Young Squatters

by London, Blair

  “Name is Forbes.” So this was the Forbes guy Sarah was so obsessed about. He had made it clear for her he didn’t want to talk to him and yet she went behind his back and made an appointment for him. She would sure get a piece of his mind next time he’d talk to her. For now, he’d play along, as Sarah was the only person that was willing to help him. Nora only threatened to divorce him.

  “I don’t belong here,” Nick muffled out.

  Forbes laughed, “I find you interesting.”

  Nick was confused. “Are we speed dating now?”

  Forbes chuckled. “I was given an update on your situation by your friend Sarah. In short, I specialize in the impossible and I think you are impossible, my friend.”

  Nick gestured more, this time with the assistance of his twinkled eyes. “Look man, if you are looking for an easy score I got bad news for you. My previous lawyers dried me up and I have nothing to offer, not even my hair; for it keeps me warmer than the bedding I am forced to sleep on. So what exactly do you think you can take away from me that I have not already been robbed of?”

  “Listen Nick, I know that you are a tough proud man, but I am not here to milk you of anything. All I need is a green flag for an involvement in your case. I am not a private investigator, if that is what you were thinking. I deal with case files like yours that no one wants. He then paused for a moment, waiting for Nick to say something, but he was speechless, perhaps drowning again in the thoughts of his sorrows that seemed too gigantic for an immediate solution. He needed a miracle and this guy Forbes was probably just a false promise.

  ***

  Harper was inside the house most of the time, afraid of even looking outside due to the unexpected outcome from the gang of women that previously caused her a panic attack. The only exception was in the presence of Bradford, her timely savior. Through time he had managed to grow on her and now functioned as her rock. Without him, she was going to lose it and would not be able to recognize the consequences of her actions. He had managed to move mountains for her to be in this dream house, but nightmares still existed; the nightmare of scolding neighbors, and most of all the guilt in her conscience. Bradford did not seem to care about the consequences of anything as long as the law was there for their protection, as he always found a way of manipulating it to serve his interest. He was more fascinated by the way he twisted its arms to favor him than the way it twisted the life of the innocent. He might not have cared at all, but Harper was there to be a victim of his actions. She felt what his cold heart seemed to repel most of the time.

  The guilt always found a camp inside her heart, a heart that was so fragile for peaceful resolution, but too strong when it came to love. Despite her self-declared definition of herself, moral guilt still spoke in her conscience with a loud enough voice, and it sometimes frightened her. Not even Bradford could protect her from such guilt, for it was one controlled by no law but every action. It was true, she would one day start a family with Bradford, but what were they going to do now? She was an innocent sheep under the care of a wolf. She was human and the power of love had taken over everything in her life. He was her salvation and she was grateful.

  “A mother to be and a lesson to teach.” Harper did not understand why she uttered such words. If she was soon be a mother, what are the qualities she found favoring for a child? Were they not love, forgiveness, sharing, and honesty? It seemed too difficult to raise innocence in a world of corruption. “And karma, that bitch!” She paused for a moment. “Bradford will handle it, where he will take us not even karma can find us.”

  ***

  The sun was setting and Bradford was not home yet, and she was beginning to worry.

  He knew very well how scared she was of being home alone especially after the incidence that drove her to a hospital.

  “He knows very well that we live alongside mad people, especially those women that came here claiming to be the law abiding citizens and he dares let darkness…” before she could finish the last sentence, she saw his boyish figure appear around the corner, and smiled. He was there and she needed not to worry anymore. Her prince charming must have heard the echo of her complaints. She would have called him an angel, but they both knew that was an obvious lie that had no ground to stand on. She jumped on him for a hug as they went inside the house for an evening meal for the two.

  ***

  Ben was busy scribbling through the newspaper for any alarming news, as Belinda was skillfully looking for someone to boss around. Isaac seemed to have outwitted her every move as he always emerged as the victor. “That kid will be trouble in school,” Belinda always muttered every time she came out of their playtime with a stained dress or blouse. Isaac, on the other hand, cheered at his victory. Ben, on the other hand, dared not to utter even a single word of intrusion in the presence of Belinda. She was the queen bee when it came to love, and the lioness when it came to her hunting skills for victory in any single argument. Her word was final since mostly the only opponent present was Ben.

  ***

  To Colin, Ben’s character seemed strange in the presence of Belinda. He assured himself that Ben must be getting paid to live the way he was, as he never saw a man be so dominated by his wife.

  Belinda had Ben wrapped around her fingers, and could hold the absence of Isaac’s birth over his head.

  Nora didn’t see this. Nora loved being the boss too, but she never bossed Nick around the way Belinda bossed Ben. She missed Nick. A divorce was lurking around the corner and she did not know what to do. She had planned her life with him, up to the golden ages and now something, someone, was in their way. Her life was corroding slowly, and now she was losing her husband. She blamed everything on him. He wasn’t thinking of them, his family.

