Covert Silence

[sSoul]

This is my(reposted) contribution to a collaborative effort between myself and a few other writers, some of whom posted stories in the same universe as this one. This is one of my first attempts at solo writing, and I hope it won't be the last

Chapter 1​

Anyone telling you to visit Pi City would neglect to mention The Ripple. While the South Slice was the stereotypical depiction of an American city often seen on television, The Ripple was the disappointing reality behind it. There was a pothole in the Ripple for every office building in the South Slice, a vandalized bridge for every mall, and a homeless individual roaming the streets aimlessly for every restaurant. Really, the main reason that Tayvon hated the place so much was that it reminded him of home. Still, he wasn’t there to get some sort of sick nostalgia trip. He had a job to do. First, he had to visit an old friend. Tayvon found Alejandro Fattore by the building with all sorts of graffiti covering each side, the most impressive piece depicting a large melting skull. When the two first came across the image, Alejandro remarked that it was “the rawest thing I’ve ever seen”, with Tayvon agreeing enthusiastically. Due to their shared fascination, the duo often met up at this spot, admired the art, and went on their way, building a friendship the more they participated in the activity together. Tayvon would usually be the first to arrive at the meetup location, today being no different. Once he stopped walking, he grabbed his phone from his gym bag and checked for any new notifications.

“It’s time. I know it’ll be difficult. But in order for our operation to proceed as normal, you have to make the sacrifice.” Standing at the top of a list of text messages, it rose to the apex of importance on Tayvon’s screen. The young man grimaced at the text, picturing the message’s grisly subtext.

“Yo Tay!” Out of the corner of his eye, a familiar tan skinned man with the beginnings of a beard walked up to him, “How’ve ya been man? It’s been way too long.” The length of time that had separated their previous encounter and this one was evident in the accessories that he had gotten. While the muscle shirts and the baggy jeans were staples of his wardrobe, it seemed that time had allowed Alejandro to collect a few adornments. Included in the lineup were piercings to his ears, nose and mouth, a pair of rings on his right hand, a Rolex on his left, and a golden chain hanging around his neck.

“Like the chain, Al. Lemme guess, you got it at Walmart” Tayvon chuckled while pointing at the neck accessory. It was simple in design, just a few locks of gold.

“Ha, maybe back in the old days, but this baby’s 100%. You wanna hold it and check for yourself?” Taking the chain off his neck with a coy smirk, Al held it out towards his companion.

“Alright, gotta make sure you ain’t playing me for a fool over here,” Tay chuckled as he grabbed the accessory. Sure enough, its texture and weight lend credence to the confident Mexican’s claim.

“Impressive, when’d you graduate to name brands?”

“Listen bro, while you was out at your school, I was out in these streets stacking this paper!” He pulled out a fan of 20 dollar bills to prove his point. As if that wasn’t enough, he performed the classic “make it rain” gesture by placing the bills in one hand and using the other to spread them out towards the ground all while doing a ridiculous dance accompanied with a smug grin.

Tayvon let out a hearty laugh in response to his friend’s antics, “I mean hey, I wanted to travel on the beaten path while I could. I’m just glad that you managed to tread your own.”

“It's all about the grind my friend.” Al shook his head with a knowledgeable grin concealed by its downward tilt due to the young man needing to collect the money he had carelessly swiped to the ground, “But enough standing around, let's hit the town. I’ll treat you to lunch, consider it my treat.” With a friendly chuckle from both of them, the two began walking towards any nearby fast food joints. On the way, Tayvon pulled out his phone and read yet another reminder about what would come next.

“Formalities are good to keep up appearances, but you can’t stall forever. Just remember to stay on task and this will go smoothly.”
While he was on the same page as the messenger, Tayvon couldn’t help but make a muffled noise somewhere between an annoyed growl and a dreadful groan.

