Chapter Four
"Revy! Start talkin'!" Revy snapped into the phone. Sawyer was slightly taken aback by how blunt and even rude Revy was being. Everyone knew that Revy was a short tempered alcoholic, but this was a little bit over the top.
"Good morning. This is Frederica Sawyer. Might I be able to speak to Rock?" Frederica asked.
She checked her watch. It was noon, so it wasn't really morning anymore, but the way that Revy had answered the phone, it was like she was not only monumentally drunk, but also had been asleep up to that point.
"Yeah, yeah. I can tell who it is. You ain't gotta announce your whole name. The mechanical voice gives it right the fuck away. Rock can't get to…"
"Damnit, Rock! The doctor told you to keep your ass in bed!"
"Please don't be rude to Frederica. I understand that you're in a bad mood, Revy, but there's no need to…"
"Don't fucking tell me what there's no need to do! Get your ass back in bed! I'll tell Leatherface to call you back at another time!"
"Don't call Frederica 'Leatherface'! Give me the damn phone and I'll sit down forthwith."
"Good afternoon, Frederica… I apologize for not having called you sooner. But, you know what they say… Wait three days after the first date to call… I wouldn't want to be in breach of relationship etiquette." Rock said, laughing sheepishly.
"I have never heard this rule. Is it really so vital that one not call for three days? I was simply concerned that you did not have a good time. Please feel free to be honest with me. I understand that perhaps I am not the best date…"
"What you talking about, Sawyer? You perfect girl, yes you are! You have honest job. You have steady paycheck. You strong and strong willed."
"I would agree with Miss Shenhua… You should not look down on yourself so, Frederica…" Lotton added.
"Ahaha… I see you're not quite in agreement with your roommates, Frederica. I did have a good time on our date. You should have more confidence in yourself."
"You are a very nice person, Rock. What was Revy talking about? She said that a doctor told you to stay off your feet?"
"Um… Yeah, well… It was really more of a suggestion… I… Revy!" Suddenly, Frederica had to jerk the phone away from her ear, as Revy had taken the phone and was yelling again.
"Yeah, this pussy was badmouthing me, and I put 'im in his fuckin' place. I pushed him, an'e slipped on a bottle and fell. He broke 'is fuckin' leg! Naturally, he's gotta stay off his legs now!"
"I see. Would it be alright if I visited? I will not stay long."
"You better not… I got better things t'do than entertain little girls who've barely reached adulthood!"
"I will have you know that I am nineteen. I am not so young that I need to be babysat. I will be over in a few minutes. Goodbye."
"Good afternoon. Hello, Dutch, Rock, Benny, Revy. It is good to see you again. I have not seen most of you since I came to clean that room for you."
The group laughed nervously. They all remembered that quite clearly. The mattress was the bread and the bodily fluids were the butter. She had made that very morbid yet apt comparison, even when she didn't have her ultravoice.
"I-I guess… It's nice to see you as well, Sawyer… You really gave Jane a scare that day…" Benny said with a laugh.
"I do not blame her for being frightened. We did not get off on the best of terms. If you will all leave Rock and I alone for a few minutes. I do promise that I will not violate him…" Frederica said. Revy shrugged.
"Nah, don' worry 'bout it… Rock needs to get laid, anyhow…"
"How completely boorish! Besides! I'll have you know, I've been laid plenty of times!" Rock snapped angrily, though it was true that he had not had sex once since he got to Roanapur. He had a few girlfriends back when he was in Japan, but only one or two lasted long enough that they had sex, and even they broke up with him eventually. Rock had just been a boring person back when he was a normal Japanese citizen.
"Yeah, your right hand doesn't count, Rock."
"Bite me, Revy…" Rock snapped, flipping Revy off. "Anyway, it's nice to see you, Frederica-chan. Did you want anything to eat or drink? It is lunchtime." Rock said politely, standing and hopping over to the fridge to get some beer and pizza that was left over from the previous night.
"Unfortunately, we end up eating pizza most of the time, so we only have cold pizza. I could heat it up…" Rock finished rather lamely.
"That is unnecessary. I can eat the pizza cold, and I would appreciate the beer as well."
"How many pieces would you like? I know you…"
"Just two, please. I promised myself that I would not eat so much on our next date. So on a different note…" Frederica said, "Did you really trip over a beer bottle?"
