The Righteous One

by Neil Perry Gordon

  “Thank you,” Henryk said, wrapping his palms around the steaming mug.

  Solomon sat down, rubbed his forehead, and said, “She brought me to hell.”

  “Ah, you mean Gehenna.”

  Solomon flicked his hand and said, “Whatever you call it.”

  “I read about Francesa Sarah when I studied in Safed. She was a spiritual leader, with skills of living and teaching others how to live in the dream world. Actually, her skills were similar to yours.”

  “She’s nothing like me, Rabbi,” Solomon said.

  “Of course not,” Henryk obediently agreed.

  “I don’t know why I am still here. It sounded like I was destined to remain in Gehanna and walk among the dead, with my flesh burning in perpetuity.”

  “She must have allowed you to return for a reason, Solomon.”

  “What do you think it is?”

  “There’s no way of knowing, but if I had to guess, I would say that maybe she doesn’t actually have the power to send you to Gehenna. Maybe it was just a warning. If you want my advice, I would stop pulling this young lady librarian into your dreams.”

  “I haven’t felt this good in a long time, Rabbi. You have no idea how amazing it is to be with Rebecca.”

  Henryk shook his head. “Solomon, apparently there are boundaries you cannot violate in dream world, and this must be one of them.”

  “How does that make sense? The cobbler burns my arm, and I hear that he is walking with a noticeable limp from when I smacked him with my cane. We can hurt each other in the dream world, but love making with Rebecca is off limits?”

  Henryk took a sip of his coffee, and said, “The difference is that you and the cobbler are both awake in the dream world. Whereas in your exploits with Rebecca, she is unaware.”

  “If what you’re saying is true,” Solomon paused for a moment, then added, “what if I can teach Rebecca how to be awake in the dream world?”

  “I am no expert, Solomon. But it’s better than spending an eternity in Gehenna.”

  Chapter 58

  Myron walked into Delmonico’s Steak House on Beaver Street, twenty minutes late.

  “Good day, Mr. Mayor. The commissioner is already at your table. Right this way, sir,” said the maître ’d, gesturing to the private dining room in the back of the restaurant.

  “Sorry I’m late, Frank,” Myron said, shaking hands.

  “It’s fine, sir, I’m sure you’re overwhelmed.”

  “My life is not my own any longer.”

  “I can relate to that,” Frank said, taking a sip of water.

  “So let’s get to business, I have to be back for a meeting in forty-five minutes. What have you got for me?”

  Frank got up and closed the door to the private dining room. “What I have to say is sensitive.”

  “You piqued my curiosity.”

  Frank took a breath and exhaled before he spoke. “Let me get right to it.” He leaned in, and whispered, “I know about you and Niko.”

  Myron stared at Frank for a long moment before speaking. “Who told you?”

  “I’m impressed you’re not denying it.”

  “What’s this is all about?” Myron said leaning back in his chair, his arms folded upon his chest.

  “There’s more,” Frank said leaning forward before adding, “I also know you had advance knowledge of the murder of Carmine Rizzo.”

  Myron scratched his chin. “How would you know that?”

  Frank tilted his head and said, “Come on, Mr. Mayor, I’m the Police Commissioner.”

  Myron pinched the bridge of his nose and said, “Okay, Frank, I knew that Carmine was planning to murder Mickey. So I warned him. But I had no idea that Mickey was going to kill Carmine. You need to believe me on that.”

  Frank nodded. “I do believe you and I want you to know that I will protect you. But we need to start working together.”

  Myron got out of his chair and walked over to the window. He pulled the red gingham curtain back and looked out to the empty alleyway in the back of the restaurant. “You know, Frank, I was thinking that keeping Mickey in check would be good for my businesses after this mayor thing is over. I’m afraid if I don’t stop his expansion plans I’ll have nothing left for myself.”

  “Of course. Let’s work together. You help me now, and I’ll help you later.”

  Myron stared at Frank. “How do I know I can trust you?”

