Dead Man Running (10 page)

"Wolf, as you know, Reverend Wiley recently admitted to a drug problem."

"Yes, I recall.  He made some unfortunate remarks at the
New York City
prayer breakfast.  Are you saying he was under the influence this morning?"

Elias nodded.  "Unfortunately, yes, Wolf.  The congressman had a group session with his fellow addicts and someone spiked his latte with a cocktail of PCP and LSD."

"Wow, so that's how he was able to walk away from such a horrendous accident?"

"Yes.  But he was able to walk off the accident and gamely continued on his schedule to spend time with the children."

"Mr. Turnbull, that sounds almost heroic."

Elias smiled.  "Wolf, it's not heroism if it's what you do every day.  No sacrifice is too great when it comes to Congressman Wiley and the babies of our community."

Blitzer, sensing this rooster going t
o full feather mode, knew his 'b
ig interview' was a dud. His producer was buzzing in his ear to end this mess.  There was
a
story hitting the wire about Sarah Palin banging an NBA player and the producer had the cleaning man from an Alaskan motel holding for an interview.

"Elias, thank you so much.  I appreciate you coming on – you really cleared up this fake controversy."

"No problem Wolf
, thanks for the opportunity."

The red light switched off the camera facing Elias.  He stood and the pretty technician switched her way over.  "Good job," she said.

"Thanks," he replied.  "How about we do som
ething later?"  He put his hand
lightly on her wrist.

The woman smiled.  "Sure," she said.  "Just bring one of those cocktails that your boss took.  Any shit that lets you get hit by a car and walk away has to be out of this world."  She
jotted her
cell number on a
half sheet
of paper. 

Elias looked at her as she walked away.  He shook his head once, twice, finally
through sheer will he left
the room.  Before he hit the doorway he balled the paper in his hand and dropped it into a trash can.

The next morning
Wiley's limo pull
ed
in front of the
World Affairs Club
. 
Mookie
, drafted as driver in light of Wiley's 'condition',
walked
around and open
ed
the rear door.  Elias emerge
d
first, followed by Chi, Jan and finally Wiley.

They ma
d
e their way into the
lobby. 
As the four enter
ed
the
voluminous space
, Jan and Wiley
were
arm and arm.  A
supporter
approache
d
Wiley. 
He
wa
s a black man, shabbily dressed
. 
He matched the pace of
the four as they d
id not
stop.

"
Reverend Wiley, I have a drug problem too.
"

"
You gonna vote next Tuesday?
" Elias asked.

"
No, I live in
Brooklyn
.
"

"
Then you need to start stepping back to
Brooklyn
and get your drug ass out
of
our way
," said Elias.

Chi brushe
d
the man aside.
  "
Tell your story walking, brother.
"

The man stop
ped
and stare
d
at the group as they enter
ed
the ballroom.

Wiley and Elias
we
re seated on the dais along with a score of other officials.  Chi and Jan
stood
near the ballroom's
exit doors
, poised for another quick escape
. 

The
chairman
of the World Affairs Club address
ed
the audience.

"
Our honored guest today is Congressman and Reverend Benjamin Wiley of the Fourth Congressional District here in
New York
.  We invited Representative Wiley to share his observations from his position as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.  I understand Representative Wiley is in some measure of personal discomfort.  His
chief of s
taff Elias Turnbull will escort Representative Wiley to the podium.  Please welcome
Benjamin
Wiley to our meeting.
"

The audience of mostly gray haired white men applaud
ed politely
.  Elias assist
ed
Wiley to the podium
, positioning him in front of the microphones before taking his seat
.

Uncomfortable s
econds fl
ew
by as
Wiley look
ed
the crowd over.

Finally:
"
God ain't got nothing to do with it!
"

Wiley pause
d.  From the audience rose an un
easy
murmur
.

"
Time to ride the white wave!
"

The audience applaud
ed
.

"
The world we live in today is ripe for healing.  And I want all you to go out and heal somebody today!  I say heal somebody!  We need to heal this world.
"

The audience's applause grew
.

"
Time to ride the white wave!
"

Louder applause.  Elias
,
from
his seat, looked out onto the audience with
astonishment and
joy
.