"It was whiskey… But yes… I know it's kind of funny." Rock said weakly, stumbling and landing on his broken ankle, wincing in pain and grabbing the bureau for support.
"It is not terribly funny. Perhaps you should consider using a crutch, or a cane… A cane is good because it can double as a weapon in a bad situation…"
"Hn… I guess I never thought of it like that. But no… I don't think a crutch or a cane would do me well… Revy would have too much fun kicking them out from under me and watching me fall." Rock said in mild dismay. Frederica nodded, still with the same flat look on her face.
"Yes… I could unfortunately see that barbarian of a woman kicking your cane out from beneath you…" Frederica said, showing no more emotion than before.
"Don't worry too much about Revy…
"I broke my leg once while I was here and Revy only kicked my crutch out once. I think she got bored of it after that. Here… You can just adjust my crutch and use it…" Benny said cheerfully, running to the other room and adjusting the crutch approximately to Rock's height and handing it to him.
"Enjoy your date with Frederica… We've gotta get going. Time stands still for no man…" Duch said, walking out with the others.
"It is good to see you again, Rock. I understand that I am supposed to wait three days after the first date. But I was eager to see you again." Frederica said, actually smiling. Rock smiled nervously.
"Frederica-chan? I know this is probably insensitive, but, how do you stay so thin? I-I get that you eat a lot, as evidenced by our date, but… "
"You feel that I ate too much? I apologize for breaking the bank as they say." Frederica replied.
"No, no! That's not it…" Rock said, waving his hands. "It's just… I could never stay that thin if I ate as much as you did."
"Oh. Thank you, Rock. I exercise a great deal. If I were to stop exercising, I would gain too much weight. So… Tell me about those Romanian children. I only met them once. I knew from our one meeting that they wouldn't last long in Roanapur.
"From what I hear, you really connected with the little girl. Their lack of regard though for the pecking order would never do in a city ruled by the gangs. Even if Balalaika hadn't killed them, someone else would have.
"I met the two children once. I could see the madness in their eyes. There was no way that they would have survived in this city. They didn't understand the order of things. They would have been killed sooner or later. There is nothing you could have done."
"Thanks. But I cared about that girl. The boy I didn't know. But I still feel guilty about her death. I did everything I could to save her, to try to help her change. I was kind to her, even when nobody else in the world had been… B-but… It wasn't enough. I couldn't help her."
"There isn't anything you could have done. They made their bed, and were forced to sleep in it. You did all that you could to save her. But she was dead from the minute they came to Roanapur." Frederica said to Rock, tears actually coming to her steel gray eyes. She felt bad for Rock. He was one of the few people in Roanapur who still had a conscience.
Of course, he had moments where he became more manipulative, like the way he manipulated almost everyone when Roberta came back to Roanapur to take her revenge on the USA. Although he manipulated brilliantly, he even scared Revy with his ability and willingness. She said that he seemed completely different and that she didn't like it.
"I know… But… I connected with that girl. She may have been completely insane and evil. But… I… I just wanted to help her…"
"There is no way that you could've helped her, or her brother. They were beyond lost from the moment they were born. You can feel guilty. You can blame yourself if you must. But don't delude yourself into thinking that there's anything you could have done to save her."
"Thanks… I know…"
"You've seen some terrible things. You had to watch that Japanese girl you fell for kill herself. You had to watch Gretel, if that was her real name, get shot. So… I understand if you find yourself unable to love me.
"You never seemed to return Revy's feelings. She's pretty into you, you know." Frederica said levelly. Rock sighed and nodded.
"I became aware after a while. She's just not my type. She's too violent, she has no sense of financial management. She throws herself headlong into everything without bothering to think first.
"In short, she's strong, but more than that, she's dangerous. Her lack of caution in dangerous situations will eventually get her killed."
"I can agree with that. She is often somewhat incautious. However, although she is very strong, and I have only seen her equal with a gun in a few cases, she is liable to get hurt, rushing headlong into fights like she does.
"Have you ever considered taking a job with the Hong Kong Triad? You would make an excellent diplomat. Your job for Lagoon Company can only take you so far."
"Thank you. But… I couldn't betray Dutch, Revy and Benny… They're not just my coworkers. They're my friends."
