Joe Pitt 3 - Half the Blood of Brooklyn (14 page)

He looks in Rachel's eyes.

--And she died of it, the concubine. But she did not complain. Sacrificing herself. And
because of this sacrifice, the traveler took the body of his concubine, a woman who, it
must be noted, had been infamously unfaithful to him, and he
divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the
coasts of Israel.

He looks away from the girl's eyes.

--And the message was not lost on the other tribes.

He looks down, takes a firm grip on Lydia's jaw and on Rachel's wrist and pries them
apart, Lydia's throat continuing to work, her tongue swiping blood from her own lips.

--Four hundred thousand men they sent to Gibeah. A city whose men numbered seven hundred.
Seven hundred chosen men left-handed; every one could sling stones at hair breadth, and
not miss.
And beside these seven hundred stood twenty-six thousand other men of the Tribe of
Benjamin.

He's gone back into his bag for more gauze, and begins to bandage Rachel's wrist.

--So, twenty-six thousand, seven hundred against four hundred thousand, yes? Not good odds.
Roughly, it's what, sixteen to one, yes? Not good odds.

He ties off the ends of the bandage.

--In the first battle, just the first, the men of Benjamin killed twenty-two thousand of
their enemies.

He pulls the sleeve of Rachel's blouse back into place.

--Somewhat better odds, now, but still not good. Not a betting man's odd, I think. Not at
all. And, on the second battle, after the men of Israel had prayed to God for guidance and
drew the sword,
the men of Benjamin
destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand.

He rises.

--And the children of Israel, not surprisingly, were troubled. But they went up to the
house of the Lord and they fasted and they burnt offerings and they prayed for what they
should do and God said,
Go up into battle; for tomorrow I will deliver them into thine hands.

He steps into the aisle.

--And God kept his promise, yes? Of course he did.
And the children of Israel destroyed twenty and five thousand of the Benjaminites that
day and a hundred men more.

He walks toward the arc. --
All these drew the sword.

He reaches the arc, opens it, touches the scrolls of the Torah.

--There was more killing, of course. No surprise again, yes? The children of Israel chased
the Benjaminites to the walls of Gibeah and trod them down. And they entered the city and
put it to the sword and burned it.

He turns, his hand still on the Torah.

--In the end, six hundred men fled to the rock of Rimmon in the wilderness. And that was
all that remained of the tribe. And it would have died, the Tribe of Benjamin. Except that
the children of Israel knew this would have been a great sin. An unpardonable sin, yes?
There is such a thing. So, they were driven out, they had no kingdom, but four hundred
virgins were taken from the slaughtered tribe of Jabesh-Gilead and given to the
Benjaminites as wives. And more were taken dancing in the fields from the daughters of
Shiloh. To keep their tribe alive, yes? You see it, yes, the women? The women. How
precious. Some few were descended from Benjamin, children of mothers who had married into
other tribes. And so the Benjaminites survived.

He looks at me.

--But none of the men of Gibeah.

He comes toward me.

--The men who at
night
encircled the old man's home and demanded the stranger. The men who
knew and abused
all
night
the two innocent girls and went away with the dawn, yes? The
seven hundred chosen men left-handed; and everyone could sling stones at an
hairbreadth, and not miss.
The seven hundred men of Gibeah who led the Benjaminites against the four hundred
thousand children of all the rest of Israel and killed in two battles forty thousand men.

He spreads arms to take in his son and the other boys.

--But the men of Gibeah are here. Their blood is here in our veins. You see that, yes? The
blood of Gibeah is in you. Not the blood of Benjamin, but, yes, Gibeah is even in you.

He waves Rachel over and she comes to him.

--A child of Benjamin, the blood of Gibeah is owed to her, for her fathers came to our
assistance when we needed them. But she for-goes having Gibeah in her. To sacrifice her
blood
to
Gibeah. To keep our tribe alive. The lost Tribe of Gibeah.

He comes to my pew and looks down at me.

--The descendents of the seven hundred.

He puts a hand on my shoulder.

