The Birth of Dystopia

by A. Q. Moser

  “I’m up for a nice turn around the block and see what else is here,” May commented not at all discouraged by the lack of interest.

  I nodded approvingly.

  “You guys keep forgettink that I can’t be walkink around for the fun of it.” Billy tapped his foot. “I could get hurt.”

  “Relax Mister Big Ego.” May downplayed the incident of being attacked by groupies. “With your baseball cap on, I can’t recognize that your Coax the rock star.”

  Leaving Billy behind, I moved beside May and we headed out enjoying the stroll. With an emerging shadow by my feet, it meant Billy was following despite the protests. Uncomfortable he snuck between us sensing a comfort zone with a shield on either side.

  32

  Up ahead on the sidewalk, a slouching teenager was heading our way. Billy snuggled close to us tensing up the whole time. Billy let out a sigh of relief as the teenager walked past us. May smiled at the display of panic, bordering on laughing out loud.

  I could not believe Billy harboured such apprehension towards his loyal fans. I understood that the situation at the Firkin tavern could have gotten out of control but what was life if it was lived in fear of human interaction. Seeing someone else’s shortcoming had me reflect on the hit-and-run and how I dealt with it. I wanted to do the same. Seeing Billy act out made me realize that I was overreacting too.

  “Joel?” a trim lady called from across the street, waving a hand in the air.

  Caught off guard, I glimpsed over not recognizing the trim lady.

  Crossing the street, the trim lady approached me eyeing me with curiosity. “Sorry is your name Joel?” Her curly blonde hair drifted to her eyes and she brushed it away.

  “Yeah. Sorry but you look familiar.” I stumbled over my words. The trim lady resembled someone I knew but her name escaped me. “How are you?”

  The trim lady reached out to hug me. “Great. It’s so nice to see you. You changed so little.” Her arms squeezed me around my neck, her hair curls draped across my face.

  I embraced the trim lady in return, feeling her slim muscular body. I was glad to be recognized but at the same time I could not remember her name. It was an uncomfortable moment as I was trying hard to think how I knew her.

  The trim lady released her hold, and extended her finger. “Aren’t you, Coax?” Her mouth trembled, ready to release a loud scream. She glowed with excitement at Billy’s presence.

  Billy stepped back, refraining from running away. “Maybe?” he replied with an air of machismo, pausing to check out the trim lady’s reaction.

  “Wow, it’s you Coax.” The trim lady saw beyond the low-key barrier put up by Billy.

  Rolling her eyes, May could not believe at how shy Billy was playing it. She turned away looking for a distraction to stop her from bursting out laughing.

  What was her name? Erin? No, Tamilla. Trim Tamilla from the old gym—the one that was out to achieve a childhood dream and compete at a fitness show. The lissome workouts always seemed to slim her up but at what cost. She started to feel uncomfortable about her muscular size. When she began to unravel mentally, she started acting all weird and then she disappeared from the gym. I never saw her again. I always wondered what happened to her.

  “Can I get your autograph?” Tamilla implored Billy, fawning over the rock star.

  Billy scrutinized Tamilla’s body checking her out on a personal ranking system. He smiled hungrily. “Sure.” He then scrambled for writing material within his pockets.

  Tamilla smiled clapping her hands and anticipating her reward for the celebrity sighting.

  “Sorry, no pen.” Billy innocently showed his empty palms.

  Tamilla frowned, disappointed.

  “I haven’t seen you in a long time. I haven’t seen you since the gym.” Would Tamilla tell me what happened to her?

  “Oh, since the gym.” Tamilla looked embarrassed but willing to explain her choices. “I had some personal matters to deal with but I eventually returned. I felt compelled to return to my passion for exercising. I focused on using weights of a lower calibre with more repetitions. Best part yet, my intensity remained and it was like a complete rejuvenation.”

  “Do you work out?” Billy asked intrigued. He reached out and delicately grasped Tamilla’s hand.

