SCENE TEN

Tom Hanson

We played it cool the rest of the evening. Doug was playing the part of an angelic homeless man pretending to worship the ground Mark walked on. As odd it may have sounded, he did it convincingly. I could see the resistance in his eyes every time he passed, but his good behavior was our key to getting the dirt on the House's actions. We had a feeling this "initiation" would reveal plenty, and Doug and I could not go any further on our own.

While Doug was avoiding further conflict, I managed to get a hold of Ioki and set up a meeting. Well… it would only be a meeting if they found me. Ioki and Fuller were going to drive around and attempt to find the area based on Doug's descriptions. Once they found me, they would stakeout until the initiation and we would take our plan from there.

I woke up bright and early the next morning at exactly 5 A.M. The others would not be up for a few hours, or so I was hoping, and I had exactly twenty minutes to get outside and watch for Ioki's car. However when I rolled over and opened my eyes, there was one person hovering over me that I wasn't expecting…

"You look so perdy when you sleep, Tom."

…Sid.

"Sid," I groaned as I slid off of the bed. Doug was still sleeping despite Sid's insensitively loud tone. "Don't you have something better to do then to watch me sleep?"

"Come to think of it, I don't." Sid shrugged his shoulders and looked over at Doug. "Insomnia, Tommy, insomnia. Though sometimes I wish I could saw logs like that brother of yours."

"Leave him alone," I ordered sternly. "And lower your voice, would you? You'll wake him."

"…What exactly are you doing up this early?" Sid walked over to the doorway and leaned against the frame. He was blocking the only way out of the room and he knew that. There was a sly smirk on his face that told me he knew. "Breakfast isn't for another few hours, and Mark will lose it if he sees you out of your room. It's a little early to get your brain fried isn't it?"

"Alright, Sid, what is it you want?" I asked, my voice raised. "You wanna earn points for the big 'initiation' tonight? Run and tell Mark and hope that he sends you a one way pass to Heaven? Or maybe an I.O.U. from God?"

"Would you relax, Tom? I just wanted to get one last look at you before your head is on the chopping block. You know you've been nipping at Mark's heels ever since you've been here and you haven't stopped yet. What are you up to?"

"Move," I ordered as I pushed Sid to the side. "I'll only be a few minutes."

"That's all the time I need to run to Mark's office…"

"Okay, alright. Fine. What is it you want, Sid? There isn't much I can give you for your silence," I plucked the shoulders of my robe. "Just the robe off my back."

"You can keep that thing on and spare us all from seeing your scrawny pale ass, okay?" Sid took a few steps into the hallway and made sure no one else was there before he continued. "Just let me come with you."

"You're nuts. There is no way…"

"I won't bite. I won't bark. I won't squeal. I won't do anything, I swear. I just want out of this house. I wanna see who you've been trying to call and what they're selling."

Alright, so Sid assumed that I was using. Whatever his theory was and how false it might have been, I had no choice but to let him tag along. After all Fuller and Ioki wanted to keep their cover, so the last thing they would drive into the area was a cop car. So the deal was made – Sid could come as long as he stood on the corner and watched for Mark and his sidekicks. This would prevent him from hearing my conversation with Fuller and Ioki and I could walk into the house with Sid assuming I just made a deal with a pair of criminals (with him getting a share of my "earnings"). We both would win.

I had another fifteen minutes to wait and every single minute was going by slowly thanks to Sid. He was not much company, and he had a problem with keeping his mouth shut… literally.

"So what's your deal, man?" Sid asked as he took a seat on the curb. "If you hate Mark so much why'd you even bother coming along?"

"We needed to get in from the cold."

"And so here you are again? Outside? In the middle of December? Wearing nothing but a robe?" Sid shook his head and laughed. "I don't get you, I really don't."

I was tempted to reply, but kept my lips shut when I heard a motor running. It was very faint and it was too early for them to show, but I couldn't risk missing them. I started jogging towards the sound and not too soon after I started I heard a pair of rushed footsteps behind me.

"Sid, stay back there; that was the deal." I told him.

"What? Are you kidding? You have no idea, man, I haven't had a hit in almost a week and it's killing me."

"It's not that, okay? So just back off."

"Back off?" Sid heated. "Back off? You promised me a hit!"

"I promised you nothing!"

"Fine, you want me to back off? Fine!" Sid started back towards the house. "HEY!" He screamed. "HEY, MARK!"

"Sid, come on! Just stop." No matter how much I urged him to stop, he wouldn't. I didn't expect him to, and after the first plea I started running towards the motor. Hopefully it would be the crew and I could still get the business done and still manage a way inside without Mark knowing. It was like asking for a miracle, but it was my only hope.

The footsteps started up again and they were getting closer. I figured it was Sid taking another shot at following me. I ran faster. My breaths became quick; my chest started to ache and my face was stung by the bitter winds. Although I was running as fast as my feet would take me, the footsteps never trailed off. Before I knew it, I was tackled from behind and something flew from the pocket of my robe.

"Three strikes you're out, Tom." That wasn't Sid. That was Mark. Sid was close behind and upon Mark's demand, he kept me pinned to the ground. His sidekicks were rushing up the sidewalk. Caught. Again.

"What is this?" Mark asked as he took a few steps forward. He leaned over and picked up what I had lost. My badge. He flipped it open and walked towards me as he read over my ID. "Officer Tom Hanson… well, Mr. Hanson, it isn't very nice to keep you under the same restrictions as everyone else, is it?" He shoved the badge into his pocket and pulled me up by my collar. With a sinister grin, he felt the back of my head and ripped off the electrical device. I winced and let out a painful groan. Then Mark waved his hands and before I could blink two of his sidekicks had me by my arms. "We're very honored to have Mr. Hanson in the House of Tithing, aren't we boys? Take him to the warehouse and lock him in room B. I'll be there shortly after I talk with Doug."

"Just leave him alone." I ordered. Mark rolled his eyes with a laugh and reached behind my head. He rubbed the spot where the device had been and when he pulled back his hand, it was covered with my blood.

"If you keep losing blood at this rate, you'll be dead before I manage to talk with your 'brother'." Mark stated. "And we wouldn't want that. No, no, we have special plans for you. Sid? Go to the house and tell Jared to get the bus ready. We're starting the initiation process early."