Campbell (7 page)

Connor finally turned down the music. “You didn’t have my back with Juan.”

Tal answered with a groan and an eye roll. “Jesus, Connor, it was like two hundred dollars, and he’s a friend. He’s got kids to feed.”

Connor glared from the passenger seat. It wasn’t about the money. They both knew that. It was that he’d attempted to take something from Connor that wasn’t his. If Juan had asked for the money, Connor would have been likely to give it to him willingly, with no repayment required. Connor wasn’t an easy person to ask favors of though, and the costs were usually high.

“Don’t ever think I’m someone that’s to be taken advantage of, Tal. It doesn’t matter that we’ve known each other since we were kids. I’d ruin you too.”

“Fuck, you’re melodramatic. You’ll
ruin
me?”

“It’s about trust. It’s not about the money. I don’t give a fuck about the money.”

“Well, I’m not going to fuck you over, so I guess you don’t have to worry,” Tal muttered. “Now enough with the cold shoulder.”

His cold shoulder was met with a hearty punch. “Fine, asshole. We’re good.”

“Good,” Tal muttered. “We’ve got enough problems without creating unnecessary ones between us.”

Connor nodded and Tal could see relief flood his face “We’re good man. We’re good.”

The election went fine. The right man won. Connor and Tal were revered guests, and it was after dark when they began their drive back to Los Angeles.
 

They’d just passed Bakersfield when Connor’s phone rang. The look of surprise on his face when he answered caught Tal off guard.
 

“Campbell? What? He’s gone?”

“Who is it?” Tal mouthed.

“Rosa.”

Rosa was a shitty actress Connor paid a lot of money to in order to give him the run-down of the goings on in Campbell. She’d been up there for a couple of years, after living in Los Angeles for a long time, and Connor trusted her. They’d dated for a while. Tal had never had great love for Rosa, and he’d suggested Connor fire her after their visit. She was manipulative and would do anything for fame, which was likely how Connor had talked her into moving to Campbell.
 

He pulled over on the side of the road and put the car phone on speaker. “Slow down. Okay, say it again.”

“Cole Campbell’s presumed kidnapped by East. Everyone up here is fluttering around like it’s the biggest thing since the adults died. There’s talk that they’re viewing this as an act of war. They’re like arming up and shit.”

Immediately, Tal’s feelings on the subject were unclear and his mind raced to reach conclusions. It could go one of a few ways for them, if Campbell and East went to war. Either way, they were the next logical choice for the winner to devour, but it did buy them some time. Or maybe Campbell and East would destroy one another, and leave them the spoils.

“How do they know it was East?” Connor questioned, raising his eyebrows at Tal.

“There’s some sort of letter ordering them to disarm, and merge territories, or he gets it. Cole. I guess there were some pictures too, of him all tied up and looking rough.”

Tal and Connor frowned at one another. “What’s the buzz up there?” Tal asked. “What are they going to do?”

Rosa cleared her throat. “Well, it’s not like I’m close enough to know exactly, but they’re not going to do what they’ve been asked to do, that’s for sure.”

“Okay, well, keep us posted,” Connor said, an amused look on his face. “That’s an interesting turn of events.”

The President of West hung up his phone and tossed it on the dash. “Shit.”

“Shit indeed,” Tal replied, still processing what this meant for them. “That’s a pretty extreme thing to do.”

“I guess they were smarter than us and realized there wasn’t much reasoning with her. It was only a matter of time before she turned her attentions east, and they’re all Canadian up there, no matter how things have changed. They’ll side with her, and her communist—”

“Socialist.”

“Whatever,” Connor rolled his eyes. “What do we do? This has the potential to change the game.”

That it did, Tal thought. “I don’t know. I think we need to sit on it, and really think things through. She made it very clear that she wasn’t interested in working with us, but this could change things. We don’t want to work with East. Even her shit system is better than their utilitarian bullshit.”

Connor shrugged. “Maybe? Let’s sleep on it. We’ll meet up tomorrow morning and decide. Immediately, I think we should re-approach Campbell and see how this changes things for them. Fuck East. There’s no way we’re adhering to their system.”

“Nor will Lucy Campbell with ours.”

