The truth--sort of

You grabbed the phone from Alex. You started speaking before you had time to really think about what you were going to say.

"I got a call from this number this morning," you began, "and, well, the person on the other end of the line did something to me--something bad. And he told me that I had 48 hours to reverse what he did or it would be permanent."

You're not sure if you imagined it but you thought that the woman's voice softened, just a bit.

"Why don't you call the police?" She asked.

"They wouldn't believe me."

"Late-stage capitalism is a bitch," you heard her say, and, while you didn't know what that meant, it sounded like the truth. Late-stage capitalism was a bitch and had transformed you into a bitch.

"Listen," the woman said, "I'm not sure if your cases are related, but there was another girl who called this number, yesterday, and asked if we had called her. When I said that we hadn't, she hung up."

"Do you have her number?" Alex asked before you had the chance.

You heard the woman sigh.

"Sure, but I can't quite tell it to you, you know? Company policy and all that."

"Please, this is so important," you said.

Alex added, "That girl may be in danger, too."

If a mind had gears it could turn, you thought this woman's gears would be spinning out of control. There was a long pause before she said anything again. In fact, you were about to ask if she was still there, but she started speaking before you could ask.

"I'm sorry, but if you want my help, then you need to tell me the whole truth," she said, finally. "I know that may be hard, but I could get into serious trouble for giving you that piece of information. I need to know that I can trust you." You heard someone shouting in the background--a man. "Sorry, I have to go," the woman said, "Come to Pizza Sound later today. I'm the bitch at the front counter."

Then she hung up.

You stare at your phone screen, which had reverted back to its homepage--a picture of you and Alex grinning at the camera, with the beach in the background. It was a nice picture--a great picture, even. You felt Alex put an arm around your shoulder. You let him comfort you.

"I guess we're going to get pizza," Alex said.