For a few hours, Violet watched Felix in silence as her client tried to calm himself. He was pacing the room, back and forth, over and over again. He was sweating, and breathing heavily. His eyes darted across the room from one side to the other, not simply lost but assessing exit routes, angles of attack, and perhaps his enemy target when for the few times that Felix looked at her.
She wasn't completely unaware of what was going on. Some people who wrote in the news called it "The Soldier's Eyes". It was said that for a lot of the men who returned home, the war had followed them despite the fact it was over. Violet had experienced it herself. She still had nightmares about her time at the front. And Gilbert was always in her dreams.
Suddenly, Felix sat back down at the table and drained a large glass of water in one sip. He put both of his hand crossed on the surface of the table and looked at Violet, "Okay. I'm good to go, lets get started"
Violet nodded, but before she began to type, she asked softly, "Are you sure you can continue? I can come back tomorrow if you'd like more time to relax"
"No, lets get this over with. Besides, there may not be a tomorrow" replied Felix, "Where did I leave off?"
Violet picked up the pile of typed sheets and carefully sorted through them, "We were discussing your childhood. You said that you had stolen enough things to afford a room above the Butcher's Deli"
"Yea, that room, with that bed that felt like a cloud. I still think about that bed a lot. I didn't really want to lose it either. So I stole more things, bigger things too. Felix The Pincher was what people started calling me. I was really, really good at stealing things" he said with a smile.
Violet nodded and began typing again. Felix tensed up on reflex, but took an effort to relax himself.
It's just a typewriter.
"So you were a thief? And a very good thief if your story is true. Is that something you should be proud of?" Violet asked as she continued her typing.
Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack
When it finally stopped, Felix looked annoyed with her, "Do you think I should care about people think of my pride? I'm in jail, little Miss Doll. Half the people outside don't even know that I exist. And I'm sure the other half would be happy to tie the hangman's noose around my neck themselves. I care about them and what they think about as much as they ever did for me. Which means nothing, by the way, in case you want to type that down"
Clack, clack, clack, clack, ching!
She replaced the paper again, and with that same effeciency she had as a soldier, Violet sat patiently waiting for her client to speak again.
"I was a damned good thief. Because I was always the most careful. I'd spend days at a time watching someone, waiting for the best time to take whatever it was they had that I didn't. I think the best thing I ever stole was the motorcar. And you know who it belonged to?" Felix said, with a wide smile on his face.
"Who?" Violet asked.
"That Gentleman from the Postal Office, the one with the black leather gloves. He did a lot of business there, now that I think about it. Anyway, he came into the office one day, but instead of the carriage or the tram he usually took, he pulled up in a motorcar, a big black one, just like the colour of his gloves. The engine was loud. I don't think I'd ever heard anything that loud before, at least not until the war anyway" said Felix.
"I wonder..." Violet started to say, before she stopped.
Felix raised a curious look, "You wonder what?"
"Why would this Gentleman keep returning to the post office if he had things stolen from him often while in that place. Surely he could have found another place to mail his post" She said with a curiosity that was amusing to Felix.
"That's...actually a fair question, now that I think about it. I really don't know why he kept coming back to that office. I mean, he had a motorcar, he could have gone anywhere he wanted" said Felix.
"There must be a reason. Is there anything else you remember about that postal office?" Violet asked, putting her chin on her hand in a thinking position.
Suddenly, Felix snapped his finger, "I know! He had to have been there for the girl with the green hair. Every time he came into the office, he would only ever talk to her. If the owner or the other girls tried to help him, he'd yell at them until she would come to help him. Sometimes he wouldn't even have any mail to drop off. He'd just come in and talk to her"
Violet returned to her typing, making a note of everything Felix had said.
Clack, clack, clack, clack, ching!
"Maybe they were friends" Violet mentioned as she changed the paper yet again.
Again, Felix found himself amused by the doll, "Oh, I think they were a little more than friends. At least on his part. The Gentleman was totally in love with the Girl with Green Hair. It's kinda strange really. With his money he could have had any woman he wanted, probably ones much more beautiful than a girl with green hair that worked at a postal office."
Violet stopped. Felix was confused. She hadn't reached the end of the page yet, and she looked very lost of all sudden.
"What do the words 'in love' mean?" She asked very quietly.
"In love, means exactly that" said Felix with a shrug.
"I don't understand the concept" Violet replied. She turned away from Felix for a moment.
"Being in love? I guess it means when you care about someone. More than just a friend or a comrade though. Like that person is the most important thing to you. You've never been in love?" Felix said, confused at the line questioning.
