V IOLET CHEWED HER nails, wondering when the rain
would stop. The gloomy weather only made her more
caustic than usual. Perched on a concrete step outside
a downtown office building, she sneered in the
direction of a growing parade of government dissidents,
wondering why they never took the time to make their
signs more attractive. “At least add a little pizzazz,” she
thought. They’d be smoked out in a few hours anyhow.
She considered taking a nap, but wanted to do
something more productive with her day, like hunting
for a few dollars. So she plotted her next hustle. Being
nineteen and slight of frame, she could get away with a
lot more than the guys could. For one thing, she looked
unassuming. In the minds of most, a cute teenage girl
is more likely to run you off the road while texting than
to steal every piece of jewelry from you while you talked
33
to her. But Violet could do exactly that, and was proud
of the skills she’d honed over the years as a kid
working the streets.
She was also a very crafty talker and knew exactly
how to get, and hold, someone’s attention for just long
enough to get away with any valuables they had on
them. Her skill was theft but her method was
distraction. She knew from experience that you never
want to pickpocket someone who’s just standing
around. You go for the person running to catch the
train, constantly checking his or her watch, or
preoccupied with a smart phone. Such people often fell
victim to Violet’s ruse and it allowed her to eat most
days, after a closing-time trip to the pawn shop. The
owners of the pawn shops all knew Violet was hocking
stolen goods, so they only offered her pennies on the
dollar for her exchange. They got some decent watches
and she got to fill her belly; that was the unstated
agreement.
But today Violet was feeling a bit off her game.
Maybe it was the crummy weather or the lack of sleep,
but she knew her mind wasn’t as sharp as usual. She
thought about not even going after the man with a
utility bag who had just passed her, even if it was
obvious the guy was in a hurry to get somewhere. But
34
the rumble in her stomach made her cave in, so she
started after him.
Levi stopped at the crosswalk, waiting on the
pedestrian light to flick on. Gas money and train fare
were not in the budget this week so he was forced to
manage the city on foot until payday. He was running
late due to another sleepless night, only drifting off for
an hour or so and then waking up to see that he
should’ve been dressed and out the door ten minutes
prior. He hated being late and took no pleasure in
handing out excuses, so the idea of jumping over the
cluster of cars sounded reasonable at the moment. “If
only I had the energy,” he thought.
“Excuse me?” said a small voice beside him.
Levi glanced down and saw a thin teenage girl
looking up at him. He thought she looked rather
mousy, with brown hair and eyes. She wore a blue
feather on the side of her head, threaded above her ear
and weaved into the fold.
“Can you tell me where Dickers Street is?” Violet
asked. “I’m totally lost right now.”
“It’s a few blocks east,” Levi replied, pointing to her
right. “If you pass Union just turn around. The sign
isn’t that easy to read.”
“Thanks, mister.”
35
By this point, Violet had already stolen Levi’s wallet
and loosened the clasp on his watch. Now there was
just one final step.
She put out her tiny hand, offering Levi a friendly
handshake, but he was mindful of his frightening grip
strength and just nodded and said, “No problem.”
The light changed and Violet was gone, happy
enough to settle for what she could get. Levi was
midway through the crosswalk when he noticed that
his watch felt unusually loose on his wrist. He fastened
the watch, wondering if he’d forgotten to latch it during
the morning rush. Nope. His mind ran through a few
scenarios and his hand shot to his back pocket at
once. It was gone.
“Hey!” he yelled. Violet was already fifty feet from him
when she turned slightly to see if he he’d locked onto
her. That’s when she saw Levi running toward her.
Violet’s feet went into overdrive and she ducked around
the corner and sprinted down a busy sidewalk. Levi
raced after her, clutching the utility bag tight against
his body, lest something important should fall out.
Violet dodged cars with ease, but Levi was gaining
ground on her. His lean, powerful legs were pumping
up and down like pistons, springing him forward.
Violet ducked into an alleyway and started ascending a
metal fire escape.
36
Violet was halfway up the first rung when she
suddenly felt weightless. At first, her mind told her the
stairway had collapsed beneath, but then she felt the
inhumanly strong arms clamped around her waist.
Levi gently set Violet onto the ground, her back against
a brick wall. He had her cornered and she knew it.
Both of them were breathing heavily but it was clear
that this escapade had reached its end.
“Give me the wallet,” Levi ordered.
Violet sighed and looked away with disappointment.
