The Longer The Fall

by Aviva Gat

  “How could you, of all people, say that?” Brandon asked. Their discussion in the kitchen was becoming heated, enough so that the boys were starting to glance over from the suite’s living room. “Is this coming from Jane? Is she pressuring you to pay?”

  “Not at all,” Madeline responded. “I’m just worried about what would happen if this gets in the news. Think about the boys. Do you want them to see me naked online? Do you want their friends making fun of their mother to their faces? And what will I do? What if I have to resign?”

  “Because of stupid rumors? Because of lies!? That’s absurd.” Brandon’s voice became louder and Madeline flashed her eyes to the living room, where the boys were pretending to watch TV.

  “It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened,” Madeline replied, hushing her tone. “Lots of people’s careers are ruined by lies.”

  Brandon shook his head violently back and forth. “I don’t understand you, Madeline. As a politician, you are so strict on your values. You never vote for something you don’t believe in. You always speak up about what you think is right. That’s why people love you. Because you’re genuine and you have principles that you cannot be convinced to break, no matter what. But now, it’s like you’re ready to give up your principles because you’re afraid of not being reelected. It’s so unlike you, I don’t get it.”

  “It’s not unlike me.” Madeline grabbed Brandon’s hand. “Listen, to continue fighting for my principles, I can’t let this explode. No matter what.”

  Brandon again started violently shaking his head, just as the doorbell rang. Noah and Adam both immediately jumped from the couch.

  “Don’t answer it!” Brandon yelled with slight paranoia in his voice. He pulled his hands from Madeline’s and ran to the door, peeking through the peephole.

  “Room service,” came a voice from the other side of the door. Brandon opened it for the bellboy who came in wheeling a table covered in a white cloth and four cloches covering their lunch. Brandon tipped the man and sat down with the boys to eat.

  “You coming?” He asked Madeline who was still standing in the kitchen, next to the coffee maker that had just finished brewing.

  With a deep breath, she nodded and walked to the table where her Caesar Salad was waiting. She ate silently while Brandon talked to the boys about what they were missing in school that day. The conversation was a blur to Madeline. How could she make Brandon understand? There was so much at stake. More than her principles, more than family. There were things like the SAVER Bill, like the constituents she fought for. People needed her. She couldn’t let those people down. And as her trust in the FBI started to shrink, she feared she had no other options.

  Chapter 13

  “Mrs. Thomas, so sorry to bother you,” Mr. Kendrick said on the phone. “I tried calling Mr. Thomas, but he wasn’t answering.”

  “No problem, Mr. Kendrick,” she responded politely to the principal at Highland Academy. “How can I help you?”

  “There’s been another incident with Noah at school,” the principal said. “He’s sitting with me in my office.”

  “What happened?”

  “He pushed Jamie Albertson,” Mr. Kendrick responded. “He’s in the hospital.”

  “What? Is he all right?” Madeline felt herself getting angry with Noah. What had he done? This was exactly the kind of thing that could make it into the press if Jamie’s mother Bonnie wanted to make trouble for Madeline.

  “He broke his arm,” the principal explained. “When Noah pushed him, he fell on one of the concrete benches in the courtyard. He’ll be OK, but this is a serious issue. I’m going to have to suspend Noah again. Mrs. Albertson wants an expulsion, but I’d like to speak with you and her first. See if we can work something out. Are you available to meet this evening? In the meantime, I need you or Molly to come pick up Noah.”

  “No problem,” Madeline responded. “I’ll come. I’m on my way.” Madeline hung up the phone and rushed out of her office. She waved goodbye to Jane, promising she’d come back soon. She had plenty to do at work, but first she needed to see Noah. Her insides wanted to scream at him, to shake him as hard as she could and slap his face until he understood that he couldn’t bully another student. He made her so angry, an anger that only a mother can understand—one so strong and full of rage that can only be borne from feelings of love and disappointment. How could Noah do this to her? With her reelection campaign launch coming up. With the blackmail threatening to topple that. With everything else going on? But of course, she reminded herself, Noah wasn’t aware of any of these things. He was just a kid, with an anger issue and two parents who didn’t know how to solve it.