--So if you are from the Coalition, yes? If you are truly one of the spies we have seen at
the edges of our land, one of the skulkers hiding in Queens? Yes, if you are one of them?

He takes the freshly healed skin on my mangled ear between his fingers and rips it off.

--You would do best to remember we were defeated only once.

He drops the bit of skin in my lap and wipes his fingers on my shirt.

--And only then when God intervened.

--Holy hell, will you can it with all that superstition?

We all look at Lydia, sitting up on her pew, a hand massaging her throat.

--It's like I'm with my dad talking all that crap at Seder all over again.

--The little person is lying. We're from the Society.

--
Little person? Little person?
Bitch, I get my hands free and drop trow, you'll see how little I am. Keep that
politically correct shit, I'm a midget.

He leans forward.

--And you're the one who's lying. Telling you, Moishe, these are Coalition whaddayacallims?
Fascists!

Lydia looks up from inspecting the puncture wounds in her stomach.--
Fascists?
Are you? Alright, this is too much. This is just. Me? A fascist?

She looks at the Rebbe.

--We're from the Society. I am a serving member on the Society's directorate council.

She points at me.

--Joe is the head of Society security. We're pledged members to a Clan devoted to unity and
equality among all rational living things and.
Fascists?
We're, I don't want to make a big deal out of this, but we're freedom fighters. We're
fighting for your freedom and you. We're trying to create an atmosphere in which this
woman.

She points at Rachel.

--Won't have to be indentured and used like a hamster feeder. Which is not to say I don't
appreciate what you did giving me your blood, but believe me, you shouldn't let yourself
be used like that by these men. And.

Her jaw drops.

--
Fascists?
Forgive me for harping on this, but I'm just dumb-founded that you could even try to. Do
you know?

She looks at the Rebbe.

--Do you know we're here at his request? Did you know that? He and his
Clan
made contact with us and requested a meeting because they wanted safe passage into
Manhattan. An alliance. And now he's. I just. I'm, OK, I'm not making much sense here so I
better be quiet for a moment and gather my thoughts because I am just at a loss for words
as to how I should respond to that kind of ignorance and blatant disregard for the facts
and. Well, I just have nothing to say.

She pulls up her sleeve and points at the upside-down pink triangle on her shoulder.

--Do you even know what this means?

Stretch nods.

--Means you're another bitch doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut.

She gets to her feet and lurches in Stretch's direction.

--Motherfucker, I'm going to fucking kill you, you fucking half-wit half-pint half-man, say
one more word like that and I'm going to fucking kill you and kill you!

Moishe puts a hand on her arm.

She looks at it.

--Get it off me.

He removes his hand.

--Of course, this is not meant in disrespect, yes? Is it? No. Just that you are injured.
Better to sit, yes? Sit. Please.

She sits, looks at me.

--You planning to join in, Joe?

--Hey, you're the diplomat.

Stretch opens his mouth and the Rebbe puts a finger to his lips.

--No. No, Abe, no more. You've made your case, yes? They are from the Coalition, you say.
You know why they are here, you say. You will tell me what they are here for if I turn
Hannah and Sarah over to you. This is what you have to say. I do not need to hear it
again. These two, they say what? They say you are a liar. They say they are from the
Society. Like that should mean something to me they say it. What does it mean? If they are
telling me the truth this should make me feel better? Safer? To know more outsiders are
involving themselves in our concerns should make me at ease? No. This is what I know.

He closes his eyes and puts fingers to his temples.

--The Coalition, they have been here.

He opens his eyes and looks at Lydia.

--You did not know this? Yes? No? They have been here. Offering alliances. Assurances.
Promising Brooklyn to us. As if it were theirs to give. If you are one of theirs you may
know this. Or not. What can I tell them? Brooklyn is already ours. This is our land. The
land of the Benjaminites. The city of New Gibeah. This is ours. And they say yes, OK, yes.
They leave. Very civilized. But they have been seen. Just north. In Queens. The Coalition.
Many of them in Queens. What does this mean?

