Chapter 5: Go On

Revy slowly walked to her bed. Once there, she lied down. She looked at the ceiling, thinking of Rock. Why did you have to go, she thought. I trusted you so much. We treated you as family. Weren't those enough?

"Ah, Revy?" Benny asked outside the closed door. "Would you want to eat something?"

Revy didn't answer.

"Revy?"

"Would you please stay away for a while? I need to be alone," she said.

"Do you want something to eat? I will buy it for you. You haven't eaten anything, yet, since this afternoon."

"No. Please go away, Benny. Even just for a while."

…

The next day…

"Revy, would you care to join me for breakfast?" Benny asked. "I have here some bread loaves and peanut butter."

"Go away!" she barked.

"A-all right. No need to get angry." Sadly, all he could do was to stare at the paper bag containing the bread loaves and the peanut butter. Why are you doing this to yourself, Revy? This isn't like you. With those thoughts, he went to his room.

What should I do, he asked himself once he was inside. I surely can't tell Dutch anything 'cause that might worsen the situation. But, what the hell should I do? Revy is currently killing herself by starvation and sulking. Oh, please, brain, give me some good suggestions.

In the afternoon, he tried once more. That's it. If she refuses, again, I'll force my way through. He inhaled, deeply. "Revy, it's lunchtime. Would you care to eat with me?"

"I don't want to eat. Leave me alone, Benny. Please," she said.

That's it. I had enough of your sadness. Whether you like it or not, I'm coming in.

And that was what he did. Using the spare key of her room, he opened the door and entered in. He was surprised to see Revy sitting on her bed, her right arm raised up, pointing a pistol at him.

"If you don't get out, I'll shoot you," Revy said. She was looking down at her lap. "Get out!"

Benny steeled himself. "I'm not leaving you in that state, Revy." He began walking forward.

"Stay away, Benny!"

"No!"

"Stay away!" Eyes closed, she decided to pull the trigger, but, before she could succeed, Benny caught her wrist. Unexpectedly, his touch seemed to bring her rational self back. She stared at him.

"No! I won't leave!" Gently, he pulled out the gun from her grasp that she let go without resistance. He put it down on the floor. "Revy, what are you doing to yourself? Look at you. You look awful!"

"It's my fault! Benny, don't you see, Rock left because of me. He left because I'm such a jerk!"

"And you can't make up for it if you'll kill yourself by staying hungry here forever!" Benny said.

"But…it's my fault," Revy said, looking away.

"Yes. Humans make mistakes once in a while. You are a human like the rest of us. But, if you stay this way, not eating and bathing, then—"

Revy turned on him, swiftly. "Then what?"

Benny was surprised with her expression. But, he was happy for that, nonetheless. "You'll look like a zombie."

Revy pulled out her wrist from his grasp. "What did you say?"

Now, this was his chance. He would not make it escape. "Look, if Rock would see you like this, he would be disappointed. You're so pale and smelly, you know."

"That does it!" Revy punched him hard enough to knock him out.

When he woke up, it was evening, already. Revy had laid him on her bed. Having a hint of what had happened, he returned to sleep with a smile.

…

One fine morning, Benny and Revy decided to go shopping for supplies. They walked side by side through the scantily crowded street to the market.

"Hey, Revy," Benny said, "it's been five days, now. I think you should already tell Dutch about what happened between you and Rock."

"Yeah. I've been thinking about it, too. But I'm worried about how Dutch would react to this," she said.

"What do you mean by that? You always do this when there's a new recruit. He's used to it. The only thing I'm concerned about is we're hiding something from him."

"It's not that simple, Benny. Rock is different. If you still remember, all the persons I kicked out from the company were stupid assholes, much of them were hated by Dutch himself. But, Rock…he's nice, hardworking, smart…I'm sure Dutch won't be pleased to hear about him leaving the company."

Benny sighed at that. "You have a point there. So, what are you planning to do now?"

There's a moment of hesitation before she answered. "I'll look for him."

"Huh?"

"With the money he has, I'm sure he's not gone out this town, yet."

"You know how much he has?"

"I saw his wallet before we had the argument. He barely had fifteen dollars in it."

"Oh, yeah. Now, I remember. Dutch hasn't given anything to us, yet. In that case, I'll help you search for him."

"Okay. By the way, Benny, I need to make a phone call. It's better that you go ahead to the market. I'll meet you at Frank's."

"Okay."

…

When Benny arrived at the market, he saw how opposite it was from the streets. The place was rowdy with crowds, clamors intermingling with one another. He couldn't even find a stall with less than ten customers. He knew that it would require hard work from him just to shop in there. But, he had no choice. If only Rock was with him, this task would be easier.

