Party Lines (11 page)

Ron
looked at the back of her head, at her body. She wasn’t reacting the way he’d
thought she would. The tension in her body, the energy of her –
everything was different than it was when he’d spanked her before. She was
submitting, but not submissive. She wasn’t
acquiescing,
she was just waiting it out.

He
stopped spanking her, suddenly feeling horrible.

“Oh
God, Lindsay,” he said, lifting her up. “I’m sorry.”

She
pulled herself from his lap and faced him, her expression one of deep hurt. “No
you’re not. You’ve known exactly what you were doing from the very beginning.”

He
sighed, exasperated. None of this was going the way it was supposed to. “I’m not
apologizing for what’s in the paper. I didn’t do it. I told you that, whether
you choose to believe me or not. I’m apologizing for spanking you. There are
times for it. Now wasn’t the time.”

She
smoothed her skirt down. “There’s never a good time a grown woman to be
spanked, Ron.” Lindsay had managed to stop crying and now her voice sounded
flat and sad. “I’ve learned that, so if the dominant man in your had hoped to
teach me a thing or two, rest assured that that was the main lesson. I thought
being submissive made me strong because you convinced me it would. But it just
made me vulnerable to the worst sort of person.”

When
she turned to walk away he clutched at her arm. “Lindsay….” But she looked down
at him with such an expression of disdain that he let her go. There would be no
way to convince Lindsay that he’d not been the person who had betrayed her. Not
this way, at least. And he knew that if he were in her position he’d probably
be just as hard to convince.

“I
can’t make you stay,” he said.

“No,”
Lindsay agreed. “You can’t, Ron. It’s over.” She turned and walked out, leaving
him sitting on the bed holding back tears
of his own
.

***

Breaking
up with Ron Sharp was the second hardest thing she’d ever done. The hardest was
sitting down with Clara and telling her about what had happened. Lindsay didn’t
divulge the complete details. She didn’t tell Clara about her submissive needs,
nor
about Ron’s dominant tendencies. She only remarked
on their “undeniable, mutual attraction,” and tearfully confessed how that
attraction had blinded her to the dangers of the man’s character – danger
she should have been aware of.

Clara
had been genuinely shocked.
And disappointed.
It was
her disappointment that hurt Lindsay more than anything else. She had not
wanted to cry in front of Clara, but couldn’t stop herself. It was just all too
embarrassing.

“
..so
you see,” she said. “You see why I have to leave,
Clara. If I can’t trust my own judgment, I can’t expect you to trust it,
either.”

Clara
stood up. “Leave? What in the world are you talking
about.
You aren’t going anywhere.”

Lindsay
looked
up,
surprised that Clara wasn’t accepting her
resignation. “But surely you don’t want me after this.”

Clara
threw her head back and laughed. “Lindsay Martin, do you think you’re the first
woman who’s ever had an embarrassing revelation from their past come out. Or
the first woman who’s ever found herself betrayed by an unscrupulous man? If
those things excluded us from being trusted, then I couldn’t in good conscience
run for office!”

“You
mean you want me to stay on?”

“Of
course,” Clara replied. “For two reasons. First of all, I believe in you. I
believed in you when I hired you and I still believe in you, Lindsay. You’ve
caught quite a few spears for me. I’m sure you can catch the ones they’re
aiming at you now. Second, Hopkins is trying to use you as an example of my ‘poor’
judgment. If I accept your resignation that’s the same thing as admitting they
are right.” She gave Lindsay a motherly hug. “And we both know they’re not.”

Lindsay
squeezed her eyes shut tight as she embraced the older woman. “Thank you,
Clara.”

“No
thanks necessary,” Clara said and stood back, giving Lindsay’s arm a squeeze. “Now
let’s get out there and show Hopkins what happens when he picks on the girls.
”

Neither
knew at the time that Ron Sharp was way ahead of them, and neither of them
could have hated their opponent any more than his own campaign manager.

***

Ron
tried to act casual as he entered Bradford Hopkins’ office. His secretary,
Thelma, was behind the desk. She smiled warmly when she saw Ron.

“Well
hello there,” she said cheerily. “I didn’t expect to see you this morning.”

“I
didn’t expect to come by.” Ron tried to make his voice sound casual. “I’m on my
way to book our boss on Newstalk Today and wanted to pick up a few things
first.”

Thelma’s
eyes widened. “Newstalk? That’s quite a coup. What do you need?”

“The
Ruskin file if you have it,” Ron said.

Thelma
furrowed her brow. “Good Lord.
That old thing?
Mr.
Hopkins put that mess behind him long ago. Don’t tell me you think they’re
going to bring that up again.”

Harlan
Ruskin, a longtime friend of Hopkins, was a developer who had wanted to put a
golf course on one of the county’s few remaining tracts of undeveloped land.
But the school board appealed to the county commissioners, of which Hopkins was
chairman at the time, to rezone the land so that an elementary and middle
school there instead.

Hopkins
scuttled the school board’s request, implying that the land was environmentally
unsuitable for either project due to the amount of wetlands it contained. The
face of the school board chairman fell when Hopkins said any environmental
assessment fees would have to come out of the education budget. It was a tight
year, and the county didn’t have the funds to pay for the needed studies.

But
it was Hopkins’ turn to be disappointed when the school board head returned and
said the body would pay for the studies. Hopkins remained opposed and since
expenditures of the school board had to be approved by the commissioners, it as
put to a vote. The other board members voted overwhelmingly to allow the school
board to have the studies done.

But
Hopkins wasn’t about to let the matter lie. When the studies came back
revealing that the wetlands were too numerous to allow development, he gave an
impassioned speech about protecting the county’s “last, wild areas” and the
commissioners scuttled the schools’ plans on the spot.

