The Little Black Book

Louis took another sip of… Coffee? Wait, did I order this? He thought to himself. His eyes strained as he felt like he was waking up, back to lucidity. One of the lights above their booth was flicking and buzzing in a rhythm that he seemed to anticipate, and he found it odd.

Buzz zip, buzz zip, zap.

The man sitting across from him was familiar, if a little aged since their last moment together.

“It’s good to see you, Louis.” Said the man.

“Yeah, soak me in” Louis tried his best to belie the pain and anxiety he was currently experiencing. He was trying to keep it all together but for the life of him, he couldn’t recall much from the past few weeks. His contemporaries would chalk it up to his daily heroin addiction that had taken its toll since he was an art graduate, but this felt different. Louis Kane was losing his mind and he didn’t know why. He hoped the man in front of him would have answers, so he waited for the man to give away clues.

The waitress came back over, Louis noticed small coffee stains on the hem of her apron and yellow stains on her fingertips as she reflexively topped up her patrons’ mugs. The man across from him gave her a curt nod as she did so.

“Here’s your pie, doll” she drawled whilst placing it in front of the man.

“I love the pie here, always perfect crust, no matter when you order it, you want some?” Chirped the man.

“No”, replied Louis.

“Suits yourself”

It bugged Louis that the man across from him was so chipper as he ate, catching bits of crust and cream in his moustache, humming between bites. Louis had inherited this trait from the man.

Buzz zip, buzz zip, zap.

“So, read anything interesting lately?” asked the man.

The little black book felt heavy in Louis’ trench coat, and oddly always seemed a little damp on the outside, despite the pages remaining crisp enough to turn and read from clearly. The more this conversation agitated Louis, the heavier he noticed the book seem to grow in his pocket. Something about this whole interaction made him feel uneasy. A whisper. Huh? Suddenly Louis was subconsciously searching his pocket to make sure the book was - Ah, there it is.

Louis tried to get a read on Richard’s expression, but Richard kept his face downturned towards his pie, his horn-rimmed framed glasses hiding the intent of behind his eyes.

“Uh yeah”, croaked Louis, trying to lie to the man who sired him, “Just polished the Phantom Tollbooth again. Mum’s favourite, remember?”

Richard Kane’s jaw clenched at his son mentioning his ex-wife, despite never looking up from his desert. It would’ve taken a keen eye to see, but Louis knew his blow had landed.

Richard kept the small talk rolling, “where have you been staying? When was the last time you showered, had a bed of your own?”

“I’ve been staying with friends for a little while. Got a few projects on the back burner and waiting for a few invoices to clear” Louis tried to sound confident, but the buzzing lights felt like they were becoming more intense.

Buzz zip, buzz zip, zap.

“Uh huh, and how is your mother?”

“You know damn well how the fuck my mother is!”

Buzz zip-BANG!

The light behind the counter blew, and the portly little waitress let out a surprised gasp. It would have caused more of a scene if they weren’t the only three people in the diner. Still, Richard kept eating his pie, humming all the while.

“Look,” started Louis, “I don’t know what it is you want with me but sending me twenty thousand dollars is not going to put me in your pocket. I can just as quickly disappear, and you’ll never see me again.” Louis was increasingly agitated now, shifting his weight and searching for the exit.

“What?” Richard looked up, genuine surprise on his face.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Richard” Louis spat.

“I don’t know anything about twenty gran- “

Louis cut him off before Richard could finish his thought, mumbling “fuck this” under his breath. He put down a $50 note on the table and made to leave, but Richard was quick and grabbed him by the arm, immobilising Louis. A combination of atrophied muscles from regular drug use, and the fact that his old man had kept in good shape over the years meant that Louis was no match for his father physically, which only fuelled the fire of disdain towards the man.

“Let go!” he whispered loudly, and Richard’s hand came off his son’s arm as if a barrier had suddenly appeared between them.

“I need you to start from the beginning” asserted Richard, letting his son get comfortable in their booth again, ever the calmer of the two.

“Yeah, the twenty kay you obviously left me in an envelope whilst I was staying at Penny’s. You’re the only one who could have sent it to me there”.

Richard’s Kane expression was now cause for concern, Louis had only ever seen his father outwardly express emotion like this when he was caught off guard, and Richard Kane was a man rarely caught off guard. His vocation ensured that his pool of knowledge was almost as deep as his pool of resources.

“You’re not making much sense, Louis” Richard said flatly. “There’s something you’re not telling me”.

As if on cue, the book felt as if it was growing heavier in his jacket pocket, and, hesitating at first, Louis conceded that if he was to get any answers, he would need this man’s help. He took out the little black book and placed it on the table.

Richard studied it, without saying a word, his expression blank.

“What do you know about it?” Louis’ question seemed to buck Richard out of his trance.

“Only that its contents are the most valuable in our world” Richard said with authority.

“Yeah, right, it’s just a bunch of weird symbols inside” Louis retorted incredulously.

“Boy. It contains knowledge, and by extension that knowledge holds power. You’ve actually read it?”

“I mean I don’t know if you can call it reading, but I’ve seen the symbols” said Louis with a smile.

“What do you mean? You’ve seen what they look like?”

“Yeah, like this” Louis grabbed a pen out of his pocket and began to scribble one of the symbols he has seen in the book onto a napkin. Richard watched at first, then snatched the napkin and tore it up.

“What the fuck?!” Louis proclaimed, exasperated.

“You’ve read the book, and you’re alive. This is a first. The first for many, many generations.”

“Now you’re the one who isn’t making any sense”, Louis’ headache was growing so much now that his vision was blurring

Richard’s focus narrowed onto the book once more. “That book is more important than you and me, the people after it are willing to kill for it. I am the only one who can keep you safe”.

Louis was starting to feel like he was losing his grip on reality again. The last time this happened, he had read from the book and people got hurt. He desperately wanted to avoid that happening. “Always a man with a plan. How exactly do you think you can keep me safe?”

“Outside is a blue pickup truck, jump in, don’t speak to anyone”

“There’s no one around! Give me some straight answers now or I’m out of here” Louis ordered, trying to channel his father’s own voice of authority whilst hiding his anxiety.

Richard let out a sigh, took off his glasses, and rubbed his weary eyes. Louis noticed that this made him look significantly older.

“You clearly have no idea what’s going on here. You think I wanted to meet up with the son who reminds me of my wife? You think I like being reminded of my failures?! I’m here because I am the only one who can help you, and by the looks of you, the only one who cares about your wellbeing. Get in the car and wait for me there. I’ll grab the cheque”. Richard was a natural at giving orders, when he spoke, people always listened.

Louis was confused about what he had said about meeting up, had he organised this meeting or his dad? He resolved to get clean after this, for the umpteenth time.

“Fine”, Louis finally conceded.

As they got up to leave, Richard then pulled out a taser and jammed it into his son’s back. Louis convulsed as a thousand volts shot through his body. His last thoughts were those of one of the symbols he had seen in the book, as he pictured the symbol in his mind’s eye, he heard a familiar woman’s scream echo in his head before his world went black.