The Sky is Falling

Gary Winthrop was America’s Prince Charming. A member of one of the country’s most prominent families, he was young, handsome, charismatic.

‘He doesn’t like personal publicity,’ Cromwell said. ‘How did you get him to agree?’

‘We have a common hobby,’ Dana told him.

Cromwell’s brows furled. ‘Really?’

‘Yes.’ Dana smiled. ‘I like to look at Monets and van Goghs, and he likes to buy them. Seriously, I’ve interviewed him before, and we’ve become friendly. We’ll run a tape of his news conference, which we’ll cover this afternoon. My interview will be a follow-up.’

‘Wonderful.’ Cromwell beamed.

They spent the next hour talking about the new show the network was planning, Crime Line, an investigative hour that Dana was going to produce and anchor. The objective was twofold: to correct injustices that had been done and to spur interest in solving forgotten crimes.

‘There are a lot of other reality shows on the air,’ Matt warned, ’so we’ve got to be better than they are. I want us to start out with a grabber. Something that will capture the audience’s attention and –’

The intercom buzzed. Matt Baker flicked down a key. ‘I told you, no calls. Why –?’

Abbe’s voice came over the intercom. ‘I’m sorry. It’s for Miss Evans. It’s Kemal’s school calling. It sounds urgent.’

Matt Baker looked at Dana. ‘First line.’

Dana picked up the phone, her heart pounding. ‘Hello … Is Kemal all right?’ She listened a moment. ‘I see … I see … Yes, I’ll be right there.’ She replaced the receiver.

‘What’s wrong?’ Matt asked.

Dana said, ‘They’d like me to come to the school to pick Kemal up.’

Elliot Cromwell frowned. ‘That’s the boy you brought back from Sarajevo.’

‘Yes.’

‘That was quite a story.’

‘Yes,’ Dana said reluctantly.

‘Didn’t you find him living in some vacant lot?’

‘That’s right,’ Dana said.

‘He had some disease or something?’

‘No,’ she said firmly, disliking even to talk about those days. ‘Kemal lost an arm. It was blown off by a bomb.’

‘And you adopted him?’

‘Not officially yet, Elliot. I’m going to. For now, I’m his guardian.’

‘Well, go get him. We’ll discuss Crime Line later.’

When Dana arrived at the Theodore Roosevelt Middle School, she went directly to the assistant principal’s office. The assistant principal, Vera Kostoff, a harassed-looking, prematurely gray-haired woman in her fifties, was at her desk. Kemal was seated across from her. He was twelve years old, small for his age, thin and sallow, with tousled blond hair and a stubborn chin. Where his right arm should have been was an empty sleeve. His slight body seemed dwarfed by the room.

When Dana walked in, the atmosphere in the office was grim.

‘Hello, Mrs Kostoff,’ Dana said brightly. ‘Kemal.’

Kemal was staring at his shoes.

‘I understand there’s a problem?’ Dana continued.

‘Yes, there certainly is, Miss Evans.’ She handed Dana a sheet of paper.

Dana stared at it, puzzled. It read: Vodja, pizda, zbosti, fukati, nezakonski otrok, umreti, tepec. She looked up. ‘I – I don’t understand. These are Serbian words, aren’t they?’

Mrs Kostoff said tightly, ‘Indeed they are. It’s Kemal’s misfortune that I happen to be Serbian. These are words that Kemal has been using in school.’ Her face was flushed. ’Serbian truck drivers don’t talk like that, Miss Evans, and I won’t have such language coming from the mouth of this young boy. Kemal called me a pizda.’

Dana said, ‘A pi –?’

‘I realize that Kemal is new to our country, and I’ve tried to make allowances, but his – his behavior is reprehensible. He’s constantly getting into fights, and when I reprimanded him this morning, he – he insulted me. That was too much.’

Dana said tactfully, ‘I’m sure you know how difficult it must be for him, Mrs Kostoff, and –’

‘As I told you before, I’m making allowances, but he’s trying my patience.’

‘I understand.’ Dana looked over at Kemal. He was still staring down, his face sullen.

‘I do hope this will be the last incident,’ Mrs Kostoff said.

‘So do I.’ Dana rose.

‘I have Kemal’s report card for you.’ Mrs Kostoff opened a drawer, took out a card, and handed it to Dana.

‘Thank you,’ Dana said.

On the way home, Kemal was silent.

‘What am I going to do with you?’ Dana asked. ‘Why are you always getting into fights, and why do you use words like that?’

‘I didn’t know she spoke Serbian.’

When they reached Dana’s apartment, she said, ‘I’m going to have to go back to the studio, Kemal. Will you be all right here alone?’

‘Word.’

The first time Kemal had said that to her, Dana had thought he had not understood her, but she quickly learned that it was part of the arcane idiom spoken by the young. ‘Word’ meant ‘yes.’ ‘Phat’ described members of the opposite sex: pretty hot and tempting. Everything was cool or sweet or tight or rad. If there was something they didn’t like, it sucked.

Dana took out the report card that Mrs Kostoff had given her. As she studied it, her lips tightened. History, D. English, D. Science, D. Social Studies, F. Math, A.

Looking at the card, Dana thought, Oh, Lord, what am I going to do? ‘We’ll discuss this another time, she said. ‘I’m late.’