Reggie waited for the heavy prison entry door to slide closed and lock. She never liked these brief moments when she was trapped between the inner and outer doors, in the confined space, unable to get in or out until one of the two doors buzzed open. The confinement was a reminder, every time she entered, that the inmates she guarded spent their days in a space roughly the same size with no chance of exit.
The second, inner door buzzed open and she walked through the metal detector and onto the women’s unit where she worked. Before she turned toward the locker room to drop her things, the lieutenant warden flagged her down.
“Northrup, come in, please.” He waved her into his office.
“What can I do for you, sir?” Reggie stood inside the door stiffly.
She was wary of being hailed so quickly. Being called in to work after a shift had already started was odd, and this was adding to her unease with the situation.
“You’re needed on cell block D this morning. Special assignment.” The warden moved papers around his desk and didn’t look at her.
“Cell block D?” Reggie dragged the words out, the taste of them bitter. “I thought you were short-staffed here. Isn’t that why I was called in?”
“Things change, Northrup. Get your ass over to D.”
“Yes, sir.” Reggie stayed put an extra beat, trying to catch the warden’s eye.
The warden continued to look at his desk. What was going on? He wasn’t the greatest boss, but his biggest fault was an over infatuation with the sound of his own voice. The clipped tone and short answers had her on guard.
Since there didn’t seem to be additional answers to be pried from the warden, Reggie continued to her original destination. She dropped her things in the locker room. She might be assigned to D, but she wasn’t going to navigate unknown territory
“What are you doing here? I thought you were off today.” Ava opened the locker next to Reggie.
“Got called in. You guys short-staffed today?” Reggie slammed the locker shut and leaned against the door facing Ava.
Ava looked confused. “Not today. We’re fully staffed and now you’re here so I think that makes you the awkward third wheel. Can’t you sneak out the back and pretend you weren’t here?”
“We work at a prison. Sneaking out the back isn’t supposed to be something you can do. Besides, I’ve already been given a special assignment to cell block D.” Reggie leaned her head back against the locker harder than she meant to. “Ow. Fuck. You have no idea where I was when that damn call came in.”
Ava looked at her intently. “I have a few guesses given how grumpy you are. I’m more interested in why you’re getting sent on a special assignment to your father’s neighborhood.”
“You and me both.”
“Well, you aren’t going to find out in here.” Ava grabbed Reggie by the shoulders, spun her toward the door, and gave her a shove. “Get your ass moving. I can’t wait to find out what’s going on.”
“Yes, I am a little apprehensive about it, thanks for asking. Something does feel suspicious to me too. I don’t know how I’d feel if I ended up face-to-face with him after all this time.” Reggie picked at one of her nail beds.
“Now’s not the time for that, Reggie. Shove your daddy issues back in their deep dark hole and get moving.” Ava gave her another little push.
Reggie looked back over her shoulder with a glare. “You’re the one who told me to start exploring my feelings. You send extremely mixed messages.”
She stomped out before Ava could answer, but she could hear her laughing. The walk to cell block D felt endless and too fast. She checked in with the officer in charge once she was on the cell block. They were clearly expecting her and led her to one of the large visitation rooms. This was one used for attorney meetings or other confidential business and didn’t have audio surveillance.
“Have a seat, he’ll be right in.”
Reggie wanted to run back into the hall and demand to know who she was meeting, but she knew. Why her father wanted to meet with her was beyond her, but he was the only one who could possibly care enough to go to all this trouble. And he was the only one who still had enough power to get visitation when he asked for it.
She didn’t have to wait long for confirmation. An officer she didn’t know led her father in, had him sit, and uncuffed him.
“Anything else you need, Mr. Northrup?”
Reggie took the officer by the arm and herded him to the door. “No, he doesn’t need anything. This isn’t a restaurant and you don’t work for him.”
The officer skittered out the door and pulled it shut behind him. Reggie turned around and stormed back toward her father.
“You don’t need to be rough on him, Gina, he’s only doing his job.”
Reggie put her hands on the back of the chair across from her father and leaned toward him. He looked older, more haggard since she’d last seen him, but his hair was still neatly combed and shiny with pomade, as always. The prison coveralls made him look too skinny, but even in clothes meant to rob individuality, he hadn’t lost his ability to fill up a room with his presence.
“His job is to keep you locked up, not chauffeur you around. What is all this? Why am I here?” Reggie pointed between the two of them.
“Can’t a father spend some time with his only child?” Her dad smiled the big winning smile that, in Reggie’s experience, got him whatever he wanted most of the time.
“That’s what visiting hours are for, just like everyone else in here.”
“And yet you’ve never come to see me in all the time I’ve been here.” He shrugged.
“That should tell you something, Dad.” Reggie crossed her arms.
“It tells me plenty, but I needed to talk to you, so I had to make other arrangements. You’re as stubborn as I am. Sit, Gina, it’s about your Sophia.” Her father indicated the chair across from him.
