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[i]"I’m not an American. I’m one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy...I don’t see any American dream; I see an American nightmare."[/i]
-- Malcolm X
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[b]
131st Street
Harlem[/b]

Luke stood on the sidewalk and watched the traffic coming and going. The tension from the afternoon had all but evaporated once news got out that the grand jury on the Alderman case were going to need further time. After a week in deliberation, they were still deadlocked. That didn't bode well for the family of Isiah Hamilton. A deadlocked jury would mean a potential mistrial, which could mean a dismissal of the charges. It was one of the many sneaky ways the criminal justice system could get away with not punishing one of their own. It was why they needed Tommy Drayton more than ever. Luke wasn't foolish enough to think one politician could turn things around overnight, but he knew a guy like Tommy could implement a cultural change that might take a decade to see the benefits of. But incremental change was sure as shit better than what they had right now.

"GIVE TO THA LAWD!"

Luke had to suppress a laugh when he heard the shrill cry. On the corner of Lennox and 131st street, was Sister Mercy doing her thing. Sister Mercy had been working the corners of Upper Manhattan for nearly twenty years now, dressed in her black nun habit and ringing that bell while she shouted about fire and brimstone and the only way to heaven was to give to the lawd. 

"'For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils' First Timothy 6:10, people. GIVE TO THA LAWD!"

You wouldn't think it by looking at her, but the sister was without a doubt the best street hustler of all the would-be conmen and scammers operating out on the streets. It didn't hurt that she has a dynamite racket. It takes real balls to impersonate a nun, and the sister had balls. The truth was that sister is a brother by the name of Jackson Coleman. Jackson was a former B&E man who hit the right racket to feed his drug addiction. Luke knew him back before he went to jail, back when he was gangbanger Carl Lucas. They got back in touch after Luke's homecoming and Luke found an unlikely ally in the hustler. From time to time over the years Sister Mercy helped him out with errands and intel for a price. A cross-dressing junkie nun who cons people with a bell and the bible. Luke had to grin. Where else but Harlem?

"Say, Sister Mercy," he said as he palmed two twenties and shook the good sister's hand. "What do you know good?"

"'Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times', Psalm 106:3," he said loud enough for the pedestrians passing by to hear before whispering. "Luke Cage, my man. What's up, homie? GIVE TO THE LAWD, PEOPLE."

"Wondering if you had your ear to the ground on something, Sister. You know Tommy Drayton? Someone tried to snuff him earlier today."

Sister Mercy let out a low and soft whistle before returning back to the work of yelling about damnation and monetary salvation. She thanked a passerby as they tossed a dollar into the bucket at her feet. After a few moments of thought, she finally shook his head.

"That's out of my range, brother. Politics and shit. You need a Day of the Jackal-type motherfucker to pull off something like that. I just know about hustlers. It's been quiet the last few weeks around Harlem, far as any action is concerned."

"What about your network? All those homeless fools."

Sister Mercy stopped ringing her bell for a second before she nodded. "Joe the Bum. He's a homeless guy that bottom feeds by hanging around political campaigns. He gets a few sandwiches here and there for running errands and wearing signs at rallies. I think he was hanging out around Drayton and his people. He may have seen something. I'll run him down for you."

"You better, Sister. I don't want to kick a nun's ass."

"I do what I can nigga," she whispered softly. "I'll be here tomorrow morning with Joe the Bum."

"Sister, I could kiss you..."

"'But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart,' Matthew 5:28, brother. Repent and GIVE TO THA LAWD!"

Luke laughed and started home to Jess and Dani. It'd been a long day, and he had a pretty big task in front of him. Sister Mercy was right that this kind of case seemed a bit out of his range. He wasn't a political intrigue guy. But he was a Harlem guy. Harlem was where Drayton was from and that was where they'd tried to kill him. This was a Harlem crime, and when it came to Harlem crimes he was very much in his depth.