They stay at peace only because they have no idea of what power is possible."
"And why do you stay at peace?" asked Mack.
"Haven't you been paying attention? We're not at peace. We are at war. Only there are no more than a few thousand of us, and only a handful of us have great power. The kind of power that would be dangerous. We have rules of our own, too. And one of the greatest is, we don't mess with your world too much. Petty things. Entertainment. Like setting down a piece of paper, letting an ant crawl on it, and then moving him a few feet away. Watch him scurry. But we don't stamp on the anthill. We don't burn it."
"That's what he will do, if he can break free."
"Creating me, that was the first step."
"And riding that poor boy Word like a pony, that was the second," said Yo Yo.
"What's the third step?" asked Mack.
"What we just did," she said.
"What? We set him free?"
"We broke the shell of the egg, so to speak. Not that he was really in an egg. But you and I were uniting. A part of him with a part of me. It opens the door for him."
"So when you were doing all this in front of Word—"
"I knew he wouldn't stop us because it sets him free now, instead of waiting until he can form a fairy circle out of Word's new converts. It would have taken enormous power to break the chains we put on him. But by marrying us, another way was opened up. It'll still be a day or two. We have time."
"Time for what?"
"To get ready for him. To put him back down, only this time deeper. And this time without me and Puck being locked in jars in Fairyland."
"Can't he figure out that that's your plan?"
"Oh, he expects tricks. We've been at this a long time. What he doesn't expect is... power. For us to have real power."
"And where are you getting that from?"
"You," said Yo Yo. "You and all your friends. Your whole life, you've been gathering power without even knowing it. You're going to use it now to help us put him back down into the underworld."
"But I'm part of him. You're going to ask me to imprison myself."
"Yes."
"Why should I do that? Why would he let me do that?" discarded really is. He doesn't realize that it's the most powerful part of himself."
"What you mean is, you hope so."
"Well, yes, if you want to be accurate."
"And you might be wrong."
"Wouldn't that be a disappointment."
"And I might end up..."
"Being swallowed up in him again."
"And you might end up..."
"Locked away forever. Not just the part of me he already has in prison. This part too. I would be sad. And so would the mortal world. Because what then would stop him? His own goodness suppressed, and me not there to balance him from the outside."
"So the whole future of the world is at stake, all because we did this, and you didn't even tell me what I was risking."
"Of course I didn't," she said. "You wouldn't have done it."
"Damn right."
"But it has to be done."
"We put everybody at risk of something terrible. We don't have the right."
"That's virtue talking. The virtuous part of me agrees with you. But the practical part of me says, We'll be virtuous after we beat the son of a bitch."
"And if we fail?"
"The virtuous part of me will feel really bad for a long, long time."
"Well, now I can see why he fell in love with you."
"What about you, Mack. Are you in love with me?"
He kissed her. "No," he said. "I'll never know who I might have loved. But he's in love with you."
She held him tighter. "Let's go back to reality now, Mack Street."
"No need to walk. Besides, we need to pick up our clothes."
And just like that, as she held him close, they were no longer on the grass in Fairyland, they were in Rev Theo's office in a storefront church in LA, stark naked with their clothes spread out underneath them, and they could hear Word's voice in the street outside.
Chapter 21
FAIRY CIRCLE Word began to preach, expecting to have words given to him like last night. But it didn't happen.
He fumbled for a moment. Paused. Tried to remember the sermon he actually wrote for yesterday.
"I'm not good at this," he said. "And I think a lot of you came here hoping that you'd see something miraculous. But I... it's not something I control. I can pray for God's help for you. And I can teach you the words of the Lord. So you can live a better life. Do the things that lead to happiness. Love the Lord with all your heart, might, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself."
"Can you pray for my boy in prison?" called out a woman. "He didn't do it!"
"I can, Sister," said Word. "I will."
"Well is he going to get out?" she demanded.
"I don't know," he said. "I don't even know if letting him out would be the will of God. It's God's will we have to follow here. Maybe your son has things he needs to learn in prison."
A couple of men in the congregation laughed bitterly. "Learn lots of good things in prison," one of them said.
"How old is your son?" asked Word.
"Sixteen," she said. "But they tried him as an adult. Can't vote, but he can do time like a grownup!"
"If he be black, they know he do it." A Jamaican accent.
Word was at a loss. He also knew that a lot of blacks went to prison because they did do it, no matter what their mothers thought. But that wasn't a good thing to say to a grieving mother. Or to a crowd in the street that came for miracles and was already disappointed.
"Brothers and sisters," said Word. "I wish I were a better preacher."
What was he supposed to do, pretend that he grew up in South Central? What good would that do, to be a liar?
"How can I know what to say to you? I was blessed in my childhood. My parents were happily married. They still are. My father's a professor. My mother's an administrator. I got the finest education. I grew up surrounded by books. We never knew what it was to be hungry. What do I know about the life your son had?
"But Jesus knows about his life. Jesus grew up in a good family, too. A mother and father who worked hard and loved him and took care of him. Jesus kept the commandments and served God.
And they took him out and crucified him cause they didn't like the things he said. You think Jesus doesn't know what it's like to be in jail for a crime you didn't commit? You think Mary didn't know what it's like to have them take your son away and put him on trial and all the people shouting,
'Crucify him!'?
"I'm not preaching here today because I know anything. I don't. I'm too young. My life's been too easy. I'm here today because Jesus knows. It's the good news of Jesus that I want to bring you."
For a lot of them, that was good. They moved a little closer, then nodded, they murmured their assent.
But for others, the ones coming to see something sensational, it was over. They started to walk away.
Rev Theo spoke from behind him. "You doing fine, Word."
Word turned gratefully to smile at him. That's when he saw Mack and Yolanda come out of the door of the church, between the two deacons watching over the collection bowls. He felt a stab of guilt over having performed what amounted to a sham marriage, just so they could hump like bunnies in the pastor's own office. What was he thinking? Even if Mack was somehow magically eighteen, he was still younger than she was. No way did he understand what he was doing, how he was being used. Magically and sexually and every other way.
Speaking of being used...
He felt the invisible hand reach up his spine and spread through the back of his head. It felt to him as if the hand was somehow connected to Mack. And as it touched him, Yolanda winked at him, as if she was aware of what was happening.