Rita Jane took a last look around her former home. Amanda was returning from India next week and Rita Jane wanted the place to look perfect for her homecoming. Rita Jane hadn’t really lived in her rented home for months. Even before Danny’s birth, she had spent most of her time at Claudia’s place and that had only increased after the birth. Still, it had been nice to know that she had her own place to retreat to when life seemed too hectic. She would miss it, but at least she still had her studio.

Continue reading "54. Moving Day (Epilogue)" »

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Rita Jane felt something tug on her arm, waking her from where she had fallen asleep on a chair next to Claudia’s bed.

“I think my water broke,” Claudia announced calmly.

Rita Jane ran to the nurse’s station yelling, “Help, help,” as though there was a true emergency, and not just another pregnant woman going into labor.

Continue reading "53. The Baby " »

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Anticipating a large number of visitors in Claudia’s room to watch the press conference, Audrey had emptied the wastebaskets, scrubbed the toilet, wiped down the bathroom sink, and picked all the dead and drying flowers from the various bouquets that covered every surface of the room.

“There are people who are paid to do that momma,” she said, laughing at her mother.

Continue reading "52. The Press Conference " »

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The day after the shooting, Weymouth arrived in Claudia’s room bearing a large bouquet of flowers. As always, he was impeccably dressed and clean-shaven, but his skin was ashen, and his eyes swollen. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

Claudia introduced him to Audrey who took the flowers and went to look for a vase. Weymouth sat down in the chair next to Claudia’s bed and grabbed her hand, “I feel so terrible,” he said. He looked on the verge of tears, his broad shoulders shaking. “I didn’t want him to testify,” he sobbed. “I should have refused to call him as a witness.

Continue reading "51. A Visit from Weymouth " »

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“Well, he’s still alive,” the surgeon told the assembled group of Dan’s family and friends who were waiting anxiously for any news. “He has survived the surgery. We’ve repaired the damage from the bullet, but he is still in critical condition. We’ve induced a coma. The next 48 hours are crucial. He’s young. He’s healthy. He’s got a good chance of surviving,” the doctor finished on an optimistic note before rushing off to his next task.

Continue reading "50. The Waiting is the Hardest Part " »

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From her bed at Georgetown Hospital, Claudia watched Dan testify and cursed the television set. At one point she yelled so loudly a nurse came in and asked if she was okay.

Outraged by Blake’s accusation that Dan had gotten her pregnant and then abandoned her, she wanted to insist that Weymouth call her again as a witness so that she could tell the truth: That if it hadn’t been for Dan and Rita Jane, she would have had an abortion. Feeling guilty, she put her hands on her belly and apologized to “The Child” reassuring him/her that she was glad that she hadn’t made that decision.

Continue reading "49. The News " »

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Catching a cab from the hospital, Dan and Rita Jane held on for dear life as the cabbie expertly maneuvered through Georgetown traffic.

“Watch out,” Rita Jane screamed as the driver ran a red light, narrowly missing a crossing pedestrian.

“It’s better if you don’t watch,” Dan said. “I usually close my eyes and pretend I’m somewhere else.”

Continue reading "48. Dan Testifies " »

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On the third day of the hearing, Chairman Weymouth finally summoned her to testify. Dan had been attending every minute of the hearings, but after the first morning Claudia had been waiting by the phone. Weymouth had promised to give her at least two hours notice before she had to be at Rayburn. So she had watched the hearings from the television at her office, getting very little work done.

Continue reading "47. Claudia Testifies " »

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It was standing room only at 120 Rayburn House Office Building, the chamber of the House Judiciary Committee. Every major network and newspaper had sent a reporter leaving few seats for the public. Fortunately, Weymouth had reserved the front row for witnesses, including Claudia and Dan, and had said they could each bring a guest to sit with them.

Continue reading "46. The Hearing Begins" »

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Rita Jane was finishing up her lunch shift, looking forward to an afternoon of painting in her studio, when Paul stopped her.

“Rita Jane, I’d like you to meet my friend, Peter LaRochelle. He’s in the corner booth.”

She hadn’t had a chance to paint seriously for months and had been trying hard to get back into a regular routine. She didn’t want to be distracted and end up in a long conversation with someone she didn’t even know.

