something? First day and all.”
She shakes her head, wondering if she should tell him about her domestic abuse stories. “It’s just orientation this week,” she informs him as he absently looks around for his costume. “You’d think the new star reporter wouldn’t have to sit through endless hours of learning where the coffee was kept and how to file an expense report, but …”
Nancy lets her voice trail off, and Jason doesn’t pick up the conversation. Instead, he asks, “Any leads for me to follow up on?”
She doesn't tell him about the stories and he doesn’t notice when they run.
4
It wasn’t until October of last year that Jason had come clean on the full version of his relationship with Fake Out, and she thinks about that night now, as Jason takes a shower without her. Nancy was pissed at first, of course, realizing that he had been using her, but Jason has a way of smiling an apology at her that instantly wears her down.
“I had to test you,” Kid Rapscallion said, explaining why he’d been lying to her for nearly two months. “I had to make sure our relationship worked for both of us, that we could come to an understanding.”
“You fucking used me to spin the public!” she yelled at him.
“Ugh, you sound like your fucking professor,” Kid Rapscallion snapped. “Look, this is how it works, Nancy. There’s ten reporters I can put you in contact with that will tell you the same thing — there’s things the public can’t know because it undermines their confidence in what we do.”
“You self-serving prick!”
“Fine, write a story saying that Fake Out spent two months as my assistant,” Kid said. “Write that I fucked her. Write that she’s got a chemical additive she can add to food and drink that can cause people to hallucinate. Yeah, go ahead, Nancy, write that story. Hell, I’ll give you the recordings she made of me doing coke and fucking her and fucking my hand instead of her pussy even though that’s what I thought was going on. Do it. Do all of it. And what then? Huh? How many capes do you think will talk to you after you do that? I’ll tell you. None. Fucking none. Do you want a career as a reporter? Then this is how you play the game, Nancy. Jump in or find another career. Maybe you can go back to your dad’s business. Oh, that’s right, that company declared bankruptcy. What are you going to do, ex-rich girl?”
Nancy’s memories are interrupted as Jason steps out of the bathroom, dressed as Kid Rapscallion. “Gotta go,” he says, then touches his face. “Damn, where did I put my mask?”
Nancy points to the top of her television. He takes it, fastens it to his face, and then gives her a nod and a wave before exiting her apartment as if it were a perfectly normal thing for him to do.
5
“Nancy? Nancy Cathall? Hi, how are you?” the older but still professionally put together woman asks as she holds out her hand. “Carol Porg. So nice to meet you.”
Nancy rises from the table in the coffee shop and shakes the hand, and Carol joins her at the table after removing her gray coat. “Have you been to New York before?”
“First time,” Nancy says, spinning her spoon in her cup of cold coffee.
“Did Kid pay for the plane ticket?” Carol asks.
Nancy nods.
Carol smiles. “Good. Let him pay for everything he wants to pay for. Let me get right to the point, Nancy. I don’t mean to be curt with you but I have a mall opening to cover at 11:30.”
“You’re covering a mall opening?” Nancy asks. “But you’re Carol Porg.”
“You’re sweet,” Carol says, pointing at Nancy’s cup of coffee when the waiter arrives.
“You won two Pulitzers!”
“Would have been three if it wasn’t for those Woodward and Bernstein assholes,” she smiles. “Anyway, let me give you the brief history of me: during the Vietnam Conflict, I was in college. UVA. After ‘Nam, I was working for a paper in Arlington. I was doing okay but not as good
She shakes her head, wondering if she should tell him about her domestic abuse stories. “It’s just orientation this week,” she informs him as he absently looks around for his costume. “You’d think the new star reporter wouldn’t have to sit through endless hours of learning where the coffee was kept and how to file an expense report, but …”
Nancy lets her voice trail off, and Jason doesn’t pick up the conversation. Instead, he asks, “Any leads for me to follow up on?”
She doesn't tell him about the stories and he doesn’t notice when they run.
4
It wasn’t until October of last year that Jason had come clean on the full version of his relationship with Fake Out, and she thinks about that night now, as Jason takes a shower without her. Nancy was pissed at first, of course, realizing that he had been using her, but Jason has a way of smiling an apology at her that instantly wears her down.
“I had to test you,” Kid Rapscallion said, explaining why he’d been lying to her for nearly two months. “I had to make sure our relationship worked for both of us, that we could come to an understanding.”
“You fucking used me to spin the public!” she yelled at him.
“Ugh, you sound like your fucking professor,” Kid Rapscallion snapped. “Look, this is how it works, Nancy. There’s ten reporters I can put you in contact with that will tell you the same thing — there’s things the public can’t know because it undermines their confidence in what we do.”
“You self-serving prick!”
“Fine, write a story saying that Fake Out spent two months as my assistant,” Kid said. “Write that I fucked her. Write that she’s got a chemical additive she can add to food and drink that can cause people to hallucinate. Yeah, go ahead, Nancy, write that story. Hell, I’ll give you the recordings she made of me doing coke and fucking her and fucking my hand instead of her pussy even though that’s what I thought was going on. Do it. Do all of it. And what then? Huh? How many capes do you think will talk to you after you do that? I’ll tell you. None. Fucking none. Do you want a career as a reporter? Then this is how you play the game, Nancy. Jump in or find another career. Maybe you can go back to your dad’s business. Oh, that’s right, that company declared bankruptcy. What are you going to do, ex-rich girl?”
Nancy’s memories are interrupted as Jason steps out of the bathroom, dressed as Kid Rapscallion. “Gotta go,” he says, then touches his face. “Damn, where did I put my mask?”
Nancy points to the top of her television. He takes it, fastens it to his face, and then gives her a nod and a wave before exiting her apartment as if it were a perfectly normal thing for him to do.
5
“Nancy? Nancy Cathall? Hi, how are you?” the older but still professionally put together woman asks as she holds out her hand. “Carol Porg. So nice to meet you.”
Nancy rises from the table in the coffee shop and shakes the hand, and Carol joins her at the table after removing her gray coat. “Have you been to New York before?”
“First time,” Nancy says, spinning her spoon in her cup of cold coffee.
“Did Kid pay for the plane ticket?” Carol asks.
Nancy nods.
Carol smiles. “Good. Let him pay for everything he wants to pay for. Let me get right to the point, Nancy. I don’t mean to be curt with you but I have a mall opening to cover at 11:30.”
“You’re covering a mall opening?” Nancy asks. “But you’re Carol Porg.”
“You’re sweet,” Carol says, pointing at Nancy’s cup of coffee when the waiter arrives.
“You won two Pulitzers!”
“Would have been three if it wasn’t for those Woodward and Bernstein assholes,” she smiles. “Anyway, let me give you the brief history of me: during the Vietnam Conflict, I was in college. UVA. After ‘Nam, I was working for a paper in Arlington. I was doing okay but not as good
Similar Books