“Maybe we deal with the other brother.”

“Maybe he’s more of a douchebag than her,” Tal said, chuckling. “Can a woman be a douchebag?”

“That chick can be whatever she wants,” Connor replied, laughing. “I should go up there and console her.”

Connor’s oblivious ego never failed to amuse Tal. “Dude, you’re delusional. She’s gay.”

“You shouldn’t think of things as so black and white. She just hasn’t met the Wilde.”

“Don’t name your dick,” Tal groaned. “You know that doesn’t get you anywhere with the chicks.”

“Lots of chicks like taking a walk on the Wilde side. Maybe I could be all conciliatory and shit and give her and her girlfriend what they’ve been missing.” Connor blew a kiss in Tal’s direction. “You’re just pissed because I get more tail than you. It’s okay to admit it.”

“If anyone goes, it’s me,” Tal replied, shaking his head. “Because you’re going to come home without the Wilde if you go, because that chick, she’ll take it and not in the way you’re hoping.”

“I think she’s sexually repressed. That’s totally it with a chick like that. She’s trying to play a man’s game, so she goes after pussy in the hopes that it’ll make her fit in better.” Connor smiled.

“You’re so deep. No wonder the chicks can’t resist you.” Tal rolled his eyes. “If anyone goes, it’s me.”

“Maybe we should both go again.”

They thought about it for a minute and shook their heads.

“That’s a terrible idea,” Tal said.

“I knew it was as soon as I said it. I just…I feel like there was a real shot there, and I blew it.”

“Diplomatically, of course,” Tal chuckled.

“Absolutely.” He waggled his eyebrows. “My diplomat really wanted to work with hers.”

“So we’ll sleep on it?” Tal said, once they’d finished a series of penis innuendo and jokes that spanned the better part of half an hour, as was the norm on their drives. “And decide our next move?”

“We’ll have a coffee summit tomorrow morning on your porch.”

Upon returning home, after several beers, and arguing his way out of sex with Leah—which resulted in him making himself a can of beans for dinner that looked like they’d been in the house for a decade and probably had—Tal finally settled in to his father’s study to think about the Campbell situation. He had a brief fantasy about consoling Lucy Campbell, which resulted in him screwing her in the grass where they’d laid that night a couple of months earlier. Then his mind wandered to her girlfriend arriving, and before he knew it, he was rubbing one out on the worn leather sofa.
 

It wasn’t a productive evening, but it was a satisfying one.

When Connor arrived the next morning, Tal knew that, unlike himself, he’d spent the entire night thinking of a plan and his notebook would reflect this perfectly. There would be at least five neatly written pages outlining a way forward, all of which would make perfectly logical sense. Tal might have been good with money, and he was more even tempered than Connor, but was no good at long-term planning. Connor had him beat there.
 

“So, I think you and Juan should go. Just show up, offer your help, offer whatever we can give. Stay as long as necessary to cement the relationship. Probably don’t sleep with her.” He waved a finger at Tal. “Although you are looking extra manly with that two day beard.”

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” Tal muttered, rubbing his stubble. “Since she is—”

“She’s what? Nineteen? Twenty? She doesn’t know what she is. She’s a dyke because it suits her purposes, like I said before. If you want to roll with the wolves, you’ve got to howl.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Tal chuckled, sipping his black coffee. “And I’m just saying, if the opportunity comes up, I’m probably not going to turn it down. There’s something about that girl, and I don’t usually go nuts for tail like you do.”

“If you’re smart you’ll keep your hands to yourself. You’ll play by her rules, and keep the business and pleasure apart. She seems to be winning with rules.” He shook his head. “Fuck knows why.”

“Fine. Whatever,” Tal mumbled. “You’ll keep an eye on Leah?” He glanced at his friend. “And by keep an eye on, I mean keep your dick out of—”

“Your cousin wouldn’t fuck me anyway. I’m not one of God’s chosen people. I fucking run shit, have millions of dollars, and I’m not good enough for her,” he muttered. “I’ll keep an eye on her. Hopefully when she’s out here in her little bikini, and she’s got it untied so she doesn’t get tan lines—”

“Fuck off,” Tal grumbled, punching him in the arm, happy that Leah could barely tolerate being in the same room with Connor most of the time.
 