“I’m really in a hurry to get home,” Rita Jane said. “Can it wait?”

“No,” Paul said.

Continue reading "45. Rita Jane Gets Discovered" »

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“I think we should pick an androgynous name like Chris or Andy so it won’t matter if it’s a girl or a boy.” Rita Jane said to her neighbors assembled on the piazza for the regular Friday afternoon happy hour.

“How boring,” Aimee said. “My parents picked a boring name, too, but at least they had the good sense to spell it differently. Kids want to be special. They don’t want to have the same name as everyone else.”

Continue reading "44. Happy Hour " »

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Claudia woke from a nightmare, cold sweat covering her legs and arms making her chilled and clammy. In her dream, she had been on trial and the jury was coming into the courtroom to deliver its verdict when she woke, a scream stuck in her throat. She wrote the details of the dream in the journal she kept by her bedside, trying to decipher their meaning.

Continue reading "43. Meeting with Emad " »

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Paul kissed Claudia on the cheek. “How are you?” he asked looking at her with a worried expression on his face.

“I feel like I’m in prison. I never leave the house except to go to work or doctor’s appointments. Otherwise, I stay home and watch television, knit and sleep.”

Continue reading "42. Another Offer" »

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Dan’s heart beat rapidly as he, Paul and Claudia waited for the Rayburn elevator. Too hot to talk, the three waited silently, each lost in private thoughts. By 9 o’clock the day promised to be a scorcher. The heat, humidity and anxiety had already created large sweat stains under his arms. He made a mental note to keep his jacket on during the meeting. He ran through his argument mentally for what must have been the millionth time. To prepare for the meeting, he had spent all day Sunday reading the entire files from Emad and Claudia’s cases.

Continue reading "41. Meeting with Weymouth, Again" »

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“Are you almost ready to go?” Rita Jane called to Claudia, who at seven months pregnant rarely moved quickly anymore, and rarely dressed in anything besides sweat pants and Rita Jane’s oversized T-shirts.
Claudia walked down the stairs wearing a navy blue maternity dress that Audrey had brought from Texas. Rita Jane looked up from reading the latest editorial about Claudia’s case and had to stifle a giggle.

Continue reading "40. The Memorial Day Parade " »

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On May Day, the first protesters, a Quaker couple in their 70s, arrived at noon at the U.S. Attorney’s office. They carried handmade signs that read, “Claudia Connors is a Victim of the War on Terror” and “Arrest Osama bin Laden, not Emad Khadonry.” The couple stood silently outside the door while lawyers dressed in conservative suits left for their lunch hours, taking a break from the tedious job of prosecuting criminals.

Continue reading "39. Dan’s Public Opinion Campaign Begins " »

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Empty pizza boxes and soda bottles scattered across the kitchen counter alongside bowls of popcorn and veggie chips. The Common House air smelled like a gymnasium after a high school basketball game, musky with sweat from bodies crowded together. Groups of residents hovered around folding tables, some deep in concentration, others hooting with laughter. The monopoly crowd was heavily dominated by the pre-teen set. A gaggle of grade school children, supervised by Frances, were playing “Go Fish the President” with a deck of cards that contained all the U.S. Presidents. Paul and Dave, along with some of the other men, were deep in concentration over a poker game drinking cheap beer and munching on popcorn. Rita Jane, Audrey, Dan, Claudia and Aimee were engaged in a cut-throat game of Scrabble, acting as though winning at Scrabble were a sign of higher intelligence and none of them wanted to be proven dumb.

Continue reading "38. Game Night" »

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While Paul had been negotiating with the U.S. Attorney, Dan had been secretly organizing a public campaign to draw attention to Claudia and Emad’s cases. Dan knew that Claudia was unlikely to agree to any kind of offer, short of an outright dismissal, and he knew that the U.S. Attorney would only dismiss the case if there were sufficient public pressure to do so. Dan believed the case could, and indeed would, be won in the court of public opinion.

Continue reading "37. Dan’s Plan " »

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“Listen to me,” Paul said, his tone on the edge of impatience. “It’s not going to get any better than this. What do you want, anyway?”

