Code Green , ᶜᵃʳᵐᵉⁿ ˢᵃⁿᵈᶦᵉᵍᵒ

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

At first, I could only just attempt to process what Carmen said. An insider? A big opportunity? What. The. Actual. Fuck?

I thought I was the only spy working for VILE, but apparently there was someone else who had managed to fly under everyones' radars. I realized this could be key information that I definitely needed to pass over.

Just as soon as I understand what exactly, was this opportunity that could turn VILE upside down.

And how I could stop it.

Then I could collect my payment, leave this whole life behind as nothing but a memory lingering in the back of my brain for the rest of my life.

I could go to college.

Excitedly I ponder the idea of going to a university.

I always wanted an education but it was rather hard for us. My mother being a former refugee and my father who had lived in poverty all his life, it was always difficult for us to manage to afford education for me and my brother. But they somehow managed to scrape enough just to send me and Lukas to primary school.

I remember clearly. Lukas was 12 and I was 10 when we had inexplicably fell into great debt with the bank and had to move to our aunts' place. She was rather reluctant to let us in at first, but she eventually agreed and we travelled back to her place, in Mali.

We stayed there for about five years before my parents cut a deal with VILE. I was to be trained in a league with criminals. I, obviously, was ignorant about that in the beginning. My parents didn't outright inform me of the predicament I would find myself in. But VILE promised my family great money if they would allow them to have me in their recruits. Tempted by the offer, my dad convinced my mom to let me go. To allow the family to lift from the depths of the poverty we had been struggling in for all my life. Our aunt wouldn't let us stay at her house forever, leeching off of what she had; and we must pave our own paths, is what my mom said when my dad finally brought her over on the winning side of the argument— to send little 15-year-old Parrot to a villains' facility to learn the agency of crime.

VILE always does appear when a family hits rock bottom. They take advantage of that, in a way. They grab your hand with manacles and cuff you to them in tight, airtight iron, and tell you they can save you. With money.

Oh, money, the living blood of this world. It feeds it, starves the hell out of it, and even induces a druglike daze for some, creating money frenzies and panics, and hunger and suffering.

My parents soon let me know I was going to a boarding school they recently discovered, one they could easily afford. Little did they know the type of imprisonments and "education" I'd be receiving.

Yes, I did learn some things about the world in a more traditional class. VILE did have a singular class for regular studies, and it was optional considering it was a school led by villainy and crime taught education.

I opted to do it, but I didn't learn the things I wanted to learn. The courses were very limited.

I soon settled for what my life was going to be and closed my mind, realizing everything was entirely circling around me learning to fight, to steal, all for this rich organization. I hated every minute of it. Every minute I despised myself and wished away this place. And every morning I awoke again in the same infernal bed. I tried to hide. To blend. Like a parrot. It never worked. I wanted to say I was like them. Like the criminals VILE was training.

But deep down, I always pushed down the feeling of knowing that . . .

Crime didn't feel like the right thing for me. It was a last resort. One that I had to stick by now if I were to ever obtain the life I truly wanted.

Isn't that what empowers most criminals though? Robbers, mostly, I mean. Murderers obviously don't want a normal lifestyle; they wanted spice. That's why they kill people. I belonged on the stealing side of the spectrum. I did this to get the money I needed so I could stop doing this.

I stare down at my lap. Parrot, Parrot, Parrot. What have you gotten yourself into?

So I did what I do best. I put on a false pretense and I squawked.

***

Not literally squawking, but my words. I started to spout a mouthful of shit, to seem realistic.

If I was just eying Carmen suspiciously, jaw slack and hands shaking, don't you think she'd catch on rather quickly? Being fake is what I'm best at, and while I realize that's not exactly a good thing, or a talent, it's what I'm used to doing. I don't love it, but it's a longtime habit as well as a necessary tool.

"That's amazing!" I gasp, my eyebrows quirking up in false shock. Don't overdo it, I think to myself. "We have an insider. What kind of opportunity? I'm in, of course," I reassure her. "Hell yeah! We've got the upper hand here already. VILE won't know what hit them." I excitedly fixate my gaze on Carmen, a grin shifting its way across my face.

Carmen chuckled, nodding a bit. "Yes, we definitely have the advantage. However to maintain it, we must carry out the plan. Zack and Ivy will fill you in, because I need to take care of an errand."

I noticed she looked a bit erratic. Her hands were quivering ever so slightly and her eyes were averted from mine. "Personal mission?" I guess. She only nods in response. "I understand," I tell her, and a thought runs through my head a flash second before I execute it— placing my hand atop hers in effortless confidence. "Good luck." Carmen stared at me and gave a swift nod once again. Did I render her speechless? My touch doesn't usually do that to people. I resist the urge to keep my hand on there and take it off, gingerly resting it by my side.

"Thank you," Carmen told me.

So not speechless after all. I watch as she leaves, climbing off her stool and walking out the door, ready to go on her mission of self importance.

It was good for her to do that, I think. I mean, the woman's so selfless, she needs to do some self care sometimes. I was the complete opposite, naturally, but you probably won't see me doing any selfless shit.

I hop off the stool and head to my room, ready for another night filled with overthinking and drama only happening in my mind.

I couldn't believe the mind blowing discovery that— mind you, I still wasn't totally clued in on— but this could be essential intel I desperately needed to give to VILE.

Which meant I required a good night's sleep, and then I'd allow Zack and Ivy to explain the rest to me.

I tug the covers over my tired body and stare at the ceiling, my eyelids drooping and nightmares filled with my failures chasing me through my sleep.