MEET ME AT 10PM

Things in Kevin's family were getting very bad, financially. His parents were both not formally employed, but his dad made wooden furniture which he sold. The business was not doing very well. His mother occasionally found babysitting jobs, but then again, the jobs only came once in a while. Kevin's job, although it did not pay much, was really helpful while he had it. He was a good waiter, and often got very good tips, which went a long way in helping his family out. His parents had no idea that he resigned, for he told them that his contract was not renewed.

He also had younger siblings who needed to eat daily, and be taken care of. He had already sold the Samsung phone, and used the money to buy food at home. His efforts to find a new job were proving to be in vain.

Kevin was lying on his bed, trying to find ways of making money. Rummaging through all his clothes, he violently shook them and also roughly searched all his pockets. His dream was to find some few forgotten notes, yet his pockets were all empty.

He pulled out the drawers and checked, and there was nothing. Starting to become agitated, the young man opened his wallet and shook out all the documents off it. It was all cards and IDs, without a single note. He angrily turned it up side down and shook the wallet, and a beautiful paper fell out.

What… a name card! Vine's name card!

"How on earth could I be suffering when I have a connection with this man?" he spoke out aloud.

He spent some hours planning on what to do, and then when he thought his plan was well in place, he made the call. It rang for a long time and was not picked.

"What? Did he change his number?" Kevin spoke to himself, as he was starting to lose hope.

He called again and it was answered.

"Hallo, this is young master Vine's phone, may I know who this is ," a male voice spoke.

"Hallo, I am Kevin. I need to talk to the young master. It is urgent." Kevin's heart was pounding as he spoke, for anxiety was killing him.

"What is it about? You will have to tell me, because the young master cannot talk to you now," the man said.

"I…I need him. It's private and…"

"Listen, Kevin or whatever your name is. If you don't tell me, then you will never have access to him. Talk! What is it? Even if you do talk to him, I will get to hear the whole conversation. I am the one who receives his news, both good and bad. Tell me."

"Ok, can we meet? I prefer saying it face to face. And I…I don't mean to blackmail anyone but I…I…"

"Spit it out!" the man's voice commanded.

Kevin felt a sense of regret, asking himself why he ever chose to call Vine in the first place, but when the images of the empty fridge in their house, his crying brothers and his pale starved mother flashed though his mind, he told himself that it was all worth it. He gained courage and spoke:

"I will need money for the information that I will give you."

"How much do you need?"

Kevin was stuck. He did not know what to say. He did have a figure in his head, but he suddenly felt scared to say it.

"I…any huge amount," he stammered, and the man laughed.

"Let's meet tonight 10PM. I will send you the location soon. What will you be wearing?" the man asked.

"I…I have a black jean trousers and a white t-shirt. And I will wear a black cap. I…I have brown hair. What about you?"

"I will find you. Bye."

"Wait, before you go please, I don't have a car. 10PM is a bit too late for me. Can we…can we..."

"Listen dude, its either we meet today at 10PM or we never meet at all." The man snapped.

"Will you come with the young master?" he asked in a shaky voice.

"See you at ten!" the man ended the call.

Kevin had not realised all along that he was profusely sweating, despite the fact that it was not very hot.

On the other end of the call, Gareth stared long at Vine's phone, with a wicked smile on his face. He stood up and walked to Vine and shook him several times, trying to wake him up.

"Young master Vine, you really need to wake up!" he said.

"Mmmm," Vine granted in his sleep. He was dead drunk, as usual.

Gareth had seen his young master in such a state countless times before, and he knew that the chances of getting him to wake up were close to none.

He ordered some workers to put Vine to bed, and he went about his daily activities. When the time came, Gareth left the Pinkerton mansion to go and meet Kevin. When he walked into the place, Gareth ordered a beer and started seeping slowly on it as he waited. He was sitting in a dark corner, for the lights in the room were all dimmed.

After a while, a young nervous man entered, and started looking around the place. When he looked in Gareth's direction, Gareth motioned for him to join him.

"Good evening, I am Kevin," Kevin was sounding very scared. "Where is young master Vine?"

"You don't get to ask questions. I do." Gareth answered. "Now sit down and talk, what news do you have?"

"Please…please may…may I have the payment first? I really need the money. Please…."

"I don't have all day. Start talking." Gareth commanded.