  In the car ride Madeline called Brandon to update him that she was picking Noah up from school. He agreed they should both attend the meeting that evening with the school’s principal and Mrs. Albertson. She then called Molly, to tell her she would be dropping Noah off at home. Then she pulled into the school parking lot and hightailed it to the principal’s office. When she entered, she saw Noah sitting quietly in a chair, rocking slightly back-and-forth as he stared at his hands. He looked up when the door opened.

  “Noah!” Madeline stated, flicking her head at him. She then looked at Mr. Kendrick, who was focused on his computer screen.

  “Mrs. Thomas, thank you so much for coming it,” he said too politely when he looked up at her. “Sorry again for the bother. Will I be seeing you or Mr. Thomas this evening?”

  “We’ll both attend,” she responded and motioned to Noah to grab his backpack and follow her out. She glared at her son silently, portraying her anger and disappointment. He needed to understand there were consequences for his actions. Maybe taking him out for dessert during his last suspension was a mistake, Madeline thought to herself. Noah followed her to the car, trailing a few paces behind. After they were inside and buckled, Madeline turned to her son.

  “What is wrong with you?” she exploded. She instantly hated herself for it, but she couldn’t help herself. She felt like a volcano, unable to stop itself from bursting out and spewing lava everywhere. Noah looked straight ahead, without even flinching. “Hello? Can you hear me? Noah! Do you want to explain?”

  Noah shook his head. “Can we just go home?”

  Madeline started the car, but her anger continued flowing from her mouth. “You can’t just bully other kids! There are consequences! It affects all of us, don’t you get it? You being a bully hurts me. It hurts dad, it hurts Adam! There is never any reason for it!”

  Noah remained silent.

  “Don’t you have anything to say?”

  He shook his head. Madeline let out a huge sigh.

  “I just don’t know what to do with you,” she continued. “Maybe we’ll ship you to boarding school. Would you want that?”

  Noah shook his head and mumbled something under his breath.

  “What? Speak up!” Madeline yelled at her son.

  “It’s not my fault!” Noah screamed. “Jamie started it! He always does!”

  “He started it? What? He pushed himself into a concrete bench? He broke his own arm?” Noah’s avoidance of blame made Madeline even angrier.

  “You don’t understand,” Noah said, shaking his head.

  “So help me understand.”

  “Jamie lies. He says things.”

  “That doesn’t mean you can push him!”

  Noah didn’t respond.

  “Well, what did he say?”

  Noah again mumbled something too quiet for Madeline to hear.

  “What!?” Madeline shouted.

  “He called you a whore!” Noah screamed out. “He said his dad said you were a whore!”

  Madeline’s mouth fell open in shock. “What do you mean?”

  “That’s what he said! That his dad called you a whore.”

  “You still shouldn’t have pushed him,” Madeline said, although her tone had become calm as the lava of her anger flowed from Noah to Jamie. Noah shrugged and the two remained
silent for the rest of the car ride. Madeline dropped Noah at home and then again called Brandon as she drove back to her office.

  After she recounted to him what Noah told her, he breathed heavily into the phone for a few moments. “Do you think this is connected?” She asked him, thinking of the picture of her lying naked on the cream-colored sheets flashed in her head.

  “I don’t know, but I will alert Agent Murray,” he responded. “Maybe it’s a lead.” The couple agreed to meet at the school that evening for the meeting with the Albertsons.

  Madeline had a difficult time concentrating for the rest of the day. She sat in meetings with supporters, discussed her reelection campaign launch and reviewed talking points for a few upcoming engagements she couldn’t cancel. The day continued as a blur and more than once Jane had to remind her exactly what they were doing or talking about at that moment. When the clock ticked closer to evening, she excused herself, and drove back to the school. When she arrived, she saw Brandon sitting in his parked car, talking on the phone. She parked next to him and got out. When he saw her, he also opened his car door, but he was still on the phone.

