-Tuesday January 15, 2013

Clive spoke the moment he heard the line connect.“It’s Clive, you told me to call if I needed anything” The voice on the other end of the phone was calm, measured and sobering. “do you finally have your head on straight.” Clive gave a shuddering sigh. “I’m put together enough.” rustling could be heard on the other end of the ,one followed by a faint creak, the man on the other end of the line seemed to be getting comfortable. “then I’ll listen, If you claimed to have picked up the pieces that quickly, I would have known you were lying” Clive could feel a sheepish half smile creeping onto his face “is that a matter of experience, or do you really know me that well” Camdens reply was curt with a simple “you inherited your mothers heart, and your fathers will”. Clive responded with a lost tone "what do you even mean" there was a snort on the other end of the line "you don't need to know, it's a good thing, that's all you need to know" Clive felt a frustration welling up in him. He only knew him mother from his memories as a child, and his father was always withdrawn, there seemed to be more to it, but no one would tell him anything.

Clive shook his head and regain focus before he decided to get into the meat of things. “I need work, I plan to hire a private investigator, I was planning to hire you.” Camden said something that gave clive pause. “why not become on yourself, you were smart enough to do some research before calling me.” Clive felt like a deer in the headlights and couldn't help but ask “why do you say that?”. Camden explained his reasoning“in your situation I would be very careful with who I hired especially after what just happened with your inheritance.” He wasn't wrong, Clive had done his research, despite that he thought he could put some trust into the old dog, even if he was skeptical of the outcome. “oh so you know how bad your reputation is” indeed Camden’s reputation, at least publicly was awful privately however he was a man who got results, and found the truth of the matter, the problem was how he handled that information.

Camden was not a man known for his discretion. A former police detective that wouldn’t let go of a scent once found and rather unscrupulous. Your stereotypical mad dog detective, but one that had mellowed out considerably with age “I must be like an open book” even though Clive had only met Camden once he could practically see that sheepish grin from him on the other end of the line “people are predictable, don't flatter yourself by thinking you're any different.” Clive took a breath before giving his reply “I, see, your set on selling me on this aren’t you, all those little nuggets of wisdom your teasing me with” Camden responded with a lighthearted chuckle. “guilty as charged, I’m getting old, having an assistant isn’t a bad Idea”.Clive felt himself shrugging and scratched his head mentally “but why? I don’t really know anything about the field” Clive was an engineering student, not a wanabee cop. “that’s exactly why, you have no preconceptions but your choice of career already lends itself to an analytic mind” It was true, engineers, scientists and the like spend most of there time mulling over the data and making connections in some aspects they really were no different than detectives.“I see“. Camden chimed in to further drive the point home. “an empty canvas is the easiest to paint on, you haven’t made any major mistakes yet, my work requires… an open mind, I would rather have someone who can learn from my mistakes instead of repeating them”

“so I’ll be your what, intern?" Clive probed to which camden replied calmly. "no, you will be one of many pupils, I work at a school, teach there part-time. An old friend of mine runs the place, you’re a smart kid I probably won't need to pull any strings to get you in” Clive asked. “When does the next examination start” Camden replied “next week, I’ll pick you up in four days, get yourself cleaned up and packed by then” Clive heard the click of a receiver on the other end of the line and a dial tone. He packed the bare minimum of clothes and possessions before putting the rest up for resale at an online consignment shop.

It only took him a day to pack and another two to put the rest of his meager possessions up for sale. Mostly books, clothes, and some nick-nacks. He had already lost most of his possessions in the fire anyway. It was suprising how little he cared about all the things that seemed important before. His situation forced clive to reasses his prorities to focus on the essentiels.

'Tap Tap' there was a knock at the door.

Clive opened the door and felt his collar get tugged as a force pinned him against a wall “I heard you were leaving” the words came out jumbled, an uncontrolled mixture of anger and sadness from a man who was red in the face. Clive answered calmly “yes” The tugging intensified as he was lifted further up the wall, Deric's tone had a hoarse ness to it “after all that you, just leave, it’s bullshit”. Everything with the inheretence and parlor had upset derric not to mention clives alcoholism. “I agree, but there’s nothing I can do about it, what's done is done” Clive looked a bit listless before shaking his head, derric aparently mistook the look for something else though “what the hell man, You arent even going to fight it. you and I both know how much blood sweat and tears went into the parlor.“Clive responded to his friends outburst with a cold lifeless tone "So what" Derric seemed shocked then angry "you lose the parlor and you just leave, does it even matter to you" Clive replied to derric again in the same tone as before "it was just a means to an end, nothing of value was lost".

Derric's POV

Rage Took over, the words were like a spark over a pool of oil. Before he knew it he acted on his freinds suggestion and immediately regretted it. he had really done it, in all these years of friendship derrick had never really hit Clive, sure there were a few times derric had needed to knock some sense into him but nothing ill intented, the occasional slap, but this was the first time derrick had thrown an actual punch with a genuine intent to Hurt clive. for him it was another gnawing sense of guilt.

