Keedra’s face lit up. “Are you serious? Oh, that would be awesome,” she said. “Here, write my number down, too.”
She rattled it off and Nikki programmed it into her phone. It would be nice to have another friend. Maybe Danielle would want to hang out with Keedra, too.
Chapter 27
The day following Reverend Chance’s funeral, William immediately got back to pressing the police for an investigation into the candidate’s death. William couldn’t get anything accomplished that way, so he went to the newspaper; maybe he could force the police to investigate the matter if he went public with their reticence. He asked to see Jimmy Vaughn and was stunned to see Vaughn usher Spencer out of his office.
Spencer shot William a smirk as he left. William’s eyes narrowed.
“William, it’s good to see you in these parts,” Jimmy said, patting him on the back. “What brings you here?”
“I want to talk about Reverend Chance’s death.”
The meeting with Jimmy netted nothing that William could see. Jimmy said if William brought him proof, any information, he would have something to go on.
“I thought your job was to get the proof? Don’t they call you an investigative reporter?” William asked.
Jimmy laughed but simply repeated what he had just said.
William left the office, dejected, not knowing what else to do. How could he prove his boss was murdered and had not killed himself? Reverend Chance would have never taken so drastic an action. William knew the pastor did not believe in taking a life, whether it was his own or another’s. William drove aimlessly to the headquarters, and was startled to see a bunch of empty boxes waiting for him. “What is this?”
“We’re getting ready to pack up the office. With no candidate, there is no campaign,” Olivia said. Her brother nodded.
“Yeah,” William said slowly, taking in the scene. “I suppose you’re right. I guess it just hasn’t sunk in that not only is Reverend Chance gone, but so is all his hard work.”
“Yeah,” said Oliver Jr. “It’s a shame. My dad would have been so good for this city.”
“I can’t believe that Lo Dark is going to get re-elected,” William said.
“That really makes me angry,” Olivia added. “I know my dad didn’t kill himself. And I bet those people in the other campaign had something to do with it. They are the only ones who would have benefited from seeing my dad dead. My dad was going to beat them, and they knew it.”
“Whoa, sis,” Oliver Jr. said. “Those are serious allegations. We can’t go around spewing stuff like that.”
Olivia pounced on her brother. “Don’t tell me what I can say, and what I can’t! You’ve not been the one here busting your tail day in and day out! I was the one who created that campaign. I was the one who came up with a strategy, and who worked as hard as I could to get Daddy elected. I’ve earned the right to say whatever I want.”
“Okay, okay.” Oliver Jr. held up his hands. “Just calm down. And stop acting up in front of company.”
“William isn’t company,” Olivia said. “We’ve all become like family here. But you wouldn’t know that.”
“Look, don’t blame me for not being here,” Oliver Jr. snapped. “I had a job to do.”
“Well, if you had been here, you could have done something!” Olivia’s voice rose. “You could have stopped all this. And Daddy would still be alive!”
William cleared his throat. “Hey, guys, I hate to butt in, but maybe we should all leave and come back later. There is no need to start packing so soon. Emotions are running high. Maybe we’ll come back tomorrow or the next day and pack all these things and shut down the headquarters.”
Olivia sighed. “You know, he’s right. I’m going to see Mama.”
William walked out with Oliver Jr. and Olivia. William got back into the Protégé and pulled onto the street, but he wasn’t sure where he was going.
What do you do when your boss has been murdered and your life’s mission has suddenly evaporated into thin air?
The next day’s newspaper reported that with Dark’s main opponent now out of the race, Dark would likely be re-elected with ease for his third term. William slammed the paper down on the couch and Nikki looked up.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“The man isn’t even cold yet and they’ve already moved on to talking about Dark’s third term,” William said. “Don’t they have any decency?”
“Well, Dark only gets a third term if he doesn’t have a serious challenger, right?”
“Yeah, but in case you missed it, his serious challenger just died.”
Nikki joined her husband on the couch. “What if you run?”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Nikki, are you crazy? I can’t run.”
“Why not, baby?” She put her hand on her husband’s. “Hasn’t that always been your ultimate goal anyway? You were working on this campaign because you believed in the candidate, but also to get experience. How many times have you said you wanted to run for office?”
“Yeah, but—”
“There is no but,” Nikki said. “This is the perfect opportunity. You know the work Reverend Chance started. Why don’t you finish it for him?”
William’s eyes were wide. He blinked and rubbed his forehead. “Are you serious?”
“I’ve never been more serious,” Nikki said. “You would be the perfect candidate.”
“Well, baby, I’m too young—”
She cut him off. “Age ain’t nothin’ but a number.”
“And we don’t have any money.”
“That’s never stopped us before. You’ll get out there and work dog hard to raise funds like you were doing before, only they’ll be for your own campaign.” Nikki nodded in assurance.
“But we don’t have enough clout yet, baby, to run for office. This is Shreveport. I know things are changing, but it’s still about power and who you know—and who knows you. Nobody knows me,” William reasoned. He knew he was fishing for excuses. “According to my plan, this run would be at least another four or five years off. After the computer company was a bit more stable and I had worked in Reverend Chance’s administration and we had more money.”
