After All by Lynn Emery Page B

personal
    phone book.
    “ What's the occasion?”Nathan
pointed to her dress and pumps.
    “ No occasion. Met somebody
for lunch, an old classmate.”
    “ Oh, a lunch
date.”
    “ No, we just met for
lunch.”
    “ A guy?”
    “ Ye-es.”Michelle squirmed
under his steady gaze.
    “ You dressed up to meet some
guy. That's called a date.”Nathan walked off.
    “ Was not!”Michelle yelled
after him, and then was abashed when several people turned to stare
at her. Nathan kept walking.
     
    ***
     
    “ What changed your
mind?”Michelle sat next to Greg Matthews at a McDonald's restaurant
near his house.
    “ This is owned by a Theo
Lazarus, a Black man.” Greg swung his arm wide.” Gave jobs to a lot
of poor kids 'round here, you know? Got college students from
Southern tutoring the ones he finds out are having problems with
their lessons. He's made it and doing something good. But not all
of them are like that.” He sighed deeply.
    “ I know.”Michelle stared out
of the large glass window at the poor neighborhood.
    “ Couple of days ago, a
little three year old baby pushed right on through a door. He went
out on the balcony of his mama's third floor apartment and ended up
at the bottom of the stairs. He's in the charity hospital right now
with a broken arm and two broken ribs.”
    “ Terrible, but I don't
understand what that's got to do with my story.”
    “ His mother been beggin'
them to fix it for the last six months. They did a cheap patch job.
I can't sleep nights knowin' maybe I could do something to make
things better. Fixin' up the projects ain't just a cosmetic thing,
see what I'm sayin'? People are gettin' hurt.” Greg stared at the
untouched cup of cola in front of him.
    “ You think your friend would
talk to me?”
    “ No way, she needs her job
bad.”
    “ Then I'm back where I was
before you called. It doesn't help to hear all this but not be able
to use the information. Charlotte Kinchen will just deny any of
this is true.”
    “ She won't talk to you, but
she'll get copies of work orders stamped completed and the invoices
showing the company that got paid for the work. Will that help?”
Peering around, Greg leaned across the table speaking in a barely
audible voice.
    “ You bet! Oh,
sorry.”Michelle lowered her voice.” That would be a great way to
start.”
    “ Another thing, there's
folks living in some of these projects won't mind talking to you.
In fact, a couple have formed tenants groups. They've been
complaining, but Miss Kinchen just ignores them mostly. I'll get
the names from my friend.”
    “ Thanks a lot, Greg. And
thank your friend for me.”
    “ We wanna see some change,
Miss Toussaint. I won't lie; I'd enjoy seeing some of the so-called
big shots get what's coming to them. But nobody should have to live
the way those poor folks live.”
    “ I'll do my best,
Greg.”
    Michelle wondered later if she could
live up to his expectations. The stakes seemed to be higher than
just informing the public about a violation of their trust by
officials being paid to manage a government program. Like Greg
Matthews, she was reminded of the effects on those who had to
endure the conditions in the government subsidized houses and
apartments. Had she been equally honest with him, she would have
admitted that the prospect of exposing Ike Batiste was what really
hooked her. Now, she felt a little ashamed. On her way back to the
office, Michelle began to outline a different approach. She decided
to profile the lives of tenants trapped in what seemed like a
merry-go-round of misery. Stories of their courage and struggles
could stand in stark contrast to the obstacles they faced,
including those thrown up by a system intended to aid them. The
closer she got to the station, the more she convinced of changing
the direction of the story.
    “ Hey, you seem fired
up.”Earl peered over her shoulder.
    “ Umm. I just happened to see
Mansur, our esteemed News Director, a few minutes ago. I pitched
the