The Three Muskecheaters

Calvin made sure the food wasn't hot before feeding Maxwell. He was stark mad that afternoon. Stevens and the others had decided to go out to God-knows-where and left him alone in the bunk with a prisoner. To make his situation worse was that he was supposed to feed Maxwell since it was lunchtime. Clement was the one who usually did it and it mainly consisted of slaps, kicks and forcefully shoving the food into the mouth with the intention to make him spill the beans. However, Maxwell endured all those and Calvin felt nothing but pity for him. Luckily for Calvin, he was an optimist and saw the situation as an opportunity to properly feed the young man held hostage.

Maxwell was staring up into the ceiling when Calvin entered. Calvin then noticed that the man was crying. Maxwell, on noticing him, kept his eyes looking up. Calvin quickly put the food on the table and grabbed some tissues from the cabinet. He then took a chair and sat opposite him.

"It's okay Maxwell. It is normal for men to cry," he tried to comfort him. Maxwell rubbed his face over his shirt carelessly and faced Calvin.

"If you are here to torture me again just do it. You might as well kill me."

Calvin gaped at Maxwell's statement. "How could I?!" he moved the seat closer to him. "I disapproved of all of that. Did you see me here encouraging those barbarians to continue beating you up? No, you didn't. In fact, I have brought you some fries and chicken wings."

Calvin got up and went to take the plate from the table. Maxwell licked his lips on seeing his meal. He hadn't been eating healthy since he got there. Clement only gave him stale bread and a glass of water to get him through the day. He immediately wished that they would go wherever they went every day.

Calvin picked up some fries and fed them to Maxwell since his hands and feet were tied to the chair. Maxwell hurriedly chewed the delicacy with his eyes closed. Damn! He had gone a long time without eating fries. Calvin smiled on seeing Maxwell's face and got back to scooping more fries.

"More please," Maxwell pleaded, his mouth full as he struggled not to let go of the first chew. Calvin obediently scooped up more of the fries and continued feeding. He was done eating the fries in record time and soon he was eating the chicken wings. Calvin was trying to firmly hold the chicken wings in his hands while Maxwell viciously feasted on the meat. He was finally relieved when Maxwell finished the last wing but to his total surprise, Maxwell started licking the sauce off of his hands. Understanding his situation, he let him lick them until they had become almost as clean as they were before, with the exception of Maxwell's saliva sticking onto his hands. Calvin excused himself and once he was certain he had washed his hands clean, he went back to his chair opposite Maxwell.

Calvin scrutinised the man before him. He was fairly handsome for a youth, though he had some acne which didn't interfere with his looks. His blonde hair looked like it needed some serious combing, and his black eyes seemed to reflect the light coming from the bulb. Maxwell noticed Calvin staring at him and waved his head to get his attention.

"What's the matter?" He asked, unsure of what was in Calvin's head.

"Uh, nothing. Was just thinking about something," Calvin replied and hurriedly looked away.

"Don't tell me you poisoned the food?" Maxwell joked, although he secretly worried for a moment that they may have used the food to poison him.

"No way!" Calvin defended himself. "You are too young to die."

"It would be a delicious way to die though. Imagine my obituary saying that I had died of fries and chicken wings." They both broke into laughter, each thinking of how silly it would be. After they kept quiet, Calvin cast a serious look on Maxwell.

"You never said how a genius like you ended up working with The Shadow," he spoke, looking intently at him. Maxwell looked down and sighed. It was a heavy topic that he burdened himself with for his life, with no one to share to. He looked at the man in front of him with a sad gaze. He was the first person in many years who had treated him well, apart from Old Bob who he worked for at the garage. He decided that he needed someone to talk to, someone he could share his feelings and experiences with.

"It all began with my father," Maxwell began as Calvin adjusted his posture. "He worked for The Shadow, though I did not get to know of it until after his death. My mother died at childbirth, thus he raised me until I was of age. I had just graduated when he suddenly became very ill. He was then admitted into Middlewood General Hospital, where I was told he was suffering from cancer and had very few weeks to live." Maxwell paused and blinked fast to hold back the tears from swelling in his eyes.