  Frank stood up, walked over to the window next to Myron and placed his hand on his shoulder. “Mr. Mayor, we don’t need to worry about trust, since we’re in this together. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement. Our success, even our survival, depends on both of us staying in power.”

  Myron nodded, and extended his hand. “You’re right, Frank, we need to work together.”

  Chapter 59

  It had been a week since Moshe had begun his training with Noa. During this time, while the city had been in a deep freeze, Moshe had been sweating like it was the middle of July.

  It didn’t take long for Leah to notice. “I’m freezing cold, and you’re schvitzing. What’s happening?” she asked, wrapping her arms around herself.

  “I’m fine,” he said, filling his second glass of water at the kitchen sink.

  “Maybe you should go see Dr. Wagner.”

  Moshe guzzled down the water, and said, “I’ll do that.”

  “Today, you should go today,” she said.

  Moshe grabbed his coat, more for Leah’s sake than his own, and walked out the front door into the frigid winter morning.

  As he closed the door behind him, he heard the scraping of a windshield. He looked over to his car parked in his driveway and saw Gray removing snow and ice from his car windows. He had even shoveled the few inches of snow that fell overnight from the driveway, and sidewalk.

  “Gray, what are you doing?” Moshe asked.

  “Giving a friend a hand,” he said, smiling.

  “I appreciate that. But why are you here?”

  “I thought you would fill me in on your sessions with Noa. Come, we can talk on the way to the cobbler shop,” he said.

  Moshe unlocked his door and reached over to pull up the knob to unlock the passenger side. Gray opened the door, and got in.

  “What’s that on your hand?” Gray asked, noticing a large dot drawn on Moshe’s hand.

  “Noa had me do this,” he said, holding his hand up.

  “Is that your reality check?”

  Moshe looked at the dot he drew on with a fountain pen and explained. “I look at the dot throughout the day, and ask myself if I’m awake, or if I’m dreaming. She said that eventually this question would start to pop up in my dreams too, and become a sign that I was dreaming.”

  “Has it happened?”

  “It did, a few nights ago,” Moshe said, his eyes widening with excitement. “I looked at my hand, and I saw the dot, and realized I was dreaming.”

  “Tell me about it,” Gray asked.

  “I was in the shop cutting a leather sole, and the blade slipped and sliced into my left hand. When I looked at my cut I saw the bone, but there was no blood. I covered the cut together with my right hand, and that’s when I saw the dot, and realized that I was dreaming.”

  “That’s wonderful, Moshe.”

  “I said to myself, this is a dream. I squeezed the gash together, and the cut healed.”

  “That’s it, Moshe, you’re doing it. Soon you’ll be able to move about at will and do things that are unimaginable in the awakened world.”

  “I’ve had more dreams since then. Two nights ago I found myself swimming great distances underwater, without a need to breathe,” Moshe said nodding. “And the craziest thing is that I don’t even know how to swim.”

  “Marvelous!”

  “Last night, though, was the most interesting. I was a young boy, back in Krzywcza. Mother and I were walking to the market, when the local village police captain jumped out in front of us and grabbed me. Mother yelled for him to
release me, but he ignored her, and dragged me through the market, announcing that I was under arrest. I looked at my hand and saw the dot, and I knew was dreaming. A blade from the shop appeared in my hand and I cut into the captain’s forearm. He screamed, and released his grip.”

  “Incredible, Moshe. Soon enough, you’ll be ready to learn how to move about in the dream world.”

  “That’s what Noa said.”

  “You’re sweating too,” Gray noticed.

  “It started a few days ago,” Moshe said, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

  “You’ll get used to it.”

  “My wife thinks I’m sick.”

  Moshe pulled up to a spot on the concourse in front of the cobbler shop. He turned off the engine and turned to look at Gray. “I assume you drove in with me for a reason?”

  “I did, Moshe. Sorry, I almost forgot, after hearing about your wonderful dreams.”

