"Sure," he says. There's a reason he's taken to doing work in a cafe or sometimes even in the shop. He's fallen somewhat behind on Der Wanderer and also answering letters, some of which are probably important. But yes, he can take Charlie for a bit.

"What's going on, Charlie?" he says.

Between his tears, Charlie explains a LONG, COMPLICATED, and INTRICATE story, which seems to involve a broken toy and an offensive lack of sympathy from Hannah about it.

This day is not going to let up. "Your mama is trying her best," Oscar says. "Do you want papa to tell you a story?"

"Yes," Charlie says, sniffily.

Time for a lively and discursive version of "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was". The Brothers Grimm thought it was okay for kids and they knew what they were about.

Charlie LOVES this story.

He is not super following the PLOT but it has MONSTERS in it probably.

If it doesn't he will ask repeatedly when the monsters will show up.

Hell yeah Charlie! Just wait until Oscar gets to the part with the haunted castle!

WHOA HAUNTED CASTLE

Isn't it crazy that the youth can talk to BLACK CATS?

Charlie thinks there should be COPS in the haunted castle. To fight the BAD GUYS.

There are no cops in the haunted castle because they were created by capitalists to enforce bourgeois property rights.

But if they were there that'd be pretty scary.

No, cops are good and fight bad guys.

Charlie is sure of this.

He saw it in the movies.

Wow, here he is trying to enrich Charlie's mind with "The Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was". And Charlie's distracted by some awful piece of commercial propaganda. He is going to have to have a conversation with Hannah about what they put in those movies.

Once the children are in bed, Hannah flops down on a chair, looking eerily like a portrait of The Oppressed Working Woman from the Soviet Union.

Ah, looks like they both had a hard day.

"I wish you would do more to help with them," she says without preamble.

"Right," he says. "I know you're doing a lot of the work with the kids. Which I appreciate. I- I had another meeting about the Roby business today. William Jing was there."

She sighs. "Haven't you done enough for Dr. Aarons to give you the money already?"

She sighed at that. Imagine if he'd burdened her with a mere weird dream. "I'm working on that. It's complicated? But I think we are going to get him out. And get the money." She never used to worry about shit like that, not before she moved to this neighborhood.

"Why is it any of your business whether he gets out? There are hundreds of unjustly imprisoned men in England."

"Doesn't make it okay to abandon this one guy. From our community."

"There are hundreds of unjustly imprisoned bohemians. And while you're off dealing with him I have the children, and I'm running the store--"

"You like the store."

"I like the store! But the children can't be trusted in it, every ten minutes I'm pulling a rare book out of Charlie's hands-- he almost read the pornography today--"

"Don't want the public morals people finding out about that, do we, they'll say we're corrupting children. Seriously, though, I doubt Charlie has the attention span for Lawrence-- what 'pornography' do we even carry, honestly."