'Where to?' the cabby asked.
'The U.N. building,' Decker answered. Christopher got in first. When Decker joined him he noticed a very strange look on the boy's face. Something was not quite right. It took only an instant for Decker to understand. Sealed in the cab, a strange but familiar smell made its way into their lungs. It was not overpowering, but it was definitely there and it wasn't pleasant. Decker thought about getting out and hailing another cab, but it was too late. The driver punched the gas pedal and pulled his cab across two lanes of traffic and was off.
Decker and Christopher looked at each other. Christopher silently mouthed, 'May I roll down the window?'
Decker held up his hand with his thumb and forefinger spread apart, indicating that about three inches would be acceptable. It was pretty cold outside but that seemed a good compromise with the smell.
After a few minutes, Decker cracked his window as well. It was then that he noticed the driver looking at them in his rear view mirror. He seemed to be studying them. If he asks me to roll up my window, Decker thought, I'll make him stop and let us out. In a moment their eyes met in the mirror and the cabby realized that Decker had been watching him looking at them. He quickly reached up, as if he had been checking the adjustment on the mirror.
'So what ya goin' to the U.N. for?' he asked a moment later.
'Just a visit,' Decker answered.
'Oh, yeah?' he said. 'Ain't been too many tourists around here lately.'
Decker chose not to respond.
A moment later the driver added, 'Well, ya wanna be careful over there.'
'Why do you say that?' Decker asked.
'Call me paranoid but I wouldn't go in there widdout a gas mask on.'
Decker found it almost impossible not to respond with a crack about needing one to ride in his cab. 'I don't follow you,' he answered instead.
'Well, the way I see it, it was probably some kinda Arab or Russian nerve gas or sumthin' that caused the Disaster, 'cause no way you're gonna tell me all those people just dropped dead for no reason. And, well, I don't know if you ever been to the U.N. before, but they got foreigners crawlin' all over the place over there. 'Course, I guess that's true everywhere in New York, only especially at the U.N.'
'If the Russians are responsible for the Disaster,' Decker responded, 'why would they release it on their own people? I understand that there were nearly 40 million deaths in Russia, almost as many as died in the U.S.'
'Yeah, that's what they say, but that don't prove nuthin'. Maybe they wuz just gettin' rid o' their undesirables. And that don't say nuthin' about the Arabs. I heard only about a hundred thousand of them died.'
Decker realized that there was no sense in trying to reason with the driver so he settled back in his seat for the ride and kept silent. The cabby, however, didn't need an active partner to carry on a conversation.
''Course, I don't mean to be cruel or nuthin',' the cabby said as he drove, 'but if ya ask me, I'd tell ya we wuz better off widdout so many people in the world. 'Course, there ain't near as many fares on the streets nowadays. Not live ones, anyway. But an entrepreneur like me, well I figure there's a 'green linin' to every cloud. So I asked myself, how can a guy like me make some money when the fares're down. An' it didn't take no time 'til it comes to me. If there ain't as many live ones around: haul the dead ones. So I called up this guy I know who works at a landfill in Jersey. And next thing ya know, I'm in business.'
If Decker needed any confirmation of what the smell was, he now had it.
'Yeah, I figured it was a great idea,' the cabby said, continuing his discourse. 'The wife says it makes the car stink. So, I just stopped at the 7-11 and bought this air freshener,' the cabby pointed to a cardboard pine tree dangling from the rearview mirror, 'and I ain't had no more problem with it. 'Course it was a little creepy at first, but I can make up ta two hundred dollars a head for haulin' off bodies, dependin' on how bad a shape they're in. 'Course, most of the stiffs from the Disaster have been hauled off by now. Still, I get a call maybe two or three times a day, mostly to haul off suicides, folks that lost everybody in the Disaster and decide ta join 'em. But for a while there, I was rakin' it in. One time I got twelve stiffs in here all at the same time.'
