"Yes. God's love on you, boy."
"And on you, Pere. One...two...three." Jake opened the door and together they went into dim light and the sweet tangy smell of roasting pork.
STAVE: Commala-come-ki,
There's a time to live and one to die.
With your back against the final wall
Ya gotta let the bullets fly.
RESPONSE: Commala-come ki!
Let the bullets fly!
Don't 'ee mourn for me, my lads
When it comes my day to die.
13th Stanza: "Hile, Mia, Hile, Mother"
One
Ka might have put that downtown bus where it was when Mia's cab pulled up, or it might only have been coincidence. Certainly it's the sort of question that provokes argument from the humblest street-preacher (can you give me hallelujah) all the way up to the mightiest of theological philosophers (can you give me a Socratic amen). Some might consider it almost frivolous; the mighty issues that loom their shadows behind the question, however, are anything but.
One downtown bus, half empty.
But if it hadn't been there on the corner of Lex and Sixty-first, Mia likely would never have noticed the man playing the guitar. And, had she not stopped to listen to the man playing the guitar, who knows how much of what followed might have been different?
Two
"Awwww,man, wouldja looka-dat!" the cab driver exclaimed, and lifted his hand to his windshield in an exasperated gesture. A bus was parked on the corner of Lexington and Sixty-first, its diesel engine rumbling and its taillights flashing what Mia took to be some kind of distress code. The bus driver was standing by one of the rear wheels, looking at the dark cloud of diesel smoke pouring from the bus's rear vent.
"Lady," said the cab driver, "you mind getting off on the corner of Sixtieth? Tha'be all right?"
Is it?Mia asked.What should I say?
Sure,Susannah replied absently.Sixtieth's fine.
Mia's question had called her back from her version of the Dogan, where she'd been trying to get in touch with Eddie. She'd had no luck doing that, and was appalled at the state of the place. The cracks in the floor now ran deep, and one of the ceiling panels had crashed down, bringing the fluorescent lights and several long snarls of electrical cable with it. Some of the instrument panels had gone dark. Others were seeping tendrils of smoke. The needle on the SUSANNAH-MIO dial was all the way over into the red. Below her feet, the floor was vibrating and the machinery was screaming. And saying that none of this was real, it was all only a visualization technique, kind of missed the whole point, didn't it? She'd shut down a very powerful process, and her body was paying a price. The Voice of the Dogan had warned her that what she was doing was dangerous; that it wasn't (in the words of a TV ad) nice to fool Mother Nature. Susannah had no idea which of her glands and organs were taking the biggest beating, but she knew that theywere hers. Not Mia's. It was time to call a halt to this madness before everything went sky-high.
First, though, she'd tried to get in touch with Eddie, yelling his name repeatedly into the mike with NORTH CENTRAL POSITRONICS stamped on it. Nothing. Yelling Roland's name also brought no result. If they were dead, she would have known it. She was sure of that. But not to be able to get in touch with them atall ...what did that mean?
It mean you once mo' been f**ked mos' righteous, honeychile,Detta told her, and cackled.This what you get fo' messin wit' honkies.
I can get out here?Mia was asking, shy as a girl arriving at her first dance.Really?
Susannah would have slapped her own brow, had she had one. God, when it was about anything but her baby, the bitch was so goddamtimid!
Yes, go ahead. It's only a single block, and on the avenues, the blocks are short.
The driver...how much should I give the driver?
Give him a ten and let him keep the change. Here, hold it out for me -
Susannah sensed Mia's reluctance and reacted with weary anger. This was not entirely without amusement.
Listen to me, sweetheart, I wash my hands of you. Okay? Give him any f**king bill you want.
No, no, it's all right.Humble now. Frightened.I trust you, Susannah. And she held up the remaining bills from Mats, fanned out in front of her eyes like a hand of cards.
Susannah almost refused, but what was the point? Shecame forward, took control of the brown hands holding the money, selected a ten, and gave it to the driver. "Keep the change," she said.
"Thanks, lady!"