Andrew Vachss - Hard Candy

"About what?"

"She'll do that part. All you have to do is what you say you always do…tell the truth."

"Is she gonna ask me about Train?"

"Not the way Reba asks questions."

I got a blank look back. Train didn't tell all his people how his fleshy polygraph worked.

"Never mind," I told her. "Lily's a certified social worker. You know what that is?"

"Like a shrink?"

"Yeah, sort of Anyway, the point is that she's not allowed to repeat anything she's told. Anything you say to her is confidential. That's the law."

"But…"

"Elvira, listen to me, little girl. You think any of those kids running around in karate outfits could stop Max? This talk with Lily- it's for you. I know you don't understand that. I know you don't trust me. You don't have to. We made a deal. I took you out of Train's joint and I let you go back. He can't stop me and my friends. I have to find out some things and I want Lily to talk with you. You do that and we're done."

"What if I don't?" Not pouting, curious.

"Then I'm going to ask Train."

"He said you'd be back. He's never wrong."

"You think about that. You decide how I'm coming back." I'd been searching for the right button. Tried one more. "You want to protect Train, talking to Lily's the way to do it, understand?"

"My mother…"

"Is out of this."

"She says you're hers. Her old boyfriend."

"What does Train say?"

"How did you…? He said you were nobody's child. That's what he said: 'That man is nobody's child.'"

"You know what he meant?"

"Maybe."

I threw my smoke out the window.

"I'll talk to her," the girl said finally.

The back door opened and I led her inside.

I INTRODUCED Lily and Elvira. Watched for the hundredth time as waves came off Lily, enveloping the kid, excluding me. "She has a calm center," Immaculata explained it to me once. "Like Max." They walked down the hall together.

Max was probably in the gym, wrestling with the kids. That wasn't for me. I had some time to kill, so I found an empty office, put my feet on the desk, closed my eyes. I had things to think about.

When I opened my eyes, Immaculata was sitting on the desk, her hand on my ankle.

"You're awake?"

"Sure."

"Burke, I don't have much time to talk. You must let Max help you. It is very important."

"Help me what?"

"Whatever it is you're doing. It doesn't matter."

"Yeah, big fucking help he is. You know what he did yesterday?"

"He told me."

"He tell you he almost turned a lousy roust into a Class A felony?"

"Max is your brother. He is in great pain. Men don't know how to take some things. Some gifts. He cannot forget what you did. To save our baby. What it cost you. He must believe he is helping you or he cannot feel whole."

"Mac, you know what Max does?"

"I am his wife. He is the father of our child. You remember when we met?"

I remembered. A night subway run. Me carrying the goods, dressed like a bum. The Mole at the other end of the train, a satchel full of explosives. And Max the Silent sitting across from me, looking like a tired, drained old man. Three punks got on the train. Looked me over.

Wouldn't bother with a wino. Started on Max. Asking him for ten bucks for a cup of coffee, shoving him around. No big deal- we only had a couple of more express stops to go. It was going okay until Immaculata saw the action. Dressed like a Vietnamese bar girl, as out of place on that subway as a clock in a casino. She charged the punks, telling them to leave the old man alone. One pulled out a pair of brass knuckles, giggling at the new prey. Max took them all out quicksilver-fast- just flashes and sounds. He shed his filthy raincoat and the tired old man became the Mongol warrior. Bowed deeply to the woman who had come to save him. He signed, I interpreted. She saw past his strength, he past her beauty. They've been together since.

"I don't care what it takes." Her voice soft and relentless. "Is that clear enough for you? I want my husband back. His daughter needs him back. You know what he is. If you tell a true warrior he cannot make things right, his duty is to die trying."

I lit a smoke, playing for time. Her eyes stabbed. "Don't try and trick me. I know you could do it. For now . Max even said so- how you can lie so smoothly."

"How can I…?"

"There is a man you went to see. Your enemy. Max has no fear of him, this little killer with his guns."

"Mac, I'm telling you the truth. Believe it or don't, it's still the truth. The man you're talking about…he's not my enemy. I don't know how I know…I'm not even sure I knew until I just said it. But I'm not gaming to protect Max."

"You must let him help you." Intractable. No slack in the rope.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Let him help you find what you're looking for."

"What I lost ."

"No. What you seek. Please."

She bent forward, kissed me lightly on the cheek. Her perfume stayed after her.

MAX WALKED IN, kids hanging on him like amateur mountain climbers. Before I could say a word, Lily pushed past Max, holding Elvira's hand. She gave me a "stay where you are" look. Told Elvira, "Go with Max. I have to talk to Burke for a minute before he takes you back."

Elvira obediently held out her hand. It disappeared in Max's. He went back toward the gym, leaving a wake of rowdy kids running to catch up.

I lit a smoke. Lily sat down. Her voice had that distanced, professional tone she uses when the anger laps at the boundaries of her self-control.

"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Long-standing. Original stressor undoubtedly the mother. Compounded by numerous instances of sexual exploitation so frequent that they merged into a real-world distortion pattern. Amoral, almost sociopathic aura to her productions. She imitates affect, but has very little sense of feeling things. Nerve-endings blunted. Some indication of Borderline Syndrome too. She actually…physically feels a void inside of her. Relates to mother almost as a rival. Tested clean on the MMPI Lie Scale. Telling the truth. Guiltless. Heavily bonded to this Train individual. And she's pregnant, maybe two, three months gone."

I let her see my eyes, willing her to relax. "All that means…?"

"I don't have time for games, Burke. You know damn well what every single word I said means. You've spent years studying. Just because it wasn't in college doesn't make you a stupid thug."

I held up my hands. "Okay, okay. I wasn't being cute. I meant what's the bottom line? Where she is: it's better than being with her mother?"

"There's no better to any of this. Where she is now is just one of the places kids like her end up. Nobody wants you, so you hit the streets. And there, somebody always wants you. For something. They prove they want you by paying you money. A child like that, she couldn't tell a rescue mission from a cult."

"Is she being abused now?"

"Not in her mind. She's working for this wonderful goal. This island they're going to buy someplace. Where they can all live in peace…a big, loving family."

"Yeah, like every pimp is going to let his woman retire someday. Open up her own boutique, right? They have her turning tricks?"

Lily's eyes were dark, soulful. Little dots glowing like plutonium around the iris. Holding something in check.

"No. She was in Germany. Making porno movies. But she's too old now."

"Fifteen."

"Yes, fifteen. All she could bring in as a prostitute would be a couple of hundred a day. And she'd have to work outdoors, take a lot of risks. Train doesn't let his people take risks. No, she's not turning tricks…they're breeding her."

"What?"