Yeah, that guy, he thought. He had been nice, and he usually had taken care of tasks like these. In situations involving passing through crowds, he had found ways to make people step aside and let him through. Benny couldn't understand how he had done that. One time, he had gone shopping with Rock. Rock hadn't even talked. He had just walked through, and everyone who had looked at him directly had just made way. It had been as if Rock had obliged them to do so.

Benny tried to go through a bunch of customers as Rock had done, but he ended up being pushed back hard. It was hard enough to send him sitting on the ground. He couldn't help laughing after the realization that came in him. He realized that for almost a year now, he had depended so much on Rock.

"Hey, get up!" It was Revy, offering her hand to him. Seeing her smile like that, he wondered if Revy had depended so much on Rock, too.

Benny accepted her hand and got up. "Thanks. Your call seems short."

"Yeah. The one I wanted to talk to wasn't available. Anyway, what were you doing sitting there?"

"Oh." He laughed in embarrassment. He couldn't just talk about it in front of her, especially that she had her guns right now. She might cause a scene. "I just fell. Who did you call, anyway?"

"Balalaika. I wanted to know if she had seen Rock. Unfortunately, she's in Germany right now."

"Germany, eh. That's unusual. She's never been away that far before. For her to do that she must have a very important appointment there."

"That was what I thought."

"Well, we should be going."

…

They finished shopping after two hours. It was actually shorter than Benny had expected, and it was all because of Revy. She had managed to pass through the crowd of people in each stall that they had needed to buy from by just putting her hands on her pistols. They even had availed discounts because of that. In a sense, having her or having Rock in shopping gave a somewhat similar effect—the task got easier. The only thing was their difference in the manner of doing it.

On their way back, when they were about to cross the pedestrian crossing, a green Ford pickup suddenly popped out from their right, stopped in their front, and blocked their way. Instantly, Revy jumped in surprise and started yelling at the driver.

"What the fuck are you doing? Do you know that surprising people here could get you killed?"

The tinted window rolled down, and they were surprised to see Eda on the driver's seat.

"Yo," she said with a smile.

"You fucker!" Revy barked. "What? Do you want to get killed?"

"Of course, not, you bitch! Who would want that?"

"Then what were you doing surprising me like that, huh? Wasn't that a challenge from you?"

"Hey, hey, hey. Stop that, girls," Benny said. "This is a fine day. Don't ruin it by such a trivial dispute. Calm down you two, will you?"

"Hmp!" Revy grunted, turning away from Eda.

"What's up, Eda?" Benny asked. "Why did you suddenly block our way?"

"So that you can't escape. Hehe. Just kidding. The truth is I need your help. You see I have a delivery here to make, but that fuckin' crazy pervert, who was supposed to be my helper, left me when he saw my gun. Could you please lend me a hand?"

"Umm, I have nothing to do today. Well, I think I could help you."

That enlivened Eda. "Yo, Revy, want to come?"

"Fuck you!"

Nevertheless, in the end, Revy went with them.

…

On their way, Eda told Benny how her helper had wanted to take advantage of her inside the pickup. "That crazy asshole wanted to hold my boobs, damn it! He actually thought he could do that to a helpless nun like me. So, I inserted the nozzle of my pistol in his mouth and cried, 'Scram before I let the mother you fucked out your head!'" she said. "Imagine that, Benny. People keep coming in this place without any knowing, innocent people that don't understand how cheap a life costs here. If I was not in a good mood earlier, I think I might have killed that guy."

"Oh, lucky him!" Benny said.

"Ultra lucky, you would say!" She laughed.

A long silence followed. Benny and Revy were engrossed in watching the scenery outside the car's windows. They were now far from the dirty district, and it was as if the yellow green meadow beyond the roadside was new to them. They were used to gray and makeshift houses in the town that their minds were like of a child's seeing something unfamiliar and beautiful. Because of that, they felt strange. They were reminded, again, how they had lived in a very small world where only three colors were existing: blood red, pitch black, and perfect white.

Benny wanted to stay that way for a longer time, but, as he had always believed in, he shouldn't take his feet off from reality. "Eda, where are you delivering these goods you have?" he asked.

"To a place called Wonderland. It is owned by a man called Bernardo Faust, a big name in car and yacht smuggling."

"Bernardo Faust. I think I heard that name before. Yes. I heard that he was one of the sponsors of an illegal project in Germany, which dealt with creating an army of perfect soldiers. But, the CIA discovered about it and it was demolished. I never thought that he hadn't been convicted for his crime."

Eda glanced at Benny as she would glance at an ignorant child. "Money and influence, Benny. Bernardo Faust made it possible by seeking help from his politician friends and by toppling over the law with his money."

"This man is dangerous."