Reggie’s fingers tingled and her neck muscles tightened. “How do you know about her?”
“Relax. Sit. I’m on your side and I mean her no harm, but I need to talk to you to make sure she isn’t a threat to you.” He tried again to point to the chair.
Reggie yanked the chair back and slammed into it. She dropped her forearms heavily onto the table and leaned forward. “I doubt you’re on my side unless there’s something in it for you. What do you know about Sophia?”
Her father kicked his feet up on the table and laced his fingers together behind his head. “You know, Gina, I always assumed you’d follow me into the family business. You were a whip smart kid. You could have been governor by now. I pictured us running this state together. Do you know the difference we could have made? Can you picture it?”
“I wasn’t interested in politics, I was never going to be governor, and I didn’t want any part of what you were offering.”
“There was a time you did. There was a time you still looked at me like I meant something to you. Do you remember? That’s when you started coming with me to the political events. But look at you now, wasting your life in here. Doing what?” He looked around the room, disgust etched on his face.
“Even if I’d wanted to run for president, it wouldn’t have mattered. Your getting locked up in here ruined my good name out there. No one wants anything to do with me, thanks. And how would you and I have possibly run the state with you doing time? You can’t run anything from in here.”
Reggie wondered if that was true. He certainly seemed to have orchestrated their current meeting. She wasn’t interested in revisiting family history. So what if she’d thought, once upon a time, that she’d join the family business. That was before she knew what politics really was.
“No more wandering down memory lane. Tell me about Sophia.” Reggie slammed her hand on the metal table.
Her father held up his hands as if to appease her. “I’m getting there. Would it surprise you to know someone is trying to get you kicked out of the community design team?”
“No, it wouldn’t. Again, thanks to you. What does that have to do with Sophia?”
He raised an eyebrow. “What if it’s her?”
“Is it?”
Reggie knew it wasn’t. She didn’t have proof or any reason to be so confident, but she knew it wasn’t Sophia.
“No, at least I don’t think so. And before you ask, I don’t know who it is, but someone is gunning for you.”
“Geez, I wonder what anyone could find objectionable about me?” Reggie crossed her hands on the table and glared at her father.
“Enough. You might not agree with my methods, you might think I was a lousy father, but everything I did was in service to the people of this state. There are plenty of people who want a piece of me because they think I’m weakened locked up in here, and blacklisting you is a way to get at me.” He accentuated each sentence with his finger jabbed in Reggie’s direction.
Reggie bit her tongue. She wanted to argue, yell, or bang her hands on the table, but it was important to hear him out. She’d never heard his perspective, and maybe doing so would allow her to move out of his shadow.
“I’m sorry you have to deal with the political bottom-feeders using you to get to me, but I’m not apologizing for the rest. If I walked out of here today and put my name on any ballot, I bet you dollars to donuts I win.” He looked completely certain it was true, the arrogant surety of a privileged White man, even as he sat there in his prison uniform.
She decided not to point out there were a few elections he’d be ineligible for due to a felony conviction, but his point was valid. He still had a devoted following and had always been a political genius. It was part of the reason she distrusted politicians. No matter how crooked some were, others continued to follow them.
“I think you’re giving yourself too much credit. Getting me thrown off some committee isn’t blacklisting me. It’s not like it’s going to boost my career. Sophia. Let’s stay focused here. Why do you want to talk about Sophia?” She tapped the table to emphasize her point.
He nodded, his expression serious. “She’s in a bit of trouble. Francis, the Speaker of the House, offered her a bribe a few months ago. I don’t know all the particulars, but I know she never agreed to the terms and this morning she gave him a double middle finger and told him to fuck off.
“A bribe? I don’t understand.” Reggie pushed back in her chair and ran her hand through her hair. Why hadn’t Sophia told her?
“Focus, Gina. Being offered a bribe isn’t the same as accepting. I’ll show you. Gina, I’ll give you a million dollars if you help me break out of here. Now you’ve ben offered a bribe too.” Her father looked too nonchalant.
“That’s not the same. I’d never consider accepting your bribe.”
“Do you think so little of your Sophia that you think she would?” Her father frowned.
Sophia wouldn’t, would she? Reggie knew her, trusted her. Right? The most important thing was that she’d said no. Twice and emphatically, apparently. That must have been at her meeting with the Speaker this morning. But why did it take months for her to tell him no? Damn it.
“Gina, let’s focus on what’s important here. Her leadership’s going to turn on her. Francis will try to bury her in career purgatory. It will happen quickly if she lets it. She’s going to have to fight her way out.”
“She knows that.” Reggie wanted to pick up the chair she was sitting in and throw it through the wall.
“She needs to choose her friends carefully, but move quickly. Francis looks like Santa Claus, but underneath he’s vindictive, vengeful, and power hungry. It’s why I chose him to rise to Speaker. I wanted someone who wouldn’t relinquish power and would fight for what I needed.”
Reggie opened her mouth to say something, but it took her brain a few beats to process what her father said. “Did you say you put him in power? From here?”
