Published: 6 Jan 2020

Gangs of Chicago: Nomos

Gary

Even though he had rested at Erewhon before popping Viktor and Kenny home, Nemesis was exhausted. I fed him, and then we cuddled briefly before he fell asleep. He slept in until nearly noon the next day. I had fixed lunch and was about to wake him when he came into the kitchen.

“That gang needs a visit, I think,” Nemesis said.

“You’re not to go alone,” I said. As Nemesis had cast off his adult memories, I become more comfortable setting rules and boundaries for him. He seemed comfortable accepting them, too. I knew I could not stop him from doing his job, any more than he could stop me from doing mine. Our partnership was working: I provided refuge and support; he provided justice and retribution.

Nemesis brought me back to the moment. “How do you think the gang would react to a visit by some US Marshalls?” He had gotten over his initial fear of the green-scaled Scions of Hermes after they had been cowed by his sword. He had also discovered, or Dike had told him, that he had the Authority to call upon them, himself. That, however, he was not yet comfortable doing.

“Not their charter, I don’t think,” I said. “Maybe a federal gun law violation, but still…” Then I remembered the number Dike had given me.

“Where does that gang hang out? And do you know if they’re there, now?”

Nemesis’ eyes unfocused. I’d seen Dike do the same thing.

“Yeah, they’re in an apartment … the rec room of an apartment building.” He recited an address on Lakeshore Drive.

I pulled out my cell phone and pushed the right buttons.

“Captain Marlburg? This is Gary Walters. Do you have a few minutes?

“Yes, sir, I’m…”

I dropped the phone when a figure in a London Bobby’s uniform, complete with domed helmet, appeared in my living room. I also said a word I normally don’t use in the presence of children.

The policeman saw my surprise and picked up my cell phone.

“I say. You seem a bit off there, old boy,” he said, and then handed me the cell phone. “Dike said she had vetted me.”

“She gave me the phone number of a Chicago police captain,” I said. “She didn’t say you were … um, who are you, anyway?”

“Nomos, at your service.”

“Nomos, god of … ?” I asked.

He chuckled. “Not a god, thankfully. Their lot is much too difficult. Officially, I’m the spirit of law. That was one of Zeus’ aspects. Dike got him to give that up in 1888 when she recruited me from the London police force.

“I was chasing a mass murderer, then. Thought that was really something exciting until I came to Chicago.”

He morphed, and became a youngish man wearing a dress shirt and tie, and slacks. A gold police badge hung on his belt. “Better?”

“Yes, thanks. Do you know Nemesis?” I asked.

The little god and the adult “spirit-not-a-god” shook hands. I looked for any I’m a god, you’re just a spirit posturing on Nemesis’ part, but didn’t see it. I was rather happy about that – and then wondered what the difference was, anyway.

I think Nemesis used that physical contact to fill in the captain on the gang, the same way Dike told Nemesis things. I was right: the captain nodded.

“I can have a squad there in 30 minutes,” he said. “Nemesis, I’ll be using human police officers. If you don’t mind, would you wait here until the raid is over?”

“Apollo said the attack on Viktor and Kenny wasn’t supposed to happen,” Nemesis said. “I need to know about that.”

Nomos assured Nemesis that he would be part of the investigation, and then disappeared.

I served Nemesis his brunch.

“Apollo said the boys shouldn’t have been attacked?” I asked after Nemesis inhaled half the food on his plate.

“Actually,” Nemesis answered. “He said it wasn’t Kenny’s time and this shouldn’t have happened. That’s why Apollo healed Kenny and Viktor. I don’t know if he meant the attack, or that Kenny got hurt so bad.

“Or, maybe, that I was late…”

His face flushed; his mouth dropped open; his eyes widened. I knew he was trying to blame himself.

“Nemesis! Snap out of it! It wasn’t your fault! You’re Retribution; you aren’t supposed to rescue every kid in trouble, nor can you.”

We had talked about this, before; he said he understood. He knew he couldn’t intervene before bad things happened. He knew that, but it still hurt him.

Less than an hour later, my cell rang. It was Nomos. He asked if I would bring Nemesis to police headquarters. Officially, the visit would be to identify a couple of the boys arrested in the raid. Unofficially, it would give Nemesis a chance to read them and try to find out what had gone wrong, and why Apollo said the attack shouldn’t have happened.

Nemesis

Gary and I sat with Captain Marlberg in a dark room. Leroy and the boy who had held the gun were lined up on the other side of one-way glass with several other kids I didn’t know. I told the Captain which ones had been in the alley.

“Do they know anything about what happened? Why it happened?” he asked.

“I don’t know!” I said. “I don’t know what to look for.” I tried to bring back my adult memories and education, but nothing happened. “I’m just a kid!”

