The Memoir

by Vaibhav Reddy IVN

  Daniel is falling into my trap! Come on, my dear enemy!

  Jeremy dialed Daniel’s number, but he rejected the call. Jeremy typed a message and sent it to Daniel’s number. He grinned as he imagined Daniel’s anxiety.

  BACK IN THE SUMMERHOUSE

  Jeremy strolled into the living room as Adam’s men carried Vanessa upstairs to the bedroom. He looked around and examined Adam’s men, who moved about the house looking for a spot to settle. As he stood there in the middle of the living room, one settled on the couch, while another one settled in a dining chair, while yet another one settled on the stairs just beside Durian’s corpse, not minding the bodily fluids of the servant. When Adam descended the stairs after leaving Vanessa in the bedroom, he looked around confused and Jeremy caught his attention. He looked like he was going to bark at them any time soon. Adam hurried down the stairs.

  ‘Hey, what the fuck do you people think is happening here?’ Adam bellowed. ‘This isn’t a fucking picnic. Take your positions and obey Mr. Miller’s orders.’

  The matter made clear, they stood up from their comfortable positions and hustled around like a shoal of aimless sheep.

  ‘Adam!’ Jeremy called out. ‘Are they fucking retards? I want them in their respectable positions within five minutes. Or else, you will be dead before Daniel!’

  Adam nodded and turned to leave. But he returned to Jeremy and whispered, ‘Sir, if you don’t mind me asking, why don’t you leave to somewhere safe rather than calling him right here. You will be vulnerable with people knowing where you are.’

  Jeremy placed his hand on Adam’s shoulders. ‘Adam, I appreciate your concern. But Daniel is in no position to play games with me. You see, his heart is there,’ Jeremy said, pointing in the direction of the first floor bedroom. ‘He wouldn’t risk it. And, I want to emerge a man of achievement, rather than a coward.’

  Adam nodded and left, while Jeremy ascended the stairs to the bedroom. When he pushed the door open, he saw Vanessa struggling with the tapes. She stopped her struggle when she saw him. Jeremy walked to her position on the floor beside the bed, squatted down beside her and removed the tape. Only silence followed, while Jeremy expected her to protest.

  ‘You seem like a nice princess, unlike your evil prince,’ he said.

  She did not reply and turned her head away from him. Jeremy turned her face forcibly towards him and looked her in the eye. She closed her eyes. He slapped her across her face.

  ‘Hey, am I ugly? No, I don’t think so. So, what’s the matter with avoiding eye-contact?’

  ‘You’re…a…bloody murderer!’

  ‘Ha-ha! You talk of murder,’ Jeremy said. ‘So, why do you think I want to kill your prince? Is it because he is a good guy? Nope! Do you know the treatment I received from his group when they captured me? They tortured me so badly that I wished I had died in the accident. And, he doesn’t deserve to live so long after his partners in crime were parceled to hell by this handicapped monster,’ he griped, pointing to himself.

  ‘Vengeance, right? Then, how about I say something? Daniel killed my father less than two weeks ago and I spent two days helping him. I did not choose vengeance like you. You know why? It’s because I know what made Daniel kill my father,’ she roared.

  ‘I had a best-friend in school by name Teresa. She was my closest friend. The sad part was she was an orphan. You know how she was orphaned? It was the Rochen Fort blasts. She lost her mother and father in the blasts. And we both used to contribute some part of our prayers to ask God to punish those who were responsible for those blasts. So when I realized that my father’s affiliations and part in the Rochen Fort Blasts had got him killed, I thanked God for serving him the right thing. I do not deny my sorrow for his death. But, I believed that the right justice was served to him.’

  She threw him a glare to show that she meant it. ‘Ignorance is what separates the two of us. While you stayed behind, oblivious to what had led to your fate, I moved on to realize the right thing.’

  Jeremy nodded approvingly and thought of clapping, if not for his shoulder. He snickered, ‘You’re in a very complicated relationship. But, I can’t resist myself from stating that I too hated the person I called “dad” since,’ he said, counting numbers on his fingers, ‘I was four. You know why?’ He took a pause, despite expecting no response. ‘He was not my father.’