“A complete dismissal and an apology,” Claudia said. “And dismissal of the charges against Emad.”

Paul slammed his hands on the table. “Dammit Claudia, be reasonable. I can only represent you, as you bloody well know.”

Continue reading "36. The Offer" »

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Rita Jane dashed around her apartment, frantically trying to find something to wear to meet Claudia’s mother, Audrey. She was expected at 7. At quarter to, she still had not decided what to wear. Southern women tended to dress up, so she couldn’t wear jeans. She tried on an Indian print cotton dress that her mother had bought her, but that made her look like a hippie. Finally she settled on a nice pair of black pants and a multicolored tank top with matching sweater. Perfume? Lipstick? She decided yes to both, putting on a light pink shade and a subtle scent called Cotton Wind.

Continue reading "35. Meeting Audrey " »

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“RJ there’s another delivery for you,” Esme called out. “Aren’t you popular?” Earlier, a florist had delivered two dozen roses — pink, yellow and white — from Claudia with a card that said, “All my love.”

Rita Jane looked up from arranging pieces of pottery. She opened the card and read out loud, “Happy Birthday to our special daughter. We’re proud of you, Mom and Dad.

Continue reading "34. Opening Night" »

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Brightly colored helium-filled balloons wafted up to the high ceiling in the Common House. Twisted crepe paper hung from the rafters and cutout flowers made from construction paper and felt adorned the walls. Every month, the community celebrated the birthdays of all the people born in that month. The March birthday babies included three-year old twins Simon and Sydney, 90-year-old Dick and soon-to-be-39-year-old Rita Jane. Her actual birthday wasn’t until the following weekend, the same night as her show opened.

Normally, Rita Jane loved celebrating birthdays. She always remembered her friends’ birthdays and sent cards that she spent hours making. She wondered if she would still feel that way next year when she turned the big 40.

Continue reading "Chapter 33. Another Birthday " »

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Having spent all day Saturday doing work around the community, on Sunday, Rita Jane gave herself the gift of a day in her studio. For two decades, Rita Jane had created a life where she pretty much did whatever she wanted to do and what she usually wanted to do was paint. She had minimized her outside responsibilities, taking only jobs that she did not care about, conserving her energy and time for her art. If a job got to be too much of a hassle, she simply quit, without worrying about it.

Continue reading "Chapter 32. Metamorphoses " »

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Rita Jane sat on her porch drinking coffee, soaking up the sun and daydreaming about Claudia. Her first thoughts each moment were of Claudia. She loved everything about her: her intelligence, her beauty, her charm, her grace, her kindness, and the fact that Claudia did things to her in bed that made her blush didn’t hurt either.

Rita Jane loved springtime in Washington when the entire city came to life with beautiful cherry trees in bloom. From her deck she could see some pink cherry blossoms, and purple crocuses, and yellow daffodils, too. Being in love made her optimistic. The fact that it was springtime only increased her happiness.

Continue reading "Chapter 31. Spring Cleaning " »

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Dan hadn’t been so excited since his high school football team had won the division championship after he scored the winning touchdown. Dan had never succeeded at defeating such a significant piece of legislation. When it came to gay rights issues, “don’t ask, don’t tell” was about as good as he could expect to achieve, and God knows, that policy was a fiasco.

Back at his office, his colleagues whooped and yelled, slapping him on the back, and hugging him. He could get used to winning.

Hannah handed him a press release. “Thank God you’re here. Five newspapers and two television stations have called already. Take a look at this and let me know if this is what we want to say.” Hannah was OutReach’s media guru. Towering over six feet, the former football-player-turned woman was wearing a short-sleeved red suit with matching pumps that accentuated her muscular calves and biceps.

Continue reading "Chapter 30. Victory " »

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Dan arrived at the spacious Judiciary Committee hearing room an hour before the hearing was to begin, in order to make sure that he got a good seat. Adorning the walls of the enormous room were portraits of men who had served as Chairman of the committee. The most recent portrait was of Weymouth standing up with his hand on a table next to a book that looked like a Bible. There were no pictures of women or people of color.