"I know … please. The only reason why I am telling you is because I need the money. I…."

Gareth pulled out a gun and shoved it into Kevin's ribs, from under the table.

"It seems like you need some motivation to talk." He scoffed.

Very scared and sweating, Kevin began to talk, "I have important information. There is a girl. Vine…I mean, master Vine hung out with her some months back. And the girl…the girl is carrying…carrying the young master's child. But she…she claims to be in love with someone else…she doesn't want young master to know….please don't kill me."

Gareth slowly lowered the gun and asked, "a lady is carrying a Pinkerton child?"

"Y…yes. She and young master Vine spent the night together at one of the Pinkerton Hotels."

"Really? When was that?" Gareth quizzed Kevin.

"On…on the day that the Pinkertons came for dinner at the Two-Sons Hotel. I…."

"Oh that day. And how did you know about this?" Gareth asked in a growl.

"I was a waiter at Two-Sons..." Kevin went on to explain everything.

Due to too much fear, he dared not ask for the money, and as soon as Gareth said he was free to go, Kevin rushed off and ran as fast as he could, on his way back home.

Gareth sat alone for a while, thinking about the news that he had just received. He did remember the day when Vine had taken a girl to one of the family hotels. Gareth did not particularly recall the girl's face, but he was sure it was a beautiful face.

He sipped on his beer silently, trying to imagine the joy that was going to come over Mrs Pinkerton when she heard the great news. After finishing his beer, he drove back to the mansion.

"Is lady Pinkerton still up?" he asked the chief of maids.

"I'm not sure but I can check. Do you need to see her?" she asked.

"If she can see me, yes. I'll be waiting here," Gareth planted himself on a chair.

He had not waited long before lady Pinkerton came downstairs, wearing a morning gown.

"It's very late, Gareth. What happened? Is it Vine? Is he in danger?" the old lady sound very worried.

"The young master is fine…"

"Then where is he? Tell me the truth, what happened?"

"He is in his room, he is very fine. Come sit down, I have some very exciting news for you."

The old lady sat down and listened.

Gareth explained everything in great detail, without leaving out anything.

Mrs Pinkerton was over the moon. She failed to believe that somewhere, a young beautiful lady was carrying her great grandchild.

"And the boy? The Kevin boy? We should pay him." She stated excitedly.

"Do you believe him?" Gareth asked.

The old lady's face turned into a scrawl before it broke into a beautiful smile.

"I have to trust him. I don't think anyone would have the guts to lie to the Pinkertons. Gareth, go out and find this girl. Bring her home. Bring my great grandchild home. I'm going to update my husband on all these developments. How soon do you think you can bring our bride home?" she asked.

"I can start working on it right away. I will need some money to give to Kevin, and he is the one who will lead me to the young lady. I'm sure he knows her home address, or phone numbers."

"What is her full name?" the old lady gave a wide smile.

"For now I only know her as Kiara. Kevin referred to her only as Kiara, without mentioning her surname, and I didn't ask. Kevin is the one who will tell us everything."

"OK. I will arrange for a lot of cash. Collect it at 5AM and get to work, Gareth. Find her, and find out as much as you can about her. We will decorate a whole wing of the mansion for her. And also, Gareth, get someone to look at wedding venues. We need about five or six, for our Kiara to choose from. My grandson is getting married."

"Yes, lady Pinkerton."

The lady walked a few steps towards the stairs then stopped, "Err, Gareth, does Vine know about this?"

"He doesn't know yet. He is drunk."

"Obvious, that grandson of mine is always drunk. I suggest you put it on hold. I will let him know myself. I want to have the honour of breaking this great news to him myself."

"Yes, lady Pinkerton," Gareth gave a slight bow.

The old lady went back to her bedroom and updated her husband on everything.

"Why would the child not want Vine, I don't understand?" The old man asked his wife.

"Who knows? I assume she saw him on one of his drunken stupors. Yes, Vine might be the rich heir and all, but I don't think any reasonable girl would love to tolerate the drunken Vine."

***

On the other side of town, Kevin had to walk for close to two and a half hours to get back to his home. He has used his last bit of money for a cab to get to the meeting place, but going back was a nightmare. He had thought that Vine was going to give him some money. The poor young man had blisters on his feet as a result of the walking. He also had to come up with stories as to why he was out until such hours of the day. Luckily for him, his parents believed his lies.