  Gray looked out the window, and said, “Tonight, after you close the shop, you’ll need to go to Noa’s.”

  “Tonight? For how long?”

  “Until morning, and again for the next three nights.”

  “What are you saying, Gray?”

  “You’ll need to sleep at Noa’s.”

  “And why would I do that?”

  “It will be like a crash course. You can’t expect to be able to battle the rasha without being properly trained.”

  Moshe shook his head. “But sleep there for three nights? What will Leah think?”

  “I don’t know, tell her you’re going to a conference for cobblers, or something.”

  “A cobbler conference? You can’t be serious?”

  “Come on, Moshe, you’ll think of something.”

  Moshe sat in his car, staring out the front window. “What have I gotten myself into?”

  “Stop worrying, Moshe. I’ll be back at six and drive over to Noa’s with you. In the meantime, call your wife.”

  Chapter 60

  “He’s such a moron, Arnold. I can’t stand him anymore.”

  “I know, Agnes. But it’s important. You’re providing with us with critical information,” Arnold said.

  “Yeah, yeah, that’s what Frank says. But if you could just hear what goes on in that office, you wouldn’t believe it,” Agnes said, shaking her head.

  “Is it true that Mickey was there the other day?”

  Agnes nodded, her red coiffed curls bobbing along, and said, “I thought he was going to kill him. He charged right by me, without even a glance over, and nearly knocked Myron’s door off its hinges.”

  “Why was he so angry?” Arnold asked, sipping at his steaming coffee.

  Agnes looked at a couple sitting a few booths away from them, and asked, “Are you sure it’s okay to talk here in the diner?”

  “It’s fine. No one can hear us.”

  Regardless, Agnes leaned in to the table and lowered her voice, “I don’t think he realizes, but I can hear every word that comes from his office. Those walls are paper thin.”

  “What did they say?” Arnold asked enthusiastically.

  “Looks like the contract for the new convention center on Columbus Circle was awarded to a Brooklyn firm.”

  “He didn’t give it to Mickey’s construction company in Manhattan?”

  Agnes shook her head. “Nope, and you know what else?”

  “What?”

  “This Brooklyn construction company that’s got the job, it’s legit.”

  “No mob ties?” Arnold said.

  “Not only that, it’s also a non-union shop. Mickey was fuming. I’m sure his shouts were heard all the way down to the basement of City Hall.”

  “That was a huge contract.”

  “It’s the biggest public project in the city for the past five years.”

  “I wouldn’t worry too much about Mickey. He’ll still have his hand in the pockets of the subcontractors. After all, you can’t build anything in this city without the carpenters, steelworkers or the electrical unions,” Arnold said.

  “But the real money is running the job, and Mickey is not used to getting the scraps.”

  “That’s true, Agnes. Looks like the commissioner was persuasive with the mayor. Apparently, the threat of exposing him with the obstruction charge, along with his affair with Niko, was enough to put pressure on Myron.”

  “Myron is infatuated with Niko. The way he speaks with her on the phone, it makes me blush, Arnold.”

  Arnold smiled and said, “What does he say?”

  “Enough. I’m not going to sit here in the diner and talk about Myron’s phone sex with you. Anyway, I have to go to work. Thanks for the coffee,” she said and she stood up, grabbed her coat and left.

  “Thanks, Agnes. I’ll call you,” Arnold said as she left the Fordham Diner, and went out into the fresh inch of snow covering the sidewalk.

  Arnold worried that awarding the convention center contract to the Brooklyn firm was going to be a mistake. But this was typical of Myron, who always took things to the extreme. Frank’s intention was to encourage Myron to push back in small doses against Mickey, and not to award the city’s largest building contract to someone else. This was certainly not going to end well.

  Chapter 61

  The next morning after Solomon’s conversation with Henryk he was anxious to test his theory by seducing Rebecca into becoming a willing partner in their lovemaking, and hopefully cease his disturbing visits from the spirit of Francesa Sarah. To do so, he would need to guide Rebecca on becoming lucid in her dreams, before he could lure her into his dream world. He mulled over his plan. When he heard a car horn beep outside, Solomon grabbed his cane and headed out the front door for his cab ride to the library.