Dan felt a rush of adrenaline, like he used to feel before a big game, or before having sex with someone for the first time. Being alone in the grand room always humbled him. Most of the time he took for granted the fact that he walked the halls of Congress as if he owned them, shaking hands with some of the most powerful people in the world. Every once in a while, during a quiet moment, he thought about that fact and felt awe and gratitude for his job where he had a chance to make a difference.

Continue reading "Chapter 29. The Vote " »

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Dan practically skipped to the Takoma Metro Station at 6:30 in the morning to meet Paul for his meeting with the Democrats. He felt like Maria from the “Sound of Music” when Von Trapp finally declares his love for her. Nothing that happened with the Democrats could spoil his mood. Once they were seated on the train, he told Paul, “I’ve got news.”

“Finally,” Paul said, before Dan had a chance to tell him the news. “I thought you guys would never hook up.”

“I haven’t even told you what my news is yet.”

“I can tell from your Cheshire-Cat smile that you got laid. I’m assuming it was Dave.”
“Your plan of sending him over with the food worked,” Dan said. “Thank you.

Continue reading "Chapter 28. Meeting with Reynolds " »

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After the evening with her parents, Rita Jane needed to take a walk and clear her head. Dan said goodnight, and Rita Jane walked around the neighborhood in the chilly February night. The weathermen had predicted snow, and the air felt thick with moisture. Rita Jane hoped that it did snow. She loved the way it coated the city and made everything clean and pretty. Life slowed down when it snowed.

When she returned from her walk, she saw the lights on at Claudia’s and decided spontaneously to knock on the door.

Claudia answered the door dressed in a t-shirt and boxer shorts that exposed her long, strong legs. Her unkempt hair made her look younger and less serious than she usually did.

Continue reading "Chapter 27. Coming Out " »

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“You owe me big time, Spencer,” Dan said to Rita Jane as they pulled into the driveway of the Spencers’ Georgetown home. As much as he tried to get out of it, Rita Jane had finally convinced Dan to accompany her to dinner with her parents while she told them about her impending motherhood.

Leigh threw open the door before they’d had a chance to knock. “Oh honey, it’s so great to see you!” She kissed Rita Jane, then Dan, European-style, giving air pecks on both cheeks.

Dr. Spencer stepped forward and shook Dan’s hand, “How are you, Dr. Spencer?” Dan asked. Even though he had known them for over 30 years, Dan still called Rita Jane’s father, Dr. Spencer. He had called her mother Mrs. Spencer until she had finally insisted that he call her Leigh. Martin Spencer, however, had never suggested that Dan call him by his first name.

Continue reading "Chapter 26. Dinner with the Spencers " »

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At 8:00 PM Dan, still at work, swore when the phone rang. It had been like that all day, as soon as he finished one task, the phone rang and someone was asking him for something else – a staff person with a question about the gay composition of his district, or his communications director wanting information to put in the next issue of the newsletter, or his mother asking if he could come to dinner on Sunday. He debated not answering the call, but he could tell from the prefix that it was a call from the Hill, probably a staffer looking for help researching something. He decided he’d better pick it up. He answered, trying not to sound too irritated.
“Dan Canavan, here.”
“Dan. It’s Jim Weymouth.”

Continue reading "Chapter 25. The Phone Call " »

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After tossing and turning and getting up to go to the bathroom four times, Dan finally gave in and got up at 4:30 – still four hours away from his meeting with Congressman Weymouth. Whatever would he do with himself for that length of time, besides get even more nervous? He took a long shower and dressed in the quintessential Washington outfit – a dark blue, almost black, suit with a red tie. He arrived at work before 6, the time that Caribou Coffee opened. He felt both spacey and hyper-alert, like a sleep-deprived person on speed.
For days he had been rehearsing what he would say: in the shower, at the gym, riding on the Metro. He imagined taking out the note and dramatically handing it to him and demanding, “Congressman, how could you allow SOFA to pass out of your committee?” In his fantasy, Weymouth hung his head in shame and agreed to pull the bill from consideration.