Gary put his arm around me and squeezed. “It’s okay, Nemesis. Apollo didn’t tell you … and he’s obviously an elder god. Either he didn’t know or he didn’t think you needed to know.”

“Leroy and … what’s his name? Allan?” Nemesis said. “Their parents … they’re all rich! So are all the gang’s parents. But these kids … they want to be in a gang. I don’t understand.”

“Come on,” Gary told me. “Let’s give this a rest, okay?”

I knew that was good advice, but I wasn’t satisfied. “No, I want to ask Dike.”

Dike

I was pleased that Nemesis was curious and had tried to find the answer for himself before coming to me. He didn’t know it, but he was growing up, again. Well, his mind was growing up – losing the memories of his earlier life and re-writing new knowledge and memories on that blank slate. He’d always have the Aspect of a 12-year-old except temporarily when he morphed. He was learning critical thinking skills and a lot more from Garreth, who was a much better teacher-through-example than anyone Nemesis ever had in a classroom.

Garreth and Nemesis sat across from my desk. I knew what Nemesis’ questions were.

“Yes,” I said. “Apollo told me about the anomaly, since this is my city.

“There’s a new preacher in the mega-church in Leroy’s neighborhood. He works on adults on Sundays and Wednesday evenings and on their kids the rest of the time. He’s connected to a Mexican drug cartel, and has a dozen or so older teens selling cocaine – powder and crack.

“As a minister who claims to be Christian, he’s accustomed to operating outside the law, so running a drug distribution operation is not difficult.

“Leroy and his gang want in on that. The older, more established hoodlums don’t respect Leroy’s people. Leroy figured a killing would give him the street cred he needed.”

“Why do they want to be in a gang?” Nemesis asked. “Why do they dress like hoodlums?”

“Like jail inmates,” Garreth answered. “In those below-the-knees and well below-the-waist pants that inner-city youth have made a staple of the culture? I can answer that, if Dike doesn’t mind?”

I nodded to Garreth. I saw his answer before he gave it. Actually, it was better than the one I was thinking of. Oddly enough, that pleased me. I must be getting soft in my old age.

“I used to wonder why the middle-class, educated kids seemed to copy the poor, uneducated, inner-city kids,” Garreth said. “Then, one day, I saw a kid wearing a T-shirt with a message: If you don’t believe in something, you’ll fall for anything.

“I realized that was a large part of the problem. These kids don’t have any core beliefs, so they are pulled in the direction of anything they think is cool. And, as soon as something else becomes cool, they’re pulled in another direction.

“I think that explains why Leroy and Allan and the others want to be in a gang. Their parents have provided them with material things, but with no core beliefs, with no core culture. The boys are smart enough to know what the preacher says on Sunday isn’t true, but they’re not smart enough to figure out what is true. They’re reaching out to whatever they can find to give them a sense of belonging.”

Garreth looked at me. I chuckled to myself at his need for approval. Garreth loved Nemesis so much, and was so afraid I would find him lacking and that he would lose the boy. If he is going to lose Nemesis, I thought, it will not be because of me.

I nodded. “Even before humans became sentient, and for most of the five hundred thousand years they have been thinking creatures, humans have been members of close-knit groups, of tribes.

“The tribal life – the true tribal life – offers things including security, belonging, beliefs, values, and cooperation that modern, so-called civilization doesn’t. These boys are not only regressing to humanity’s childhood, but also forging the leading edge of what civilization must become if it is to survive.

“Not criminal … but tribal.”

Gary

I was intrigued by what Dike said. I think she knew that. She reached into the bookshelf behind her desk and removed a book.

“Here,” she said. “Start with this one. It’s a good summary of his philosophy. When you’ve finished it, I’ll lend you the others and you can begin at the beginning.”

The book was Beyond Civilization, by Daniel Quinn.

Nomos

This time, I called Garreth before translocating into his home. He offered coffee, stuttered for a moment, and then changed the offer to tea.

“I’ve been here for over a hundred years,” I said. “And I’m a Chicago policeman. Coffee would be very welcome, thank you.”

Nemesis came in while Gary was putting on the coffee. I began the debriefing.

“We found several handguns, ammunition, some marijuana, and a baggie of cornstarch in the gang’s clubhouse. They had taken over the rec room of their apartment building, and pretty much chased out the other kids.

“Other than Allen’s fingerprints on the gun, it was impossible to connect any of the contraband with any individual; and, of course, Kenny and Viktor were healed, so the attack on them was essentially nullified. I didn’t dare bring you and Nemesis into this. You must understand why.

“I’m afraid we had to release them all.”

Nemesis

My disappointment must have shown; Nomos apologized, and then added, “Even if we were to charge Leroy and his crew, and even if the DA decided to prosecute, and even if it ever came to trial, and even if they got sentenced, their sentence would be suspended. Anything short of murder is pretty much a misdemeanor, nowadays.”