"Indeed. Since that discovery, he has hidden himself from the outside world. Only few special people know that he is still existing."

"Yeah. This man is dangerous." This Benny muttered without thinking about it.

Bernardo Faust gave Benny the feeling of danger even only by hearing his name. The fact that he had escaped conviction that easily, the fact that he had friends that held high positions in the government of a superpower like Germany, and the fact that he could leap over the law for once because of his money made him feel uneasy. He even thought that he might regret going with Eda in her delivery. Now, if there would be misunderstandings between the Church of Violence and this Bernardo Faust, Black Lagoon could possibly be involved.

With these thoughts in mind, he didn't notice that he dozed off.

…

He woke up when Eda tapped his thigh, saying, "Hey, Benny, we're here."

"Oh, that was fast," he replied.

Eda giggled at that. "Actually, it has been two hours since we left the town."

"Eh?"

"Come on. Revy is doing the talking right now."

They were inside a forest, in front of a large mansion surrounded by high walls crowned with barbed wires, like those of a typical prison. The uneasiness he had felt a while ago came back to him. The place was secluded from the society, being two hours of travel away from the nearest town and being inside a forest that seemed untouched by anyone. It implied only one thing: this Wonderland Eda had talked about was a lair of hidden events. This Wonderland wasn't a place as the name implied it to be. It was a beast that wanted no disturbance. It wanted to be alone not because it was afraid to annihilate those who would try disturbing it, but because it didn't want to catch any attention from its hunters. It was keeping its master safe and hidden, keeping his state of existence and inexistence at the same time.

"Why aren't they opening the gate to let us in?" Benny asked.

"They have a strict policy that only members of their group can go in. We are finishing the transaction here."

That secrecy again. "Is that so?"

"Yes. But I think you might not like it also if you were to be let in."

"Eda!" Revy called out. "Come over here. This guy needs a representative from the Church of Violence."

"Coming!" Eda turned on Benny. "Come on. Let's finish this, fast."

Eda did the talking afterwards. The guy was wearing a black suit as the ones worn by secret agents. He had black sunglasses, too. He was African-American, and he must be a soldier once, considering his bulky body and the numerous scars on his face and hands. In addition, the smell of blood reeking from him and the manner he talked—it was in a gentle but somehow a bone-shivering manner—asserted his vast experience of battles that only a soldier could have.

After some time, some men from the mansion started carrying the packages from the back of the pickup to the big house. All of them were dressed like the guy Eda had talked to, and they walked like soldiers, smart and confident. Nobody among those men bothered saying anything to each other. It was very different from what normally took place when ordinary men did a task like that. These men from the mansion were disciplined enough to ignore them three who were leaning their butts against the bumper of the pickup.

"Hey, Eda, what are inside those packages?" Revy asked.

"I don't have the permission to say anything about them. Sorry. But, I promise to treat you two for accompanying me here. I'm sorry to bother you for nothing."

"That's—"

Suddenly, a gunshot was heard from inside the walls of the mansion. From the sound of it, it certainly came from a high caliber gun.

"What was that?" Revy asked. Without waiting for replies from the two, she ran to look through the partly opened gate of the mansion. She saw something there.

Eda and Benny ran to her side, looking through the partly opened gate, too. They saw a bleeding cat lying on the lawn of the yard.

"Shit! They didn't spare even a helpless cat!" Benny hissed.

"Miss Eda," said the black guy Eda had talked with a while ago, approaching her. He was carrying in one hand a black suitcase. "I'm sorry for that. Anyway, we're finished transferring the goods inside. Here's our pay. Three hundred million dollars in total." With fast movements, he laid the suitcase over his arm and opened it. There was a bunch of neatly stacked bundles of one thousand dollars in there. After a few seconds, he closed it and handed it over to Eda. "Our transaction ends here."

"Yes. It's nice doing business with you guys."

The black guy didn't reply. He went straight inside the gate and closed it.

"Come on, let's get going," Eda said. She went to the pickup, opened the door, and threw in the suitcase on the back seat. "Hey, come on you guys!"

In front of the closed gate, Revy wasn't moving. She was just staring at the black metal surface of the gate as if she could see through it. Benny, who was by then walking for the car, stopped, turned around, and went to Revy's side.

"Hey, Revy, come on. We are—" When he faced Revy, Benny was surprised to see the shocked and unbelieving expression on her face. "Revy?"

"Hey, what's happening to you?" Eda said, approaching the duet. "Can we please go, now?" When she came in line with Revy and Benny, her reaction to Revy's shocked expression was the same as that of Benny. "Revy, what's happening?"

"Rock…" she muttered. "Rock. I've seen Rock inside."

"What?"

To be continued…