by Aviva Gat
At first, Handy asked Hunter to “fix the problem.” Hunter said he didn’t know how. Then he started receiving pictures of his daughter at school with red circles around her face. The threat scared him and he didn’t know what to do. On one hand, he could go to the authorities, but on the other, he knew the authorities were also corrupted. He knew the Cobras had half the police in their pockets and they couldn’t protect his family. Hunter knew he had to pay back the money, but he didn’t know how.
Meanwhile, his wife left him. He wasn’t sure why—maybe it was because he took all his gifts back, or maybe because he just wasn’t man enough anymore—but he was happy she left for California. It put distance between the Cobras and his family. But flying to California for divorce proceedings got him thinking about something—or someone—else that was in California.
Why did Madeline have it so easy? Her life was so perfect, with her perfect family and career. He started to blame her for his situation—why hadn’t she helped him when he came to her at the Langham? Why had she left him in the first place? His life could have been so different had she not ruined it for him. He wanted her to pay, and sometime when he actually was at rock bottom, he decided that she was the answer to his problems. She had money, she could fix things with the Cobras. And why shouldn’t she? Didn’t she owe Hunter something? After everything they had been through together? After all, he could ruin her career if he wanted to. Didn’t she owe him something for not doing that?
When smart men are pushed into desperate situation, they can make mistakes. When fear clouds vision, they can fail to see all the options in front of them. Sometimes the only option they see is the one surrounded by the bright frame of anger. The option that in hindsight, would not have made any sense at all.
Chapter 38
Madeline didn’t need to knock when she approached Hunter’s hotel room. He had been waiting with his eye on the peephole for ages, alerted by every ding of the elevator or brush of a footstep on the hallway carpet. He opened the door for her before her fist could tap the door.
“Good afternoon,” she greeted him with a friendly smile. Not the smile of the someone whose career or marriage hung on by a thread. She stepped into the room and sat down on an oversized square fake leather chair that was stiffer than it appeared. With her straight back and bag on her lap, she motioned for Hunter to take a seat. He did, sitting down on the edge of the perfectly made bed in front of Madeline.
“Where is the money?” he asked. He felt a little panicked. It had seemed too easy to get Madeline to agree. He knew her better. Had he thought about it more, he should have known Madeline would be empty handed.
“I saw Rhonda last night.” Madeline ignored Hunter’s question. “She seems like a lovely person.”
Hunter scoffed. He didn’t know that Rhonda knew of his situation with the Cobras, but he thought that no good could come of Madeline meeting his wife.
“She had a lot to say about you,” Madeline continued speaking.
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I’m not giving you any money, but I’m taking care of your problem.” Being a politician is all about taking care of problems. It’s about solving inextricable situations in ways that please everyone. Or at least ensuring that everyone believes they are pleased for the time being. Future displeasure can always be fixed with future solutions.
“My divorce?” Although even as Hunter said it, he knew that was definitely not what Madeline was talking about.
“You can stop the pretense,” Madeline responded. “With the Cobras. It’s all settled. They won’t be bothering you.”
Hunter sat with his mouth dropped open. It was clear Madeline knew everything—even more than he knew—and that, like always, she had figured out a way to come out unscathed and on top.
“What did you do?” he asked, more curious than anything else.
“Tomorrow morning the FBI is going to show up here and ask you to come in.”
“Maddy, please, I’m so sorry, I can’t go to jail—”
“You are going to tell them that the Cobras have been following you for the last few years. When they saw you with me, they took it as an opportunity to take me down.”
“Why will the FBI believe a gang in Harlem is trying to take you down?”
“Harlem is exactly the kind of place where my SAVER Bill is needed. There is always pushback to change. My SAVER Bill has been the subject of significant controversy. There is no end to the amount of angry phone calls and letters my office has received about it. Some even come all the way from New York. The evidence has already been handed to the FBI.”
Relief, grateful, awe, Hunter felt multiple emotions pounding down on him as he continued to look astounded at Madeline. He wanted to ask more questions, to understand, but his lips were unable to form the words. Instead, he said two words that were extremely difficult to say. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Madeline said without getting up. As Hunter should have known, there were no real favors in politics. Madeline fixing his problem was part of a bigger tit-for-tat that he would be sucked into and unable to break free for the rest of his life.
“Maddy—” Hunter began to speak. He felt foolish and he wanted to show Madeline that he really wasn’t as pathetic as the whole story made him seem. He was about to say two other words that were very difficult to formulate, so difficult that he probably hadn’t said them enough in his lifetime: I’m sorry. But before he could utter those words, Madeline continued to speak.
“But you’re going to step down,” she said.
“What?” Hunter’s mouth could easily form that word. “I thought…”
“I value our political system in this country,” Madeline said. “Corruption at every level is unacceptable to me and I see it as my job to weed it out. You cannot serve in a political position. You will vacate your city council seat immediately.”
“Why?” Now anger fell down on him. He knew he had no choice, he would do what Madeline said, but maybe he could change her mind. “I’m helping people. This is the only way to help people. The person before me did it and the person after me will too.”
