The Problem With Immortality Ch. 20

"His first assignment was for me to beat the Madam until she came up with the protection money. So I did."

"You? You beat up a woman and became a criminal?" Anson was shocked.

"A few well placed slaps were all that was needed," Pho smiled. "But you are essentially correct. At the time, I was a completely amoral creature. And that became my job, travelling from place to place and collecting tribute payments, or threatening or beating others as needed. I was happier in my new position, because, as promised, I was paid more; and I judged my worth by the amount I was paid, and the respect I was given."

"So... how did you wind up here, at the Monastery, as a monk?"

Pho held up a restraining hand. "You must be patient, Chipmunk. My story is not yet done."

"I was sent to collect money from all kinds of businesses in the area around Llasa. Most times violence was not required. Intimidation would suffice. But at times I did beat people to collect money."

"And you felt no qualms about it?"

"Why should I? Who had ever shown affection for me? The brothel simply used me, as all the other women did. I suppose you could say my parents loved me, after a fashion, but they never showed it, simply acting as if they were training new employees to join the ranks of their company when I got old enough. I had never felt real love or affection, so in turn I felt no empathy towards anyone."

"And then one day I was sent to the Ju Chi Monastery, this very place, to collect protection monies that were owed. I was met by the head monk, a very learned man named Master Phillippe. A white man, much like you, Anson."

"How come I never met this Master Phillippe?"

"He left us, some time ago, to pursue a more satisfying career in investment banking," said Master Pho. "Where was I? Ah, yes. I was taken before Master Philippe. But instead of pleading for more time, or making excuses, Master Phillippe tried something else."

"He asked about me. He smiled at me and said, 'You are new to us. You are most welcome here. Would you have some tea with us?'"

"And at first I wondered if he was trying to poison me," said Master Pho. "But I was young, and naive, and he seemed to have such a kindly face. There was no reason for me to have tea with him. I was there to do a job, nothing else. And yet... I had tea with him."

"He did not beg for more time, he did not beg poverty. Instead, he asked about me. Where I was from. What I was doing. Even how I liked my work. I could not understand the meaning of these questions. The only thing I could think of was that he was simply trying to delay, delay paying. So when I finished the tea, I again demanded payment. And Master Phillippe laughed, and said, 'Of course' and snapped his fingers, and a monk came forward with a bag of yuan. I counted it. It was all there. And then Master Phillippe actually shook my hand, and said, 'It was an absolute pleasure meeting you. Please come again. You are most welcome.', as if I had been a special visitor, not a robber, come to extort money from him."

"After that, I manipulated things to make sure that I was the one to collect the monthly payments from the Ju Chi Monastery. And each time, Master Phillippe was there to greet me, and offer me tea. He was a complete mystery to me. He smiled, and made small talk, and told me of his own life; and he invited some of his other monks to join us for tea, and they talked of their own affairs. But not merely talking about themselves; they asked me my opinion, what I thought. Should the monastery have higher walls? Was it time to repaint? What color did I recommend? Before long talk turned into conversation, and I got to know some of the monks quite well, and we were even laughing and joking with each other. And at the end of each visit, Master Phillippe would always hand me a bag of yuan, and smile at me, and say "A pleasure."

"And then one day, after collecting the money from the Ju Chi Monastery and enjoying tea with the Monks, Master Phillippe asked if I might enjoy joining his monks for a celebration tonight, to celebrate the half point of the year of the Pomeranian. "

"There is no half point celebrations for each year," said Anson.

"You know that now, Chipmunk. But back then, I knew less than nothing," Master Pho laughed.

"So I joined them. By now I trusted them enough to know that they weren't going to poison or rob me. I was in a room full of monks who could have overpowered me. But they did not. It was exactly as it seemed. We drank, we talked, we laughed, and we had a good time."

"Master Phillippe had occasion to invite me to several such parties, and not always on the days when I came to collect payment. 'You come so seldom' he said, 'And we so enjoy your company'. And that touched me, Chipmunk. No one had ever said they enjoyed my company before."

"And then Master Phillippe added the final ingredient. A whore from the village named Fung Fu."

"You had sex with a whore?"

"No!" said Master Pho, annoyed. "First of all I did not even know she was a whore. I was simply told she was a bright girl from the village who had heard about my exploits and wanted to meet me. I assumed, however, that she was a whore, that Master Phillippe was using her to get into my good graces. On that I was partially correct."

"But Fung Fu did not spread her legs for me. Fung Fu did not spread anything for me. She simply sat there, and talked, and smiled. It was incredibly odd. I had never simply talked to a woman before. I was just used to filling their jars. Fung Fu did not seem interested in having me fill her jar. She just liked being in my company. It was quite refreshing."

"And then the day came when Master Phillippe sat me down and had a talk, some seven or eight months since I had first come there. He asked me if I were happy with my job. I shrugged my shoulders in answer to that. He asked me if I might want a different job. What kind of job, I asked."

"Master Phillippe offered me a place at the Monastery, to teach the monks the special skills he had heard about."

