And Then There's Maude.. and Bob and Emily
Representative Maude Findlay was very excited to be traveling to Chicago with her colleague Representative Johnson to promote the bill that they had co-authored, The Improving Our Children's Future Act. The bill would help improve the college preparatory curriculum in inner city schools. Although Maude represented well to do suburbs of New York City, she had always sympathized with the minorities in the inner city. As she had said to a Harlem houseguest, "I may live in the suburbs, but my heart is in the ghetto." Education was something she cared about and she wanted the poor inner city children to be able to be better equipped to attend college, if they had the desire to do so. Her colleague who was an African- American man from Chicago felt the same way, so with the support of many members of the House of Representatives, this bill was slowly making its way out of committee and hopefully would make it on to the House floor and become a law.
Also traveling with them were their interns, college students who wanted to become legislators too. Sherri Brown, Maude's intern was very excited to be traveling with her boss, whom she admired. She was a constituent of Maude's and was majoring in Political Science with a minor in Public Policy and Administration.
"Maude, this legislation is wonderful. I really hope that the educators of Chicago will support it. It's great!" Sherri had been reading over all eighty pages of the bill.
"It is wonderful, isn't it? Just think that five months ago I never would have dreamed I'd be co- authoring legislation with the son of the great man who marched with Dr. King! Rev. James Johnson!"
"Your friend the late Irene McIlhaney would have done the same, you know. And thanks for speaking so highly of Dad, you'll have to meet him sometime!" said James Johnson Jr.
Maude had got the job in an unusual way. She had been asked by her late friend to be the head staff person at her Tuckahoe office. After Rep. Irene McIlhaney had literally dropped dead at a party at Maude's house, Maude took her late friend's job.
"I'd love to meet him. Your family should come to Tuckahoe some weekend."
"That would fun! I'm sure my family would enjoy it."
"Sorry to interrupt Maude, but how did you become interested in inner city schools?" asked Shirley Smith, Rep. Johnson's intern.
"Well it was a discussion I had with my housekeeper about her children's schools that got me interested. I also had a young lady from Harlem stay with me once. It was this wonderful program where young people from Harlem could stay with someone in the suburbs. It was quite the learning experience."
"Well I'm really glad you are co-authoring this. It's good to see that someone from the suburbs cares about those schools worse off. Did you know that the woman we are meeting at the convention was my third grade teacher?"
"Oh really? I didn't know that!" Maude exclaimed.
"She was very sweet and very inspirational. I wanted to teach, until mom made history by becoming the first Black and the first women to represent our Assembly District."
"Oh how wonderful! You must be very proud of your mother!" Maude was very impressed.
"Yes Ma'am."
"You don't have to call me that. You are my equal." Maude was mortified upon hearing Shirley utter the phrase Ma'am.
"I'm just being respectful, Maude"
"I hate hearing Ma'am. It makes me feel like I'm in Gone With The Wind", remarked Maude.
Shirley then did her best Butterfly McQueen impersonation. "I don't know nothin' 'bout 'birthin' babies!"
Everyone laughed at this Gone With The Wind quote. As the stewardess announced that they soon be in Chicago everyone was glad. Shirley was especially glad to be meeting her former teacher again, Emily Harrison, now Hartley.
Emily Hartley tried to tell herself she wasn't that old. It seemed like just yesterday to her that she'd begun teaching. A few weeks before, she'd been given the happy news that very first year of third grade students, clear back from when she was still Ms. Harrison, were in college and if that wasn't going to make a person feel old, what news was? Emily tried to remind herself of how young she had been herself back then...thirteen years before...not even really old enough to be the mother of one of her third graders...that thought brightened her instantly.
Her husband, Bob was oblivious to the varying anxieties floating through his wife's head that morning. He sat at the breakfast table with their neighbor Howard. Bob wasn't much interested in the cereal, which he thought tasted like shredded cardboard, but Howard was deeply invested in it, as though it were a warm home cooked breakfast he'd waited some hours to have. He devoured it.
Emily watched the two quietly from the entrance to the bedroom; she knew everything that was happening without really listening to what was being said. Howard was obviously going on about something that any idiot other than himself could figure out...bless his heart, and Bob was obviously very annoyed and a little bit confused. Emily came out, still fidgeting with her earrings to greet the two boys in her life, giving her husband a kiss on the lips, and her dear friend a kiss on the cheek.
It was only when Emily considered her relationship with Howard carefully that she realized how truly blurred the lines were. Was she his friend, his neighbor, his sister or his mother? Kind of all four plus an almost sister-in-law, if all that were possible. Bob would've agreed.
"I hope you have a great day Emily, honey." Bob said.
"Oh thanks honey, I'm really gonna need it." Emily confided as she sat at the table and began to carefully put her heels on. She was a little nervous; she'd never done anything like this before.
"It's just an education convention Emily." Howard reminded. "I've been to a thousand of those things...you know, for navigators...on second thought Emily be careful, those things can get pretty wild."
Bob was a little miffed and Emily laughed at this.
"Oh no Howard, honey this is just something that helps promote better curriculum in inner-city schools, you know in the hopes that it will help more kids go to college."
"Yeah...we need more stewardesses."
Bob rolled his eyes. He'd never voiced it, but sexism really annoyed him. Yeah, the world needed more stewardesses, sure. How about more psychologists? No one ever thought of that did they?
"Hey, look at the time, I should be going." Emily realized.
"You know what honey." Bob began, getting up also and following his wife to the coat rack by their front door.
"What?" She asked sweetly as she put on her jacket, Bob did the same.
"I know you're a little nervous...meeting with the Congressman and that Congresswoman all the way from New York, but I promise you it'll be great, just great. You helped put this all together remember? And I want you to remember. They couldn't have done it without you."
"Awe thank you sweetheart." Emily smiled, kissing him sweetly. What great advice, she'd be sure to remember that, it was true! She loved Bob; he always made her feel so special. Bob smiled too, reaching over to button the last toggle on Emily's coat.
"Have a good day Howard." Bob addressed the navigator at his breakfast table who was, again, more focused on consuming his breakfast than paying attention to his friend's somewhat romantic interlude.
"See you later, Howard." Emily added as she and Bob left the apartment.
Bob and Emily were engrossed in each other and in the day ahead. They were paying mind to Howard with their words but had not truly noticed whether or not he was listening to them. A few minutes later, Howard looked up from the article he'd been reading about latch-key kids and noticed that he was alone and all was quiet.
"Hey, where are you guys? Bob...Emily...too bad, I- really wanted pancakes."