Johnny's basement apartment now seemed an underworld, a waiting room for Hell. Dahlia was not uncomfortable, she was bristling - seething.
"I thought you were a man of God," she said.
"I am," he said as he sat down on his bed. It was a studio.
"You called the radio station?"
"No. That guy had no sense of humor."
"You were right," said Dahlia. "I am starting to know things."
"Obviously."
"What is it? What is Rota Fracta?"
"We're just an organization, a lay order, that serves the Lord."
"By blowing up deejays?"
"Catherine…" he blurted. "Dahlia, these are mad times coming. The world is about to vomit itself. A revolution is beginning like we've never seen."
"You're a revolutionary?"
He laughed. "The mountains are revolutionaries, Doll. The moon and the sky are in revolt! We're just caretakers." He could see she wasn't convinced. "We're not starting a revolution. The revolution happens with or without us. A war of good and evil, God and Satan. We just take God's part."
"Oh, you do, do you? By killing people?"
"You think Joshua didn't kill anyone when that wall came down? What about King David? How did he get that crown?"
"Jesus has a new message," said Dahlia, "for the Diaspora and for the Gentiles. There is no longer a tribe of Chosen People on this earth. Your political motivations are not God's."
"Politics and God are not separate," said Johnny. "They come together in the Catholic Church. And they come together in the Apocalypse."
"Is that the revolution you're talking about?"
"Can't you feel it, Dahlia? You must be able to sense it. Society's not working so good lately. It doesn't fit anymore. Nobody can stay married. Nobody can stick to a job. You can see it in their faces, this look like a hamster when the cage is gone. I mean, they keep getting on the wheel, I give you that, but now the cage is gone, and they know it. And they're not sure anymore why they're getting on the wheel."
"My wheel was broken, Johnny."
"Exactly. The end of time. The beginning of eternity. The end of all of us, of everything we understand is real. That's what they're sensing, the hamsters."
"You killed someone. Call him a hamster if you want, but you killed someone. You're a killer."
"It's a prophecy."
Dahlia spoke with renewed fervor at this word. "There is only one prophecy. There is only one fulfillment. Christ Jesus has come to earth to save us from sin."
"I can explain this, Dahlia."
"Oh, please. Please go ahead." She stared at him mercilessly, but he proceeded with calm assurance.