“That was rotten,” Angelica commented when the stony faced woman reached her.
“I pay them no mind,” she said grimly. “You talk back, they get worse, you end up in a mess.”
“They’re obviously selling drugs,” Angelica murmured. “Can’t the police clear them out?”
“We thought we cleared them,” the young woman said, casting a quick glance at the traffic in the street. “Oh, we thought we took care of all that. We went down to the city, almost sixty of us, along with the children. I took Elsha here, she’s three, and William, he’s almost six. The police captain and some of his men was there. We ask the councilmen, please give us that ordinance against loitering. So, they passed it, and the police moved out all these no-goods. We had three, four real nice weeks. Then the city got sued. ACLU helped a man sue for gettin moved along for no cause. Judge put a hold order on the ordinance. Can’t move ‘em along for no reason. Got to have probable cause, and that means the police gotta see it. Got to see them in the act. Got to get the drugs in their hands. Got to see money passed.”
“All they have to do is look,” said Angelica, angrily. “Anybody can see it!”
“Police show up, all the drugs disappear, just like magic. Police get here, all those no-goods, they’re just rappin’, listenin’ to music. Police drive on, all those drugs, they just sprout back up outa nowhere.”
“It’s frustrating!” murmured Angelica, turning to watch the bus that was now approaching.
“It’ll get worse,” the woman said, stooping to button the toddler’s jacket. The boy regarded Angelica impassively, then turned his attention back to the youths on the sidewalk. The mother saw him, took him by the hand and turned him away, biting her lip. “When William gets to be seven, eight, those no-goods, they’ll get him holdin’ for them, just like those little boys there now.”
They got onto the bus together, and took a seat side by side, the little girl on her mother’s lap, the boy standing at the window. Angelica bent to look across his shoulder. From the sidewalk, one of the young men flashed her a brilliant smile and an obscene body gesture, a balletic rape, an elegant violation. As she sat down, Angelica heard the young mother murmur, “You be careful comin’ down here. He was watchin’ you before.”
Angelica nodded. Her mouth was dry. To cover her confusion, she opened the paper and let her eyes focus on it.
DRIVE-BY DEATHS REACH NEW HIGH IN CALIFORNIA
GOVERNOR SAYS DEATH OF TODDLERS IS “LAST STRAW”
BOMBING IN JERUSALEM CLAIMS FORTY LIVES
RETALIATION PLANNED AGAINST SITES IN LEBANON
SERBIAN UNDERGROUND CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR BUS BOMBINGS
TERRORISTS TARGETED SCHOOL CHILDREN
JUDGE RULES MEGAN’S LAW UNCONSTITUTIONAL
PEDOPHILE HAS PAID DEBT TO SOCIETY
“I don’t look at the papers,” said the woman at her side. “I used to read them all the time. Now it’s just all, more and more of the same, you know?”
“I know,” said Angelica.
The mother and her children got off first. From Angelica’s stop it was a six-block walk to the apartment, their apartment, the one she and Carlos shared, and she found herself slogging, trudging, so tired she ached.
The door to Carlos’s room was ajar, and he was still in bed. She stood in the doorway, staring at him. His schedule said he had English Composition this morning, and art classes this afternoon. His bed looked like a dog’s nest. His laundry was piled in the corner where it had been for two weeks. She went in and shook him, not gently.
“Hey,” he said. “Let go.”
“It’s noon!” she said loudly. “You’ve got art classes this afternoon.”
“Yeah. Well, I had a headache. It’s better now. I’ll get up in a few minutes.”
“Carlos!” She stood looking at him wearily. “Mom’s going to call at eight, tonight. Remember. I told her you’d be here.”
“I know, I know. Stop yelling.”
She left him there and went angrily into the tiny kitchen. She’d had to run without breakfast this morning, but Carlos had evidently fixed food for himself when he came in last night. Not only for himself. There were several pans, one of them burned, plus several dishes and glasses scattered in the tiny room. She put them in the sink, ran hot water on them and added soap. The sliced meat she’d intended to make a sandwich of was gone. The eggs were gone. The only thing left in the cupboard was a can of soup.