Biblichor

Biblichor: Chapter 1

It was another dreadful weekday morning. Work had been slow this past week and a half due to the lack of leads. This caused Javier Peña to be stuck in the same old routine of pissing off Steve, paperwork, grunting, pissing Steve off some more, and the frequent smoke breaks. It was torture for Javier, without the normal excitement of being a DEA Agent it meant he was stuck digging through piles of information to find any nugget of gold.

Steve didn't mind it though he enjoyed the break from the fast life and was, for once, able to go home to Connie before dark. Javier didn't have that luxury of going home to a loved one though. He married his work so that the idea of perpetual loneliness couldn't consume him. But it was there. It haunted him. He never admits it, but Javier envied that part of Steve's life. The feeling of being wanted or maybe even loved.

"ABOUT DAMN TIME!" Javier yelled, holding up the cream-colored folder. Steve jumped at the sudden commotion, almost spilling his hot coffee on himself. Unamused, Steve looks at Javi and arches his eyebrow in confusion as Javier hands the document over.

"Read this. I think we might have some sort of evidence here, not enough to get any godfathers but we could catch a goon or two" The file contained a witness claiming that some sicarios had flown planes full of illegal items across borders by using media distractions as a coverup. If it was true then they could easily find and extradite these men for good.

"Yeah, I guess so but we'll need more if you want anyone to take it seriously," Steve says, placing the paper back down on the desk. Javier grunted, falling back into his chair in defeat. 

"I've spent the past week and a half going through these damn files and nothing. If it's not in the past thousand boxes then I don't know where it is" Javier complained, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Why don't we just go to the library and look at the old newspapers. There's a date on this document all we have to do is work backward." Javier rolled his eyes at the suggestion of going to the Library. Of all places they could go in Columbia, the Library was not on his list, yet it sure beats sitting in the same office for another boring day.

Javier grunts and stands up, grabbing his leather jacket and keys "Let's get this over with."

. . . . .

After Steve and Javier's ten-minute drive to what he believes is perpetual doom, Javier walks in greeted with the smell of old books as Steve takes a big whiff. "Man, I haven't been to the library since I've moved! I love the smell of books." All Javier can do is roll his eyes.

"Yeah... I prefer the smell of booze over the smell of rotting paper and old ladies"

Javier rushes through the library trying to reach the newspaper records so that they can get their evidence and go home. Javier and Steve grab a few stacks of newspapers from 1990 and walk over to the microfilm readers to read them.

. . . .

It was quiet as per usual. Nobody really came into the library, and when they did it was only a few kids picking up a book for school and running off to play outside. After college, you wanted an adventure, something spontaneous and extravagant. You wanted to travel but you also wanted something unique. You don't really know how working in a library in Columbia came about but it sure was spontaneous. Extravagant? Mmm, not so much but the luxury of the job left you to be paid to read in a vibrant country and that was something you could get behind.

Your day normally consisted of waking up in your tiny studio apartment, grabbing breakfast at the cafe downstairs, reading working, walking to the diner across the street for lunch and dinner, and going home only to repeat it all the next day. It was your perfect life... but it also wasn't. It was the same thing. Always so... vanilla. You didn't want to leave though you loved your vanilla life. Still, you can't help looking for that something more.