Reunion at Walnut Cherryville (The Eternal Feud Book 1)

by Lauren Salem

  “Why can’t you just give me another assignment that doesn’t involve harming children?”

  “It’s my responsibility to make sure that you complete this assignment. You have one last chance to do it, or I’m taking you back. We’re going to go into the stores together, and I will help you contaminate the produce. Maybe you’ll actually do it this time if someone’s watching.”

  “Seriously?” I muttered. “This is fucking ridiculous.”

  The Johnny imposter grabbed his backpack, and I followed him out the door before he locked the apartment, went downstairs, and called a new cab on the payphone. He paced back and forth on the sidewalk as we waited for the cab to arrive while I sat watching him on the bench. Ten minutes later, the cab pulled up to the sidewalk, and he held the door open for me. I rolled my eyes and sighed, baffled by the fact that all my pleading didn’t make the Johnny imposter have a change of heart.

  He, or she, I should say, was a soulless creature who didn’t care if children had parents! Maybe once she went into the store and saw all the children and families for herself, then maybe she’d change her mind. I regretfully went into the cab and shut the door. If I let this happen, I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to forgive myself. I wondered what my parents were thinking right now as they were looking down at me from heaven. Maybe I should have given up on trying to change her mind and instead gone back to Walnut Cherryville? On the other hand, it didn’t matter if I contaminated the produce or not because there were already several other people who were doing it in different places.

  The cab pulled over across the street from Gordon’s Groceries because there was construction blocking the entrance to the parking lot. As Johnny paid the cab driver, he told us to walk across the street and cut through the grass. I guess he was too lazy to find the other entrance. Johnny and I both got out of the cab and shut the doors. As I walked behind the cab, I heard a long honking sound and saw a car speeding toward Johnny, who was a deer in the headlights. Within seconds, the car ran over Johnny and sped through a traffic light, causing a collision at the intersection behind us.

  When I rushed over to help him, I saw Amy Chang lying in a puddle of blood, unconscious. The Johnny imposter, yellow-paper pusher was Amy Chang??? I would have never guessed. I heard the cab driver calling the police on his cell phone and suddenly realized that I had a small window of opportunity to run away. I quickly snatched Amy Chang’s perception filter from the pavement and bolted away from the scene of the crime as fast as I could.

  “Wait, you need to stay here! Come back,” the cab driver yelled out the window.

  I ignored him and kept running with my heart pounding fast and the wind blowing against my face: the fastest sprint I had ever done. The hit-and-run on Amy Chang was an act of God, freeing me from anything related to Walnut Cherryville. Everyone always says the third time’s a charm…Hopefully my third escape would be just that. No one would force Collins Greene to do anything he didn’t want to do anymore! If I wanted to help, I would do it on my own terms. This time, I was going to make sure that they never found me again. The secret watchers, Amy Chang, and the whole fucking universe…they could watch my ass run away.

  Chapter 26: Vincent

  Since Collins escaped and Laura blabbed, Kenneth’s five consecutive episodes of live audience Chair Trials were ruined, because now only two contestants remained in the game. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen…The day Laura made a deal with Kenneth was the day I thought Veronica and I were going to die, but that never happened.

  Instead, nothing happened at all. I sat in my cage for two days, counting bricks and playing she loves me, she loves me not. Unfortunately, there were an uneven number of bricks in my cell, so it was decided that Laura didn’t love me unless I disqualified the half brick for not being a full brick. Was a brick still a brick if it was not a full brick? Should I still count it if it was located between a geographically gray area that was partially in my cell and partially in Veronica’s? These were the questions I pondered about during my spare time. One might argue for the brick because it was made out of the same elements as the other bricks, and it could still be seen in my cell; thus, it took part in supporting the structure. But was that brick really needed? If I were to remove it somehow, would the structure still stand? I imagined that this brick had little importance or influence on the entire wall, so the structure would remain sturdy if that one brick was removed.

