You always wished you hadn’t called back. Truth was that you could not escape your sins of the past where you were stuck and planted in hell with chains to your neck. We don’t wait for a better future, we create it. The quote you carved on the first day in your striped suit seemed to be mocking you. You remember that the food was not edible although you had no choice, this was your life now. Three more years to go, your mind tries to be positive, yet your heart desires the misery out of guilt.
It all started when you were just fourteen years old. Your foster father had been sick for ages where you don’t remember a time that he was walking with his own two feet, or yet walking at all. You had to take care of yourself and your foster father, the desire you never understood since he neither cared for you nor fed you. Though, you believed it was the right thing to do. It is certain that life never makes sense, nor it is fair, although you heard most people mutter “Everything works out”. You tried to believe the saying which never seemed to work out for you.
You were walking down the street where you had to keep your disgusting self from stealing the bread that you see on the street corner for pure survival. The thought of finding a job never crossed your mind, because you always thought that you had to be sixteen years old to hold a job. The beautiful bread that you smelled from afar in the streets of Paris is something you could never escape. It still haunts you to this day. The desire for your foster father’s approval was heightened with the lack of life skills at the age of fourteen.
People should be chained to a pole when they are young so that they don’t run around doing things that they don’t know the consequences of. Sometimes the consequences are not worth the thrill that you feel. You feel like there were no one to teach you the right way, which you learned now after seventeen years stuck between four walls with the stupid quote carved.
“HEY YOU! YOU DIRTY GARBAGE!”
You heard someone roar from behind as you reached the shiny bread. You felt stoned to the ground as concrete. As your mind whispered say something, your mouth had other plans.
“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!?”
This was the beginning of the end of your youth, you never understood the consequences of these words. As the tears trickled down your face, you muttered,
“I….I…..I was just looking”.
“DID YOU THINK I WAS DUMB?”, this man’s words you had never met rang in your ears. He was holding you with a grip on your neck.
“N….Nuh…..Nuh…No sir”, you stammered.
“I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE UP TO, SCOUNDRAL!!! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY?”, the mystery man was roaring at the top of his voice and took you to a dark alley where he released you to the ground with a heavy thud. Your head was spinning, and you held your neck for support.
“Why were you stealing?”, the mystery man’s tone changed while you wondered if he changed dimensions. You told him about your family situation and all your hopes and dreams.
Your dreams did not include birthday parties or Christmas gifts, you simply wanted to know where your parents were. “I will give you what you want, if you give me what I want”. You had no idea what he was talking about, but you agreed.
Never say yes to a mystery man you meet on the streets of Paris. You still have nightmares of this day. You always felt like you have thorns around your neck, though you now have mostly dealt with the trauma. This was the moment that changed your life forever. You never knew what he wanted; you never understood the consequences.
The next day was your meeting with the mystery man and his group of assistants. As he introduced you to them, you wondered why he needed so many assistants. How rich is this man? your mind raced as fast as your heart raced.
“We need you to take this packet to the address we tell you to”, although the mystery man seemed to be the leader, the man in a black hat posed the question. You thought it was a question, though now you know that it was a command, and you had no choice. You took the packet to the place that the man in a black hat ordered.
“COME IN FAST!”, a guy who seemed to be around eighteen years old invited you in or pulled you in. The room smelled of smoke and drinks that were half empty sat on the coffee table. You had no idea but for the first time in your life you saw €100 bills. This was fascinating to you, although the “guy” ran you out of the apartment and slammed the door behind you.
“WEE WOO WEE WOO WEE WOO”, blue and red lights started flashing. You did not know what it was, yet you decided to run. It was some kind of survival instinct that you never knew you had. You ran down the stairs and met face to face with blue uniformed gentlemen. You breezed past as they did not pay attention to you. You were insignificant to them.
At that time, you did not know what was inside that packet for you to be handed almost ten €100 bills, although you know what it was now. You understand now why the mystery man and the man in the black hat chose you. You were the chosen child.
“You have done well my child”, the man in the black hat nodded with appreciation. As you received two €100 bills, you were amazed and proud of yourself. Years passed where I saw €100 bills on occasion. At a certain point, the €100 bills stopped appearing with the black hatted man. You had a sense of freedom that you never felt in years. You were ecstatic.
The day you decided to come home early from your day job at the mall, the phone on the kitchen counter buzzed. You did not know what to do with the call, you never got calls and you never answered phones. Sometimes you wondered why you had a phone at all. You did not answer the call at first because you had a peculiar feeling in your stomach. You let the message go to voice mail though, there was no message.
Finally, you decided to call back. It was an unknown number and you felt sick. A voice you had forgotten answered on the other end.
“Hello, my child, I have a job for you”.
Your head felt heavy and sweat trickled down your chest. You did not know that this call will stick you between four walls for the next twenty years.