The unexpected notebook

I have lived a simple life. Simple but flavoured by misery; I was once a successful business owner, and never had to go without, now living in a ridiculously small flat on the second floor with my partner. My partner, Louise and I struggled to make the ends meet after I hit rock bottom. I always wished to make things easier for her, she was always sweet to me. I cried and prayed on my lonely nights, wishing for a miracle that would get us out of this distress. On a gloomy day when the sun tore its misty veil, everything changed like a flick of a switch. Louise was working at the hospital at that time; a mysterious package arrived with no return address. I anxiously chose to open it. There was a hand written letter, a small black notebook, sim cards and an old phone, neatly tucked into the padded envelope. I unfolded the letter, as gently as I could, to feed my curiosity. To my biggest surprise, a check of $20000 fell out. My grin reached ear to ear; I was over the moon, finally I could be useful in something, but I had my suspicions so I decided to read the unknown letter.

“Hello Richard! Long-time no see! I heard about your accident from years ago and that you’re struggling, so I thought I would surprise you. You were such a great businessman! Anyway, the check is yours. However, I need you to do something for me first. There is a small black notebook. In the notebook, there are names. Next to the names, there are phone numbers. Under the numbers, there are the things you need to say. You must repeat every word that is written down. Use as many sim cards as you need if you can’t leave the house. When you have done all of them, the money is yours. Best of luck! From an old friend.”

‘An old friend? Who could it be?’- I questioned the whole situation, but who wouldn’t do this small task for this amount of money? It could help us with a lot of things. A well-deserved holiday, or invest in something so Louise didn’t have to work so hard anymore. I hid the check so no one could cash it in just yet. Not even me. I have set the phone up and got down to business. I called every single number in the notebook. The conversations were surprisingly quick and very much one sided. I felt like the people I called were afraid or scared. I changed the sim card a few times before getting to the last number in the book. That was when I noticed an oddly familiar name. James Sterling. The things I had to say left me uneasy. I took a long deep breath to force myself through for this one last call.

‘Hello, Mayor Sterling speaking.’ The stern voice of this man made me hesitate. He must have done something I would consider mortifying, but I had no choice left. I was elbow deep in this mess. ‘Hello Mayor Sterling, it’s payday today.’

‘Kid, you must have called the wrong number. Didn’t your mother tell you not to play with fire?’ I took a second to get it together. I was not expecting this amount of anger masked by the icy tone, but I remembered to read every word out loud to him that was in the notebook. ‘My mother taught me not to do shady things. Do you remember the necklace you gave her? And the flash drive? I wonder, what the people would think if they knew what was on it?’ The mayor went silent. Whatever this was about, it was heavy and sinister, it was something no-one should know about; a crime that would make your blood thin and shatter everything around you, if someone was about to find out. I felt the sweat running into rivers down on his face into the call. A few moments later, he asked away in a threatening tone. ‘What the…? Who are you? You will pay for this!’

‘Not before you do, Mayor. Have a great evening.’ I felt my heart twisting and turning inside my chest. In panic, I threw the phone out of my second story window and tore the notebook apart. I believed I have been played. By whom? And why? I might never get to know. Someone took advantage of unfortunate situation. My head was spinning with questions but there were no answers. It was done now. I promised myself not to tell Louise, she would probably hate me. I made a plan to run away from this with her. I spent hours thinking, where we should go, I didn’t realise Louise came home. My worries eased at the sight of her. I felt safe again. Her smile made everything better. I forced myself into a conversation and pretended to be bored of my day, as this was always the case. She talked about her day with that sweet voice of hers that almost sounded like a gentle lullaby. She seemed happier when she could talk more about herself. However, she did say something out of the ordinary, that made everything click. She said ‘payday is today’, but I knew she wouldn’t get paid until the end of the month. I knew, because I helped her with her finances. This made me connect the dots. Before I could ask her the questions about it all, I heard a bang and felt a sharp pain in my chest, that coloured my snow-white shirt in a lake of crimson.