“If we’re put out, then it’ll show that Blake Washington has something to hide. We’re in a win-win scenario.”
“No, we’ll look like radical fools. That’s not us.”
“Gia, I think you’re giving Washington too much credit. He’s not going to be paying attention to us. We’re probably off his radar already. That’s how these political handlers work.”
“He’s not just a political handler,” she warned, “he’s the political handler and his main focus is his father.”
Bill shook his head. “Wow, he really got to you, didn’t he?”
“Nobody got to me, Bill. Attending the press conference isn’t a rational course of action at this time. We’ll pass.”
“Listen, trust me on this. This was my idea, my plan, so I know it’ll work. They only look at the big picture. He doesn’t care about us. We’re just a blip on the radar to them. I wouldn’t worry about Friday. We’ll stick to our original plan and go. Did you check out the newscasts earlier?” Gia nodded. “He totally dismissed us when asked.”
“Sure, on-camera he dismissed us, but what about off-camera? No, I disagree. If we go out there tomorrow it’ll be an embarrassment. We’ll be totally ridiculed and lose everything we’ve gained so far.”
“Gia, I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you have,” Bill said, using the argument he always used when he wanted his way. In truth, her grandmother had brought him on board just a few months before she joined. “We’ll go and state our case and ask the pertinent questions no one else wants to ask. Then Blake Washington will come knocking on that door looking to make a deal.”
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. “Yes,” Gia said.
Bonnie opened the door and poked her head into the office. “Hey,” she began happily, “y’all are missing out on all the fun. Come on out and enjoy.”
“I’ll be there in a minute,” Gia said, smiling. Bonnie nodded and then left. Gia knew everyone needed this. They worked long, hard hours sending letters, emails and making phone calls. They were dedicated and focused volunteers. There weren’t being paid, so a small celebratory party wasn’t too much to expect. It was the first real release in a long time.
“I gotta go,” Bill said with his hand already on the doorknob. “Trust me, it’ll be fine.”
“I disagree.” Gia knew a power play when she heard one. Bill always thought that her grandmother should have left him in charge, and maybe on some level she did, too. But she didn’t. She gave the reins to Gia, and she was going to do exactly as her grandmother planned—take charge. “We’re not going—end of discussion.”
Bill held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, fine, whatever. I gotta go.” He walked out.
Suddenly, she still felt the shadow of doubt. Bill was underestimating Keith, and his dismissive misjudgment could undermine everything her grandmother had built over the years. She stood up and walked out into the outer office.
There were only five volunteers left after a roomful earlier. They all looked up as soon as she came out. They started clapping and cheering. “Okay, okay, listen, I just wanted to thank you all again. You did a phenomenal job today. Thank you so much. I’m sure my grandmother would be very proud of us,” Gia spoke over the noise. Everyone applauded again. “That said, we’re gonna pass on going to the press conference this Friday.”
They all looked at each other and then back to her. She could see the questions in their eyes. “I know, I know. We’ve been planning this back-to-back second appearance for weeks, but I think they’re gonna be ready for us this time.”
“What does Bill say?” someone asked.
Gia glanced at the man who spoke. Although he didn’t come around often, she knew him well. His name was Danny Mead. He had a relatively popular political blog and touted his conspiracy ideas and opinions to anyone who’d listen. He was also a brown-nosing kiss-up, particularly when it came to anyone with money. He probably thought that since her grandmother didn’t have big money, she didn’t either. She let him believe it. “Bill disagrees with me. But since this is my call and I have final say, we’re gonna pass.”
“Are you sure that’s the right course to take? Maybe you should change your mind and listen to Bill. I mean, no offense or anything, but he must know what he’s talking about. I mean, all this was his idea.” Danny spoke up, obviously enjoying the fact that he was taking center stage.
Everyone looked at him. “You obviously haven’t been here long, Danny, or you would know all this was not Bill’s idea. He just works here just like everyone else.”
Gia smiled as everyone in the room looked from her to Danny. He didn’t respond again. But a muscle in his neck twitched. She had shut him up. She knew he was testing her. He was the type, arrogant and chauvinistic. He pushed up at her and she was in the perfect frame of mind to put him in his place.
Bonnie smiled. “Okay, then what’s next on the agenda?”
“The governor is coming into the city next week. He’s expected to give Blake Washington his endorsement. I doubt the mayor’s gonna want to have another town meeting, and that means he’ll probably do it someplace less ceremonious. First thing tomorrow morning we need to find out where and when, then be there and be ready. But for right now, how about another slice of pizza?”
The room cheered and applauded. Bonnie opened the pizza box and placed a cold slice of pepperoni pizza on a paper plate and handed it to Gia. She took one bite and joined in the fun, staying about ten minutes. Then someone suggested they take the party to a nearby restaurant. Everyone quickly agreed and began cleaning up for the next day. Gia declined, then went back to her office. She sat down and tossed yet another slice of cold pizza on her desk.
A few minutes later Bonnie came barging into the office. “Oh, my God, Gia, you are never gonna believe who just walked into the front office,” Bonnie said excitedly. “Guess, guess, come on, guess. You are never gonna guess. I swear, never.”
