Dove Sport

Chapter Twelve: Devil Deal

It had been a full week since Jason's body had been found. Where the mystery had once stirred up intrigue, Arsen could now feel the mystery beginning to take its toll on the people of Doveport. It felt to him that everywhere he looked there were paranoid eyes watching.
Or maybe that was just him. He hadn't been sleeping well these past few days and whenever he mustered the energy to pay attention to his surroundings he was struck by an ominous feeling. If he had been more awake, maybe he would have recognized this as the effects of lack of sleep and would have compared himself to an accuser in Salem. As it was, Arsen was too aware of the people around him to consider himself.

He hadn't been sleeping well because he was losing his job at the town's cinema. Not because of something he'd done- Arsen was never late and always did his best to be polite to the moviegoers- but because the Doveport city council had made the decision to auction off the plot of land that Olde Town Cinema sat on. Arsen couldn't even bring himself to be surprised. The property was right in the middle of what could be considered 'downtown' Doveport, if a few more buildings than usual constituted a downtown area. Supposedly the old theater was 'prime real estate', at least, that's what the Doveport newspaper had been reporting. Arsen wasn't sure anything in this town was prime real estate, given it was a two hour drive out to the nearest city. Regardless, he wasn't about to let the theater be torn down without putting up some sort of fight.

Presently, it was eleven on Saturday morning and Arsen was waiting in the town hall for his appointment to speak with the mayor.

"Arsen Payne?" One of the assistants called out his name and he gave a little wave as he stood. The women who'd spoken smiled at him. "Mayor Hector is ready for you now, go on in." Arsen nodded his thanks to her and, slipping his phone into his back pocket, pushed open the doors of the Mayor's office. Mayor Hector stood from where he'd been sitting behind his desk and offered a hand to shake. Arsen took it.  The mayor glanced down at his desk as he and Arsen took their seats, likely checking notes about what Arsen was doing in his office.

"So, the Olde Town Cinema?" Mayor Hector asked, making a gesture for Arsen to elaborate on what he was doing there. The mayor was a tall, dark-skinned man with creases from a life of smiling for pictures. His voice was deeper than Arsen had expected for someone of his height and yet it somehow suited him.

Mayor Hector sat in focused silence, fingers steepled in front of him, as he listened to Arsen make his case for not tearing down the theater. When Arsen finally stopped speaking, the Mayor just sighed. "I'm sorry, Mr. Payne, but that theater has become a blight on this town. No- scratch that, it's more than just a blight, it's a bleeding, infected wound." The Mayor rubbed his temples, pausing before speaking again. "It's become a cesspool, a hangout for all sorts of criminals. Drug dealers and vandals attracted to it have been allowed to affect on the surrounding businesses for far too long. Besides," The Mayor continued, "There's nothing I can do. The deal is already done. The lot is scheduled to be demolished on Sunday morning." He looked away from Arsen and began shuffling around the papers on his desk. "If that was all, I have quite a few meetings later today that I need to prepare for." Arsen recognized the Mayor's words as the dismissal they were, but he wasn't willing to give up so easily.

"Mayor Hector," Arsen began, "When I was a kid my family and I used to visit the cinema all the time. My parents couldn't always afford to buy us the snacks they had here so my sister Anarchi and I would go to the convenience store next to our house and buy the candy there. We'd hide it in our pockets whenever we went to see the movies and sneak it out to eat once the theater lights were dimmed." Arsen paused for a moment, thinking back on how much he'd enjoyed those moments of sitting in a darkened theater with him and his sister sandwiched between their parents. "It's like my home." Arsen said. He swallowed painfully, unaware when his throat had gotten so tight. "You can't just tear it down."