The six Green Bones left in a hurry, parting ways on the sidewalk and disappearing down different streets. Rohn turned to Anden. “I need time to get everyone out the back of the building before the police have a chance to detain and question them. The cops who show up might not be as easy to handle as the ones we regularly see; if they get a chance, they might harass and threaten people into pointing out who in the neighborhood’s a Green Bone, maybe even point to the Dauk family.” Rohn’s eyes raked over Anden’s face. “I need someone to go out front and delay the police for a while. Can you do that?”
Anden said, “I’ll do it, Rohn-jen.”
Rohn nodded and clapped him once on the shoulder with a gloved hand. Anden felt the momentary pressure of the man’s jade aura, then Rohn strode back through the wreckage.
Anden went out to the front of the building and ran down the block toward the sound of the approaching sirens. When he saw the red-and-blue pulse of the squad car’s lights, he stepped off the curb and waved his arms urgently. The vehicle came to a stop in front of him. Anden brought a hand up to shield against the glare of the headlights as the door opened and a middle-aged policeman stepped out. He had a thick mustache and squinty eyes—not one of the cops Anden had seen collect from the grudge hall before. “What seems to be the problem here?” the officer demanded. “Were you the one who called in a report of gunfire in the area?”
Anden had no idea who had called but he nodded at once. He understood why Rohn had given him this task. Anden wore no incriminating jade and looked Espenian. He could pose as a concerned non-Kekonese bystander, not anyone that might be connected to the grudge hall and to the Dauks in any way.
Out of spontaneous inspiration, Anden spoke with a mild Stepenish accent. “I saw three cars racing up and down the street.” He had never been to Stepenland and did not speak a word of the language, but a few of his classmates in the IESOL program were Stepenish. A Stepenish accent was distinctly recognizable and easy to affect, and as Anden’s Espenian had greatly improved but was not perfect, it would serve to hide the only obvious indication that he was Kekonese. “They were going too fast, and the people inside were waving guns and shooting out the windows.”
“Typical bloody Southtrap goons,” the police officer grumbled. “Did you see which direction they went?”
Anden nodded and pointed west, away from the community center. “That way. About five minutes ago.”
The officer nodded in thanks, got back into his squad car, and drove in the direction Anden had indicated. Anden doubted he would be misled for long. In short order, he would discover the bodies of the dead men, the burned car, the bullet casings in the street and the shattered windows of the community center. But Anden had done as Rohn had asked: He’d bought time.
Anden waited until he was sure the squad car was gone and there were no others on the way. Glancing around to ensure he was truly alone and unwatched, he walked quickly, but not too quickly, back toward the community center, circling around the building to the grudge hall entrance at the back. Rohn Toro was closing the metal door. He was alone, and all the cars in the lot were gone. It appeared as if he’d succeeded in clearing out the building and sending everyone home. “I sent the policeman toward Fifty-Fourth Street,” Anden said as he hurried up to the man. He looked down at the puddle of blood next to the grudge hall door. “What about Sano?”
Rohn said, “Mrs. Joek took him to the hospital. It was too late, though.”
Anden muttered, “Let the gods recognize him.”
“My da used to say that. But I don’t think there are gods in Espenia. Not our gods, anyway.” Rohn began walking purposefully away from the building, crossing the parking lot and entering one of the nearby alleys. Anden followed. The sound of another siren rose up—perhaps the police officer had circled back and discovered the bodies and the car by now.
Rohn Toro stopped and turned to the brick wall beside them. He felt around the surface with his gloved hands, then closed his fingers around a slightly protruding brick. He pulled and it came loose, revealing a small, hollowed-out space. Carefully, the Horn took off his black leather gloves, folded them neatly, almost reverently, and pushed them into the small crevice. He replaced the brick so that all that was visible was the slight unevenness between it and its neighbor.
Rohn grimaced and leaned heavily against the wall for several seconds, as if suddenly nauseous. Anden recognized the signs of discomfort for what they were: jade withdrawal. Rohn Toro’s jade was stitched into the lining of his leather gloves. When necessary, he could remove and hide them in a secret location until he had occasion to return and retrieve them. If he was stopped and questioned by the police later tonight, they could strip him naked and not find a bit of green on him.
Rohn straightened away from the wall. Hesitantly, Anden offered a hand to help the man; he had seen Rohn’s abilities tonight and knew it could not possibly be easy to live as a Green Bone in this way, putting on and taking off so much jade at an instant. Rohn was not young either, perhaps fifty already—how could his body handle it? But the Horn was steady now; he gazed at Anden and his mouth moved with wry embarrassment, as if the younger man had witnessed him in a moment of vulnerability, fly open and pissing against the wall.
They continued down the unlit alleyway.
CHAPTER 34
The Clan’s Friendship
The two months following the attack on the grudge hall were the worst that Anden had spent in Espenia, even worse than when he’d first arrived and been bereft with homesickness. Cory was gone; he’d called from the train station to say goodbye. He explained that he’d wanted to come over to see Anden in person, but it was too risky; not only were Kromner’s crewboys still about, the police had begun randomly stopping Kekonese residents on the street and searching them for jade. The Dauks were glad their son was getting out of the city.
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen when you told me to stay downstairs,” Anden told Cory morosely over the phone. “I just wanted to help.”
Cory was silent for a few seconds, then he sighed. “You know, I worry about you, islander. For a guy who seems so responsible, you sure do manage to get into trouble.” An announcement came over the speakers at the train station, and Cory said, “I have to go, crumb. I’ll be back for Harvest’Eves break. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone, okay?”
After they hung up, Anden was not only despondent at Cory’s departure, but troubled by their conversation. After leaving the grudge hall that night, he and Rohn had walked three blocks away from the scene of destruction before Rohn hailed a taxi and instructed it to take them to the Hians’ house. Mr. and Mrs. Hian were relieved and dismayed when they opened the door. While Anden ran the burn on the back of his hand under cold water at the kitchen sink, Rohn explained what had happened.
“Why did you have to get involved?” Mrs. Hian berated Anden as she rummaged bandages and a tube of antibiotic cream from the drawer. “You’re a visiting student, why didn’t you stay in the basement with the others where it was safe? You should’ve let the Green Bones handle it. If you’d been hurt or killed, what would we tell your family?” She was near tears.
Anden was mute with guilt, but Rohn said, “Don’t be so hard on him; he couldn’t help it. He’s green in the soul, like Dauk-jen said. In fact, he was a great help.” Rohn told them about how Anden had diverted the police for long enough that Rohn could get all the people safely out of the grudge hall. The Hians reluctantly agreed that was indeed a good thing to have done. Rohn drank some hot tea and got up to leave, saying that he had to work the next morning. It was sometimes hard for Anden to remember that Rohn Toro was not actually a clan Fist, that he had to earn money in an ordinary job, running a small moving company with a couple of friends.