Tattered clothes, dirty face, a pungent smell. These were all part of the disguise that Alrik needed to truly pull off his act of a homeless retarded beggar. The main issue he was finding hard to navigate was his back story for being missing all this time. If he acted too retarded, everyone would be suspicious and wonder how a retard found his way back home. But if he acted too coherent, they would wonder why no one heard from him since then. It would also make whoever tried to get rid of him fearful that they were going to be caught and that would put him in danger too soon. He had to balance it.
In order to do that, he had to make his return accidental. That required a lot of plotting, and strategic plans. First, he obtained the schedule for everyone he knew who lived in his family estate; his grandfather, his uncle, his cousin, and his ex. He had to determine which of them would be easier to fool, and whose schedule would be easier to manipulate, and also determine who would be most likely to bring him back home.
Vaida, his ex, had an easier schedule to manipulate, but he knew she would never want to associate with him. Kalen, his cousin, was the most likely to bring him back home, not to help, but to mock him, and make sure their grandfather despises Alrik more. So he went with Kalen. Uncle Jett was more likely to just shoot Alrik on sight to make sure his son, Kalen would finally be named the heir to the Zerdon estate. And his grandfather rarely left the estate, so making a chance meeting was much harder.
"Spare a dollar for a hungry soul." Alrik said as he moved through the crowd with his head down, and a rusted can held up.
He knew that Vaida and Kalen frequented this mall, and they planned to stop by there before heading home, so Vaida could make some finishing touches to her wedding gown. Why they still hadn't gotten married yet was beyond him. After all their efforts to deceive him, and get him out of their way, Alrik expected them to be celebrating a wedding anniversary by now, not still in the planning phase. But their problems were not his business.
He moved carefully, avoiding the mall security, and going with the crowd, though people tried to avoid him as much as possible due to his haggard appearance and smell.
"Spare a dollar for a …"
He paused as he looked up, and pretended to be shocked to see Kalen.
"Eww, Kalen. Why did you stop for this smelly man? Are you trying to get us infected?" Vaida squealed as she stepped closer and finally noticed why Kalen stopped.
Kalen quickly composed himself, and pretended like he was getting money out of his wallet to give to Alrik, but whispered under his breath.
"Meet us at the parking lot now. And make sure you're not seen."
He grabbed Vaida, and pulled her away to take a different route to the parking lot. Alrik kept moving forward. He didn't have to try hard to find them. He already knew their designated parking spot, and the quickest route there. He just delayed intentionally to avoid suspicion.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Kalen snapped as soon as Alikr arrived at the car.
They moved towards the back of their parking section where prying eyes would not see, and the two guards they came with stood to keep anyone coming that way from eavesdropping.
Alrik looked confused for several seconds, then he smacked his head three times, and began to laugh. "You said I should come. Money. You give me money?"
He babbled a bit to sell the act of being retarded, and Vaida sneered. "Have you lost your mind? What are you even saying?"
Alrik saw the moment that Kalen became less tense. His cousin was obviously relieved because he believed that Alrik was still mentally challenged. He had been afraid that Alrik might be able to remember details of his disappearance. Now his mind was at ease, so he began to laugh.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. He came back to war camp even after being discharged dishonourably, and was careless on the field. He's a retard now."
Vaida blinked, and then joined Kalen to laugh. "After all his bragging, and threats. This is how he ended up. I'm glad I made the right choice to leave him, and be with you, Kalen." She said in between her laughter.
"But why wasn't this knowledge made public?"
Kalen frowned at her question. He didn't want to tell her his involvement in Alrik's kidnapping on his wedding night, and then his disappearance. He was becoming more paranoid, and he didn't know who to trust except his father.
"He went missing, so the commanders thought it better to not make a fuss."
"What do we do with him then?" She asked, not out of sympathy, but because she never wanted to cross paths with him again, and risk being associated with a homeless retard begging on the streets. If her new friends find out about him, and that they were previously engaged, she would be mocked.
"Grandfather disowned him even before the incident, so I don't really know if bringing him back would be okay. But if we leave him here, and someone discovers his identity, it might taint our family name." Kalen said, but he had an ulterior motive.
He wanted to make Alrik meet their grandfather in this state, so it would prove once and for all that Alrik was incapable of becoming the Zerdon heir. Kalen wanted to inherit everything, and he couldn't do that now because it was all signed under a trust, so even if their grandfather were to die that day, neither him nor his father would gain control. It would all be controlled by the trust. Now he could finally get their grandfather to officially name him the heir.
"We'll take him back and make your grandfather decide what to do with him. Maybe they'll have him locked up at a mental facility for the rest of his life." She chuckled.
Kalen opened the trunk, and pointed. "Get in. I'm not letting your filthy body and foul smell infect the inside of my car."
A dangerous choice. If he got in, he made himself more vulnerable. What if they changed their minds and instead of taking him home, they just push the car off a cliff with him locked in the trunk?