  “I need to see an updated version tonight,” he said, with his phone to his ear. “No more delays.” Then he hung up and turned to Madeline. “Everyone is so incompetent,” he confided and kissed his wife on the cheek. “What’s our game plan in there?”

  “I think we start by listening and see what they say,” Madeline responded. “Once they’ve gotten out all they have to say, we can confront them about what Jamie said.” Brandon nodded and the two continued toward the office, their fingers intertwined between them.

  Inside Bonnie Albertson and her husband were already sitting across from Mr. Kendrick. “We just love running the bake sale,” Bonnie was saying when the Thomases walked in.

  Madeline and Brandon released a friendly greeting and sat down next to the other couple whose anger radiated around them. The four parents sat silently as Mr. Kendrick began their meeting.

  “Thank you all for coming in this evening,” the principal started. “As you know, it is very important that our school be a safe place for everyone and that we all get along.”

  “Well it is definitely not safe now!” Bonnie exclaimed. “Poor Jamie! He’s in a cast! He can’t play baseball for months now! This will set him back significantly! He was the first baseman, you know. Coach Roy said he has real talent and that scouts would definitely be looking for him when he finishes high school!”

  “He’s ten,” Brandon retorted. “Plenty of time to heal before the college scouts come.”

  “You see?” Bonnie turned to the principal. “This is what I am talking about. The Thomases think they are above everyone, they don’t care that their actions have consequences. In fact, I’m pretty sure their actions usually don’t have consequences! They get away with everything!”

  “What does that mean?” Brandon shot back. Madeline squeezed his hand trying to remind him of their plan to first listen. The message was not acknowledged. “Do you think that if we drop a plate it doesn’t fall?”

  “What?” Bonnie turned to look at Brandon and then to her husband with whom she shared a look and a laugh. “Does that have anything to do with what’s going on here?”

  “Please,” the principal cut in. “I understand everyone is upset—”

  “Upset is right,” Brandon cut in again.

  “You’re upset?” Bonnie screeched. “Your son put mine in the hospital! How could you be upset? Your son should be expelled! Mr. Kendrick, you have to expel Noah! He is a danger to the other students! My poor Jamie! He’s been bullied all year by Noah and you should have stopped it before it got this far!”

  “Mrs. Albertson,” Mr. Kendrick said, his voice significantly softer than Bonnie’s. “Let’s all try to discuss this together, rationally, as adults. Now, I noticed Mrs. Albertson and Mr. Thomas have been the only two speaking. Mr. Albertson, Mrs. Thomas, would you like to say anything?” Mr. Albertson shook his head.

  “I would like to say something,” Madeline spoke up. “I think this conversation has been very one sided and no one has listened to Noah’s perspective on the issue.”

  “Noah’s perspective?” Bonnie gasped. “On his bullying? Are you kidding?”

  “Noah sees his actions as defensive,” Madeline was careful to maintain an even tone and made eye contact with everyone in the room. “Yes, he pushed Jamie, and that was wrong, but he did it because of something Jamie said to him.”

  “What a lie! Mark!” Bonnie stood up and looked toward her husband. “We will not sit by and listen to this talk! We will take legal action if needed! Mark! Tell them what you told me! About how we can sue the Thomases and the school!”

  “I don’t believe Noah was lying,” Madeline said, facing the principal. “In fact, I think Jamie was repeating something he heard at home.”

  “Now you are accusing us?” Bonnie said, standing in front of her chair with her hands on her hips. “This is absurd!”

  “Jamie told Noah that I am a whore,” Madeline said, facing the principal but her eyes were peering at Mark Albertson to gage his reaction. It was a good thing she focused her eyes on the man because if she hadn’t she might have missed it. The man who seemed utterly unengaged until that moment let out a swift chuckle and shake of his head as though quite satisfied with what he heard. His expression of emotion lasted less than a second, and then his face again went blank and he looked to his wife.

  “What?” Bonnie said. “Jamie would not use that language! Nor do we at home!”

