They arrived on the second floor and knocked on the door. A slightly weary, somewhat plump Black woman answered. The moment she saw them, she let out a delighted cry, threw herself at each of them in turn, and hugged them.
"Oh my God, what are you doing here at a time like this? Get inside, it isn't safe out here."
"It's fine. You know Victor has changed a lot."
The two of them entered the house one after the other. The interior was actually quite nice. Though somewhat old, it was clear that it had once been splendid. Victor walked over and teased the baby in the bassinet in the living room, while the Black woman had already started crying.
"Yes, the heating subsidy is gone. This place is as cold as an icebox. If I couldn't light the fireplace for warmth, I might have frozen to death already. Firewood is expensive too. If it weren't for you, where would I get the money... We really couldn't make it through this winter..."
Deli pulled several bills from a stack of cash and handed them to the Black woman. "Christmas is coming. Use this to buy something good to eat."
"Oh my God, may God bless you forever."
"Don't worry too much. Everything will pass."
But it was as though the Black woman had suddenly opened the floodgates of her emotions. She sat on the sofa and cried uncontrollably, mumbling through her tears, "That's what they said back then too... I never wanted to move away from our old neighborhood. Harmon said this place would become a thriving downtown district in the future, that there were subsidies for buying a house now and property taxes could be waived for more than ten years. I thought our little old house wasn't