Calvin’s smile disappeared instantly and he let out a loud exhale, “I’m sorry.”
Cooper waved his hand, “It’s not your fault. Don’t get me wrong, I will be happy if this thing is over. It just means I really have to get to Admonitus and do what needs to be done to save my boy.” Cooper paused for a moment and his face brightened, “It’s also possible that Jake may have a weaker strain in him. Usually, viruses become weaker as they go from person to person. So, if it is fading out, maybe he has a weaker variety!”
Calvin hesitated and then nodded emphatically, “Yes! That sounds like a possibility to me, too. Let’s hope for that.”
Cooper stood up and shuffled his feet as he collected his thoughts. Calvin stood as well, readying himself to leave.
“I have some information for you as well.”
Calvin’s face grew puzzled, “What’s that?”
“You know Joe Vang, the mailman, right?”
“Of course.”
“We visited his cousin, who leads the Vietnamese Protection Society.”
Calvin’s face grew hard, muscles bulging on his jawline, “You mean, he’s a gangster?”
“Sure, whatever it’s called, they have trained men with good weapons. They’ve offered us six men for a week to help protect our neighborhood.”
Calvin took a step back, “At what cost, Cooper?”
“Ten-thousand now. Fifteen thousand later, when the banks reopen.”
“I wasn’t asking about the cost in money,” he paused gathering himself. He began shaking his head, “No, no, no. We cannot do this. I lost a brother because he joined a Protection Society,” Calvin’s words dripped with scorn.
Cooper held up his hands, palms outward, “Look. We can’t get emotional about this. We need to be objective about how we protect our neighborhood.”
Calvin looked back at him steely-eyed, “It’s true Cooper. I’m emotional on this,” he said defiantly. “When I found my brother’s body lying face down in the street in a pool of blood when I was twelve-years old—it did make me emotional about steering clear of anything to do with gangs. But, there’s more to it than that. Once you let these guys in—you won’t ever get them out. Trust me.”
“I can handle that part. It won’t become permanent. Having that extra firepower could be a difference maker if we face a more serious threat. Everything is unstable right now.”
Calvin shook his head, “I’m not going to argue this. There is no way I’m going to agree to do this.”
“At least, let’s present it at tonight’s meeting. The neighborhood can decide,” Cooper offered.
“That’s fine with me, but you know which side I’ll be arguing.”
The two men stared at each other, “And you, mine.”
Calvin maintained the steady gaze for several more seconds before turning and walking out the front door. As he opened it, Cooper saw that people had already begun gathering on the sidewalk adjoining his yard.” Is it time already?
Cooper rubbed his temples, took a deep breath, and then stepped outside.
The group that gathered in the front yard was larger than it had ever been before. Almost a hundred people stood clustered tightly together to stay within earshot. The mood was better as well, with more people smiling. More people have overcome their fear of getting the illness and are now coming out.
Cooper began the meeting, but then turned it over to Calvin to give the report of the survey teams that had gone out. The group came alive with animation and side conversations when he talked of the neighborhood to the north and their grocery store.
“My kitchen’s almost empty; can we get some Spam from them?” Freddie shouted, but his joke fell flat. Cooper wondered if it struck too close to home for many.
“We know they need guns, so we are going to see if we can make a trade with them,” Calvin reported.
More smiles appeared in the crowd and murmurs of approval rippled through it.
Calvin continued, “We’d also like to supplement our daily survey about the illness. Please raise your hand if a member of your household has come down with it within the last twenty-four hours?”
Cooper watched as people shuffled their feet and looked around, but no one raised their hands.
“Raise your hand if you have heard of anyone else, a neighbor, a friend, who has come down with it in the last twenty-four hours.”
Again, no hands were raised. Smiles grew wider and several people clapped their hands together in joyous surprise.
“Does this mean it’s over?” Someone shouted.
Calvin waved his hands from side to side, “No, no, no. While its good news, we need to keep an eye on things. It could be a just a temporary blip, or it could mean something better than that.”
Calvin paused for other questions, but there were none. He then turned the meeting over to Cooper.
“What I want to talk about is very simple, really. The city is still very chaotic. The only order is what people are making for themselves. I’ve met with the Vietnamese Protection Society and they’ve offered to send six men, four with automatic weapons, to help us defend our neighborhood for the next week.”
The group erupted in whispers to one another and shouts directed at Cooper. The cacophony was impossible to discern.
Cooper outstretched his hands and yelled to gain everyone’s attention, “Please, one at a time!”
“Let me get this straight, you want to invite a gang into our neighborhood?” John asked.
“I don’t want anything. It is an option that I’m bringing to you for your consideration and decision. That’s all. Do I think it’s a good idea? Yes, I do. Money is a small price to pay for increasing my son’s safety.”
“Money? How much are they asking for?” Gus asked.
“I negotiated them down to $10,000 for the week up front. Fifteen thousand more after the banks reopen.” A barrage of whistles and exclamations rang out.
“Might as well be a million,” Freddie joked to a smattering of laughter. “Who has that kind of money?”
“We would have to take up a collection to raise the funds,” Cooper responded, tamping the frustration rising in his belly.
“I think we should do it!” yelled Mark Moretti, who was standing at the back of the crowd, leaning against a white birch tree. Silence fell on the crowd and all eyes turned towards him. Cooper waved him on to continue. Mark brushed back his black hair and stood up straight.
“It’s simple to me. We can take something that has very little value to all of us right now—money—and transform it into something that is very valuable at the current time—more security. Sure, when things get back to normal we might all complain about the money we spent, but we’ll have a better chance of being around to complain about it by spending the money now.”
Cooper watched a wave of nodding heads and whispered words wash over the crowd. Calvin stirred next to him.
“Wait a second, Mark. I’d agree with you if we were talking about spending money on a security company or some other group we could trust. We’re talking about gangbangers. Hardened criminals. We’ve fought to keep those kinds of people out of our neighborhood. Why would we not only invite them in now, but pay them for the privilege?”
Mark shouted back, “But, they’d be working for us, that’s the difference.”
Calvin’s words burned with contempt, “But what will happen on the third week when we can’t pay them anymore? And now they know everything about us—how many armed people we have, what our defenses look like, and on and on. What then?”
Mark fired back, “It will increase our odds of all making it to the third week. Haven’t you been following the news? Other cities are much worse off than we are, but we’re headed in that direction. The coming weeks are going to still being very chaotic and dangerous, maybe even more so.”