“Who is it, Bonnie?” Gia asked dryly.
Bonnie’s eyes sparkled. “Keith Washington.”
Gia looked up. “What?”
“I know, I can’t believe it,” Bonnie said.
“He’s here, right now in the office?” Gia clarified.
Bonnie nodded nonstop and nearly squealed. “Yeah, he is. How crazy is that? He’s outside talking to the others.”
Danny came up behind Bonnie. “What’s he doing here? Did you call him? What does he want with you?”
Gia ignored Danny’s questions. She was too busy trying to get her senses back. Her stomach dropped as if she’d just fallen from the roof of the Empire State Building. Her heart began to race and her hands shook. She stood up and looked around the office, seeing everything perfectly in place. “Okay, fine, ask him to come in,” she said, faking calm. Bonnie nodded and hurried back to the front. A few seconds later he knocked on the open door and stepped aside smiling.
Keith Washington stood in the doorway of her office looking exactly as he had looked a few hours ago. Gia walked over. “Mr. Washington, good evening, please come in.”
“Ms. Duncan,” he said, extending his hand to shake. “Thank you for seeing me without an appointment. I usually don’t just barge in like this. I hope I’m not disturbing you too much.”
“No, not at all, have a seat,” she said as she went back to stand behind her desk. He remained standing.
“I apologize for the lateness of the hour. I won’t take up much of your time.”
“What can I do for you, Mr. Washington?”
“First of all, you can call me Keith, please,” he requested. She nodded. “I’ll get right to the point. I’d like to facilitate an open dialogue with the mayor’s office as I have done with a number of other citywide community organizations.”
“That would be acceptable,” she said.
“Good.
I’ll have my assistant contact you in the next few days,” he said, turning to leave.
She knew she should have just let him walk out, but she couldn’t. “You know the people of this city expected great things from the mayor and city council on all levels. Your father made a number of generous promises regarding housing, education and a comprehensive jobs plan initiative. Now three and a half years later he wants us to give him more time to ignore every one of his erroneous promises again. I don’t think so. Not this time.”
Keith stopped and turned back to her. “First of all, Ms. Duncan, you need to read not only transcripts of the mayor’s speeches, but also your own literature. OCC has backed Blake Washington both as city council member and mayor for the last ten years. And believe me when I say he does not make erroneous promises. You need to check your facts. Understand this, the mayor’s one and only concern is to help this city and further its economic growth.”
She nodded. “To play devil’s advocate, perhaps that can best be accomplished by a new mayor in the office.”
“You mean like Lester Jameson?” Keith asked.
“Hypothetically, yes. He has a reputation for helping the people.”
“If you say so. I’m sure you of all people would know best.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Everyone knows that Lester Jameson has OCC in his pocket, and your attempt to discredit the mayor is in fact—”
“Whoa, first of all, OCC is in no one’s pocket and secondly, we didn’t discredit anyone,” she quickly interrupted.
“At least the second part of that statement is true. You didn’t damage the mayor, but you did call into question the reputation of your organization.”
She opened her mouth, stunned by his audacity. Then she smiled knowingly. “You’re a sore loser. Get over it. You got beat down today. Live with it.”
Keith shook his head and looked around the small office. “Not necessarily. It was a rookie mistake and perhaps you need to know me better to understand the way I work. I’m very good at my job. By tomorrow morning the media will be questioning your organization, particularly centering on your very generous gift to us.”
“What gift? We didn’t give you any money,” she declared immediately, thinking he’d pulled some underhanded ruse with fake bank statements sent to the media.
“No, not money, the nice lady from Los Angeles.Big mistake.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she lied badly.
Keith saw it instantly. “Good, I’m glad to see it bothers you to lie. But the fact is, someone put ‘the people’ up to that shambles of a drive-by media assault this afternoon and—”
“What happened this afternoon was a fair political debate about issues, not a media assault,” she interrupted.
“Including your actor friend from L.A.?” he questioned.
Gia took a deep breath, then hesitated. “As I said earlier, I have no idea about that. She’s not an OCC volunteer.”
Keith smirked. “Of course she isn’t. I’d disavow her too if I were you, but a word to the wise, you might want to find out exactly who she is before casting stones. But I didn’t come here to talk about your volunteers, paid or otherwise.”
“We don’t have to pay people to disagree with the mayor. Perhaps you’re too far up in your ivory tower living in the lap of luxury to hear this, but news flash, Mr. Washington, people are suffering. They need jobs, affordable housing and education. Turning a blind eye to that and living in a privileged status isn’t gonna fly anymore. The mayor promised us relief. Where is it?”
The fire in her eyes sparkled. Keith smiled. “You are beautiful when you’re angry.”
“Don’t patronize me,” she said, hearing the familiar vibration of her cell phone’s message alert. She grabbed her purse and pulled it out, realizing she had never turned the ringer back on after she switched it to vibrate during the town hall meeting.
“Sorry, no, of course not,” he said, “I apologize if you took it that way. If you felt insulted or patronized, it was unintended. In other words, I was joking.”
“I don’t joke,” she said as she scrolled her caller ID, checking the last few missed calls.
“Yes, I can see that.”