“Well, life rarely goes according to plan,” Nikki said. “Baby, this is what you’ve wanted for years.”
“We might not have time to qualify.”
“You and I both know qualifying is another few weeks off. It’s the end of August right now. Qualifying isn’t until, what, early to middle of September? As long as you get your paperwork in by the qualifying deadline, your name will be on that ballot for the November election.” Nikki shot down each excuse.
“I’d have to make it past the October primary election first,” William said.
“Oh, you would make it.” Nikki shrugged off the resistance. “Those other people running aren’t serious contenders. The media doesn’t even report on them all that much. Your focus would be the general election.”
William didn’t say anything for a moment. Nikki knew she had to speak his language. “Maybe this is where you have to step out on faith,” she said. “Maybe this is an opportunity God is presenting. He wants you to continue the work the pastor started. You can do this.”
William slowly shook his head. “I appreciate the support, baby, but I don’t think we’re ready. We can’t win an election like this.”
“Are you saying there is something too hard for God?”
A tiny voice mocked her: Didn’t you think healing your child was too hard for God, so you took matters into your own hands? Who are you to talk about faith?
Nikki blocked from her mind that hookup and how she had paid for Psalm’s surgery. That was different, she reasoned. “We must have faith.”
“Yes, I know but . . .” William’s words trailed in the air.
“This is your chance, honey,” she said. “Step out on faith.”
The next day, William arrived at the of
fice before the others to begin packing. He knew this would be hard on Reverend Chance’s family, so he wanted to get much of it out of the way before they came. He was on the second box when Olivia and Oliver Jr. entered the office.
“Can we talk to you for a minute, William?” Olivia asked.
William smiled. “Sure. What’s up?”
Olivia looked to her brother, who cleared his throat. “We got a call from Reverend Hicks last night.”
“Okay.”
“He wants to place another candidate on the ticket,” Oliver Jr. said. “He said we’ve got to have someone to seriously challenge Dark and he is willing to help find the money.”
“Okay. . . .” William said slowly, not sure where this was going.
“We think it should be you,” Oliver Jr. announced, looking at his sister.
“Me?” William’s brows shot up.
“We think you should run,” Olivia blurted. “You’ve had almost as much face time as my dad since you were his spokesman. And you know all of the issues inside and out. Reverend Hicks is right. We can’t let all of our work be in vain. Daddy wouldn’t want that. The other candidates in the field are just jokes; nobody can even take them seriously. You would be the only serious competition to the incumbent. You’re the only one.”
William grimaced. He just did not know. “Well, I’d have to get through the primary and then get to the general,” he said. “That’s two elections.”
“Oh, the primary won’t be a big deal at all,” Olivia said. “Those few challengers are nobodies. And whatever votes they would get would be so split among the lot. You’ll get through the primary. And I’m sure you’ll win the general. I’ll see to it.”
William’s mind flashed back to last night’s conversation with Nikki. Could he really do this? He shook his head. No, I can’t run. I wouldn’t know what to do. I don’t have the experience or the money, he told himself.
“What do you say?” Oliver Jr. said. “My family has discussed it and we’re in full support of you.”
William continued shaking his head. “I don’t know what to say. I’m honored that you would think of me, but really, I think you have the wrong guy.”
“Come on, William,” Olivia said, touching his arm. “You have to do it. You’re our best chance. If not, Reverend Hicks will throw his money and support behind someone else. And don’t you want to see my dad’s work continue? There is no guarantee another candidate would feel about the community the way my dad did. And besides, we’ve got to have a viable candidate, someone to beat Dark.”
“I’m not viable,” William insisted. “I’m too young. I don’t have any money. My company is floundering along at best. I just—”
“William, we need you.” Olivia looked into his eyes.
He saw the pleading in her eyes and looked away. “I really don’t think so.”
William stepped away from the siblings and stared out of a window, watching cars pass by on the street. His thoughts were a jumble. What should he do? Could he run this race? Could he win it?
The room was starting to close in around William. Half-filled boxes dotted desks, Olivia and Oliver debated in a corner; a clock ticked loudly near his ear.
“I’ll be back later,” William said abruptly, and grabbed his keys. He hopped into the car and found himself parked in his mother’s driveway twenty minutes later. He knocked on the front door and heard her call from inside.
“Come on in, it’s open!”
He pulled the screen door and stepped inside, immediately hit by the pungent smell of onions and greens cooking on the stove.
“Hi, Ma,” he said, bending to kiss her on the cheek as she chopped peppers.
“Boy, can’t you see how hot it is in here? Get away from me, trying to kiss me,” she said. “This stove is burning up and you’re here all crowding me.”
William stepped back. He opened the refrigerator, hunting for some iced tea.
“Hurry up and close that door,” Mable Broussard said. “Don’t be letting all of my cool air out. You don’t pay bills around here. Electricity ain’t free.”
“Yes, Ma,” he said, wondering why he had come.