  Tamilla giggled, knowing she sparkled up some interest. “It’s my life now. I was Miss Toronto Fitness pageant runner-up last year. Not bad for a twenty-eight year old.” She was charged with her achievement and Billy’s attention.

  With her purse open, May waved a blue pen in Billy’s face as if wanting to ditch Tamilla as soon as possible. “Looking for this?” she said smugly.

  Billy released Tamilla’s hand. “Thanks May.” He kindly acknowledged her gracious gesture. “What would you like me to sign?”

  “Oh, anything,” Tamilla shrieked not knowing what to have autographed—or maybe what body part. When she pointed to a bare spot on her chest just below the neckline, the audacity she portrayed pleased Billy. She hopped closer to him hoping to touch him.

  Adjusting his cap, Billy placed one hand barely above her left breast for support and pressed the blue pen into Tamilla’s skin for his requested brandying. “There you go one Coax stamp for good luck and who knows what else.”

  “Thank you so much Billy.” Tamilla leaned into Billy and snuck a kiss on his right cheek.

  Billy blushed mildly. “No problem girl. Here, keep the pen as a souvenir.” He then winked at Tamilla, happy to have made her day.

  Tamilla took the blue pen, holding it like a fragile gift. “You’re the best Coax. Wow.” She pressed her chin into her chest to study Billy’s genuine seal of greatness. “If there’s anything I can do for you just ask.”

  May sucked in her lips, shocked to have lost her blue pen. She was holding back her bitterness, enough that could be unleashed at a later time and come back to haunt Billy and his giving spirit.

  “This area has brought me so many fond memories. I’ve spent so many of my teen years hanging out at the junkyard,” Tamilla strangely admitted, returning her admiration onto Billy.

  “Yeah, I use to hang out there too as a teenager,” Billy recalled.

  “I still come by here every so often. Nothing changes here, huh?” Tamilla was brimming at the discussion of the past. “I can’t believe I’m talking to Coax the rock star.”

  “I’m just a normal guy like everyone else,” Billy was solemn in his description.

  Far from it, Billy Coax was at a point in his life where he could do anything he wanted and most likely did. He was rich and famous and young. How many people could say that? He was adored by millions and relished it well. The worldwide appeal for his music had the power to move a generation and be remembered forever.

  “Let’s go guys. We have more searching to do.” May was annoyed by the distraction, probably more so for losing her blue pen.

  Feeling May was trying to cut the conversation short, Billy cringed at May’s preoccupation with the hunt. I too was not happy with what she had said, revealing our reason for being in this area with the mention of a search.

  “What are you looking for?” Tamilla asked, intrigued to assist her idol. “If its people, I know a lot of people around here.”

  “Nobody,” Billy quickly tried to cover it up.

  “No really, who?” Tamilla was trying to help in gratitude of Billy’s gift.

  “Nobody,” I seconded the motion, sounding more in denial than anything else.

  “Listen, don’t bring something up and then pretend not to have said it. Who?” Tamilla was trying too hard to get her way. “Trust me. I’m not the type of person to run to the tabloids and tattle-tail.”

  There was a pause. No one spoke nor replied to Tamilla’s question. We were in an awkward moment because we exposed our motive. She could easily head to the newspapers and gossip about Billy and his search.

  “I know a lot of people,” Tamilla repeated flustered at our lack of cooperation. “Please let me h
elp you.” She bore some teeth, although not exactly smiling.

  “Don’t worry about it. Did I step on some gum?” Billy diverted. As if walking out on us, he stepped back from the group and was scrapping his shoes on the pavement to remove the gum stuck under his shoe.

  May yawned, signalling things were boring and that we should move on “What do you think we’re looking for?” she posed, grinning complaisant.

  “Assuming a person, is it an old friend?” Tamilla guessed— a very good guess.

  “Mayyybe?” May guided Tamilla’s guess with a prolonged extension of the word may. “If it’s a person, what type of person would we be looking for?”

  “Does it have to do with that junkyard over there?” Tamilla pointed towards the fenced area. “Is it someone who was at the junkyard?” If we were keeping track of a game of twenty-one questions, she was about to guess it and win it with three questions.

