The Art Of The Next Best (3 page)

"Then why is he running for the Council
again?"

Jessie laughed, shook her head and kissed
Martin as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Because his dad
isn't stupid."

Martin groaned and kissed her back.
"Basically you want to marry me so I can be your trophy husband,
right?"

"Basically," she whispered as she kissed him
again.

But was that all of it? Because no one had to
declare as early as Donnelly had, and this time it looked like
Donnelly had something to say.

"This administration has made sure that
Roxbury got the development dollars that it's been missing since at
least the Seventies. No one begrudges them that, but those of us
who are watching are very concerned that while the School
Department gets a new building and a local supermarket is upgraded
to the point that it rivals the Whole Foods on Beacon Hill, we do
not see the changes being made for affordable housing. The two and
a half million dollar condo is not going to be inhabited by the
people already living there. Roxbury- and the rest of Boston-
should welcome new residents, but there is a way to keep the old
residents while they come in. It's a shame this administration has
chosen not to pursue that. As a lifelong resident of South Boston,
I urge people to look at how we have changed and ask if there
wasn't a way that could have been done better."

To the untrained eye, it looked as if
Donnelly had something to say to his father as well. He would run
if he must, but this time he'd do it his way.

Donnelly's platform on education surprised
Martin too. "Let's be real: our system isn't serving our children.
What is the point of sending our children from one badly performing
district to another? Racial diversity? Then why is it that so many
of our classrooms still manage to be segregated? Why is it that our
black and Latino boys are being sent to special needs classes
before they and their sisters drop out of the system for good?
That's a problem, and it's one we should be solving as a community.
But when parents are working more than one job and kids are leaving
at six in the morning and then getting home at five in the evening,
where is the community and when are they supposed to meet to arrive
at the solutions they need to get to?"

Martin didn't want to see Boston go back to
segregated schools, but his gut told him that Donnelly wasn't
calling for an updated Separate But Equal, especially when he
looked at the stats for South Boston.

"I think I want to work for Jack Donnelly,"
Martin blurted out one evening.

"Yep," Jessie said as she continued reading
her textbook.

"I mean, I think I want to stop going to
school and work for Donnelly."

"Yeah, I know," she said without looking
up.

"And...you don't care?"

Jessie sighed and closed her book. "Is it
going to make you feel like you're doing something for the good
guys so you can help screw Alex when he gets back someday?"

Martin was taken aback. "I—how did you—"

"Babe, you're looking at who's funding Boston
politicians. Was that supposed to be hard? And Donnelly's the only
good guy left since that coward Hwang disappeared."

"You think he's a good guy?"

Jessie scoffed. "You know—as politicians
go."

Martin wasn’t insulted. The world was an
imperfect place and settling for the lesser of two evils could be a
worthy goal. Science was in the details; the art was in deciding
which details worked best together. Martin always knew that he was
more of a scientist than an artist, but he had learned enough to be
of use to a Great Master.

Donnelly wasn't going to run for mayor again.
What about Paloma Castillon?
Martin considered the
possibility for only a moment. No, someone with her Washington
experience settled in a place like Boston for, literally, the
street cred. Mayor of Boston was too small for her, but councilor
might be enough to propel her to Congress and beyond. And
Representative Todaro had made no secret that he was eyeing the
governor's office.

