The Golden Boy Returns (The New Pioneers Book 5)

by Deborah Nam-Krane

  The second man shrugged. "I've got a home, but I prefer to be out here. The fresh air is good for my health."

  "And you?" David asked the first man.

  "I can go home whenever I want, but I don't want to."

  David inhaled. "We need you guys to stop using this place late at night."

  "Fine," the first man shrugged. "We'll just come here in the afternoon."

  "We're not cops," Charlie confirmed, "but we could call the cops right now. I know the captain of the local station very well, and he would love it if I handed you guys over to him." He looked at the second man. "And considering what my friend and I saw you pull out of your bag, and what your friend here just offered so she could have a swig, I'd say they'd have good reason to search the rest of your stuff. I'm willing to bet you've got more in there than just a bottle."

  "No, that's not us!" the woman screamed.

  "Yo, shut up!" the second man said.

  "No!" she shrieked. "I am not going to be arrested for someone else's drugs." She turned to Charlie. "Those guys don't come here that often, because they're mostly too high to do anything regular. But they don't run with us."

  "What are their names?" David asked calmly.

  "Derek," she said. "That's the leader. And then there's a Malcolm, Javi, and Scott."

  The second man sighed. "They're in and out of the meth clinic at Shattuck," he said finally. "And I think they've all got records."

  "Would you be able to ID them in a line up?" David asked.

  "Yo, I am not going into a police station for this! I'm just telling you it is not us and giving you information to help you find them."

  "Let's get out of here," the first man said. "This is too much for a buzz."

  "Wait," David heard himself say as they started gathering their stuff. "When was the last time you guys had a decent meal?"

  David and Charlie walked the three over to an all-night diner that had been around since the Sixties. The décor looked it, but they still managed to serve very good food.

  The young woman raved about the food. "My grandmother used to cook like this," she said as she ate her mashed potatoes with gravy. "But my mother never got her recipe, and then she died."

  The first man ate his food quickly. "But we don't owe you anything," he said. "You're just two nice men doing your fellow citizens a favor, and we're just gratefully accepting."

  The second man savored his meal. David noticed that, almost in spite of himself, he seemed to have very good table manners. "Thank you, this is very good."

  David sat back. "Do you guys have jobs?"

  The second man scoffed. "Jobs are a sucker's game," he said. "My sister and brother both work at fast food joints, but they're always short. And hungry. Can you believe that? They work with food all day, and they're still hungry." He smiled ruefully. "Why bother?"

  The first man shrugged. "I had a job at a hardware store, but they kept losing customers to Home Depot so they fired me. They made up an excuse that I had spilled a bunch of paint in the parking lot, but it had come in that way. So now I can't use them for a reference."

  The young woman was silent, so after a moment David asked, "Did any of you graduate from high school?"

  The two men laughed bitterly. "I had to leave school when I was sixteen to help my mother take care of her youngest, and then I had to help take care of my nephew when he came along. If I knew where his father was I'd drag him to my house and make him do it," the second man said.

  "What about a GED?" David asked.

  The first man snickered, and the young woman looked confused. "Yeah, that's a good one," the second man said. "GEDs are for rich people."

  "What do they cost now?" the first man asked.

  The second man scoffed. "Last time I checked it was up to one-twenty."

  "Did you know there's a program that meets at the Dudley Library that gives you some test prep and gets you into the test?" Charlie asked quietly.

  "And how much is that?" the first man asked.

  "It's free," Charlie answered. "You just need a recommendation from your city councilor, state rep or state senator, and that's just so they can verify that you're a resident of Boston."

  "Yeah, I'm sure they'll just fall over themselves trying to help me," the second man said bitterly.

  David shrugged. "Why not? They're available even for people with a felony record."

  "Now hold on," the second man said defiantly. "A couple of misdemeanors, and most of them were dismissed."

  David swallowed. "Then you should be fine."

  "And even Chauncy would sign that piece of paper," Charlie said before he yawned. David cleared his throat and Charlie stopped mid-stretch. "Did I say that out loud?"

  David stayed silent until the first man started laughing. The second man doubled over, and even the young woman giggled. David chuckled when the second man high-fived Charlie. "That's some truth to power right there!" He looked at David. "Aw, now, don't be mad! You know you were thinking it too."

  "'I'm going to plead the Fifth on that one—and I know you know exactly what I mean." He leaned forward and whispered. "Is there any amount of takeout I could get for you guys to make you forget Charlie said that?"

  Charlie glowered at David. "Back off. I've been cleaning up other people's messes for five years, I can handle my own."

  The first man sat up straight. "I do believe a public official is trying to bribe us!" he said loudly.

  David grinned. "I haven't been elected yet!"

  The second man laughed. "Even better!"

  David stopped smiling. Even better. "Well, if I'm going to go down for a bribe, let's make it worth my while. I will personally make sure Chauncy signs for all three of you to enter that GED class at Dudley if you apologize to Mrs. Davis—"

  "That's not hard," the first man said with a nod.

  "—and help us clean up that park."

  "We didn't make the mess!" the young woman whined. "And I don't want to go to the GED class."

