Oliver Benjamin
Christianity. If he hadn’t ratted out Jesus, the guy wouldn’t have been
crucified and there would be no religion. So you see: The best way to
save the world is to save yourself first.” He stood up, “You fellows
enjoy your breakfast. I’ve got to go proselytize. Shalom a lama ding
dong.”
Irving put his hands together and bowed. Then he strolled
through the bakery’s bamboo doors and out into the waning light of
the afternoon. I turned to Hugo and saw that he was still gaping,
open mouthed at the door. I had forgotten that in coming from a
Greek family, Hugo was probably to some extent a practicing
Christian, and a bit miffed.
A man behind us made a joke, “Did you hear about the
Juddhish-American Princess? She had anorexia nirvana.” The
woman sitting with him added, “She thought her Buddha was too
fat!” Laughter ensued.
Hugo put his sunglasses back on and mumbled, “Its too early in
the morning for this religion shit. I’m going back to sleep.” He put
some money on the table and walked towards the door. Just as he
was about to walk out, a familiar figure entered the bakery. It was the
man they called Tree. Hugo glanced at him heavily over the top of his
sunglasses, then looked at me and shook his head, and continued out
the door.
After Tree found a free table, he immediately spread out his
notebook and began to write. The couple behind me talked about
him.
“Did you hear about that guy? He supposedly killed his family
and escaped from prison. They say he’s hiding out here on Samrin
because it’s cheap and he can blend in with the freaks.”
“You think?”
“That’s what they say.”
I looked over at Tree and watched his hands as he scribbled
fervently. Surely these could not be the hands of a killer.
I decided to kill some time with another cup of coffee and the
book I was reading at the time. As I read, I noticed movement out of
the corner of my eye. The man called Tree was getting up to leave.
Infused with caffeine confidence, I shuffled up to pay for my
breakfast and followed him outside.
He walked quickly. It was hard to keep up with his pace without
looking conspicuous, so I galloped up next to him and introduced
myself.
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