The Enigma’s Anomaly

“No Conte, make as many copies as you can. Save them on the computer. Make DVD’s, put it on flash drives, send a copy to your dentist if you want to,” I tell him, though he argues.

“Yes I know that. The thing is that if you don’t make as many copies as you can then Banks is going to try to discredit them as fake. He’ll say they don’t exist if I can’t turn up a copy, I don’t care how long it will take, I want backup. This could save a life, not only my own.”

“Says the murderer,” Conte replies.

“Yes, yes. I know I used to be, but not anymore. Just please do as I ask, there will be incentive for you, just do it.”

“Fine, but how do you intend to bargain with this man if he knows you have backups. We both know that’s not how this game works,” he replies, and I sigh.

I lower my voice so that Gerard can’t hear, “this may be the last time we speak. I’m not afraid of sacrificing myself if I have to, I just need to keep this guy safe. You know I mean business Conte, otherwise I wouldn’t jeopardize my identity in this way.”

“I can get you a new one.”

“I like the one I have, thank you very much,” I answer, and he chuckles, “just do this for me, and that’s all I ask. If you don’t hear from me in five days then take it to the cops. Let the story be heard. Make sure Banks goes to jail. I may have done some awful things in my past Conte, and I know I can never take those things back, but I’m nothing compared to this man. I’m a fucking saint compared to Banks, and so are you.”

“I don’t know that I’d go so far as to say that,” Conte replies.

“You understand the point I’m trying to make though. He’s dangerous. He... he scares me. I’m going to do everything in my power from letting this fire destroy everything, but there might be some serious damage. I’ll try to contain the blast, but I will minimalize the collateral damage as much as possible, and if that means my life, then so be it. I deserve to live far less than the lives I’ll be saving,” I tell him.

“If that’s how you see it,” he answers gruffly, and I sigh.

“Listen, just do as I ask, and remember. Five days,” I say, and he agrees.

A minute later I hang up and walk over to the adjacent room where Gerard is sitting on the bed looking down at his hands.

“What was that about?” he asks.

“Just making arrangements,” I tell him.

“Funeral arrangements might be advantageous at this time,” he says, and I scowl.

“That’s not any way to talk, Gerard.”

“But we both know what’s going to happen, don’t we?” Gerard says. “Mikey’s going to die.”

“No. He is not. I won’t let that happen,” I tell him.

“But you don’t have any power over what Banks does,” Gerard answers not looking at me.

“Yes but I will negotiate. I will do everything to make sure that he stays safe, okay? I will buy us as much time to figure out what to do as I possibly can.”

“What’s your plan then? If Banks doesn’t take our deal, what are you going to do?” Gerard asks.

“I have a few ideas, none that you’ll like. Mikey knows our strategy for if we ever lose each other, okay? He’ll know where to find us on the off chance that he escapes, so don’t give up hope yet.”

“It’s not going to do him any good,” Gerard says.

“Don’t say that, Gerard,” I plead, feeling my chest tighten. I wrap an arm around his waist and I hope that he’s got some faith left in him. Part of me does feel like this is the night before a storm though.

We have a phone appointment as you might call it, with Banks in an hour and that’s basically the road to the future. Whatever happens then is what’s going to happen unless I find some way to change this all. I’m not an idiot though. The odds of Banks complying with our guidelines are so slim that there’s barely even a point in asking.

If Banks does what I think he’s going to do, kill Mikey and allowing us to hand the recordings over to the police, then I’ll do what I have to do to keep him safe. Banks is a businessman after all. He’ll accept a deal if it’s in his best interest. I don’t see why he’d turn down a substitution, especially since he’s got more of a vendetta against me then he has against Mikey. I’m the guy who put laxatives in his food, and has made his life hell the past few weeks. I’d want me dead if I were him.

Anything to keep Gerard safe though, and it’s for the best. My life for Mikey’s is more than a fair trade. Mikey’s never killed anyone so I’d say his soul is in more need of saving then mine. Though he does have that icy stare mastered so maybe he’s a hardened criminal in disguise. Somehow I doubt that.

An hour passes in almost complete silence and then Mikey’s phone rings. It’s faint at first but the ringtone seems to louden as I look at the phone on the table in front of me. Neither of us make a move to pick it up, because we’re both waiting on the other person to actually take charge.

