The Banality of Evil

All good things come to an end.

The good mood Grey had put Jordan in petered out after her stomach started struggling again. She hadn’t been kidding. Jordan felt like she wanted to throw up, needed to throw up, but wasn’t anywhere near where she needed to be to swing it.

She asked Grey how much worse this was going to get. “You’ve started seeing them, which means the scales are falling from your eyes. It’s still going to be bad. But you’re at the worst of it now.”

A small comfort at least. Jordan rose from her seat in the bus shelter and rubbed her face. “Let’s go before the bus comes.”

“Bus is never going to come.” Grey stood up as well. “FELP hates public transit. Loves cars.”

Hearing the name again made her realize where she’d seen that before. “My dad’s hat.”

Grey looked to Jordan, confused.

“My dad wore a hat that said ‘FELP’. And in the front yard, he had a yard sign that said ‘Vote the FELP Ticket’. And then there was my brother who was with that monster.” For a moment, her discomfort wasn’t coming from the withdrawal. “I think my family’s in deep with these guys.”

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That realization stuck with Jordan as they kept walking back to Frank’s house.

How much did they know? Her father surely knew the most; he’d run on the ‘FELP Ticket’. He wore a FELP hat. Derek was at best an unwitting accomplice, and at worst an active participant. That left her grandmother Debra and her mother Karen.

But even if she tried to rationalize it, even if she tried telling herself that surely they didn’t know, she couldn’t let it go. She needed to know what they knew. If only so she understood how far her family had fallen from grace.

Jordan looked around and stopped. She pulled Grey towards her and gestured out.

The two were in front of city hall. Jordan called Grey’s attention to an old letter change sign that usually advertised upcoming events. It was advertising a meeting for the local chapter of FELP, held today and starting shortly.

“Absolutely not,” said Grey. “You want to go into the lion’s den?”

“I need to know how bad it is,” Jordan explained.

Grey was aghast. “I told you it’s bad! Can’t you take my word for it?”

“I believe you. But what if I’m right about my family? If they’re true believers, then I need to get the hell out of town as bad as you do.”

Jordan didn’t wait for Grey to say anything back and started walking. She pulled on her hoodie to obscure her identity from anyone inside. It was cinched tight by the time she entered. Grey would be safe or at least Jordan hoped she would be; no one in town knew who she was.

That hope was of little comfort to Grey. She was trying in vain not to look to everyone.

Most of the signage pointed to a certain chamber being used for the FELP meeting. The two followed a young couple towards the doors leading inside, only to hang back when they got to the doors.

There was a loud squeak as the doors swung open. Jordan could see that everyone was staring at the people who were coming in. Meek apologies and gestures ensued as they quickly closed the door behind them with a louder groan.

Grey pointed to the door. “There’s no way we get in without everyone seeing us.”

Jordan reached into the bag of stuffs they’d purchased and pulled out the can of lubricating oil. She went to each hinge of the doors, liberally applying the oil to hinges that looked ancient. Every hinge got two treatments of the oil over the course of ten minutes before Jordan went for the door handle.

The squeak was still there, still making both woman’s heart’s sink. But the oil must have done the job enough not to attract attention. They snuck into the room and quickly sat down on a few extra chairs in the back row.

Twelve or so rows of half-filled seats later was a row of high-end leather chairs facing back at them behind an elevated desk. Each of those seats were filled with men and women. In the center of them was Jordan’s father Stewart, and to his right was her grandmother Debra.

Stewart raised a gavel and slammed it into the desk hard enough to get everyone’s attention. “Order, order! Today’s meeting for the Green Pines chapter of the Fixed and Eternal Legacy Party is now in session. We will start by renewing our pledge of loyalty.”

Everyone else in the room stood up promptly and put their left hand over their heart. Grey looked to Jordan and quietly slouched down to the floor so no one could see her refuse to take this oath. Then she pulled Jordan down with her.

The voices were as one.

“What was good enough for my fathers is good enough for me. What was good enough for me is good enough for my children. I shall face all which threatens what is rightfully ours and reject it, always and forever.”

Jordan grimaced. Grey and her snuck back into their seats while everyone else sat back down.

“We will start today’s meeting by reviewing the minutes from the previous meeting. Debra?”

Debra pulled on a pair of reading glasses and began reading from a sheet of paper. For all the horrible things Grey had told her about these guys, this seemed utterly banal.

But every now and then she tried reading between the lines on what her grandmother was saying. And they were using a lot of formal and long-words like ‘strategic matchmaking’ and ‘anti-social activities’.

After Debra finished her reading of the minutes, Stewart nodded solemnly. “Our first order of business is the car crash that happened recently on Fellowship Lane. Matters as they related to repairs and expenses therein have already been forwarded to the relevant departments. Our topic of discussion is the missing driver of the car.”

Jordan’s eyes went wide. Wait. Was that the name of the street her family lived on? From how Grey’s hand had gripped hers, it must have been.

“The car appears to be stolen, we are still awaiting further information from our sister chapters to see if this person tried fleeing from them. However, we do have a lead. Door camera footage did identify someone running towards the wrecked car and pulling out the driver.” Stewart gestured to the doors. “Bring him in.”

The doors swung open smoothly. Two police officers, one on each side, escorted a familiar man into the chambers. Frank looked unharmed but his hands were firmly bound by handcuffs behind his back.

He did not react or betray any emotion on his face, only quickly looking at Jordan before continuing being marched forward.