  When Solomon arrived, he found Rebecca helping a young man, probably doing research for a college paper. As she was leaning over the large wood table her blouse opened slightly. She quickly corrected the mishap by fastening another button and looked up to see if anyone noticed. That was when she saw Solomon staring at her.

  “Oh, Solomon. What are you doing here?” she said, blushing.

  “Hi, Rebecca. Sorry to startle you.”

  “That’s okay,” she said, still fussing with her blouse.

  “I’ve come to talk to you. Is there a quiet place we can sit, and chat?”

  She looked at her watch and said, “I’m due for a break in thirty minutes. Would you mind waiting for me? We can talk in the reading room on the lower level?”

  “Perfect, I’ll be there.”

  While Solomon waited, he pulled a few textbooks off the shelves on dream interpretation and on lucid dreaming. When Rebecca found him, he had the books placed as props on the table, in full view.

  “Thank you for waiting, Solomon,” she said, as she sat down across from him, and took notice of the books he laid out.

  “I thought I would stop by and get a few books for my research,” he said gesturing to them.

  “The Interpretation of Dreams, by Sigmund Freud. I’ve read that. He writes about the theory of the unconscious as it relates to the interpretation of dreams.”

  Solomon nodded, not knowing how to respond.

  “Oh, and this one is on lucid dreaming. I’ve been looking into this lately.”

  “Have you?” Solomon asked. He glanced around the reading room before he said, “This is what I wanted to talk to you about.” He paused, and looked at the books before him and continued, “How to be awake in your dreams. That is, if you’re still interested.”

  “I’ve been reading about it. But actually working with someone, I haven’t given much thought. Are you offering to teach me?”

  Solomon felt himself blush unexpectedly. “I am. I’ve been lucid dreaming for many years and can provide insights that you can’t find in here,” he said patting one of the books sitting on the table.

  “What did you have in mind?”

  “I thought we could set up a time each week to talk about your dreams, and techniques on how to become lucid i
n them.”

  “You know, Solomon, I can’t believe that you’re asking me this now,” she said, picking up the book on lucid dreaming. She leaned over the table slightly, and said in a low voice, “Can I confess something to you?”

  Solomon shrugged, and said, “Of course.”

  Rebecca gave a quick glance around her, to make sure no one was listening.

  “I’ve been having these, um, dreams lately,” she paused, and then continued, “I’m embarrassed to tell you.”

  “What is it, Rebecca?”

  “Well Solomon, they’ve been sexual, and they have been with you.”

  “With me?” Solomon, said as a chill ran through him.

  “But you’re much younger. Probably my age.”

  Solomon felt himself breaking out into a cold sweat. He placed his palms on the table to steady himself.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Are you sure it’s me you were dreaming about?” he said, feeling dizzy.

  “Without a doubt, it’s you. It feels so real.”

  Solomon tried to compose himself, and said, “Do you mind if I go use the men’s room. I’ll be right back.”

  “Of course, Solomon. I didn’t mean to shock you. Are you all right?” Rebecca said, rising from her chair, and touching Solomon’s elbow.

  Solomon couldn’t face Rebecca after her ground shaking confession. After washing his face in the men’s room, he took the stairwell back to the main level and snuck out of the library without saying goodbye to her.

  On the cab ride home, he tried to make sense of what Rebecca said. She was aware of him in her dreams, but at least she didn’t know that he was the instigator of these dreams.

  A frightening image appeared in his mind of Francesa Sarah warning him of the dire consequences of spending an eternity in the bowels of Gehenna if he continued to engage sexually with Rebecca in the dream world. On the other hand, what if this spirit of Francesa Sarah was nothing more than a trick perpetrated by Gray? Perhaps there was nothing to worry about.