Page 128 of Ella Gets the D
“Turn on the TV!” she shouts through the other end, ringing my eardrums. I wince and check the time: 5:42. Why does this woman sound like a human dog whistle?
It doesn’t take long for dread to resettle in my stomach. The threat from Charles’s father. The promise to paint me as a cheater in the media.
“Did you turn it on?”
“I don’t—there’s no TV up here.”
The call ends.
Is it a photo of me and Julian? A video of us together? A blog is bad enough, but thenews?
The phone rings again, on video call this time.
“Morgan, I’m not—”
“Shh! Look.”
She turns the camera to face the television over the small fireplace she added in her bedroom after watching a Hallmark movie. My screen fills with a morning news show that people with too much energy before six watch. I cover my mouth to hold back the bile threatening to erupt at whatever media spin is about to play out. A red “Breaking News” box appears to the right of the anchor.
My stomach lurches again. He really did it.
I need a miracle, Jesus…
“I can’t watch,” I say from the little black void that’s my side of the video call. A void I’d very much like to make my permanent residence if the mortgage is affordable.
“Look.”
The volume increases as a primped woman in a royal blue blazer speaks to whoever else is up at this ungodly hour with practiced diction and hints of etiquette classes. I’m mid-yawn when I catch “Hudson” and move the phone closer to my face.
Katharine Hudson files for divorce from her longtime husband, Charles Hudson Sr., Chairman of the Mt. Corbel Health System Board of Trustees. The couple, married over forty years, have been a prominent fixture in the Falls Church community. Katharine Hudson, who now prefers her maiden name, Katharine Bennett, filed court documents alleging her husband has a second family he kept secret for the length of their union. Bennett released the following statement through her attorney:
“After much consideration, I have chosen to end my marriage and move forward with my life. It is a new day and a new chapter.”
The attorney representing Mr. Hudson declined to comment.
We will follow this story closely as it develops.
Morgan and I sit in silence as the news program switches to a segment about last-minute spring-cleaning tips.
“Did you have any idea?”
“No.” My fingertips graze the silk head wrap covering my forehead. “I haven’t seen her recently.”
The camera flips to my friend, who’s fully dressed and looking radiant without an ounce of makeup. I have crust in my eyes and around my mouth, but Ms. Tika Sumpter over here is ready for her close-up. How is this fair?
I check my phone again. No new messages. The last one came from Julian yesterday.
Julian
Thinking of you, sweetheart. Do your stretches before I come back. Wouldn’t want you to pull another muscle.
My snort is groggy with sleep. I don’t know when I’ll squeeze in a yoga class before the man bends me in two whenever he gets home.
Morgan pulls me out of my nasty thoughts about her brother. “Anything Charles tries with those photos won’t touch this story. His parents are practically town royalty. They’ll string out a timeline to piece together the other family forat leasttwo weeks’ worth of coverage.”
“Handed on a silver platter.”
I never told Katharine about her son’s blackmail attempts or Asher. The second is no secret, based on the broadcast, but does she know about the first?