  THE MEMOiR

  Tiny Jeremy had grown habituated to the presence of the mustached man in his house, while his father, Callahan Aky Edwards, an automobile mechanic, went out daily to work. Despite his father’s alcohol problem, Jeremy loved him very much. Jeremy did not particularly understand the mustached man’s purpose in the house, except that he came solely to meet his mother and never came when his father was home. He did not particularly despise the man, for he liked the man’s fancy car, his suits and the chocolates he brought him. His mother called him Donald.

  On a cold winter night, Jeremy hopped his way to the door when he heard the doorbell ring. When he saw that it was Donald, he stood there expecting his chocolate, while his father, with a whisky glass in his hand, came to see who it was. The mustached man introduced himself as Donald Miller and requested to discuss something important. Donald walked past Jeremy, who watched with disappointment, as Donald moved in and settled on the couch facing Callahan.

  He watched as the two men exchanged some friendly words at first, which slowly modulated into an intense argument, before Carolyn came from behind Callahan and tied a rope around Callahan’s throat. Donald lurched at Callahan and his tiny frame did not prevent him from holding the heavy man tightly while Carolyn pulled the rope tightly as Callahan protested. Jeremy watched as Callahan slowly stopped protesting and finally lay still. Jeopardy crept into Jeremy’s mind and tears welled in his eyes as Callahan’s body was loaded into the trunk of Donald’s fancy car. Through the whole scene, his muscles were paralyzed, and he watched in awe as his father’s corpse was loaded into the trunk, never to be seen again.

  That was when he ceased to be Jeremy Aky Edwards and became Jeremy Jol Miller, the biological kid of Callahan Edwards, and a boy with a heart full of hatred for his now-parents.

  BACK FROM THE PAST

  The hatred was why he had threatened to reveal Donald’s hand behind the Rochen Fort Blasts, which eventually led to Donald collaborating with Ethan to ram his car off the cliff. Once the story was completed, Jeremy stood up. ‘Do not worry. I shall let you have a final meeting with your boyfriend before he dies.’

  ‘You wish,’ she said.

  ‘Brave little girl,’ he appreciated.

  Just as Jeremy stepped out of the room, a gunshot echoed in the whole house. Jeremy descended three steps at a time towards the source of the sound and he ended up in the front corridor, where one of Adam’s men lay dead on the ground with a bullet through his head. Another one of his men stood few feet behind him with a fired-gun in his hand.

  ‘What the fuck’s happening here?’ Jeremy hollered.

  ‘Boss, I caught this bastard talking to someone about this location and about you in this phone,’ he said, handing a small feature phone to Jeremy. The phone reeked of socks’ stench, which made Jeremy assume that he must have been hiding the phone in his shoes.

  The phone began ringing just as Jeremy took it and it said- BOSS. Jeremy answered it, ‘Hello, who’s this?’

  ‘Mr. Miller?’ a familiar voice asked.

  ‘Yeah, who’s this?’

  ‘First of all, is the boy dead?’ he asked.

  Jeremy did not reply.

  ‘Well,’ he continued, ‘He must be dead, since you are speaking to me instead of him, and I heard the shot. Coming to introductions, Mr. Miller, this is Lehane Ryu Plainview, who you were so kind to hire to kill your family.’

  ‘You’re still alive?’

  ‘Yes I am,’ he said. ‘That’s how I am able to speak to you on phone. Lost are lost. I need to tell you something very important. You might have killed that one. I am happy to announc
e that there are still some black sheep in your shoal. And there is no escaping them. If you are clever enough to find them, I appreciate your effort,’ he said and ended the call.

  Jeremy dropped the phone and turned around to examine all the assembled men. He studied each face separately, but found nothing that suggested dishonesty. He was in no state to whisk them away as false accusations. He walked past them into the living room and called Adam to follow him upstairs. Jeremy walked to the end of first floor corridor with Adam behind him. Once they were out of hearing range of the others, Jeremy slapped Adam.