"Revy, your friend who pointed a gun at you and made you break your leg? Who ridicules you at every opportunity? I'm not very familiar with the concept of friends, but that does not sound like a friend to me…"
"Well, I think they're about as close to friends as I have… In this city, anyways."
"What about me? I can't remember the last time I've had a real friend. But I would like to try being yours. If you will not be my lover, perhaps you could at least be my friend?" Frederica asked, looking uncommonly vulnerable at the moment. Rock couldn't help but empathize with her.
He silently laughed at himself. Empathy was an incredibly rare trait in Roanapur. It was a city ruled by three mafias, and overrun with corrupt officials, criminals, and general low lives. One could probably count the good guys on two hands, assuming they were being generous with their definition of "good guy".
Rock had become significantly less empathetic toward his fellow man over his time in Roanapur, and had shown himself to be extraordinarily manipulative on occasion.
"You… Want me to be your friend? I'm not any better than anyone else in this town." Rock protested. "I'm just as evil, manipulative and selfish as anyone else."
"How can you say that? You've been a single ray of light in a dark town in the time you've been here. Everyone makes mistakes. Few can admit to it." Frederica said, showing an uncommon amount of emotion. Usually, her voice was completely mechanical. Now, her voice had a waver in it that was all too human. It was humbling to Rock to hear her speak so well of him.
"You're kidding, right? When Roberta came back to Roanapur to get revenge, I manipulated everyone… Including you, including the mafia, including a 12 year old boy that just wanted to get his caretaker back. I took advantage of everyone. I behaved more shamelessly than I care to believe. Even Revy was shocked… And that's saying something…"
"And now, you're admitting to it. And I still want you, Rock. With all your flaws, with all your shortcomings. I don't know about love. But I like you. You're a good person, regardless of being imperfect. I wouldn't want you so much if you were perfect." Frederica said, her voice becoming slightly less monotonous. Rock blushed slightly. It was flattering that Frederica thought so much of him, but he wasn't sure what to say.
"Would you like to go on another date? I need to get used to this crutch, anyway." Rock said, reaching for the crutches and struggling to his feet, hobbling out, with Sawyer, who, although she didn't smile, Rock felt sure that she was happy.
"I would ask you to go for a run with me, but it's obvious that you cannot. Perhaps when your leg heals."
"I would like that. Perhaps you could ask Shenhua if she could teach me how to use knives. I plan to be able to use a gun as well, but knives are useful in a variety of situations, namely stealth tactics… Something… Neither you, nor Revy can really aspire to, given your very loud weapons." Rock said with a mild laugh.
"That is true. A chainsaw is not terribly well suited for silent kills. Fortunately, I do not need to kill people silently most of the time. My job is to murder people in the most gruesome and flashy way possible to send a message."
"I see. Well… Why did you choose a job as a cleaner?"
"I didn't. The Chinese Triad chose me. They found me because I was highly efficient with using a chainsaw. I learned to use a chainsaw as a weapon in Germany because of stricter gun laws. I was only a minor, so if I was caught, I would be returned to my mother and likely arrested. Since I was travelling with Gypsies, neither they nor I were considered reliable, and many of us had criminal records.
"Guns were not a viable option, so I learned to use alternate weapons that would scare an enemy as well as being lethal. I modified a chainsaw to work effectively as a weapon. What about your country, Rock?" Frederica asked. Rock sighed.
"Well, guns are illegal in Japan. But, somehow, the Yakuza still manages to get them. It's said that there are as few as two gun related deaths per year in Japan, but that statistic might be slightly inaccurate."
"I see. We should go out… You can at least get used to walking on your crutches." Sawyer said, smiling. It used to be that Rock was unnerved by Sawyer smiling. It usually meant that someone was about to be sliced and diced or at least shredded apart by her chainsaw, which she wielded with frightening skill. But now, she looked almost vulnerable when she smiled. It was kind of cute.
Rock looked at himself in the mirror. Had he really just described Sawyer as "cute"? She was a lot of things. Pretty, strong, terrifying, professional… But, he was pretty sure that not many people would call her "cute". She was, though. As dangerous a woman as she was, there was a certain innocence that you could see if you scratched the surface. As the two walked down the stairs, or in Rock's case, hobbled, he couldn't help but smile at Frederica.