  Madeline quickly changed her demeanor, the same way she did in debates or other round tables with opponents. Her strategy was always to start looking like the underdog, like the quiet one that no one need fear, but once her opponents were riled up, she flipped, using their own emotions against them, making them look like petty children while she gave the final word of reason.

  “Actually, I believe Mr. Albertson does,” Madeline said, turning to the man to address him. “Mr. Albertson, is it possible that you told your son, or said in a way that he would hear you, that I am a whore?” The man’s mouth dropped slightly and he hesitated as he looked to his wife and the principal as though one of them could signal him the right answer.

  “This is ridiculous!” Bonnie yelled, throwing her hands up. “Mark, let’s go. We’re done here. Mr. Kendrick, if Noah isn’t expelled there will be legal percussions! I hope you understand that! Madeline, Brandon, you will be hearing from my brother-in-law’s firm!” Bonnie stood up and motioned to her husband to follow her out of the office. He did, with his eyes stuck to the floor as though still searching for his defense.

  “Well, that didn’t go as planned,” Mr. Kendrick said. “I’m so very sorry.”

  The Thomases thanked the principal, who agreed to further look into the issue with Noah and Jamie before making any permanent decisions. Then Madeline and Brandon left the office to walk to their cars.

  “You were so sharp in there! Really impressive,” Brandon said, putting a hand on Madeline’s shoulder. Then he whispered in her ear, “It almost turned me on.” Madeline smiled and batted him away playfully.

  “Almost?” She added her own banter. She excused herself to stop in the bathroom before they got to their cars, telling Brandon she would just meet him at home. No need to wait for her. They kissed and Brandon got in his car to drive away. Madeline used the bathroom, the stalls had obviously been cleaned since the school day ended but an old musky smell remained. Graffiti lined the walls where boys’ names were written either with hearts or profanities next to them. When she finished, she walked to her car in the parking lot and got in.

  “You are a whore,” she heard suddenly as she was about to close the door. She looked up to see Mark Albertson in his own car, pulled up next to hers. Those damn electric cars were so quiet, she was startled he was so close. “I’m sure I’m not the only one who knows it.” Then he drove off.

  Chapter 14

  “We nee
d to go over this one more time,” Agent Murray said to Madeline. They were sitting in Madeline’s office with the door locked. Madeline rarely locked her office door, but this time, she was afraid someone might come in, see something they shouldn’t.

  “We’ve already went over it several times, I’m not sure I can tell you anything new,” she responded to the agent. He was sitting across from her, leaning back with his legs crossed. He held a small notepad in one hand and a pen in the other. The page in front of him was blank, logically, as there really wasn’t anything Madeline could tell him.

  “We’ve been looking into Mark Albertson,” Agent Murray said, a slight change of subject. “He doesn’t appear to be the perpetrator according to our initial findings but we’re still looking into it.”

  Madeline nodded, but stayed silent. Agent Murray let the silence linger for a moment before he continued talking. “Let’s just go over everything once more.” He pulled the picture of Madeline naked out from behind the notebook and placed it on the desk in front of Madeline. His eyes carefully avoided looking at the picture as though he were trying to preserve her honor, although Madeline was sure he had stared at it fully when not in her presence, in a purely professional way of course.

  “Do you recognize this picture being taken? Do you recognize the sheets? The headboard? The situation?”

  Madeline shook her head, her eyes filled with ennui. She had answered these questions before.

  “Is there anyone other than Brandon who could have taken this photo?”

  Brandon had never taken nude pictures of her. She would never have allowed it. Nude pictures, even taken by husbands, were fuel for scandal. All someone had to do was steal a phone, hack into a storage account and the pictures would be everywhere. Madeline again shook her head. “The photo isn’t real.”

  “Our forensics believe it is,” Agent Murray responded. “It doesn’t have any of the signs of photoshop, no pixelated edges, or mismatches in the lighting. The team couldn’t find any pieces of the image anywhere else online, which usually happens with photoshopped pictures. Usually the image of the body could be found on a porn or stock photo site. But this body isn’t anywhere else online.”