Backward Scam

Tobias took Patrick a bit farther in the huge technical room where the others had assembled around a small table, with a few here and there sitting on chairs and tables, standing, or whatever. They all welcomed Tobias and Patrick to sit in with them, and Tobias moved over another small table for him and Patrick to sit on. It was a joyful meeting according to their faces, but Patrick could tell they were also very serious about their plans to get that money.

Patrick still wasn’t too sure about this. “Why can’t you just go there with your tube display, break into Cantini’s safe, and use that Frogman to get the money? Why must Liam and Eve go?” he whispered to Tobias.

“We could, but that would probably wind things up the wrong way. You see, there is a reason for everything we do, and Ms. Nodi is in charge of this kind of plan. You could say that Liam and Eve work for Ms. Nodi, and here Liam is supposed to act the Nitwit and Eve the Slyboots part. I don’t understand everything Ms. Nodi does and wants us to do, but she has her way of doing things. Sometimes it seems backwards, but it works.”

Patrick nodded back at Tobias as if he understood, and to some degree maybe he did. Ms. Nodi was not present and neither was Mr. Zed. They didn’t need to be here, Tobias explained. Everyone already knew what to do, and this was just the final meeting to check things.

This meeting further amazed Patrick. He and Tobias didn’t talk—they just listened. More and more Patrick realized that this team setup matched each participant perfectly, and as a team performing, their handicaps were gone with the wind. Where one wasn’t able, another one was, and what they were good at they would soar with. Their way of planning and discussing things did seem backward to Patrick, but it obviously worked. For instance, early on one said “I can add a button here,” and another said, “Yeah, and I’ll button it up,” and a third, “Okay, we’ll fit that in here and here,” pointing at places on something that looked like a restaurant seating plan.

However, about Liam Patrick got a bit concerned. He sat there on a chair at the small table and tipped it back and forth while skimming and flipping through some papers with pictures on them. “I like cars,” he said repeatedly. “I like purple cars,” he would extend to now and then, all in a very slow and monotonous way.

Patrick didn’t want to ask Tobias about Liam, as Tobias seemed to take no notice. To Patrick Liam just seemed far off, not listening to the others at all, but no one else said anything or tried to get his attention. Liam just sat there and made faces, one worse than the other, saying “I like cars. I like purple cars,” all the time, and he really tried to express every letter as clearly as he could. And the more he tried to express his short sentences, the more strange faces he made. Eve, sitting next to Liam, didn’t bother about him; she was very alert talking to the others. Patrick didn’t understand a thing. The way Liam kept on with his “I like cars” thing could drive anyone crazy. How could the others be so calm about it?

At about two a clock, Tobias signaled to Patrick that it was time to leave.

“There are more things about this place I would like to show you,” he said.

Patrick stood up from the table when Tobias did. They said goodbye to the others, and everyone waved back at them for now, all except Liam. He was stuck with his car talk, but that didn’t seem to matter.

“Come on, I’d like to show you the rest of the house. There’s a lot to see—we can’t visit all the places now, but I’ll explain.”

“Okay,” Patrick happily replied and followed Tobias out of the room.

This time they passed all the floors up to the top, and there they entered a corridor to their right. There was a similar corridor to the left, and Tobias explained that it was very much like this. “As this was an institution before, we have kept some of the concept, but not much. It’s like, if we should have unwanted visitors like the Health Department we could keep the image up.”

“What about the police, then?” Patrick asked.

“Oh yes. Them too.” Tobias was quick to assure.

Tobias explained that all these rooms on both sides of the corridor in fact were fully equipped apartments, and he opened some random apartment doors to show Patrick. Patrick had heard the term “luxury apartments” but never seen any except on TV. Tobias showed him both small and large apartments with several rooms, and they all felt very welcoming and were beautifully designed. There were a couple of open spaces in the corridor on both sides to let daylight in, arranged with comfortable sofas, some tables and such, and lots of flowers. Tobias explained that in the other corridor to the left there were no flowers because some people staying there were allergic.

“And so. This is my apartment. This is where I stay from time to time,” Tobias said while opening a certain door, inviting Patrick in.

They had a look around, and Tobias showed Patrick everything. His apartment had a garden view, and he explained that the garden was for all to enjoy. Patrick was amazed. Tobias asked him to sit on a sofa with him in the living room.

