Room 220, Tuesday Afternoon
Feb. 15th, 2006 05:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
swerval_zeroZero places a phone call.
"Yes, hello, Rat Hopeless-Savage, please--I know that's a lie. I know he is consulting for your company this week, and you are going to go into whatever very important meeting he's in and tell him that his little sister is on the phone, and that if he doesn't talk to me, I will call our mother and tell her he said it was okay if I tried recreational drugs."
Thirty seconds later, a male voice came over the line. "I'd say that was uncalled fer, but I don' know why you did it. What's goin' on, Wee Skanky Zero?"
"I couldn't stay mad at you."
"What?"
"When I saw you again. I couldn't stay mad at you. I'd been mad at you for ten years, and then you said those soddin' awful things, and I still--I couldn't stay mad at you. 'Cause you're my brother."
"Zero, you're startin' to scare me."
"I think I screwed up."
"Are we talkin' 'you need me to come up there an' go with you to the clinic' screwed up, 'you need me to run interference with the press' screwed up, or 'you need me to listen 'n give brotherly advice' screwed up?"
"The last one."
"Oh, thank God."
"If I needed the first one I'd call Arsenal."
"That's probably a good idea."
"I--I can't tell you everything that's been going on. It's this place."
"Does this have something to do with why you were a cat at Thanksgiving?"
"Kinda."
"Right. Go on."
"One of my friends got hurt by some--people. In town. An' some of my other friends went after the--people that did it. It was really dangerous, Rat, these aren' nice people."
"Okay, Zero, I have to ask--are we talking about a gang?"
"Sort of. They, they didn't tell me what they were doing, like they assumed I wouldn't want to help, and they could have been killed, and then when I found out I got mad, because they didn' tell me an' they could've been killed an' all, and they act like it's my own fault or something, like I should have somehow figured it out. And they don't understand why I'm mad and they're mad at me for being mad and I'm sick of it. Maybe I should just apologize to them all and get it over with."
"You're not going to apologize. This is not your fault, Zee, and it sounds to me like someone should be upset, if it was as dangerous as you say, and they really don't seem to understand that. If they don't ever understand that, what's going to stop them the next time they decide to be stupid? If you apologize, they'll never learn. I can't understand why they wouldn't think you cared--it makes me sick to think someone would think you wouldn't care, Zee. That's what you do."
"You wanna know the worst part?"
"What?"
"I only know like five people that were involved, but Parker told me there were somethin' like twenty. And then she says they were tryin' to keep it small--"
"That sounds like a line of bull to me."
"Yeah, it did to me, too, but then she says that was small an' I don' know what to believe, but--Rat, what about those fifteen other people? I don't know who they were. I don't--I...squall." She sighed. "It's all squalled up. I miss home."
"We miss you. Just hang tight, all right? It'll all come together--"
"Or some bollocksy nonsense like that," they said together, and then Rat continued. "An' it'll be summer soon enough, an' Mum an' Da'll be home an' so will you. You'll see. Did you get our present?"
"What present?"
"Huh. That's weird. You were supposed to get a cofeemaker for Valentine's Day. Maybe the post is runnin' late. Listen, Zee, I really do have to help these people if they're gonna get this grant. You goin' to be okay?"
"Yeah. I'm swerval. Rat? Thanks for listening."
"Any time."
"Yes, hello, Rat Hopeless-Savage, please--I know that's a lie. I know he is consulting for your company this week, and you are going to go into whatever very important meeting he's in and tell him that his little sister is on the phone, and that if he doesn't talk to me, I will call our mother and tell her he said it was okay if I tried recreational drugs."
Thirty seconds later, a male voice came over the line. "I'd say that was uncalled fer, but I don' know why you did it. What's goin' on, Wee Skanky Zero?"
"I couldn't stay mad at you."
"What?"
"When I saw you again. I couldn't stay mad at you. I'd been mad at you for ten years, and then you said those soddin' awful things, and I still--I couldn't stay mad at you. 'Cause you're my brother."
"Zero, you're startin' to scare me."
"I think I screwed up."
"Are we talkin' 'you need me to come up there an' go with you to the clinic' screwed up, 'you need me to run interference with the press' screwed up, or 'you need me to listen 'n give brotherly advice' screwed up?"
"The last one."
"Oh, thank God."
"If I needed the first one I'd call Arsenal."
"That's probably a good idea."
"I--I can't tell you everything that's been going on. It's this place."
"Does this have something to do with why you were a cat at Thanksgiving?"
"Kinda."
"Right. Go on."
"One of my friends got hurt by some--people. In town. An' some of my other friends went after the--people that did it. It was really dangerous, Rat, these aren' nice people."
"Okay, Zero, I have to ask--are we talking about a gang?"
"Sort of. They, they didn't tell me what they were doing, like they assumed I wouldn't want to help, and they could have been killed, and then when I found out I got mad, because they didn' tell me an' they could've been killed an' all, and they act like it's my own fault or something, like I should have somehow figured it out. And they don't understand why I'm mad and they're mad at me for being mad and I'm sick of it. Maybe I should just apologize to them all and get it over with."
"You're not going to apologize. This is not your fault, Zee, and it sounds to me like someone should be upset, if it was as dangerous as you say, and they really don't seem to understand that. If they don't ever understand that, what's going to stop them the next time they decide to be stupid? If you apologize, they'll never learn. I can't understand why they wouldn't think you cared--it makes me sick to think someone would think you wouldn't care, Zee. That's what you do."
"You wanna know the worst part?"
"What?"
"I only know like five people that were involved, but Parker told me there were somethin' like twenty. And then she says they were tryin' to keep it small--"
"That sounds like a line of bull to me."
"Yeah, it did to me, too, but then she says that was small an' I don' know what to believe, but--Rat, what about those fifteen other people? I don't know who they were. I don't--I...squall." She sighed. "It's all squalled up. I miss home."
"We miss you. Just hang tight, all right? It'll all come together--"
"Or some bollocksy nonsense like that," they said together, and then Rat continued. "An' it'll be summer soon enough, an' Mum an' Da'll be home an' so will you. You'll see. Did you get our present?"
"What present?"
"Huh. That's weird. You were supposed to get a cofeemaker for Valentine's Day. Maybe the post is runnin' late. Listen, Zee, I really do have to help these people if they're gonna get this grant. You goin' to be okay?"
"Yeah. I'm swerval. Rat? Thanks for listening."
"Any time."
