Chapter 26
TWENTY-SIX
Imani and Von were waiting in my office when I arrived. Approaching the shut door, I saw the two of them through the glass, seated on the sofa, heads close together. They were so deep in conversation that they didn’t hear the door hinge creak. I had to say “Morning, guys,” so they’d look up.
“Nikki, thank god you’re here,” Imani said. “Close the door.”
“Jeez, who died?” I threw my bag on the desk and dragged a chair in front of the sofa.
“I found Sliq Bishopp’s accuser,” Imani replied simply.
“So fast? You are a magician!” I extended my fist to give her a pound, then took in Imani’s and Von’s grave expressions. “Okay, what’s going on? Was it worse than we thought?”
“Much,” Von groaned, eyes downcast, his pale cheeks making the freckles seem more prominent.
“Nikki, she’s a child,” Imani said softly.
“What do you mean? She’s na?ve?”
Imani shook her head slowly. “No, she’s a literal child. I found her at an after-school job at Burger King. She told me she was seventeen, which is the age of consent in New York. But I looked up her records and, Nik, she just turned seventeen last week.”
“So, she was sixteen when…” I sat silently for a minute, remembering how much Bishopp’s crew had intimidated me. I couldn’t even imagine trying to navigate that by myself as a child. “Did she tell you what happened?”
“Yeah, as she cried into her strawberry shake.” Imani inhaled deeply.
“Apparently, she snuck out of her house to go to the concert with some of her friends. She’s a cute, curvy girl, and when she caught Bishopp’s eye, he sent one of his crew to bring her backstage.
They wouldn’t let her bring her friends, so she was by herself when Bishopp’s boys offered her booze and passed her a joint.
She says she was so wasted that she barely noticed where they were taking her, and she ended up in Bishopp’s hotel suite.
The next thing she knew, she was no longer a virgin. ”
My vision blurred with unexpected tears.
I’d lost my own virginity in a college dorm room with a lumbering fellow freshman who’d talked a good game about his manhood and prowess but had clearly never had sex.
It was clumsy and frenetic, and I’d been dismayed by almost every aspect of the inelegant affair.
But I wasn’t scared or shell-shocked or regretful the way this girl likely was.
I pressed a finger to the corner of my eye. “How on earth did she get out of there?”
“Her story is that Bishopp got pissed when she started to cry so he kicked her out. She literally took the subway home. When she tried to sneak in, her older sister caught her and told her mom, who, correctly, freaked out.”
“That poor kid.” The details kept painting a worse picture. “Were there any witnesses or anyone who can corroborate her story?”
“I ran her pic over to the hotel where he’s staying now,” Von interjected.
“I figured his simple ass was a regular, and sure ’nuff one of the lobby attendants recognized her.
But I didn’t say anything about Bishopp, so I hope dude’s memory doesn’t get fuzzy if he knows those hundos might stop flowing. ”
“Nice work, Von!” I hesitated because I hated to ask the next question. “Either way, this is statutory rape, but did she definitively say no to him?”
“That’s what she told me,” Imani replied.
“And I believe her. I mean, I can totally see it. She had a round baby face, but her uniform was a size too small, and she had on a bunch of makeup. Not saying any of this is her fault, of course. But I bet she felt grown, like she could handle whatever. And then that precocious kid found herself in a situation that no one could have handled.” Imani paused, then closed her eyes.
“I can still see how hard she was weeping. It was awful.”
“This whole thing is awful,” I agreed. “Has she pressed charges?”
“She said that her mom went to the police, so I assume so.” I nodded, then rested my chin in my palm, staring upward and thinking about what to do. I didn’t move for several long minutes until Imani finally asked, “Do you want to pull the story?”
This cover story had morphed into an atomic bomb, and I closed my eyes to picture the impact it would have when it hit newsstands, the devastation to Sliq Bishopp’s career and his label.
I thought of the advertising dollars from Bishopp’s record label that NuVoices would lose.
I imagined JJ’s furious face when he realized that I’d torpedoed his prize artist.
But I recalled the glint in Bishopp’s eye as he unflinchingly told me, “What’s a no to a G?
” I remembered Alonzo taking me in his truck even after I tearily told him, “No, I don’t think I want to right now.
” And I thought about having to prove to an entire industry that I was a serious editor because I’d been labeled a ho while the men I’d been with were considered charming Lotharios.
“No, no, I don’t,” I said firmly. “We’re not going to name the girl in the article, but we are going forward with the cover. And we’re going to blow it up so everyone knows where Sugar stands. Somebody has to have her back.”
I reached out to each of them and the three of us sat there for a few minutes, holding hands in silence.
I was dialing Teresa’s number before I put my bag down.
