The Good Old Days: An Animal Crossing Fan Fiction

Chapter 15 - Tom Nook

The snow was completely melted away. Winter had come and gone. With it, Christmas and New Years. I'd been too preoccupied running the store and keeping up with Grendal's demands to worry about the holidays. Time was really zooming passed me. This city was hard work, but I wasn't going to give up. In spite of it all, I needed to come out on top.

Redd was acting strange today. Stranger than usual that is. I've grown used to independently running Redd & Jerry's, so it wasn't odd that he would only occasionally swing by the store. He was acting strange after he got a phone call from Lyle. What kind of mess could he have gotten himself into this time? I suppose it wasn't any of my business. 

He gave me his apartment, and having my own place is a step in the right direction. A step in achieving my dreams and showing this city that I really can make it. I'd show this city that it can't break me. I came here with dreams, and although things haven't turned out how I imagined, I'm not going to quit. This city won't get rid of me that easily.

Closing hour approached and I prepared to turn the lights out and lock the doors. I decided I'd stop by the cafe and have some coffee, the same one I'd visited all those months ago. I hadn't been since, but I felt a craving for something strong. What was it he called it? Kilimanjaro? Whatever blend it was, I was craving it.

The cab dropped me off right in front of the cafe. I tipped the driver and stepped out.

I sat in the exact same seat that I sat in on my first visit. The Cafe was pretty empty. No acoustic melodies, just the radio, the young pigeon and my cup of hot coffee.

Last time I was in this spot I thought about Animal Village, I thought about my friends, my memories. I thought about Sable. I shook my head as if to shake those thoughts out of my mind. Thinking about those days almost felt daunting. Thinking about Sable now made me feel anxious. I felt like I let Animal Village down. I felt like I let her down. I came here to make it big, it's now been roughly a year of me living in this city. How could time have slipped away so quickly? The finish line doesn't feel any closer than when I stepped off that bus all those months ago.

I felt weary. Tired.

I chatted with the barista for a bit and shortly after made my way home. The apartment's all mine now, yet nothing feels different. It feels as if nothing's changed. I feel like such a disappointment. There's a stack of letters in my bedroom corner. They're all from Sable; I haven't had the heart to open any of them. The last two came with a gift, I haven't opened those either.

I couldn't bare look at what she'd written. The thought of how hurt she must feel to not have received a letter in over half a year, is too much to bear.

Redd's bedroom is wide open, and still a mess, just as it's always been. I've never actually been inside his bedroom. What would I do with this room now that he's moving out? I stepped inside to examine the space and think up some ideas.

Just then I noticed a couple sheets of papers under his mattress. How could he be this unorganized and messy? I pulled them out to toss them in the trash, unless they were important. I wasn't sure if they might be so I unfolded them and read them.

I couldn't believe what I was reading. The information on these pages felt like a punch to the stomach. I couldn't contain my tears and broke down, falling to my knees, defeated and exhausted. Nothing could hold back my cries now.

The document was a contract written up by Grendal and Redd. Redd would be receiving his full earnings, and he and Grendal would be splitting most of my cut between the two. I'd been earning so little over the last few months, barely enough to get by. Most of my money wasn't going to Grendal, most of it was going to Redd. What's more, is that the ownership of Redd & Jerry's was only in Redd's name. We weren't business partners. He was the sole owner of the store. It occurred to me that Redd knew about the rubies. He must have been the reason Grendal even knew about them in the first place. I've never felt so betrayed in my life.

There was a knock on the door. I hid the papers and wiped my tears away as I made my way to the front door. It was one of the officers from the 12th precinct accompanied by an Iguana in a bomber jacket with some letters stitched on the front: FBI.

"Sorry to bother you sir, may we step inside for a moment?"

I allowed them to enter, I was a bit shaken up, but most of that was from the revelation of the documents I'd just uncovered.

"We're looking for someone who goes by the name of 'Crazy Redd'. We have it on good authority that he lives here."

"Lived here. As of this morning he sold me the apartment. I haven't seen him all day and he hasn't come home for his things yet. Is everything alright?" I asked knowing perfectly well that things weren't alright.

"We went by his business establishment a few moments ago, we're shutting that whole place down."

"Redd & Jerry's!? Why!?"

"Stolen merchandise, sir. The pieces of art sold there are either stolen or forgeries. The only other two people affiliated with the store are its financer Jerry Lungorio and his lawyer... A Mr. Grendel."

"Oh my goodness... how fortunate" I said suddenly glad my name wasn't included in any of the new owner and proprietor documents.

"What's that now?"

"How unfortunate. Officer, where are the other two fellows now?"

"Mr. Grendal has been apprehended on account of supplying the stolen merchandise and on account of being aware the stock included forgeries. As for Mr. Lungorio, it seems he's not in the city. He's been embezzling large amounts of company money into the store. As soon as he steps foot into the city we'll cuff him. Until then he's missing. It seems like your friend Crazy Redd is missing too by the looks of it."

"He's not my friend, officer." I said bitterly.

I offered the two officers some refreshments but they refused. They asked me to give them a call if I heard back from Redd.

Now that the great Redd & Jerry's Art Emporium is no more, it looks like thats it.

I walked into my bedroom and sat at my desk reflecting on everything that just occurred. What would I do next?

I turned my attention to the stack of envelopes. I opened them up one by one starting from the oldest. "Dear Tom" I read one after the other, "Dear Tom". Each letter bringing back a flood of memories. "Beloved Tom". All the memories that I'd locked away and buried deep down, "Dear Tom". The second last gift was a Christmas present. Time has a funny way of slipping passed us. I unwrapped it, it was a golden keychain with my initials on it, on the back was engraved a heart. She'd always been so creative with everything she did. Always working hard and making an honest living.

The last gift she sent me arrived a little over a month ago. I finally opened it. It was a small box. Inside the box was her diamond ring...

----- Author's Note -----

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