An Acquaintance With Malice - A Short Story by Moe

"...si me vez andando por tu misma via, si me vez llorando mi melancolia...
dejame en mis enredos..."

Waterman's mother always said: "Tell me who your friends are, and I'll tell you what you're about"

As wise as his mother was, Waterman never made any judgements by those anyone was acquainted with. He understood from experience that you could hate the way someone lived but still have the ability to see beyond that to come to love that persons' heart...not every heart beats exactly the same. Others will always judge by what they see so his mother's phrase made sense...but it wasn't always true. So Watermans friends ran the gamut of characters and they all knew what he would accept in his own life and what he wouldn't. It was respect that allowed him to be the man he was around them.

As eclectic as his friends were, one could say the same about the women he loved. Some lasted, others didn't but all drew his heart in depth. He did however take note of an odd occurrence in a few cases. He noticed that several women had a common set of acquaintances that for one reason or another, took issue with Waterman's understanding of true freedom. What was even stranger was that these individual women had no idea their acquaintances were connected to the others. In two cases, this group forcefully tried to entice Waterman to be bound to each woman as he came to know them but Waterman would have none of it. It turns out that this nameless group had countless successes in this regard in the past but Waterman already knew what they were about. Unlike many, Waterman would not be ruled. Only One ruled Waterman and that was by consent. He never believed that love or commitment should be forced upon another nor should it be enticed by outside forces. If commitment was to be real...it must be organically grown. This group did not like Waterman. Much less...his power to resist them.

One quiet night, Waterman ran into a lovely soul. A beauty that was meant to spark new life into his passion but he would soon come to learn that she was more familiar with this group than the others had ever been. They knew that they could not entice him and in this case...they didn't want to. They feared that in time, his love would draw her away from them so they devised a plan. A plan...to draw her away from him.

Waterman, being a man of strength, had many routines worked into his training and one involved the digging of ditches. The movement of digging ditches trained specific muscles to last beyond exhaustion like no other movement or known training could. He hated doing it because he had no love for dirt but he found it the best way to train these muscles. For several nights, they took her to the place Waterman trained. He would choose ground away from all eyes lest anyone get the wrong idea and they knew why he was digging but you see...they never told her. They only allowed her to see what they wanted so she would begin to doubt him. As planned, questions began to flood her mind. How could this lovely man be involved in digging ditches? What or who was he burying? How could she even ask him?

After a few days, he could feel her distance. He knew she had a concern but was afraid to ask him. She knew that if she asked him, she would have to admit on spying on a private moment that was never meant for her eyes. She knew that such a thing was out of bounds. As she began to ask him questions about training specific muscles, he immediately caught on to what they had done but he never told her that he was fully aware of what she had seen. If she wasn't going to ask straightaway, he was not going to say a thing. All she had to do was trust him with the whole truth and he would have explained it all...but fear dissuaded her. He knew that what they had done was wrong and if she was going to allow them to put doubt in her mind, there was nothing left to do. After the questions, he could tell lingering doubts remained and in time...things changed. He knew things changed for many reasons but this groups' scheme was the advent of that change.

Waterman has since kept her in his heart as his love for her has never changed but he understood that their relationship would never advance without the interference of that group. A group that to this day still sees him as an enemy...and they always will. He doesn't care because he knows they can do nothing to him but they still fear what he can do to them. They know his love for her will never wane or falter nor will his care of her and there is not a damn thing they can do about it. He understands all too well that they will soon be revealed for what they really are and when that time comes...justice will be met. As for Waterman, he will always know one thing: It matters not how others feel about him or view him...he will react in accordance to action. So long as he never changes...his heart remains untouched and as such...at peace.

~The End?

~moses