The Mandela Catalogue

New Friend

(still Twig POV)

I stand in the living room.
"there is something I have to tell you Damien." I say.
"what is it bud?" he asks.
I told a random guy where your secret place is because i felt bad for him.
I do not know how to put it.
Why is it so hard for me to say something.
Anything I say will make it seem like I betrayed him.

"you know your secret place." I say.
He looks at me seriously.
"what about it?" he asks.
Fuck.
"I- .....nevermind." I say.
"what's up with it?" he asks.
"I cannot say." I say.
He stands up and grabs the key.
"wait." I say.
He looks at me again.
I sigh.
"there is a guy, I have been keeping safe because he is homeless and been kicked out and I felt bad for him."
I say.
"is this guy a drug dealer?" Damien asks.
"yes." I say.
"is his name Joe?" he asks.
"i-" I stutter.
"IS HIS NAME JOE!?" he yells.
"yes." I say.

"fuck." he says.
"did he tell you the made up story about his wife kicking him out and how he wants to see his daughter again." he asks.
"y-yes." I say.
"how do you know this." I ask.
"I watched him play that trick on another alternate." he says.
"but, he seems so nice." I say.
"that's what he wants you to think, at one point your gonna be going out for ice cream with him all buddy buddy and then the next the last thing you see will be him stabbing you in the back." he says.
He sits back down.
"get him out of that place and don't go near him again." Damien says.

This can't be true.

___________________________

I go down with some bread and water once again.
I go through the alleyway and into the bushes.
There I see Joe, I am more wary around him now.
"so Joe, where did you live." I ask, sitting next you him. He eats the bread.
"around the area somewhere, that's why I'm here roaming around" he says.
"what do you do for a living." I ask.
"well, I used to like sowing and crap like that. I'd make stuffed animals for my daughter." he says.
"what is her name." I ask.
He thinks for a bit.
"I can't really remember, why can't I remember." he says, he looks at the ground and frowns.

"do you not remember her?" I ask.
"I've lived with her for 14 years, why can't I remember her name!" he says.
Why wouldn't he remember his daughters name? Maybe Damien was right.
I stand up.
"I'll talk to you later." I say.
"oh, OK bye!" he smiles.
I don't know who to trust anymore.

_________________________________

I go into the flat.
"Damien." I say.
"what?" he asks.
"how would you know how to tell if someone is lying about forgetting or if they have actually forgotten." I ask.
"did you go down there?" he asked.
"uh, yes." I say.
"did you tell him to leave?" he asks.
"I could not." I say.
"for fucks sake, if you die you know what kind of impact its gonna have on us right?" he asks.
"I-i did not think you were that close to me, so I would not care about taking risks." I say.
"I think you underestimate how much we actually appreciate you being around us." he says.

I start to feel... Light?
"you like having me around?" I ask.
"well, yeah. Otherwise I wouldn't be trying to protect you." he says.
"oh." I say.
"I am going to go back down there." I say.
"if anything happens, scream. I'll get the message and come down instantly." he says as I walk out the door.

_____________________

Me and Joe were sitting by the tree.
"so what are your friends like?" he asks.
"they're nice. Apparently they like being around me." I say.
"hmm." he says, he seems to be in deep thought.
"you Ok?" I ask.
"yeah! Just trying to remember something, I thought of something we could do but I forgot." he says.
"that is a shame." I say, looking off into the grass.
"what do you like to do?" he asks.
"I like to climb trees." I say.
He looks up at the tree.
"wanna climb this one?" he asks.
"sure" I say, standing up.
I grab onto the lowest branch and pull myself up.
"do you wanna climb with me?" I ask.
"yeah, give me a second." he says.
I go onto the next branch up and keep climbing.
I look down to see Joe on the branch below me.
We climb.
I look down at him, I grab his hand as a thin branch snaps beneath him.
I him up onto another one.
He smiles.
We were at a hight that if one of us fell we would at least break a bone.
I sit on a branch, Joe sits next to me and we watch the clouds.
"so, you know how you're always crying? What does it look like when you actually cry." he asks.
"I.... I guess I have not had a reason to cry yet, so I don't know." I say.
"OK." he says.
And we talk all night long.