  I could find more arguments against counting the brick. One, for example, was that the half brick didn’t have the same mass or weight as the other full bricks. It also was not aligned in the same way as the other bricks. The half brick had its square side facing me, instead of its rectangular side. I eventually decided that my definition of a brick that was qualified for my game was a brick with equal mass, weight, proximity, and materials; therefore, the half brick was disqualified, and Laura did love me!

  As much as I wanted to think a silly girl’s game could determine whether or not Laura loved me, I knew it wasn’t true. She told me she didn’t know if she’d ever love me, and that initially hurt my feelings, but I had to remember that girls never really knew what they wanted when it came to relationships. On the other hand, Laura wasn’t like most girls. If she had a bucket list for the perfect life, then she probably had a bucket list for the perfect boyfriend. As her HIV advanced, she’d have less time to waste on being indecisive. I was sure she would miss me sooner or later but hopefully, sooner rather than later.

  During the two days that I spent alone with my thoughts, the guards occasionally dropped off some food and a change of clothes. The outfit they gave me yesterday was kind of strange, and I was ordered to wear it today. On the front of the white T-shirt were five plastic chairs arranged in a zigzag line. Each chair was a different color, and the order from left to right was light blue, yellow, black, green, and red. Below the image, black text read “C.Tog 2012,” and the text on the back of the shirt read “Vincent, C.Tog Participant.” The weird shirt was accompanied by a pair of orange sweat pants with the Walnut Cherryville logo printed across the butt.

  Two days later, I found out that “C.Tog” was an abbreviation for Chair Trials Olympic Games and that Veronica and I were the only participants. The games would last for a day, and by sundown, the contestant with the highest combined score from all games would get to choose how they wanted to die, by electric chair or stoning.

  Nine o’clock: Opening Ceremony

  The red curtain opened to a symphony of noise, and the audience, who all wore “I was at C.Tog” T-shirts, stood up, applauding. Two guards from both the left and the right side of the stage marched in with metal trash cans strapped to their chests, banging out a repetitive beat with their hands. Three more guards entered the stage, blowing whistles, which sounded like the Olympic theme song. When the song ended, Kenneth walked on to the stage, wearing a shiny golden suit, and grabbed the microphone.

  “Hello, citizens of Walnut Cherryville, welcome to the first-ever Chair Trials Olympic Games!”

  The audience cheered and jumped from their seats with excitement.

  “Now unfortunately, I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want to hear first?” Kenneth asked.

  Everyone in the audience shouted at once: some saying “good” and some saying “bad.”

  “I’m going to tell you the bad news first. The bad news is that one of our Chair Trials contestants, Collins, has betrayed you again by abandoning the village, which ruined the live audience, five-show Chair Trials event.”

  “Boo!” the audience yelled.

  “But don’t worry; Kenneth never disappoints! I always have a few tricks up my sleeve, and this one is even better than the last one. Everyone who applied and received tickets for the Chair Trials event through ComCon will still be able to see a live show. We have two contestants left, and they will compete against each other in a series of games for your entertainment!”

  The audience cheered as the guards pushed Veron
ica and me on to the stage. Two other guards brought out plastic chairs and rope, and they assisted with tying us down to the chairs while Kenneth introduced us.

  “This is Veronica and Vincent, but you already know them. They will be competing in the following games: Walnuts to Walnuts, Shot Put Grits, Operation, and Sand Wrestling. I haven’t told you about the good news yet…I’ve met someone. This woman is not only beautiful but special. She’s perfect in every way, and she has recently proven that her true loyalty lies with me and this village. Can you come out here, hunnie?”

  As the guards strapped me down, I looked to my right and watched the backstage curtain slowly open, revealing Laura, and my heart dropped out of my chest. Why is she here? What was going on? What did Kenneth mean by, “I met someone” when he already knew Laura before this?

