The Reformed Read Online Free PDF

his wall.
    “It looks like you’ve done some great things,” I said. “My mother didn’t lie.”
    “Not this time,” Sam said.
    “I’ve been very blessed.” Eduardo motioned to the round conference table. “Please, my friends, have a seat.”
    It was very strange. When I had seen Eduardo the previous day, he spoke to me in a kind of refined street patois, but here he spoke as if he’d gone to private schools his entire life. Perhaps that was the surest sign Eduardo Santiago was a different person now—he knew how to change his persona for a given situation. That was a talent I could appreciate.
    We sat down at the table, but Eduardo remained standing at first, as if he wasn’t sure this was, in fact, the course of action he wanted to take. How odd it must be to meet with the mayor of the city at one moment and then whatever, or whomever, Sam and I were the next.
    The key to making someone comfortable, even in their own home or sanctuary, is to ask him questions about himself. People love to talk about themselves. This is why so many people admit to crimes when police interrogate them—they simply cannot help themselves from themselves.
    I picked up one of the blueprints. “Are you expanding?”
    “Oh, yes,” Eduardo said. He stood between Sam and me and looked at the blueprint. “That will be our greenhouse. We plan on having more sustainable gardens here in the future, so we can begin providing organic vegetables. Do you know that the average apple you eat contains over fifty trace chemicals in its skin?”
    “I didn’t know that.”
    “And look at yourself. You should know. You’re fit. You’re smart. Now think about these kids in these neighborhoods. You think any of them have any idea about pesticides in their food?”
    “I’d guess that’s the least of their concerns,” Sam said.
    “You would guess correctly,” Eduardo said. “Whoever you are.”
    “Mikey didn’t tell you I was coming?” Sam said. He shook Eduardo’s hand. “Sam Axe at your service. You’ve got the full faith and credit of the United States government right here in my handshake.”
    “That’s not an entity I trust, but I assume if you are with Mr. Westen that you are trustworthy.”
    “That’s not a good assumption,” I said.
    “Ah, but it is an educated guess,” he said. “Educating someone is different from making them concerned about something. Same with the kids and the organic food. People today, they do not know the difference between education and fear-making.” He sighed then and shook his head. He finally took a seat across from us. “This is precisely what I was talking to the mayor about. All of this money to teach children what to be afraid of, and no money to teach them music or art or, well, you know how it is. Do you know I learned how to play the violin in prison? It’s true.”
    “Maybe more people should go to prison,” I said.
    “Just because it is true doesn’t mean it isn’t a shame, Mr. Westen.”
    I laughed.
    “You find that funny?” he said.
    “I find it funny you just called me Mr. Westen,” I said. “I was trying to remember the last time I saw you before yesterday. And you know what I remembered? You actually turned my brother, Nate, upside down and shook all of the change out of his pockets.”
    “Mikey, that’s what kids do,” Sam said.
    “He wasn’t a kid,” I said. “Do you remember this, Eduardo?”
    “I’m afraid I do not. Not because it didn’t happen, but because I did it to so many people. How old was I?”
    “I don’t know,” I said, “maybe seventeen? Maybe eighteen? Old enough and rich enough not to need a kid’s pocket change.”
    “It was never need,” Eduardo said. “And where were you at this time?”
    “I was coming up with a bat in my hand to crush over your head,” I said. “Unfortunately, a teacher saw me coming and wouldn’t let me.”
    “Unfortunately?” he said.
    “Could have saved you and a lot of other people a lot of