Eight
months later, after the schools had purchased a smaller tract of land in a less
than stellar neighborhood, Ruskin was back on the agenda asking to develop the
lands the commissioners had denied the schools. And Hopkins had changed his
tune, raising his voice in righteous indignation as he called into question the
results of the initial assessments.

The
definition of wetlands was draconian, he argued, and after some research he
felt he and the voters had been duped by the original studies. The wetlands
were nothing more than low spots filled with runoff, he argued, and the Army
Corps of Engineers’ “liberal environmental slant” had cost the county a chance
to put schools on the land. But he saw no reason why Mr. Ruskin should not have
the opportunity to bring jobs and tax revenue to the county through the
development of a golf course complex, which now included condominiums and an
upscale shopping center.

A
battle ensued, and in the process the head of the Army Corps of Engineers had
the misfortune to be arrested for drunk driving. A day later the press had the
story, including anonymously submitted photos of the man – who had been
recently divorced - coming out of a gay bar. Hopkins made an issue of the man’s
character and judgment, while continuing to tout the benefits of the Ruskin
project. The Army Corps head eventually resigned and the new one ordered new
environmental assessments that determined the land was suitable for development
after all.

The
Ruskin project was approved after much arm-twisting from Hopkins, who ultimately
got his way by one vote. The controversy caused hard feelings among proponents
of the schools and the environment. But felt that Hopkins had somehow
influenced the outcome, but nothing could ever be proven.

But
Ron had taken his rose-colored glasses off and knew that somewhere, someone had
missed something. And he as determined to find it. He smiled at Thelma as she
handed him the folder.

“I
appreciate it,” he said. “You know how unscrupulous politicians can be. I don’t
know if anyone will make an issue of the Ruskin case or not, but I want to be
read in case I need to give Mr. Hopkins talking points.”

“Well,
I doubt the other side is thinking about much right now aside from damage
control.” Thelma lowered her voice. “Did you see the news this morning? Can you
believe that Lindsay Martin is an arsonist?”

Ron
forced himself to bite his tongue. “Was,” he said. “And the way I read it, what
happened was a long time ago, and not something she’s probably ever repeated.”

“Yeah,
maybe not,” Thelma said. “But still. I mean
,
it’s such
a shame that Clara Faircloth would have hired her knowing it might come out.”

“A
shame?” Ron chuckled. “That’s a strange way for a Hopkins supporter to look at
it. Aren’t you glad it came out?”

Thelma
sighed and sat down at her desk. “No, I’m not,” she replied. “And if I weren’t
a year away from my retirement I probably wouldn’t have the guts to say what I’m
about to say. But I don’t plan to vote for Mr. Hopkins, even if I work for him.
We need a change in the way politics are handled. It’s gotten too
mean-spirited.”

She
began shuffling things around on her desk. “I almost quit when he had me the
appointment with that slimy private investigator. I can’t believe Bill Coats is
still around. I hadn’t even heard his name since the Ruskin flap.”

“What
did he have to do with Ruskin?” Ron asked.

Thelma
laughed. “What do you think? Who do you think got those pictures of the head of
the Army Corps of Engineers coming out of the gay bar? Who do you think tipped
the cops off that he was driving drunk?”

Ron
felt his heart quicken in his chest. “Well, you are a well of information, aren’t
you Thelma?”

“Oh,
there’s more,” she said. “I don’t suppose Mr. Hopkins ever told you about the
free condo he got out at Willow Branch.” That was the golf course complex
Ruskin had developed.” She pointed to the folder. “The information is all in
there.”

Ron
looked at her in disbelief. “Jesus, Thelma,” he said. “If people knew about
this Hopkins would be destroyed! Why are you telling me?”

She
shrugged. “Because I’m not brave enough to tell the people who need to know. I’ve
always wanted to get the knowledge off my chest. You won’t do anything about
it. You’re in his corner. I just wanted to tell someone.”

***

Lindsay
lay in the bedroom of her apartment, a damp washcloth over her eyes as she
waited for the three Ibuprophen she’d taken to kick in. Keeping herself
together for three media interviews – two joint ones with Clara who’d
insisted on being by her side – had given her the worst tension headache
ever.

The
moderate radio host at WNBL had grilled her mercilessly, trying to put her on
defensive. But Lindsay’s mantra had been the same throughout the program: “I
take full responsibility.”

“There
is no defense for what I did in my youth,” she’d said. “I was wrong and wish I’d
never associated with the people I did or thought that violence was an
appropriate response to any political issue.”

“In
a way, what has happened to me is good because it reminds me of the pain we
cause when we go to any lengths to win. I’m sure I caused others pain and worry
through what I did. Now I know how it feels.”

The
self-effacing stance was already helping, although Lindsay as unaware of it. If
she’d turned on the news she would have seen that the voters – especially
women – were sympathetic to her, and impressed by how she’d taken
responsibility. But the bigger boost went to Clara Faircloth, whose matronly
dedication to her campaign manager was seen as a sign of strength and loyalty.

But
the numbers infuriated Bradford Hopkins.

“Can
you believe this?” he asked, gesturing towards the television. He and Ron were
busy preparing for his appearance on Newstalk Today, schedule for the next
morning.

Hopkins
walked over to the bar to pour himself a drink. “This is what’s wrong with
society today, Ron. Character doesn’t mean a goddamned thing anymore. That
bitch should be falling in the polls. Not rising.”

“I
wouldn’t get too upset,” Ron replied. “She was down ten when the news broke.
She’s only up seven, so you still got a three point gain out of it, right?”

Ron
had tried to sound hopeful, even though what he wanted to do was laugh. It
amazed him that even without his help, Lindsay was doing exactly what he knew
she was capable of doing: fighting back and winning. He didn’t now what Clara
had said to keep her on board, but he was glad she’d said it.