“I have a wife; her name is Nina, and we have two children, Dennis and Jack. They’re seven and nine years old. Sometimes we stay here, but we have a bigger apartment in another city where they are now and where Dennis and Jack go to school. Nina most the time works there too.”

Tobias sat up a bit and looked at Patrick. “Would you like to come and stay with us, all us here and at the other places where we work and live?”

Patrick had heard Tobias ask this question before, but he hadn’t yet taken it truly to heart.

“But how can I? I have nothing. I have nothing to offer, no money, no nothing. What can I do?” Patrick said sadly.

“Here’s the deal. You don’t need money to live here with us. You don’t need to pay for the necessities like basic food, travel, etc. And an apartment like this is free with everything in it. What we do in our community is help each other out, and as a team we earn our living in various ways. I have mentioned Ms. Nodi to you before—this is her achievement, all this, and she’s good.”

Tobias sat back a bit and smiled. “All of us here are offering you a place to stay, to live and work with us as a team. We are not some kind of cult or anything, and religion doesn’t quite fit in with us. There’s no problem if someone believes in God—many of us do. But God is life to us; he’s here now where we are and not locked into some kind of church. We don’t smoke, no drugs, but we enjoy life like having wine and beer sometimes, no problem. But you’re not old enough yet, are you?”

“No I guess not,” Patrick replied. “But I would like to stay, if you would like to have me and if you think I’ll fit in. Honestly I would.”

“Then I say we make it happen, and you can stay with me here in my apartment first off. I’ll arrange so you can have the children’s room for now. Later we’ll see; we have space left both here and elsewhere, so that’s no problem, and you’ll have the opportunity to decide about your private life later when you know how you’d like it to be. Here you can be by yourself if you like, as I from time to time am, and you can be with friends.  You haven’t met us all yet, but there are a lot of us, as you’ll see.”

Happiness is a strange feeling for a boy with Patrick’s experiences. He wanted so much for this to be true, and in case he believed in God, he now prayed hard that he was not dreaming. He liked Tobias, he liked Eve whom he had started to get to know… and yes, when he thought about it, all the people he had met so far were okay.

“Right Patrick. I say we go back to your place, pick up your things, and tell your folks that you are going on tour with us. Then we go out shopping. All our citizens start with the equivalent of $100,000, and I will help you to use it wisely. After that we’ll have dinner here, and then later in the evening we will follow Liam and Eve to meet Mr. Cantini. What do you say?”

Patrick felt so happy that he felt like he was bubbling inside, and he didn’t know what to do. Tobias stood up and Patrick did too… like he… he just wanted too… then with a small tear trembling from his cheek he hugged Tobias. He hugged Tobias for a long time, like he didn’t want to let go, and Tobias let him. As Tobias responded he could feel Patrick trembling all over. There were a lot of emotions Patrick had to let loose, including hope and happiness that he never had experienced before. He was still a child, and now he had a hard time controlling all these feelings inside that for long had been trapped and now were urging and pounding to come out. Tobias didn’t put stress on him as they stood there, and gradually Patrick gained his calm back and let go of Tobias.

“That was necessary, Patrick; I’m glad you let that all out. You are not alone, you know; we have others like you, kids your age, both boys and girls, in the same situation as you. You will have no problem finding friends with us here.”

It took another half an hour for Patrick to settle and let it all sink in. It was a very happy boy whom Tobias took to his old apartment.  There he told Patrick’s uncle and aunt that he was coming with him and his magic team on a tour. They didn’t ask many questions, like they didn’t care that much. Instead they seemed relieved that Patrick was leaving. Patrick didn’t have many things, and as Tobias said, “You can buy a new one if you’d rather like that.” So they left with only a half-full broken suitcase, nothing more.

Tobias took Patrick directly shopping, and at first Patrick didn’t know what to buy, as he never had been out shopping before. Tobias told him that there was no hurry; they’d go out shopping tomorrow again, anyway. So they did some basic shopping, buying better quality and better fitting clothes, shoes, and such.

“Don’t I need a mobile phone? I’ve never had one,” Patrick asked.

Tobias laughed. “That you don’t need to buy, because that will be handed to you. That’s one thing our community will provide you with. And it won’t be any mobile phone you see. I have a hunch you’d like to see what Mr. Zed has to offer first.”

