Rumor Has It

by Cheris Hodges

  Dayshea glanced at the thin gold-plated watch on her wrist. “Look, honey, I don’t have a whole lot and sometimes money is tight. So, I do things I’m not always proud of. But I don’t fuck married men. That’s just wrong.” She turned to Liza. “It’s not my fault your husband lied.”

  “Damn it, for the last time he is not my husband. He wasn’t even my boyfriend.”

  Dayshea rolled her eyes. “I couldn’t tell. You went off like he was your man and that’s the kind of drama I don’t need in my life.”

  “Actually,” Chante said once Dayshea allowed them to walk inside, “he was supposed to be my husband.”

  “Damn!” Dayshea exclaimed, throwing her hands up. “I can’t fight both of y’all. Was paid to—”

  “You’re misunderstanding us,” Liza said, throwing her hands up. “We’re not here to fight you. We’re here to help you.”

  “You got money?” Dayshea asked.

  Liza and Chante looked at each other and smiled. “We have an opportunity for you to make way more money than you were given to let Robert . . . well, you know,” Liza said.

  “What do y’all bougie gangsters want from me?” Dayshea asked as she folded her arms across her chest.

  “Your side of the story. Your truth. Robert used you and lied about who he is,” Chante said. “And let’s not forget that he lied to me and I was sitting at home planning a wedding. And eating celery when I wanted chicken and waffles.”

  “Wait,” Dayshea said. “You left him?”

  Chante nodded. “But I don’t blame you. He was the one who promised me that he loved me and would be faithful.”

  “And if a man lies to the woman he loves, he can’t be trusted,” Liza interjected.

  “Is he important or something?”

  “He wants to be. But we can’t let that happen,” Liza said.

  Dayshea dropped her arms and shrugged. “And I’m supposed to stop this somehow? By telling people that we had sex?”

  “That he paid you for sex,” Chante replied.

  “As a matter of fact,” Liza asked, “who paid you?”

  “Why don’t y’all sit down?” Dayshea pointed to a ratty sofa near the TV. “We can talk after my show goes off.”

  Chante and Liza sat on the sofa and silently prayed that nothing would crawl out of it.

  Jackson finally saw Teresa smile. They’d finally agreed on the wording of the opening statement and the crafting of the story that he was going to tell about why he was running for office and how taking care of the military and the poor made the state better. He could finally relax a little. Or at least not have another uncomfortable discussion about his personal life. Now he just had to run to the cleaners and pick up his suit.

  “Jackson,” Teresa said, “this is really good and we’re going to win this debate tonight.”

  “I’m glad you think so. We’ve put together the facts, what people need from their leaders, and how I plan to be accountable to them when they elect me.”

  “And I’m pretty sure we have the edge on anything Montgomery has planned. Like you said, he doesn’t deal well in issues and facts. Noticed that throughout the campaign. Anyway, we can officially take a break.”

  “Good. I’m going to grab my suit and some food. Want me to bring you anything back?”

  She shook her head. “Your idea of a vegan meal is a salad. I need more than that.” Pointing her finger at Jackson’s chest, she said, “While you’re out remember what you have to do to win.”

  He sighed, not wanting to say it out loud. But he knew he was supposed to stay away from Liza. “Yeah,” he replied. “Be back in an hour.” When he arrived at his car, Jackson checked his phone for the first time that day. He noticed that he hadn’t gotten a call or text from Liza all day. He couldn’t help but wonder if she was still going to make it to the debate. If she did show up, he wasn’t going to ignore her. After all, he’d talked her into coming and he wouldn’t mind hearing her thoughts on the debate once everything was over. Preferably in bed and naked.

  Jackson couldn’t deny that Liza knew her stuff, and under different circumstances, she’d be a part of his team. Maybe then he’d really get an understanding as to why people had to be on that social media network twenty-four hours a day. He had been glad that Teresa had gotten two college students to run the campaign’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. That stuff gave him a headache, but in this digital society, it was a necessary evil.

