The Birth of Dystopia

by A. Q. Moser

  “Joel says you found someone,” Wolfgang asked, looking for reassurance.

  “We don’t know for sure. For all we know, this guy could be some lunatic with a handgun.” Billy replayed the event as a bad thing.

  “He had a gun?” Wolfgang looked on flabbergasted.

  “Yeah, a real crazy.” Billy held a waved finger near his temple.

  “Apparently, Billy and Cadet knew each other in high school,” I mentioned.

  “Cadet? And Billy knows him?” Wolfgang appeared just as surprised as when we told him about the handgun.

  “He calls himself Cadet and he lives in a tree. He’s also some army guy,” I explained with more bits and pieces of information.

  “Well I’m glad I didn’t go with you guys,” Wolfgang surmised based on what little information he was fed. “May, you looked scared?”

  “I don’t like guns.” May frowned, holding an uptight disposition. “That weirdo scares me.”

  “I think this guy could know something but we need to prove that we’re not trying to screw him over,” I summarized in a sentence the events of a hermit encountering three strangers, of some sort. “We need to come back tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?” Wolfgang did not like the sound of that.

  As if throwing in the towel, Billy and May moved up the hill to street level. I remained with Wolfgang.

  “Let’s go, we can talk in the car,” Wolfgang suggested, pulling up his sagging pants. “The good thing is no one got hurt.”

  We walked side-by-side, back to the car.

  Were we any closer to unravelling the mystery behind our shared nightmares?

  Deep down I knew that Aerial was right and Billy was wrong. There was someone here, a hermit with a military link who happened to have attended the same high school. I made the connection with Cadet and we were closer to anything anyone could have imagined. What started a few days ago, as an encounter at a rock concert, was a journey to uncovering a plaguing mystery. My initiative united four strangers and this escaladed to a visit to a psychic that in turn directed us to an uncanny hermit. The next leap forward was to know who was responsible for these surreal nightmares.

  Billy unlocked the two-door car and sat behind the wheel. He started the engine and revved it a few times. May held the car door open, waiting for Wolfgang and me to get in the back seat.

  I squeezed inside with Wolfgang next to me. It was not that I did not care, but I was the one that had made a real connection with Cadet. I was the one that opened up and possibly got Cadet to do the same. He could have information to help us. I needed to think of how we can prove our trust to him.

  With May inside, we drove off. We passed by Toronto High School and then by the old lumberyard signalled by the DEF Lumber plastic sign. Leaving the York West area, Billy chauffeured us east on highway four-oh-one across the city. Since we were going back the way we came in I ventured we were returning to Billy’s mansion, possibly to discuss what to do next. May wiggled around in her seat but other than that the ride was subdued.

  “Did you see the reaction on Cadet’s face when I mentioned the nightmares?” I opened the conversation.

  “And if he kills us, then what?” Billy argued.

  “Then we have nothing to lose,” I countered.

  “How can we trust a crazy guy like this?” Wolfgang proved to be his skeptical self never disappointing.

  “How can he trust us if we don’t trust him first?” I showed Wolfgang that doubts were abundant and mutual.

  Accepting the lack of mutual trust, Wolfgang quieted down and scratched his beard. There was no way for someone respond to my question. Trust was mutual. I held the reins and I needed to steer the conversation horse to reason.

  “I think we’re missing the point here.” I had to stop this fear complex before it started. My actions would not go unnoticed by some ridiculous squabble of who was brandishing a gun. “Instead of focusing on the weapon, look at the character. Cadet went to the same high school as us, the same age as Billy, he worked for the military, and he knows about the nightmares because he lived in the same neighbourhood as us. Can I make it any more obvious that he knows something?” I shouted my last three words.

  “Same school? Could be a coincidence?” Wolfgang pondered out loud, trying to think it through. “Okay then now what?” He was once again being passive in his approach.

  “We come back tomorrow and we prove to Cadet who we are so that he can trust us.” As simple as possible, I outlined our approach.

  “Does it sound weird that he’s in the military and his name is Cadet?” Wolfgang picked on the name association pretty quickly.