  ***

  Forbes sat inside the blue Toyota Prius, carefully observing Bradford’s newly acquired nest. To him it was just a nest, and he was the eagle that will soon force him out of his comfort zone. He was sure about this. Bradford was clever, but Forbes was another story. The word smart might have found its way in the dictionary with him as an example. His knowledge might have grown on him due to his old age. He was approaching his forties and life was kind to him up until he came across this Bradford character. He had hit his nerves and the pain was nowhere to end soon. Mark, his only son, was one of Bradford’s victims; a loyal customer. He became a victim of his drug trail and that led to an accidental overdose of the stuff. Bradford never knew about the incident, as his ignorant nature always kept him focused on Harper. She was the only thing that seemed to get to him.

  Mark was gone, and his death only separated his parents further with a divorce. Forbes became an alcoholic as he sought no other reason in life that made sense apart from Mark, his dear son. He had been in the rehab for months, and now he was back to exact revenge. His life as a cop always seemed interesting as he considered himself a top-notch one in his department. No case seemed too difficult for him and he believed that: “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” That was his opening and closing line on any police case argument and for that, the respect he deserved.

  He was now back to inflict pain on the son of a bitch that had connections to the death of his dear boy. He was now the angel of death, and his wrath was clouding evidence first.

  He silently sat behind the driver’s wheel of his car as he carefully observed the happy couples playing with the water sprinklers on the front yard. He had been doing this for days, just for the sake of understanding this Bradford guy. He smiled a bit, as if he caught a glimpse of his cunning nature. So far he was impressed by how well he covered his tracks. He always had a way of avoiding the mud. Forbes even dared to do some digging into Bradford’s background. His old man was the laziest human being he had ever seen as far as he could tell. He was living off the sweat of a woman; his ex-wife.

  As soon as Bradford left the house, he was up on his tail trailing him slowly trying to understand how he survived in the streets. Bradford was organizing another party
with his notorious friend, Abe, and he was counting on it as a trap to take him down. His investigation would soon be over and he would gladly make his famous assumption “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”

  ***

  Back at the university, Mr. Steven Birk was not only puzzled, but amazed, by the interest of Colin in the social networking lectures. He was at the top of the class. Bradford was impressed by this and was happy to learn that the young boy had soon learned to let go of the past and focus on his studies. Colin, however, was perfecting his poker face, not because he wanted to be the top student in the class, but something about social networking fascinated him to a level of unmentionable curiosity. Not even his friend Connor knew about this for he was too good at covering it up.

  Nora was no longer feeling at ease in her workplace as the shackles in her life were in complete destruction. Not even the presence of Clara was helping; things were falling apart and she had no control of anything. Ben called her informing her that he would pick up the kids from school that day. “Ben has a good heart,” she thought, but she was never sure what went on inside Belinda’s mind for she was too confident in herself to let anyone in. She only stayed with her because she was her sister.

  Colin left school early with the intention of taking care of some personal things. He was able to talk Ben into buying him a mountain bike. He would no longer need his mother’s assistance to drive him home. He cycled through the carefully landscape that linked to the brick wall that formed a cocoon around the university property. The cold breeze piercing through his face gave him some time to think as he counted his future steps like a chess master. He was on a mission. He made several stops at the town center toward the locality of the various cyber cafes. He had managed to interrogate the owners without an I.D. or a badge. He used the excuse of a school project to get the answers to the tough questions. This went on for several hours until he found the specific cyber café he was looking for.

  He entered the house and no one seemed to be interested in paying attention to him, and the glow on his face quickly had to adapt. He wanted to shout to them that everything was going to be all right, but he feared counting the chicks before they hatched. The situation at home was not one he could call perfect but he was happy for everything that had prevailed that day and one day they might just be lucky to call their house a home again. All he had to do was wake up in the morning and schedule an appointment with Officer Ryan down at the police station for if it was the law that took their house away he had a way of bending the law to his favor.

  ***

  The house was once again filled to the brim and Harper was becoming tired of the house parties. She could not understand why Bradford could not take them somewhere else or even why he could not host decent parties for that matter. She could not fit in such a crowd for he would never even allow it, so something had to be seriously wrong. The house was supposed to be a home and not where people could crash after being wasted on whatever drinks they had.

  Ever since he got the house for her, he never once thought of taking her out to a nice restaurant for dinner or a movie or a picnic. The thought lurked in her mind thinking it was maybe selfish of her to want this. But if he could afford to host such a huge party, he could take her out. He was clearly hiding something from her and she was too shy to find out what it was.

  Bradford was proud of his accomplishments--a beautiful girl to be his life companion, a dream house to share their dreams and now another opportunity to add something into his pocket for their well-beings. He knew he had to be careful as he did not want to ruin this for Harper; he wanted her life to be full of ease with no more struggles. The night was promising and he was sure of scoring big tonight. The DJ let the music absorb the human noises that seemed to dominate the place as everyone began to dance. Bradford silently carried out his business behind the table with Abe on the lookout as his private eye.