The cabby paused just long enough for Decker to get his hopes up that he would remain silent. 'And then there's another thing,' he said, after catching his breath, 'it's a helluva lot easier to get a apartment around here now. 'Course, most of the apartments that ya find still smell like dead folks, but hey, ya just let it air out a few hours an' it's jus' like home.'
The cabby looked over and nodded toward a pawn shop as they passed. 'I tell ya another guy that's makin' a buck on the dead besides the grave digger and me: the pawn broker. Ya see this ring,' he said holding his right hand up for them to see. 'Pretty nice, huh? I picked this up dirt cheap from a pawn shop last week. But I bet I paid four times what the pawn broker had ta give for it. An' the guy he got it from probably got it for free off some stiff. Some people don't like wearin' dead folk's stuff, but I figure, hell, they don't need it no more.'
'Was there a lot of looting?' Christopher asked the driver, apparently unaware that Decker was hoping the driver would just be quiet and drive.
'Oh, yeah, plenty. Let me tell ya, the looters wuz breakin' windows an' rippin' off stores left and right. A bunch of 'em got shot by shop owners but then pretty soon the looters started shootin' back. But that only lasted a few days. Then Mizzoner, the mayor, declared open season on anyone on the streets after curfew. So far, I hear the cops have shot more than 300 of 'em.'
'Well, here we are,' the cabby said as he pulled up to the U.N. General Assembly building.
Decker paid quickly, not wanting to spend an extra moment in that car. The driver thanked him and warned them again to 'be careful.'
'I hope you know that that cabby didn't know his head from a hole in the ground,' Decker told Christopher as the two walked toward the entrance of the U.N.
'You mean about the Russians and Arabs?' Christopher asked.
'Well, yes, that too. But not just that.'
'Sure, Mr. Hawthorne, I know that. But still, it was an interesting experience.'
Decker laughed to himself. 'You'd make a good reporter,' he said.
Decker and Christopher walked across the North Courtyard to the entrance to the U.N. General Assembly building. After going through the security check, they went to the information and security desk to get visitor's badges to go to the Delegates Dining Room. Both enjoyed the lunch buffet immensely. There was more variety than either had seen before at one meal and they liked almost everything they tried.
After their meal, as they were in the lobby returning their badges, someone called to Decker. They turned toward the voice and, through a group of colorfully clothed people, saw a tall blonde man who smiled at them and gave a nod of recognition. It was Jon Hansen.
Decker smiled back and made his way across the lobby toward him.
'Mr. Ambassador,' Decker said as he approached and extended his hand. 'It's good to see you again. But I really didn't expect you to come to greet me.'
'No problem,' Hansen answered with a friendly smile. 'But to be honest, I had some business in the building. How have you been? You look much improved over our first meeting.'
'Yeah, well, that's not necessarily saying very much,' Decker joked. 'But I have been eating a lot better. Christopher here is a pretty good cook.'
Hansen looked curiously at Christopher, who was listening intently to their conversation.
'Ambassador Hansen, this is Christopher Goodman,' Decker responded in answer to Hansen's glance. 'He's been staying with me since the Disaster. His granduncle was Professor Harry Goodman of U.C.L.A., who, before his death, was scheduled to be awarded the Nobel prize in medicine.'
'Well, it's very nice to meet you Christopher,' Hansen said as he shook Christopher's hand. 'I've read about your uncle's work in cancer research. He was a brilliant scientist. The world will miss him. Maybe someday you'll continue his work, Christopher.'
'Professor Goodman and I were friends from my college days,' Decker continued. 'I lost… ' Decker bit his lower lip to get a grip on his emotions. For a brief moment he thought that he would be able to just say it, but as the words approached his lips, they began to quiver and his cheeks began to ache. Releasing his bite, Decker tried again. 'I lost my wife and two daughters,' Decker paused briefly and took a breath, 'so when Christopher showed up on my doorstep, I invited him to stay. The professor and Mrs. Goodman were his only family.'
