Page 68 of Never
Gerry’s retirement from the law was not total. His old firm gave him a small but luxurious office on the partners’ floor, theoretically for him to use for foundation work. But he often gave advice, informally and unpaid, and it was a boost for the firm to have the president’s husband on tap. Pauline was not quite comfortable with this arrangement, but she had decided not to fight him over it.
She said: ‘Ms Judd? You didn’t tell me you were seeing her.’
‘I didn’t know. She made an appointment using her married name of Mrs Jenks.’
It still seemed odd to Pauline, but that was not the important issue. ‘Is Pippa in trouble again?’
‘Apparently she smokes marijuana.’
Pauline was incredulous. ‘In school?’
‘No. For that she would have been expelled instantly. They have a zero-tolerance policy, no exceptions. But it’s not that bad. She did it off the premises and outside school hours, that time she went to Cindy Riley’s birthday party.’
‘But I suppose Ms Judd found out somehow, and she can’t ignore the report, even though Pippa hasn’t actually broken a school rule.’
‘Exactly.’
‘Fuck. Why can’t kids go from cute child straight to responsible adult without the nasty in-between stage?’
‘Some do.’
Gerry probably had, Pauline thought. ‘What does Ms Judd want us to do?’
‘Make Pippa stop smoking weed,’ Gerry said.
‘Okay,’ Pauline said, but she was thinking: how the hell am I going to do that? I can’t even make her pick up her socks off the floor and put them in the laundry hamper.
Milt’s voice said: ‘Pardon me, I left my scarf behind.’
Pauline looked up, startled. She had not heard the door open.
Milton picked up the scarf.
Lizzie looked in and said: ‘Can I get you a cup of coffee, or anything, Mr Green?’
‘No, thanks.’
Lizzie caught sight of Milt and frowned. ‘Mr Vice-President! I did not see you come back.’ It was her job to police visitors to the Oval Office, and she was annoyed that someone had slipped in without her knowledge. ‘Is there anything I can do for you, sir?’
Pauline wondered how much Milt had heard of her conversation with Gerry. Not much, certainly. Anyway, there was nothing she could do about it.
Milt held up the purple scarf by way of explanation and said: ‘I’m sorry to have interrupted, Madam President.’ He left quickly.
Lizzie was embarrassed. ‘I’m so sorry about that, Madam President.’
‘Not your fault, Lizzie,’ said Pauline. ‘We’ll go to the Residence now. Where is Pippa?’
‘In her room, doing her homework.’ The Secret Service always knew where everybody was and they kept Lizzie informed.
Pauline and Gerry left the Oval Office together and took the winding path across the Rose Garden in the evening sunshine. At the Residence they climbed the stairs to the second floor and went to Pippa’s bedroom.
Pauline noticed that the poster of polar bears that had been over the head of her bed had been replaced by a picture of a cute boy with a guitar – probably a big star, though Pauline did not recognize the face.
Pippa was sitting cross-legged on the bed, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, with her laptop open in front of her. She looked up and said: ‘What?’
Pauline sat on a chair. ‘Ms Judd went to see your father this afternoon.’
‘What did old Judders want? To make trouble, I guess, by the looks on your faces.’