“That’s not going to be your problem anymore. You will step down.”
Hunter shook his head, although he knew his protests were for naught. “Maddy, this is all I have. What am I supposed to do?”
“Well, I actually believe you will be very busy in the near future. Possibly in the far future as well, depending on how things go.”
“I don’t understand…”
“You made a really big mess,” Madeline continued. “You’re going to clean it up.”
“How?”
“Well, there are two things you are going to do. You’re going to start by ensuring I win my election.”
“Me? How can I do that if I step down? Isn’t it better that I’m a city council member to help you?”
“No, I need someone out of the spotlight who will help me. I need support and I think you have just the acumen required to get me that support.”
“I don’t understand.”
“My SAVER Bill has two constituents: the police and minority communities. At the moment, neither support my bill or my reelection. The police are not going to support my reelection because of my opponent, which means I need the minority vote. That’s your job.”
“How will I do that?”
“You’ll figure it out. I know you already know how to deal with the underserved community. There are places just like Harlem here and you will get them to support me out loud and in public. Once they are supporting me, it will make the police look awful for being against what I am proposing.”
“OK,” Hunter agreed as though he had a choice. He could do it, he believed. He was a politician, after all, and the skills needed to succeed in that could carry over: he was charming, able to influence people. He just needed to figure out the right people. “Maddy, I’m so sorry about all this.” He stood from the bed to approach her. “It
’s just, I love—"
“Don’t say it,” she cut him off and stood up from the chair with her hands held up in front of her as a stop sign. “You and me, Hunter, were a very long time ago. That must never come up again, understood? I love my husband.” She paused a moment. Previously, Madeline had said there were two things he needed to do. The first was a colossal task, something that from many angles seemed impossible, but Hunter would find the right angle where a sliver of possibility shone through. A second task, well Hunter was hoping it had a different magnitude. “You are going to convince Rhonda to forgive you and the two of you will have dinner with me and him.”
Chapter 39
A month went by and Hunter hadn’t heard from Madeline. As she said would happen, the FBI knocked on his hotel room door the following morning and he followed them to their offices. He told them exactly what he was supposed to. He told them exactly where to find the gang’s leadership: where Bumpy and Handy lived, where the gang congregated. They asked how he knew so much about them and Hunter responded that they were his constituents. It was his job to know them, to fight for them, but his main duty was to his country and that’s why he was coming forward now. When the FBI agents were satisfied, they let Hunter go and he flew back to New York.
He held a poorly attended press conference to announce his resignation—stating his failure to protect the poor Jay Flynn who was shot in his district recently. He said he wanted to focus his efforts on fighting the root of the problem. Being in city council made it difficult to do so, he said. He wanted to spend his time making a difference instead of fighting for permits and ordinances with the councilmembers from more affluent neighborhoods in New York. A reporter from The Harlem Times asked him specifically what he would do, and Hunter gave a vague answer about being more involved in the community. He didn’t mention the community he meant was across the country.
A special election would be held to elect his replacement and Hunter convinced the manager of the local community center to run. The election would be unopposed and Hunter was sure his successor would do just fine.
Then, Hunter packed up his apartment, which was still full of teen magazines and clothes that Rhonda had left behind, and called a realtor to find renters. He packed up what he needed and donated the rest before getting on a flight back to California. With nowhere to go but a hotel, he showed up at Rhonda’s doorstep. After throwing a few cups and a hairdryer at him, she agreed to let him stay on the couch until he found his own place. She consulted Keisha, who had been with her all these years, about what she should do. He followed you to California? Punish him, but DON’T LET HIM GO! Was her texted response. Rhonda and Keisha continued to text around the clock, which was how Rhonda learned that Ray “Bumpy” Johnson was among those picked up in a big gang sweep through Harlem. No one knew what caused the arrests—not even the local police. Some federal shit Keisha wrote, and Rhonda was satisfied that karma existed even if it took 15 years. She had suspicions that Hunter was behind it. Ultimately, it couldn’t have been a coincidence that Ray was arrested right after Hunter stepped down. To her, it was proof that he loved her. She silently forgave him, but resolved to punish him for at least a few months so he would appreciate her more.
From his wife’s couch, Hunter began his new job. There was no one telling him what to do, what hours to work, but he knew he had an unforgiving boss that he needed to please. He started shooting hoops at the basketball courts in rundown neighborhoods and attended church services with large gospel choirs. He started making friends and gaining respect from members of his new community.
He watched Madeline’s reelection from afar. He read every headline from: Polls show tight race for senate to Thomas’ secret to a happy family. He tried to contact Jane a few times, but she brushed him off, telling him the senator would speak to him when she needed to. It made Hunter wonder if she had forgotten about him and their arrangement, but the truth was that Madeline too was scrutinizing him from afar.
