The Municipalists by Seth Fried

Author:Seth Fried
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Books
Published: 2019-03-19T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

We headed down toward Berkshire Square in the Lower North Side, where the air of forbidding privilege eventually gave way to a modicum of economic diversity. Boutique clothing stores stood next to barber shops and Dominican cafés. Banks and business-class hotels overlooked the stretch of sidewalk near the entrance of Berkshire Square Park where men and women sat next to folding tables, selling handmade jewelry and amateur oil paintings. Despite the sense of unease that hung over the city, plenty of citizens had chosen to go about their business. The young guardsman standing with a rifle next to the bluestone basin of the park’s massive, thudding fountain was an ominous sight, but it didn’t stop a young couple from having a loud argument near the benches on the park’s high terrace or the busker from playing the violin while balancing a leashed tabby cat on his head.

A few more blocks and we found a small diner, which seemed like a fine place to go over our haul. Inside, the air smelled savory and half-burned, every surface stained a warm sepia from decades of hash brown smoke. We took one of the cracked vinyl booths in back. A young woman who’d been watching the news on a small television behind the lunch counter appeared next to our table. She kept glancing back at the television and there was a heaviness in her voice when she asked for our order.

Her obvious grief over the attacks made our presence feel like an intrusion, and so I tried to sound apologetic when I asked for a cup of coffee and an omelet. She then looked to OWEN, who was absently smacking his lips as he looked over the laminated menu doubling as a place mat. Regardless of the fact that he was incapable of eating, he ordered himself two plates of onion rings, a stuffed pepper, and a Fresca. I tried to suggest that he and I could share my omelet, but the woman had already made off with our order.

OWEN turned to me, pleased.

“I’ve never ordered food before,” he said.

He was in a pleasant mood so this seemed like a good opportunity to provide him with some constructive criticism regarding his behavior at the library. I told him it was important to remember that we were both public servants and that no matter how desperate the situation we should do our best to proceed with a certain amount of professionalism and decency, especially since this was such a frightening time for the city.

“What are you talking about?”

“You screamed ‘fire’ at a librarian,” I said. “You made her think she was about to be mauled by a bear. And after all that, she’s going to find the place trashed.”

“Wait a minute,” OWEN said. “Who trashed the library?”

“Well, I mean, I did, because you—”

OWEN leaned over the table, his eyes huge with mock outrage.

“Henry, why did you do that?”

“You were drawing too much attention to us, so I was in a hurry. Some shelves got knocked over.

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