“Wanted to talk with you anyway,” he said once they had started off. “If you don’t mind.”
“No, of course not. That’s a main part of what I’m for, isn’t it?”
He must force the words out. “No pers’nal troubles this time. It’s for ever’body. Only I don’t know as how we can tell Mama-lo.”
Aliyat brushed fingers across his clenched fist. “Go on,” she urged gently. “Whatever you say will be safe with me.”
“I know. Oh, I know.” She had heard his confession of wrongdoing and helped him set matters right. After a number of hollowly thudding footfalls: “Look, Mama-lo don’t relize how bad this area is. None of us did, or I guess we wouldnYve bought into it. But I been findin’ out.”
“Crime, drug dealing. We’ve handled those before. What else?”
“Nothin’. But these dealers, they’re mean. They know ‘bout us an’ they don’t intend we should get no foothold here, no ways.”
Chill struck through her. She had met absolute evil in century after century, and knew its power.
Once she had laughed this presence of it off. “Who cares, as long as we keep our own people clean?” she said. “Let others wreck themselves if they want. You smuggled in booze and ran speakeasies during Prohibition. I did pretty much the same. Whafs the difference?”
“I’m surprised you don’t know better than to ask that,”
Corinne answered. She paused. “Well, you’ve been trying hard to steer clear of everything wicked. Listen, dear. The stuff that’s coming in these days is different. We say nothing in the Unity against taking an occasional drink, we use wine in some of our ceremonies, but we teach our members not to get drunk. You cannot not lose your mind to stuff like crack. And … the old gangsters could get vicious enough, I’m not sure now that I should ever have condoned their business, but compared to the dealers today they were the Holy Innocents.” Her fingers writhed together. “Today it’s like the slave trade come back.”
That was years ago, when things were only starting to get bad. Aliyat had learned since then. And the Unity took action at each of its settlements. A solid band of dwellers who kept watch, called the police whenever they Had information, set an example, helped the lost find the way home to humanness, and stood together in half-military wise: they could make a neighborhood unprofitable, actually dangerous, for pushers.
“I been threatened, myself,” Castle said. “Other guys have too. I think, we really think, if we don’t pull out, the mob’s gonna try an’ blow us away.”
“We can’t abandon the project,” she told him. “We’ve sunk more than we can afford to lose into it. The Unity isn’t rich, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. So what can we do?” He straightened. “Fight back, tha’s what we can do.”
“People aren’t allowed to defend themselves in New York City,” she snapped.
“Uh-huh. Only—well, sure, we can’t tell Mama-lo. We can’t let her know. She’d have to forbid, wouldn’t she? No matter what we’d lose. But if some of us was ready to fight back, an’ word o’ that got aroun’ underground, why, maybe we’ll never have to. How ‘bout that? You been aroun’ a lot. What do you think?”
“I’ll need to hear a great deal more. And, yes, think hard.” Already Aliyat suspected what her decision would be.
“Sure. We’ll talk whenever you can spare the time, Missus-lo Rosa. We’re dependin’ on you.”
On me! she thought, and pride thrilled.
They walked mute thereafter to the entrance of her home building. She gave him her hand. “Thanks for being so honest, Randy,” she said.
“Thank you, Missus-lo.” In this brighter illumination, his smile gleamed. “When can we meet again?”
Temptation blazed. Why not at once? He was strong and handsome in his rugged fashion, and it had been a long time, and … she wondered if she had at last become able to give of herself, whole-heartedly, without hate or contempt or even suspicion.
But no. He might be shocked. Certainly many members would be, if they found out. Better not chance it.
“Soon,” she promised. “Right now I have some record-keeping chores to finish. In fact, I’d better put in a couple of hours tonight, before I go to sleep. Soon, though.”