"It has to be done, Cabbage."
Cabbage stared across the rickety, candlelit table at his friend. The ambience was a nice addition to the drama of the situation. "I dunno, Derek."
"There's no other way. I mean, it's not like I'm really dying anyway."
"There are a million and one ways this could go wrong … a-and how are we supposed to get Brooks and Alex to agree to it?"
"They already agreed to it, Cabbage. And even if they didn't, what else can we do?" Derek said, frustrated. In the moments that followed, you could've heard a pin drop onto the damaged hardwood floor. Somewhere in the beyond the kitchen, the doorbell echoed down the hallway. "That'll be Jake."
Derek rose almost immediately but Cabbage stopped him. "It's safer if I go."
Derek silently resumed his position at the table. Cabbage was right, it was safer. There was always the chance that it wasn't Jake at the door. There was always the chance that it was… them. Derek slumped onto the table. Depressed wasn't the word for how he felt. He felt like nothing would ever be okay again. He owed too much money and he couldn't pay it back if his life depended on it. His life did depend on it.
Cabbage appeared in the kitchen doorway and entered without a word, followed by Jake. Jake, like Cabbage was Derek's friend and band mate. He was tall-ish with short brown hair. He played the drums. "Hey," Jake took the seat opposite Derek that Cabbage had previously occupied. There were a few moments of awkward silence then Jake said, "So, what's the plan?"
"I'm going to die." Derek sighed, abandoning his efforts to try and sound composed,
"It's really not that bad- Jake began, but Derek cut him off.
"No Jake, that's the plan. I'm going to die."
"You mean like fake your own death? That's the plan?!" Jake's voice rose almost hysterically.
"Pretty much," explained Cabbage. "And keep it down. You'll get us all killed for real. I'm going to 'find' his body tomorrow morning; all the necessary arrangements have been made. That's where you and Brooks come in."
"What about Alex?"
"Never mind about him just yet. Listen, you and Brooks are in charge of getting him out of here." At the word 'him', Cabbage jerked his thumb to the right, in Derek's general direction. "The plan is for you guys to take the next available flight to Los Angeles."
"But, LA is huge, how are you guys going to find us? I mean, they'd be able to trace our calls."
"I really don't think they're that technologically advanced, Jake. They're a local gang, not the FBI." Derek pointed out.
"You can't be too careful."
"Exactly. LA is one of the largest cities in the US, if we can't find Derek there than they won't be able to either."
"But we need to be able to find him!"
"Like I said, all the arrangements are in place."
"Ok, then what? Derek fakes his death, we run away to LA. And what, we just stay there, in hiding forever?! I seriously think it would be easier to just declare bankruptcy."
"He can't declare bankruptcy, Jake. It would be pointless. Bankrupt or not, they're going to want that money. Gangs are like that."
"Okay, so what next?"
"We're still working on that." Derek said. "We're the only ones who're in on this, so if word gets out, you're to blame, got it?"
"Nobody else can know. Got it."
The clock struck midnight. "I better get going." Cabbage said. "Or it'll look like I killed you. I won't be much help in a jail cell. I'll see you later, Derek… if everything goes to plan."
Jake said a little uneasily. "Can't we get into like, heaps of trouble for this?"
"Most likely." said Derek.
Cabbage pulled his coat on then made to leave, Derek followed him as far as the hall. A cold rush of air swept into the kitchen as Cabbage opened the front door. In a haze, Derek made his way back the to the kitchen table, where Jake still sat. "So, what exactly do I have to do?" Jake asked.
"You just have to get me out of the coffin, once they put it in the hearse."
"Right, so how do we get out of the car, without anyone noticing us?"
"Well, that part of the plan's still a little hazy but basically, we jump."
"You mean jump out of a moving car?! In the middle of Tallahassee?!" Jake spluttered.
"Have you got anything better?" Derek shot back.
"Not really, but-
"So shut up." Jake sat up a little straighter, clearly taken aback. "Sorry, I'm under a lot stress right now."
"So you and I go to the airport. That's where we meet Brooks, right?"
"Yep," Derek said. "Alex and Cabbage will meet us in LA."
"So, Alex just tags along?"
"His job is to track us down. Like you said, we can't be too careful, so using cell phones as a means of communication is out of the question."
"It's almost one o'clock. You can't be seen around here at any time between now and six o'clock or my death will be treated as suspicious and that will just cause more complications."
"Okay, well, I guess I should go." Jake stood and started to leave, pausing in the kitchen doorway. "See you tomorrow."
"Hopefully."
Another rush of air swept through the kitchen as Jake left, stirring up the stack of unpaid bills and disconnection notices on the bench causing a few to flutter to the ground. Derek sighed, defeated and crouched down to pick them up. Among the papers was a photo of a young woman, about Derek's age with long dark hair and bright blue eyes. It was Derek's girlfriend Aimee. She'd gone missing a few weeks earlier and the police were still searching for her but in Derek's eyes, it was obvious what had happened. They had taken her, in revenge for Derek not returning the money. Tears of anger welled up in Derek's eyes and he crumpled the photo in his fist. With a sigh, he returned to his seat at the table and smoothed the photo on the table, then folded it and placed it in his jeans pocket. All at once, the stresses and dramas of the previous month caught up with Derek and he fell into a deep, depressed sleep with his head on the table.
"Derek…Derek." Derek sat up quickly in his chair, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. Cabbage was standing over him, shaking his shoulder.
"Morning." Derek mumbled.
"You were supposed to be dead upstairs an hour ago." Cabbage half whispered grumpily.
"What does it matter, where I die? I'm dead, okay."
"Alright, you're dead." Cabbage whispered. "Be dead, I'm going to ring Jake."
Derek rested his head on the table as Cabbage produced an iPhone from his pocket. "When did you get an iPhone?" Derek asked, trying to make conversation.
"Dead, Derek. You're dead." Came Cabbage's reply. He was pacing and running his hand through his hair.
"Being dead is boring." Derek yawned.
"Well, finding a dead body is stressful, so be quiet." Cabbage pressed the phone to his ear. "Yeah, Jake? It's Cabbage…Yeah… The catholic church…As soon as possible… Yeah… Yep… And act sad, your friend just died…Yeah, see you."
Cabbage sighed and continued pacing. There was a knock at the door and he dashed out of the kitchen. Derek stiffened and tried to slow his breathing. There were footsteps in the hall, Derek's heart started racing. How were they going to pull this off?
Cabbage entered the kitchen, followed by Jake. Derek relaxed a little and sat up.
"You're dead." Cabbage reminded him.
"I thought you guys were the cops. Where are the cops; aren't they supposed to confirm my death?"
"We forged your death certificate." Jake said abruptly.
"You forged a legal document?!" Derek sat bolt upright. His chest tightened. They could go to prison for that. "That wasn't the plan!"
The atmosphere turned extremely tense. Derek silently bashed his head on the table. Jake collapsed in an armchair in the adjoining living room. Then, Cabbage's phone rang. "Hello… yeah, Jake arranged it… two o'clock… just a small one, family and close friends… you stick with me afterwards… yeah, we're all a bit like that… bye."
Derek looked up at Cabbage. "Brooks?" he asked.
"Yep," Cabbage let out a huge sigh and collapsed in the chair opposite Derek. "Your funeral's at two o'clock."
"What have we gotten ourselves into?" Derek sighed, glancing out of the window. A few rays of morning light peeked in through the blinds.
"I guess we're about to find out." Jake said.