  ‘Whom did you bring here, you idiot?’ he bellowed. ‘One of them was speaking to an idiot whom I thought I had taken care of. And, he claims that there are still some of his men in your team.’

  ‘Boss, I am sorry. I actually assembled them recently. Only after signing them separately and paying their advances did I realize that they are a bunch of assholes, who hate each other in the same team. These guys are rumored to have had a history of disputes in the past.’

  Jeremy’s temper shot beyond the roof. ‘What? How could you risk my life with such idiots?’

  ‘I am sorry, Boss.’

  ‘Listen to me carefully. I have no other place safer than this away from the military, and I need protection from whoever attacks me. I want you to observe them carefully and check them for any hidden phones. I want everything to go on properly. Understood?’

  ‘Yes Boss.’

  Jeremy gestured Adam with his finger to leave. After he left, Jeremy walked towards the bedroom to use the washroom. But halfway there, he saw a phone resting against the far wall. He picked it up and woke the screen. It said- JACQUES’S PHONE. When he unlocked it, he found a headline in the “News Online” app, which read-

  THE MURDERER OF THE LATE PRIME MINISTER DONALD JOL MILLER REVEALED.

  With shaking hands, Jeremy clicked the link and found a video with another sub-headline, which read-

  JEREMY JOL MILLER MURDERED HIS FATHER, DONALD JOL MILLER. Watch here.

  The fucking truth shall set the hounds on me!

  THE COUNTRY OF CHAOS

  DAVID AKY LINDEN’S RESIDENCE IN MERCUPO- TWELVE DAYS POST THE JUDGMENT DAY

  DAVID SIPPED THE champagne from the glass, while Mudassir sat on the opposite side of the table, savoring the dinner. It was part of their newly formed alliance that Mudassir had visited David’s house with his family of a wife and a son for dinner. David’s family of a wife and two daughters joined them for the late dinner in David’s elegant dining room with the TV displaying an old Charlie Chaplin movie on a movie channel.

  ‘I like Charlie Chaplin’s movies,’ David said to drive the conversation off terror and fear.

  ‘Yeah, I like him too. However, if we say this in front of the world, they would laugh at us. These people expect leaders like us to be serious, illiterates, work-minded and all. They fail to realize that we too are well-educated, sometimes jovial and family men. That is the problem with these people. They only believe what they want to believe.’

  ‘Yeah,’ David said. ‘That’s absolutely right.’

  The movie abruptly disappeared and in its place came the ESAF logo, which usually appears just before any ESAF publicities.

  ‘Another one of Levisohnian comedies,’ Mudassir said, laughing at his own comment.

  As they knew that the logo would persist on the screen for a full minute, they continued with their chat.

  ‘My sources say that Levisohn has called for a meeting of higher officials today to discuss about taking us off the map,’ David said, drinking his wine.

  Mudassir responded with a smirk before answering, ‘yeah, I heard that too. Since they believe that our sleeper cells could become active and cause havoc if they attack on us, they must have put the idea on hold. Too bad he couldn’t do something that could slacken his chances of ties with other countries.’

  The logo disappeared, leaving behind a blank screen. The video began, which displayed the Prime Minister’s Office in Peuper Palace and the date said 31st of August.

  Donald Miller remained behind his desk as three shots registered outside his office. Suddenly, the door flung open with a force, and in stepped Jeremy and one of Donald’s security agents.

  ‘Dear dad! Where are you?’ Jeremy sang.

  Donald pressed himself against the desk as Jeremy strolled towards the desk and pulled Donald out of his hiding.

  ‘There you are,’ Jeremy said, shoving Donald into the middle of the room.

  ‘Jeremy, don’t do this. I am your father.’

  ‘Hey, I was four when you killed my father and took his place,’ Jeremy said, wearing the gloves and taking the gun from the agent.

  ‘But, you can be my political heir. Please don’t do this.’

  ‘Well,’ Jeremy said, aiming the gun at Donald. ‘You should have thought about this before trying to kill me in an accident. And, the sympathy of your death could help me in future for a political career.’