  “Not really,” May said, “we just passed by to remember the old days in a neighbourhood we grew up in.” She tried to steer the conversation away, hoping to avoid any further questions.

  “There’s a weird guy who used to live in there.” Tamilla indicated with her left hand, somewhere beyond all the junk. “He’s some army guy. Is that the guy?”

  Bingo, but I did not say it. Exactly as Aerial foretold from my list, Tamilla was helping us. Tamilla was good at guessing. She had brawn and brains—a perfect combination for a modern girl.

  May winked to cue me that was it. “Tell me more about him.”

  “He’s … some weirdo … a hermit of some sort. Very much into his own world,” Tamilla depicted.

  What hermit did not live in his world? Isolated and on his terms?

  “Do you know him?” May eagerly wanted to know, almost too obvious.

  “Not really but I’ve see him around a few times.” Tamilla rolled her eyes upward, thinking back. “He used to live by the creek until some cops kicked him out of the junkyard. But who really knows for sure? He could still be hiding there.”

  The entire matter was off the wall. We were advised by a psychic to scour our childhood neighbourhood for a loner. And through Tamilla, this hermit could be the very guy we were out looking for.

  “It was a pleasure to meet you Tamilla.” May reached out with both hands to shake her hands.

  Tamilla obliged but somehow did not want to leave us. She smiled back like an impressionable pledge seeking acceptance from an exclusive fraternity.

  “We really have to be going,” May cited an urgent timetable without mentioning the matter itself.

  “I think I can show you where?” Tamilla requested sadly.

  “We know where it is,” May replied. “Right Joel?”

  I nodded, agreeing that we were done with Tamilla. She was a meddlesome person that was difficult to get rid of. I gave her a hug and she hugged Billy thrilled to have met the rock star and be given a souvenir. We stood there, awkward as it may seem, until she got the hint and headed off on her accord.

  Feeling safe that there was distance between Tamilla and us, we returned to the vehicle. Wolfgang was sprawled across the backseat with his head nestled on the narrow window frame. He did not stir, dozing by the looks of the twitching facial muscles. May tapped on the glass of the car to gently signal Wolfgang to wake up. By then, Billy and May had synchronized their annoying glass frapping into some sort of techno beat—comical but definitely inappropriate for the time being.

  “Huh?” Wolfgang called out startled. He rubbed his face with the palms of his hands, unhappy by the rude awakening. His eyes scanned the area as if he had amnesia and was somewhere unrecognizable.

  “Let’s go,” May marshalled, annoyed by Wolfgang’s delay.

  Wolfgang yawned a few times and then rolled his neck about his shoulder. Dreary from the power nap, he staggered out of the car looking dazed at the surroundings. “What now?”

  “Back to the junkyard,” I answered with some enthusiasm.

  “You have to come with us,” May ordered, “We think we know where the army guy is.”

  Wolfgang pulled up his sagging pants and scratched his thick beard. “There’s nothing there but junk. Why are we wasting our time here?” He opened the passenger door and exited the car.

  “Billy and Joel forgot to check by the creek.” May charged ahead down the grassy knoll.

  Without another word, Billy, Wolfgang and I trailed May. Could Tamilla be right about the hermit in the junkyard? Or possibly, she was working for Aerial and this was all one big set-up? Whatever the circumstances, there were outsiders who knew too much.

  33

  “Director, I’ve looked over the report examining the long-term effects of the Phase II subjects.” The lead scientist held a hardcopy in his hands.

  “What is your feedback on the report?” The Director wanted some feedback on the report before submitting it to the sponsor.

  “I have made a few minor revisions, nothing major.” The lead scientist was glad to offer his opinion on the project. “Good job.”

  “Good, I’ll review and finalize the report shortly.” The Director was pleased. “I can’t take all the credit; the chosen ones did a lot of the work for us.”

  34

  As uncertain as the future held for us, we headed back down the beaten path towards a depository of mechanical parts and discarded metal gear. We were in search of a reclusive hermit living within an abandoned city junkyard. Our search was directed by a psychic prediction, conveyed through vague words at the very best.