She handed him the wallet. Levi held it for a moment,
and then handed it back to her.
“Open it,” he said. “Go on. Open it up.”
“Look, I won’t bother you again. I’m sorry I took
your…”
“Open it!”
Violet’s hand shook nervously as she took the wallet
back from him and opened it. She was scared to look
him in the eyes.
“You see anything?” he asked.
Violet spread the wallet open and leafed through a
few bills.
“Nine dollars,” she replied in a soft voice.
“Yes. Nine dollars. That has to last me until my next
paycheck.”
37
Levi realized that his anger was directed toward a
tiny teenage girl, so he felt a bit ridiculous, but he
wanted her to feel it. This was personal.
“You’re not stealing from some guy in the Business
District,” he said. “I don’t have the luxury of going to
the mall with my friends or getting an allowance from
my parents.”
Violet turned away, still shaking, a tear already
welling up in the corner of her eye. Levi saw it.
Something he mentioned had troubled the girl and he
had no idea what it was. Or maybe he did.
“Where are your parents?” he asked.
Violet wiped her eyes and shrugged, I don’t know.
Levi’s anger disappeared in an instant. She was a
street kid.
“When’s the last time you had something to eat?” he
asked.
“It’s been a slow week.”
“How long?” he pressed.
She shrugged and said, “Day and a half? I don’t
remember.”
What a bummer. He looked down at the mousy girl in
front of him and only desired to give her a hug. But he
didn’t.
“Come with me.”
38
• • •
Levi sipped on the complimentary water-with-lemon
while Violet plowed through a stack of pancakes. He
found it amusing how squirrel-like she looked with
food-stuffed cheeks. She occasionally glanced up at
him between bites.
“You got kids?” she asked with a full mouth.
“No. I don’t.”
“How old are you?” she asked.
“Just eat your food.”
Levi almost cracked a smile when her eyes sank back
down. He found her directness and utter lack of
beating around the bush to be rather winsome.
“You know,” she started, “if you’re hard up for cash,
you might want to consider selling that watch. You
could get a hundred for it easy.”
“I appreciate the financial advice, kid.”
“I’m not a kid. I’m nineteen.”
“Nineteen? You look twelve,” he said.
“You want me to say how old you look?”
Levi reached out and pulled the plate of pancakes
away from her.
“Okay, okay,” she said before he slid it back.
Violet continued her rhythm of eating while
occasionally glancing up with eyes full of questions.
39
For a teenager living on the streets, she still had a
sparkle in her eye. “Are you going to get fired or
something?” she asked.
“That’s not for you to worry about.”
“You could’ve just given me the money, you know.
You don’t have to babysit me all day.”
“I grew up on the streets too so don’t judge me as
naive. I don’t give money to strangers. For all I know,
you might leave and go blow every cent on drugs.”
Violet gave him an oh please look.
“Look, heroin took both my parents away. You think
I’d ever mess around with that crap? No thanks!” Her
eyes flicked up briefly. “By the way, that thing I just
did there… it’s called sharing.”
Levi nodded and sipped his water, wondering if
perhaps his job actually was in danger. He also wanted
a bite of her pancakes but resisted the urge.
“So what’s your story?” she asked.
“I work in a building and I fix stuff. That’s my story.”
She just stared at him, unsatisfied with his non-
answer.
“That’s not a story, dude. I’m not wearing a friggin’
wire.”
“What do you care about my past?” he said,
defensive.
40
“I’m just trying to pass the time since you insist on
supervising my dinner.”
He found it strange that she considered a meal at
nine o’clock in the morning to be dinner.
“Just eat your food,” he said. “This city is loud
enough without our voices adding to it.”
Violet finished the last bite and gave a big, hearty
smile to him before symbolically dusting off her hands.
“Thanks for dinner,” she said. “I have to get back
to…”
“Stealing?” he said, finishing her sentence.
“You have four dollars left to your name, mister. I’d
hate for you to get fired now because of little old me.”
Levi just stared at her for a moment. Violet wasn’t
sure why he was looking at her so intensely. To her, it
felt almost fatherly. Either that or he wanted to
strangle her. Her eyes took in his scarred fists and she
began to wonder what kind of life he’d lived. Levi’s
voice cracked a bit as he cleared his throat.
“I killed a man,” he said plainly.
“Whoa,” fell out of her mouth.
“It’s a long story but I did some time and now I’m
out.”