I’d stayed late to do some edits on the cover story, eating a vending machine dinner of potato chips and a Snickers bar, and dragged my spent body home at 11:00 PM.
It was late but I missed my best friend so much my chest hurt.
I knew my apology voicemail had softened her, but it hadn’t been enough.
Although she and I had mostly fallen back into our old rhythm of talking several times a week, tension now marbled our conversations.
But that night, I needed my girl. Teresa picked up after one ring.
“Teresa, thank god,” I blurted before she could say hello. “It’s been a helluva couple days.”
“Hi, Teresa. How was your day? Did you keep any innocent people from going to jail?” she deadpanned.
“That’s any given Tuesday for you! But are you good?”
“Yeah, chica. It’s same old same old over here.” I could hear water running in the background and assumed she was getting ready for bed.
“Shit, I’m sorry, it is super late. But do you have a sec for me to tell you what’s up with this rapper Sliq Bishopp?”
“Sure, it’s cool. You can keep me company while I do my skin care routine. You know a bitch got serums.” I was relieved to hear Teresa’s smile through the phone. “Sliq Bishopp … Doesn’t he have a fresh rape charge?”
I paused with a forkful of cold leftover Chinese food halfway to my mouth. “Wait, how did you know that? My entertainment editor just brought it up a few days ago and said it was still on the low.”
“I got a buddy in the DA’s office who was gossiping at the dirty water dog guy outside the courthouse yesterday. He did say it hadn’t gone public yet.”
“Um, you didn’t want to call your journalist best friend with that scoop?”
“That would have been un-eth-i-cal,” Teresa said, enunciating each syllable. “Besides, it’s not like you’d cover that asshole in Sugar anyway.”
My heart sank. “Actually, he’s our October cover.”
“Are you fucking serious right now?” I could hear Teresa’s smile disappear.
“Tee, Alonzo stole another cover from me, which is catastrophic since I’m two-thirds of the way through my six-month trial.
I needed a big seller, and I knew the rape accusation would be buzzworthy when it comes out,” I started.
“Look, I know it sounds awful, but we found the accuser and I’m going to publish an interview with her as well.
It turns out she was only sixteen when it happened. ”
There was a heavy silence. “Let me get this straight. You’re giving Sliq Bishopp a national platform to defend himself after he raped a child?”
“No, I mean, I guess so.” It sounded vastly different when she said it. “But I’m writing the story myself, so it’s not going to be some glowing profile, Tee. I’m really going there.”
“So, you’re also giving this bastard the respect of having the editor in chief of the damn magazine write his profile?” Teresa managed to convey her dismay through the drone of her electric toothbrush.
“I’m making sure the story is done right,” I protested. “Actually, could I walk you through some of the legal stuff? I’m not sure I know how to talk about date rape versus statutory rape.”
“Uh, no! First of all, I’m totally against this Sliq Bishopp guy getting a Sugar cover. I don’t care how you tell his story,” Teresa exclaimed. “But I also have a morning hearing, so I’ve got to crash.”
“Please don’t leave me in the lurch, Tee,” I begged. “NuVoice’s legal department will do a review but it’s up to me to get the profile right. I’m walking a really fine line here.”
Teresa spat out her toothpaste before replying firmly, “Then you should kill it.”
I sighed. It wasn’t as if I wasn’t fighting my own misgivings.
“I know you hate this, but I think you also know that I can’t kill it now.
I don’t have anyone else for this cover and, even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to get the money back for the studio and photographer already booked for tomorrow’s shoot.
What I can do is use every tool I have as a journalist to take him to task for his actions.
And I can bring more awareness to the issue of rape culture.
But if I get any of the legal facts wrong or accidentally defame him, then it will all be for nothing.
Not to mention, my reputation will be screwed. ”
For a minute, I only heard rustling sounds as I assumed Teresa was changing into the flannel pj’s she liked to wear.
I knew better than to push her while she was weighing a decision, so I waited for her to speak.
When the rustling stopped, I imagined her climbing into bed and staring at her bedroom ceiling, thinking.
I risked a few sniffling noises until she finally said, “Okay, okay, jeez. I obviously don’t want you to get yourself into trouble.
I have an idea: I’m going to give you Derek’s number.
He’s tried lots of rape cases and he’d be a great resource. ”
I hadn’t seen Derek since the MC RedHot party, and this was a less-than-ideal way to reconnect. “You think he’ll want to talk to me?”
“Puleeze, Nikki. Did you really not see the way he was eyeballing you at that party? Trust me, he’ll talk to you.”
I swallowed my surprise. I’d been distracted by the situation with MC RedHot—and Derek had told me that he had a girlfriend. “Okay, I appreciate it. Thanks, girl,” I replied.
“Nah, don’t thank me,” Teresa objected. “I’m just hoping he talks you out of this.”