No one spoke up.
“Here’s how it goes,” I said. “If a King’s Men comes within viewing distance of this clubhouse, you fucking kill them. They’ve lost the right to talk to us. If a Black Reaper comes within viewing distance to talk, you tell them where to meet you and tell them to get the fuck off our property. We’re rapidly approaching war, gentlemen. I let myself get distracted by…by this shit.”
Not by journalism. By romance. By sex. By Hailey.
“We can no longer put any of ourselves in this spot. Be prepared to fucking kill.”
And with that, I went back into church so the rest of the club could do whatever it had to do and I could both punch a table and mourn silently the stupidity that had landed me in this spot.
Hailey
As soon as the five o’clock news ended and I knew Mr. Roberts would be free, I stormed into his office.
“You know, I was going to call you, but I suppose the bird has come to its nest.”
“Why did you change so much of what I did?”
Mr. Roberts cocked an eyebrow at me. It wasn’t a look that suggested he was confused. It suggested that he was surprised I was confronting him like this.
“You weren’t going to draw views—”
“I said all along that what I did was to try and get a more nuanced and balanced view on the Devil’s Patriots. Yes, the things that were said on the broadcast were true. But so was how protective and strong they were. You didn’t run a balanced piece. You ran a hit piece!”
“And do you think anyone in Phoenix would have actually believed what you gave me?”
I bit my tongue so hard, I wondered if the damn thing would start bleeding.
“We’re not talking about the actions of the mayor or the Arizona senate. We’re not talking about the shady negotiations of an energy tycoon with, say, NME in New Mexico. We’re not even discussing a measure to raise bonds for a local dog park. We’re talking about something that has very little stakes.”
“Very little stakes?”
Was I hearing this right?
“Hailey, you said it yourself in one of your voiceovers. The Devil’s Patriots may look like a menace to society, but for the most part, they just remain in their corner of town, content to stir up trouble within a five-mile radius or so. It makes for great numbers when they commit crime and you get all the suburban moms wondering if they’ll look out the window and see such a biker around, but the odds of them actually committing a serious crime out in the suburbs is low. These guys just aren’t a threat.”
What had happened to the reason I’d gotten into journalism? What had happened to telling thetruth? Why was the need for viewership that much harder?
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go to a meeting with the executives.”
“About what?”
I was being a little bit petulant. I could admit that. But for where I was right now in my head…how could I not be?
“I shouldn’t tell you this, but we’re going to talk about layoffs because we haven’t gotten the numbers yet that we should.”
I went silent and swallowed.
“Go home, Miss Cook. Your work is done for the day. You should get some sleep.”
All of a sudden, the concern I had with Mr. Roberts didn’t matter as much as the context. By no means was he someone I looked up to; he was an oddball, the kind of guy that I less enjoyed and more tolerated. But maybe the reason he’d altered the clip so much wasn’t because of some misguided ethic as the most fundamental one of them all—survival.
Even if I didn’t get laid off this week, who was to say things would be prosperous long term? Who was to say that even if I never got fired, I’d also ever get paid an amount that let me live above the poverty line?
I was already contemplating leaving because Mr. Roberts had taken my presentation and turned it into something entirely different. Now I was left contemplating leaving because the entire field seemed to be facing economic hardships.
I did head home, but none of the questions went ahead. If I’d planned on getting some sleep, that was easier said than done. I also wound up getting a lot of complimentary text messages, which seemed like a rather cruel irony.
Leigh saw the piece and thought it evoked all the right emotions. I didn’t care what emotions it invoked so much as if it provoked a desire to learn more about the truth.
