City of Darkness and Light(5)

“I’m home, Aggie,” I called, pausing in the front hallway to remove my hat and coat.

Her pinched little face appeared from the kitchen. “Laundry’s all done and out, Mrs. Sullivan, but for how long, who can say?”

“You were right about the weather as usual,” I said. “The rainclouds are already gathering.”

“Maybe that’s why I’ve felt so cold all morning,” she said. “Could be a big storm coming.” Liam interrupted this conversation with another wail. Aggie went to lift him out of his pram, but I stopped her.

“It’s all right. He wants feeding. I’ll take him up to the nursery.”

Liam reached out to me to be picked up. I noticed how heavy he was getting as I swung him onto my hip. “I’m going to cut down your rations, my lad,” I said. “You’re getting too big.”

“Don’t say that, Mrs. Sullivan,” Aggie said. “We never got enough to eat at my house. You don’t know what that’s like.”

“No, I don’t,” I said, looking at her with pity. “It’s almost lunchtime. Go and warm us up some of that stew. I’ve got a nice chop for Captain Sullivan’s dinner, if he comes home in time to eat tonight.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Aggie said. I paused halfway up the stairs and turned back to her. “A man was here this morning asking for Captain Sullivan.”

“What kind of man? A policeman?”

“Oh, I don’t think so.” She chewed on her lip. “A swarthy type. Foreign.”

“What did he want?”

“He just asked when Captain Sullivan was likely to be home. I told him I couldn’t say, and that Captain Sullivan didn’t keep regular hours. We’d hardly seen him at all lately. He then asked about you, and I said you’d be back shortly.”

“Did you ask if you could take a message?” I asked.

“I did. And he said he had to deliver the message to you and the captain in person, so he’d be back when you were both home.”

“How strange,” I said. “Foreign? I can’t think who that might be.”

“I didn’t like the look of him,” Aggie said. “He had shifty eyes.”

I smiled. “You think all foreigners have shifty eyes. Perhaps Daniel will know.”

And I went on up the stairs. Liam was fed and put down for his afternoon nap. The rain started about three and we rushed to get in the line full of laundry. The rest of the day passed without incident. I reread Sid’s letter over an afternoon cup of tea, sharing the interesting bits with Aggie. She was duly impressed. “Imagine traveling halfway around the world and then bumping into a long-lost cousin,” she said. “And a handsome one at that. Maybe they’ll fall in love and marry.”

“I hardly think that’s likely to happen,” I said, smiling at her naïveté. Sid and Gus lived as a couple right across the street from us, but then I hadn’t taken in the truth about their relationship when I first met them either. Such things had been outside of my sphere of experience too.

Darkness fell early with wind moaning through the chimney. I prepared our evening meal and put Daniel’s chop out, ready to grill, in the hope that he might be home for dinner, just this once. Then about six thirty my wishes were answered. The front door opened, sending a blast of cold air right down the hall to us, and Daniel came in, his cheeks red from the wind, clapping his hands together.

“It’s like winter out there again,” he said. “Luckily the rain has eased off. I thought I’d get drenched on the way home.” He looked around the kitchen. “Where’s my favorite son?”

“Aggie’s just putting him to bed,” I said.

“Good. I hoped I’d catch him awake for once.” He unwound his scarf, dropped it on a chair, and then bounded up the stairs. I heard his big voice and a baby’s squeal of delight and smiled to myself as I put his chop on the stove. By the time he reappeared his dinner was ready.

“What a splendid sight,” he said as I placed the plate in front of him. “It feels like the first decent meal I’ve had in weeks.”

“You’ve never been home to eat,” I said.

He nodded, his mouth full. “It’s been a rough time,” he said at last.

“Difficult case?”

“More like a war than a case,” he said. “The commissioner decided the time had come to take a stand against the Italian gang that is terrorizing the Lower East Side.”

“The Cosa Nostra, you mean?”

“That’s what they call themselves, yes. And we thought the Eastmans were bad news. The Eastmans are child’s play compared to these new boys. Protection rackets, extortion—all the usual stuff—but done with such incredible violence and ruthlessness. Anyone who betrays them is found with his throat slit from ear to ear. And they don’t hesitate to take revenge on anyone who stands in their way.”