Before It Happens

Chapter IV

    “So what the hell was that about?” Christopher asked as they piled into the car, Killian to Ash’s left, Oswald to his right, and Christopher having called shotgun before the car even pulled to the curb.

    “I don’t know.” Ash said honestly. It wasn’t his first run-in with odd behavior. Some people were simply paranoid-- afraid-- of having an adverse opinion, lest those close to them not agree with him and cause him pain. He had run into kooks as well: people who were constantly wringing their hands or biting their lips or knitting with invisible needles. Not every interview was a dream. But there was no denying that what had happened just short of twenty minutes ago was a phenomenon all its own. The man seemed to be genuinely afraid for his life, as if even pausing to speak to Ash was painful.

    Oswald spoke in a full sentence for the first time since they had touched down in Marn. “I caught it on film.”

    Ash and Killian’s head both snapped in Oswald’s direction, as if it had been choreographed.

    There was a period of silence, and then Killian dared to speak up. “Why?”

    A solid question. Oswald, however, did not seem to have a response solid enough to respond. As much as Ash appreciated Oswald-- and really, he did (the man’s silent disposition made him easier to instruct and direct)-- he really failed to communicate, like, ever. Had Ash been a more violent person, he might have punched Oswald and insisted on an answer. Rather, they sunk into a somewhat awkward silence, the only sound being the jingling of the charms hanging from the mirror of Mary’s car and the engine purring softly.

    Christopher was, of course, the first to speak up. Again. “I secured us an interview with the mayor.” He said proudly.

    Ash let out an exhausted sigh. “Thank you, Christopher.”

    Killian remained silent until Ash elbowed him, to which he replied with a muttered “Thank you.”

    Christopher grinned smugly, and not another word was uttered until they got back to the motel. It might have been because of Oswald’s suddenly mysterious disposition, or it might have been that Ash had secured the interview several weeks ago, when they had first been assigned the job to report on Unity. Christopher, oh Christopher, what a character! As much as Ash appreciated and enjoyed Christopher, he was such a dumbass, really. He couldn’t make a good decision for the life of him. Ash wished he could attribute it to something, but Christopher’s past was the sort of thing that one couldn’t find out, even if they devoted every minute to it.

    But Ash was okay with it. As Killian and Oswald and Christopher piled out of the car silently, Ash unclipped his seatbelt, letting out a weary sigh.

    Then, Mary turned around.

    “Munashe. You need to be careful with these boys.”

    “With all due respect, only one of them is actually younger than me.”

    She shook her head. “There is a reason as to why you were put in charge, Munashe. You’ve got it in you.”

    As flattered as Ash was, he was beginning to doubt that he had whatever ‘it’ was. “Really?” He asked, a bit dryly.

    She nodded and patted his shoulder. “Absolutely.”

    Something about the gesture made everything a little bit more okay, and soon Ash was out of the car, closing the door and watching as Mary drove away.

    He stood outside for a bit, thinking. Ash did that a lot. It seemed that it was all he could ever do, sometimes. Truly, he was very overwhelmed by the entire case with Marn. Why was the baseball player so afraid to comment? There was no way to answer that. It seemed that Unity had some kind of monopoly on Marn. That the town hall was not the real source of power, but really the building that towered over it all, a watchful eye with no mercy and no remorse. Was it as unforgiving as it was in the courtroom? Was Marn being run by a malevolent power? Probably not.