Chapter II

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 563.

Trevor found himself sitting on a chair in a dimly lit room, surrounded by three shady figures. They seemed unaware of his awakening.

- Guys, what the hell happened here? Why the hell do you have to knock out every single person who comes around my place when I go to the bathroom for just three minutes? - sounded a strangely familiar voice. With some effort, Trevor recognized it to be Richard's.

- Hey, you didn't tell us that anyone was coming. - squeaked the guy who knocked Trevor out. - Besides, he asked for it. I told him to get in.

- Well how will we explain him the plan now?

- We were supposed to keep it a secret, Richard. You know it. - interrupted the second, rough voice.

- Come on, I told you, he'll help us!

- We'll have to cut him a share, though.

- Uh, I guess we can skip that, - squeaked the pesky voice.

Trevor moved on his chair:

- Sorry to interrupt... What is going on here?

- So much for the “skipping” part, - interjected the squeaker.

- Uh, Trevor, I'm SO sorry it turned out like this. I'd like you to meet my two friends here. This is Leroy Jenkinson, my roommate, with whom you, uh, had the pleasure to hold acquaintance with. And this is Geoffrey Barns, my...

- Wait... I know you, don't I?

- Excuse me? - asked Geoffrey.

- You stole my wallet!

- Oh. Uh. Sure. One second.

Geoffrey reached for a drawer beside one of the two beds and started rummaging in it.

- Hey, man, that's my drawer! - whispered Leroy.

- Yeah, and that's also my stash of wallets, - answered Geoffrey.

- Uh, Richard? - asked Trevor, - I think you got into a wrong company here.

- Oh, they're fine. You'll see. You're in for an adventure, Trevor.

Meanwhile, Geoffrey had finished his scavenging and turned back to the rest of the group. In his hands were three wallets:

- Okay, so which one of these is yours?

- The, uh, red one.

- Here.

- Thanks. I guess.

Trevor gave Geoffrey a look of badly masked animosity. Leroy noticed that.

- Whoa there! Stop it, guys. Look, no need to tussle. We gotta stay together. As a crew. As a team!

- What are you even talking about? I didn't sign up for anything. And I sure as hell don't want to “team up” with any of you now!

Trevor always got very aggressive when cornered.

- Oh, don't talk like that. We'd make a great team! It would be such a lovely story! You just don't know yet.

- I'd rather listen to the whole set of Hitler's speeches then team up with you.

- Than.

- What?

- It's “than”, not “then”. You're comparing two objects.

- What?

- Learn your grammar.

- Wait, how do you even..?

- It's English, Oedipus, do you speak it? And please, stop saying “what”. Jesus, that's annoying. If I was some movie hero I'd probably shoot you. You should be glad we've got a decently written story here.

- Let me step in here, - said Geoffrey. - You see, we here are gentlemen of honor. Never mind this whole wallet thing, it was but an accident. No need to fixate on it too much. Let me introduce myself properly. Like our mutual friend Richard had already said, my name is Geoffrey, and I'm an entrepreneur.

- A thief.

- An entrepreneur, if you don't mind.

- I do.

- Alright than.

- Uh, it's actually “then”...

- Oh shut up, Leroy. Anyway, I believe that business is all about opportunities.

- And snatching other people's wallets, - added Richard.

- Exactly! Well, I mean, that's how I met YOU too, right? So, opportunities are all about seizing the right moment. And I believe that such a moment is exactly at hand right now.

- What do you mean? What do I have to do with this?

- You, my friend, are the key to our small operation. You see, me and my friend Leroy have – had – a friend in that fancy college of yours. We, uh, split up after we had some... financial conflict, let's put it that way. Anyway, he now has something that belongs to us.

- So technically it's not even stealing! - interrupted Leroy.

- Shut up. Well, actually, Leroy is right. We'll just be taking what's rightfully ours in a, well, not so rightful way from a very, very bad person, and splitting it up among the three – uh, four – of us.

- Spoiler: this “bad” person is in fact a philanthropist and a father of two!

- Shut up. He stole from us, so he is the bad guy here. The thing is, this weekend he will be staying in your campus. And – surprise-surprise – none of us has access to this campus. You, on the other hand, do. See what I'm saying?

- Yeah, you want me to help you get into the campus and rob a person. Are you out of your mind? Why would I help you?

- Because that is how the plot goes, you silly! - remarked Leroy in as strange a tone as usually.

- Uh, Leroy is weird sometimes, - stated Richard. He did like to state the obvious. - Look, how long have we known each other? Did I ever let you down?

- Well, remember Maggie?

- Oh, come on, that was an accident.

- Juliet?

- Dude.

- Heather?

- Look, why don't you recall that one case when I helped you with your chemistry exam? You owe me, dude.

- Come on, man! It's all about the adventure, isn't it? - asked Leroy in a cheerful tone.

- Uhhh. Please. Look, I don't know, fine. I'll get you in. I'll get you out. That's it. I don't want to have any more part in it.

- Well that's a relief! - said Richard.

- Glad to have you on board, - said Geoffrey.

- He-he, knew it, - murmured Leroy.

“God, what did I sign up for?” - thought Trevor.