"So who's responsible for all this?" Mike asked when Neil had finished his little tour of the new facilities and they were now sitting awkwardly in three of the tiny elementary school chairs they had liberated from the tall stack near the back wall.
"Well," Neil began, chuckling, "a lot of people, I can tell you that, but the man who cut the red tape for us with City Hall - mainly by just being a persistent bastard - is a guy who's getting to be quite a mouthpiece for the gays in The Castro. His name's Harvey Milk. He ran for a Supervisor seat in '73 but he lost. He's gonna run again, I'm sure of that."
"I've heard of him," Steve offered and the two older men looked at him. "He's really become a voice in the gay community, that's for sure." He looked at his partner and raised his eyebrows. "I think he's gonna be a real mover-and-shaker in The City in the next few years."
Mike made a face and shook his head. "I haven't heard of him."
Neil chuckled. "Oh, you will, believe me. He's become a real advocate for the disenfranchised around here. And like I said, he's the one that paved the way for all this."
"So what's the goal here?" Steve asked, gesturing around the large room.
"Well, the ladies who were the teachers with Carol Stayner… well, they're the ones still doing this. They had no idea what was going on with her and her brother, of course… they just wanted to teach. So they're still involved with all this. They're the driving force, actually. And all the suppliers and restaurants that we had lined up already? Well, they're hanging in with us, and there's talk of them expanding their contributions." He chuckled. "Now there's a move to try to get some of these kids into real schools, but because most of them have 'no fixed address', of course, that's not easy. But there're people out there that are trying, believe me."
"Well, that'd be good, wouldn't it?" Mike asked.
"Sure it would… but there's a lot of homeless people… mothers mostly… who don't trust… well, 'the system', as they call it. A lot of people, especially women, had a bad experience in school… bullying… harassment… sexual abuse, that kind of thing, you know? And they're not too… enthusiastic about putting their kids in a school run by the city."
Mike shared a quick glance with his partner, frowning. "I guess I never thought about that."
Neil smiled wistfully. "Well, why would you, right? I mean, you probably had a good time at school, and your daughter too. Why would that thought have even crossed your mind?"
The older detective pursed his lips. "You're right… it didn't…"
"Anyway, Milk managed to get across to the Supervisors that there are a number of homeless kids out here that really could use some… 'informal' formal schooling, as he called it. And said this place would be a great stop-gap in helping these kids get at least some kind of learning… mostly with regards to literacy."
"That sounds like a good plan," Steve agreed with a slow nod.
Neil smiled. "Yeah, well, that's what Milk grabbed onto to make his case. And it worked… with one caveat."
Mike frowned. "Oh, yeah? What's that?"
Neil's smile turned into a broad grin. "Well, let's just say we're going to open with a bigger mandate. We're now going to be teaching anyone to read and write."
The two detectives frowned, smiling in confusion.
"Do you mean you're going to be teaching literacy to adults?" Steve asked.
The veteran turned political activist nodded. "You have no idea how many of the… the indigent out there are living on the street because they can't read or write. They either never got a chance because they never went to school or didn't go to school long enough, or they have some kind of… of handicap, like they can't see properly and it was never diagnosed, or they have dyslexia or some other learning disorder." He bobbled his head slightly. "Well, our goal here will be to try to fix those problems, and teach them how to read and write. And who knows, maybe get 'em off the street altogether at some point down the road…"
Mike had sat back, his hands in his lap, staring at Neil with a mixture of awe and pride.
Steve knew that his partner was almost too overwhelmed to talk at the moment, and he cleared his throat, diverting Neil's attention. "That sounds like a very… ambitious goal."
Neil chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it is," he shrugged, "but why the hell not, right? I mean, why not aim high, right? And even if we only end up helping one or two people, well, I think it would still all be worth it, wouldn't you?" He stared at the younger man, as if daring him to contradict the simply philosophy.
Steve stared back, a knowing smile on his face, and eventually he nodded.
Neil looked at Mike. "So what do you think? What do you think your daughter would say?"
Mike swallowed heavily. "Are you kidding? She's going to be over the moon."
"Good. She's the one that got the ball rolling, you know, with the expansion and getting the restaurants involved and all that. She's deserves credit for having the vision, that's for sure."
"And you've really kept the ball rolling, that's for sure." Mike's brow furrowed. "So, ah, so what are you getting out of all this?"
Neil stared back, his smile suddenly enigmatic. "Besides the satisfaction?"
"Yeah, besides the satisfaction."
Mike's confrontation seemed out of character, considering the circumstances, and Steve glanced at his partner with a surprised frown. He watched the sudden silent standoff with a held breath.
