Chapter Thirty- Six
Chapter
Thirty-Six
Mark refused to park his car closer to the
apartment building. It wouldn’t have done any good the night
before, he reasoned. The alley where the men had been hiding was
right beside his building, not down the street where he’d parked.
And there were elderly people in the building. He wouldn’t let his
fear get in the way of showing those people basic courtesy and
respect. Still, since the attack he’d made sure to leave the
hospital in time to be home before dark, and even in the daylight
he was keeping a close eye on his surroundings, looking out for
trouble.
He hadn’t pressed Lucas to identify the
attackers. Maybe he should have, for Lucas’s sake as well as his
own, but it hadn’t seemed right. Lucas had his reasons for secrecy,
and he’d already helped Mark enough. When he’d had time to think
about it, Mark had been pretty sure that he’d recognized two of the
goons as the men who’d accompanied Lucas’s friend when he’d come to
the halfway house. So there was some sort of social connection,
although Mark was pretty sure Lucas wasn’t spending time with any
of those people anymore. But Mark had worked with enough people
from rough backgrounds to know that loyalty was considered a
cardinal virtue. It might seem like a remnant of the schoolyard to
Mark, but to Lucas it might be absolutely vital that he not betray
an old acquaintance.
So Mark hadn’t pushed, and now he was safely
behind the glass door of his apartment building and heading up the
stairs. He felt stupid for being nervous, and then someone moved on
the stairs above the landing and he suddenly felt stupid for not
having been more paranoid.
“It’s me,” Lucas said quietly, stepping out
into view. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Mark forced himself to take a deep breath
before saying, “Lucas. Hi. What are you doing here?” Did that sound
churlish? “Would you like to come in?” Mark was suddenly hyperaware
of what had happened the last time he’d brought Lucas into his
apartment. He was surprised by how exciting it was to think about
the same thing happening again. Maybe going further this time…
But Lucas was shaking his head. “You should
get your neighbors to be a bit more careful. One of them let me in
downstairs, and two others walked right by me when I was sitting on
the stairs and they didn’t say a thing. I could have been here to
hurt you.”
Mark nodded. “I used to like it,” he
admitted. “I felt like it was small-town charm, everyone trusting
each other.”
“It wouldn’t be so charming if someone forced
their way into your apartment and kept you from making noise,”
Lucas said sternly. “They could do some serious damage to you, and
they could take their time. Not like out on the streets where they
know someone’s going to see them and call the cops.”
Mark felt the excited stirrings in his gut
churn into a much less pleasant sensation. “Is that the sort of
thing they might do? The people from last night?”
Lucas squinted at Mark. “I don’t think so,”
he finally said. “They’re assholes, but they’re not totally psycho.
I don’t think.” He shrugged. “But I think I’ve got that taken care
of anyway. I was going to just do it and not tell you about it,
but…” He grinned quickly, almost proudly. “I think you might want
to be part of it. Well, I think you might want to see it. And hear
it.” He raised an imperious eyebrow. “But not be part of it. You
need to stay out of the way, really.”
“Lucas, I have no idea what you’re talking
about.”
Lucas nodded, unconcerned, then glanced down
at his watch. “You’re just in time to find out. Five more minutes
and I was going to have to leave without you.” He started for the
stairs down, then caught himself. “If you want to come. I mean, you
don’t have to. I just thought you might want to.”
“But you won’t tell me what it is?” Mark had
to admit that the mystery was intriguing. And now that he was being
tested, he found that he truly trusted Lucas, not only his
intentions but also his good judgment. So instead of waiting for an
answer he stepped forward. “Okay. I like surprises.”
Lucas looked pleased, then nervous. “I hope
it works. If it starts to go bad, you need to book it out of there,
okay?” He’d gone down a few steps but now he stopped and turned to
catch Mark’s elbow and hold it firm. “I mean it. Not like last
night. I mean, I appreciate it that you didn’t leave me to get beat
up. I didn’t expect that, and I haven’t thanked you for it. So
thank you. For last night. But tonight, you need to get out of
there if it goes bad.”
Mark was beginning to regret his decision.
“What are we getting into, here? Is this a good idea?”
Lucas started walking again, and he didn’t
answer until they were out of the building and heading down the
sidewalk. “I think it’s a good idea. The cops…they can’t do a lot.
