Kids whose grandparents fought against Italy in World War II, whose parents were teenagers in the Sixties, and who themselves are now teenagers who do not speak Italian and who do not care to learn, thank you. They are Americans. And it is American to cherish home and family, American to protect one's neighborhood from evil infiltration, American to cherish God and country and to make sure no niggers fuck your sisters.
Hooper is aware of them at once.
He has come perhaps a block and a half crosstown: from The Stem when he sees them on the front of the building. There are six of them. This is Easter Sunday and they are all silked out in their new Easter threads, hanging out and kidding around, laughing.
He tells himself that's all they're doing is hanging out and kidding around, laughing, but warning hackles go up on the back of his neck, anyway. He should not be here. He should have gone down The Stem to Fifth Street instead, he was dumb to come across Eleventh where up ahead all of a sudden the horseplay stops and the laughter stops and there is a dead silence, they have spotted him.
He figures he should cross the street.
Would Eddie Murphy cross the street?
Sheee-it, man, no! Hooper's got as much right as these dudes to be wherever the fuck he wants to be, man but his heart is pounding. He knows there is going to be trouble. He can smell it on the air, he can feel it coming his way on the wind, blowin' on the wind, man, touching his black skin like somebody usin' a cattle prod on him.., trouble.., danger.., run!
But would Eddie Murphy run?
He does not run.
He does not cross the street.
He keeps walking toward where the six of them have now come off the stoop and are standing on the sidewalk in a casual phalanx, hands dangling loosely at their sides like gunslicks about to draw, narrow smiles on their faces, say somethin' smart, he thinks, say somethin' cool, be Eddie Murphy, man! But nothing smart comes. Nothing cool comes.
He smiles.
"Hey, man," he says to the closest one.
And the baseball bat comes swinging out nowhere.
"Do you know which one used the bat?" asked.
"No," Hooper said.
"They all had bats," Seronia said.
"That was later," Hooper said. "When they chasin' me. All at once, they all got bats. Or can lids. It was that first bat bust my head, thou "Cause it took me by surprise. It musta been one them standin' in the back had the bat hid, you know' So when I come up, I'm like a sittin' duck, know? I give 'em my shit-eatin' grin, I say man' politely, and wham the bat comes somewhere hid behind them, breaks my head open., "What happened then?”
"I ran, man, whutchoo think happen? They six them who all at once got ball bats, and they nigger and whatnot, man I know a lynch mob I see one. I got the hell out of there fast as my could carry me. But that wasn't gonna be the end it, far as they was concerned. They was right me, all six of 'em, cussin' and yellin' and chasin' off they turf. I figured once I got to Culver I be I could run downtown on Culver, get the hell Eleventh Street...”
"You was crazy goin' in there in the first place," Seronia said.
"It was Easter," Hooper said in explanation, and shrugged.
"All right, they're chasing you," Carella said.
"Yeah, and I'm thinkin' I gotta get off the street, I stay here on the street, they goan kill me. I gotta be someplace where they witnesses, a restaurant, a bar, anythin' where they people can see what's happenin' if it goes that far. "Cause it sounds like it's goan all the way, man, it sounds like they out to kill me.”
"Then what?”
"All at once, I see this church up ahead. I never been inside it in my life, but there it is, and I figure there's got to be people inside a church, don't there, this is Easter Sunday. I like was losin' track of time by then, I didn't realize there wouldn't be no services two-thirty, three o'clock, whatever it was by then.
But the front door was open... "Standing open?”
"No, no. Unlocked. I tried it and it was unlocked.
They were right behind me, man, it's a good thing it wasn't locked, I'd be dead right there on the church steps. So I ran in with my head busted open and drippin' blood and them behind me yellin" and I hear more yellin' from someplace in the church, and the first thing I think is they got me surrounded, man, there's yellin' behind me and yellin' in front of me, I'm a dead man.”
"What do you mean, yelling in front of you?”
"From like behind these columns. Two people el “
Y hng.
"Behind what columns?”
"Where they on the right side of the church, know? They's like these columns and what I must be a little room back there 'cause...”
"Is that where the yelling was coming from? little room behind the columns? On the ri side of the church?”
"I'm only sayin' it was a room, I was never in But this door opened, and a priest came out...”
"From the room?”
"From whatever was there behind the door. heard all the yellin' in the church, you see. them yellin' nigger and they was goan kill me, that, and heard me yellin' Help, somebody help So he came out lookin' surprised and scared and thing he sees is me spillin' blood from my head, he goes, "What's this, what's this?' like he believe it, you know, here's a nigger bleedin' on floor and six white guys chasin' him. So I yell, man, hep me, they goan kill me!' and the priest what's happenin' now, gets it all in a flash, man, steps between me and them and tells them get luck outa his church, tells them this is God's how dare they, all that shit. Meanwhile called the cops, and by the time they showed up was a big crowd outside, everybody yellin' screamin' even if they didn't know what the was happenin'. It was the priest walked me to hospital.
The cops were too scared. If you're write up a report...”
"I am.”
"You better mention them fucks was too scared to put me in the car and drive me the six blocks to Greer. I had to walk it with the priest.”
"I'll mention it," Carella said.
A lot of good it'll do, he thought. The police protected their own. This was a simple, perhaps regrettable fact. But he would mention it.
"You say the priest was arguing with someone when you came into the...”
"Yeah.”
"Who, do you know?”
"No. It was behind the door there.”
"A man? A woman?”
"A man, I think. There were six fuckin guys tryin'a kill me, you think I gave a shit who...”
"How do you know they were arguing?”
“'Cause they were yellin' at each other.”
"Did you hear anything they said?”
"Just these loud voices.”
"Two voices? Or more than two?”
"I don't know.”
"Well... after it was all over.., did you see anyone?”
"What do you mean?”
"Coming out of that room.”
"Oh. No. We went straight to the hospital. The cops opened up a path in the crowd out there, and me and the priest went through. I didn't see nobody else inside the church.”
"You know Father Michael was killed Thursday night, don't you?”
“Sure,” Hooper said. "And I know who done TOO.”
Carella looked at him.
"Them wops," Hooper said. "They made a vow they gonna get both me and the priest. For happened on Easter. So now they got the priest, that means I'm next. And for what? For walkin' the street mindin' myown fuckin' business.”
“For being' black," Seronia said.
Carella had no argument.
"It was very nice of you to come up here, Lund," Hawes said. "I know it's Saturday, and I to intrude on your time.”
“Not at all," she said.
"Happy to help in any I can.”
The clock on the wall read twenty minutes eleven. Krissie was wearing blue jeans, boots, a white T-shirt, and a fringed leather vest. makeup except lipstick and eye linei'. Long hair pulled to the back of her head in a ponytail. smelled of spring flowers.