Continue reading "Chapter 24. Meeting the Chairman " »

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Dan appeared at Rita Jane’s door on Sunday morning, exhausted after being up most of the night opening presents with his family. Rita Jane answered the door wearing grey sweats and an oversized New York Yankees T-shirt. A pot of tea and the Post lay on her kitchen table next to a large stainless steel bowl of waffle batter. With no radio or television blaring, as there had been at his parents’ home, Rita Jane’s small home was a welcome oasis after the chaos of the holiday.
He handed her a bag of treats that his mother had put in his stocking -- apricot and berry preserves, apple butter and real maple syrup. Dan wanted the treats out of his house because if they were around him, sooner or later he would eat them. He had been fat as a child, until he became an athlete in high school, and his biggest fear was that he would revert to his preadolescent body.

Continue reading "Chapter 23. Sunday Brunch " »

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“It’s a bit over the top, isn’t it?” Rita Jane asked Dan as they finished decorating for the Solstice Party. Besides a large Christmas tree, a large wooden Menorah had been placed on a small wooden table next to the tree and several brightly painted African cloths and masks hung from the walls next to it.
“Of course it is, but that’s the fun of it,” Dan replied. “When we first moved in together, the community had squabbled about such matters as whether to put a Christmas tree or a menorah in the Common House. We thought about alternating years, but that got too confusing, so we decided to celebrate everything – Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza and Solstice. But Solstice is, by far, the most popular event.”
“You’re all pagans at heart,” Rita Jane said.

Continue reading "Chapter 22. Solstice Dinner " »

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Claudia stepped into a blaze of cameras flashing outside the federal courthouse. She had taken Rita Jane’s advice and dressed in her best suit; she had even put on make up, or rather Rita Jane had put it on her. “You look like an underfed ghost,” Rita Jane had told her as she had applied rouge, lipstick and eye shadow. You want to look good for the TV cameras.”
Paul had agreed to represent Claudia, at least initially, because he knew the Assistant U.S. Attorney. It turned out to be one of those Washington-is-a-small-town experiences because Paul had been the attorney’s supervisor when they both worked for the Judiciary Committee. What with the recent news of her pregnancy, Claudia couldn’t face the prospect of looking for an attorney to represent her, so Paul had agreed to handle the case during the negotiation stage with the understanding that if it went to trial Claudia would have to hire someone else.

Continue reading "Chapter 21. The Arraignment" »

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The heat rushed at them as soon as they stepped out of the revolving doors. Moisture in the air made Claudia’s glasses fog over. Tall palm trees reaching over fifty feet provided a tropical canopy. Dazzling pink bougainvillea and giant orchids draped from tree branches. The perfumed air smelled like lilacs. Streams of water gurgled in a pond with live fish. A brightly colored parrot perched on a nearby tree.
Rita Jane had invited Claudia to go to the Botanical Garden saying that she wanted to talk to her about something, but wanted to do it in a beautiful place.
“This is the most amazing place,” Rita Jane said. “Thanks for coming with me.” She grabbed Claudia’s hand impulsively and squeezed it, arousing Claudia. Claudia squeezed back. They walked with clasped hands for a few steps, and then Rita Jane let go. “I’ve got to take a picture of that tree. Isn’t that bark amazing?”

Continue reading "Chapter 20. The Botanical Garden" »

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Dan slid into a corner booth at the end of the brunch shift waiting for Rita Jane to get off work. In their many years of friendship they had had many rows, more than he cared to remember. But each of them had made their relationship a priority, and each had taken turns reaching out to mend rifts as they occurred. Now it was his turn to reach out.
He had chosen a public place as the location for this meeting, to lessen Rita Jane’s tendency to let her Irish temper fly, but he had also chosen a time when he knew there would be few customers around in case it did. He brought along the Nation, the only source he trusted to provide him with accurate news, to read while he waited, but he was too preoccupied to comprehend what he was reading.

Continue reading "Chapter 19. Coming Clean " »

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The climb up the broken escalator at Judiciary Square winded Claudia. She had to stop twice, and by the time she got to the top, she was panting like a dog. She had been feeling nauseous since Thanksgiving and bone weary for over a month. Her mother had been nagging her about going to a doctor, but she hated doctors who she believed never did anything for you unless you had a broken bone or needed to be stitched up. By the time she got to her office, Claudia felt like she needed a nap.