  “We have to get to the creek.” Determined to validate Aerial’s prediction, May looked to put her fear of dogs aside.

  “I remember camping out with some old buddies by the creek,” Billy recounted. “It was somewhere closer to the far end,”

  Reaching the chain-link fence, May examined the other side like it was a horrible monster out to consume her. Moving past her apprehension, she grabbed onto the rusty fence with both hands and climbed up and over almost monkey-like in motion. Billy hesitated a second, glancing suspiciously my way, before scaling over. His deliberate hesitation was a result of the fence-shaking episode experienced earlier. I got him good by knocking him off the fence. I climbed the fence next. Wolfgang, instead, leaned up on the fence with his arms crossed with a defiant resistance.

  “Come on!” May yelled, waving her hand to climb the fence.

  Wolfgang shrugged his shoulders. “Why bother? I’ll wait here.”

  “What?” May questioned the sudden disinterest.

  “Just being careful, there’s nothing wrong with that. Acting foolish is the easiest thing to do,” Wolfgang complained categorically. He seemed proud of his firm stance.

  “Fine! Be that way.” Frustrated with trying to persuade Wolfgang to work as a group, May crossed her arms and headed down a path inside the junkyard.

  We all wanted the same thing, an explanation for our bizarre nightmares. The problem was we were on individual wavelengths radiating out on different pathways. I saw a desperate crew that cared too much for personal needs than as a group. Would we ever be able to gel and stand up as a united front?

  Billy adjusted his baseball cap, ensuring he covered as much of his head and face as possible. He surpassed May down the path to take a lead position. He was a man on a mission to recall an old teenage hangout and possibly prove Aerial’s prediction wrong.

  We moved onwards in a single file, zigzagging past mounds of discarded rubbish. Despite the stench of metallic waste, the air was cool as the sun commenced its descent. The shadows of the trees cast a calm feeling. It was like a pleasant evening walk through a local park, except the trees were replaced with a modern twist of neglected metal scraps piled high.

  “Billy, do you know where you’re going?” May wondered where we were.

  “Yeah, no doubt.” Billy was dead set on reaching the youth den by the creek.

  May turned to me. “I bet we’ll get lost,” she whispered.

  “I think he knows the way.
I’ll bet for him.” My confidence was not as high as I made it out to be but I was willing to make the journey interesting—a little side bet to help pass the time.

  “I heard that!” Billy yelled back and then stopped in mid-stride. “Did you hear that?” He pointed to where the sound originated from, beyond a junk pile of crushed cars loaded like a pyramid-stack.

  “Is it a dog?” May believed, fearing danger was eminent.

  Concentrating to pick out a sound, I listened carefully. “I don’t hear anything.”

  “It’s okay, it’s nothink,” Billy dismissed. “I think the creek’s just beyond this point. Just watch and see.”

  Confident in his navigational skills, we followed Billy around a pyramid of cars, each vehicle pressed to the size of a tiny kitchen oven. The dirt ground around the pyramid was stained to a ruby red from the countless years of drooling rust. It was like walking on a Martian surface. Around the bend and we arrived at another pile of crushed vehicles. The creek was nowhere to be seen. Billy was wrong. He stood scratching his head but was not ready to back down, as of yet.

  Proud but still apprehensive about a dog attack, May looked at me knowing she won. “Are you sure we’re going to find our way back?”

  “Wait here if you don’t trust me.” Billy turned to me. “Come on Joel. It’s got to be around this area. I’m sure of it.”

  “No, please don’t leave me here alone,” May backed down.

  Still believing he knew the way, Billy continued in the lead position. May, most likely fearing being left alone, kept pace without another word. We seemed to be moving in a pattern, always heading to the right of any object that stood in our way. After making the hundredth turn around a junk pile —I lost count—we arrived at a grassy burrow where several oak trees managed to flourish.

  So nostalgic for of his past, Billy scanned the area like a hound dog searching for the right scent. “It should be here,” he remarked with an air of uncertainty.