“Must’ve been a long time ago if you’re already free.”
“It’s been seven years.”
41
Violet gulped. Levi himself didn’t know why he
wanted to share his secrets with this teenager he’d just
met. But the weight on his chest needed lifting and
since he’d bought her breakfast, he might expect a
sympathetic ear. He also found it easier to say these
kinds of things to a stranger who had little business
judging his moral failings.
“It was a bar fight,” he said. “I was having beers with
my manager and a few friends. I look up and see one of
my buddies scrapping with a group of guys and he’s
getting overwhelmed. It was five-on-one so he obviously
needed some help. I go over and light one of them up.
Right cross to the chin. He went down hard and
everything stopped. People ran; the cops showed up.”
The room seemed to get smaller as Violet listened
intently to his words.
“The guy I hit was in a coma for three days,” Levi
said. “Then he, you know, died. Because of me.”
Violet felt her lips tremble.
“But you were just trying to help your friend,” she
said. “It was a freak accident. You weren’t trying to kill
anybody.”
Violet saw that his eyes were pensive and stoic, like
he was trying to guard his emotions behind a steel
mask.
42
“The guy I punched was trying to break up the fight.
He wasn’t beating up my friend, he was protecting
him.” Levi paused. “I didn’t know until after.”
Violet had trouble swallowing with the knot in her
throat. Only when she felt that her cheek was wet did
she realize a tear had fallen.
“I hit the wrong guy,” Levi said. “I took away
someone’s son. Someone’s future. And for nothing.
Now I fix commodes and I’m lucky to even do that. I
should be rotting away in Hinnom Valley. That’s my
story, kid.”
Levi avoided her gaze for a moment, then casually
stood up and walked toward the door.
“Wait,” Violet pleaded, calling after him. She got up
and met him at the door of the diner. “Do you want to
meet some of my friends?”
“You have friends?” he said, skeptical.
“Oh, that’s right,” she said. “You have to go to work.
Never mind then.”
“Why do you want me to meet your friends?” he
asked.
“It’s just… I can’t pay you back for the dinner. So the
only thing I can offer is some cheerful company. These
people are like my family. You’d love them. We can
make anyone laugh and have a good time. Even a bore
like you.”
43
“I’m a bore?”
“You don’t have to come, okay? It’s just the one thing
I can do. You know, like show hospitality or whatever.
Maybe after work.”
Levi had no interest in being cheered up by Violet
and her band of misfits, but he did feel a pressing
desire to keep her in his sights. Being street kids, they
might even know something that he didn’t — like who
K.S. was.
• • •
Russell was already waiting for him with an
exasperated posture when Levi entered the lobby.
“An hour and a half late, Levi? I thought you were a
stand-up kind of guy.”
Levi flashed a submissive grin as he approached
Russell, then motioned toward the door, outside of
which Violet stood on the sidewalk. She gave Russell a
pitiful look, trying to earn a few sympathy points from
him.
“I’m trying to help this kid out,” Levi said. “All right if
I take the day off? I’ll come in Saturday instead.”
Russell looked at the girl, then suspiciously back to
him.
44
“It’s not like that, Russell. She’s nineteen. I’m just
trying to find out if maybe I can help get her off the
street.”
“Why her?”
Levi thought for a moment before responding.
“Because she reminds me of someone, all right?”
“Toilet in thirteen is flooded. Take a look at it before
you leave.”
Levi gave him a wink and a pat on the shoulder,
nearly knocking Russell over. “Sorry,” Levi quietly
apologized under his breath.
• • •
Violet led him into the warehouse district around
noon. It was a four-block area of old factories where
abandoned buildings and rusty machinery came to die.
As they plodded along, Levi began to wonder why he’d
taken to the kid so quickly, much less allowing her to
lead him through this concrete graveyard when he
should be at work. Lord knows he needed the money.
At thirty-seven years of age, he had next to nothing in
common with a girl like Violet and probably had zero
chance of giving her a better life. And even still, he felt
an uncanny need to protect her. From what, he didn’t
know. But the urge was too strong to simply ignore.
45
Dusty sunlight fell through cracks in the battered
roof as they stepped into an abandoned storage facility.
Upon their entry, no fewer than eleven people of
various ages began to rise up from dirty mattresses
and worn-out furniture. The youngest boy, John, was
fifteen, and the oldest was Matt, at nearly fifty. Their
clothes were all wrecked and the entire crew was in
need of a serious meal and a hot shower. With soap
and shampoo.
