After All (5 page)

“
There is an African
proverb, `Love is like young rice: transplanted, still it
grows'.”

“
Love? No way. More like
contempt. He defends and supports a man that tried to hurt my
family. A man who has the morals of a vulture. Anthony Hilliard is
beneath contempt. Be careful doing business with him.”Michelle's
voice rang with animosity.

“
I will remember, Michelle.
But you remember what I said also.”Dosu gave her a brotherly kiss
on the forehead.

***

Michelle sat at her desk going over the
old notes, or least she appeared to be. Dosu had become a good
friend whose counsel she greatly respected. That he saw something
in her that reached out to Anthony filled her with anxiety.
Thinking back she still felt the burning pain that seared through
her six years ago. A pain caused by Anthony's betrayal. She
remembered the look on his face as he defended Ike Batiste. As
things became increasingly worse for her father, there was a
distance in his voice and manner whenever they met. No, she was not
that green college girl anymore. Anthony would never worm his way
back into her life only to tear it apart again. Gritting her teeth,
determined to push away thoughts of him, Michelle doggedly forced
herself to focus on the words before her.

“
Well, here she is. Lois
Lane, ace reporter.”Jennifer stood next to her desk, a smug look on
her face.

Michelle glanced up only briefly. This
was the last thing she needed right now. She pulled the keyboard to
her and began tapping out a rough draft of a report.

“
Working on the big story, I
suppose.”Jennifer had something to say and would not be
discouraged.

Michelle pushed the keyboard
aside.”Okay, let's get this over with. What is it?”

“
Nothing really. That is if
you think my getting two plum assignments Nathan was leaning
towards giving to somebody else nothing. I'll be covering the city
council meetings for awhile.”

“
Big deal. Everybody is
happy to have that rotated.”

“
And Weston,” Jennifer said,
pausing dramatically.”After discussing it with Nathan, of course,
he has decided that I'll be doing a regular feature on good news
type stories. We decided to call it `Beacons of Hope'.”

“
What?”Michelle sprang from
her chair. “That story on the community center was supposed to be
only the first in a series! It was my idea.”

“
There was quite a positive
response. Weston felt we should definitely go with it. And Jason
felt you had your hands full, especially with this Housing
Authority thing.”Jennifer waved her hand at the papers on
Michelle's desk.

“
Where is Nathan? I have a
few things to say to him, and Jason, too.”

“
I think they're both in
Jason's office. But you're wasting your time, dear,” Jennifer
called after her as Michelle stormed out.

Without knocking, Michelle pushed
through the door to Jason's office. Michelle was so angry that she
stood seething for nearly thirty seconds unable to speak until they
noticed her.

“
Not only didn't I hear you
knock, I don't remember telling you to come in.” Jason sat back in
his chair.

“
What the hell is this about
Jennifer getting my feature?” Michelle managed to blurt
out.

“
Mr. Lockport made the final
decision, but I suggested it. Problem?”Jason raised an
eyebrow.

“
You know damn well that I
put in extra hours lining up interviews, tracking down sources for
that idea.”Michelle stood feet apart jabbing an accusing finger at
him.

“
Jennifer has been doing
these little `feel good' pieces for awhile now. Besides, we decided
to throw in some public appeals to help people who need assistance.
We need to compete with Channel Seven's Madeline Mason with her
`We're on Your Side' segment. I figure the combination will give us
the edge. And viewers respond very well to Jennifer.”Jason wore a
superior smile.

“
Oh, I get it. We're going
to have a battle of the blondes. Play it safe, right? After all,
minorities make up only twenty percent of the market share. I was
going to spotlight efforts by poor people to change things in their
communities. Jennifer is going spend her time hopping from society
club soiree to the next.”

“
May I remind you that some
of our largest advertisers give very generously to many worthy
causes. Are you suggesting they don't deserve recognition?” Jason
said.

“
They get plenty of press
now, and you know it. Most of the time when we have film from
places like Easy Town it's showing young Black men being led away
in handcuffs.” Michelle threw up both hands in a gesture of
frustration. “There is more to those neighborhoods than that. I
think we have a responsibility to show it.”

“
Jennifer will spotlight the
minority community. In fact, she has a story on that
African-American sorority that contributes thousands every year to
the Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation.” Jason shrugged and spread his
arms wide.

“
Nathan, you know that's not
where I was coming from.” Michelle turned to him, dismissing
Jason.

“
What can I say, Michelle. I
gave it a shot, but Weston thought his idea was stronger for the
station; more broad in scope was the way he put it.”

“
But, Nathan, the closest
Jennifer will get to poor neighborhoods is to speed past them on
her way to the tanning salon,” Michelle retorted.

“
I'll review leads and make
sure we get some of those stories, too. I promise. But this isn't
my call, you know that.” Nathan cupped her elbow and led her out to
his office.

“
Thank you, Nathan.” Jason
waved them out of his office in gestured that indicated no further
discussion was warranted or desired.

Back in Nathan's office, Michelle paced
the narrow area between his desk and the door. “I worked hard for
this. I deserved to be given a shot.”

“
I know you did, but calm
down. You've got some pretty good assignments, remember? That
Housing Authority story for one. My gut tells me it's going to be
big. A career maker. The kind of story investigative reporters
dream of.”Nathan sat heavily in his old swivel chair.

She gave a heavy sigh.”You may be
right.”Michelle stood still and rubbed her chin wearing a
thoughtful expression.”But it's going to take time to dig it out.
It's like an iceberg, most of it's hidden beneath the surface.” She
switched gears as the spark of her ambition was fanned.

Nathan leaned his elbows on the desk.
“Yeah, but think of the pay off. My guy at the DA's office says
they just put another investigator on it.”