  For a moment, all I could see was her stepping toward me in slow motion, wearing a stunning floral sundress surrounded by beams of sunlight. Her hips swayed as she walked, and I felt her gaze into my eyes as the sound of her heels hitting the wood floor amplified over the roar of the crowd. She looked stunning and clean with her hair washed, blown dry, and perfectly set to frame her face. She was even wearing makeup, and I could smell her lavender vanilla perfume as she walked past me and stood next to Kenneth.

  “Boo!” the audience shouted.

  “I know she was supposed to compete in Chair Trials, but she has immunity because she is helping us find Collins. Please listen to her apology,” Kenneth said, trying to calm the audience down.

  The audience quickly settled down, and Laura cleared her throat. “I’m sorry for abandoning the village…I don’t know what I was thinking. I realize my mistake now, and it won’t happen again. The people of Walnut Cherryville are my family, and I apologize for ever doubting that. I hope one day that you all can find forgiveness in your hearts and open your arms as I rejoin the family.”

  Kenneth and Laura turned to face each other. He pulled two small velvety boxes out of his pocket and gave the dark blue box to her. She looked down at it, brushed her hand against the velvet, and dropped down to one knee in a kneeling position. As she opened the box, revealing an engagement ring, the crowd gasped.

  “Kenneth, as we grow old together, I will learn to love you forever. Will you marry me?” Laura proposed.

  “No, Laura!” I shouted. “What are you doing?” My heart pounded in my chest as my face heated and tears ran down my cheek. I didn’t want to cry in front of anyone, but I couldn’t hold the pain in any longer. The emotional pain hurt more than the time I jumped off a building and smashed into the concrete: the worst physical pain I’ve ever endured. My chair rattled as I tried to break the restraints.

  She turned to me and mouthed the words “I’m sorry” before Kenneth grabbed her in a lip lock.

  After what felt like the longest kiss ever, he said, “I do,” opened the red velvet box, and slipped a diamond ring on her finger. While holding hands, they turned to face the crowd and waved at the cheering audience.

  What a surprisingly unexpected opening ceremony…

  “Vincent,” Veronica whispered, “don’t let it bother you. Laura marrying Kenneth says nothing about how she feels about you; it’s just the price she pays for making deals with Kenneth.”

  Why did he want her? There were plenty of other women in Walnut Cherryville he could marry; why did it have to be Laura? I was going to fucking punch him right between his two front teeth, bury his head in the sand, and have people line up to kick his flailing ass. I had to get her back…even if it was the last thing I did before I died.

  Eleven o’clock: Walnuts to Walnuts

  Location: Chair Trials Studio Stage

  “Welcome to the game of crazy comparisons,” a guard announced on the microphone. “The objective of the game is to see which contestant can make Kenneth, the judge, laugh the most. Kenneth will start the game by shuffling a deck of noun cards face down and distributing seven cards to each player. Next, he will place an adjective card on the table facing up before his chair is turned around. During this time, each contestant will place a noun card on the adjective card face down. The judge will flip the deck and decide who wins each round based on which comparison made him laugh the most. Whichever contestant wins more rounds wins the entire game. Here are the rules: no one can see each other’s noun cards. The judge can’t watch as the contestants place down their noun cards. The contestants must place their noun cards over the adjective card, or it will be disqualified. OK, that’s it for the housekeeping; let’s start the game!”

  I sat at a small, round wooden table across from Veronica but next to Kenneth, who shuffled and distributed seven cards to each of us. The guards freed my hands so I could play the game, but my body remained tied to the plastic chair. On the back of each noun card was a red background with an image of two animated walnuts, one with an overexaggerated happy face and the other with an overexaggerated sad face. Both walnut characters had stick-figure-like arms, hands, legs, and feet. Kenneth flipped over a green adjective card and turned around.

  “The first adjective is flirtatious, meaning forward, saucy, or brazen,” the guard said.

  I looked at the cards in my hand. I had shower coins, skeletons, the Banded Gila Monster, abandonment, a dust storm, gatherers, and the Grand Canyon. I didn’t think any of these were particularly funny, but I was in no mood to laugh right then after what happened in the opening ceremony.