When it doesn’t seem like Gerard’s going to do it, I grab the phone and press the answer button.

“Hello,” I say awkwardly. What is a person supposed to say when bargaining for another person’s life over the phone? Yo? Bonjour? Sup?

“Mr. Iero,” Banks says.

“You know that’s so formal, you can just call me Your Highness,” I answer. Got to keep my wit up.

“Mr. Iero,” he repeats.

“Well fuck you too,” I say, and I look for the speaker button before setting the phone back down and looking at Gerard. He takes a breath, and nods at me but grabs my hand. I can just tell both of our hearts are banging violently.

“So we have a pretty even playing field, Banks,” I say.

“That’s moderately true,” he answers.

“I could get you sent to jail in a minute if I wanted to,” I say.

“You’re mistaken if you think that you could. Do you know where it is that I am? Do you know how to find me right now?”

I sigh, even though I knew he’d catch that little ploy. I didn’t exactly think he was stupid enough to overlook something that big, but it was worth a shot.

“You don’t know where I am either,” I say.

“Valid point, but the discussion remains the same,” Banks says, “we both know who holds most of the cards here. I don’t want to be sent to prison, and you don’t want to lose your friend.”

“These things are both true, but as of right now, I have been given no proof that he’s even alive so I’d like that first,” I tell him.

“Why am I negotiating with you?” Banks asks.

“Gerard’s right here, but I’m speaking for him,” I respond, and hold a finger to my mouth for Gerard to remain quiet. It’s not like I don’t trust him, I’d just rather conduct this myself.

“Why should I talk to you?” he asks.

“Because I just fucking said so,” I reply, “now give me some fucking proof that Mikey is alive.”

“Fine,” Banks replies, and there’s some shuffling of feet.

“Hey Frank,” Mikey says.

“You sound calm,” I say, “do not tell me where they’ve taken you. They’ll kill you if you say anything.”

“Couldn’t if I wanted to. No idea where I am. It smells like raisins though.”

“And do you like the smell of raisins?”

“There are better smells, still could be worse. Could smell like fish,” Mikey says.

Banks interrupts, “There’s your proof, okay?”

I look at Gerard whose staring blankly at the opposite wall.

“I guess, for now. So Banks, we both know what happens now then,” I say.

“You try to convince me that you’re not going to release that recording to the authorities, I’m not going to believe you, and I’m going to say no to whatever deal you try to make for his life,” Banks says.

“Well you do at least cut straight to the point. I admire that in a man,” I say.

“So I don’t know what this conversation is about then,” Banks says.

“This is about me telling you that you’re an awful human being, but I want to cut a deal anyway,” I say.

“And that would be?”

“Well we both know that whatever I agree to is not a fair trade, because I have damning evidence against you, which I honestly won’t reveal if it’ll mean Mikey’s life.”

“But you know that I can’t believe you,” Banks says.

“Yes, I’m well aware that you can’t trust me, but you should hear me out. I want money too. Monthly. A commission for being quiet.”

“And why should I give that to you?”

“Because you’re looking at death row. I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes right now, and it’s true that I do have more on my side then you on yours.”

“But aren’t you supposed to be the sentimental one? Money? Is that really as important as your friend’s life?”

“The money isn’t nearly as important as his life. I couldn’t care less about the money to be honest, I just figured that you’d be more likely to listen to me if I spoke a language you understood.”

“No, it’s not worth it for me. You’ll always have that over me. It’s a better deal for me to make sure that this deal is as bad for both of us as we can possibly make it,” Banks says.

“Just... please, I mean. God, what do you want? Do you want me to beg? I’ll beg. I will, honestly I will, just don’t kill him. Please.”

“I have no reason to keep him alive,” Banks says and I hear him walking around.

“Please? I mean, what about Gerard’s comic. He’ll stop the comic-”

“Frank-”

“Your brother’s life, Gerard,” I remind him and he nods, and then looks disappointed in himself. “He’ll stop the comic. I swear he will. We just want Mikey to be alive.

“Why should that matter to me at this point? The comic book was just an excuse to get rid of the little brat,” Banks says.