Continue reading "Chapter 18. The Summons" »

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The Monday after Thanksgiving, Capitol Hill had the feel of a funeral parlor after all the guests had gone home. Members of Congress stayed in their districts, resting from their election battles. Most of Dan’s co-workers at OutReach had not returned to work, either. Dan should have been at home, too. He had spent the weekend with his family – his four sisters, their spouses, and seven children – and returned home with a horrible head cold. He had gone to the office hoping to take advantage of the quiet as a chance to plan out his strategy for defeating SOFA, but after a morning of sneezing and coughing and not getting any work done, he called it quits and headed home.

Continue reading "Chapter 17. Sneak and Peek" »

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Instead of rushing to catch the early morning flight to Houston like she usually did on Thanksgiving, Claudia slept in, reveling in a day off from work. Lately she felt like she couldn’t sleep enough. She’d arrive at work exhausted from the metro trip into the city. Instead of bounding up the steep escalators, she stood to the side and let the walkers pass her.
She felt a pang of guilt about not visiting her family, especially her mother, who would miss her. Her two brothers would be there and although she loved them both, she didn’t have that much in common with them.

Continue reading "Chapter 16. Thanksgiving " »

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For weeks, Paul had been telling Dan about a nice gay doctor who had recently moved to Washington. Finally he had arranged for Dan to meet Dave, convinced that the two would hit it off.
Dan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when he walked into Paul’s Place and spotted Paul talking with a very ordinary-looking man with a long receding hair line and thick glasses, wearing corduroys and a cardigan sweater, reminding him of Mr. Rogers, a sweet image, but not exactly sexy. Dan thought about leaving and calling Paul to say that something had come up, but Paul spotted him and waved him over.

Continue reading "Chapter 15. Dan Meets Dave " »

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The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, when most of Washington had shut down for the holiday, Dan was sitting at his desk puzzling over his latest vote count. The committee vote on SOFA, originally scheduled to be held before the elections, had been held over until after the elections, December at the earliest and possibly not until the next Congress. Dan was running through the list of committee members for at least the hundredth time – 20 Republicans and 17 Democrats.

Continue reading "Chapter 14. The Package " »

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Claudia watched her client walk along the corridor to the attorney visiting room. Normally a vibrant man, Emad shuffled slowly. He had lost 20 pounds since being in prison due to the fact that prison officials refused to provide him vegetarian food. Claudia had argued with the prison officials all the way up to the warden about providing vegetarian alternatives for her client and had even filed a motion in federal court arguing that the jail must accommodate her client’s religious beliefs and provide a vegetarian diet, but the request was denied because Islam did not require its adherents to be vegetarians.

Continue reading "Chapter 13. Going to any Lengths " »

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Esme Root, a stalwart denizen of the TLC community, was hosting an election night party/wake. Claudia and Rita Jane arrived at the same time, and were greeted with the sad news that the Republicans were sweeping the mid-term elections.

Continue reading "12. Election Results " »

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Dan spent most Wednesdays at the Meet Market, the premier meeting spot for gay men seeking a refuge from the nightclubs haunted by the twenty-something crowd. Wednesdays the D.J. played songs of the 70’s and 80’s and some people, certainly not Dan, wore bell-bottoms and wide leather belts with fringes or other appropriate attire from that era. Dan wore black jeans and a black muscle t-shirt.

Continue reading "Chapter 11. Dan Learns a Secret " »

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To her astonishment, Claudia had been unable to get Emad out of jail over the weekend, and feared that defending him was going to be a much harder task than she had thought. At the weekend arraignment, the judge had temporarily appointed the federal defender to represent Emad, with the appointment to be reviewed in a month. Emad was not indigent, so normally would not qualify for the public defender. However, the family had contacted a number of firms and had been unable to pay the large retainers they were asking. Given the seriousness of the charges, the judge did not want Emad to go unrepresented. Claudia’s supervisor had agreed to let Claudia continue representing Emad, and had even lightened her caseload somewhat so she would have plenty of time to devote to the case.

