Is this it? [Chapter 7: The Best Part of Believe is the Lie]

Another snippet from Ren's life. Religion can be toxic sometimes. I respect everyone's religions and beliefs. I never really bash on anyone's stuff. Continued from: [Chapter 6: The Collector]

Ren was at work. Good old Serenity Hospital had called him in for a 12 hour shift and he was short on cash, so he accepted. After 6 hours of staring at 36 patients heart rhythms on monitors, it was finally break time. He hadn't counted on sticking to this job for so long. He was growing quite tired and frustrated with it. It wasn't even a real 'job' in his eyes. Sometimes, he only worked for a day a month.

 

The people at this job bothered him. So much so that the pay barely made it worth dealing with them. When he saw a patient's leads off the monitor, he would have to call a patient care assistant to fix them and he would constantly be bitched or yelled at for just doing his 'job'.

 

"How miserable..." He sighed as he made his way into the nurses lounge. He needed to leave this monitor technician job.

 

The hospital wasn't as hospitable as he pictured it would be. The doctors were venomous with their rants, the nurses would vent to him about who they wanted to slaughter, and the PCA's could give a rat's a*s about most of their patients.

 

The first thing he noticed when he walked into the lounge was that one of the PCA's, Leroy, was also on lunch break. Leroy was a curly black haired, tall Latino with fierce brown eyes. In front of him was a tray with a small portion of macaroni and cheese, traces of rice, a small bitten piece of chicken, and a chocolate milk box with a straw sticking out of the top.

 

Leroy didn't look away from the TV as Ren glanced around the nurses lounge, trying to figure where to sit. Karin's voice rang out in his ear. "Why don't you sit beside him? Maybe you could try talking to him? It be nice to make a real friend here, right?"

 

Ren gulped. He didn't like the intimidating aura that Leroy was giving off. He had an hour long break though, and he heard that downstairs was pretty crowded. He would go down to get his meal in about 15 minutes, so maybe it wouldn't hurt to spark up some conversation. He decided he would try Karin's suggestion. It couldn't hurt, right?

 

Ren took a seat at the round table Leroy was sitting at. He didn't sit across from the PCA, but instead, he chose to sit beside him. He cleared his throat before initiating conversation. "Hey, Leroy. How's it going?"

 

Leroy never looked away from the TV. He simply made a displeased grunt and shook his head. "Terrible day.", was his response.

 

Ren placed a hand on top of the table and tapped a silent rhythm against it. "Oh, yeah. It is pretty busy, isn't it?"

 

There was no response. All that could be heard in the lounge was the annoying jingle of a store flowing from the TV's speakers.

 

Ren took a deep breath and tried again. "So, what kind of music do you listen to?"

 

The question caught Leroy's attention because he looked away from the TV for the first time since Ren entered the lounge. "Gospel.", he said bluntly. Without sparring Ren the chance to respond with his own preferred genre, he shot a question of his own. "Let me ask you something, do you believe in God?"

 

That had completely blindsided Ren. He shifted to press his back against his chair as if he had been cornered for a crime. He didn't want to lie to Leroy, so he figured his honest answer would work just fine. "Well, I don't really know. I was a Christian, but after a while I decided to become Agnostic."

 

Leroy's palm slammed against the table at his response. "You stopped being a Christian and you started to doubt God?! Why would you do that?!"

 

Ren's facial expressions contorted to a pained one. He wasn't expecting this kind of conversation at work, but he decided to stand his ground. After a deep breath, he sat up straight and folded his hands on his lap. "Because there's too much misinformation from the church and from Christian and Catholic organizations. I don't think I can follow them so blindly. Also, the bible was written by man and then rewritten by other men over and over again. And I never said I doubted an almighty God or God's...- I just see a lot of flaws in the myths of Christianity and how they view their God."

 

"The Christian God is the only God! Think about it, boy!" Leroy snarled like a pissed off animal. He was shaking his head, disgusted and disappointed. "If it wasn't for Jesus, you think you'd be alive and breathing right now? You think you'd be lucky enough to get this job? You owe Jesus your life, don't you?!"

 

Aya's scream rang out as she came down from the ceiling and pressed her katana against Leroy's neck. The man didn't notice her, but Ren did. When he gave her a quick glance, she muttered in a highly annoyed tone. "F**k this prick. He only wants to hear himself talk and make you feel like a dumbass."

 

Ren glared at Leroy. He hated these types of 'discussions'. Someone was just trying to force their beliefs on him aggressively. Karin's arms wrapped around Ren's neck in a motherly fashion. She was warm and her presence was relaxing. Ren could feel his heart beat slow down a bit as she spoke. "I'm sorry- this was a mistake, Ren. I just wanted you to be able to make a friend." Her voice soothed him and kept him from flipping the table into Leroy's own displeased face.

 

"I don't owe Jesus anything. You don't even know if a Jesus existed. And even if he did, I'd think he and whatever God is out there would just want us to live out our lives happily and honestly. I don't know why you're getting so pissed about my views, but that's how I choose to view this." Ren spoke coldly, but firmly. His eyes were dead locked on Leroy's.

 

The man returned the fierce stare for a moment, only to snort out, peeved. He turned to glance back at the television. "Whatever, when you go to hell- you'll be the one regretting it all, not me. Stupid kid."

 

"OH- this c**k sucker!" Aya couldn't contain herself anymore. She jammed her sword into Leroy's face and blood sprayed up into the air. She drove the blade over and over into the male without any signs of stopping. "YOU JERK! YOU DICK!" She swore over and over as she slashed Leroy's form with maniacal anger, spilling crimson all over the lounge.

 

Ren's hands trembled in rage as he pushed his chair back while glaring at the bloodied man in front of him. He wanted to do that so bad. He wanted to just pummel Leroy into a bloody mess himself. But he couldn't. He let Aya do it and he watched. Leroy wasn't dying. Ren knew this was all in his mind- but the vision of it, for a moment, made him smirk as he felt a rush of blood lust bubble inside of him.

 

"Stop, Ren... please." Karin's voice pleaded. She took his shaking hand in hers and began to pull him toward the nursing lounge door. "Let's just go. He isn't worth it."

 

Even with Karin trying to calm him down, the image before him of Aya slaughtering Leroy pleased him. How he wished he could do what Aya was doing. He wanted to do that. To be able to just annihilate anyone who ticked him off.

 

Karin tugged at his arm. "Leave it here. Leave it to Aya. You can't let your hatred and anger completely consume you. Not in this place"

 

Ren chuckled slightly at Leroy's carved face. He stood up, slid his chair back under the table, and began to walk away. "Disgusting..." He muttered under his breath and he let Karin lead him out while listening to Aya's high-pitched screams.

Author's Note

I know this story doesn't have a real direction right now. I'm still toying with everything.

Reviews

[AngelBeat]

I like Aya. She has a cool personality. :D ^_^ I wanna read the next one :D