  David already knew that she wouldn't be able to handle the work to get a GED yet. He'd find another program for her, but he'd deal with that later. He turned to the two young men. "We didn't make that mess either, but we're going to help Chauncy's office clean it up."

  The first man raised his eyebrows and looked down his nose. "You mean you guys are going to clean it up and give Chauncy the credit."

  David blinked. "I can neither confirm nor deny, but the point is that everyone has to pitch in."

  "Derek's crew isn't going to clean it up," the woman mumbled sleepily. Charlie waved the waitress over and gestured for more coffee.

  "If the choice is between cleaning it or paying a fine, I can guess what they'll choose," David said.

  The second man shrugged and opened his hands wide. "What the Hell? I have to clean up after my nephew all the time, and he doesn't offer me a GED for doing it."

  The first man narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "Not enough. If you want us to clean up, I want a job on your campaign. You can keep the GED signature."

  Charlie stopped David before he could answer. "And what could you offer to the campaign?"

  The young man lifted his chin. "A big bunch of unregistered voters who happen to run in my crew."

  The second man rolled his eyes. "I'm your crew, fool!"

  "I have other crews!" the other man said defensively.

  "If you say so," the second man said derisively.

  David stifled a laugh. "And you could convince these...potential voters to register to vote?"

  "That's your job!" the man said. "I'll just tell you where they are."

  "Oh, no," Charlie said. "It doesn't work like that. You find them, you convince them to register and you tell them how great David is. He comes in to close the deal, but what sells them is your belief, because you're the one they know."

  "And what am I supposed to say?" the young man asked. "Because I'm assuming you don't want me to tell everyone how quick he is to buy a late night dinn
er for kids hanging out in a playground."

  David took out three cards and handed them out. "Here's what we're going to do: you come to my office tomorrow morning at nine. I will lay out as much of what I want to do as you want to hear. You'd better have some questions, and you'd better tell me what you want to see done. If you think you can get that message across to your friends and family, you've got a job—if you take the GED class. I'll be happy to come out and talk to anyone anywhere, but you do the work to set it up."

  The second man looked at the card. "Anything else?"

  David shrugged. "If you can show up at nine, we're halfway there." He looked at his watch. "Which means we should get you people home."

  Charlie looked at the young woman, who was falling asleep in the booth. "Do one of you have a couch for her?"

  The first man rolled his eyes. "Yeah, she can come over—but one of you has to explain it to my mother."

