The plan
Tom's Apartment
El Deols, Anthanna
Tom hurried into his bedroom to get his ringing phone. He had dropped it there when he went to get a bottle of wine from the bar. The table was dirty with traces of weed and some powdery substances. He smoked and drank every day since Cara had left him. Since he was exposed already, he thought there was no need to suppress his lifestyle anymore.
He picked up the phone and checked the screen. His friend Stan was calling.
"Hey Stan! What's up?" He said after answering the call.
"Hey dude! Phil has landed himself in trouble."
"What has he done again?" Tom asked.
"He arranged some men to dress up as cops to get Cara's bodyguard yesterday," Stan replied.
"What are you talking about?"
"Remember you told us when we met at the club that Cara was going to return from South Husan with the dude yesterday?"
"Yeah, I did." Tom replied and picked a wrap of weed.
"And you remember Phil told us he would pull up a surprise."
"Oh! I remember."
"So he planned to kidnap Henry yesterday by sending men who dressed as police officers. They got him and were on their way to the destination he gave them. I guess the idiot attacked them on the way, and real police officers caught up with them."
"Now, that's messy. Where's Phil now?"
"He has been taken by the police. They took him last night."
"Really messy, he should have told us before going ahead to do that." Tom said. He sat on the chair in front of the table as he placed the wrap of weed in his mouth.
"So what do we do?" Stan asked.
There was silence from Tom's end.
"Hey Tom, you're there?" Stan asked. "Tom, Tom?"
"Shut up idiot! I was lighting up my wrap of weed," Tom slammed.
"Damn you, fool! Must you smoke before you can think?" Stan slammed back. They were used to hurling insults at themselves, and most of the time, they did so when they joked, but at times when there was also a messy issue to be solved like this.
"Is Cara pressing charges against him?" Tom finally asked after another additional forty seconds.
"How would I know? I haven't been there."
"Why haven't you gone there yet?"
"Bleep you, Tom! Do you want me to go there and get myself involved in the mess?"
Tom took in another drag of the smoke before answering. "You didn't plan it with him, did you?"
"Of course, I did not."
"Why are you scared then?"
"What if he mentions my name? Or I meet Cara there, and she gets to point at me."
"You're a bleeping sissy Stan."
"You're worse, Tom!"
"Stop talking like a fool…"
"Shut up, Tom! Can we talk about our next step now and stop beating about the bush."
Tom was quiet for a few seconds again. Stan did not rush him this time. He assumed he was busy with his weed.
"We can't do anything about Phil for now. We have to wait till tomorrow to get information about his arrest."
"Are we still going ahead with our plan?"
"Yes, there's no going back." Tom replied sharply and in a confident tone. "We must deal with that scumbag before the court session."
"Are you sure we need to go ahead with this, Tom? That guy seems to be more dangerous than we see him," Stan voiced his fears.
"You bleeping sissy! Are you scared already? I got my plans well perfected, and there's no turning back."
"We're not planning to kill him, are we?"
"No, I don't hope to be a murderer. We just need to teach him a lesson, one that he will never forget."
"Have you made plans to ensure he doesn't reach the police that day?"
"Yeah, like I said, I got everything perfected already." Tom repeated.
"What if he tries to reach the police and open up a case afterwards."
"I'll take care of that by making sure he has no case at all. The police would deny they were ever involved."
"Tom, how do you intend to do this?"
"You ask so many silly questions Stan. He's gonna try to reach them from the onset, and when the call goes through, it will be answered by police officers who I'm going to pay heavily. The police officers would encourage him and lure him into our trap."
"I really do hope this works out well Tom, I hope it does."
"It would Stan, it surely would."
_____________________
The Next Morning
"Henry, I do think it's time we look into making you complete your training and make your movement as quick as possible." Cara said to Henry. "Or make it possible for you to continue with the training in any country of your choice."
Both were sitting at the backseat of the car as usual, after a visit to the police office to make a more detailed report of the incident that took place the day before.
"I need to understand you better, please," He said, squinting at her face.
"I mean you need to finish up your training quickly so that we can finalise plans for you to leave the country."
"Why do you say so?"
"You're getting into so much trouble for me already. It is better you leave so you can be out of these troubles." Cara replied. "I believe you'd do better than you're away from here."
"I don't plan to leave you to face these troubles all by yourself. We have to finish it together before I think of leaving."
Cara stared at his face intently for a moment. She had a questioning look on her face but was yet to give a voice to the questions in her heart.
"Yeah, Cara," Henry continued. "That will start with watching how Tom's case goes first."
"Tom?" Her face softened as she looked away. "I really do hope he gets a soft landing."
"No, I hope he gets it tough!"
Cara flashed a quick look at his face. "You're talking about someone I was in love with."
"Yes, you were in love with him, but he proved to be undeserving of your love."
Cara sighed.
"Listen, Cara, Tom and his friends are dangerous. If I did not detect that those men were fake officers, they probably would have done something crazy to both of us."
Cara stared at him in silence for a while before speaking in very low tones. "That's why you have to leave as soon as you can Henry, you shouldn't be getting into all these troubles because of me."
"That's why I can't leave yet, Cara. I can't leave you to face these dangerous Tom and his troubles alone by yourself." He retorted. "I have to see that Tom is punished adequately, and his friends are also punished."
Cara sighed. She stared at his face for a while and then moved closer to him. She wrapped her hands around his body and placed her head on his shoulder.
Henry held his breath for a moment. She had not been as close as that for some days, and that strange feeling of always wanting her in his arms suddenly returned.
"Cara," he called after two minutes of total silence.
"Yes," she answered.
"I couldn't sleep last night."
She raised her head to look at his face. "Why?"
"I keep having strange dreams when my eyes are closed and visions while I'm awake, but I'm never able to recall them every time I try to do them consciously."
She stared at his face for a while with a worried look. It was obvious she was concerned for him.
"I can only recall seeing myself in a uniform of some kind. It looks military."
"I think you are gradually recalling your past."
Henry hated to admit that truth. He was scared. The flashbacks in his memory in the last twelve hours had been so tiring and even scary.
He had never thought he could be scared to recall his past. What troubled him was the possibility that he was a bad person in his past. He was terrified to go back to being that bad person, which remembering his past would make him be.