Dead Man Running (6 page)

The mayor clap
ped
, his two meaty paws shaking the microphones
. 
The audience joined in, their
clapping, table banging and stomping
reach
ing
a deafening pitch.  Suddenly two men grab
bed
Wiley by the arms, lift
ing
him up and walk
ing
h
im to the podium. 

Elias followed,
horrified. 

Wiley
wa
s placed in front of the mi
crophones
.  The
m
ayor
leaned in,
stage whisper
ed
to
W
iley
.

"
Ben, just a short prayer.  The food's getting cold.
"

This tired pun elicited
robust l
aughter from the
mayor's sycophants
.

The
m
ayor st
ood
back.  Wiley stare
d
out at the audience with
his
wide eyed look.  There
wa
s a painful silence then
Wiley part
ed
his lips.  "
Let us pray.
"

Members of the audience bow
ed
their heads
,
everyone
, it seemed, except for Jan, Chi and Elias
.

"
Lord God Almighty, we supplicate ourselves in your presence.  Please grant me these simple things, a stiff dick and a warm place to put it.  And don't let me c
um
too quick.  Amen.
"

Dead silence in the room.  A few
nervous
chuckles, then the room burst into laughter.  Elias swoop
ed
in and grab
bed
Wiley's arm.  He le
d
him quickly out of the room
, wasting no time for the offered handshakes or back slaps
.  There, Chi and Jan
we
re waiting.
 
Chi
roughly grabbed
Wiley's other arm.

"
Jan, get back to the office.  I want a press release out ASAP. 
'
Reverend Wiley deeply regrets offending anyone with his remarks at the prayer breakfast.  His unfortunate remarks resulted from his accidental combined use of
cough syrup and sleeping pills
'
," Elias said.

"
You really want to say that?
"

"Send it out."

"
I think I
should stay with Reverend Wiley," she said as the doorman opened the front door for the group. 

Once past the doorman and hustling toward their limo, Elias responded.  "
And do what, hold his hand?  You know those
illiterate
niggas at the office can't speak, much less wr
ite.  Get back and send it out!"

"
Th
ey'll think he's on drugs, boss," Chi said.

"
Even if they think he has a drug problem, so what.  The world will accept a drug addict
c
ongressman faster than they'll accept one that's not PC.
"

Chi drove the limo uptown.  Elias sat in the
front seat and Wiley s
at
alone in the back.  As the limo approache
d
Wiley's
brownstone
, the men
spied
a huge crowd of media waiting out front.  As the car slow
ed
, the sharks
massed for an
attack.  Clearly, there
wa
s blood in the water.

Chi double park
ed
the car in front of the house.

"
You hustle him inside
," Elias instructed
. 
"
You can come back to move the car later." 

Chi nodded. 

"
Don't stop for nothing.  You got it?
"

"
Yeah.  Nothing.
"

"
I'll handle the press.
"

Elias and Chi leap
ed
out of the car.  The pack of reporters converge
d and shout
ed
questions -

"I
s the congressman on drugs?
"

"H
ow long has
R
everend
W
iley been addicted to cough syrup?
"

"W
hat specifically did
R
everend
W
iley mean by a warm place? 
I
s he homosexual?
"

Chi
yanked
Wiley
out of the car
and hustle
d
him past the crowd of reporters and into the house.  The disappointed press descend
ed
upon Elias.

"E
lias, can you respond to the rumor that former
p
resident
Clinton supplied R
everend
W
iley with the cough syrup?
"

Elias climb
ed
hal
f
way up the brownstone's front steps.
  "
Listen, listen everyone.  Congressman Reverend Wiley made a statement through his office.  He deeply regrets his remarks and asks that his longtime service to his church and his community take precedence over a brief slip of the tongue.
"

"
By referencing his tongue a
re you saying the congressman had oral sex?
"

Elias smiled, shook his head.  "
Folks, the
c
ongressman has made his statement.  Please let the man have some time alone with his family.
"

"E
lias! 
E
lias!
"

Elias step
ped
into the house and close
d
the door.  The TV reporters begin immediately doing their remotes. 

