“And it’s not?”
“No, it is. I mean, I don’t want to end up where I was a few months ago.”
“Where was that?”
“With my work stolen, and nothing to show for it.”
“Damn that’s grim.”
“That’s what’s happened before. But it doesn’t matter. I’ve learned my lesson and the story…it doesn’t want to let me go. I want to see it through and let it go.”
I understand the feeling.“Are you sure that’s what you want?”
She bites her lip and shakes her head. “Yes. I’m so close to nailing this person down.”
“So, what’s stopping you?”
“My target is someone who is normally impossible to pin down and I found out he’ll be at an event in DC in two days. I need is a press pass.”
“And your boss said no.”
“Yes.”
“Well fuck her. Go anyway.”
“I can’t sneak my way into that kind of event.” She looks down at her hands and frowns. “He’s going to slip through my fingers again.”
“Who is he?”
“I can’t tell you. Not yet. Not until I’ve got him.” She curls her hands into fists at the same time a smile curls the corners of her mouth.
I let out a low whistle of appreciation. “I’d hate to be the person you’re thinking about with that blood-thirsty glint in your eye.”
She scoffs and curls her lip. “He’s everything I hate. A criminal with power and money who plays the good citizen by day but is nothing close to it. I want to expose and stop him.”
“Then you will.”
She growls low in her throat and slaps the counter. “It’s the perfect story for the paper.I’mthe perfect person to write it. She shot it down like I’d suggested writing about an alien invasion.”
“Did she say why?”
She rolls her eyes and sucks her teeth, the universal West African sign of disgust that makes me miss my mother. “Her reasons were bullshit. And she did it in front of the entire department.”
I wince in empathy. Seeing her so defeated makes my chest ache. I run a hand up her back and massage the base of her neck. She’s so tense. “I’m sorry.”
She presses her lips together and her eyes narrow. “I swear, today, it felt like she wastryingto sabotage me. And I don’t know why.” Her face is taut and emotionless for a couple of seconds before her lower lip trembles. “Do you think I’m crazy? I mean, this career I’ve been dreaming of…all these near misses. Close enough to smell something great but never close enough to touch. Maybe, I’m not cut out for it.”
Sin is a lot of things but defeated hasneverbeen one of them. “Her not understanding your ideas doesn’t make them less valid, Sin. If you weren’t cut out for it, you would have taken her no on the chin and gone home to write whatever it is you’re supposed to be writing.”
Her composed expression crumbles and she presses her trembling lips together. “Kwame. Don’t be nice to me. You’re going to make me cry and I really don’t want to cry tonight.”
“Okay, no crying. Maybe I know someone who knows someone. Where’s the event?”
“At the Museum of African Art. It’s a fundraiser, invite only. Only VIPs, dignitaries and press will be there.”
Awareness makes me sit up straight. “On Saturday?”
“Yup. I confirmed he’ll be there, ripe for the picking. I’ll be home praying for lightning to strike the same place twice.” She groans and stares straight ahead.
