022 - Bob's Pastry Shop

In a city notoriously filled with crime, there was only one person that everyone loved. Bob was a fairly old confectioner who never lost his passion for making delicious pastries. Every single time, he put all his finest ingredients, took care of them meticulously, and treated his creations with lots of love. Slurs were common around there, but insulting Bob's pastries were basically a blasphemy.

When he first came to the city, Bob opened a small, modest shop downtown. Because he wasn't very inspired, he simply called it "Bob's Pastry Shop". During the first months, Bob didn't make that many sales, but the small amount of customers he had almost all turned into regulars. Even though he did not desperate and continued to make his pastries with the same amount of care, he knew he had to face reality sooner or later : the shop had to close.

During what was supposed to be his last month of business, a new customer entered the shop. He was a quite tall, menacing man. Behind him, an even taller man was following. The first man asked :

"Are you Bob ?"

"Yes, it's me. What can I do for you ?"

"They say you make the best food in town. Prove it to me."

"I am sorry, sir ?"

"Hey, you deaf ? Give me something that I can taste."

Confused but also scared, Bob reached for one of his freshly made croissants, and gave it to the man. He took a bite, and started chewing. There was total silence. Bob didn't even want to make a sound. Slowly, the first man's facial expression started to change, from angry to neutral. Then he took another bite, and the process continued, until he finished the croissant. After a few more seconds of silence, he finally declared :

"This is the best thing I've ever eaten."

Bob couldn't hide his huge smile.

"I am glad you like it, sir."

"Heard you were about to close shop ?"

"Yes, that is correct. I can't support the rent anymore, unfortunately."

The first man took out his wallet.

"How much you need ?"

"I'm sorry ?"

"I said how much do you need to continue ?"

"Uuh… About 1500 to get through the month. Afterwards, I can-"

"Alright."

The first man opened his wallet, and took out exactly 1500 dollars. Bob looked down at the money in doubt.

"I, um… I can't accept it… I can't make a customer pay out my rent…"

"For the croissant then. With a small tip as bonus."

"Thank you… so much, sir !" said Bob, as he accepted the money.

"Take care of yourself, Bob. Next time I come here those croissants better be as good as that one."

The first man left. The second man was about to follow him, but he sneakily turned back to Bob and asked how much was the croissant. Bob made another big smile, put a dozen of them in a bag and handed it out to him. "A gift from the house." Bob said, before winking at the man. Later, Bob learned that the first man was none other than Tiger, the ringleader of the "Crazy Knife" gang, one of the three most active gangs in the city.

Eventually, one by one, big names of the underground came up in Bob's Pastry Shop, and none of them ever left disappointed. Over the years, everyone in the gangs knew Bob. He became everyone's friend. One time, members of two different gangs found themselves in the queue and had matters to 'discuss', but none of them wanted to start a fight that could potentially harm Bob or his shop. So they simply went out as far away as they could to settle their dispute.

But even though he tried to keep positivity at top levels, Bob had to face a terrifying reality : his friends were destined to die at any moment. The first real tragedy for Bob, was when Tiger died during a gunfight, two years after he heroically saved the shop with his donation. Naturally, Bob was invited to the funeral. Tiger's friends and family were there, and all of them were sad, but the sight of Bob being sad made the scene even more painful for them. After this tragic incident, Bob kept a portrait of Tiger in his shop. Unbeknownst to him at the time, this portrait became the first of the "Wall of Friends", slowly becoming bigger and bigger as violent fights bursted between the gangs.

25 years later, Bob's Pastry Shop was still alive and well. Even though it was a small effort, maintaining the Wall of Friends was not a vain one, in fact it did help reduce the crime rate, and fights between gangs. Slowly, gangs started to fade away. Some members managed to escape the underground hell. Some who remained tried their best to only use violence where it was strictly required. And some entire gangs agreed to disband all at once, in the vain hope that peace will someday settle in the city.

In a nearby city, there was a fairly new, but well known gang called the "Hecatomb". This gang was known for their barbaric ways. They didn't try to make people respect them, they just terrorized them for fun. Even though none of the other gangs wanted to step forward to bring them down, all of them agreed that the Hecatomb was an abomination, and definitely no one wanted to have any business with them.

One day, a man from the Hecatomb visited Bob's city, mostly for scouting purposes. Very early, he heard the story of Bob's Pastry Shop, and went there to talk with this mysterious "Bob". As he entered the shop, he forcefully went ahead of the queue and directly told Bob :

"Give me some of your shit. They say it's good."

"I'm sorry sir, but you'll have to wait in line-"

"FUCK OFF ! Give me what I want !"

Bob didn't even have time to properly hand out a pain au chocolat from his shelf that the man snatched it out of his hands, took a bite and immediately spit it on the floor without even tasting it.

"Tastes like SHIT !" the man yelled at Bob.

This was the last straw for a certain person in the queue. A local gang member, who was waiting in line, grabbed the man's collar, and said :

"Hey, what's your problem ?"

"Don't touch me, you fucking nigger !" the Hecatomb man replied.

The gang member didn't even hesitate. He grabbed the man's head and smashed it on the wall. This was the first fight in the history of Bob's Pastry Shop. Immediately after realizing what he had just done, the gang member stepped back and looked into Bob's saddened eyes.

"Bob, I'm so… I'm so sorry."

Bob didn't say anything, and just gave the gang member the most painful punishment there could exist in this place : the silent treatment. Bob simply stared at him with a look of disappointment. Ashamed, and trying his best to get Bob's forgiveness, the gang member immediately called the emergencies and dragged the Hecatomb man out of the shop, with the help of other customers in the queue.

A few hours later, the Hecatomb man woke up in the hospital. As soon as he could, he contacted the big names of the gang, and that was the beginning of the end. A week later, a squad was organized, and they ventured into Bob's city for one simple reason. They wanted vengeance. Just plain, simple, meaningless, cruel vengeance. In the middle of the day, from behind his counter, Bob saw a large group of people about to enter his shop. As the first one entered, Bob made his widest smile and said "Welcome ! How can I help you today ?"

Bob's funeral was the saddest, most solemn moment in the recent history of the city. Everyone was gathered. And this time, 'Everyone' meant something really close to its literal definition. The mayor and all living ex-mayors from the past 25 years were present. Many gang members, including the heads of the two biggest ones in the city. All the friends he made in the city. And also, hundreds of anonymous customers.

The truth of what happened next changes from one tale to another, but the current state of the city was not in the realm of legend, despite being in the realm of miracles. More than ever, the gangs disappeared. Crime rate massively dropped, getting the historically violent city out of the blacklists, with a rate even lower than average. And most of all, the Hecatomb gang mysteriously disappeared, with every attempt at a reconstruction destroyed before it had a chance to mature.

Bob's Pastry Shop was left opened as a memorial, after being cleaned from the unsightly mess that was made that fateful day. Near the entrance, the Wall of Friends stood proud, harboring the faces of many people who lost their lives in the past years. And above all those portraits, in a magnificent golden frame, was the face of the man who single handedly brought peace to the city. Everyone's friend, Bob.