When Andrew shared The Collective’s plans with me, I started saving every dollar, just to be able to quit my day job and help with future events without any other responsibilities. I’ve never been a big spender, so saving money wasn’t hard, plus I’d already had a significant sum in my bank account. Last year I finally quit and started devoting all my time to the activities of The Collective.
We had a huge event coming up, and there was so much that needed to be sorted out. I volunteered to do anything and everything that was in my power. That’s why they assigned me Frank Fiala, and I knew pretty much everything about his family at this point. When Andrew mentioned that Connie was Frank’s weak spot, I in turn knew what was hers. She’d do anything for Ruby, and that’s why I wanted to reach out to her.
When she had driven through an intersection on a red light and hit a turning car, I thought my head was going to burst, trying to figure out what I should do. The smartest thing would be to drive away so that I don’t get caught, but my instinct to help was stronger. So I stayed.
I didn’t expect her to accept the ride home, but she did. Perhaps that ride, and my suggestions about pay it forward, was the reason she was standing in front of me.
“Coincidence brings us together again,” I shrugged.
We shook hands. Connie looked at me awkwardly, cleared her throat, and threw her arms as if to say what the hell.
“After you drove away I realised I don’t even know your name. I guess I don’t have to worry about that anymore…” she laughed and her cheeks grew red. “To be honest, if I’d known it was you I would be meeting, I wouldn’t have come.”
“Why?”
She shrugged nervously. “Because I’m still embarrassed about my carelessness and impulsivity.”
I laughed. “You don’t have to be. I’m not judging you.”
“Why not? Have you also crashed into another car before?”
“Well, no,” I shook my head. “But I’ve done things I’m not proud of.”
Never mind the thing I’m still helping to bring to fruition…
I could see questions in her eyes, but she didn’t ask them, and I was grateful because I wouldn’t have given her a straight answer.
“Actually, it was you who made me come here. What I mean is, that evening in the car, when you spoke about returning favours and righting wrongs,” she explained passionately, “it felt right.”
I nodded. “I thought as much. If I’d known who you were, I’d add meetings with a member of the Association to the list of examples of pay it forward.”
We laughed and Connie relaxed a bit. Her cheeks lost that bright red colour and suddenly turned much paler than I’d expect.
We stared at each other for a while, until Connie interrupted the silence with an awkward: “So…”
“I’m sorry, I forgot myself there. I’ve still not recovered from the surprise.” I didn’t like lying or tricking people, but in this case, what else could I do? If everything goes well, Connie would learn the truth. Hopefully.
“I know exactly how you feel.” She smiled.
“I’d like to talk to you about something, and don’t worry, I won’t keep you long. We can move to our lounge, it’s on the first floor, or there’s a café across the road.”
I left the decision to her, because I wanted her to feel like she was the one in control. Of course, that wasn’t actually the case, but she didn’t need to know that. The biggest decisions had already been made; this was inconsequential in comparison.
She looked around the empty vestibule and reception and I could guess what she was thinking. She didn’t want to be stuck in a hopeless situation, follow a strange man somewhere she couldn’t run away from, where no one would hear her scream. Clearly there was nobody else there in the whole building.
“I’d like some coffee,” she pointed to the café across the road.
“In that case it’s my treat,” I offered and gestured towards the glass entrance door.
As we sat down at a table and got our drinks, we stuck to small talk. After a few minutes, Connie mentioned the video from the news, and my breath caught. I knew it by heart, of course. Not only had I seen it a hundred times, I was there when it was being made. But she couldn’t know that, I reminded myself and joined in her speculation about why the video was published and what would come of it. She was surprisingly close, she’d only underestimated the scale of the events, and how closely related they’d be to herself, her Dad, and her daughter.
There was virtually no difference between the Association and The Collective; both were working towards the same goal, the protection of animals and the environment from the cruel and ruthless hand of man. But whereas the Association did everything legally and publically, its sister The Collective didn’t mind getting its hands dirty. The Association followed the proverb “If someone throws stones at you, throw back bread”, it worked humbly and quietly to fix what was damaged, while the Collective gave that proverb the middle finger, so to speak. Because it learnt that evil cannot be fought with good, and mild punishments for great crimes will simply never work. And because it’s had enough.
“Connie,” I started, lowering my voice. She noticed and leaned towards me. “What we’re
