Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Babylon ❯ Volume Two, Chapter Six: Understanding ( Chapter 6 )

Understanding

So why do we do this? What was the point of the exercise? Why document the lives of all the people in Babylon? I'll tell you a little story to explain.

At the time, I had been at this job for two years. By then, it wore me down. I was burning out. What was the point anymore? The stories started to blend together. Always the same themes. Debauchery, misery, depression, and failure. I was amazed I hadn't offed myself. Many days, I thought about quitting. (I'm glad I didn't.) I dropped my head on my desk. I groaned after reading over the case from last night.

“Why do I get these?” I asked. Suddenly, there was a knock on my door.

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

I lifted my head. Chun stood in the doorway, eyeing me.

“Oh.”

“Come with me.”

I blinked. “Huh?”

“I'm heading out for a bite to eat. Want to come along?”

I dropped my shoulders. “Sure.” What else was I going to do? It wasn't going to change a thing. I stood up and followed behind.

---------

I remembered that day. It was a Wednesday in October. It rained that afternoon. A fog settled in. Chun and I sat near the window in the front. He took a sip of his coffee. I stared at him. What were we doing here? Why did we come out here? Chun set down his cup.

“How have you been?”

“Huh?”

“Be honest. How have you been doing?”

I pressed my lips together. I didn't have a good feeling about this. He sounded so serious. What was going on? Did I do something wrong? Was I getting fired?

“Do you know why we do this job?”

“Huh?”

“Do you know we do this job?”

“No?”

Chun put a cigarette in his mouth and lit up. Where was he going with this?

“We help them find what they are looking for.”

“And what is that?”

“Whatever they need.”

“How?”

“By listening.”

I blinked at him. What was this? That made no sense.

“How does that help?”

“What are you looking for?”

“What?”

“What are you looking for?”

“I don't know.”

“Do you?”

I opened my mouth but closed it. “I guess…”

“You guess?”

“What are you getting at?”

Chun took another drag of his cigarette. He didn't take his eyes off me. I frowned. A waitress came over to our table.

“Are we ready to order?” she asked. Chun waved her off.

“Can you give us a couple of minutes?” he asked. I nodded when she eyed me. The waitress turned and walked off. Chun flicked out his cigarette.

“Sometimes, they don't know either.”

“Who? The people?”

“Uh-huh.”

“So… What? We help them find their reason or something?”

“Not quite.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Tell me something. Why did you take this job?”

I shrugged. “I don't know. Money. I needed the money.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Is that all?”

I frowned. “Wait… Is this a test?”

“No.”

I shook my head. “You're confusing me here. What are you trying to say here?”

He gave me a wry smile. “I think… You're looking for something too.”

“What? Are you going to say it's my purpose or something?”

“That and something else.”

I raised my eyebrow. “What?”

Chun leaned in closer. “Faith.” He cut in before I could argue.

“Faith in your fellow man.”

I struggled for a few seconds. “And you're going to help me find those things?” He didn't answer. I was left hanging. At the time, I didn't get him. Chun spoke in riddles almost all the time, driving me nuts. But he stayed true to his word. Chun would help me find my purpose and my “faith” as he called it. It would take time, but he did it. That crazy son of a bitch did it.

Sixth Shot