Page 121 of Power
The interviewer shifts in his seat, clearly feeling the pressure. “You said she was safe while she was working, so, can you explain how she ended up pregnant at such a tender age?”
Peggy opens her mouth, then closes it again. “She...” she stops talking and nervously adjusts the collar of her blouse. “That’s not my story to tell, so I’m not going to. But I will say, the circumstances of her pregnancy are what we fear most.”
“She was...”
Peggy holds her hand up and shakes her head. “I’m not going into that anymore.”
The interviewer rustles some papers, reads them, then lifts his head to look at Peggy once again. “How did you lose contact with her and her child?”
A small candid smile pulls at her lips. “Reece didn’t deserve to be on the streets, she was smart and had good instincts about people. She had a lot of street-smarts too, which helped her keep her head above water. I saw an advertisement for models and actresses, so I passed it onto Reece. Reece is naturally beautiful; she always has been. So, I thought this might have been the opportunity she deserved. Because no child should have to live the way she was living.” Peggy swallows and looks down at her interlocked hands. “Obviously, that didn’t work out for her and she still did what she had to in order to survive.”
“Are you talking about prostitution?” he asks with a snide tone.
“I’m sorry, I believe she’s an escort, not a prostitute. The difference is—”
“She still has sex for money,” he abruptly cuts her off.
Peggy rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “It’s not that simple.”
“Well, yes, it is.”
She shakes her head again. Peggy runs her tongue over her teeth and takes a visibly deep breath. “Would you let your child starve?”
“That has nothing to do with this.”
“It has everything to do with it. Any parent who loves their child would walk through the gates of hell for them. You have no idea what Reece has had to go through, and clearly neither have I, considering we haven’t spoken in years. But, instead of persecuting her, why don’t you think about what she had to go through? She probably turned to being an escort because she loves her daughter so much that she’d rather sell her own body than see her daughter go without food, shelter and safety.” Peggy pulls her shoulders back. “Wouldn’t you do the same thing for your child? Because I know I would if I had a child. I’d step in front of a bullet for them,” she replies calmly.
“You seem quite hostile toward my questions.”
“I’m disappointed that in today’s day and age, you’re questioning the difficult decisions a person has had to make for her child. We live in the United States of America, where no child should ever be put in that position, yet the narrative you keep circling back to is how Reece is paid for sex. Why aren’t you asking about the people who procure these services? If there was no demand, there would be no supply.”
“Wow,” I whisper. “You should be working for me.” I stare at the screen, completely impressed by Peggy.
“Why did you agree to do this interview?” he asks in a calmer tone.
“I needed to reach out and clear up all the deceptive speculations about Reece. It certainly isn’t the money, because I declined any payment.” My own brows rise with surprise.
“Thank you for your time, Peggy.”
She smiles. “You’re welcome.”
I pick the remote up and turn off the TV. I suspect that interview wasn’t supposed to go that way, but Peggy owned it. There’s a knock on my bedroom door, and I call out for them enter. “In here,” I call when I hear the door open.
Liam strolls in, picks up the remote and aims it at the TV. “There’s an interview.”
“It’s done, I watched it. I may have missed the first few moments, but I caught the rest of it.” Liam’s jaw jumps and he shakes his head. “Are you worried about it? Because I’m not. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say I want Peggy on my team.”
“To do what?” Liam asks incredulous. “She’s not qualified to do anything for you.”
I stand and head back out to the kitchen to rummage around in the fridge. “I never took you to be such a damned snob.”
Liam sighs. “You need to get on top of this now. We can’t keep hearing from all these prostitutes about what a great person Reece is. First her mother, then Peggy.” He groans and rolls his eyes.
“You already know I’m giving my speech today, but what’s the problem with Peggy saying what she did? You know what she did? She showed the American public a serious flaw in our society. Point out what she said that wasn’t true.”
“Some of these things we can’t fix, and we need to leave it to the next guy.”
I slowly turn to look at him. “The next guy?” Here we go again.
