Keisha walked down the darkened corridor of the campaign headquarters, every now and then peering into doorways in search of Phil. She glanced at her watch and slowly shook her head. The meeting with the Dupré campaign was supposed to start in less than an hour. They would have to leave soon if they wanted to get there on time. She continued down the hallway, sighing when she saw that Phil’s office was empty and both the lights and his computer were turned off. She loudly sucked her teeth.
“Where the hell is he?” she muttered. She perked up when she heard Phil’s voice coming from the end of the corridor, from Dr. Parker’s office.
“Phil?” Keisha called out. She quickly walked toward the shaft of light spilling from the doorway. The click of her heels was the loudest sound around her. “Are you ready to leave? We should get going if we’re gonna—” and stopped in surprise.
“Oh.” She stepped into the room and saw Phil standing on one side of a grand oak desk and Dr. Parker on the other.
Dr. Parker looked more than mildly irritated. Keisha frowned as she glanced at both men.
“I’m sorry for interrupting, guys,” she said hesitantly. “Dr. Parker, I didn’t know you were still here.”
Dr. Parker glanced at her from behind his horn-rimmed glasses. “I’m not. I was driving home and realized I’d left a few things in my office.” He held up a thick hardback book and a notepad. “I just popped back in to get them but got trapped into a one-hour conversation,” he murmured sarcastically, nodding to Phil.
“A candidate’s work is never done…at least not until Election Day,” Phil muttered.
“No, my friend,” Dr. Parker said as he began to walk around his desk, “that’s when the real work begins.”
“Sydney, I wouldn’t talk about this now if it wasn’t serious. Look, if we could just talk about this juvenile crime issue one more time,” Phil pleaded as he followed Dr. Parker towards the door. “I’ll let you go. I swear. I know the Dupré campaign will want to highlight it during the debate to prove that Dupré’s harder on crime than we are, and I just think it’s foolhardy for you to take the stance you’re taking. It’s not going to play well with the Southern Maryland crowd. Either I tell them tonight that we’re avoiding the topic entirely during the debate or—”
“I change my opinion?” Parker said, exchanging a look with Keisha.
Phil sighed tiredly. “I prefer to call it ‘reworking your stance.’ ”
You mean flip-flopping, Keisha thought. She gave Dr. Parker a knowing smile.
Phil could be relentless when he wanted to make a point. But he faced a noble adversary in Dr. Parker. Her professor couldn’t be bullied into changing his opinion, particularly if someone told him it was an unpopular one.
“I don’t care what you do, Phil,” Dr. Parker said firmly. “But I’m not ‘reworking my stance’ on this.”
Phil’s face reddened. He pursed his lips. “I think that’s a big mistake, Sydney. I really do.”
“I appreciate that, but I’m not changing my position,” Dr. Parker murmured as Keisha stepped aside to let him pass. She gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder that made him smile.
“Now if you’ll excuse me, you two,” he continued. “I told my wife I’d be home for dinner on time tonight. She’s making my favorite meal.”
“Chicken and waffle special?” Keisha asked with a grin.
Dr. Parker smiled. “Of course. I’m a sucker for the old Southern favorites.” He turned to Phil. “Good luck with the meeting tonight. I’m sure—”
“You can’t budge on this one thing, Sydney? This one thing?” Phil suddenly burst out, widening his eyes as Parker paused. Keisha anxiously glanced at her watch.
“Despite the advice I’ve given you?” Phil continued. “You know, you hired me for a reason. I thought that was to help you get elected! We need a leg up in Southern Maryland, and so far they’re painting you as a liberal who’s loose on crime and big on taxes. And everything you’re saying supports that!” Phil closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to his temples, as if overcome by a seismic headache. He took a deep breath. “Look,” he began softly, “if you admit that the justice system in Maryland should be a little, just a little, harder on juveniles that commit serious crimes, the voters will—”
“No, Phil.”
“But we can—”
“I said no, Phil!” Dr. Parker boomed, making both Phil and Keisha flinch. “The system shouldn’t be harder on juveniles because those kids deserve a second chance. I would be a hypocrite if I said anything different. I got my second chance and look where I am today! Why shouldn’t they?”
Keisha frowned and Phil stared at Dr. Parker in confusion. The room fell silent.
She had tried to keep quiet during their conversation. She agreed with Dr. Parker, of course, but she was always leery of choosing sides and taking any position against Phil. The campaign manager had already made jealous mutterings about how Dr. Parker and his prized, former pupil were always in lockstep together. She didn’t want to make him feel any further like an outsider.
But Keisha couldn’t keep silent this time. What Dr. Parker had just said definitely required an explanation.
“What do you mean? What second chance?” she asked.
The older man sighed gravely as he shoved his books into the crook of his arm. His gaze fell to the office floor before returning to Keisha, who stared at him worriedly. “It happened a long, long time ago, Keisha,” Dr. Parker said tiredly.
Phil narrowed his eyes. “What happened a long time ago?”
Dr. Parker took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he looked as if he were debating the words he was about to say. “I was a very different person then, a very angry, confused young man,” he began. “I was poor and needed money and unfortunately…I took the shortest, easiest route to get it.” He cleared his throat. “That route…also happened to be illegal.”