  "What does your mother like for breakfast?" David asked as he reached into his wallet.

  ~~~

  The young men arrived at eight forty-five the next morning. The first man shrugged. "We didn't want to be late," he said.

  The second man clicked his tongue. "And getting on the bus any later would have made us late."

  David grinned and stuck out his hand. "Glad you could make it. Want to tell me what your names are now?"

  "Ray Warner," the first man said and shook his hand.

  "Nice to meet you."

  "Kevin Benson," the second man said as he looked at David's hand then shook it.

  Charlie came in at that moment with coffee and donuts. "Charlie!" David called out. "Meet Ray and Kevin."

  Charlie put down the food and waved. "Nice to meet you. Now let's get started."

  David had a pitch prepared for voters, but he went deeper for these two. Kevin shook his head halfway into his platform on public transportation. "How are you supposed to use a Quick Wheels if you never learned how to drive?"

  "And your family doesn't have a car so they can't teach you," Ray piped in.

  "How much is Driver's Ed?" Charlie asked.

  "It's not that bad—if you're in highschool. But it isn't if you're not," Kevin said.

  "Good point," David muttered as he made a note.

  When they got to education and staying in school, Ray could not contain his bitterness. "You know some people leave school even when they want to stay, right?"

  "Then why are they leaving?" David asked quietly.

  "Because a very interesting class on the history of the labor movement in this country and a discussion about the different ways that we all came into this country is not going to be enough to keep us in school when we have to help out at home."

  David sat back. "So what would help?"

  "If high school was more like college," Kevin said. "In college you don't have to go to school from seven thirty to two thirty. You go in when you have a class and you don't get in trouble for not being there." He scowled. "You're not treated like a child."

  "But you are a kid when you're in high school," Charlie reminded him.

  "Oh yeah?" Kevin shot back. "Some of us have watched our parents come home drunk and had to get them into the shower to sober them up. Some of us have had to defend our mothers from men who beat them—and then get beaten up ourselves. Some of us haven't had enough food to eat since before we can remember. Some of us have to take care of our brothers and sisters and get a job in our 'free' time. And you know that and our teachers know that. Where do you get off calling us ‘kids’ and treating us like that?"

  "No one's trying to disrespect you," Charlie said gently. "But it's their job while you're there—"

  "To pretend that the rest of our lives don't exist?" Ray suggested. "We're not at a boarding school; when class ends, we have to remember."

  David thought about his high school experience and remembered walking by other students who were clearly cutting class. He hadn't understood why they wouldn't just go to class and hang out after school. He hadn't appreciated until now that some kids needed a break from the rest of their lives.

  "There are state laws," he said at last. "Over the course of the year, the schools have to make sure that you get a certain amount of instruction in a certain number of subjects. That's why the schedule is set up the way it is."

  "That doesn't make it legit," Kevin said.

  "No, it doesn't," David said slowly. "But what I'm saying is that it's not something a city councilor or even a mayor can change."

  Kevin shrugged, irritated. "Fine, but then don't be all, 'look at how cool we're going to make everything, now you can stay'."

  "But you'd go for your GED?" Charlie asked.

  Ray nodded. "If I can take the course and the test for free, yes. Because that doesn't last forever."

  "Interesting," David murmured.

  By eleven, David was done. "So, guys, think you can sell me?"

  Kevin shrugged. "Yeah, I can tell everyone you're a good guy and that you've got good ideas."

  "And that you listen," Ray said, raising his eyebrows. "Too bad we can't tell them about the park."

  Kevin sneered. "When they see it cleaned up, they'll know it wasn't Chauncy."

  Later that evening, Charlie waved his hand in front of David's face. David jumped. "Sorry, I must have wandered off into space for a second."

  "Still thinking about our young friends?" Charlie asked.

  "I had it all figured out, didn’t I?" His disappointment was etched into his face. "My idea with the university scholarship program was to help get kids to excel in school so they could qualify for a scholarship. I thought...I don’t know, that I could take away some of the insecurity and that would mean they would be able to do well. But there’s a flipside: when things are so bad that even staying in school is a sign of a huge effort."

  "And character," Charlie said.

  David frowned. "You don't think those two have character?"

  "I think we found those two in a playground late at night about to take their junkie friend up on her offer of prostitution in exchange for a drink. And I'm feeling pretty good about them showing up this weekend to clean up, and I'm guessing they're both going to try very hard to make it through the GED program—because you're offering them a job. They see an opening, and they're going to take it. And that's fine, but there's a word for someone like that: opportunist."

  "And that makes them different from us how?" David rested his head behind his hands. "I want to get a look at the schedules of every Boston Public school, and I want to talk to the person in charge of the community colleges."

  Charlie rolled his eyes. "And do you want to do this before or after we clean up that playground?"

  David smiled ruefully. "I don't have anyone to sober up or babysit, so now is just fine."

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  David had reluctantly agreed not to show up to clean the park, but he insisted that Charlie be there. "And why is that, boss?" Charlie asked, annoyed.

  "Ernie's going to be managing everyone; I need you to be my eyes and ears."

  "Did I not mention that Chauncy can’t stand the sight of me and that it’s kind of mutual?"

  "Good, then he won't talk to you. And besides, he won't show up for very long."

  David intentionally made some appointments for Saturday so he wouldn't be tempted to check out the playground site. He met with three donors and checked in with Lucy Bartolome's office about the scholars program. Then he visited a senior center. He was driving to an Asian American association's youth event when he got a text from Charlie.

  Press is here.

  David groaned.

  David came to the office at six and found Charlie sitting at his desk, gulping down water. "I need a drink," he said when he was done.

  "You just had one," David said.

  "No, I mean a real one," Charlie said as he put down his water bottle. "And then I need a shower—and no, I don't mean so I can wash off my copious amount of sweat either."
/>   David folded his arms. "Just tell me what happened."

  "First off: we're going to give Kevin and Ray a job even if I have to find another donor just to fund them. They worked their butts today. They got there before I got there and when I was leaving they were still there. That place is spic and span, and we made sure that Mrs. Davis got to see it that way—and they apologized to her, even though I think they're right and they weren't the people in the park the night she complained."

  David grinned. "That doesn't sound so bad."

  "That's the good part. The other part is that Chauncy showed up with the media crew at three. Who knew the SOB knew so much about the history of the playground, but he managed to milk that for ten minutes before he came over to every single person on the crew, put his arm around him so he could get a picture with him and then stayed for the interview so they couldn't say anything about him—or you."

  "And what did you say?"

  Charlie shuddered. "You'd have been so proud. I talked about the 'vibrancy shuttered behind every door in the neighborhood' and how a clean playground was going to let some of that come out. And I did not say your name once or mention that I left Chauncy's office. Again, I need a drink and you're buying it for me."

  David held his breath. "What about Kevin and Ray?"

  Charlie waved his hand. "I told you: they get a job and they start on Monday. Before I had a chance to say anything to them they asked Ernie to give them the job of fixing one of the swings and then managed to make sure that they got their faces, shirts and hands covered in camera-unfriendly dirt. There was no way Chauncy was going to give them a hug or shake their hands after that!"

  David threw his head back in laughter. "That is so great!"

  "Glad you like that," Charlie said. "Maybe that will make up for the fact that this will be all over the Metro section of the Globe tomorrow, and the story will read as if Chauncy was the mastermind behind the clean-up."

  David sighed. "We knew this could happen, and what's the loss? I'm not running against Chauncy." He shrugged. "And I think Mrs. Davis knows exactly why that park is clean, and that's all that matters."

  "Mmm hmm. We'll see how you feel tomorrow. Now which bar are you taking me to?"