#4 Truth and Nothing But

by Stephanie Perry Moore

  “Watch your mouth!” Ms. Peters told him.

  I wanted to calm him down, but I was equally angry. Knowing there was nothing more we could do, we went to our seats. We got through class doing what we were told.

  As soon as it was over, he was waiting for me and asked, “You headed to lunch?”

  “Yeah,” I told him as we walked to the cafeteria together.

  “So what we gonna do? You joined PTSA. You gonna help me change this thing? Your dad being the mayor and all, I know he can help us draw attention to this foolishness. This ain’t right. Taxpayers pay money to help the kids. Not for the money to go into peoples’ pockets. If we don’t have textbooks and we don’t have paper, somebody’s stealing. I’m just saying,” Reese shared.

  I put my hand on his shoulder, and he looked over at me. We stopped walking at that moment and shared a strong look. I didn’t want him to get so upset, so frustrated, and so discouraged. I needed him to be calm, still passionate, but respectful so that we could figure out a plan and get things done. We did not need our attitudes to be perceived the wrong way so that we would get shut down before we got to stand up.

  “Excuse me, are you two going to lunch, or you just going to stand in the hallway?” Trevy came between the two of us and said.

  “Oh, dang,” Reese said. “I left the history book in math class. I’ll catch up.”

  “Gotcha,” I said as he jetted back. Then I looked at the girl standing real close. “I’ll see you later, Trevy.”

  She tugged me back. “No, don’t go. Let’s walk together.”

  “Why?” I looked at her and said.

  “I just want to tell you how petty Reese is. I don’t know what y’all are all chummy talking about, but obviously you didn’t get what I was saying before.”

  Unsure of her motives, I said, “No, I heard you. He was talking about me.”

  “Yeah, and not just your teeth. He called you an airheaded, stuck-up wench. He said he had no problem using you so that he could get what he wants. I guess he knew what he was talking about,” Trevy said before she walked on ahead.

  Moments later, Reese caught up with me. “Glad you’re still here. You ready to go?”

  “Not ready to go anywhere with you,” I said, as I stormed off, mad at his audacity.

  Before I could get too far, Ms. Spears stopped me and pulled me into an empty classroom. “I read the first draft of your article on the growth of PTSA, Sloan, and honestly, I’m disappointed. No way it is publishable material.”

  Confused, I said, “Why? What’s wrong with it?”

  “You need to look at it again. Please don’t submit first drafts that are this grammatically incorrect in the future. In addition, though, you’ve got to dig deeper into the story. You’re going to have to talk to your subject, get to know him, not just breeze over information. Make it juicy so people want to read it. I know this isn’t what you expected to hear because most of your work I’ve loved, but unfortunately, I don’t love this one.”

  She turned around and left me there. It was hard to hear I wasn’t as great a writer as I thought. I had no problem working hard, but now I was going to have to work hard with Reese. A guy I was going to have to be tied to even though I wanted to get far away from him. I was falling for his baloney. No more. Even if I had to talk to him to get the information I needed, I wasn’t going to let him affect me. I was cutting the emotional ties.

  School had been so crazy that I had forgotten that this was my father’s big day. We would find out in a matter of hours whether or not my dad was going to be the next mayor of the city of Charlotte. Thinking about it, I was excited, yet nervous.

  “Come on. Our sisters are already gone,” Slade said to me.

  It was so weird. I was usually on top of everything. But I was off my game. Reese was invading my skin like the plague, but for some reason, I didn’t want an antidote, and that was really bothering me. I knew he was a jerk. Trevy had confirmed that. Why couldn’t I shake him?

  “What’s going on with you?” Slade probed as we got into the car.

  “I can’t explain it.” She was my wild sister—not the one I’d ask to help me think straight.

  “It’s a guy, isn’t it?”

  Shocked by how accurate she was, I said, “Have you been talking to Yuri?”

  “No, but it is a guy? Who is it? Oh, I knew your cute little self couldn’t stay single for long.”

  “It is not a guy.”