Neil grinned. "They, ah, The City has asked me to be the, ah… well, I guess you could call it the principal. I'm gonna run the whole operation from top to bottom, except for the actual teaching. That I'm gonna leave to the people who know what they're doing," he chuckled. "And they're going to give me a stipend… enough for me to get myself my own little apartment nearby…"
Mike's face split into a wide grin and he laughed softly, raising his right hand to cover his mouth as his eyes brightened with surprise and delight. He looked down and swallowed heavily. "Well," he started quietly, raising his head slowly to stare at the beaming man sitting on the small chair across from him, "I have to say it couldn't happen to a more deserving guy… it really couldn't." He snorted gently. "Wow…" he breathed, and Steve could almost feel him vibrating with barely controlled elation.
He wanted to reach out and run a hand up and down Mike's back, a move he knew always helped to ground his sometimes overly emotional partner, but he was too far away. So he stared instead, hoping Mike was cognizant of the unexpressed support.
Neil, squirming slightly under the benevolent scrutiny, chuckled and sat back, hoping to break the suddenly uncomfortable silence. "So, ah, that's it. That's what we're trying to accomplish here."
Steve tore his eyes away from his still slightly stunned partner and looked at Neil. "Your life has changed a hell of a lot in the past few weeks, that's for sure." He looked around the room admiringly.
Neil laughed as he stood up. "Yeah. And you know the funny thing?" He looked at Mike, who was still sitting, still looking a bit shell-shocked. "If Carol Stayner hadn't gone after you, all this -" he gestured around the soon-to-be classroom, "well, we wouldn't have this. All this came about because of what Carol Stayner and her brother did - and because of what you two did to stop them. So, ah," he shrugged, "so you two are just as responsible for this as anybody…"
Mike smiled, looking up at his partner, who had stood. "Well, I don't know about Steve, but I sure can live with that."
The younger man chuckled. "Me too." He raised his hand to touch his chest lightly. "It was worth it."
Neil laughed. "Glad to hear that, 'cause I was worried about you," he looked at Mike then Steve, "both of you. I'm really happy to see you both up and about."
"Well, we're still on sick leave," Mike sighed as he got slowly to his feet, "and we will be for a couple more weeks at least…" He bobbled his head in resignation, sighing heavily, and both Neil and Steve chuckled. "Listen, ah," he looked from one to the other, "why don't you take a break and I'll take you and Steve out to lunch. How does that sound?"
Steve looked at Neil and grinned, his eyebrows on the rise. "Oh, I never turn down a Mike Stone lunch invitation. They're rarer than hen's teeth."
"Hey!" the older man growled, raising his right hand as if to smack the back of his partner's head and Steve ducked carefully, chuckling.
Neil laughed warmly, grinning. "Then I guess I have to say, let's go!"
Still chuckling, Steve led the way to the front door, glancing back over his shoulder at his partner, who was following him with narrowed eyes and a low, playful growl.
# # # # #
Mike stood at his front window, staring out on the bright, sunny Monday morning. He could see the downtown skyline way off in the distance, the unmistakable silhouette of the Transamerica Pyramid that had transformed The City's profile just a few years ago and had now become San Francisco's most iconic building.
He finished the last of his coffee and strolled back to the kitchen, rinsing the cup out before setting it in the sink. He returned to the living room and the front door. He slipped his sportscoat from a hanger in the closet and put it on, then picked up the keys from the nearby table with a smile. Sandra Healey had stopped by the house yesterday to return them ceremonially, and to give him a last once-over to assure herself that he was well on the mend and fit to drive once more.
He picked up a couple of things from the table and slid them into his right jacket pocket, put his fedora on, then left the house, automatically checking the mailbox beside the front door after he locked it. He took the stairs slowly, deep in thought.
Steve had called him the previous night. He said he was going to leave early this morning to take Jennifer north to Sonoma for their wine tour, with the promise to pick up the case of Riesling Mike had requested.
Traffic was fairly heavy as he headed east, taking the Bay Bridge into Oakland, but as he was going against the flow, it wasn't a big problem. The I-80 turn into the 580 and he stepped on the gas, letting the blue sedan cruise along just over the speed limit as he headed southeast.
It was a beautiful day for a drive, he thought, and he reached down to touch the items in his jacket pocket, as if assuring himself they were there. He took a deep breath. He couldn't have asked for more perfect weather, but there was a tightness in his chest, a trepidation he never expected to feel. A line from a Robert Frost poem kept echoing through his mind.
In an effort to distract himself, he snapped on the radio and fiddled with the knob until he found a station whose music he could tolerate, then he rolled the window down and allowed the wind to buffet him as he sped along the highway, putting mile after mile between himself and The City he loved so dearly.