 

[sSoul]

Chapter 2​

Although The Ripple lacked the more dignified options that other parts of Pi City possessed, particularly lacking the family centric appeal of the South Slice or the more exquisite options provided by the Inner Circle, they still had a large number of fast food chains. McDonald's, Panera, and Taco Bell were all options that the duo had available to them. With that said, neither Tayvon nor Alejandro were particularly interested in choosing among those options. Instead, they had opted to visit one of the local food trucks, and although they lacked in numbers compared to the fast food restaurants, they compensated for that with much better food.
“Al I just gotta ask something real quick,” Tayvon turned to Alejandro with a slightly raised eyebrow coupled with a slight smirk between the bites of his pizza bagel, “You talk about stacking paper, and yet you still eat the same food from when you were a bum?”
“Ya can’t forget about the people that treated you good at your lowest point, Tay,” The jewelry clad young man smiled as he shook his head, “If you do, then you’re no better than those untouchable assholes that screwed you over in the first place, you feel me?” Tayvon nodded along with his companion, though it was delayed by a suspicion that he was a part of the ‘untouchable assholes” that his friend hated. Regardless of that conversational hiccup, the two enjoyed their walk throughout The Ripple as they slowly consumed their pizza bagels.

“Ah shit,” Alejandro groaned after reading a message on his phone, “I missed a call from work. I gotta call ‘em back or they’re gonna be pissed. Sorry about that," The young man half heartedly tapped on the number that called him and began walking away from his friend.

Tayvon wasted no time in taking advantage that the separation had brought him. He contacted the person that had texted him numerous times for various pieces of advice and directions: a woman by the name of Shauna Scott. Shauna acted as the bridge between Tayvon’s employers and himself. However, they shared equal authority, giving and receiving orders from each other. This allowed the young man to tell his coworker to record the call between Alejandro and the caller and play it back to him when it was completed. Completing this task amounted to pushing a few buttons for the young woman, since her employers had paid the phone company that Alejandro uses to record and collect the data of his mobile conversations. Soon enough, Tayvon was getting the conversation in his ear.

“Get your ass back here!" The voice belonged to someone named Derek Anders, one of Alejandro's coworkers. The way he spoke was reminiscent of someone trying to shout and whisper simultaneously, clearly trying to relay demands whilst trying to keep a low profile.

“Who died and said you could start ordering people around?! I’m rolling with my boy right now, can’t this wait?” Unlike his coworker, Al made no attempt at secrecy, yelling at his phone as if Anders wouldn’t even need it to hear him.

“No one died yet, but if you keep 'rolling with your boy', you'll get close” The “whisper” half of Ander’s tone sounded more like a hiss as his patience with Tayvon’s friend began to thin, “Look, the big guys are tryna get all hands on deck. Big things are happening and they need everyone here, makes sense?” There was a twinge of condescension in the explanation, like a parent explaining addition to an unintelligent child.

“Wait, are we actually tryna expand into Alpine Rocks?"

"Just get back here, I've got things to do.” On that note, Anders hung up out of exasperation, prompting Shauna to disconnect from Alejandro’s phone. Tayvon nodded slowly as he heard the exchange, thinking to himself based on the information he possessed prior.
This seems to confirm our suspicions about Alejandro’s activities. I gotta talk to Shauna to see what happens next, but I have a feeling it’s gonna be no fun for anyone involved…

“Sorry man, Imma have to cut this short, I’ve got something important to take care of. You good for tomorrow?" Alejandro projected his voice while hastily walking away, it had appeared that the severity of the situation had gotten to him.

"Sure! See ya then!" Though Tavyon kept up the smile and wave routine, he was more concerned about what his coworker would say to him next. Thankfully, he wouldn’t have to wait for long.

“I’ll have to trace the source of the person your friend was talking to, but after that, we should be ready to launch an attack, however, you have another assignment for later today.”

“Oh?” T raised an eyebrow, unprepared for that, “And what might that be?”

“We’ve heard rumors of other empowered vigilantes acting within this city, around your age too. We have reason to believe that some of them may be attending the school Pi University, which is where you’ll be transferring into soon. Our superiors believed that it would be best if you got acquainted with the student body before attending your classes. To that end, I began researching how you could accomplish this goal. I found that one of the members of the student body is throwing a party without specific restrictions on who is invited. I see this as the perfect opportunity to acquaint yourself with the student body and appear to be a natural fixture of the school. I presume you’ll be accepting this assignment?” Shauna relayed the information provided to her by her seniors in a calm and matter-of-fact tone, which heavily contrasted the exasperated face of Tayvon.

“It’s not like I’ve got much of a choice now…” Partially groaning, T resigned himself to following his orders. Though he wouldn’t tell anyone, much less Shauna, he had never been to any parties during high school, and the little free time he had at West Point was delegated to either clubs or studying.

I’m about to head into uncharted territory and I’ve got no one to guide me. This should be fun…