The Killing of Julien Jean - Team Secrets Decameron 2.0 Project

PULLING TEETH By KarlOConnor

To begin with, Julien Jean Bouvier was dead; he is dead, as dead as a doornail. This is a fact and one which is not in dispute. So receiving an invitation to a dinner party at his San Juan mansion has caught me off guard.

He once came to me for a dental check-up, quite some time ago now, and soon after this visit he had me in an unenviable position of being at his mercy to some degree or another. What made this all the worse for me was the fact that JJ had no real need to come to me in the first place, either in a dental way or in any other kind of way. This is Julien, this was Julien, as it was and is my mis-fortune.

I could hear the music play as I ankle my way up to the entrance of his San Juan mansion and I already feel as if I am to deal with a bearcat or two before the night is done. Lullaby, Gershwin, this is the music which is playing. I detest Gershwin. I will most likely have cause to detest him all the more due to this evening taking place.

This particular piece, I imagine it is to offer a sense of calm, as if we are to be among friends here. I of course am familiar with some of the other guests whom have also been invited though to call them friends, well I may not go so far as to do that.

The music suggests to me as that there will be drama in store for the evening ahead. Maybe this is an intended effect. Who is to say what effects are intended and what are mere coincidence. However with JJ's recent demise I would suggest that this evening's drama began some time ago and the whole thing is all applesauce to me.

Everyone has secrets, everyone has questions. My most well-kept secret may not be so well-kept after all and my number one question is besides a dead man, who else knows my secret? With JJ being as dead as he is, who would benefit from what it is I have to hide?

It is not the most serious of secrets, not like I have killed anyone or anything, and not that such thoughts haven't ever entered my head before but my secret, if it were to be revealed publicly, would have dire consequences for me. Though as I would find out, secrets are the topic of the evening and ousting them in the here and now is merely a formality.

You see, I am flat broke, and if those who come to me knew this fact then I would most definitely end up out of business and I cannot allow that to happen. JJ knows this or knew this I should say and now someone else knows it, for why else would I be invited to a dinner party at JJ's place? Did you see the invitations?

Whoever wrote those invitations knows JJ and implies he or she knows the secrets JJ held. That person even went so far to use the word 'nary', a word that JJ himself was so fond of using. I know this as he often used that word in my presence.

I am presumably last to arrive. I want to spend the least amount of time as possible at this dinner party. I'm not the kind to mingle either, guess I will have to if I am to get any answers. Just look at those who I can only presume also got invites. Pretty boys and young 'ladies' if they can be called that, how some of these people have teeth so perfect that they could light a way forward in the dark is beyond me.

Yeah, word gets around; some of them have money to burn. They think they have secrets? I'd wager that I could guess at least two thirds of their secrets correctly and that would be if I had anything to wager to begin with. There will be the ousting so that can't be by-passed or wagered upon and of course I already know a thing or two of the other invitees.

Nary, I will give you nary. You think you know me? I will give you something to know. I'll extract a tooth or three and will ensure it to be as painful as possible. Can't you tell I do not want to be here? No need to worry. I won't let my true feelings be known. My parents, lord rest their souls, raised no sadist, well that might be debatable. There is a reason why I am a doctor of dental surgery after all.

Outbursts, speeches and hormones are on display this evening, none of which are being hindered or hidden. Seriously, do these people have no shame?

Look at these people, what could I possibly have in common with any of them? Some are even half my age if even that. JJ, I never liked you, and I like you even less now that I have to endure this evening. I know you did not invite me here though this is your residence. You are a big reason as to why I am in debt, sending custom my way, custom that is time consuming and not forthcoming financially when the bill is produced.

I should be beginning to thrive, now that you are dead but I am not and may not for some time depending upon why it is that I am here and as to who exactly knows what. Yeah I may have had reason to end you. I thought of it, I thought of it often. Is this why I have been invited here? Are there plans for some kind of successor to the man himself? Does someone want to get a close up impression of the kind of person I am?

Show yourself, whoever you are. You want to take me out? With all that JJ put me through, the name on my surgery door and main office still reads Harvey Olivera DDS. How's that for you? You coward.

I take my seat in the dining room where thankfully the sounds of Gershwin no longer plays, having been replaced by gentle heavenly sounds of harp playing, an instrument sent to earth if one ever had been, and mingled with that is a bit of Jazz. The empty seat to my left is quite distracting, making it all the more difficult to take in the non-sense being spewed out around me. I am sure this empty seat has a desired effect of its own.

Take this Varian De Veyra fellow for conversational starters. I have heard his drivel before, I never took it in then and I refuse to now. The impression he is offloading as he circles the room is well rehearsed. He speaks in riddles and I do not hesitate to inform him of such.

'I'm a predator' he proceeds to tell me. 'I hunt souls and when I find one that interests me, I take it.'

Others see through him I am sure. The part I have to play in this evening is not one to provide amusement of any sort. I tell him to sit for he is giving me a headache. Unfortunately he is not the only one who fancies circulating the room. What is it with these people?

I may sit toward one end of the table with an empty chair at its head though to my right I had the mis-fortune of sitting next to Belen Lucia Leon Valentin, a lady who has not been in her right mind for as long as I have known her. The loss of her child and subsequently her husband has long since sent her over the edge and she does not try to hide such a fact. She can be a frightening individual at times and I am unsure as to if she realizes such.

Duck and pheasant are served and I won't refuse a good feed. Drink and dessert I must decline, no matter how much alcohol those around me consume. There is enough distrust in the room as it is that I can only add to it. I am walking out of this place tonight. If there is harm to be done, I am not having it done to me; then again can I trust the feed?

I only properly take notice of a chap by the name of Victor Morris during the meal. I have previously had occasion to come close to Victor and he generally is a fairly reserved kind of guy but I cannot help but wonder as to if he knows something more than what is being let on. He is definitely a lot more reserved than what I would expect any guest to be this evening.

It is at this moment I decide to take the attention of the room. Time to oust my financial woes and this is not an easy thing for me to do. It is difficult for me to speak it and I struggle to find the words. I can almost hear someone tell me to get in with it, so I do and it is clear that the words I speak hold little or no relevance. No one here cares if I am broke. The burden has only ever been mine though it does feel good to have spoken the words. A release has come.

The longer the evening goes on, the more I want to leave despite the release ousting my secret has given me. I do not want to be here and on top of that, imagining encounters those in attendance have had with JJ is enough to turn my stomach. They can keep their indulgences to themselves. I find myself a moment of escape despite only assuming as to why we all have come to be where we are, so I take that moment. I can also only imagine as to how this evening will haunt me from here on in.

Will my decision to leave come back and haunt me? Time will tell. As for having secrets, do we really need to keep them? Maybe that ousting will provide a way forward.