"I was then faced with the problem of paying his hospital bills. I took up a job at Old Bob's, and some other menial ones to save up some money from them. It still wasn't enough and I was left with no option but to try and negotiate with the hospital management to give me some more time. I had just started that topic with the hospital boss when he told not to worry and that all the bills had been paid by a well-wisher. I was surprised at first because I told no one of my father's condition, but then days after my father's funeral Rocco approached me and said that he was the one who had sorted out all the bills. He then went on to tell me about my father's contribution to The Shadow and how paying for his hospital bill created a huge debt that I would be unable to pay. He then gave me an offer to go and work for them as a way of paying back what I owed him, and it is what I've been doing ever since," he finished.

Calvin let out a huge sigh after his tale. "So you worked for them because you had no other choice?"

"Yeah," he answered. He changed the subject, not wanting to relive any of his memories. "And you, how did you come to work for the three musketeers?"

Calvin giggled. "Mine is a boring one. They just approached me one day at my house and said that they worked for a secret government organisation. They then told me that they had been watching me and that they needed my skills to catch some bad guys, you guys. That is how I ended up here, in this shithole."

Calvin suddenly jumped up like he had remembered something. He rushed out of the room, leaving Maxwell surprised. A minute later, he returned with a Bluetooth speaker and a laptop. He then set them up between them and set the system up. Maxwell looked at him, confused.

"Want to tell me what's happening?" He inquired.

"Remember when I told you that Stevens said they had been following me?"

Maxwell nodded.

"I was furious at them for invading my privacy. So I rigged Stevens car with a microphone so that I would also eavesdrop on their conversations. A kind of payback for what they did to me. Seems like we have something to entertain us right now." He was now scrolling through his computer.

"What if they aren't in the car?" Maxwell asked. His question was soon answered when the sound of a moving vehicle sounded from the speakers. Calvin smiled at him and he sat back, listening for anything the three might be talking about.

There was silence for more than five minutes, and the two back at the bunker were beginning to get bored when Clement's voice got their attention.

"Hey, Stevens?"

"Mmmh?"

"What do you think will happen when Calvin finds out we are not a secret government organisation?"

Maxwell looked up to Calvin, who looked back at him, shock in his eyes.

"I don't know, I guess he'll get mad. Hopefully, we'll have found that goddamned necklace by then."

"I hope so. We can give him some of the money to keep his mouth shut."

"Yeah. It's what they say; money really can buy people"

The sound of the three laughing burned through Calvin's ears like the red light of the setting star. He could not believe what he had just heard. He felt like his world had just been torn apart and every piece of it reduced to nothing.

"No no no! It can't be!" He tried to convince himself, his hands on his head in despair.

Maxwell looked at Calvin helplessly. He was there before; it was the same feeling he had when he realised his father had been working for a criminal organisation. He lacked the words to comfort Calvin.

"I'm sorry?" He tried his best.

Calvin suddenly woke up from his seat. He rushed to the wall and punched it with all his strength. His head was fuming when he looked down at his bleeding knuckles. The betrayal he had just experienced was nothing compared to the pain in his knuckles. Maxwell eyed him with pity.

"What are you going to do now?" he asked him. Calvin paced up and down the room. He suddenly stopped, went to Maxwell's chair and began untying him.

"May I know what's happening?" Maxwell inquired.

"We are leaving," Calvin said, wiping away his tears. Maxwell stood up and winced as he stretched.

"Where are we going?" Maxwell asked, bewildered.

"Anywhere. Even to the end of the world!" A befuddled Calvin answered.

"I have a hideout at Old Bob's Abandoned Garage, we could hide there," Maxwell suggested.

"That's perfect. Stevens will not even guess we're there. Follow me," Calvin replied. Maxwell followed Calvin to the door.

Calvin hesitated when he reached the door. He suddenly turned back and went back inside. He bent over a shelf and brought out two sledgehammers underneath it. He looked at the screens and furniture inside the room and then returned his gaze to Maxwell and offered him one of the sledgehammers.

"Let us do some destruction, shall we?"