the proverbial redheaded stepchild.
“May I quote you on all that, Councilman Sparks?” Maura Beth said.
“It would be a ‘he said, she said’ at best, I’m afraid. You’ll be gravely disappointed if you try to rally the public, because it’s my belief that almost nobody out there really gives a damn about the library. It’s my job as a politician to read the tea leaves on all the issues, and I don’t think I’m wrong about this one.”
Maura Beth shot him a skeptical glance and decided to stay on the attack as long as she could. “I’m curious. Why don’t you just close down the library right now? Why wait until you approve the new budget?”
After a particularly patronizing grin and an overly dramatic pause, Councilman Sparks said, “Because we wouldn’t want to be accused of not giving you one last chance to turn it all around. Even though we’re all supremely confident that you won’t be able to, of course.”
“Well, I have to admit you’ve done absolutely nothing to help me up to this point.”
“And how’s that? I don’t profess to know anything about running a library, except the cost efficiency.”
Maura Beth allowed herself to roll her eyes as she exhaled. “I’m referring to the fact that this Council has consistently refused my requests to fund a couple of computer terminals so the patrons can come in and access the Internet. That would have bolstered library use considerably over the past several years. It’s what knowledgeable patrons all over the country have come to expect. But I guess that didn’t suit your long-range agenda.”
“There, I have to put my foot down,” he said, making a fist of his right hand and pounding it twice on the table like a gavel. “The public can buy their own computers. Everybody I know has one—not to mention all the other electronic gadgets people use now to keep in touch no matter where they are.” He cut his eyes first at Chunky, then at Gopher Joe.
“Matter of fact, that reminds me of a joke going around. Stop me if you’ve heard it. Seems this fella walks into a doctor’s office complaining of a peculiar growth on his ear, and now he’s constantly hearing bells and loud voices. He’s been really worried about it for a while and finally decides to get a medical opinion. ‘Do ya think it might be a tumor, or am I going crazy, Doc?’ the man says. Whereupon the doc flicks on his flashlight, squints real hard looking around, and finally answers, ‘Nope, you’re fine. It’s just your cell phone.’ ”
The guffawing from Chunky and Gopher Joe was devastating for Maura Beth. She felt as if they were laughing at her and the joke was their cover. When it had all finally died down, she found herself staring at their wrinkled, solemn faces and wondering if these lackeys had ever in their lives read anything that had not been required for their high-school book reports light-years ago. In fact, she had strong anecdotal evidence to that effect when at a previous meeting, Chunky had rambled on about “all those snooty books in the library like ‘Silence’ Marner that nobody likes to read.” Even so, she knew she was up against it big-time, and that it would do her no good to continue to aggravate this powerful, privileged trio.
“Very funny joke. But I still have about five months to turn things around,” she managed, quickly recovering from her unpleasant mental review. “And if I do so, you’ll continue the library’s funding?”
Councilman Sparks took his time, casting his eyes toward the whirring ceiling fan as he considered. “I wish I could give you a guarantee, Miz Mayhew. But if you do nothing to change the status quo, The Cherico Library is history. We can’t justify the expense any longer. If you should impress us enough, maybe we’ll be willing to work something out. Just remember, though—you’ll need more than Miss Voncille beating the drum on your behalf. The fact is, there’s no millage specifically dedicated to the library, and we think the time has come to stop pretending that we’re getting good value for our money in this particular line item of the budget.”
Meager as that peace offering was, it was still a vestige of hope from the powers-that-be. Maura Beth caught herself smirking faintly as the session came to an end and she rose from her seat without fanfare. “Please, gentlemen,” she told them, nodding in their general direction. “By all