No Memory For Answers
Edward stared at the floor despondently. He was completely unable to defend himself. Maybe they were right, maybe he was deluded and stress had induced him to forget where he was, but surely not, he could clearly remember going to the bar to meet Richard, his own brother. It was just so confusing.
“Then why do I have my brother’s ID card in my pocket?”, Edward murmured.
“That is the one thing that does not make any sense, unless, of course, you made up that part as well”, replied John, giving those around him a knowing wink.
Surprisingly Gary then stepped in to take Edward’s side, “Calm down Doctor Freud!”, he interjected, “Ed’s a sensitive guy, but I like him.”. Gary continued, “You know what Ed, unlike these other folks I didn’t really want to be here either. I’d rather be drinking cocktails in Hawaii, but life didn’t send me there. It sent me old Scayben’s offer instead, so here I am and here you are! We can’t change it now, so we might as well accept what we’ve been thrown by life and at least have a laugh about it!”, he laughed loudly taking another swig of beer.
Edward disliked Gary’s endless laughing at his own jokes, but what he had just said about how life had put him on this train struck a chord. Gary was correct, much as he might dislike the situation, he can’t change it, so accepting it was the only action worth taking. The reality was he was trapped on a runaway train, one that would inevitably crash. What other options did he have?
“You know what Gary”, responded Edward with a half-grin, “I guess you’re right! I am on this train with you guys. I’ve got to face the facts for what they are! I…I’m sorry if I caused you guys any trouble!”, he apologised, then he murmured, “It’s just wish I knew why I’ve got my brother’s ID card in my pocket, if only he was here so I could ask him!”
“Maybe you took it as memento of him. Were you and your brother close?”, asked Chloe sympathetically.
Edward pondered her question, “Yes, I guess we are, I spent more time with him than my wife this past year. My brother is very diferent to me, he is the picture of success, everyone around respects him. He has a good job, working in a big finance company and a big car.”
“Where is he now? Can you set me up with him after this?”, asked Kerry chuckling.
“Maybe he’s drinking cocktails in Hawaii!”, said Gary loudly in response, smirking at his own joke yet again.
“It sounds to me like your wife married the wrong brother!”, said Sian rudely trying to provoke trouble once again.
Edward grimaced at her remark. He was about to tell this increasingly annoying woman to mind her own business, when all of a sudden Derek let out an unexpected and noticably big sigh. He then exclaimed, “Everyone around me thought I was the picture of success, but it was all a big lie! I’d lost my job, was about to be made homeless and had stolen a lot of money from my church. Even worse I was cheating on my wife with a girl I’d met in the local area!”. There were looks of surprise from around the carriage. Derek continued, “I had managed to put on a grand charade for over a year. I had fooled everyone, but was really at rock bottom. Mr.Scayben somehow found me just in time and offered me a way out. I can tell you I had no qualms taking up his offer and the mental state I was in at the time, I would have stabbed my own mother in the back to get a chance like this!”.
Derek’s surprise admittance seemed to shock almost everyone. Then Sian looked at the floor and uttered, “Yes we too were the picture of success to our friends and relatives, we were a Van Gogh painting on the front and a disaster at the back, but what does it matter now?”, she attempted a smile.
Gary Raises A Glass
“Well I’d stab my own brother in the back to get to Hawaii right now!”, quipped Gary attempting to inject some humour into the situation once more. Derek frowned at his lack of tact, but Gary ignored him and continued raising his glass. Gary was clearly rather drunk, but at least he was a humourous drunk in his own way.
“Here’s to Hawaii and to Ed’s brother, who might be in Hawaii for all we know! Let’s hope he’s enjoying himself as much as we are!”, he said this laughing and clinked the glass on the bar, spilling some of the beer once again, this time onto the carpet.
“Shutup Gary! That’s really bad taste, even for you!”, frowned Kerry holding her hands on her hips.
There was a slight pause, when John spoke up, “No Madam! He could be entirely right!”.
Kerry’s eyebrows raised in surprise, whilst the others began to listen.
“What if Mr.Gary is actually correct? What is to say Edward’s brother is not in or currently on his way to Hawaii?”
“What do you mean Professor?”, replied Kerry, clearly confused.
“Well, maybe I under-estimated Mr.Edward’s honesty! Suppose what he has previously said is indeed true. Maybe he is not delusional or drunk after all! Maybe it is indeed his brother that is the fraud!”
“Hey what do you mean by such a thing? My brother is a good man!”, responded Edward with a frown. He found John’s remark was quite offensive, of all things the past year, his brother had helped him out more than anyone else.
“Well Sir, I’m sorry to say, but maybe your brother did indeed stab you in the back!”, John’s matter-of-fact manner started once again in full-flight, “Maybe he put you on this train as part of a grand plan to get to Hawaii or…Rather to get his hands on the guaranteed $100,000 Mr.Scayben was offering and perhaps your wife as well!”.
“No, that is impossible!”, protested Peter, “We saw Edward enter this train voluntarily. We saw him board and say his name”.
“Yes Sir, but what if his brother had arranged their meeting in the bar with the specific intention to trick Mr.Edward onto this train somehow?! Perhaps he spiked his drink to trick him?”. John began waggling his glasses with the same self-satisfied smile as if he had solved a crossword puzzle.