  Liza probably would’ve had us going viral, he thought with a smile. Every time he thought about her he couldn’t help but smile. He needed her in his life. He wanted more mornings where they’d wake up and have breakfast in her kitchen and more nights where she’d fall asleep in his arms. Would she want that if he ignored her until the election? It really wouldn’t be fair to her for him to do that. But what would all these months of campaigning mean if he gave it all up for love?

  Love? Was he in love with Liza Palmer?

  He shook those thoughts out of his head as he pulled into the parking lot of the dry cleaner’s. Jackson knew he had to keep his mind on the debate. If he wanted to win, then he had to be laser focused on the task at hand. Taking his claim ticket, he got his suit, then headed off to grab some lunch. Driving to Crisp on Seventh Street, he looked down at his phone to see if Liza had texted or called.

  Still nothing. That’s when he decided to text her.

  Hope you’re having a good day. Will be looking for you tonight at the debate.

  Chapter 23

  The closing credits of The Young and The Restless rolled across the screen, but for the last hour Dayshea hadn’t been paying attention to the show. The look on her face told Liza that she was mad as hell.

  “So, he was engaged to you,” Dayshea said as she nodded toward Chante then turned to Liza. “And was supposed to be your best friend. And he’s a politician? Do you know how much that man paid me?”

  “No,” Chante said, then rolled her eyes. Liza tapped her friend on the knee. They had Dayshea on their side and they needed to keep her there.

  “Seventy-five dollars. Talking about he needed a quick release and it wouldn’t take long. I told him that I don’t sell my body to married men or men who had pussy waiting at home. Then he wants to go all John Edwards on me. I’m not trying to be the North Carolina version of Monica Lewinsky.”

  “And we’re not trying to put you in that position, but you should tell the truth about the person that folks think will be the next senator,” Liza said, struggling to keep her voice even. Seventy-five dollars. Robert should be ashamed of himself. “We want to let the voters know that they have an honest choice and a man who cheats on the woman he says that he loves.”

  “If a man does that to someone he loves, what do you think he’s going to do to the people who would send him to Raleigh?” Chante asked. “It broke my heart to know that the man I was planning to marry had been unfaithful to me.”

  Liza handed Chante a tissue for effect. Chante wiped away her imaginary tears. “See,” she continued, “that’s why I can respect your policy of not having sex with men who are engaged or married. But when men aren’t honest, they turn you into a liar. Don’t you want to expose that? And clear your name? This will come out and you can be in front of the media blitz or you can get rolled over by it. Knowing Robert, he’ll say you seduced him.”

  Oh, you’re good, Liza thought as she watched her friend’s act. Tears sprang into Dayshea’s eyes and she reached out to Chante. “I don’t like a lying-ass man,” Dayshea said. “I’ll tell the truth about him because we have enough liars in power. Even Obama. You know he’s a part of the illuminati.”

  Chante and Liza exchanged a quick glance but didn’t say a word. Dayshea looked from Liza to Chante and smiled. “Oh, you didn’t think I had that knowledge, huh?”

  “Just make sure you two don’t say anything about it when you’re doing interviews with the local media,” Liza said. “Everyone doesn’t really understand or want to believe in that. And thi
s has nothing to do with President Obama.” Liza shuddered inwardly, thinking that if this girl got in front of a reporter and started talking crazy everything was going to blow up in their collective faces.

  Dayshea nodded and pointed her finger at Liza. “You’re right and I don’t want to become a target of the Koch brothers either.”

  “Right,” Chante said. She stood up and walked toward the door. “We’re going to get going and start the process rolling.”

  “Wait a minute,” Dayshea said. “I can’t go on TV without getting my hair done. I need to go see my girl Mesha at . . .”

  “Don’t worry about any of that,” Liza said. “I’m going to have a stylist come visit you. How long are you going to be home? She’s going to call you and set up a time.”

  Chante and Liza wanted to run out of Dayshea’s house, but instead they shook hands with her and calmly made their exit.

  Once they were in the car, Chante shook her head and let out a string of profanities. Liza was shocked. She’d never heard her friend this angry.