"
The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout.  Down came the rain and washed the spider out.  Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.  And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.
"

Thunderous applause.

"
Time to ride the white wave!
"

Audience members leap
t
to their feet. 
Striking while he was ahead,
Elias hustle
d
Wiley from the podium and out the room.  As the four le
ft
the
ball
room,
t
he Chairman
struggled to
restor
e
order.

In a
Washington
residence a neat bank of
television
s
show
ed
the Chairman speaking live on CSPAN.

"
I am sorry Representative Wiley's time was brief.  I have to say that I am personally emotionally affected by his remarks.  The symbolic palette from which he spoke was truly astounding.
"

Two men
and a woman st
ood
in front of the
television
s
. 

The man sa
id
, "
That was really deep.  We need to find out who wrote that.  I could use somebody like that to write the State of the
Union
.
"

"
Yes, Mr. President.
"
  David Axelrod jotted down a quick note on his iPad.

"Congressman Wiley doesn't like me, does he?"

"No sir.  He's one of the black politicians who bite their tongues."

"He's a tongue biter?"

"He hates our policies but won't say so because you're black."

"Right
, David
. Got it."

The
white
man change
d
the channel to CNN.  There, the political commentators
we
re extolling Wiley's remarks.

Axelrod turned down the sound.

"
That's too bad
he doesn't like us
.  We could use him on our team.
"

"
Maybe I can spea
k to him about joining us,
"
said the female.

"Michelle
, if you can do that, that would be very special. 
You've always know
n
what to say to real, one hundred percent black people
,
"
said her husband.

"I struggle with the whites."  The woman hung her head.

"I know.  You'll get better one day.  Maybe you want to try that blonde
Beyoncé
wig now?"
said her husband.

"Maybe."

The
trio
watched CNN then flipped to F
ox
.  Even the Republicans had good things to say about Wiley.

"
A man of such vision, such a powerful speaker, would be an asset to the
administration
.
  And my re
-
election campaign.  See what you can do, Michelle.  Try to get the brother on my side."

"We could use more authentic blacks in our camp," added David.

After hiding out in the coat room for several minutes,
Jan, Chi and Elias hustle
d
Wiley through the lobby.

"
What the hell happened in there?
" Chi asked.

"
Wiley is alive!
" Jan replied.  The three pause
d
as a loud growl emanated from Wiley.  "
And hungry.
"

Elias tugged on Wiley's arm to get the man moving toward the exit. 

"
I don't know about that but he might be a better candidate dead than alive
," he said.

Finally outside the
four
stepped quickly
past a
male reporter
doing a live remote.  A small white man st
ood
to his side.

"
With me, Chet, is Truman Burnsdale, who witnessed Representative Wiley's stirring remarks.  What was your reaction, Mr. Burnsdale?
"

"
To only thing I can compare the address to is Martin Luther King's
'
I Have A Dream
'
speech.  So powerful.  The man is a genius.  The white wave.  I am astonished a black man would acknowledge the white man's dominant role in our country, our world.  What a man!  What a speech!
"

"
There you have it, Chet.  Representative Wiley knocked them dead at the World Affairs Club.
"

The four reach
ed
the curb but Mookie and their limo
we
re
nowhere to be seen.

"
Where's the limo?
" Elias asked.

"
I called him from inside.  He should be here any minute
," Chi replied
.

A strong growl rose overtop the NYC traffic noise.

"
He needs to eat
," said Jan
.

"
Eat what? 
I haven't seen him eat anything," Elias said.

The
scruffy
Brooklyn
'supporter' approached the group.

Elias stepped in front of the man before he could get to Wiley.  "H
ey, didn't we tell you to take a
hike
, stupid.
"

The man attempted to speak around Elias. 
"
I was trying to be friendly to you, Reverend Wiley.  One addict to another.
"

Chi smacked the man in the head.  "
Come on, get lost!
"

The man
staggered back, reached for something in his ragged coat. 

He pulled out a gun.  "
No, you get lost.  All I wanted to do was to speak to Reverend Wiley.
"

Elias and
Chi back
ed
away
as the man
approached
Wiley.