Edward stuttered, “What? No, you must be wrong! He wouldn’t do that…”
Peter reacted patting Edward’s back in comfort, “No, this is a silly idea, quite impossible, your brother sounds like a good man!”.
John frowned at this remark and barked, “Mr.Edward, can you tell us specifically what this meeting with your brother was about?”. He tapped his cane on the floor and continued, “I would wager it had no genuine topic of discussion! I would wager he just took you for an alcoholic drink and the meeting had to be in the ‘morning’, am I correct, yes?”
Edward took a step backward and knocked against the bar again, “No, we talked about lots of things…”, he stammered saying this.
“You talked about nothing, you cannot name a single subject, can you?”, interrupted John.
Edward tried to concentrate and remember their conversation, but unfortunately the man was correct, there had been no topic. It had simply been a meeting up, but Richard had said it had to be that morning.
“He told me it was really important we meet this morning”, clammoured Edward.
“Yes, exactly, it had to be this morning! As his whole plan rested on getting you onto this train!”, snapped John.
“Ahh yes, John C Powell admires plans such as these!”, he began to explain, “It would be shockingly simple to do and makes perfect sense now!”. He said this now waggling his cane upon the floor.
“Sheesh!”, interrupted Gary, “I wish I’d thought of a plan like that…and had a brother stupid enough to fall for it!”. Kerry frowned at him some more.
Edward’s mouth gaped, “No…No there must be some mistake!”
“No Sir, it all adds up! Your brother was a fraudster! He hid his failure from you, but Mr.Scayben and the Honourables found him, just like they did our friend Derek here! Your brother was the one given the offer by Mr.Scayben, but he was cleverer than all of us here!”. John nodded at each member in the carriage after saying this and continued his explanation, “He managed to dupe you into taking his place, the result fo which means he will be pocketting a guaranteed $100,000 for himself! John C. Powell recognises such brilliant resourcefulness for what it is!”.
“Why, why would he do this?”, exasperated Edward.
Several of the others loudly murmured. The words “100,000 dollars” were heard to be said by more than one of the fellow passengers.
“Wait, wait!”, said Peter,”The $100,000 will go to his family members and Mr.Edward is married, so half would go to his wife! So you must be wrong!”.
“Yes that doesn’t sound right!”, added Kevin, “It would mean $50,000 would be handed to Edward’s wife and the brother would miss out on the full amount”.
“Exactly and that is the even more brilliant part of the plan, my friends!”, cried John, almost ecstatically, but before he could complete his excited explanation, Edward held up his hand and sighed despondently. His face grew pale. This was due to Edward guessing what John was about to say. The emotion of the thought took hold of him. Reality hit him like a runaway train. He spoke up, “No, no, I know what the Professor is going to say and he’s right! I know what this is all about now…”.
Edward looked towards both Kevin and John as he spoke.
He covered his face with a hand and uttered, “You were right, Professor. I was deluded, but not about this train or how I got here…about a much bigger issue in my life…”
One Less Mystery
Yes, Edward realised his delusion wasn’t about wanting to board this train, it was a delusion about his brother and his wife. Why didn’t he realise this earlier? The professor was right, it must have been his own brother Richard that had put him on this train. He remembered the glancing looks between his brother and his wife during the past few weeks. He had tried to ignore it and excuse their behaviour, but it had been obvious. They must have been having an affair. They always had a liking each other, as he had mentioned to the others, she always brought up his name in their arguments. “Richard would treat me better than this!”, was a phrase she would shout at the height of her berating of him. The simple conclusion was that evidently they would get away with $100,000 in cash. Now he was out of their way, Richard and Charlotte could run away together to live happily ever after. In fact, they may be on their way to somewhere new already.
“My brother…He must have been having an affair with my wife and wanted me out of the way! It all adds up to that!”, Edward gasped. The crowd fell silent at this revelation, Peter patted him on the shoulder, whilst even Derek bowed his head. Then Chloe spoke up, “Oh that’s terrible, you poor poor man”, she cried, “You really did not want to be here, did you!”
Edward shrugged in response to signal agreement.
“Oh, I am sorry, Ed!”, added Kerry with concern.
Edward nodded in approval of her apology.
Once more Edward began to feel like a victim and began looking around for sympathy. He couldn’t help but glance looking towards Kevin, whom he considered the most sensible of the group. Kevin smiled a conforting smile in return.
Gary had been silent following what had just been said, but the noticable silence began to make him feel awkward. For a few moments he considered the situation and then decided to shatter the sombre mood of the scene.
“You were better off without her and you are better off without your brother too, pal!”, he announced loudly.
“Oh Gary!”, implored Kerry. Sian tutted in disgust.
“Have some sympathy! Can’t you see the man is upset?!”, added Peter angrily, tapping Edward’s shoulder in camaraderie once again.
“Say something to him Kevin!”, yelped Kerry, but Kevin shocked Edward and everyone else by agreeing with Gary, “Much as you won’t want to hear this, Gary has it right!”
Edward stood agog, his puzzled look caused Kevin to explain, “I am sorry Edward, but this is fate! You are in the best place and company you could be in at this time! You are meant to be here and therefore this is the best place you can be.”
Gary couldn’t help but butt in, “That was exactly my point! Look Ed, I feel sorry for you about the situation with your brother and wife, but you’re with us now! You’re on a runaway train, so nothing else really matters! Have a drink and enjoy the time while you can!”.