“Illegal?” Phil suddenly squeaked. “What do you mean illegal? What the hell did you do, Sydney?”
Keisha turned to Phil with exasperation, silently pleading with him to shut up so Dr. Parker could finish his story. But Phil wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were bulging and he seemed on the verge of passing out or throwing up. She wasn’t sure which. His skin had turned from an angry shade of red to a sickly shade of white. He visibly gulped for air as he clutched the back of a chair.
“When I was fifteen, I…,” Dr. Parker paused, “…I stole a few cars. Broke into a few houses and stole things. I did it for stupid reasons, for the thrill and because a bunch of thugs in my neighborhood gave me cash if I brought that junk to them. I got pretty good at it, but one night I got cocky and…” He closed his eyes. “…And the police caught me. It landed me two years in juvenile hall.” He slowly shook his head. “That was by far the worst moment in my life, but it scared me straight. I had a lot of time for self-reflection and I came out of there a man, not a dumb kid anymore.” He sighed. “I know if I could change, anyone can change. They just need a chance. That’s why I can’t say that the justice system should be harder on juveniles. I couldn’t say that and not feel like the biggest hypocrite that ever walked the earth. ”
Keisha’s eyes widened at his confession while Phil began to mutter, “Oh, Christ! Jesus Christ!” as he fell into one of the chairs opposite Dr. Parker’s desk.
She couldn’t believe it. Dr. Parker had served time in jail, she thought with amazement. Looking at the reserved, almost saintly man before her, such an idea seemed ludicrous.
“Believe me, I’m not proud of what I did,” Dr. Parker murmured. “Not even my wife knows about this.”
“Who cares if your wife knows about it?” Phil exclaimed. “I should have known about it!” He jumped from his chair and pointed at his chest. “Why am I just now hearing about this?”
Dr. Parker opened his mouth but then abruptly closed it. His nostrils flared as he looked at the floor with embarrassment.
“Do you honestly expect to win an election with a criminal record, Sydney?” Phil asked. “The press will rip you apart if they find out! They’ll chew you up and spit you out!”
Keisha frowned and stood between the two men. “Wait a minute, Phil,” she said, holding up her hands as she came to Dr. Parker’s defense. “All this happened when he was fifteen years old! He was a juvenile! Practically still a baby, in my book. And when you’re that young those records are sealed by the courts, aren’t they?” she said. “Besides, it happened almost forty years ago! No one can hold him to something he did when he was a kid! He said he was sorry and that he regrets it. What more can people ask of him?”
“He said he was sorry!” Phil yelled with disbelief. He glared heavenward. “Are you kidding me? You both are so naïve! This isn’t some mayoral election in a small college town like it was last time. You’re running for Congress, dammit! And the closer we get to the election and the closer we get in the polls to Dupré, the dirtier this race is gonna get. And, with this little bombshell, you’ve just made their job a lot easier! This is a game changer!” he shouted before pushing his way past Dr. Parker and Keisha and storming out of the office.
“Phil. Phil!” Keisha shouted after him.
He shook his head as he stomped down the darkened corridor. “The campaign’s over! We lost! We’re done!” he yelled over his shoulder. Seconds later, the front door to the headquarters slammed behind him.
Keisha turned to Dr. Parker. Her shoulders slumped.
The older man looked completely stricken. He was almost shaking. For the first time in the years that she’d known him, Dr. Parker looked scared. Keisha instantly reached out to touch his shoulder and reassure him.
“Don’t worry, Dr. Parker. Phil’s just…just…,” she halted, “…upset because he was caught off guard. It’s really not that big of a deal.” She forced a smile. “Really, sir.”
“Isn’t it?” Dr. Parker asked softly, his gaze wavering. “Phil doesn’t seem to agree. He said I’ve lost this for us.”
“No, you haven’t!” Keisha said angrily. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes again and said more calmly, “Phil is just worried. It’s his job to be cautious, sir.”
Actually, she had been pretty appalled by Phil’s reaction. It was his job to encourage Dr. Parker, not to have a temper tantrum and act like the campaign had entered the apocalypse.
“Phil just tries to consider the worst-case scenario in every situation.” She paused. “That’s what you hired him for, right?”
When he didn’t respond, Keisha looked him firmly in the eyes. “I can assure you, Dr. Parker,” she said, mustering as much authority in her voice as she could, “that this is not a problem. Phil and I will take care of it. Right now, we’re the only three people who know about this, right?”
Dr. Parker slowly nodded his head. “Right,” he said quietly.
“So there’s nothing to worry about,” she declared. “And if by some crazy, far-out chance someone does find out…we’ll handle it, okay? We’ll make up a contingency plan for this. Trust me, we’ve got it covered, sir. We’ve come too far to give up now.”
It felt like an eternity before Dr. Parker finally gave a half-hearted smile and nodded his graying head. “Okay, I’ll let you handle it.”
“Good.” Keisha grinned. Then she glanced at her watch. “Wow, we’re running behind. Look, I’ve got to go, but I want you to head home, not worry at all about this, and enjoy your chicken and waffles, all right?”
Dr. Parker nodded. “Will do.”
“Bye,” Keisha said as she scuttled toward the door, hoping that Phil hadn’t driven off in a huff and left her behind.