Mable Broussard had raised her sons hard. Life hadn’t been easy for the single mother. She felt proud of herself for raising them to adulthood—a good tongue-lashing or whipping helped keep them in line. Neither son had ever been arrested, she was quick to tell anyone who listened; and one had even gone to college. She didn’t like that William ran off and got himself married to a fast tail girl who surely must be the reason he was still broke. At least Mac had gone to barber school and made a nice living cutting hair. And at least Mac had married a church girl, not some heathen he had to convert.
“So what’s on your mind?” she asked her younger son, casting a sidelong glance at William.
“What makes you think something is on my mind?”
“’Cause I’m your mama and I know when something is bothering one of my children,” she said. “What’s that girl gone and done now?”
“Nikki? You know Nikki doesn’t ever do anything bad. We’re cool.”
“Uh-huh,” she pursed her lips. “Is she still lazing around the house? I don’t see why she can’t seem to get a job. I had two children to raise, and I worked. Sure didn’t sit around the house all day, sucking up all the air and not doing nothing.”
“Ma, Nikki does plenty; you know that,” he said. “She’s in school and she is raising our daughter.”
“Well, I just don’t think it’s right that you have to go out and work ’til midnight, breaking your back while she sits at home all day,” Mable went on.
“Look, Ma, I didn’t come over here to talk about my wife,” William said. “She’s doing a wonderful job at being my wife and raising our daughter. And she’s almost finished with grad school. She’s going to graduate with a near perfect grade point average.”
“Humph,” Mable said and dropped the bell peppers into hot grease. She added tomatoes and sausage. “Well, I never had no man sitting around taking care of me. I worked, and I worked hard. Ain’t never heard nobody tell of me being lazy.”
“Anyway, Ma, we’re just trying to figure out the next step as far as the campaign is concerned,” he told her.
“What campaign? Your candidate is dead,” William’s mother said with a wave of her hand.
“I know that, Ma. Some people think maybe I should run.”
“You?” She cocked her head to the side. “What people?”
“The Chance family, for one. Reverend Hicks, for another,” he said, shrugging.
“Reverend Hicks? The one with that big ol’ church they show on TV? Really? Well, that’s all right,” she said with approval. “You’d be a better candidate than any of them other folks.”
“I don’t know,” he said slowly.
“The Lord works in mysterious ways,” his mother said. “This could be your blessing in disguise.”
“Yeah, maybe. It’s a big step, though, running for mayor. I just don’t know that I have what it takes,” William voiced his doubts.
“Well, you won’t know ’less you try,” she said.
“That’s what Nikki says,” he said.
“What? She think you should run?” Mable Broussard’s tone changed. She didn’t like knowing she was agreeing with something her daughter-in-law had suggested.
“Yes, she was the first one to encourage me to do it,” he said. “Yesterday.”
“Uhn. I should have known she was the one pushing you to this. Should have known it was her idea. I think it’s crazy. You’re too young and you ain’t even got money for some stupid campaign.”
“But, Ma, you just said—”
“What I said is it’s stupid. You can’t win nobody’s election. Stop letting that girl put that foolishness in your head.”
William took a deep breath as he weighed his options. He didn’t know whether to follow his wife’s advice—or his mother’s.
Chapter 28
&
nbsp; Danielle sat on the couch in the Broussards’ living room, playing Patty Cake with Psalm while Nikki took cornbread out of the oven. When Nikki returned to the living room, Danielle looked up.
“So, I found a couple of cute designs for the bridesmaids’ dresses,” she said. “Pass me that magazine under my purse. I want to show them to you. And I found one for you as the matron of honor.”
Nikki bit her lip to keep from saying anything. She wasn’t thrilled about her best friend’s wedding but didn’t want to spoil Danielle’s excitement. Danielle had dropped in after work so she could show Nikki the wedding party dresses and talk about the upcoming nuptials. Nikki passed the magazine to Danielle, who instructed Psalm to go and play on the other side of the room. Danielle flipped through the magazine, removing a sticky note from the page she had marked.
“See? What do you think of these?” she shoved the book at Nikki. The floor length dresses were a beautiful mauve with spaghetti straps.
“Most folks try to make their bridesmaids wear ugly dresses,” Nikki joked.
“Oh, see I’m not even concerned about them outshining me,” Danielle said. “Their dresses are going to look good, but my dress is going to look even better. I’m going to look better than any of them. All eyes will be on me.”
“Yes, that’s true. All eyes will be on you,” Nikki said dryly. “It’ll be your day.”
“I can tell you’re still not all that happy for me,” Danielle said. “And I just don’t understand. I was happy for you when you got married.”
Nikki swallowed, not sure what to say. She conjured up the best smile she could muster. “If you’re happy, I’m happy.”
“I am,” Danielle said. “And besides, at least I won’t be fornicating anymore. Shouldn’t that make you happy? You know how you used to always fuss at me about that.”
“Well, I don’t think—”
“Anyway, forget all that,” Danielle said and leaned over to hug her friend. “I’m putting a lot of energy into getting ready for this wedding. I really want this day to be special. And you’re my girl. I need you in my corner.”
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