Cover-up Read Free

they know something you don’t. “That will be her first instinct,” he said. “We know she’s very loyal to you, Stevie. But we think once she meets her new partner and finds out that we’re going to honor your contract for the rest of the year—”
    â€œ
Honor
his contract?!” Bill Thomas said, his voice now raised. “You’re legally
obligated
to ‘honor’ the contract. Don’t make it sound like you’re doing him a favor.”
    Stevie knew he had tears in his eyes and he didn’t want them to see him cry. He stood up, wanting to get out of the room. “You know, Bobby Kelleher was right about you guys,” he said.
    â€œKelleher?” Shupe said, the sick smile still on his face. “What was he ever right about?”
    â€œHe was right when he told Susan Carol and me that no one who works in TV has a conscience, and that TV work is shallow and meaningless anyway.”
    â€œBut quite lucrative,” Shupe said, standing up. “That’s why so many print guys have come to work for us.”
    â€œNot Kelleher,” Stevie said. “He turned you down.”
    Shupe laughed. “That’s because he’s a lot more arrogant than he is bright. Stevie, we really have no choice. I’m truly sorry about this.”
    â€œNo, you’re not,” Stevie said. “You can go to hell.”
    He glanced at his father to see if he was at all upset with him for using that kind of language with an adult. Shupe looked at Bill Thomas too, as if waiting for him to admonish his son. Everyone was standing now.
    â€œYou heard him,” Stevie’s father said. “You can start your trip by getting out of our house.”
    The two TV men looked at each other. They picked up their coats and walked out the door without another word.

2: TV TIME-OUT
    STEVIE WATCHED Shupe and Vincent get into their waiting car and kept watching as the car slipped down the street and turned the corner, out of sight. His father stood next to him.
    â€œYou want to talk?” he said.
    Stevie shrugged. “I need to call Susan Carol.”
    â€œLet’s talk about that for a minute.”
    â€œWhy? What’s there to talk about?”
    Bill Thomas walked over to the couch and sat down. Stevie remained by the window, wondering what could possibly be on his mind. He had a knot in his stomach that he guessed was a combination of anger, humiliation, and frustration. Part of him wanted to cry—but he wasn’t going to do that in front of his father.
    â€œListen, Stevie, there aren’t enough bad things I can say about those guys right now,” his dad said. “You were great on TV and you don’t deserve to be treated like this. You’re right, we should have listened more seriously to Bobby Kelleher when he told us not to trust these TV people. And I know that if you call Susan Carol and tell her what happened, she will quit right away because she’s your friend and she’s going to be loyal to you.”
    â€œAnd you think that’s a bad thing?”
    He was shaking his head. “No, I think it’s a very good thing. But think about this for a minute: if she quits, they don’t have to pay her for the rest of the year. You they have to pay because they made the decision to get rid of you. If she walks away, she loses the money. This is just a guess, but I imagine that a minister in Goldsboro, North Carolina, doesn’t make a fortune, and the money Susan Carol’s earning right now probably means a lot for her family.”
    He had a point. Stevie remembered that Susan Carol had mentioned to him that she might be able to transfer to a private school in Charlotte that had a big-time swimming program. Susan Carol was a ranked age-group swimmer. And it wouldn’t have been grades keeping her out of that school….
    â€œBut, Dad, even if I tell her not to quit, she’ll probably do it