“Telecommuting is an option for many businesses these days.” A small smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Look, I can’t call him off in his pursuit of her. She stood up to him and refused to bow to his will. He’s not going to let that stand without a reason to back down. She has to give him a reason.”
“If you put him in power, surely you control him. Isn’t that your thing?” Reggie shook her head trying to get the pieces of this mishmashed puzzle to fall into place. “And he’s threatening Sophia because she’s dating me. That’s okay with you?”
“Actually, he’s threatening Sophia because he’s scared of her and of me. The fact she’s dating you is a convenient way to sully her name and get to me. I’m sorry your reputation could use a spit shine, but there are bigger power plays happening behind the scenes here. Francis is a shark and as such he was always a risk. But I needed a shark to take care of some other business. He wants to strip Sophia of her power because she’s a threat to him. She refuses to back down and play the game. He’s exactly the kind of guy I needed in power. Now it’s biting me in my family’s ass, but these things happen. Short of retiring him permanently, which isn’t off the table, I can’t fully shield her from his political self-preservation and power hungry instincts.”
“Why are you getting your sticky fingers back in this mess now?”
“Gina, you’re smarter than this. My fingers never left the levers of power. This is a courtesy call because I love you, whatever you think of me. You’re my daughter and you seem to care about Sophia Lamont. Guys like Francis Spaziano understand strength and they understand power. She has access to both, but she needs to move fast.” He reached across the metal table and patted Reggie’s hand.
“Is she like you? Like the rest of them?” Reggie’s shoulders sagged and she looked at her hands.
He flinched and moved back. “No, she’s nothing like me. There’s an old guard that did things a certain way, but now?” He shrugged and gestured in the air. “Now there’s a whole class of idealists invading the statehouse. They’ll never get anything done, but they stand by their convictions. History will be the judge of who better served the people. Maybe us old guys got it wrong after all.” He winked, showing just what he thought of that possibility.
“Where is she supposed to turn if it’s not to you or the leadership of her party?” The air felt too thick to breathe in the small room.
“Who has their own money and isn’t beholden to campaign cash? Who’s offered to work with her but hasn’t asked for anything in return? Who has different priorities but has still reached out seeking compromise? Who’s been given shitty committee assignments and has still consistently been passed up for leadership positions? Those are the people she should reach out to.”
He got up and knocked on the door. It opened and the same officer came back in.
“All done, sir? I’m sorry, but I’ll have to put these back on while we’re out there.” The officer indicated over his shoulder toward the hall.
He put his wrists out. He turned and winked at Reggie once again. “One of many indignities in here.”
“This isn’t a country club, Dad.”
“Of course, of course. But even at this fine establishment, they allow visitors, you know.”
“It doesn’t seem like I need to make an appointment to see you. One will be made for me.” She looked at the young officer until he ducked his head and looked away.
“That’s only because you work here and it’s easier this way.” He paused and looked at her seriously, his expression more open than she’d ever seen it. “You’ve done your duty long enough, Gina. I’m confined and serving my time. You don’t need to continue watching over me, nor should you. This life doesn’t suit you. Besides, the politicians hate you because they think you and I are planning an uprising in here. Get some distance from me and your life may ease up a little. Since you were little you’d tell your mother you wanted to be a teacher. Yeah, I know, you didn’t think I was listening. But I was. It’s time to go make your own dreams.”
He saluted with his shackled hands on his way out the door. Reggie didn’t move for a long time. What the hell had just happened?
Since her call into work seemed to have been a ruse to get her in the room with her father, she assumed she was free to clock out. She double-timed it back to her locker, collected her things, and buzzed out the double doors. She hadn’t realized how tense she’d been until the fresh air hit her lungs and she took a few big, lung-expanding breaths. The kind that felt like they could crack ribs and oxygenate your toenails.
As she started her truck and pointed it toward home, a Star Wars style recap scroll rolled through her mind. Her father had never let go of the levers of power, except now he seemed to have lost control of one of his lieutenants. Sophia was the target of said lieutenant, a vengeful, power hungry, man shark. Sophia, who’d been offered a bribe, but hadn’t taken it and seemingly didn’t play the same political games, but she had to if she wanted to save her career.
It was easy for Reggie to separate Sophia from politics, but Representative Lamont was a different story. She seemed destined to be dragged into the world Reggie hated. She hadn’t even gotten to the part where popular opinion had her plotting with her father for years. She’d always known people distrusted her because of the link to her father. That they’d think she’d be in league with him even now was nauseating.
She thought about calling Sophia. She could easily fall into her arms and get lost in her touch, but her head felt like it was being squeezed in a vice of past and future and she needed to relieve some of the pressure before she talked to Sophia. And the bribe was still nagging at her. Why hadn’t Sophia told her?
When she got home, she pulled on running clothes and her sneakers. It was a beautiful day and she had hours of free time ahead of her. She locked the door and set off at a blistering pace. If only she could figure out if she was running toward her future or away from it.