'm runnin'?"
There was no reply. Aaron reached for a pouch of tobacco on the coffee table and rolled up a smoke in order to give himself time to think. "Bud," he continued, "I don't see you for months, years maybe, and then you call me up asking for something you know I can't give..."
"I'm not asking you to give. I'll pay."
"I can't believe we're having this conversation actually." He stopped for a moment and listened to the phone closely. "Mike, I've known you for a long time... I don't know what's going on but whatever it is, back away."
"Can't do that."
"Why not?"
Mike shook his head slowly, "I got nothing to back away from... I've got nothing left Aaron. Now they're coming after me for fucking unpaid utilities..."
"Utilities!" Aaron laughed, "Fuck buddy, I've got a guy... they turn off the water, he'll have it back on the next day. I haven't paid for hydro in over a year. You want a satellite dish, no problem... Let me get you something that will mellow you out."
"It's got nothing to do with that..." There didn't seem to be anything left for Mike to say. He didn't want any of those things, he just wanted to disappear. He knew when he put the phone down that he would probably never speak to Aaron again. Aaron knew it too, he tried to keep his friend talking, "There's a tribe on the lower slopes of the Andes for whom the word revenge does not exist," he lied, "instead, if one farmer comes to grief with another they are made to live together, for a week a month or a year until their grievances are settled and they are able to see each other's side more clearly... In that way the community is made stronger."
"I love you man." Said Mike and he hung up the phone, leaving Aaron to stare at his for what seemed like an hour.

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