  “That’s thanks to Billy.” May wrapped an arm around Billy. “Can’t remember his name still?”

  “I think it begins with an S or maybe it’s his middle initial,” Billy offered unconvincingly. “Come on, I haven’t seen the guy since grade nine.”

  “So till Billy remembers, the military guy’s name is Cadet. Maybe we can search for him through the school’s records?” May’s journalistic skills kicked in.

  “Yup, but more importantly how do we prove to him he can trust us?” I found this to be our main focus. Tomorrow’s reality was settling in as to what to do.

  “I remember Cadet,” Billy replied with a knee-jerk reaction. “We were in the same grade but we never got along. He just rubbed me the wrong way.”

  “How’s that?” May wanted more details.

  “In all his weirdness, he aired this quality of being superior.” Billy made a face like he bit into a sour lemon. “I just felt like puttink him in his place. A lesson I had to teach him many times. The funny think is I never regretted it. Even the time I hit him with that rock snowball and made him bleed. It might have knocked some sense into him if he had taken it in the head rather than on his huge nose.”

  “That’s pretty mean. You are a mean bully. I don’t men like that,” May stated.

  “Hey! It’s a lesson we have to learn in order to survive,” Billy rebutted like he was the king of the hill. “Dominance by control. They don’t teach this rule in school books. Sort of the unwritten laws of the school yard.”

  Wolfgang shook his head in total disagreement with Billy. “My world is one of civil communication; simple barbaric cruelty is an absolute last resort. Talking always led to truth and it only became a question of approach. Did you know him May?”

  “I vaguely remember Cadet. He was a loner so I never talked to him,” May admitted, all the while shifting in her seat.

  “So,” Wolfgang nodded suspiciously, “you all went to the same high school.”

  “Yes but I didn’t know Cadet just like I didn’t know May or Billy personally. I was three years older than them,” I explained.

  As if in deep thought, Wolfgang’s eyes squinted and his eyebrows’ furrowed. He appeared more readable than Billy. Billy was more unpredictable and reacted out of emotion.

  “My attacks were upfront and no nonsense.” Billy returned to his violent memories on poor schoolboy loners.

  “Have you ever lived in an apartment building?” Wolfgang asked Billy, preparing to give a general view on people.

  “Yeah, why?” Billy shrugged with his palms up.

  “Are you aware of a behavioural study on boys raised in houses versus boys raised in apartments? Apartment boys are more likelihood to be more aggressive and cause more delinquency,” Wolfgang classified the tendencies of young males.

  May became more agitated. “Enough!” she screamed. “Studies on the public only show a percentage of people and their likelihood—a very selective process. The reality is far from a simple explanation. Behaviour is dependent on nurture too not just nature.” She smiled, proud at the rebuttal. “I did a report on this a few years ago.”

  For now, that did the job. Wolfgang and Billy displayed their disgruntle posture as if the tension between them had never subsided. They were two people of opposite lives who detested each other’s choices and paths. With such strong
personalities colliding, neither would bow nor submit out of spite.

  “If Cadet has an idea of what really happened to us, it absolutely makes sense to approach him. However, we must be careful to not disclose too much,” Wolfgang suggested.

  “Obviously,” Billy accepted.

  The nightline darkened as we approached the guard booth to Upper Toronto, Billy’s upscale neighbourhood. Billy stopped the vehicle before the jagged tire spikes and the giant STOP sign. He tossed his baseball cap on to the dashboard and honked the car horn impatient at the slow response of the security crew. He patted down his sideburns in the meantime.

  Frantic, a guard rushed out. “Hello Mister Coax.” He smiled, nervous to see Billy. He directed a thumb up towards the booth.

  The tire spikes drew away and Billy slouched down and grasped the steering wheel with one hand. He jolted the vehicle forward without a single thank you back—a mood contagious inside the car. Since nobody dared confront Billy’s reckless actions, he took the lead and did what he wanted. The car sped down the wide road, an irresponsible exploit his neighbours must be accustomed too. Remotely accessing the front gate to his mansion, the car traversed the driveway faster than usual and skidded to a halt by the front porch. The smell of burnt rubber drifted upwards from the wheels.