Continue reading "Chapter 10: Defending Emad" »

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The annual Columbus Day Barbecue at TLC brought together people from the community and the neighborhood for an evening of grilled food, games and political speeches. Paul, who lived down the block from TLC, came every year, and tried to tempt the vegetarians with his succulent chicken and ribs grilled with his secret, award-winning, barbeque sauce. Dan served as the vegetarian grill master, serving up tofu pups and veggie burgers, but he secretly missed barbeque, a fact he would never publicly admit. The wafting smells of roasting meat stirred his memories of childhood and summertime.

Continue reading "Chapter 9. Columbus Day Barbecue " »

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Claudia had felt badly about the awkward scene at Rita Jane’s. She had been badly shaken by Rita Jane’s announcement of wanting a child with Dan, but wasn’t sure why. She supposed she was a bit jealous. She missed Dan, and wanted their separation mended. It had been easier when it had been just the two of them, but like it or not, Rita Jane was now on the scene. She decided to stop by and see how Rita Jane was doing in her new apartment.

Continue reading "Chapter 8. Settling In " »

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Dan disliked cooking almost as much as he disliked Republicans so after they had spent the morning moving in, Dan took Rita Jane to Paul’s Place, his home away from home, for lunch. Voted “Best Cheap Eats” by the City Paper for each of its two years of existence, the owner, Paul Petrovich, had retired as chief counsel for the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee after Gingrich and the Republicans declared their “Contract with America,” or “Contract on America” as the Democrats preferred to call it.

Continue reading "Chapter 7. Paul’s Place " »

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Claudia undressed and stood on the cold tiled bathroom floor inspecting her body in the mirror. Slender, with long blonde hair, she was good-looking in a wholesome sort of aging cheerleader way. She liked her looks well enough, but resented the aging process. Nearsighted since junior high, she was now experiencing the beginning stages of farsightedness as well. Her thighs were still sculpted from her days playing basketball and field hockey at Chapel Hill, but a small pouch was growing around her middle. She examined her almost non-existent breasts. As an athlete, she never minded being flat-chested. She always felt sorry for large-breasted women who flopped around on the court or field. Now she found herself wishing for slightly larger breasts to counterbalance her slightly growing stomach.

Continue reading "Chapter 6. Moving Day " »

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To celebrate her return to the District, Rita Jane and Dan ordered garlic eggplant and Mu Shu vegetables from the bad Chinese restaurant around the corner from TLC. On the way back to Dan’s place, they stopped at the Valu Liquor Store for a bottle of wine.

Continue reading "Chapter 5. A Proposition " »

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Claudia and Amanda Jones were sitting on patio chairs discussing the work-share task force meeting that had met to incorporate suggestions from the previous week’s community meeting when Rita Jane and Dan approached carrying a doggie bag from Paul’s Place, the local hangout. Several other adults were sitting on patio furniture reading novels, chatting, or supervising children playing in the play area, enjoying the warm day.

Continue reading "Chapter 4. Rita Jane Moves to Town " »

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Dan was sipping his favorite drink, a soymilk latte, at the Daily Grind when Claudia called to tell him about Emad’s arrest. He had skipped the community meeting, which he did frequently because they drove him crazy, so he had missed the news of Emad’s arrest. He put down “The Nation” and grabbed a cab for the First Precinct. As a lobbyist, most of Dan’s experience in criminal cases had been learned watching Hill Street Blues, but he could at least flash his bar card and drop a few names of members of Congress.

Continue reading "Chapter 3. Seeking Comfort " »

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Claudia lugged her dry erase markers and bottle of water into the Common House and began arranging the hard plastic chairs into a semi-circle. Normally an optimistic person, she dreaded this meeting where they would be discussing work-share policy, a contentious issue in the community. She had even biked to the food co-op to buy vegan whole-wheat, fruit-juice sweetened, carob chip cookies hoping to woo her community into agreement.

Continue reading "Chapter 2. Tulip Lane Co-Housing Community" »

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Dan Canavan sat in a room full of Democratic House staffers searching for the words to convince the skeptical group that their member of Congress should take a vote that most considered political suicide. Why he bothered, he couldn’t say. Hope sprang eternal, and maybe, one day, the Democrats would decide to act like Democrats again, and give up the notion that if they just acted more like Republicans they could regain the majority.

Continue reading "Chapter 1: Hill Life" »

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