earn a living. They’re probably just obeying orders and giving their editors what they want. But what I’ve been seeing here is that they’ve been taking the ugliness and spreading it because they think that’s what people want to see.” She leaned toward Allison. “And you told me that’s exactly what any donor would not want to see. They’d be afraid they’d be associated with all the ugliness Dietrich brought here.”
“I’m glad you realized that I’m right.”
“No, it just made me realize that we have to change the narrative.” She grimaced. “And we need the media to do it. They can’t be the vultures, they have to be the white knights. They have to help us make everyone think about the victims and not about Dietrich and the drugs. The heroes and not the horror.”
“Victims. You mean Elaine and Mr. Kim?”
“Yes, but we’ve got to make everyone know that all those children are also the victims. We’ve got to show them in the classrooms, tell their individual stories, tell the story of Woodward through the years. Show them the beauty and the peace that Dietrich tried to steal.” She was frowning, trying to see farther down the road. “Make people want to swoop down and rescue them. But we’d have to keep the school in the forefront of media attention until that way of thinking became ingrained whenever the name was mentioned. Sort of like St. Jude Hospital or Shriners…Guest lecturers, celebrities coming to visit—Jessie has lots of Hollywood contacts because of her stunt work. And I could increase my lectures to once a week and so would Olivia.”
“No billionaires?” Lynch asked.
“Of course.” She grinned at him. “But we’d have to spend time to find just the right billionaire. We don’t want anyone who hits and runs.”
“I remember you said steady.”
“You’re mad,” Allison said flatly. “Nice pipe dream, Kendra.”
“And one you’d like to share. One you can share.” She leaned her hands on the desk and leaned forward to meet her eyes. “You love this place. It’s home to you. It was home to me, too. We can make this happen. It will be difficult as hell and there will be times when I’ll scream at you and ask why you ever let me do it.”
“I’d like to be there to see that,” Lynch said.
“Be quiet or I’ll make you volunteer to give lectures on how to bring down a crime family. That should bring in a crowd.”
Allison was silent. “Persuade the media black is white? That would be a king-size headache. How would you do it?”
“Start at the top and hope the rest will follow. Give them a chance to tell a story that will make them feel good about themselves as well as the kids.” She paused. “But we have to strike fast while the world is paying attention. I thought I’d call 60 Minutes and see if they’d like to interview me here on the grounds. They’ve asked me for interviews twice before. But you’d have to get the children and teachers back in class right away. I want the story to be about them, not me. Do you think you could persuade their parents to do it?”
“Perhaps.” She thought about it. “Yes.”
“Then do it,” she said softly. “Don’t let all that love and care and hope vanish because Dietrich thought all the world should be dirty like him and tried to make it that way.”
“I’m a realist, Kendra. It’s been a long time since I believed in fairy tales. This idea is doomed to failure.”
“Do it.”
Allison looked at her for a moment and shook her head. Then she suddenly straightened in her chair. “What the hell? You get that interview with 60 Minutes and I’ll do my part. But you’d better not make me go down with this sinking ship, Kendra.”
“I won’t. ’Cause that would mean all those kids would go down, too. We’ve just got to keep the faith.” She whirled away from her. “You start making your calls in here and I’ll go to the library and try to contact 60 Minutes.” She motioned to Lynch to follow her. “It may take a while for me to get through to them.” She made a face. “And convince them they still want me.”
“They’ll still want you.” Lynch watched her sit down at a library table and reach for her phone. “Who wouldn’t want you? You’re incredible.”
“No, I’m scared to death. I thought up to the last minute that Allison would kick me out of her