“So you’ll go? You’ve lost brothers so you’re probably the best one there too.” Connor said. “We’ll keep a tail on you up there in case anything goes wrong.”

Tal thought about it for a few minutes. He decided it would be nice to get away from Leah for a bit, and have the chance to do something on his own, without Connor or anyone else dictating his actions. It was a great opportunity to set himself apart, and potentially forge an alliance where he was the lead. That, or he’d be the one to fuck things up even more than they already were. Tal doubted anyone could do any better than him though, least of all Connor. Strategy and negotiation were entirely different things.
 

He responded with a smile and a sharp nod. “Yeah, I’ll go.”

In ten years, through Connor’s strategizing, and Tal’s financial management, they’d managed to build an empire. Movies were made, kids became stars. Neither of them were as involved in that world as much as they once were, but a hell of a lot of the money they touched went into the film industry.
 
Movies kept kids engaged and kept them happy. As long as there was culture, people were relatively civilized.
 

That day, nearly ten years after they’d released their first movie into fifteen theatres across California, Connor put Tal on a plane with a set of every DVD they’d ever made in a huge binder. There were hundreds of them, some quality and some embarrassing.
 

“You can sell what we do in a way she’ll understand,” he said, as he hugged Tal goodbye. “Call if you need anything to secure her support and I’ll do what I can.”

Tal nodded, looking down at his friend. “We’ll figure this out. This…it’ll be all right.”

“It will be good,” Connor replied optimistically. “See you soon.”

***

Juan still wasn’t speaking to Connor, but he was speaking to Tal. Unfortunately, this was mostly about what an asshole Connor was, and it went on for most of their flight.

“…All our lives, and he’d throw it away over two hundred bucks, that he did owe me….”

Tal zoned out over what had been Montana and tried to give some serious thought to strategy. He’d be nice. He’d be accommodating. He’d negotiate. He’d be more flexible than last time. If East was going after Campbell, West was surely in their sights once they’d moved Lucy Campbell out of their path straight to the Pacific.
 

He had to admit, he was excited not having any idea about what the next couple of days would bring. They landed in a field about two miles from Campbell, a bit more roughly than last time but safely, and Juan took a huge breath when he got off the plane.

“Fucking smells like freedom, doesn’t it?” he said, a huge grin stretching across his broad face. “Away from Connor, the kids. This is going to be a good time.”

Tal didn’t feel like bursting his bubble by telling him there was an equally good chance that it would be a terrible time. Instead, he just smiled and nodded as Juan continued rambling during their walk to the Campbell farmhouse. The town, which seemed to have been once called Fort Macleod from the signage, was busier than the last time they’d passed through it, with more and more buildings going up in every possible space. There were a few churches along the way that looked fairly well-maintained, but a couple that were in complete and utter disarray. The smell of cow shit persisted, but after ten minutes or so, Tal found himself acclimating to it as much as he could hope.
 

“This town is booming,” Juan remarked, as they passed a group of people constructing a house frame. “Do you really think it’s all for her?”

“The farmland around here seems good too,” Tal shrugged. “But yeah, probably.”

They hadn’t been walking very long when they started getting stares from the kids they passed. Those kids didn’t look so different from them, although they were maybe a little better dressed, Tal thought, but when a wall of a man with an impressive moustache stopped them both dead in their tracks, they realized they stuck out like sore thumbs.

“Who are you?” he asked gruffly. “We’ve had some trouble with strangers in these parts lately.”

“We’re from West. We’re here to see Lucy Campbell and offer our support—” Tal winced as found himself pinned to the ground.
 

The man’s face went beet red with anger. “You don’t just come see Lucy Campbell. You got an invite?”

Tal shook his head, as the kid held him in place, and two more held Juan down similarly.
 

“Where’d you come from?”

“West,” Tal grunted.

“I mean now. You didn’t walk.”

“We flew,” Juan rasped. “The plane is a mile or so out.”

The boys exchanged looks. “I guess we take them to her?”

“We’ll just go and make sure she’s safe and they don’t mean her harm,” the big one said, before releasing Tal. “You better not mean her harm, or it’ll be the last thing you do.”