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“Disliked him, then.”
“In this life, you have to work with people you dislike. You find compromises. But sometimes you find that a person’s beliefs are so harmful that you must speak against them. You can’t let such harmful statements stand without challenge. They have a tendency to grow into tumors.” Sister Walker paused.
“Is that why you went to prison?” Isaiah asked, and Ling’s mouth opened in surprise.
Memphis nudged Isaiah hard with his elbow. “Isaiah! Apologize.”
“What? Ever’body knows Sister went to jail. She knows it most of all!”
“Isaiah,” Memphis warned.
Isaiah stared down at his shoes. “Sorry, Miss Walker.”
“That’s all right, Isaiah. You didn’t mean any harm.”
“Is that true?” Ling asked.
“Yes.”
“So did you steal something?” Isaiah asked, unable to help himself. “Did you kill somebody, Sister?”
“No. And no.”
“Then what?”
Sister Walker took in a deep breath. “Sedition.”
“What’s that?” Isaiah asked.
“It’s when you rile people up and disobey authority.”
“When I acted up, my mama just got the switch. Who’d you make mad?” Isaiah asked.
“The United States government,” Sister Walker said. “I spoke out against something I thought was wrong. I tried to stop it.”
“And they threw you in the slammer for that?” Sam said.
“We were at war, and I worked for the Department of Paranormal, a government agency.” Sister Walker took a sip of her tea, then continued. “They said what I did wasn’t patriotic.”
“Weren’t they right?”
“I suppose it’s all in how you define patriotism. Some say that’s only saying good things about your country. Others say that it’s speaking against what you feel is wrong with your country and trying to make a change.”
“I don’t understand. Isn’t freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment?” Memphis asked.
“Guarantees. You mean, like the Fourteenth Amendment?” Sister Walker said pointedly. “All right. Now you know about that secret, too. Will there be any more bloodletting required, or may we get back to your training?”
Memphis leaned down and whispered to Isaiah. “You’re gonna hear about this on the way home.”
“It’s all right to ask questions, Memphis,” Sister Walker said. “That’s how we learn.”
“Sister, I think you might be a Diviner with that hearing,” Memphis said, shaking his head.
“Sam, I’d like to try testing your powers again,” Sister Walker announced. So far, they’d had little luck in boosting his gifts. He tried not to let it bother him, passing it off with jokes—Can’t improve on perfection!—but it made him feel small and lacking, like when he was a kid in Chicago running from the bullies who tormented him with fists and taunts of Jew! When he realized he could make those bullies go blank in his presence, Sam had, for the first time in his life, experienced what it was to be powerful. That power had gotten him from Chicago to New York. It had helped him survive on the streets. He’d come to rely on it. In fact, he’d been downright cocky about it. But now, surrounded by everyone else, what he felt was competitive.
“Let’s try a control. Theta? Would you mind?” Sister Walker asked.
Theta blanched. “Me? Oh, I don’t know, Sister.…”