  “Um hm,” she moaned in a singsongy tone, not believing me.

  “No, seriously, Slade,” I said as my sister gave me a look that told me she wanted the scoop. “Alright, if it was a guy, I mean let’s just say if it was…”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m with you. If it was, then what?”

  “How do you know if he likes you too? It could be hard to tell if he is arrogant and rude, and if somebody tells you he’s talking about you.”

  “Well, if the guy is talking about you and it gets back to you… he likes you.”

  “What if what I’m told he’s saying isn’t flattering?”

  “The person isn’t telling the truth?”

  “Does it matter? If he says something that’s not nice, then should I believe that he likes me under any circumstances? I mean who says that because somebody talks about you, that that means they like you?”

  “Well, I can see you are all wrapped up in this.”

  “Where we going?” I asked, when she passed the exit to our house.

  “To a hotel.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “We’re staying at the hotel tonight where dad’s gonna accept the mayoral win or give some kind of concession speech. Mom’s got our outfits there.”

  “He won’t have to concede,” I said to my sister.

  “I’m just saying, either way it goes, we’ve got to smile. But get back to this guy. Obviously, he goes to Marks.” I nodded. “That’s a good thing because with my boo at a different school, I never get to see him.”

  “Yeah, but y’all’s first encounter you said Avery came up to you and basically told you not to cry, called you beautiful, and the rest is history. My start with this guy has been all rocky.”

  “Knew it was a guy,” Slade said as he smiled. “He’s under your skin.”

  “I was just thinking that I can’t shake this dude,” I told her.

  “So don’t fight it.”

  “But his best buddy…”

  “Oh, he probably likes you.”

  “No, his best buddy is a girl.”

  “Oh! Well, she’s lying. Whatever she’s telling you, I wouldn’t even believe that.”

  “What do you mean she’s lying? You don’t even know what she said.”

  “If she’s coming to you telling you a whole bunch of stuff after you and him have a moment, then that’s because her tail wants to be with him. Don’t fall for it.”

  “No, it’s nothing like that.”

  “So why are you so confused by what she says and how he’s reacting? There’s something to it. I’m telling you. Or maybe she wants you herself.”

  “Maybe because I am that fine,” I joked back.

  “Just be open, Sloan. If there is anything there, it will do what it do.”

  My sister had been in the music world far too long. Those loud bass beats were getting to her head. For real though, I got where she was coming from. Actually, she gave me the words I needed to hear.

  Three hours later, the Sharp sisters looked sassy. My mom looked nervous. My dad looked confident. Though we were in a suite, outside our family’s door was a whole bunch of pomp and circumstance of press and people who were a part of my dad’s campaign. We were all waiting on the final results. Only 32 percent of the precincts had reported, but my dad was already ahead.

  I went over to him and said, “You’re going to win this thing. You’ve got this.”

  Hugging me tight, he said “That’s right my lil’ sweetheart.”

  “Don’t get all cock
y over there,” my mom said to us.

  “You’ve got to believe,” he said back to her. Then he looked at me and my sisters. “And even if this isn’t for me, girls, we fought a hard, clean campaign while things tried to get messy around us. We did a lot for the city already, and I can concede with my head held high. Truth is, when you look within and you know you’ve done all you can do, if it don’t work out, it ain’t for you. And that’s not always a bad thing.”

  I nodded, appreciating hearing that. It seemed like the next two hours took forever to go by. When was the night going to be over?

  Finally, my father’s campaign manager burst into our room and said, “You got to come on out! All stations are declaring you the winner! Brown and James have conceded.”

  Our hotel suite erupted as my dad looked at all of us, took my mom’s hand, and said, “I’ve got a beautiful family. Just how we ran this race is how we’re going to run this city. I might get busy, girls, but your dad is always here. I love you guys.”

  I was proud of him. I felt like we were city royalty, and he wasn’t even sworn in yet. What a tremendous feat he accomplished. My parents led the way out the door, and we followed them. Then everybody in my dad’s campaign followed us down the hallway, down the steps, and finally we got to the gorgeous foyer five stories below. As soon as we stepped out, more cheers rang out.