I mean, they could press charges, but they’d have to let the guys
out on bail before court, and the guys would just be more pissed
because of the charges, and…” He shrugged. “The system works pretty
well for people with something to lose. You know? Reputations and
nice families and houses and cars and shit. Those people won’t
break the rules because if they did, they’d lose their nice stuff.
But other people? All they have to lose is their freedom, and it
takes months for the courts to make that happen. They can do a lot
of damage in months.”
Mark had spent considerable time helping out
at a women’s shelter. He’d seen the effects of men ignoring
restraining orders and terrorizing their victims with seeming
impunity. It was strange to think of himself as a victim instead of
a helper, but he couldn’t deny the facts. He’d somehow stumbled
into a world where the rules he was used to didn’t apply, and it
was a world where Lucas was a native. He’d apparently appointed
himself as Mark’s guide and protector, and Mark couldn’t make
himself turn down the offer of assistance.
So he walked beside Lucas as the sun set,
leaving the neighborhood that had always felt so safe and heading
for a much rougher part of town. It was only a few blocks away but
it might as well have been a different country. The building
materials shifted from stone and brick to vinyl and aluminum
siding, and the cars parked by the curb changed from newish imports
to older domestics. There were more TVs blaring at higher volume
into the summer evening. And then, gathered on the road about
half-way down the block, there were men. Twenty or thirty of them,
standing silently by their cars, waiting.
Mark slowed his pace but Lucas seemed almost
triumphant. “They came,” he said. He glanced over and saw Mark’s
expression. “Come on,” he urged. “You’ll know them when you get
closer.”
Mark would know them? His curiosity won out
over his common sense and he let himself be led closer to the
gathering.
“Father Mark,” one of the closest men said
approvingly, and there was a buzz of greeting from the others.
“Dave,” Mark said in surprise. He looked at
the others. “Willis. Anders.” Mark still had no idea what was going
on, but he was no longer afraid. “All of you! It’s good to see you
all!”
That was when the screen door of the house
pushed open and a man stepped out onto the porch. He stood
silently, watching, and even from a distance Mark could see that
his face was bruised and there was a bright white bandage stretched
across his newly broken nose.
Lucas nodded in satisfaction and looked at
the gathered men. “You ready?” he asked.
“Lucas!” Mark caught the other man’s arm.
“This isn’t…what are you doing? Is this…”
Lucas shook his head. “We’re not looking for
trouble,” he said firmly. “Just making a point.”
Mark wasn’t at all sure that this was a good
idea but he’d trusted Lucas this far and guessed he’d better do it
a little longer. “No violence,” he said pleadingly.
“I hope not,” Lucas agreed. Then he stepped
forward, crossing the lawn like a lion staring down a hyena. The
other men followed behind him and Mark let himself be swept up in
the pack, waiting to see what was going to happen.
“Hey, Mikey,” Lucas said casually when he
reached the base of the porch steps. “How’s the nose?”
“Fuck you, Cain.”
“Tinker around? Or the other guy? The one
with the broken hand?”
“Is this a social call?” Mikey sneered. Mark
had to give the man credit for courage, although after a certain
point it had to start being called stupidity.
“It’s last call.” Lucas stepped a
little closer. “Fun time is over.” He peered around the large man
on the porch and called out, “Tinker? You should probably hear
this. Anybody in the house…you should hear this.”
The screen door opened slowly and several men
about the same age as Lucas stepped cautiously outside. Mark
recognized two from the night before, one of them wearing a cast on
his hand just as Lucas had apparently anticipated. Another was the
friend, the one who’d come to the halfway house looking for Lucas,
and Mark was pretty sure he saw a quick nod of acknowledgement pass
between the two of them. But then Lucas was back to business.
He spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear,
but he was clearly aiming his words at the porch. “When I got out
of jail, you guys wanted to hear stories about all the hard men I
met inside. Remember that? I didn’t give you details, but let me
tell you…they were hard.” He paused for a moment to let them
feel the weight of that word. “They were like nothing you could
understand with your bullshit bar fights and your pathetic
shit-smearing. They were…” He shook his head as if he didn’t have
words, then shrugged. “But they don’t stay in jail forever. And
when they get out, you know where some of them go?” He glanced over
toward Mark. “They go to this man’s halfway house, and he helps
them find jobs and get their families back and be human beings
again.” Now he half-turned to include the men behind him in his