“Getting back to your original point, I accept your proposal to open a dialogue, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to...” She stopped talking on seeing a missed call from Crestar Nursing and Rehab Center. “Mr. Washington, we’re gonna have to cut this short,” she said, standing. “Thank you for stopping by this evening. I look forward to meeting with you in the next few days.”
“Are you okay?” he asked. “You seem...”
“I’m fine, thank you. I just have to be someplace right now. I’d appreciate it if you’d have your assistant contact the office for an appointment next time. Good night.” She held her hand out to shake.
He took her hand gently and felt a slight tremor. She quickly released his hand and walked to the door.
Keith nodded. “Good night.” He left.
Gia hurried back to her desk, grabbed her cell phone and called the nursing home. An attendant at the nurse’s station answered. “Hello, my name is Gia Duncan. I just got a message about my grandmother, Ms. Julia Banks,” she said anxiously.
“Yes, Ms. Duncan, I called you earlier. Your grandmother’s sleeping right now. There was an accident earlier and we’re instructed to call a contact person if there’s an incident. Ms. Banks stumbled and fell a few hours ago. She was attended to by our staff physician and then was taken to the emergency ward for precautionary treatment.”
Gia’s heart fell. “Did she have another stroke?”
“I can’t say. The doctors had several tests done, including X-rays. They didn’t find any broken or fractured bones. However, she did suffer a slight wrist sprain. It’s wrapped and she’s wearing a sling. She was returned to her room and is resting quietly.”
Gia’s heart quickened and beat like a snare drum. “Thank you. I’ll be right there,” she said, then ended the call and began gathering her things. She hurried out of her office, seeing that Bonnie and Danny were the only ones left in the front office. They had their coats on and were obviously leaving when she approached.
“Perfect timing, we were just on our way out,” Bonnie said. “Oh, my God, I still can’t believe Keith Washington just showed up like that. Can you believe it?”
“He was obviously sizing us up,” Danny said suspiciously. “What did you two talk about?” he asked, expecting an answer.
Gia looked at Bonnie, ignoring Danny’s comment. “I have to go.”
“Everything okay?” Bonnie asked.
“I don’t know yet. The nursing home called. There was an incident. I’m on my way there now. I’ll call you in the morning,” Gia said as she turned the lights off and followed Danny and Bonnie out the front door. Everyone disbursed to their separate cars. Gia hurried to her car and quickly drove off.
Keith, a few blocks away, slowed at a traffic light and then stopped at the intersection. Traffic was relatively light for this time of night. He hit the button on the steering wheel to turn on his music. Seconds later the mellow vocals of an old Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terell song played. He smiled and then chuckled to himself, remembering his mother and father performing the same selection at a family barbecue a few months earlier.
He glanced up in the rearview mirror, because he saw the brightness of two headlights rapidly coming up behind him. The car quickly veered to the right, pulling up beside him, and then stopped short. He glanced over to see Gia behind the wheel. She looked anxious, tapping her hands on the steering wheel and intently focused on the traffic light. He frowned. He knew her anxious behavior had something to do with the phone message she’d gotten. She’d been acting nervous since she glanced at her cell phone.
&
nbsp; A few seconds later the light changed and she quickly turned the corner and sped off. Keith looked straight ahead and then at the corner Gia had just turned. He knew following her wasn’t a good idea. It was intrusive and he knew it would look bad if she found out, but he also knew he didn’t have much choice. He needed to know her deal. Curiously, he followed.
She didn’t break any traffic laws, but she certainly bent a few as she drove with definite intent. He lost her briefly a couple of times, and then he saw her as she quickly turned a corner a block ahead. He turned to follow, but then her car was nowhere in sight. He slowly drove down the narrow cobblestone street, then stopped, seeing a well-lit sign on the corner. It read Crestar Medical Center.
He turned in, driving up the path, then caught a quick glimpse of her car driving around the side of the building. There was another sign, the Crestar Nursing and Rehab Center. He continued up a secluded driveway, then stopped upon seeing Gia get out of her car and hurry into the main building.
He parked and followed her inside.
Chapter 5
An hour and a half later, Gia paused just outside her grandmother’s door. She leaned back against the whitewashed wall and looked down the empty hallway. It was late and certainly most of the patients were already asleep. A dim light from the nurse’s station shone farther down the corridor. She raised her head to the ceiling and took a deep breath, then released it gradually as a tear slowly slid down the side of her face and down her neck. She was alone and right now she felt it.
Seeing her grandmother so helpless tore her apart. She was once so strong and now her body had betrayed her, but her eyes were still bright and alert. The once vibrant intellectual, who could argue and win any debate, was now rendered nearly speechless.
Gia closed her eyes in regret. Time had always been against her, but right now it was her enemy. She’d lost so many years not having her mother with her. There was no way she could face losing her grandmother, too. She missed so much for so long. She just wished she could have it all back. She turned, glancing back into the room. Her grandmother was sleeping peacefully, just as she had been for the past half hour. The small lamp was on and the room was set in a comfortable muted glow. Gia walked back into the bedroom and picked up her coat and purse, then paused at her grandmother’s bedside. It was time for her to head home.
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