Donnelly wasn't going to be mayor, but he was
going to be in Boston politics for as long as he wanted. That,
Martin thought as he looked up Donnelly’s contact information,
would probably be more than enough for him.

~~~

"Congratulations!" Richard said warmly after
Martin announced his news. "Donnelly's lucky to have you. When do
you start?"

"He already has," Jessie said as she frowned.
"Donnelly called at midnight for the last two nights."

Zainab laughed. "You finally found someone
who keeps your hours." Jessie stuck out her tongue. Zainab turned
to Martin. "And you're sure he's not running for mayor again?"

Martin smirked. "I'll eat Hellie's vegan ice
cream if he does."

"Good," Zainab said when she was done
laughing. "I don't think he'd be a good mayor."

Richard groaned. "Sweetheart, it's like
waiting for Al Gore every four years. David Hwang is gone."

"Stranger things have happened," Zainab said
defiantly.

Martin smiled as he picked up his soda.
"Indeed."

There’s no better character in my series to
ease us into something like politics than Martin Shepard, possibly
the most beloved character in this series. While some might use
intellectual force (Emily), others guilt (Richard) and still others
blackmail (Michael), Martin is the one most likely to make you
believe it’s a good idea.

But what about Zainab? Don’t worry, she’ll
play a big role in
The Golden Boy Returns
. Don’t believe me?
Please read on...

An excerpt from the next book in The New
Pioneers series

It was dark outside but the Student
Government Council offices were buzzing with activity. The Academic
Affairs meeting had just wrapped up. Giles de Rochart, the Vice
President of Academic Affairs, was standing outside the office,
surrounded by his adoring fans. Tall, dark haired David Hwang was
arguably just as handsome—and unquestionably quicker on his
feet—but the thought of flirting as much as Giles did on a regular
basis exhausted him. He sighed just thinking about it before he
recognized a welcome figure.

"Zainab!" The young woman ahead of him turned
around and beamed. "What are you doing here? Is Student Affairs
meeting tonight too? If so, tell Joe that if he thinks he can get
our conference room Giles will kick his ass."

Zainab laughed as she walked over. "I'm glad
Giles is good for something!" David was Giles' Assistant VP, and
everyone knew he was the one who did all of the work.

"What?" David gestured toward Giles and the
four young women, almost certainly freshmen, circled around him.
"He also brings in new recruits."

"It's just that he can't keep them once they
hear him speak," Zainab muttered.

"Ah," David said, pulling up to his full
height of six feet, "but that's when I step in and we actually get
some work done."

She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Too bad
you weren’t here a little earlier to close the deal with
someone."

David perked up. "Yeah? Someone smart?"

Zainab nodded. "I think so. Her name’s Emily
and even though she’s not even nineteen she’s, like, halfway
through all of her credits. But it’s too late. She’s too disgusted
with Giles’ stupidity to return."

He deflated, bowing his head ever so
slightly. "That’s a shame. I’m going to need all the help I can
get. Last year we passed a bill to make sure all textbooks would be
available in the library
and
online."

Zainab wrinkled her nose. "What do you mean,
online? Like from a website?"

David shrugged. "I'm not going to be too
picky. A website is fine, but we're hoping more specifically for
e-books." Zainab blinked. "You know," he said after a moment,
"something you can read on your computer or phone."

"Wow," Zainab said. "I'd heard about people
reading those things in Japan on their phone, but I didn't realize
they were coming out with those for textbooks."

David nodded confidently. "The publishers are
going to be making a big push for them in the next few years. If we
can get ahead of this, we can negotiate a good rate. I mean, we're
a huge school. And we won't have to carry our heavy textbooks
around. Win-win."

Zainab frowned. "Wait a minute. My books have
a lot of complicated graphics. My phone is going to be able to
handle those?"

"Some phones are," David said
matter-of-factly. "And they're coming out with new and better
phones all the time. But word is that they're also starting to
develop mini-computers you can easily carry around."

Zainab was skeptical. "Easier than a laptop?
Because those aren't that small."

"Some of what they're developing is like a
miniature version of a laptop, and some of it is like a bigger
version of a Blackberry. And dude, even if you had to carry around
your laptop, it would still be less than carrying around four
textbooks, right?"

"True," Zainab conceded. "But are you sure
this isn't just a trend?"

"Like I said, the publishers are making the
push. If I'm wrong, they're wrong. But you talk to anybody about
the possibility of smaller technology that can do more, they're
excited about it. It's an easy bet."

"Win-win-win?"

David grinned. "Exactly."

Zainab crossed her arms. "So then let me ask
you this, since you're on such a roll: when are you going to stop
letting Giles take all the credit for your work and become VP
yourself?"

"I could ask you the same thing about Joe,
you know."

Zainab blushed a little bit. "Fair enough,
but I'm not the one who wants go into politics as a career, Mr.
Political Science Major."

David shrugged. "What am I supposed to do? He
just got elected!"

She looked over her shoulder at Giles, who
was now talking to just one girl, and much more closely. "What a
shame."

"It's fine, Z," he said reassuringly. "I'll
run next spring when he runs for President."

Zainab's head whipped around. "Giles is
running for President?!"

David looked down at her as if she were
speaking another language. "Yes," he said slowly. "Did you think he
was the VP of Academic Affairs because he's passionate about
instruction here?"

"You know Joe's going to run too, right?"

"Of course he is," David said. "They all are;
Jessica from Student Services and Sandoval from Administration too.
But the real race is going to be between Joe and Giles, and
everyone knows that."

"But Giles is an idiot!" Zainab exclaimed
then quickly turned around to make sure Giles hadn't heard her. She
sighed with relief as she saw he was closer still to the young
woman next to him.

"Zainab, do you listen to Joe when
he
speaks? He's not exactly an A-student either, and he doesn't even
have Giles' accent."

"And we all know how much Americans love
foreigners in positions of leadership, especially when they're
incompetent."

David put up his hands. "Look, I don't care
which of them wins. It won't matter."

"Doesn't the SGC president regularly meet
with the university president?"

"And the university president tells our
president exactly what to do, so between those two, it really
doesn't matter."

"Aren't we supposed to be the representatives
of the students, not the lackeys of the administration?"

"We are," David answered. "And someday we
will be."

"And when will that be?"

David winked. "As soon as I'm president."

Deborah Nam-Krane is a writer in
Boston-proper.
The Smartest Girl in the Room
and
The
Family You Choose
were published in 2013, and
An Engagement
:A New Pioneers Short Story
,
The China Doll
and
Let’s
Move On
were published in 2014.

In 2012 she wrote the History section of her
sister Suzanne Nam’s
Moon Thailand (Moon Handbooks)
.

Please join her
mail list
to find out first
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A book reviewer for the last decade, she is
grateful for all of the reader reviews she has received so far. If
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