  “You need to calm down,” Liza said.

  “He was supposed to love me and he was out buying sex from a woman like her! I’m a fool. I’m beginning to understand why you don’t put your heart out there anymore.”

  “Hold up,” Liza said. “Both of us can’t be vengeful and bitter. I think I have that down.”

  Chante closed her eyes and pounded the steering wheel. “Why did I believe that he was going to be the one? That this whole love at first sight thing was real?”

  Liza thought about her connection to Jackson. It had been instant and intense. But was it real? Would she be crying on Chante’s shoulder because reality wouldn’t live up to the fairy tales she’d crafted in her mind?

  “You know what I really was to him?” Chante continued. “I was a tool. A way to move the numbers in his direction so that he could win this senate seat. On paper, we were the perfect couple. Would’ve looked good at political events in Raleigh and in the papers. But he went out and paid that woman seventy-five dollars for sex. Who does that?”

  Liza listened. Chante’s words hit her like lasers. What was she to Jackson? Reaching into her purse, she pulled out her iPhone and smiled when she saw Jackson’s message. Her day was getting better. And she couldn’t wait to see him at the debate. She shot him a quick text telling him that she was looking forward to seeing him win the debate.

  But the cynical side of her, bolstered by Chante’s words, wondered if she was a tool for Jackson as well. The women headed back to Chante’s office, where Liza grabbed her car and headed to her own office so that she could make Dayshea’s appointment with the stylist. “You’re going down, Robert!” she muttered as she drove through the streets of Uptown Charlotte.

  Six o’clock can’t get here fast enough ran through Jackson’s mind like a mantra as he and his camp put the final touches on the debate preparations. He hadn’t had time to reply to Liza’s text nor finish his lunch, and that had been hours ago.

  He was excited, though. Ready to talk about the issues and win more voters. He hoped that Robert would keep his word about a clean campaign during the debate and focus only on the issues. Part of him worried that he would try to bring Liza into the debate; he didn’t want things to get personal.

  Liza was off limits. She was personal. She was his and he wasn’t going to let anyone hurt her. Especially not Robert Montgomery. Jackson started to ponder if there was something more behind the falling-out between Robert and Liza. The last thing he wanted was to be blindsided again. What if they had been more than friends? A lover’s quarrel with political implications? Nah, I don’t think she would let that happen. Who knows where Montgomery’s head is. Then again, he was engaged to her friend, Jackson thought as he crossed over to the window in the conference room. He hated that he was having doubts about her because he’d been stung so badly by Hillary. Granted, these women were like night and day. Still . . .

  Teresa walked in, breaking into his thoughts. “Calm before the storm,” she said. “Are you ready?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “All you have to do is show the confidence that people have always seen from you. Think about how you saved that man from jumping off that roof. You’re saving this whole district in the debate tonight.”

  Jackson nodded. “The last thing we need is a senator who uses personal attacks on people he no longer agrees with.”

  Teresa rolled her eyes. “What does Liza Palmer have to do with this election?”

  “It’s a pattern. Remember, you’re the one who gave me his file from college and those allegations about rape and paying some girl off.”

  She smiled. “And all of this time, I thought you weren’t paying attention.”

  “I’m still not bringing any of that up tonight.”

  Nodding, Teresa patted him on the shoulder. “Then let’s get ready to rumble.”

  Jackson grinned, feeling relaxed and ready. “Let’s do this,” he exclaimed with a fist pump.

  “That’s my senator!” she said, mirroring Jackson’s excitement. He looked down at his watch. Still a little more than two hours before the debate.

  “Maybe we should go over to the venue,” Jackson said.

  “Reading my mind,” she replied. “I want to make sure you hit your marks.”

  Jackson wanted to laugh. This wasn’t the kind of theater that he was used to. Preparing for battle felt a lot easier than getting ready for this debate. Maybe it was better not to know your enemy so well.

  About fifteen minutes later, Jackson pulled up to the Harvey B. Gantt Center in uptown, where the debate was to be held. As he got out of the car, he saw Robert and Nic walking into the building as well. Nic spotted him first.