That day went by almost too quickly for Patrick. Back at his new home he had a shower in Tobias’s apartment, tried his new clothes on, and accompanied Tobias down for dinner. They took the same seats as at lunch, and Patrick had Eve next to him as before. This time Patrick was the first to hug her when they met, and after that their dinner started.

This meal was again the best Patrick had ever eaten, with plenty for all, lots of interesting and polite conversation, and everyone took their time. Afterwards Eve took him with her to see the garden, the pool area, and all that was in the back yard.

When it was almost nine o’clock it was time for the event, and they all started to get ready. Eve had to go to a meeting, so Patrick went with Tobias down to the basement where they installed themselves like in a theatre to watch.

Several of those tube displays were up and running, and two people were at each display. Tobias explained a bit about one of them being the magician and the other the elf. Patrick asked about what that was all about, but that was too long a story to tell now, so that had to wait.

There was a lot so see on each of the monitors, and Tobias tried to explain as much as there was time, but soon the clock had passed ten. One display showed a small cue that had built up in front of a beautiful, well lit building.

“That’s Mr. Cantini’s best night club. It’s the fanciest gambling place in town,” Tobias explained.

A strange car looking like a cab arrived with pictures of houses adhered all over it. It stopped right outside the club’s main entrance beside the queue where well-dressed people stood waiting. The cab’s backdoor opened towards the sidewalk, and out stepped Liam and soon after Eve. Liam was carrying a thin briefcase that looked like an office clerk’s, and he was dressed up too in a suit and tie and all. God, he looked funny, turning around walking in small quick steps back and forth out there on the sidewalk, while Eve got out like she was assembling her things and getting ready all in the same step. She was neatly dressed in a flowery dress, with a small red handbag hanging on her shoulder, and she was carrying some kind of all-colored knitted bag or something. Patrick smiled when he saw her, and so did Tobias.

Out from the cabdriver’s door came the driver, catching up. He was yet another small, thin, strange character whom Patrick recognized from dinner. If Liam and Eve were slow, this one was quick as a weasel, and like that he was running up and down the isle to the entrance, with the queue people craning their necks to see what he was up to and making way for him.

Liam and Eve now had free passage to the front door, and looking like pint-size people coming from nowhere compared to the people in line, they walked in their funny way the few steps along the isle to the doorman.

The cabdriver tried to say something to the doorman, but it turned out that the cabbie was a heavy stutterer and talked too fast, and the doorman didn’t understand a thing. Liam slowly started to open his briefcase and dip into some papers in the bottom there, with the cabdriver stretching on his toes, repeating his stammering talk to the doorman over and over again. The doorman scratched his head, still very lost about what kind of people they were. Liam looked through his papers some more, picked out one, and held it up high to the doorman’s face to show him.

“Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Show him, Show him,” Eve jabbered, standing partway behind Liam and sticking her head out from under his arm, looking up at the doorman with happy, glaring eyes.

Patrick laughed a bit as the doorman once again scratched his head as he looked down at Eve. Liam proudly held up his paper and moved it a bit closer to the doorman’s face to get his attention. Then he loudly and clearly explained in his well-known, very slow, monotonous way, “I like cars. I like purple cars.” Liam wrinkled his face with every word he said.

Patrick had a hard time not laughing out loud. Tobias did too.

The doorman just looked stunned like he couldn’t move.

“Tell him. Tell him,” Eve urged Liam, as if nothing weird were happening, and Liam did, in the same slow, monotonous tone, but wrinkling his face some more this time.

“I like cars. I like purple cars,” he said, looking up at the doorman and deadly serious.

Patrick had to turn away a bit to laugh, holding his hand over his mouth. Tobias laughed too and smiled widely.

Some giggling laughter could be heard from the queue, and the doorman seemed to wake up. He looked at the paper Liam was showing him and turned suddenly pale. He talked in the mic that was hanging on a string attached to his ear, and then he listened, tensed. After a minute or so Liam and Eve were asked in, and the cabdriver who had been jumping up and down next to Liam trying to say something quickly weaseled back to his cab and drove away.

Liam and Eve were in. On several other displays a path on a fancy dance floor was opening up as they passed through the entranceway.

…

To be continued next Friday.