“Thank you.” He inhaled and let his breath out slowly until he had control of himself. “Well, now that I know where things stand, I’m not exactly sure what I should do next. I came here to find my father.”
“You should come with me.”
Babel was not sure he understood her correctly. “Did you say I should come with you?”
“Yes, people will want to meet you.”
“Are you sure? I mean we just met. I’m a nice guy and all but I just came out of a cemetery…”
Triana smiled. “You’re Chokka. People will want to meet you. It will be my honor to guide you.”
Babel shrugged. “Okay, thanks.” He looked around to see if he could gauge exactly where they were. “So where are we going?”
“We’ll go to my home first. Then, I will take you to meet my family.”
“Okay.” Babel agreed. “How far do you live from here?”
“Not far. I was actually just going to the store to grab something when I saw you. I usually hate walking by the cemetery but today it worked out okay.”
“Do you still need to go to the store?”
“I do but it can wait until tomorrow. We should leave if you’re ready. The Klopph will be here soon to reply to the disturbance at the cemetery. Generally the Pishacha…”
“Pishacha?”
“You know, the creatures that almost ate you a few minutes ago?”
“I’ve heard that name before.” Babel said to himself.
“Anyways,” Triana continued, “generally the Pishacha can handle themselves so there is no need for the Klopph to come. But since you started a fire out of thin air and some of the Pishacha were injured, the Klopph will come.”
“The Klopph that killed my father.”
“Yes, the Klopph that killed your father. But you do not want to face them alone. Come with me, there are more that feel as you do. You can take on the Klopph later but now is not the time.”
Babel reluctantly agreed and followed her towards her home.
As they walked, she told him about herself. Her father had cancer and after high school, she was forced for forgo college so that she could work full-time to help pay for her father’s medical expenses. Her mother dedicated her days to taking care of her father. Her brother worked as many hours as he could get between two jobs but disappeared one day coming home from work. It was a terrible blow for her family. They suspected the Klopph but did not dare accuse the Klopph publicly. Her father died a few months after her brother disappeared, never knowing what exactly happened to his son.
After her father died, her mother used the community life fund (Babel wasn’t sure what that was but figured it was something like life insurance) to pay off all of his medical bills. There was not much left over but it was enough for Triana to finally go to college. Triana insisted her mother take the money but she would not hear of it.
Triana’s mother lived with her and one day as Triana was returning home from class, she found her mother dead in the kitchen. Her mother had never gotten over the disappearance of her son and the death of her husband. She had grown ill and the ailment had finally taken her. Her neighbor called it Death Sickness.
Triana went on to graduate and although her uncle and his family attended the graduation, it wasn’t the same as her parents and brother. She joined a local information firm (again the terminology confused Babel) after graduation. But lately business had slowed and because of her limited tenure, she been a casualty of downsizing. They gave her a three-month severance and that was two months ago. She had only recently moved into a smaller, cheaper apartment and was considering her next move.
This is where Triana was in her life when Babel met her. Babel could relate. He told her as much of his story as he could without revealing exactly where he was from.
“I’m glad we met.” Triana told him as they reached her apartment.
“I am, too.” Babel answered truthfully.
They went up the flight of stairs to her apartment. Once inside, Babel was intrigued. The design of the apartment and décor was curious. There were curves where there should have been straight lines. The floors were painted. The living room had a window but the window ran across the top of the wall along the ceiling. Her décor consisted of shapes, often multi-colored. There were shapes sitting on every table as well as hanging from the walls.
“Do you like?” Triana asked.
“Very interesting.”
“Thank you. I decorated myself. I know it’s a little old fashioned but that’s me.” Babel nodded in feigned understanding. “So, do you want something to drink?”
“Sure, that sounds great.”
“The fridge will conjure you up something. Just let it know what you would like.” Babel was not sure exactly what she meant. “Make yourself at home. I need to put on some more comfortable clothes.”
Babel nodded and looked towards the kitchen where he spotted the fridge. He was trying to figure out how he was going to make the fridge conjure when he noticed that Triana had not moved from where she was standing. She had taken off her shirt.
As beautiful as Triana was and as much as he would like see what she looked like under her clothes, he did not want to give her the wrong impression. “What are you doing?”
Triana looked at him. “What do you mean?” She slid her hand behind her back to unclasp her bra.
“Look, I don’t want to give you the wrong impression here. I think you’re a very attractive woman but I didn’t come to your apartment with any expectations of anything.”
Triana looked at Babel confused. She dropped her