He folds his arms.

--If you are Coalition, I would like to know this. And if you are not? And if you are? Does
it matter?

Axler puts a hand over the knife sheathed inside his vest.

--We should kill them, Papa.

--Did I ask you, Axler? Did I ask you anything but to be quiet?

--Wherever they're from, they're here to make trouble. We have to make a lesson of them.
The people, Papa, the rest of the tribe, we told them we would keep them safe. This is how
we do it.

He takes the knife out and points it at Vendetta and Harm.

--We keep the women of the tribe for increase.

He points it at Stretch.

--We kill the enemies of the tribe for safety.

He points it at me and Lydia.

--And we kill invaders to protect the borders of the tribe's land.

He points the knife at himself.

--You may not like the way I did this tonight, Papa, but it had to be done. The rest of the
tribe will not want to know it was done this way, but it had to be done. They can sleep
safely in Gravesend only if we make these choices. I sinned. I broke the Sabbath. But
someone has to.

Rebbe Moishe pulls down the corners of his mouth, raises his eyebrows, unfolds his arms
and hoists his shoulders.

--Sometimes, not always, but sometimes my son can talk sense.

I clear my throat.

He drops his shoulders.

--Yes?

--Would it be possible for me to ask a question?

--These manners, where have they come from? Yes, of course, a question, ask it.

I look at Axler.

--I was wondering if that's the knife you used to kill Selig?

No one says anything. So I carry the conversation for the moment.

--In the cemetery? It was just a little while ago? You stuck it through his throat and cut
his brain stem with it. Was that the one you're waving around there?

He comes in my direction.

--Axler!

He stops and looks at his father.

--A filthy lie! Do you need any more proof, Papa?

I lean into the aisle.

--Hey, I'm not asking anyone to take my word for this, Rebbe. Try grilling one of his
lameass posse here. Based on the spine they showed when he was waxing their friend, I'm
guessing they'll spill the beans in about a second.

I look at the kid who scratched my head.

--What about it, buddy, you and Selig close? Got any regrets about not stepping up when
junior lost his cool and killed the promising young rabbinical student?

The head scratcher opens his mouth, stands, sits, closes his mouth, looks at the Rebbe,
looks away.

--He's lying, Rebbe.

I shrug.

--Well, that's it, looks like I'm screwed. Testimony like that, how can I not be lying?

Axler's fingers are white on the handle of the knife when he waves it at me.

--He's lying. He killed Chaim.

He waves it at Lydia.

--And she killed Selig. She killed Selig.

Lydia straightens.

--Hold on, hold on. I admit I fired indiscriminately and can't account for every round, but
I didn't stab anyone. I'm certainly not prepared to accept the blame for a death I can't
say for certain I had any involvement in.

Stretch goes red faced.

--Will someone please shut that cunt's mouth before I go crazy?

Lydia comes off the bench.

She careens across the aisle and throws her shoulder into Stretch and knocks him to the
floor and grabs him by his bound ankles and lifts him and swings him high in an arc over
her head and brings him down and his skull shatters three of the large white tiles that
cover the floor, sending a spiderweb of cracks across them and gouts of blood and shards
of bone through the air.

She falls to her knees and drops his ankles and watches him jerk twice and stiffen and we
all smell his bowels go and the blood stops pumping and the one eye that still has a
socket to hold it in rolls around and stops and glasses over.

Lydia looks at the dead midget, looks up at us all.

--I told him I'd kill him if he talked like that again.

Harm goes berserk.

Vendetta goes berserk too, but all she does is grab her dad and howl and shake. Harm wants
to make Lydia dead. And she makes a living doing the nail act with her sister. And the
rest of the crowd is trying to get her down without killing her.

Fucking fiasco.

I do the smart thing and roll off my pew and squirm under it and watch. Lydia just sits on
the floor and stares at Vendetta with her dead father in her arms.

Harm gets close, but Axler's boys keep wrestling her down. They have to break a few bones
to do it, Rebbe Moishe all the time telling them to be gentle.