gamemaker ekram | capitol wip

[ ACT I ]
[ A BOY & A TOY ]

First, there is Anais Novara. The brains.

Then, Ivan Novara. The brawn.

Third is Elle Novara. The beauty.

Years later, Ekram Novara appears, pigeonholed into a faraway space. He is an off-the-shelf option in case something goes wrong with the stock on the floor.

"Family is everything." Or so his dad tells Ekram as the butler lays a fresh-pressed child's suit out for a party. "And this dinner's success is essential to the family." Ekram nods, unwrapping the string laced around his fingertips to start putting on the white shirt. Dad always courts business investors on Friday nights, but today's event differs from the usual ones.

Typically, only Mom, Dad, and Ekram's older sisters and brother go out to drink champagne and talk about deals and money. But this businessman has kids. Ages ten and eight, and Ekram falls between them at nine. He's to play entertainer tonight, a card only played when there are other boys and girls around. Ekram loves to entertain, and Dad says it's one of the most important jobs of the night. While the rest of the family balances between the dining room and the drawing room, Ekram gets free rein on the second floor to play.

Dad hopes they'll play Peacekeeper with the toy guns and foam bullets he bought earlier in the week. Peacekeeper and Rebel, as he called it back in the day. Maybe they'll lose an expensive vase or painting in the process, but the Novaras amassed enough wealth in sixty years of business that almost anything could be replaced.

But Ekram takes the boys and girls to his playroom. No guns or kickballs or bullets. In fact, none of those things are allowed inside. In Ekram's domain, it is tame, elegant, and delicate. Two massive dollhouses match the children's height at the far wall. Action figures, toy dolls, and marionette puppets sit at the dinner table, waiting to continue Ekram's story before the butler dragged him away to get dressed. While there are a few newer dolls and action figures (including the limited edition 67th Leon Krigel,) most are old-fashioned and vintage items. Each doll's wardrobe is locked away in the chests on the other side of the room. Whenever he and his nanny go on an afternoon stroll, he insists they stop by the antique store to get a new outfit for one of his toys.

Ekram sits on the floor without another word and picks up two of the dolls. One is a normal barbie doll, adorned with eyes of sapphire and a dress of the same shade. The other is a marionette. Ekram wraps a set of strings around his fingers and raises his arms to force the marionette to stand. With the flick of his ring finger, the marionette man, dressed in a sweater and pleaded slacks, points at the barbie doll. They're talking in his head, but the frown on Ekram's face tells the other kids that they're arguing.

"Can we play too?" The girl asks him. Ekram's hands rest, and the marionette puppet settles back into his chair. He turns back to see both of the kids standing with their hands behind their backs. The girl seems interested in the dolls, but the boy has his eyes on the door, where a toy gun is waiting with his name on it.

"You can. There are lots of dolls." He motions to the second dollhouse where his second-favorites sit out in their garden. The girl sits by it, picking up a couple of the dolls. She shakes one of the marionette puppets, and its strings get caught between each other. "BE CAREFUL!" Ekram yells, dropping his dolls and scooting to the other side to fix the wrapped-up wires.

"If you want to play with these ones, you have to put your fingers through the little loops like this." He demonstrates with his own. The thumb and pinkie control the arms, the index and ring fingers control the legs, and the middle finger is the master of the head and torso. "See?"

They play in silence, with the other boy watching from behind. "What are they talking about?" He asks, and before Ekram can explain, the girl speaks.

"They had a nice date in the garden, but the boy is talking to the girl about how he doesn't think his mom will accept her."

Ekram laughs on the other side.

"And what about yours?"

"Well, he's currently giving his wife instructions on how to dispose of the butler." The air in the room ceases, and Ekram continues. "Her husband walked in on their butler hurting their maid. He had to save her, but he whacked the butler over the head with a vase and he died. So they have to cover it up."

"Oh." The girl sighs, a bit shocked.

"Sick." The boy smiles, and sits beside Ekram. "Who are all these guys?" The boy points to the other dolls sitting at the table.

"Well… those are their kids. One… two… three. They're all scheming to get rid of the body. And then alllllll the way up here," Ekram points to the attic where a smaller marionette sits on a bed. "That's the youngest boy. They told him to go up to his room and be good. They think they're protecting him by not telling, but they're just making him feel bad."

"That's a lot of drama."

"Yeah. I think they forget he's there sometimes. He's lonely and has to make up his fun."

The kids keep playing until it's time for them to go home. It turns out, the neighbors caught the mom carrying the butler's body outside. What'll happen next?

The boy and girl he played with won't be allowed to decide. They're not allowed back to the house.

Dad walks into Ekram's bedroom after lunch the next day to yell at him. The boy and girl loved him, but their parents thought the stories Ekram told them were too weird and almost too personal. They decided not to invest in his dad's new gentleman's club on the other side of the city.

He takes away Ekram's dolls and locks the playroom for a month. A day, his dad told him, for every million dollars you cost me. For his second punishment, Dad signs him up for volleyball, track, and piano lessons for the next school year. Ekram does all of it gladly if it'll make his father proud.

He grows, pretending to have more interest in those hobbies than he does. Dad schedules business dinners on nights of his track meets, volleyball games, and piano recitals. Anything to keep Ekram away. He messes things up, he's irresponsible.

The little puppet boy in the dollhouse finds permanent residency in the attic, stuffed in the toy chest like a lonely spare part until he's old enough to be sent away to build something on his own.