You Must Remember This

Chapter 16: Vultures Everywhere

The club meeting that week ended a bit early, and most immediately flocked toward the snacks that were still available in the back of the room. Initially, Frank was opposed to feeding his club members, or really doing anything that would make their experience enjoyable, but one day Alan brought in a bunch of cookies on some spontaneous whim, and from there, as things are wont to do, they escalated. "And those things do best please me, that do befall preposterously," Frank had quipped to Mr. T one day when the display was especially extravagant. Frank thought it a bit hypocritical of Mr. T to think so much of his generosity, but after seeing Mr. T one day quickly hide some of his better food from Alan, he understood, and went as far as to treat that as a lesson.

Beth and Juliet stood in the corner, watching the others warily. Paranoia was a sign of intelligence—they knew that for a fact—and Frank had warned them about potential turncoats in their midst. A good person could find no security, even when with their own people; they never knew, he said, if someone were trying to work up the ranks to dismantle the system from within. Even having a lot of Frank-Bucks wasn't proof of innocence. A few weeks earlier, a club member was excommunicated after it was discovered they had cheated on a test; he had no personal connection to any of the club leaders, and thus could not plead for forgiveness. He groveled, even shed a few tears, but the other members remained stony in their seats. While in reality this was a tidy affair, rumors distorted what had occurred that day into something fantastical: some claimed poor Leo was forced to crawl on his hands and knees out of the classroom; one said he was pelted with trash, and held up an empty water bottle for the sake of analogy; some turned Leo's silent, resigned procession out of Mr. T's classroom and down the hall into a stomping tantrum or maniacal rage—he had tried to choke Frank, but Frank used his karate skills and pinned Leo against the wall! Only those in the room where it happened knew for sure if Leo left a coward or a hero, and the taboo on sharing internal affairs with outsiders ensured that never changed.

"Something wicked this way comes," Beth joked, and they both stopped their laughter by the time Ted had pushed through the crowd to them. Ted had not quite yet mastered the salute or the special walk, but those were both secondary priorities in his mind. Tom's success with Regina gnawed at his mind every day he saw the two together; Ted did not view Regina as a person with her own desires and priorities, but an extension of Tom's wealth, a share of which was rightfully his. Ted had tried a few times before to get a relationship going, but he never got along with "his girls," as he put them. They were nice to him, and since they spoiled him he became contemptuous of them. Inevitably, they would break up over text just as suddenly as they had started, and Ted could then go about his life without a care.

"How are we doing over here, ladies?" Ted asked with a smile, sizing up each of his potential targets. Beth looked severe as always, and Juliet still seemed prone to geniality.

"We're as fine as always, Ted," Beth responded first—a good sign indeed. Ted took out a penny from his pocket and flipped it sharply into the air. Heads, her, tails, Juliet. That seemed just as fair as anything.

"What's the coin for?" Juliet asked, her eyes following the arc it made as it revolved around and around before sitting comfortably in Ted's palm.

"It's a good luck charm. So Beth, would you want to meet up at some point to do the readings?" Ted asked, briefly glancing at his packet to remember what exactly he was supposed to do. Beth, all too eager to help a wayward soul become a better person, responded in the affirmative.

"That's settled then. Library, Monday afternoon?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, Ted," Beth answered, and they walked away and left Juliet alone.

"Hey, Frank, do you think you could help me with something?" Frank turned from watching the snacks carefully to John, whose head was bowed slightly.

"Ask and you shall receive."