Balance - Book 2
Page 46
*****
On my third day as a Junior Enforcer I awoke with three stitches above my left ear, new dressing on my hand, and a fresh bottle of painkillers on my desk. After telling the D.O.M nurse I was suffering a severe headache she had also granted me time off to visit a neurologist. Although I was fairly sure the headache was due to lack of sleep rather than concussion. Either way, as a person who relished spotting silver linings, I decided my return to Little Dreamers was due.
Before leaving I bumped into Benny in the kitchen. His eyes were ringed and uniform looked as if it hadn’t been removed or washed in a week. He looked up as I entered and nodded.
“Very stylish look,” he said, eyeing my stitches.
“Some guy hit me with a pool cue,” I muttered, taking down my grinder and coffee beans.
“Interesting. I haven’t been hit by one of those in a while. Is it everything I remember?”
“And so much more.”
He chuckled. “Didn’t follow protocol, did you?”
“No I did not.” I began working the handle. “How are you doing?”
“I’m tired. Two double shifts in three days. Five separate protests in three major commercial zones. I swear this city has finally gone mad.”
“The protests. About that. Something weird happened yesterday.” I emptied the ground coffee beans into the strainer. “I think it might be pretty significant.”
“Taking a pool cue to the head is not weird in this line of work, Jet. You might even call it a regular perk.”
“In the street after. There was a gathering of civilians. I detected the Crowd Surfing Spell. Same as in the hall. Same as in the park.”
He frowned. “Jet, I told you; that’s impossible. You don’t seem to understand a Crowd Surfing Spell just doesn’t work like that. It is nowhere near strong enough to get across town. I’m not being funny but maybe that little knock on the head…”
“I’m positive, Benny. It was there. It’s getting louder. Stronger.”
He paused, thinking. “Spell anomalies and mutations, whatever you want to call them, are not impossible. Very difficult, especially what you’re talking about, but not impossible. And very strictly frowned upon. There was a scare a few decades ago with a fanatical religious group trying something that could have gone global. Not a Crowd Surfing spell, but similar in a way.”
“Jesus Christ, I have to tell Gill. Why didn’t you…?”
“It’s unlikely, Jet. What you’re suggesting.”
“I’m telling you what I saw. You think, what, I’m imagining it?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, buddy. I’ve heard you. At night. I’m not denying that something went on in that hall with Linda and Judy. Something unusual. But that’s one thing, this is another. I’ve seen it happen before. Paranoia, Self Projection…”
Anger flashed in my head. I opened my mouth, indignance exploding, but closed it again. Of course he had heard me. Possibly even the neighbours heard me when I had a ‘nightmare’.
“Look Jet,” he continued, “all I’m saying is that this is the kind of thing that could send the city into a tailspin. Hell, it could send the whole world into a tailspin. You be sure about what you think you’re seeing, before you make any reports. Could cause a lot of shit for nothing. Not a great start for a Junior Enforcer.”
I rolled the words around. “I guess you’re right.” The kettle clicked off and I poured the steaming water into the plunger. “Going back to Little Dreamers today.’
He sipped his coffee. “You can’t just go stomping in there, Jet. That’s harassment. Make an excuse; say you sensed something unusual…”
“I know.”
He downed the rest of his coffee. “Well, better get going. Got your own car now. Moving up in the world.”
“One more thing.”
“Shoot.”
“Julian.’
“My informant?” His eyes lit up. “He called? He’s found Selena?”
“No, not that. I just wanted to say I understand now. Why you’re using him. Why he was never convicted.”
“Oh.” The old grin was back on his face. “Excellent. Three days in and Jet Clarence knows what it means to be an Enforcer.”