During that month, Madeline herself was very busy. She was flying coast to coast even more often as campaign events often brought her to California for the evening after senate votes in the morning. She couldn’t let go of her main responsibilities as a lawmaker, even when appearances were required to gain more votes. She followed a strict schedule between speaking engagements, events, meetings with community leaders. Jane had even partitioned time for coffee with Brandon or pancakes with Adam. Even just a three-minute window would be useful—for family time and posing for the photo opportunities that proved Madeline could do it all.
Hunter saw all the photos, of Madeline with her husband by her side supporting her while she ran. He wondered what would happen, when he and Rhonda would have dinner with them and why this was one of Madeline conditions. Truth be told, he had hoped Madeline had forgotten about this condition. He was not looking forward to it one bit. Not meeting her husband, nor having her sit across from his wife. Why Madeline wanted this, he had no idea, he wracked his brain over that month wondering if it were some cruel joke, a way to further punish him, or for Madeline to gain some amusement. He wasn’t even sure if Rhonda would agree to such a thing, she hadn’t even allowed him to eat anything in the house for the first week of his stay. It wasn’t until just recently that she invited him to eat with her and their daughter.
He had just convinced himself that Madeline had forgotten about her request when Jane had called him that day after his first month in California. He was sitting at the tutoring center at a local middle school when his phone rang. The ring annoyed him; his student, Damon, was just starting to understand the secret language of algebra that was splayed across the notebook and Hunter didn’t want to be pulled away. But his thirst for knowledge about Madeline got the better of him.
“8:00 p.m. at La Quinta,” Jane said. “Reservation under Thomas. Don’t be late.” Hunter nodded as though Jane could see him and put the phone away wondering how he would convince Rhonda. They had never spoken about Madeline, about the conversation the two women had or what part she had played in Hunter’s move. Should he pretend the dinner was just the two of them? He wasn’t sure he could survive the consequences at home when Rhonda found out otherwise. Should he pretend like it was just a friendly double date with an old acquaintance?
Hunter tried to get back to his tutoring session with Damon, but his mind had already packed up and left. He whizzed through Damon’s homework and hurried home, hoping that Rhonda would be there. She had left early that morning for her shift at the airport. If she hadn’t taken on a double, she would most likely be resting until their daughter came home from school.
To his luck, Hunter saw Rhonda’s car outside when he pulled up to the house. He smiled to himself, feeling like the husband he wanted to be. He fantasized about walking in the door and saying “Honey, I’m home!” and kissing her on the cheek like they did in movies. But that was too cheesy for real life. In real life, he’d settle for “Hey, Rhonda,” and hope she didn’t give him a stink eye when he walked in. Inside, Rhonda was in her bedroom, a place Hunter had yet to walk inside. It was like a forbidden chamber and Hunter always felt he was about to get shocked if he approached. But this time, he gathered his courage and was ready for the shock. He knocked on the door.
“What?” Rhonda said from inside. He peered in, gazing on the room for the first time. It was plain, white walls, a white bed in the middle with a nightstand on one side. Rhonda was sitting up reading a magazine and gave Hunter a look he didn’t quite understand. It wasn’t disdain or anger at him for broaching her chambers, but it wasn’t welcoming either. “Need something?”
“Let’s have dinner tonight,” Hunter began, deciding not to mention who dinner was with.
“Sure, there’s a lasagna in the freezer.”
“No, I mean, outside. Just us.”
Rhonda put down the magazine. “Are you asking me on a date?” Her tone was judgmental and accusatory.
“Yes,” he responded. Baby steps, he thought to himsel
f. Get her to agree to one thing before the next. “Go out with me.”
“I’ll see if Marie can come.” Rhonda pulled out her phone and called her neighbor. Marie, a retired woman with no family nearby, had been friendly to Rhonda when she moved in. She’d watched their daughter a few times for her, even though 13 might have been too old for a babysitter. Hunter stood in the doorway while Rhonda spoke to Marie, who agreed to come by. For a little while, Hunter would pretend that he hadn’t omitted anything. That he and Rhonda really were just going out on a date, like any normal couple should.
She was impressed with the restaurant selection, knowing it wasn’t an easy place to get a reservation. Looking at her closet, she discussed out loud her options for apparel and Hunter just nodded along, telling her that she would look beautiful no matter what she chose. It seemed like everything was how it should be. A couple with 13 years of marriage going out. The wife excited to dress up for once while secretly feeling sorry that she didn’t have the body she used to. The husband reminding his wife that she was more beautiful as the years went on. Hunter even felt comfortable enough to put his toes into the bedroom. When he wasn’t electrocuted for the offence, he walked in and sat on the bed while Rhonda got ready.
After their daughter came home, the lasagna was baked and ready to be served by Marie, Hunter led Rhonda out to the car. She even looped her arm through his as they walked down the driveway. In the car, they spoke like a normal couple. They talked about their daughter, how she made Rhonda crazy; their days. Rhonda talked about her job, watching all the people going off to destinations like Italy, Brazil, or Australia. Maybe when they retired, they’d go somewhere like that together. Hunter promised her they would just as he pulled into the restaurant parking lot. Before turning off the car, he turned to Rhonda.