Cover-up

Cover-up Read Free Page B

Book: Cover-up Read Free
Author: John Feinstein
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to
me
for a minute,” he said.
    â€œOkay. What?”
    â€œI don’t want you to quit.”
    â€œWHAT…?”
    â€œHang on a minute. First, there
is
the money issue. They’re probably bluffing about suing you. But
I
still get paid in this thing and you don’t. Second, you’re good at this and there’s no reason for you to stop doing it on my account. I’ll be fine. It isn’t as if my career’s over—I’m fourteen. Third, when the year is over, you can either walk away from doing this kind of stuff or, if you want, there will be ten other TV jobs at other places you could have.”
    There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.
    â€œDid your dad tell you to say all this?”
    Why was it, he thought, that she always knew everything. He considered lying for a second, but decided the heck with it. Lying was for TV guys.
    â€œYes, he did,” Stevie said finally. “But I thought about it before I actually said it, and I think he’s right. And if
you
think about it when you calm down a little, you’ll probably decide he’s right too.”
    â€œStop telling me to calm down.”
    â€œOkay. But you’ll think about it?”
    She sighed again, this time not the “too stupid to live” sigh but one of sadness. “I’ll think about it,” she said.
    â€œGood. Call me after you talk to your dad, okay?”
    â€œI will.”
    He was about to say goodbye when he heard her say, “Stevie?”
    â€œYeah?”
    â€œI really do love you, you know.”
    He wasn’t sure how to answer that one. They were fourteen and had kissed once. Still, the answer that came out of his mouth felt right.
    â€œI love you too.”

    The phone calls went back and forth over the next two days: Stevie and Susan Carol talked. Their dads talked. Their moms talked. Around and around they went.
    The major question for Stevie and Susan Carol was what Susan Carol was going to tell USTV on Monday when they needed an answer—and when she was scheduled to fly to Indianapolis. The fathers talked about legal matters: Could USTV actually take Susan Carol to court for quitting? Could the Andersons counter-sue by saying the show wasn’t what they signed on for without Stevie? Don Anderson wondered if the Thomases could sue USTV on the grounds that the contract said Stevie was to be on-air for a year, not just get paid for a year. Bill Thomas’s legal opinion was that USTV had the right to take Stevie off the air as long as he got paid, but Susan Carol had the right to walk away—as long as she did
not
get paid. Bill Thomas called some of the other lawyers in his office to see what they thought and they seemed to agree.
    The mothers talked mostly about how awful it was that the children were seeing this side of the TV business—or any business—at such a young age. “I feel like I’ve failed you,” Carole Thomas said to Stevie after one phone conversation.
    The one phone call Stevie was truly dreading was the one he knew he had to make to Bobby Kelleher. He knew Kelleher would never
say
“I told you so,” but he was bound to think it—
entitled
to think it. Stevie still had a copy of the e-mail Kelleher had sent him in October:
    â€œI know why this is tempting,” he’d written. “I’ve done enough TV to know how intoxicating it can be. People recognize you, they think you’re more important. I call it being famous for being famous. And I know the money would probably help your family and Susan Carol’s out a lot. Which is why I can’t absolutely tell you to say no. But I have to warn you:
these are not good people.
I’ve dealt with them. They’ll say whatever they need to to get what they want from you—and make it sound good. You just turned fourteen. You don’t
need
to do this. Neither does Susan Carol. You’ll both be big stars in

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