"Will it pay as much as I'm making now?" I asked.

Master Phillippe smiled and shook his head.

"Will my apartment be as big or well furnished as what I have now?"

Again, he shook his head.

"All you will have if you come here, is our respect and friendship."

That struck a chord with me. Friendship? I had never had that before. "Let me think on that," I said. "For now, please give me the payment that is due."

Master Phillippe shook his head. "No."

"No?"

"No."

"Then... you will be beaten."

"Then beat me." The old man smiled. "I will not resist."

"I looked at him, and for the first time realized that he, not I, had the power in this situation. I got up and left without a word."

"My employers immediately realized that the Monastery had skipped a payment. I could make no excuses for them. They knew of my additional visits there and suspected that I was getting sentimental. So they sent me out the next day with three other men, big, heavy enforcers, who did their dirtiest work for them, to make sure the job would get done."

"Master Phillippe was there to greet us. He offered us tea."

"We don't want tea, old man. We want our money!" one of the men roared.

"I have no money to give you," said Master Phillippe.

The big man leapt forward and balled his fist. But before he could swing it, I had grabbed it, and threw the big man against the wall.

The other two men, seeing where my loyalties now lay, charged me together. Time seemed to slow down for me and they froze in place. I turned to look at Master Phillippe and saw, however, that he seemed to be unfrozen in time, blinking and slowly smiling at me. I turned back to the two men and kicked one in the scrotum, sending him flying into the air. The other I punched in the ear with a mighty blow.

When time sped up again, they were all on the ground, moaning in pain.

Master Phillippe put a hand on my shoulder. "I think it would be a good idea for you to accept our offer of employment."

"Yes, I think so," I said.

"And after that day I worked my way up to becoming a senior monk here at Ju Chi, a teacher. I was respected for my knowledge. I was valued as a friend. And in Master Phillippe I saw a father figure I had never had."

"But did you ever sleep with Fung Fu?"

Master Pho slapped Anson's face. "You missed the whole point of the story, Chipmunk!"

"I understand it, I really do," said Anson. "For you, the secret of life was being around people whose company you enjoyed, people who treated you nicely, people you could have relationships with."

"Precisely," said Master Pho, looking at him. "It's all about the people. Man is a social animal, Chipmunk. What you do is not so important, as long as you do it well. I was an excellent prostitute, and an even better enforcer. I could easily have continued to be either, instead of a teacher. But the love and affection of my comrades changed my life. It turned my life from stolid black and white into vivid color." He raised his right hand, and a blue jay fluttered and perched on it.

"But... I'm a Fixer. My work is solitary. Occasionally I have an apprentice, but mostly I work alone," said Anson.

"Think more broadly than that, Chipmunk." He smiled at the blue jay, and it flapped its wings and headed off.

"I need someone to love," said Anson. "A family. Friends. That's what makes life worth living. That's what it's all about. But... I can't live without Jennifer."

"Is there no other woman in the world who can satisfy you? I can bring in several ladies from the brothel in the village who can do at least as well."

"Not like Jennifer." Anson got the sense that Master Pho was mocking him, or testing him, he wasn't sure which.

Master Pho looked at him. "Your feelings for Jennifer were built over time. Over centuries. You cannot expect such feelings to develop immediately with another woman. A mountain is not built in a day, Chipmunk."

"But... I think about Jennifer, all the time. I can't be happy without her. I can't be happy with anyone else!" said Anson. "What do I do, Master?"

Master Pho was silent for a long, long moment. He looked away. Anson heard more than felt the Asian breeze making a hollow sounds as it whipped by them.

Then finally Master Pho turned back to Anson. "Perhaps the thing to do is nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Perhaps it is not for you to find a solution to your problem."

"Then what is?"

"Perhaps... the world will change to suit you," said Master Pho.

"That makes no sense," said Anson."That's crazy!"

"Is it? It's precisely what happened to me," said Master Pho. "You are a renown... what do you call yourself? A Fixer. You are accustomed to fixing everything, even your own feelings. Let go, for once. Let go, and let others do the fixing for you."

Anson blinked, still not quite sure what Pho was saying. He blinked furiously, feeling tears streaming out of his eyes.

Master Pho reached forward and wiped a tear off of Anson's cheek.

"How....?"

"I saw you were crying," said Master Pho.

"You saw it?" Anson was stunned. "You are not blind?"

"Of course not," said Master Pho. "Do you really think I can identify people by the sounds of their footsteps? That's preposterous, Chipmunk."

"But... your cataracts."

"Yes. I developed these when I reached the tender age of 110," said Master Pho. "But I had my vision corrected without removing them."

"Why?"

"Because as a teacher, people are more open to accepting new ideas from someone who knows the impossible, from someone who knows the unknowable. I give them that. I become that all-knowing authority figure, to hide the embarrassing fact that I am simply a man, no more, and no less, than you, or anyone else."

Anson reached over and hugged Master Pho, tears still streaming from his eyes. "You're wrong. You're more than that, Master. Much more."