  “Yeah,” Billy hollered with excitement. He stepped out, leaving the driver’s door open.

  “What was the purpose of that?” May claimed in a low key.

  I shrugged unsure what to say about a maniac screaming out for no good reason. Billy was Billy. One moment energized and highly motivated, and the next mindless and spaced out. No middle ground for him.

  Wolfgang held out Aerial’s list two inches from his face. “It’s funny how the Aerial’s list mentioned specifically the word trust in point number two. Create the trust with a foundation of truth.” Captivated he read over the list while furrowing his eyebrows. Suspicions succumbed to curiosity.

  By the time May exited the car, Billy was at the front porch of his mansion. “Where are you going? Are we going to talk about Cadet?” she shouted, hoping Billy was interested in discussing the matter. Getting no response she rushed after him.

  Stretching my arms, I stepped out of the car for some fresh air. I leaned up against the car, as there was not much to do other than stand and wait.

  Remaining in the backseat Wolfgang studied every word from the yellow paper. “Point number one is so surreal. The house of the family was not empty but filled in. Is she referring to the break-in where nothing was stolen? But … but something was implanted. Interesting indeed.”

  I faced Wolfgang through the open door. “Sounds like you believe in this,” I supposed justifiably.

  Wolfgang carefully folded the yellow paper listing his supposed future and returned it to his back pocket. “I need to think about this.” With a hand supporting his chin, he stared out to the sky.

  Not wanting to disturb the thought process, I allowed Wolfgang to continue to decipher what exactly Aerial was talking about. To me, it was encrypted and I had little energy to think about it. My main concern was what to do with Cadet. I looked back at Wolfgang and noticed an uncanny resemblance in terms of the post-thought behaviour to Billy.

  Wolfgang turned to me in moment of eureka from the backseat. “This list—”

  “What? What about the list?” I sat in the front seat to hear Wolfgang better.

  Wolfgang scratched the edge of neck skin around his coarse beard. He retrieved the yellow paper from his back pocket and held it out for me to read. “I’m not sure but the number one item on my list stands out like it was waving a bright orange flag. Look at it.”

  “Stolen life but nothing stolen. The house of the family was not empty but filled in. The past break-in will be a break,” I read out loud. “And so? What does it mean?”

  Wolfgang pointed to the list again. He handed me the list and proceeded to push the front seat forward and climb out from the driver’s side. “Read the next two too.”

  “Two. Create the trust with a foundation of truth. Three. Investigate the chipped light through the object of desire.” I shrugged because I could not see the obvious flag that Wolfgang spoke of. “Can you please clarify because I’m confused?”

  “Ugh,” May shouted as she stormed out of the mansion and rejoined us by the car. “Billy wants us to leave. I seriously don’t get this guy.”

  “We’re not leaving. We’re going to have another meeting here. Now.” Wolfgang passionately proposed.

  Of all people, this was a most unusual turn of events, Wolfgang wanting to remain at Billy’s vast estate. It was just yesterday that he was ranting and raving how he despised being here especially with its headstrong occupant Billy.

  “But Billy wants us to leave,” May reiterated the discouraging situation.

  “Well then you go and tell Billy we’re not leaving. We’re going to have a meeting because I have something to show.” Wolfgang nodded his head not revealing any reason behind the impromptu decision. “I mean tell not show. I mean … never mind.”

  May stepped back unsure what to do. She turned to me expecting me to call the shots.

  “Why can’t you just say it to us?” I suggested.

  “Let’s just go inside.” Wolfgang proceeded to the entrance of the mansion, despite any reasoning May or I could offer.

  May sighed heavily. “Always got to be the hard way.”

  36

  Towing behind Wolfgang, May and I stepped inside Billy’s mansion to an empty marbleized foyer. Unsure where to go, Wolfgang pointed to May to call out for Billy.

  Bothered by the lack of effort on a professor’s part, May twiddled her hair through her fingers and shrugged off Wolfgang’s bidding. “Billy, oh, Billy,” she screamed in a high-pitched voice as siblings would use to call for the other.

