33
As July wore on and eventually faded into the swampy heat of August, Michael, Stuart, and I took our show on the road, hitting every country club, Hadassah, and YWCA in Maryland. My father had it much easier as a member of the House, needing only to focus on his constituents in Montgomery County. We had twenty-three counties of varying populations to appeal to.
“Why are we bothering coming way out here?” Stuart complained as we drove to meet with a small group of women way out in Cumberland—a three-hour drive from our office. “You can bet Sam doesn’t bother with this nonsense.”
“That’s exactly why,” I said. “Sam focuses on Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Baltimore and ignores everyone else.”
“Because he knows how to win,” Stuart grumbled.
“It’s a gamble,” I admitted. “But if we can get the outliers, we have a better shot. It’s why we started talking to women in the first place.” And even Stuart had to admit that was an overwhelming success. Did we know they would vote? No. But if my mother was right and even a fraction of them pressured their husbands into switching their allegiance ...
“We’ve got nothing to lose,” Michael said, looking up from his notes. “And everything to gain.”
“People out here aren’t voting for a Jewish candidate,” Stuart said. “We’re going to get booed out of the hall if we’re lucky.”
He wasn’t wrong. Sam was enough of a WASP (even if he hadn’t ever attended church outside of seeking votes as far as I knew) to not be seen as a threat in the more rural populations. And Maryland, once you got out of the DC and Baltimore areas, was the South.
“If we don’t mention it, I’m not sure they’ll know,” I said. “You’ve got a straight nose, and it’s not like you wear a yarmulke.”
“So you want him to lie?” Stuart asked.
“Did I say that? No. If anyone asks, you tell the truth. But we don’t exactly lead with the Passover story even at a Hadassah speech.”
“You two bicker like an old married couple,” Michael said mildly. “Should I be worried? Are Mom and Dad getting divorced?”
I leaned back in my seat, stung.
Michael turned around when I didn’t reply. “Sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“Just focus on your speech, please,” I said.
For a couple of minutes no one spoke. “Actually, I kind of have news on that front.”
“Your speech?”
“No,” he said. “The divorce. I called around, and it’s a judge I know. He agreed to hear the case in October.”
“October!”
“Is that too soon?”
I didn’t know how to answer that question. No. It wasn’t soon enough. But the PI hadn’t turned up any evidence, and I had yet to figure out how I would prove adultery if we didn’t have that. And then we only had two months to find actual evidence, or I would be stuck with him for another year while we waited for a no-fault divorce.
Which was the best-case scenario, I reminded myself, my lawyer’s insinuation about Tom Stanton ringing in my ears.
When I finally looked up, Michael was still turned around watching me and even Stuart was paying far more attention to the rearview mirror than he should have been. “October is perfect,” I said, feigning confidence. “But while I have your rapt attention, we should probably talk about next week.”
“What’s next week?”
I grinned wickedly. “On second thought, let’s discuss that back in the office. It’s a bit controversial, and Stuart may drive off the road.” His brows came together in the rearview mirror, and I refused to say more.
“Absolutely not,” Stuart said.
Michael held up a hand in his direction, but didn’t take his eyes off me. “Let her finish,” he said.
“We need her,” I said simply. “White women alone won’t win this election.”
“And this woman—?”
“Helen,” I said. “Helen Walker.”
“Helen.”
“I suggest you call her Delegate Walker when we speak to her,” I said. “As a sign of respect.”
Stuart got up and started pacing. “If we even sit down with this woman, half the men in this state will actively campaign against us.”
“Half of the white men,” I said quietly.
He spun to look at me. “What are you implying?”
I shrugged innocently. “I’m not implying anything. If you took it to mean something, then perhaps you should examine your own conscience.”
Suddenly he was in my face, leaning over me in my chair. I didn’t flinch, despite how intimidating he was right then, and I stared him down as Michael grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back.
“She’s going to ruin us,” Stuart said to Michael.
“My father agreed we should meet with her,” I said. “He called her office himself to get the appointment.”
While I wouldn’t admit it to Stuart, my father had initially reacted the same way he did. The parts of the state that wouldn’t like Michael being Jewish would be even less happy about courting support from Helen Walker. But as I explained why the time was right to look at different demographics of voters, he not only came around but became more animated than I had seen him since Mama left.
“She’s already in the state House of Delegates,” I said. “And she’s running for state senator. If she wins that—and she’s ahead in the polls—she’ll be the first anywhere in the country.”
“And she’s in Baltimore,” Michael said, thinking.
“They don’t vote,” Stuart said.
“Which they are we referring to?” I asked. “Because you told me women don’t either.”
Michael held his hands up in a “time out” gesture but took a few seconds before he spoke. “There’s no harm in a meeting,” he said eventually. “Especially if Bernie Gelman thinks it’ll work.”
I fought the urge to stick my tongue out at Stuart. But he wasn’t looking at me. There was some silent conversation that I wasn’t a part of happening between the two of them, and eventually Stuart nodded.
“Great,” I said, ignoring their little moment. “Because we need Baltimore to win. And if you meant what you said about wanting to represent all of Maryland, we need to actually represent everyone in Maryland.”