“
Sure, but they could decide
there isn't enough evidence to move on. So while I'm chasing a
possibility, as promising as it may seem now, Jennifer will be
flashing her pearly white fangs once a week like clockwork.”
Michelle let out a dispirited groan.

“
Yeah, but with the inside
track you'll have on the Housing Authority story, you could get an
exclusive from the DA. Now, stop bitching, Toussaint. Get out there
and do your job.”Nathan had spent more time being supportive than
he usually was with reporters, but now his patience was exhausted.
He crossed to the door and swung it open.

“
You're right. After all,
tomorrow's another day.”Michelle parodied Scarlet O'Hara's last
line.

“
That's the spirit. Now
go.”Grinning, Nathan jerked a thumb towards the
newsroom.

***

“
Thanks for coming with me
to this thing.”Michelle Pulled the shawl up around her shoulders.
Despite the cool October night, it kept her warm.

“
Are you kidding? This place
is gonna be ground zero for all the fine looking African-American
professional males within a fifty mile radius.”Laree tugged at her
form fitting dress as she struggled to get out of Michelle's sporty
Mustang.

“
They will be with their
wives, fiancés and girlfriends. So don't get your hopes too
high.”

“
Get real, relationships
begin and end every day. Just step back and watch me work my
magic.”Laree pulled the matching coat to her dress around her
shoulders.

“
You ought to be ashamed,
girl.” Michelle said, laughing as Laree swung her hips.

As they entered the banquet hall, both
scanned the crowd. The tickets purchased were to benefit the local
Big Buddy program sponsored by a coalition of African-American
churches and businessmen.

Laree let out a low whistle of
appreciation.”I have never seen so many furs and diamonds in one
room. Look, there's Maureen Clarence-Harrington. Oh, and Shirley
Aucoin. Making the rounds so everybody can see their
jewelry.”

“
Yeah. These kinds of see
and be seen happenings really bore me. If it wasn't to benefit such
a great program, believe me I wouldn't be here,” Michelle muttered
in an undertone so as not to be overheard by the others seated at
their table.

“
Sugar, I'm sorry Dosu had
to be out of town. But I'm happy for me. Hi there. Hello.”Laree
waved gaily at several acquaintances at nearby tables, one of which
was a handsome man who was quite dashing in a dark gray
tux.

“
Laree, don't you see that
woman next to him? She's giving us a dirty look,” Michelle
whispered.

“
That's Theron Mackey. He's
been divorced for a year and he's fair game. Like my grandmamma
says, if you can't hold your man, hold your hand.”Laree patted her
long black hair.

“
How is Miss Hannah
doing?”Michelle smiled at the waitress, then frowned at the bland
plate of food before her.

“
Going strong. Got a new
boyfriend, child. He's a younger man, sixty-nine. She just turned
seventy-seven. Mama and my aunts and uncles are too
embarrassed.”Laree giggled.

“
Good for her,” Michelle
said

“
Hell yes. I wanna grow up
to be just like my grandma.”

A distinguished gray-haired woman
wearing a heavy gold necklace with matching dangling earrings
approached. The blue sequined top she wore glittered as she walked
beneath the chandeliers suspended over the banquet hall.

“
Ms. Toussaint, so glad to
see you. Wonderful turnout isn't it?”

“
Hello, Mrs. Harrington.
Yes, it is. This is my friend, Laree Payne.”

“
Nice to see you. I hope
you're going to do a report on us. We need more positive
exposure.”Mrs. Harrington flashed a professional smile.

“
Yes, we will.”Michelle
drummed her fingers then realizing it, she put her hand in her
lap.

“
Marvelous, dear. Now you
enjoy yourselves.”Mrs. Harrington floated on to the next table
leaving behind a strong whiff of expensive cologne.

“
Geez, that woman has a
personality like a fingernail across a blackboard. She's a
self-important, upper class snob. Michelle spoke in a low, tight
voice.

“
I thought she seemed
okay.”Laree was busily devouring the chicken marsala all the while
checking out the other guests.

“
Mrs. Maureen
Clarence-Harrington is in one of my mother's social clubs. Believe
me, those women are more interested in status and appearances than
the work these charities do in the community.”Michelle glanced
around with distaste.

“
Lighten up. The people who
are dedicated do-gooders need money; the people with money need to
think they're doing their share. It all balances out, right? Now
let's get back to the important stuff. You know Theron Mackey,
introduce us.”Laree was again favoring him with a big
smile.

“
No way. That lady isn't
going to come after me with her butter knife,” Michelle hissed at
her.

Their good-natured argument was cut
short when they realized they were attracting the attention of the
other guests at their table. To Laree's disappointment, and
Michelle's relief, they had been joined by an elderly couple and
two middle-aged women. For the rest of the evening they made small
talk with them. A jazz quartet provided music and a portion of the
banquet hall had been cleared for dancing. Laree was soon on the
dance floor with a succession of men. Michelle turned down all
requests preferring to observe.

“
May I sit down?”

Michelle started at the familiar voice
behind her. Turning, she saw Anthony standing next to an empty
chair. The middle-aged ladies had decided to call it a night after
the speech.

“
Please?”Anthony took a deep
breath.

“
Fine, sure.”Michelle looked
away.

Anthony cleared his throat several
times.”We raised a lot of money selling tickets. And the raffle was
a big hit, too.”He tapped the table with a spoon.

“
You helped organize
this?”Michelle began to turn back to him, and then stopped
herself.

“
Yes. I'm an honorary board
member. I started being a Big Buddy in my senior year of high
school, remember? ‘Course with the business and all, I don't have
the time since I got back home.”