  Despite Donald pleading Jeremy not to pull the trigger, Jeremy pulled the trigger, and the bullet pierced Donald’s chest as he flew backward onto the desk. Jeremy handed the agent his gun, and while he holstered it, Jeremy pulled a knife from his belt, stuck it in the agent’s throat, and left it there. Once he did it, Jeremy removed the gloves, shoved them into what could be his underwear, and moved a few feet away from the window. He ran towards it and collided shoulder-first into it, breaking the glass and ending up outside.

  Mudassir watched with his mouth agape as the video ended. He turned to David who maintained a similar look on his face before it turned into a glare.

  ‘What the fuck! I remember you telling me that the footage was eliminated,’ David said.

  ‘My men retrieved it from the hacker. And, he said he had no copies of it,’ Mudassir said.

  ‘I can’t believe this.’

  ‘It is OK, David. Jeremy Miller is the one at trouble for being the Sazyfan. It is not our problem anymore. Anyhow, we announced it ourselves that we are responsible for the assassination.’

  ‘First, you mess up the job, now you say it’s OK. The revelation of this video threatens the superiority we established over the ESAF. I should have never trusted your idiotic organization with this responsibility. It is important that people never know that it was Jeremy. It takes the credit away from us.’

  ‘David, watch who you call idiots!’

  Sensing the heat of the situation, the women stormed out of the room as the respective soldiers headed for the room after hearing them yell.

  ‘I will call you whatever I desire since you failed, you uncouth son of a bitch!’

  Simultaneously, both the men pulled their guns out and met each other’s gaze. Mudassir’s son Yakub pulled out his gun and aimed it at David. In the few seconds that followed, Mudassir did not have the time to realize who hit Yakub, as the eighteen year old slumped to the ground with a thud and hundreds of bullets rained in the room.

  FREMIA DAILY HQ-TWELVE DAYS POST THE JUDGMENT DAY

  Ronald watched as the file copied from Daniel Xavier’s floppy into his laptop. Once the file copied into his laptop, he pushed the laptop towards Carla, the hacker he hired, who scrolled through the document before closing it. She chewed on her sandwich and turned to Ronald.

  ‘So, what do you want me to do?’ she asked, spraying crumbs of her bread on the table.

  ‘I want you to incorporate this file in a virus and implant it in our Fremia Daily app such that whoever opens the app will get this file downloaded on their device.’

  ‘That’s it?’ she asked.

  ‘That’s about all of it, right?’ Ronald asked in Daniel’s direction.

  Daniel nodded.

  ‘Yep,’ Ronald said.

  ‘Why don’t you upload it yourself?’ she asked, licking the sauce off her fingers.

  ‘I can’t do this with the ESAF creeping all over the internet. So, a virus would be a perfect cover for us.’

  ‘OK,’ she said and
uploaded the file on her mobile. She rose from her seat and announced. ‘Now, the time is 9 o’ clock. You can expect it on your app by midnight.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Ronald said, handing her the money envelope.

  Once she left, Daniel turned to Ronald and pushed Ronald’s phone towards him. ‘The ESAF revealed that they found who killed Donald Miller.’

  ‘Hmm, but, our news will rock the country.’

  ‘Definitely,’ Daniel snickered. ‘The truth shall blaze a fire and burn shall those who blazed it.’

  SUMMERHOUSE

  Sensing the intensity of the situation, Adam descended the stairs and found his men in the living room. The room had an air of conflict as they stood well away from each other. Formulating a plan in his mind, Adam moved into the kitchen with a piece of paper in his hand and settled on what he considered Durian’s resting chair. He wrote the names of all six of the remaining members and split them into three pairs, putting the worst enemies in the same group. He reviewed the different places they could be lodged in and assigned each pair a place. After he made a mental map of it, he called out for Brad, who walked into the kitchen.

  ‘Brad, close the door behind you.’ Once he closed it, Adam said, ‘I am assigning you the first floor balcony. Harvey will accompany you. Apart from looking out for trouble, I want you to keep an eye on Harvey, for I don’t believe he isn’t trustworthy. If he removes something suspicious apart from a gun, shoot his fucking head off.’