Hear No Evil (10)
PART SIXTEEN: Damned Ant and the Jewish Underdog
Completely ignoring the Commander standing beside him, Cassie stormed to Ethan with every
intention of smacking him upside the head and dragging him home. She remembered herself,
however and politely grabbed his arm instead. "E- October? Where are the clothes I just
got you?"
"It's not his fault, Cassie. I made him do it." Jake tried not to look too embarassed, but couldn't
help blushing at the presense of Melissa. "I was short a man and I wanted to get done in time
to go to the arcade with Marco.
Cassie blinked and regained her composure. Why the hell was Jake appologising? He never has
to appologise.
"Well, then next time, use your own slaves. October is private property, protected by law."
Melissa swallowed before adding, "Even from YOU."
For a moment, Jake was at a loss for words. He opened his mouth to speak. Then stopped.
Having Melissa afraid of me would be seriously counterproductive, he thought carefully. Time
to swallow a little pride, buddy.
"Cassie, Melissa? It won't happen again. In fact . . ." He reached into his back pocket and
quickly yanked out a few bills. "Here you are, October." He said, grabbing one of the slave's
hands and stuffing them in, when October made no move to reach for them himself. "You
WORKED for me, so here is your due."
Melissa awarded him with half a grin for this. Which was worth a lot more to Jake than a few
measly bucks. For a full smile, he'd have given the slave his life savings.
After a few meaningless comments about school and pithy references to local news, the group
fell quiet.
Cassie, feeling betrayed. Although she knew she was unjustified. Which only made her even
more hurt at the guilt of it all. The boy that she- her slave was wearing the armor of those
who hated everything she was.
Mellisa, oblivious. Everything was fine. Jake needed some help and did something that was
wrong. He realized his mistake, appologised and then immediately righted the wrong. That was
his job as Commander after all.
Jake, at the hormonal and romantic mercy of a girl, who by all rights should be HIS. Someday. . .
in his home, waiting for him to get out of work. Greeting him at the door.
Ethan, donned in the WYS cloak of power, staring at the cash in his hand as if it were printed
in an undeciferable language. It was the first time he had ever touched money.
And now, Marco, shadowed by the always lanky and dishevled Tobias.
Marco had a tendency to be fashionably late for everything. So when Jake was first five, then
fifteen minutes late to meet at the Arcade, Marco simply assumed it was Jake's way of making a
big point about it all. Bored out of his gourd, it was natural for Marco to start making
sarcastic comments to anyone who would listen.
That "anyone" being Tobias, who only interrupted one part of Marco's rant (as he was
mentioning how he'd just as soon let Jake walk home ALONE tonight, shivering in the night in
fear of the "boogie-man") to simply mention that he was going the same direction as Marco and
would like to tag along.
Back to the present, Marco quickly took inventory of the situation. What a tense looking group
THIS was.
Using his perkiest of tones, he called ahead. "Hey Jake! Look what I found!" he indicated
Tobias trailing behind with a jabbed thumb over his shoulder.
Jake, smearing a fake smile on his face, cheerily greeted Tobias. Sure the guy was totally
useless socially, but Jake needed every warm body he could get stuffed into a Warren Uniform.
Already, his Wilton-adjucted regiment was the largest. But to grasp every able-bodied male in
both areas would absolutely GUARANTEE his position as RCo.
Then he could stop all the punishments. He could stop the hatred and condecension. But for now,
he had to continue with his duties.
Tobias tripped on a loose floor tile and grabbed Marco just in time to stop himself from doing
a faceplant.
Can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, he noted as he mentally sneered at Tobias's
absolute physical ineptitude.
"Marco, my man, I was just about to head home. You all ready?" Jake broadly asked the group.
Cassie quickly directed Ethan to the bathroom with his bag of new clothes.
Melissa quirked an eyebrow. "We're all walking home together?"
For a fleeting moment, Jake looked embarassed, but then covered his ass quickly. "Well, see . . .
It would be ungentlemanly for me to allow you to go alone. Especially if you decide to take
the shortcut."
Marco came to his buddie's aide. "Yeah, I mean that place is part of the crazy chick Rehab camp.
Those females could be violent. It'd be smart to have some guys tag along."
Melissa nodded carefully and through gritted teeth replied, "Thank you, Commander. We appreciate
your assistance."
Cassie noted the dangerous look on her best friend's face. "Yes, you're right. I know I'D like
to have some guys walk with us." she stammered quickly.
Giving Cassie a sideways look, Jake then turned to Melissa. "Please, call me Jake. Just Jake.
And it's my pleasure."
As they all turned to leave, Marco grabbed Jake's collar, bringing his ear down to convient
whispering height. "Careful, don't lay the charm on too thick or you'll seem smarmy."
Jake nodded and mouthed the word, "Thanks."
Ethan, of course, read all of this as he arrived at the rear of the group with an equally quiet
Tobias. He held the neatly folded WYS Private's uniform in his hands.
Charm? He felt his hackles rise slightly. No, no way.
Jake didn't seem the least bit interested in Cassie. Right?
Ethan's eyes narrowed slightly. From now on, he'd be watching the bastard even more closely
than before. He quickly tapped Jake on the shoulder and passed the uniform to him. Jake
took this without a cursory glance at Ethan.
Ethan returned to the rear and trudged behind the group.
What he wouldn't admit to himself however, was that his hatred of Jake stemmed not from jealosy
of what Jake had, but of what he was ALLOWED to have.
Oh well. At least the Tobias guy wasn't much of a talker. Looks like it'd be a nice quiet
walk home. In his new shoes.
End of Chapter 10