  At the top of an elaborate stairwell reaching round a crystal chandelier, a head popped out over the gleaming bronze banister. “What do you guys want?” Billy responded, annoyed by the intrusion. He had an empty glass in his hand.

  Wolfgang stepped forward. “I have an important matter to discuss and I request your attendance and the rest of the group.” He pulled up his drooping pants.

  “Say your peace and leave,” Billy issued his order.

  “I think it would be more appropriate if we did it in a secure place.” Wolfgang assured, keeping his reasons to himself.

  Clapping his hands once and looking upwards, Billy looked frustrated over the inconvenience set before him. “Why me?” his lips moved while still looking up to the ceiling. He stormed down the curving stairwell and prepared a stiff drink at the foyer bar—rum on the rocks. He then waved an arm towards the hallway leading to the basement door.

  Wolfgang moved first, followed by May.

  “As soon as he’s done, we’ll leave,” I whispered, hoping to calm Billy down.

  “Just hurry so I can get other stuff done.” Billy looked beyond displeased.

  Not wanting to be a burden, I hurried downstairs without any further comments. We were treading on sacred ground and the owner was not happy. We all filed into the billiard room, the very same room where we made our first encounter as a group of four. This was the room where we uncovered the fact of the identical nightmares during the same time period. It was the same room where Billy threw an alcoholic beverage at Wolfgang over a speculative insult. The mess was cleaned up except a few scratches in the wall where the glass crashed. Despite all these good and bad occurrences, we pressed on.

  Wolfgang sat near the entranceway while May and I moseyed over to the other side of the billiard room. Billy leaned up on the bar table in the corner, arms crossed.

  Anticipating Wolfgang to speak up, the billiard room remained silent as if there was nothing else to be said. Bored, Billy poured a cocktail drink in a margarita glass and handed it to May. She smiled, gracious for the hospitality. He made another drink, a stiff rum drink with ice, and casually leaned against the wall by the bar sipping
his drink. Nothing for me, as always.

  Nervous, Wolfgang rose to his feet and poured out a ginger ale drink on his own initiative. Billy made no abrasive comments. He drank and watched unperturbed by the intrusion on his bar stand. Wolfgang wiped his sweaty hands across his sagging pants and returned to his seat. A puzzled look was evident across his face but instead of talking he lowered his head into his chest very much like a guilty child caught for misbehaving.

  Irritated by the stillness, May shifted around in her seat. “I can write an article requesting anybody to come forward and help us,” she offered her talents, seizing the opportunity to voice an idea. “This could turn up, hopefully, some proof for our investigation.”

  “We can’t do anythink without any reliable bit of evidence,” Billy asserted, pounding his drink back. “Joel certainly learnt that lesson in his court appearance.”

  I rolled my eyes at Billy’s unwelcome ridicule. Would his incessant mockery ever stop? He has to learn to let the past go and stop picking on sensitive issues. The court case with Mister Popular was to be a distant, unmentionable memory.

  Billy walked over to my side and smacked me on my back. “I was only jokink. Relax.”

  I despised how Billy regarded me as a punching bag. He acted different when people were around, almost to the extent of showing off with degrading subtleties. What compounded the insults was that no one came to my defence?

  “I … I,” Wolfgang stumbled with a ghostly wretchedness. “I want all of you to see something, something that my father stumbled upon when I was fourteen. I wasn’t sure if I could trust you with this. It’s very personal. Wow, this is very difficult for me to say. I’ve held it in for so long.”

  My attention shifted solicited by a promise to see something despite Billy’s rudeness. I could sense a hope emerging in anticipation to what could be revealed.

  “As a child, I enjoyed spy movies. So as kids, my friends and I would follow a stranger pretending we’re detectives or spies.” Wolfgang projected a voice of a great longing for a simpler time. “We never did anything bad other than follow someone around. We rode our bikes all over the place using walkie-talkies tom keep in communication. It was wonderful to move freely on streets, through forests. It was a true adventure for kids.”