I look at my watch and realize the movie starts in half an hour. He could be waiting outside the building ready to grab me and throw me in a van.
I can’t help but shake my head. This is like one of those movies where a single character volunteers to go down in a dark basement, the lightbulb not working of course, and then promptly gets killed off…to the surprise of no one.
Those characters drive me crazy and are literally too stupid to live.
At least that’s what I’ve always thought. Until the movie became real and that character became…me.
10
Daniel
I scoop out another handful of popcorn, trying to look normal in the back row of a movie theater’s late night showing.
I know she’s going to come. I just know it.
And right on cue I see a small girl slide in the side door, head down as she quickly moves up the stairs until she reaches the top row.
I don’t turn, instead holding my hand just above my popcorn box and moving two fingers up and down to confirm it’s me, as if it would be anybody else. Luckily my estimate was wrong and there’s ten people in the entire theater, max, and they're all here for the same reason…to avoid crowds, with generous spacing between each of us.
Until she sits down next to me.
“This better be good and you better not try anything. I’ve got my pepper spray and other things ready in case you do.”
I flatten my palm, moving it up and down slightly as if I’m pressing down her volume button, letting her know we need to keep this quiet. Movie theater acoustics are good for sound coming from the movie, fortunately, and nobody seems to have heard or have noticed.
“Have you seen this one?” I ask, my head motioning toward the screen.
“Why are you wasting my time with this? Just say what you need to say.”
“I’m trying, but you won’t let me.”
She huffs, turns her body so she’s square with the screen and leans back in her seat a little, half of her back still not touching though and I realize she could dart out of here at any moment. And from the look on her face, her body language, and her tone, that moment could be any second.
“It’s called The Departed, and it’s actually a remake of a Hong Kong film that preceded it by four years called Infernal Affairs.”
“I’m not a film buff. I get my kicks from reading books. Ask me why I care.”
“You care because Leonardo DiCaprio’s character is…me.”
“You’re going to try and tell me DiCaprio’s playing a role based on your life?” She shakes her head.
“No. What I’m telling you is that his character, William ‘Billy Costigan Jr.’ has family ties, relatives to be exact, who are in the Irish mafia…but Billy goes through the police academy, wanting to do the ‘right thing’ with his life instead.”
She says nothing but I know she’s listening. Finally.
“Billy gets recruited to go undercover, including false charges against him and jail time that make his story seem more legit. He infiltrates the Irish mafia, and in the process finds out that the mafia also has a mole in the police force.”
“Ok. So?”
“So, I’m an orphan, Little Peaches…just like you. I was a cop, went undercover and while undercover found out there were some mafia types who had infiltrated the police ranks in our town. It took me three years, three long freaking years, but I found out who they were and reported them. The whole station turned against me, saying they were some of our best guys and I was calling them out? Not only that, there were some supposedly clean cops who were taking cuts from the mafia to turn a blind eye.”
“You’re telling me that you uncovered both mafia that had infiltrated your police station and also cops from your p
olice station that were in cahoots with the mafia?”
“Bingo,” I say, taking a handful of popcorn before holding the bucket in front of her. “Want some?”
“No, no, no,” she says, pushing it out of her way, but more importantly her back finds the seat as she settles in. I can see her eyes look off to the side, down and to the left to be precise, which, as someone with extensive interrogation experience and the ability to read people, tells me she’s having an internal dialog. She’s trying to put the puzzle pieces together to see if what I’m saying adds up.