  “Mr.—er—Sergeant Franklin, it’s nice to see you,” he said. There wasn’t a hint of sincerity in his voice. Robert stayed silent and sized up his opponent.

  “Gentlemen,” Jackson said with the same falseness. He certainly didn’t think that either of them were gentlemen and he questioned if they were actually men. “Good luck tonight.”

  “I don’t need luck,” Robert said. “But I hope you brought your rabbit’s foot.”

  Just as Jackson was about to react, Teresa walked up to him. “Nic. I’d say nice to see you but that would be nothing but a lie.”

  “Aww, Teresa, it’s nice to see that a relic like you is still trying to stay relevant.”

  “And a little prick like you is still making backroom deals to put scum in office.” Teresa smiled as if she’d told him that his suit was amazingly tailored to his body. “Let’s go.”

  “Bitch,” Nic muttered to Teresa’s retreating frame.

  “There’s some history there that’s pretty brutal, huh?” Jackson asked Teresa when they entered the building.

  “Yes. But we’re not getting into that right now. We’re going to work on beating the shit out of Robert Montgomery.”

  “At some point, you’re going to have to tell me why this is so important to you.”

  Teresa paused. “I was Dominic’s mentor on a campaign to elect Charlotte mayor Thomas Hankins. I thought Hankins was an honorable guy. He’d been on the city council for twenty years as an at-large member. That doesn’t happen in this city.” She closed her eyes and sighed.

  “I had worked on five of his reelection campaigns and I pretty much thought I knew the guy. Fair. Clean. Honest. Well, his opponent was gay. It was kind of like the worst-kept secret in politics, but the man had never come out publicly. Nic, my little protégé, had spotted him in a compromising situation with another man. He brought this information to Hankins and I thought we were going to kick his little ass out of the office, but Hankins blackmailed that man and forced him to drop out. At that time, I’d never been so disappointed in a politician before. I quit; I cussed Nic for being a little shit and told him that one day his underhanded bull would come back on him. I’m still waiting for that day to happen.”

  As Jackson shook his
head, it started to make sense to him why Robert would allow all of those things to be said about Liza. And since she wasn’t a part of Jackson’s campaign, officially, it still looked as if he’d kept the clean campaign promise.

  “I’d love to expose Nic, but in this town image is everything and substance doesn’t matter,” Teresa said. “That’s why you have to win and be above reproach. I can’t have another one of Nic’s cronies in an office he doesn’t deserve.”

  Jackson nodded and then he and Teresa walked onto the stage. A few minutes passed before Robert and Nic walked in and took their place on the other side of the stage. Neither Jackson nor Teresa acknowledged their presence. But Jackson felt them looking at him. “Ignore them,” Teresa whispered. “They are showing that you’re already winning.”

  Liza watched in stunned silence as the new and improved Dayshea walked to the front door. Gone were her cherry-red weave and spiderweb-looking eyelashes. Her hair was styled in a chic bob with some skin tone–appropriate auburn highlights. Her makeup was fresh and understated. And Liza wanted to jump up and down when she saw those garish acrylic nails were gone.

  “Girl, I’m fancy now!” she said when she caught Liza’s eye. “Shoot, I can hang out with you and your bougie gangster friend now.”

  “Chante isn’t a gangster, unless you get her in the courtroom.”

  Dayshea stood on her tiptoes and looked over Liza’s shoulder. “Where is she? Before the media gets here, I want to apologize to her. I hope I didn’t cause the breakup of her engagement. Like I said, I don’t fu—”

  “And that’s very honorable. What are you going to do now?” Liza asked. Dayshea shrugged.

  “I was going to school, but money got tight and I got hooked up with the wrong damn man. Who knew he was mixing cocaine with my weed? Got me hooked on that shit and then he pimped me out. I started loving myself less and less every day. I’d see the women in uptown at night with men who loved them and the man who was supposed to love me wanted me to sell my body so we could get high.”