He looked at me, and then said, “There’s no reason you can’t act, however.”

Nomos morphed into the London policeman. I looked at Gary, who nodded.

“Be careful, please?” he asked. I glanced at Nomos, and then kissed Gary on his cheek.

We found Leroy alone in his bedroom. It was the room of the child of wealthy parents. Huge, flat-screen TV; computer with 35-inch monitor and separate HD web-cam; some sort of high-tech game system; a major sound system that was pumping decibels through the walls and floor. Nomos gestured, and the sound system went quiet. Couldn’t say the same for Leroy.

“Oh fuck! You’re the kid with the sword. Who are you?” This last was addressed to Nomos.

“I’m the dispassionate and disinterested observer,” Nomos said. His voice was flat, almost like a telephone answering machine robo-voice. That frightened Leroy more than our appearance did. The boy … well, he couldn’t turn white, but he seemed to become ashen.

“You cut two boys,” I said. “You cut them bad. All because you wanted to make points with some bad people. You’re just a kid, but you want to be an evil kid.

“Leroy, you’re a piker. You’re a little fish in a big pond. You are so not bad.”

I looked at Leroy. He was scared, but he was also a little bit defiant. There’s hope for him, I thought. I grabbed his hand. “Come on, Leroy, we’re going for a ride.”

I took Leroy on a trip like the one my predecessor had taken me on. I showed Leroy the bad things he had done. I was right; other than cutting Kenny, they weren’t that bad. Then, I took him to some of the places Death had taken me, and showed him the real evil that existed in the world. I showed him children coughing out bloody bits of their lungs in a factory that made plastic water bottles from petrochemicals, including benzene. I showed him children gasping in 120-degree heat, crawling through narrow seams that were the only thing left of the old coal mines. I showed him children with distended bellies, dying of starvation while food aid was taken away by armed men. I showed him girls having their clitorises cut off with a sharpened rock, and then their labia sewn together, all without anesthetic or antiseptic. I showed him children chained in basements, hoping for rescue from the sexual predators who bought them from their parents.

When we got back to Leroy’s bedroom, he was shaking. Nomos grabbed him, and helped him sit down.

“Leroy,” I said. “My job is retribution. But, it’s also justice.

“You have two choices, and only two. I think you know what they are. If you don’t know, then there is no hope for you.

“Make a choice.”

Leroy’s choice was the right one.

“I’ll take it from here,” Nomos said. “Thank you, Nemesis. It wouldn’t have happened except for you, and for your faith in Leroy.

“I know Dike has told you that we need good people,” he continued. “People … humanity … invented us, the older gods, the spirits … to fill the vacuum of their understanding.

“As their understanding has increased, they’ve found explanations that do not require us. As the influence of Yahweh’s followers has increased, more people have found reasons not to need us. That is not right. They need us more than ever before. They need Truth, Justice, Law, and Healing, the things that Yahweh promised, but does not provide. They need the old gods and the old avatars – including Retribution – more than ever.

“I’m going to take Leroy for my own. It will take a while to instruct him, to bring him to power.

“May we visit you, occasionally?”

I nodded, and then, remembering something I’d seen in Leroy, I kissed him. Leroy was surprised, but he made it a good kiss. I’d never kissed a black kid, before. Not even in my old life. Didn’t taste any different, I thought.

Leroy took Nomos’ hand; they vanished. I turned off the electronics in Leroy’s bedroom, and then popped back home.

After I told Gary what I had done, and what happened to Leroy, he hugged me, told me how proud of me he was, and then asked if I’d like to go to a picnic on Saturday.

“You’d have to share our day with Bobby and Benji, and maybe Viktor and Kenny, too,” he said.

You are mine, now and forever, I thought.

“Sure, I said. As long as it’s okay with you, and since you suggested it, I guess that means it is.”

Erewhon played lot of soccer. They had one of the few soccer fields left. Most public schools had to shut theirs down because they couldn’t afford to maintain them. The parochial schools still played soccer, but Gary refused to allow Erewhon to play in the parochial league when he learned that they were exempt from all the safety regulations Erewhon had to follow … and, that they took advantage of those exemptions, endangering their students. They also prayed, loudly, before each game, asking their god to smite their opponents. I don’t think Gary liked that very much, either.

Viktor

The email came from Bobby. Our soccer team was going to play at Erewhon, the orphanage where Gary and Nemesis had taken Kenny and me. After the game, our entire team was invited to a picnic. The note read, I know Kenny isn’t on the soccer team, but can he come, too? He can be my guest, if that would make it easier.

My father almost wouldn’t let me go.

“The guy who runs that place? Walters? Too friendly with too many young boys.

