The Game of A Life Time

Chapter 5- Bad Idea

Okay, the next run will be done in one week.

Carter and I need to start planning the run and the drop-off. Each step-by-step procedure is important for the outcome.

There have been times that runs or drop-offs have gone bad because we either missed a step or were not planned out truly.

Twenty months ago

I wait by the front door until I see Carter at the back door through the house we are at. My hands shake on the rattled door frame until I see him pause on the other side.

Knocked three times and a middle-aged woman comes to the door, she looks a bit confused until she opens it. Her smile is huge reminding me of my mother, I miss her.

"Hi, what can I do for you?"

Nervous, I forget what I was supposed to say. We have never done this sort of thing before and there wasn't much time for us to think about anything.

"Hi, um- my car broke down a few blocks from here and I was wondering if I could use your phone?"

Just keep to the script and you'll be fine, just breathe. My heart beats faster and faster, but when I see Carter picking the lock I knew I had to move faster.

"Don't you have a phone?" She looks suspiciously at me, "why did you come to my house?"

Starting to panic, I see her eyes shift to the back door. My eyes must have slipped and glanced at him too long.

"My phone died," I speak up.

I hold the screen door, so it doesn't close on me, "your house looked the most friendly, so I came here."

"Please, can I use your phone?" I rush my voice to sound urgent, but I am caught off guard when Carter finally picks the lock opening the door.

"Sure, who are you going to call?" The woman begins to take her phone out of her back pocket, she opens the phone and hands it to me.

"My boyfriend, we are staying at a hotel near here." She raises her brows, "you don't live around here?"

I shake my head while I pretend to dial numbers, "no, we are on a road trip."

"We decided to stop for a day or two because we have been driving a lot and need rest," I ramble on about all this stuff that is irrelevant.

I bring the phone up to my ear and see Carter enter the kitchen. He is looking for a purse or wallet laying around.

This is supposed to be a test to our abilities, start out small then getting bigger and bigger. Carter and I are just starting a routine. The entity is watching us from afar.

After fifteen seconds, I pretend to hang up and close her phone. Giving it back I say, "he didn't answer."

"Okay, do you want to wait here and try again in a few minutes?" She opens the door wider to let me in, "no thank you."

A big clash sounds from the kitchen and she freezes. Running over to the kitsch, Carter sprints out of the house passing the woman. Going at horse speed, he runs straight out of the front door nearly knocking me over.

Present

"Carter, can you please listen to me?" He stands by the window that has the connecting balcony and smokes a cigarette. His hands are white as he squeezes the railing.