Violet shook her head and took a deep breath. She quickly typed down the notes and then asked, "Have you been in love before, Sargent?"
It was Felix's turn to think now. After a long moment he spoke again, "Maybe. Once. I'm not sure actually. But we jumped ahead in the story a bit, we should finish off this part first"
"Agreed" she said officially. She changed the sheet once more and sat ready at her typewriter, "You had stolen the Gentleman's motorcar"
"Yes, yes I did" said Felix with a wide smile, "Nearly ended up smashing the thing against the side of a building. I was only twelve, I could barely see over the steering wheel. But I got away clean. And when I sold it to my Fence, I made more money in one afternoon than I did in all the years of petty robbing that came before. 18 000 in coin. I felt like the King of the country that day"
"That is a very substantial sum. Did you buy anything special with that large amount?" Violet asked.
Clack, clack, clack, clack, ching!
Felix shook involuntarily, and then continued again, "I did actually. Something really special. The Butcher who rented me that room was having problems with the bank. Business wasn't doing well that year because the government raised taxes on meat. So people were buying less meat, less often. He was worried about not being able to make the payments on the loan he took out to open the deli in the first place. He owed 10 000 at the time. So we worked out a business deal"
Clack, clack, clack, clack, ching!
Violet looked at Felix again, making sure he wasn't in a state of panic. He was still seated at the table, so she felt able to continue, "What was the deal?"
"I would pay off the loan for him, and in exchange I would own half the business and not have pay rent on my room anymore. And he agreed. So the next day we went to the Bank together, and I threw a bag with 10 000 coin on the lender's desk. He pulled out a piece of paper and pen, told me to sign my name on the dotted line, and I'd own half the deli just like that. I should mention at this point I didn't even know how to read or write, and I don't think Auto-Memory Dolls were in business just yet" said Felix.
In truth, he still couldn't read. After Violet finished with her story, he'd have to get someone to read it to him.
"I do not believe they were. So you turned from a thief to half owner of a Butcher's Deli? That is an interesting turn of events" Violet said, carefully reviewing her typed notes.
"Well, I'm glad at least one person thinks my life is interesting. Or is that what you say to every client?" Felix asked, crossing his arms.
Violet stood and offered a polite bow to Felix, "An Auto-Memories Doll is most effective when she forms a personal connection with her client. It is our job to give shape and meaning to your words. It is not just a simple piece of paper, it is an expression of a persons feelings. My goal is to capture that expression, in the method as chosen by my client"
"I see. So are we friends then, Violet?" asked Felix.
"If you feel that it will more effectively assist our work, then yes, we can be fiends Felix" she said, putting a doll-like smile on her face.
"Sure, I'd like that. I don't really have a lot of friends left as it is" Felix said, returning his own warm smile.
"I am glad" said Violet as she loaded a new sheet, "Shall we continue?"
She set the roller in place, and Felix was on his feet in a state of panic. He went to a corner of the room and let his hand reach to his hip, as though he would be drawing his pistol. But of course, the pistol wasn't there, and Felix realized how ridiculous it looked.
"Are you sure you're alright? You seem disturbed by something in this room" Violet asked, keeping her gloved hands away from the typewriter.
Felix took a few hard breaths and then replied, "Yeah, that's it. Has to be, this room. It's too stuffy"
He straightened out his prison smocks and yelled at the door, "Olaf! Get in here Old Man! I've got a question for ya!"
A heartbeat later, the old guard came storming into the room as fast as his age would allow. With his truncheon in hand, he shouted, "What the hell's going on in here? Did he touch you miss? I warned him that I'd break all of his bones if he did!"
Violet shook her head, "No sir. Felix did not touch me. In fact, we are now friends. He just wanted to ask you a question"
Slowly, Olaf returned his truncheon to the holder on his belt and crossed his arms, "Well, out with it then!"
"Can we go outside? I mean, we don't have to do this in here do we? She can just take that typewriter anywhere. And she did say she'd travel anywhere I want" said Felix as he loosened his collar.
Olaf stared at the pair for a long moment. His first instinct was that the prisoner was plotting an escape. But the fragile looking Doll with him hardly seemed like the type to let a prisoner escape from Jail.
The Warden would probably have his head for this, but he was barely a year from retirement as it was. Olaf sighed, "Fine, you two can go to the yard. I'll clear the riff-raff out so you can have some privacy. But just remember something Felix"
"What's that?" asked Felix
Olaf tapped the handle of his truncheon, "Try anything, and your bones will be dust before you can say the word 'sorry; "
