© 2012 Phylicia Joannis
Sidney pursed her lips as she took another long look at her watch. Her cameraman, Barry, noticed the widening crease in her forehead and chuckled.
“Mayor not moving fast enough for you, Sid?”
Sidney rolled her eyes and frowned. “We’ve been here for a half hour already. When’s this guy gonna show?”
Barry shrugged. “Beats me. What’s this all about anyway?”
“Like the Mayor ever tells us beforehand,” Sidney smiled wryly. “I’m assuming it’s about the gigantic holes in the ground, but with the Mayor, you never know. He might have thought this was a good time to tell the world he’ll be starting up his golf career again.”
“Not a fan of Mayor Blume?” Barry smirked, knowing the answer.
“Well, Mitchell’s Monarchy has put every major agency and business in this city in his back pocket. The guy is dirty.”
“Name one politician who isn’t?” Barry challenged.
Sidney looked up in thought. “Good point.”
Barry pointed to the podium. “Looks like they’re getting ready to start.”
Sidney turned as Mayor Blume’s press secretary stepped up to the podium.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the press, I’d like to thank you all for coming. The Mayor will be out shortly to address you. I’m sure you are all well aware of the incident that took place earlier this afternoon, including the Mayor’s dismissal of Commissioner Wright from his position. Today the Mayor will give you more details of how his investigative efforts have succeeded in turning the tragedies of today into hope for tomorrow. Ladies and gentleman, here’s your Mayor, Mitchell Blume.”
The press secretary exited amid scant and scattered hand claps as the Mayor entered in with the Complainer beside him.
“Good evening, ladies and gentleman,” Mayor Blume began. “I’m sure you all are tired of seeing my face by now.” The Mayor chuckled, but his joke fell flat. He cleared his throat and continued.
“I have some good news and some bad news to bring you. The bad news is that today’s incidents went beyond just a missing train car and a few sinkholes. The tragedy extended to at least one death. Work crews I dispatched at the beginning of this incident have discovered a body in the rubble.”
Several reporters began asking questions immediately. Sidney spoke the loudest.
“Mr. Mayor have they identified the body?” Sidney stretched her microphone towards the Mayor.
“If you don’t interrupt me, I will tell you the things I’m sure you are all anxious to hear,” the Mayor gave Sidney a sour look.
Sidney pursed her lips but reigned in her temper as the Mayor continued.
***
Penny watched the press conference as she sat on a stool in the quaint café where she’d eaten with Chuck earlier. She sipped a small cup of herbal tea with disinterest as she watched the Mayor’s façade play out.
“I thought I’d find you here,” Chuck hopped onto the stool beside her. Penny looked at him in alarm as he stared into her cup. “I didn’t know you were a tea drinker, too?”
Penny frowned and turned towards the television. “I quit coffee.”
Chuck shook his head. “Coffee drinkers never quit.”
Penny rolled her eyes. “What do you want, Charles?”
Chuck swallowed the lump in his throat and stared intently at Penny. “I want to make things right.”
“Shh!” Another café patron waved a hand at them and pointed to the television. Penny and Chuck become quiet and listened to the Mayor’s speech.
“It was the discovery of this body which led us to the rescue of the man standing beside me,” the Mayor went on, pointing to the Complainer.
“There was someone else down there?” Penny spoke to herself. “He told me he was alone.”
“Seeing that at least one body had been uncovered in their efforts,” the Mayor continued, “the team continued on, tirelessly searching for survivors. Their efforts led them to this man, who was the sole travel companion of the John Doe.”
“Mr. Mayor, how do we know there were no other survivors in the hole?” Sidney flashed her eyes defiantly, daring the Mayor not to answer her question.
The Mayor cleared his throat in nervous tension. “I assure you the only two people there have been recovered. I’ll let the gentleman behind me relay to you the details.”
The Mayor stepped back and allowed the Complainer to take the podium.
“We can’t let them get away with this,” Penny shook her head and looked at Chuck. “He lied to me! He told me there wasn’t anyone else down there with him, and now they’ve recovered a dead body? What if there are more people down there?”
“There are,” Chuck said quietly.
Penny raised her eyebrows in alarm. “Charles?”
Chuck cleared his throat. “All the answers you need are here.” Chuck pulled out a recording tape, the same tape used by the technicians to record the feed from the Drones. “We need to get back to that press conference.”
Penny nodded quietly and signaled the waitress for the check.
“Here,” she slid her still full cup of herbal tea towards the waitress. “Could you bring me a coffee with two creams and three sugars to go?” She glanced at Chuck, who was smiling at her.
“Make that two coffees.”