“You can go, as long as you stay with your team, you hear? Don’t go off alone with any of the adults. No telling what they’ll do to you. I don’t want you coming back walking bow-legged.”

He said that, and more. Actually, I think his prejudices and trying to teach them to me were more dangerous than anything. My father was not only prejudiced, he was wrong. I knew that most children who were sexually abused were molested by close relatives and friends of the family. I would be safer among the teachers and staff of Erewhon than at a family reunion. My father would never believe that, however. He wouldn’t admit his prejudices, especially about homosexuals. He was constantly warning me about my teachers and the soccer coach. And now, about Gary.

I went to my room and cried. I loved my father, but I loved Kenny, too. I couldn’t, I didn’t dare let my father know that. I could not share my greatest joy with my father. That hurt more than anything.

Kenny

There was no way the other boys on Viktor’s soccer team would have anything to do with me. I was the youngest kid at the school ever to be diagnosed with emphysema. They said it was the pollution in the city’s air. Quite an honor, right? Anyway, when Viktor called to say I’d been invited to the picnic for the team, I couldn’t believe it.

“Sure, I can come … if I can get there … how are you going? My mom can’t take me.”

“I’ve got to go in the team bus,” Viktor said. “But don’t you worry. You just be ready Saturday at 7:00 o’clock. Your invitation is from Bobby … but we can sit together at lunch.”

Saturday at 7:00 the front door buzzer sounded. Mama was still asleep. I closed the door, quietly, and ran down the stairs. Bobby and a dude in a bad-ass Mustang were waiting.

The Mustang was super-cool! It had the biggest GPS screen ever! The driver weaved in and out of traffic like he knew what the other drivers were going to do. It didn’t take us any time to get to Erewhon. Viktor’s team won the first game; Erewhon won the second. And the picnic was the greatest! I sat with Bobby and Benji – and with Viktor. When no one was looking, Viktor tore a sandwich in half, and gave me the bigger half. He winked. He does understand, I thought. He does understand, and I love him so much!

Viktor

“Come here, boy,” my father ordered me. We had just gotten back from Erewhon. I had ridden home with Bobby, Kenny, and the guy with the cool mustang that Bobby called “Uncle George.” The guy, not the car. When we got to Kenny’s apartment, I gave him a quick kiss before he went inside.

Now, I stood as I had been taught, at the left arm of my father’s recliner. He put the newspaper down.

“You and that Kenny boy,” he said. “You havin’ sex yet?”

A ringing started in my ears, my face felt flushed, my tummy … I thought I was going to upchuck. I couldn’t take a breath. I thought I was going to die. My father grabbed me before I fell.

“Jesus Christ, boy! Get some backbone! I asked you a simple question: are you having sex with Kenny, yet? I mean, anythin’ more than jackin’ each other off and rubbin’ tummies, that is.”

“Uh, no sir,” I managed to gasp.

“Well, before you do, and I mean anythin’ more than that, you and me are going to have a serious talk.

“Kenny don’t have a dad, does he?”

I managed to choke out another, “No, sir.”

“Well, you bring him, too. It’s not something his mother ought to have to tell him, I don’t guess.

“You okay, boy?”

“You’re not going to kill me?” I whispered.

“Kill you? Why on earth would I do that?”

“You hate … fags,” I said. “On the TV … gymnastics … ballet … you always say… and about my soccer coach … and the people at Erewhon …” My voice was a little stronger. Still, I was afraid I was going to pass out.

“No, not homosexuals, my idiot son. Men who prance around in their underwear!”

His voice changed, “And men who seduce little boys who don’t know any better. You be sticking with Kenny until you’re old enough to know, you hear?”

“How did you know?” I whispered.

“Hell, boy, I’ve known since you were six, and were undressing your GI Joe dolls. Why do you think I preach to you about what you wear and how you act and who you hang out with? Besides, Mrs. Giannoni saw you and Kenny kissing in the hall just a few minutes ago. Called to say you were doing it last week, too. She spends more time at that peephole in her door than she does on the toilet, and she’s incontinent! You’re lucky people think she’s a bit of a nut, and they probably won’t believe her. But, you don’t do that in public any more, you hear?

“Viktor?” my father’s voice was soft and lacked the edge it usually had, the edge that a tight, angry throat gave it.

“Viktor, it’s going to be hard enough to be homosexual. It would be even harder if you couldn’t hide it, at least until you’re old enough to find people outside of this place, outside of your school, people who understand, who are accepting.

“If and when you want to go public, you let me know. There are organizations, groups, there are places you can go, but there aren’t many for kids, so plan to wait a while.

“You and Kenny? You be careful at school and in public, and you bring him here anytime you want to do anything. Just keep your bedroom door closed and keep the noise down, you hear?”

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