  Before my dad was about to take the podium, I saw that same mysterious lady, Miss X, trying to get to him. I was so happy when my mom and others wouldn’t let my dad stop walking up the stairs. I saw the way she was looking at him, like she was mad she couldn’t talk to him. When I tried to go talk to her and find out what the heck was going on, one of my sisters tugged me away. When I looked back, she was gone.

  We immediately went onstage and stood behind my dad. He couldn’t even give his speech because the cheers and applause just wouldn’t stop coming. My dad had done it! He had achieved his dream. He was going to be the mayor of Charlotte. All the ugliness of politics and campaigning was behind him. We were done with that. Gone were the shackles.

  CHAPTER THREE

  SPECULATE

  “Well, sorry I couldn’t get here before your mayor-elect got up and gave a speech, but I guess he just couldn’t wait for me to concede,” said Mr. Brown, surprising us all by coming on-stage and taking the mic.

  No one laughed, though Mr. Brown was trying to make a joke. I could only imagine how he felt. It couldn’t be easy to lose an election, to put your whole heart into it, and to have it not turn out the way you want. However, Mr. Brown had proven to be a despicable man, and the citizens of Charlotte showed him by electing my father by a landslide.

  “Okay, okay, I see you guys didn’t get the joke. Well, really, I want to congratulate Mr. Sharp and his family. Shucks, maybe I need to go get a bunch of beautiful girls, and I could win next time.” Again, no one laughed. “In all seriousness, we’re going to have a fine mayor. And Mr. Sharp, I wanted to let you know I am here to serve you however you need. It’s all about the city of Charlotte, right?” Finally, he got a bunch of cheers. “Let’s keep it Sharp!”

  My dad nodded to thank everyone, and the crowd erupted. Mr. Brown went over to my father, grabbed his hand, and lifted both of their hands in the air. Mr. Brown was pointing at my dad and bowing in front of him, like he was a king or something. My father looked uncomfortable, but he graciously played along.

  “That man is full of crap,” Shelby said, standing by me.

  She knew best. After all, it was her boyfriend’s mother who was married to the jerk. I couldn’t believe the lady admitted at a public event that her husband was abusing her. I didn’t know much about where their relationship had gone, but she did move out. Ever since that happened, the public pulled away from him.

  My dad’s campaign manager took the mic and said, “Alright… enough of the speeches, let’s celebrate the victory because, thanks to you all, we did it!”

  “Thanks, Brown, for coming,” I heard my dad say to Mr. Brown as he tried to take his hand back.

  Mr. Brown wouldn’t let it go though. “You could have waited for me to get here to say some words before you accepted. That’s real tacky.”

  My father retorted, “I thought you conceded in your own hotel. I didn’t know you were coming over here to congratulate me too. You didn’t give any of my staff a heads-up.”

  Frowning and cocking his head, Mr. Brown uttered, “So…”

  “So either you meant you are going to support me, or you are planning to continue the foe mentality,” the mayor-elect stated.

  Mr. Brown stomped and said, “Whatever. You’re going to run this city into the ground.”

  Fed up, my dad said, “Alright, that’s enough. You don’t have to speak with all this hostility in front of my family.”

  “Your family? Like you care about them…”

  “Watch your mouth,” my dad said to him.

  “Stanley, come on, honey,” my mom said to my father as she placed her delicate arm in his. “Obviously, he’s dealing with the loss. Let’s leave him to it.”

  He kissed my mom lightly on the cheek, and they walked off the stage. My four sisters followed, Shelby rolling her eyes harder than I’d ever seen her do. Actually, she looked like she wanted to punch the man.

  Shelby wasn’t the only one who was angry. I wanted to tell him off too. Yeah, he was my elder, but he was acting like a baby. He didn’t need to ruin this night for my father. When he walked off the stage, I followed him. After all, investigation was in my blood. Was he spouting lies, or was there some truth to what he was mouthing off about?