  The whole time Forbes was busy stalking the place, dressed as a ordinary person. He surveyed through the crowd of teenagers wasting themselves in the realm of alcohol, but had no time to spare any portions of pity for he was looking for a single target. There he was, lingering in a sense of humor with a proud look on his face about the accomplishments he thought he had managed to safeguard. All he needed was an eye on the operation taking place, and as soon as it happened he had his paparazzi camera in place. He managed to take a few snaps of the deal taking place, and as soon as he thought it was sufficient enough for him it was time to move in for the big kill.

  He hurried through the door, but Abe was too quick to notice his face. Forbes drew his revolver, but before he could utter the words freeze! Police! Abe snatched the leather bag from Bradford’s possession, and fled through the window. Forbes could not let him get away as he quickly followed his trails while firing some warning shots in the air with an attempt of convincing the suspect to a quick surrender. From the ignored response, Forbes knew a gunshot was a familiar sound to the thug as he quickly slid into the dark night as a result of age disparity between the two. The kid ran with the evidence, but Forbes was not ready to give up, he went back for his friend Bradford who was too willing to be taken in for questioning. He wanted to wipe the smug smile off Bradford’s face, but knew too well the mind game Bradford was playing. It was sickening knowing that he was the reason behind the overdose of his only son and the wreck of a life that it had cost him. Harper was busy crying after seeing Bradford being arrested for she did not understand the situation, although he promised to be back home soon

  ***

  Officer Ryan helped prepare the interrogation room.

  “I am telling you sir, I am just a victim here and whatever that guy Abe ran away with is his business.”

  “Do not try to be smart with me kid, I do have sufficient evidence to put you away for possession,” Forbes roared.

  “I am telling you sir, I am the victim here and if you think you have something against me, I am ready to face the music.” He was too smart for the law and Forbes knew it, the son of a bitch had it all figured out knowing very well any charges against him would not suffice. He might have proven this, but his friend Abe was not so smart and was now a fugitive of the law.

  There was no reason to hold Bradford anymore, and all Forbes could do was release him. He was told not to leave the state.

  Bradford left the station with his smile of innocence, but as soon as he was out his facial expression suddenly changed. Not watching where he was walking, he ran into a telephone pole along the street as he strolled back to his house, trying to figure it out.

  ***

  “Who the hell is this guy Forbes and what is his interest in me? Why had he gone through such lengths?” A piece of the puzzle was missing and he was not sure which one. He had to contact his lawyer friend in case he knew anything about him. Maybe it is Nick trying to settle a score with him, for he was the reason why he is in prison. He was lucky this time, for if it were not for the bold move of Abe, his life would have momentarily shattered. He had to be careful now, for his home was under attack. He flipped his phone to leave a voicemail message for his lawyer friend as he reached the doorsteps of his house.

  ***

  Colin had finally done it; he managed to put his fingers on it. The I.P. tracker was the one thing stressing him the whole time he sat through the social networking class. Now it was over, and he had to move on to the next phase. Colin was happy as he had an idea that could not only free his father, but also his home. He was not the ignorant type for he knew his dad and mom were in disagreement, which was not a good thing. He was quiet aware of broken marriages and how it affected the children. He did not want Clara to be in such a predicament, she was too young and innocent; the separation of their parents would only leave her a scar. That was the predicament and he had to believe in karma or fate to fix the situation.

  ***

  “May I speak to Officer Ryan please?” he politely addressed the young receptionist.

  “
One moment please,” she responded as she answered another telephone line that was continuously ringing.

  Forbes suddenly appeared. “Colin, right?” He knew very well he was Nick’s son. “Name’s Forbes, I am the one working on your dad’s case. How may I be of assistance to you, son?”

  All along, Colin thought he was the only one concerned with the well-being of his family and here was this Forbes guy, sharing the same common interest with him. He could not be happier. Perhaps it was karma or fate.

  “Sir I believe I have something that will help my family,” Colin started. This was interesting news to Forbes, and he quickly directed him over to his desk as he continued the story. “There is this guy Bradford who has taken over our home with allegations that it was rented to him through some Craigslist site on the Internet. We tried to disapprove his theory to the police, but they stated that he broke no law and he had the right papers. So you see, sir, we are now out of our house and now my dad is in jail because he tried to trick him to an open confession. ”

  Before he could go any further with his story, Forbes stopped him. “Okay, son, I understand your concern, so what exactly do you have that we can use to push this case to another level? ” Colin reached for his backpack and removed a video recording and handed it over to Forbes. “So you see sir, they say that I am the one who used my Gmail account to post the rental ad on Craigslist and received the payments through my PayPal account. But they were wrong and it was this Bradford guy playing some sort of trick on us. I have been taking some social networking classes and it has helped me come to a solution. The post on the Craigslist ad had a time stamp on the date that it was posted and I managed to track the I.P. address of the machine used to a cyber café downtown.” Forbes was confused about the technicalities of the terms used and Colin had to explain further.