“Watch your mouth, you fucker,” I say and then take a deep breath, “don’t kill Mikey, I’ll do almost anything to get you not to kill him.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

I take another deep breath, knowing that it would come to this eventually. At least I tried all the other alternatives first.

“Trade. My life for Mikey’s.”

“Frank!” Gerard screams.

“No fucking way am I going to let you do that,” Mikey’s voice says though it’s distant.

“It’s a tempting offer,” Banks says, ignoring both interruptions.

“No it damn well isn’t,” Gerard says, and he looks at me angrily.

I groan, and grab the phone off the table, taking it off speaker, and press it firmly to my ear, “That’s my offer Banks. You hate me more then you hate Mikey. I’m the troublemaker, not him. Kill me instead of Mikey.”

“I won’t let you,” Gerard warns me.

“How would this work?”

“We’ll meet up, I’ll be armed, and I’ll be aiming for you. You can be armed to, but I won’t take my gun off you until Mikey is safe. From there it’s up to you, but I get to pick the location where we make the trade,” I tell him. It’s not the best plan, things could easily go wrong, but it’s all I’ve got.

“Seems fine to me,” Banks says.

“I want to do it on the highway. Somewhere Mikey can take the car and drive away from it. That’s all I ask, but if you make any attempt at killing us both then I will kill you without hesitation. If I sense betrayal I will kill you, and then it’s a bloodbath, and no one wants that.”

“Sounds fair,” Banks says, and I don’t know what to make of his tone, because before I can even continue, Gerard grabs the phone from my hands.

“Gerard!” I yell, trying to grab it from him, but he stands up and walks away from my reach. I stand up to grab it from him, but Gerard just gives me a sad stare before running to the door of the bathroom. In a moment he’s inside talking to Banks and the door is locked.

“Gerard!” I scream again. “Gerard open the fucking door, or I swear to god...”

I hear him talking, but I can’t make out his words because of the noise of my hands pounding against the wood, and the muffled layer of the door.

He’s not opening the door though, and I can’t do anything. I can’t just break it down, I’m not the Incredible Hulk or something. I’m not very strong.

“Gerard!” I scream but he doesn’t open the door. Nothing I say gets him to do anything until finally I hear him stop talking and it opens on the other side.

“Gerard,” I mutter, filled with a million different emotions. Anger and fear mostly.

“I’m sorry, Frank,” he says.

“What did you do, Gerard? What did you do?”

“I offered up a trade. Same as you did, Frankie,” he says.

“No, Gerard,” I whimper.

“It’s not your battle, Frankie. He’s my brother, I should be the one to die for him.”

“No! Because I was going to fucking do it! I don’t want you to, Gerard!”

He sighs, and looks at me, “it’s too late now. I’m going tomorrow.”

“No, because I’m not going to let you.”

“I can’t just let you sacrifice yourself for me, Frank. It’s my fault, and ultimately my decision.”

“But I can’t... I, we’ve only just met, Gerard. I can’t lose you after I finally found you.”

Gerard shakes his head, “but I can’t live in a world without you, and I can’t live in a world without Mikey either. I’m the one who brought this upon us, I’m the one who’s got to make the tough decisions.”

I exasperate, “But Gerard-”

“It’s my decision. You were going to do the same to me,” Gerard says, and my heart kind of breaks a little because he’s right.

“It’s not fair, Gerard. You get the easy way out. The way that’s over in a few minutes. I have to live with it forever, and I don’t get any relief. I’m not going to let you do this.”

“You’d give that weight to me though,” Gerard says.

“Because I believe you have more of a purpose with your life. You matter, when I don’t. You have more potential than I do, Gerard! People are going to mourn your death, and not just me and Mikes. Lots of people. I’ve got no one. Not really. I’ve killed people anyway, Gerard. I deserve to die either way.”

“No you don’t, Frank.”

“Yes I do!”

“No! But what’s done is done, Frank. I’m going tomorrow, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

I grit my teeth, and try not to cry at the prospect of him dying. That’s what’ll happen, he’ll die. He’s going to die and that’s the most permanent decision a person can ever make. I can’t just rescue him from death, he’ll be gone, and I can’t accept that. It’s too hard. It’s not fair.

“But that doesn’t mean I can’t stop you,” I mumble under my breath.