  “Mr. Brown, Mr. Brown!”

  “What!” he rudely screamed before turning around and seeing it was one of the Sharp girls. “Oh… you,” he said, smiling like we were old friends.

  “What you just said to me, my family… why would you say that?” I asked in a cold tone.

  Even colder, he said, “Because I meant it. Your dad is a pretender. Everybody thinks his stuff is all in order, like his hands aren’t dirty. He gets my life exposed while he stays clean… I’ve done my investigating, and clean he is not.”

  “Sir, I don’t believe you,” I said, even though deep down I did have doubts.

  He reached into his coat jacket. I was afraid to see what he was searching for. He pulled out a picture, but I could only see the back.

  He turned it toward me and said, “I’m not trying to ruin your world, even though mine got ruined tonight. But what’s this?”

  My eyes bucked wide. “It’s my dad.”

  “Right, and that ain’t your momma. They’re mighty close, and this was taken in the window of a hotel. Your sweet lil’ dad close to a girl who looks closer to your age than his age,” Mr. Brown stated with too much enthusiasm.

  I knew who the lady was. That was clearly Miss X. She and my father at a hotel? Mr. Brown was right. My family was falling apart, and most of the people in the Sharp family had no clue. Now that I knew, I was determined to make sure our demise didn’t happen.

  “That’s my gift to you, sweetie. You enjoy that cozy photo,” Mr. Brown stated as he patted my head and strolled out of the ballroom.

  I couldn’t show it to my sisters right away. I had to come up with a plan. I was going to save my family. No doubt about it.

  “Okay, so I know, Ms. Spears, you were really excited about me rewriting the article about why PTSA is growing. I got that, and I’m on it. I promise I am going to work on it. Now, I have got a whole other idea that I think is even bigger to go on the front page. You’re going to love this. Seriously, seriously, you’re going to love this!” I said.

  “Alright, settle down, Sloan. I love the passion, but you also have to be able to present. When you’re too fired up, sometimes the idea doesn’t come across. Take a deep breath, slow down, and tell me what you’re talking about. What’s this juicy story?” my journalism teacher said.

  “I want to write about how the teachers at Marks High aren’t really for us.”<
br />
  Shaking her head, making an ugly face, like I’d offended her, she said, “You want to do what?”

  I calmly responded, “Okay, not all the teachers, but I want to write it about how there are some shady teachers here at Marks High. I want to expose them. I want to break the story.”

  The expression of sheer disgust on her face became more intense. However, I wasn’t going to back down.

  I pressed, “I can give you the details. I’m not going to make anything up. If I put it in print, it’s going to be factual.”

  “Sloan, you know how hard it was for us to get the administration to let us start this paper. It had to be okayed by the principal, who had to get it approved by the superintendent, and the superintendent had to let the board approve it. There are only certain types of content we are allowed to put in here. Bashing the school system is not one that is allowed.”

  “I’m not trying to bash the school system. I’m just going to call out a few shady teachers or things that are going on that aren’t working in the best interest of the students. That’s what we’re supposed to be reporting: real news, right? This isn’t just some fluff magazine.”

  “I’ve already given you a story. Why don’t you work on getting that corrected before you jump on to something else?”

  “So are you saying you don’t want my story?”

  “I’m saying you’re not the editor. Write what you’re given, and do that well.”

  “Well, maybe I should be the editor, to push the envelope, to get to the readers who want true news,” I replied.

  Ms. Spears stepped closer to me and said, “I know you’re feeling yourself because your dad was just elected mayor.”

  Cocking my head back at her comment, I explained, “That’s not true. I’m not trying to cross you, but at the same time, I’m not going to let you bring down my dreams either.”

  “Trust me on this… let it go.”

  “Okay, fine. Can I go interview this SGA guy?”

  “Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Ms. Spears said in a nicer tone. “You sure can, but only if he is in a class that he can be pulled out of.”

  “It should be no problem because he’s in weight training. I’ve done my due diligence. He already has permission to talk to me for fifteen minutes.”