“All of you live here?” Levi asked.
“Who is this, Violet?” Matt wondered aloud.
“Guys, this is Levi. He’s totally cool, don’t worry.
Yeah, Levi, we do.” Violet answered for the group.
“Welcome to our Shangri-La.”
Levi felt his stomach turn. He wasn’t exactly a man
of means but these conditions were just pitiable and
inhumane. Yet, judging by the look on their faces, the
group took some kind of pride in the fact that this was
their own little place in the world, a paradise of old
machinery and cardboard walls to partition what he
assumed were private “bedrooms.”
John, the smallest, asked, “Is he staying with us,
Violet?”
Violet turned curiously toward Levi, the unanswered
question implicit in her gesture.
“No… no, I’m not,” he answered.
46
“Wait a minute,” implored a voice from the group.
Jack, a thirty-year-old with an old man’s beard,
stepped forward. “You’re Levi the Leveler. I saw you
fight at The Coliseum. It’s really you, isn’t it?”
Levi took a step back. “That was a long time ago,” he
answered. Now I’m just Levi the Handyman. And my
leveler is… an actual leveler.”
Jack looked at him from underneath a matted beard
with awe-filled eyes. “Holy cow, man. What are you
doing here?”
Levi had to shrug, conceding the obvious. “I have no
idea.”
• • •
The hours passed like a quick blur for him. Violet
was right: these folks could cheer up even a bore like
him. Jack taught him a card game they’d invented, but
Levi was reluctant to gamble in a room full of grifters,
no matter how pleasant their attitudes. Violet played
checkers with John in a corner while Levi and three
others talked over their game.
“Mind if I ask you guys a question?” Levi asked the
group.
“Shoot,” Jack shot back.
47
“I was just wondering if you guys ever heard of a cat
named K.S.”
“Are those initials?” Matt asked.
“I think so,” Levi answered. “Someone’s been sending
me messages and I can’t quite figure out who it might
be.”
Matt shrugged and folded his hand. Jack picked up
his ace.
“Doesn’t ring a bell,” Jack said. “Pardon the pun,
champ.”
Levi sat back, conceding his hand to Jack as well.
“What kind of messages?” Jack inquired.
“Very cryptic letters. Hard to understand. I was
thinking maybe it was a game but some things have
transpired and… well, I want to get a handle on who
I’m dealing with here. I need to know if I can trust him.
Or her. Or it.”
A voice came from the other side of the room. “Like
the comic book?” John asked as he jumped Violet’s last
game piece. She sank in her seat, disappointed.
“What comic book?” Levi asked.
“Shadow Lurker,” John said. In answer to their
blank stares, he continued, “You guys never read
Shadow Lurker? Man, you’re totally missing out.”
48
Violet smiled at her fifteen-year-old buddy.
“Enlighten us, John. What does that have to do with
anything they’re talking about?”
“Well,” John started, addressing them like an expert
on the matter, “K.S. is a central figure in it. The comic
is pretty original too because it’s told from the point of
view of the villain, who’s this mysterious assassin and
operates in a band of Shadow Lurkers. They’re like
ninjas but way more creepy. You don’t want to read it
before going to bed, that’s for sure!”
Levi sat up straight and said, “John, do you have a
copy with you?”
“No,” John replied sadly. “It’s been out of print for a
while but you can find them in thrift shops every once
in a while. I found a whole stack in a dumpster but I
lost them.”
“So who is K.S.?” Levi asked.
John smiled widely. “He’s the villain.”
“The villain?” Levi repeated, almost choking on his
words.
“Well, I guess it depends on your perspective. Since
the bad guy is telling the story, most normal folks
would say K.S. is the good guy. The Shadow Lurkers
are his rivals and it’s set up as a war over this city
called Salem. K.S. is the king of Salem, hence the
initials, and the Lurkers want to take over and enslave,
49
or liberate, everyone. Again, it depends on the
perspective.”
“It’s just a comic book, little buddy,” Violet said
before turning to Levi apologetically. “You guys can
just ignore anything coming from this side of the
room.”
John shrugged and offered, “Maybe whoever is
sending you those messages read the comic and is
trying to tell you something through code.”
“Like what?” Matt asked with big, curious eyes.
“Hell if I know,” John said.
• • •
After spending the day in an old factory-tur