  The guard inched behind Veronica to get a peek at her cards, but she moved them away before he could announce what she had. “It’s going to be a tight race, folks,” he commented.

  I threw the skeletons card into the ring…didn’t care if it won.

  Veronica put her card on top, and Kenneth turned around to judge the first round.

  “So it’s skeletons versus Mama from laundry services,” Kenneth chuckled. “The winner is Mama!”

  “Veronica won the first point in the game, and she’s already off to a great lead,” the guard announced as he put the microphone next to my mouth. “How do you feel about that, Vincent?”

  “I don’t care,” I said plainly.

  “And he is unshaken by Veronica’s madness! That was a good play, oh, yes it was!”

  After seven rounds of this ridiculous game, the scoreboard read:

  Somehow, magically I won the game without even trying. I was rewarded with a tiny gold medal pinned on to my shirt. The medal had a walnut engraved into it.

  One o’clock: Shot Put Grits

  Location: outside about fifty yards away from the Chair Trials Studio

  “It’s a beautiful day out here in Walnut Cherryville, perfect for a game of Shot Put Grits,” the guard announced as the live audience gathered around. “Now, we’ve got twenty boxes of instant grits piled up here in the sand, and each contestant gets ten tries to throw the boxes into the grates on the walls of the Chair Trials building. If the box makes it into the grate without exploding, then the contestant gets a point. The contestant with the most points wins the game. All boxes that explode on impact with the grate or fall in the sand will be disqualified. Billy-Bob, one of our lovely guards, will be the judge of this competition and is sitting on top of the Chair Trials building. Wave hi, Billy-Bob!”

  The guard waved to Billy-Bob, and Billy-Bob waved back. “Each contestant must throw his or her box on their turn from behind the line drawn in the sand. If the contestant crosses the line before the box leaves their hands, then the contestant will skip their turn. Vincent, Veronica, how are you feeling about this game?”

  Veronica and I stood silently for a minute until I said, “No comment.”

  “And that proves it, folks; the contestants are no fun at all. Kenneth, tell me why you decided to shot put grits instead of some other kind of food or object?”

  “Grits are disgusting, and they don’t deserve to be on a plate with eggs, bacon, or any other breakfast foods,” Kenneth said. “As you know, my mother, the governor, is from the south, and she loves grits. Wh
en I was a boy growing up, Mom wouldn’t let me leave the breakfast table unless I finished all my grits, and I told her countless times that I hated grits, but she still made me eat them anyway. When I become governor, I’m going to abolish grits from Walnut Cherryville, so she can’t make me eat them anymore!”

  “Sir, please don’t abolish grits; cheesy grits are delicious.”

  Kenneth looked at the guard with an evil stare until the guard became nervous and stepped away.

  “The contestants are ready, and Veronica will shot put the first box of grits…Why did it have to be grits,” he sighed.

  Veronica picked up a box, stood behind the line, and threw the box at the Chair Trials building. Everyone watched the box as it summersaulted in the air, hit Billy-Bob’s head, and landed into the highest grate on the building. Billy-Bob rubbed his head as he looked down into the grate and gave a thumbs-up signal. The audience clapped and cheered.

  “And the first point goes to Veronica,” the guard announced. “Vincent, it’s your turn!”

  “Shit,” I mumbled as I picked up a box of grits and stood behind the line. How the hell did she throw it that far? I concentrated really hard and blocked the cheering crowd out of my mind as I aimed for the building. The grates protruding from the wall were hardly detectable from this distance, which would make it difficult to score. I threw the box as hard as I could, but it fell in the sand and never reached the Chair Trials building.

  “And Vincent throws a dud!” the guard announced.

  Veronica stepped behind the line, threw her second box, and hit Billy-Bob in the head again! As he looked down into the grate, his body became wobbly as if he was dizzy, and he suddenly fell off the roof. Everyone gasped as he rolled down the pyramid building, leaving a trail of blood and appendages dangling from the grates.

  “It’s OK,” Kenneth said. “Let the games continue.”