Conversation · Easy Leo

"Oh hey, mister! I'm not gonna bother you with a long greeting just like we talked about before. I know you're probably a busy-busy man, being an important police officer and all, and personally I think the more people keeping the peace the better."

"You're Ubi, right?"

"Oh yes, born and raised in Iraesh, mister. Mum had to leave my dad after he got a bit violent, took us here to the New New World. I was about ten then, too old to lose my accent then..."

"People say us Ubis are up to all sorts of trouble with sheep and other animals and what not -- I just want you to know there was never any of that where I come from. No sir. Those are just nasty rumours."

"Thank you for clarifying that, sir."

"I'm looking for the leader of the Dockworkers' Union."

"Oh, you want Mr. Evrart, then. He's an awfully nice fellow, he is. Him and his brother are both nice fellows -- they've lived their entire lives in this here neighbourhood." He coughs, then continues immediately...

"Guys like Mr. Evrart and Mr. Edgar -- his brother -- are real good guys, made Martinaise what it is today... Mr. Evrart and Mr. Edgar and I went to the same school, we did, when we were boys..."

Patience. Deep down, you have the mental power to keep listening. Not many would -- but you do.

"Easy now, Leo -- I just want to know where can I find this man."

"Oh, Mr. Evrart is usually in his office, of course." He points to the two joint containers on your right. "But he already left for the day. He always leaves around 22."

"Oh, Mr. Evrart is usually in his office, of course." He points to the two joint containers on your right. "But you gotta be quick if you wanna see him. He leaves around 22."

"Oh, Mr. Evrart is where he always is, in his office, of course." He points to the two joint containers on your right.

Do not interrupt Leonard.

"... had an arithmetics teacher, Miss Bellows." Leo let's out a little chuckle. "Her real name was Miss Bellams, she was a real pretty lady, but when she got mad..." He starts laughing.

"All the boys liked her if you know what I mean, mister..." He winks at you. "We used to sneak in her yard in the dark and peek through the window. One time we saw Miss Bellows with a fellow. Yes we did, yes we did, mister." He looks for signs of disbelief in your eyes.

"No you fucking didn't!"

"Yes we did, we did, mister." He looks at you and shakes his head. "Indeed we did. Him was a big, big fellow, used to drive the troyka near our'ses school and everything."

Leo leans in and whispers: "Them was all naked too. That's all I got to say about that."

"Very interesting, very interesting. Thank you for telling me the whole thing."

"Thank you, mister... Heh! Almost forgot! Mr. Evrart is usually in that container over there." Leo points to his left. "But he already left for the day. He never stays after 22."

"Thank you... Heh! Almost forgot! Mr. Evrart is usually in that container over there." Leo points to his left. "But he usually leaves around 22, so you gotta be quick if you wanna catch him."

"Thank you... Heh! Almost forgot! Mr. Evrart is in that container over there." Leo points to his left. "I got distracted telling the story, but he's in there."

Don't say anything.

He keeps nodding and looking at you with a smile that's too sincere to be clever. Finally he seems to loose some internal struggle and adds: "Them was naked too, that's all I got to say about that."

"Evrart, Leo, where can I find Evrart?" (Interrupt him.)

Okay, so Evrart has a brother Edgar. That's something -- but the rest of it is taking too long my friend...

"What's in that container over there?" (Point to the container suspended from the crane arm.)

"Oh that one..." He looks at the container. "That should be empty as far as I know. Lots of containers here have nothing in them. They're just waiting to be loaded up."

"Told you."

"Leo, you seem to know everyone around here, I want to ask about someone."

"Mr. Evrart doesn't really want me to talk to people about Union guys..." He thinks for a moment. "But who did you want to talk about?"

"Tell me about Measurehead."

"Ohh, he's really something..." The little man starts laughing. "He doesn't talk much to me usually, but when he does... I don't really understand most of what he's saying..." He suddenly falls quiet. "Actually, I don't think he would like me running my mouth about him like that."

"Once he said he's a dragon to this mob fellow who came picking a fight with some Union men. Heh, I think he really believed Jean-Luc was a dragon, because he ran right off. Another time he almost killed another guy, but... I shouldn't talk about that."

That's precisely what he is. Evrart's dragon.

"Tell me about René."

"The night guard? He was a peculiar fellow. Headstrong and proud. We didn't really talk all that much." The little guy looks you in the eye. "He died recently. Somethink with his ticker..."

"The night guard? Oh, he's a peculiar fellow," Leo looks at the guard booth on the wall. "He's the strong silent type you could say."

"We talk all the time, but I don't really know much about him... He plays pétanque with my old human studies teacher, Mr. Martin down at the plaza. I think he's the only fellow who actually knows old René."

They lived on the same street their entire lives -- even dated the same girl on and off for as long I can remember." He chuckles again. "Strange fellows, but mister Martin was always real nice to me in school... I remember once..."

"I have another person in mind."

"Suuuuure," he stretches the word. "Who did you have in mind?"

"Hold up, Gaston was your human studies teacher?"

"Mr. Martin, yes." Leo nods. "Don't really remember much about him. I was just a boy back then."

Mr. Martin -- Gaston also taught History and Human Studies to the Claire brothers.

"Tell me about the guy in the container."

"Who do you mean, mister?" He's rubbing his nape and looking at you with childlike innocence.

You do realize he might be just a figment of your imagination, right?

"The fancy guy in a suit -- in that container over there." (Point to it.)

"I don't know anyone like this, mister -- maybe he's one of Mr. Evrart's fancy friends. He knows all kinds of fancy people, with suits and perdy carriages." Leo falls silent.

He really feels very uncomfortable discussing matters related to Evrart with you.

"Tell me about Titus."

"Oh, Titus is a longshoreman through and through, he was born on a boat, they say." The little man rubs a patch on his elbow. "His veins are probably filled with saltwater I tell you, hehehe -- nice friendly sort old Titus is."

He's probably one of those rare specimens who are born when two drunk seamen stumble on top of each other on the deck amidst a storm so violent it flings whales around.

"Tell me about Mañana."

"He's a Union man through and through. Good guy." He falls silent, hesitating. "He's very calm... laid back. Doesn't do much. Talks to Evrart sometimes."

"Honestly. I don't know what he does for us, but it must be important because everybody likes him. Yes, they do. I think that's what he does, he makes everyone feel a little better."

Oil for the wheels. Much needed in stressful times like these.

"Actually I wanna talk about something else."