One print reporter,
Bernadette
Brinkman
, quietly
drifted to the rear
of the brownstone.
 
Not liking doors slammed in her face, the reporter look
ed
for a way in. 

She trie
d
the back door.  Locked. 
Her
brown eyes
examined the rear wall
. 

There
was
no fire escape
, o
nly a thick drainage pipe that travel
ed
past the second floor balcony as it ma
de
its way up the side of the building.

The reporter
pocketed her notebook and recorder.  She slung
her
handbag over her shoulder and began
to climb the pipe.

Elias and Chi
stood
in the study,
watching TV. 
They again positioned
Wiley in the opposite corner, staring at nothing.

The
sixty inch screen
show
ed
Wiley saying his unique prayer.
  With the footage on a continuous loop, the CNN anchor continue
d
his commentary.  "
The Mayor's office has issued a statement denying any knowledge of Congressman Wiley's drug problem.  They did acknowledge that Mayor
O'Donnell
had
take
n
approximately one teaspoon of cough syrup six years ago.  They say that he has not taken any since, however.  Now, with the Mayor's pharmacist, here's Megan Whitechild.  Megan?
  Do you have confirmation of the mayor's statement?
"

Elias turn
ed
off the TV.
  "
I don't think
it's
too bad.
"

"
Yeah, seems like they're off of us already.
"

"
Drug taking
c
ongressmen get about ten minutes on the news nowadays.
"  Elias smiled.

"
What next?
" Chi asked.
 
Chi point
ed
to Wiley.
  "
With him, I mean.
"

"
What's next is, we stick his ass upstairs and leave him there till the World Affairs thing on Wednesday.
"

"
Cool, bad boy starting to stink.
"

FOUR

Wiley ha
d
been deposited in the
master
bedroom by Elias and Chi.  He st
ood where placed,
in the center of the room.
 

There
wa
s a noise from outside the window.

"
Shit!
"
Bernadette
shouted as she struggled to reach the bedroom
's balcony
.  Th
e reporter, a small attractive woman, her outfit and hair greatly disheveled,
slowly extended her right leg from
the drainage pipe to the balcony
railing
. 
Using the fitness and flexibility gained from her
Z
umba, yoga and pole
dancing classes at the Y, she got
her other leg on the railing.  Now s
he
wa
s on the outside of the balcony's railing.  In one motion, she leap
ed
over the railing on to the balcony.  She look
ed
through the glass sliding door into the r
oom and quickly recognize
d
her prey.

"
Great!  Reverend Wiley, I'd like to speak to you!
"

She tap
ped
on the door
with her now broken nails
.
  "
Reverend Wiley, I'd like some comments on today's events.  Reverend Wiley!
"

She reache
d
down and grab
bed
the door handle.  The door
open
ed
easily.
 
Bernadette
Brinkman could not believe her luck.  She
walk
ed
into the room and over to Wiley
, standing
inches from the great man himself.

"
Reverend Wiley, sorry to disturb you but I just wanted your reaction to today's events.
"

Wiley
was
as he always
wa
s
since his transformation
, cold, stiff and staring straight ahead.

"
I can't believe this, it looks like you've been taking more drugs.  What luck!  I'd like to bring your story to the people,
r
everend.  You know, about how sorry you are that you're a dirty drug user.
"

She retrieved her cell phone and began to snap pictures.

She paused
as the man spoke
.

"
Oh, baby, baby!
" Wiley exclaimed.

"
Now don't get too excited, I'm only print.
"  She fiddle
d
with her iPhone to begin taking videos, thinking that a confession may be worth thousands to Fox or CNN.

Having issued the press release, Jan rushed back to the Wiley house.  After reporting to Elias, Jan hustled upstairs to check on Wiley.

On the second floor, she ma
de
her way down to Wiley's bedroom, where the reporter continue
d
talking.

"
Is Mrs. Wiley on drugs too?  Maybe I can get you a primetime special like Bobby and Whitney.  Two destroyed lives always sell better than one.
"