dangerous budget bill, what else?”
“Alone?”
“With a friend. I came to DC with a friend.”
Dutch studied her. “Your boyfriend?”
Boyfriend? How could he think she’d have a boyfriend the way she was allowing him to kiss on her, to fondle her? “No,” she said.
“Husband?”
“No, of course not,” she said. “She’s female. Her name is LaLa.”
“What-what?”
Gina smiled. “Loretta King. She works with me.”
“You take care of yourself around this busy town, you hear me?”
“Oh, don’t worry about me. I know my way around.”
Yes, you do , he wanted to say. But he leaned against her and kissed her on the lips, instead. When he stopped and looked into her eyes, he smiled that smile she was becoming reacquainted with. “I’ll see you tonight,” he said with a squeeze of her arm, attempting to make clear to her that she won’t be sorry, and then headed in that calm, but hurried gait of his, for the Situation Room.
Only Gina felt as if she was the one in a situation.
FIVE
LaLa was right. Nobody in DC wants to be around a loudmouth. That was why, in every congressional office they ventured into, no congressman or woman would see them. They were continually relegated to aides and back-benchers with no pull, who met with them to avoid any backlash for not meeting with them, but with no intention of providing any help or reassurances. The Block by Block Raiders could go to the devil, as far as those congressional staffers were concerned. One, an aide in the office of their very own Congressman Cannon of Newark, said it best: “You insulted the President of the United States, Gina. What did you expect?”
That was the refrain. All day long. What did she expect? Even LaLa got in on the chorus. “It’s true, you know,” she said as they sat in a café on Capitol Hill to re-think their strategy. They had set aside two days, today and tomorrow, to remain in DC and lobby Congress hard. Now it looked as if they were wasting their time.
“What’s true,” Gina said, drinking her cappuccino and putting a bright red X next to the name of yet another congressman who wasn’t interested in their plight, “is that our doors will have to close sooner rather than later if we can’t get some reassurances of no more budget cuts. We could operate, however thinly, on the appropriations from their last round of cuts, and from the donations from the few private sponsors we still have left, but we can’t take another hit. For real.”
“I know all that,” LaLa said. “I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about what happened this morning at the White House, at the awards ceremony.”
Gina knew what she meant. She just didn’t want to deal with that, especially with what happened afterwards. “What I said was the truth,” she said. “I’m not backing down from that. BBR is in trouble because of all of their cuts, and his lack of leadership.”
“I know what you’re saying, Gina, you know I do. But Fox News ain’t looking at it that way. They’re playing that tape over and over again as a way to hurt the president. ‘Even members of his base hates him now,’ is what those reporters at Fox keep saying, playing it up like it’s all about how ineffective he’s been since he took office.”
“And your point is?”
“Your criticism of President Harber has played right into the conservatives’ hands.”
“Okay, okay. I get it. But I still stand by every word I said.”
LaLa looked at her. “And what about tonight?”
Gina hesitated, then looked at her friend. “What about it?”
“You sure that budget bill is all he has in mind?”
Gina declare if LaLa wasn’t
“Alone?”
“With a friend. I came to DC with a friend.”
Dutch studied her. “Your boyfriend?”
Boyfriend? How could he think she’d have a boyfriend the way she was allowing him to kiss on her, to fondle her? “No,” she said.
“Husband?”
“No, of course not,” she said. “She’s female. Her name is LaLa.”
“What-what?”
Gina smiled. “Loretta King. She works with me.”
“You take care of yourself around this busy town, you hear me?”
“Oh, don’t worry about me. I know my way around.”
Yes, you do , he wanted to say. But he leaned against her and kissed her on the lips, instead. When he stopped and looked into her eyes, he smiled that smile she was becoming reacquainted with. “I’ll see you tonight,” he said with a squeeze of her arm, attempting to make clear to her that she won’t be sorry, and then headed in that calm, but hurried gait of his, for the Situation Room.
Only Gina felt as if she was the one in a situation.
FIVE
LaLa was right. Nobody in DC wants to be around a loudmouth. That was why, in every congressional office they ventured into, no congressman or woman would see them. They were continually relegated to aides and back-benchers with no pull, who met with them to avoid any backlash for not meeting with them, but with no intention of providing any help or reassurances. The Block by Block Raiders could go to the devil, as far as those congressional staffers were concerned. One, an aide in the office of their very own Congressman Cannon of Newark, said it best: “You insulted the President of the United States, Gina. What did you expect?”
That was the refrain. All day long. What did she expect? Even LaLa got in on the chorus. “It’s true, you know,” she said as they sat in a café on Capitol Hill to re-think their strategy. They had set aside two days, today and tomorrow, to remain in DC and lobby Congress hard. Now it looked as if they were wasting their time.
“What’s true,” Gina said, drinking her cappuccino and putting a bright red X next to the name of yet another congressman who wasn’t interested in their plight, “is that our doors will have to close sooner rather than later if we can’t get some reassurances of no more budget cuts. We could operate, however thinly, on the appropriations from their last round of cuts, and from the donations from the few private sponsors we still have left, but we can’t take another hit. For real.”
“I know all that,” LaLa said. “I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about what happened this morning at the White House, at the awards ceremony.”
Gina knew what she meant. She just didn’t want to deal with that, especially with what happened afterwards. “What I said was the truth,” she said. “I’m not backing down from that. BBR is in trouble because of all of their cuts, and his lack of leadership.”
“I know what you’re saying, Gina, you know I do. But Fox News ain’t looking at it that way. They’re playing that tape over and over again as a way to hurt the president. ‘Even members of his base hates him now,’ is what those reporters at Fox keep saying, playing it up like it’s all about how ineffective he’s been since he took office.”
“And your point is?”
“Your criticism of President Harber has played right into the conservatives’ hands.”
“Okay, okay. I get it. But I still stand by every word I said.”
LaLa looked at her. “And what about tonight?”
Gina hesitated, then looked at her friend. “What about it?”
“You sure that budget bill is all he has in mind?”
Gina declare if LaLa wasn’t
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