A second later he dropped Clive with a shocked look on his face. “got it out of your system.” Clive had an akward smile on his face, one that spoke of pain, resignation and self depreciation. hopeless and funny all at once, the smile of a broken man. “dammit” derrick threw another punch, at the wall this time. Why did things turn out like this everything was fine two mounths ago after that things just, happened. “you’re a good friend” Clive lit a cigarette. Derric huffed in response before sitting down next to his freind. “some friend” he took the cigarette and took a puff before crushing it in his hand “you shouldn’t smoke, it’s bad for your health.” Clive just turned to him with that broken smile “still trying to be the big brother I see.” Derric sighed and looked at the ceiling “Yeah, but I dont feel like it” Clive still had the stupid smile on his face that screamed 'dont worry about me' as he spoke “I’m sorry about all that, it must have seemed bad, all the drinking I mean” Derric shuddered unconciously. “you were like a husk, there was no, well, you” Clive shrugged “well I’m back, I guess.”

Derric questioned him with a moment of puase“so... what happened, why are you like this” Clive leaned back against the wall “I had a dream, believe it or not, remember when we met and that tradition I’m always going on about” Derric spoke with a smile that quickly turned into a frown “yeah I only noticed you because you were bawling your eyes out at school every day and just… stopped it was really weird” Clive mulled over his thoughts “I had things put into perspective for me, lets just say that the same thing happened again"

“what does your family tradition have to do with this, isin't it just hunting” Derric seemed a bit lost “at the time my mother had just died, and my father hunted down and killed a deer not long after he made me do the same, it was all to make me better understand what death was, you can guess what the takeaway was” Derric found his fists clenching and unclenching unconciously as he already knew. “honor the dead, but that’s terrible no, that’s borderline abuse.” Derric seemed as appaled as he always was when they discussed this subject.

“It’s the family creed, I was reminded of that in the dream, that Atkins don't mourn the dead, we honor them, in fact mourning them might even go so far as being a disservice, I can’t imagine how mad dad would be if he saw me like this” Clive laughed bitterly before derric turned to him with a grave look. “That’s not a normal way to greive Clive.” Clive just shrugged in response. “doesn’t matter if it is, it's what I have."

“you-“

“you can get mad at me for anything else but not for this”Clive sighed before derric looked him at him with a stern expression and spoke “I’m not mad at you Clive, I’m mad for you” Clive returned a look that somehow contained conviction and a sense of emptiness. Clives voice cracked as he replied “don’t be, It’s the choice I’ve made. Besides, It's... something I can cling to, something to keep me together” Derric looked like he was about to raise an objection but clive cut him off before he could say anything " and that's final, you can't convince me otherwise so don't even try" Derric spoke with resignation in his voice, It was becoming clear that Clive had already made up his mind “so where will you go, what’s your plan now?” Clive leaned back against the wall to rest his head as he spoke. “my uncle works at an academy that trains private detectives, he offered to cash in some favors for me and let me continue my education there” Derric was quick to point out a problem with his friends course of action. “Clive you’re an engineering student, you can’t just go and play detective.”

Clive just shrugged in response. “What choice do I have, I have no resources and an incomplete education, it’s an offer I can’t refuse." Derric responded in a curious tone “you’re really planning to look into what happened yourself, If you had to learn how to be a detective from scratch that would take...”.

Clive Finished his sentence for him“Years, I know but... as ridiculous as it seems, I would rather look into it myself.” Derric couldn't stop himself from asking a pointed question “is the work dangerous”. Clive spoke in that same dismissive tone as before. “Don’t know, and I don’t care, I’ve set a goal for myself. I can only stay the course”. Derric just couldn't take it anymore he thew his hand up in the air and started to storm out “fine have it your way” as he reached the door he stopped for a moment. “Clive, I do see you as a little brother, if you need help call me, please.”

“I will”

Derric got in his car and left, he couldn't help but think about just how different Clive had become, it was like he had grown up overnight. he used to be timid, nerdy, and agreeable. all of a sudden he was resigned and stubborn as a bull all at once. He seemed dismissive of all the things that derric would consider important in his shoes, and seemed hung up on all the weird little things like the family creed. he didn't seem to care about the parlor his father spent years building or the fact that his family members stole it from him brazenly. if someone had told him that clive would have turned out like this a month ago derric would have called that person crazy. but now with everything that had happened derric didn't know what to thing anymore, Clive had grown, regressed, and just plain changed in so many ways that derric found it all frustrating beyond belief perhaps they both needed a new start after all this.

Clives POV.

After Derric left Clive spent the rest of the day cleaning up and packing the last of his personal effects. The next morning Camden arrived “you ready” Clive looked back at his empty dorm room, everything that had happened that day carried a certain sense finality to it. Clive mulled over his thoughts for a moment before speaking. “yes, I think I am.”