CHAPTER 173: Patricia

POV: Selene Castellano

Patricia Ruiz arrived at the foundation office at two PM.

“My father’s name was Gerald Hart,” she said. “He changed it to Gerald Ruiz in 1984. I’ve known my whole life.”

“What did you know about what he did?” Selene asked.

“He told me in 2001,” Patricia said. “He was sick and he thought he was dying. He wasn’t, as it turned out that he lived another eighteen years.” She looked at her hands. “He told me about the bonds. The neighborhoods. The families.” She paused. “He cried. I’d never seen my father cry before.”

“What did you do with it?” Avalon asked.

“I spent ten years trying to figure out what to do with it,” she said. “I was on the city council by then. I tried to push through funding for the affected neighbourhoods. It got blocked twice. I changed tactics, tried community development grants and got blocked again.” She looked at them. “Everything I tried got stopped by people who had interests in keeping those neighbourhoods exactly as they were.”

“Henderson,” Avalon said.

“Among others,” Patricia said. 

“And then the foundation?” Selene asked.

“And then Kevin Walsh called me,” Patricia said. “And asked if I’d serve on an oversight committee for a foundation specifically addressing displacement in those three neighborhoods.” She looked at Selene directly. “I said yes before he finished the sentence.”

“Because of your father?” Selene asked.

“Because of the families,” Patricia said. “My father is a part of it but Esperanza Reyes is more of it. Gloria, the people Kevin works with.” She paused. “I’ve been trying to fix this for twenty years. Your foundation is the first thing I’ve found that might actually work.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about your father?”  Avalon said. 

“Because I was afraid you’d remove me from the committee,” she said. “And I needed to be on that committee. Not for me but because I know what was done and I know what it costs to undo it and I know where the obstacles are.”

“You’ve been useful because of what you know,” Selene said.

“Yes,” Patricia said.

“And you withheld the reason you know it,” Selene said.

“Yes,” Patricia said. “I know how that sounds.”

“It sounds like everyone in this story,” Selene said. “Managing information they should have shared.”

Patricia looked at her.

“Yes,” she said. “I suppose it does.”

The room was quiet for a moment.

Outside the foundation’s corner office the afternoon moved through the windows the way it did when the light was being honest.

“Friday,” Selene said. “Edward Pierce is meeting Esperanza Reyes at the community center in the Mission.”

Patricia went very still.

“Is Edward Pierce still alive?” she asked.

“Yes,” Selene said.

“My father told me about him,” she said. “He said Edward was the one who designed the actual mechanism and the others followed his lead.”

“Edward has been cooperating with the federal prosecutor,” Avalon said. “Full disclosure.”

“He’s going to say it to Esperanza Reyes,” she said.

“Yes,” Selene said.

“In the Mission,” Patricia said.

“Yes,” Selene said. “I’d like you to be there.”

Patricia looked at her.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because your father was part of it,” Selene said. “And you’ve spent twenty years trying to answer that without being able to say why. Friday is the day for saying why.”

“You want me to tell them about my father?” Patricia said. 

“I want you to decide whether to,” Selene said. “That’s yours not mine.”

Patricia looked at the whiteboard.

“My father died believing it would never be acknowledged,” she said quietly. “That those families would never hear it from anyone who actually did it.”

“He was wrong,” Selene said.

Patricia looked at her.

“Yes,” she said. “He was.” She stood up. “Friday, I'll be at the community centre.”

“10 AM,” Selene said.

Patricia nodded and walked towards the door then stopped.

“The foundation,” she said without turning around. “What you’ve built. My father would have—” She stopped and started differently. “He would have been grateful, for what that’s worth.”

“It’s worth something,” Selene said.

Patricia left.

Avalon sat across from Selene in the empty office.

“You planned that,” he said.

“I asked James to schedule it Friday when Edward agreed to meet Esperanza,” she said. “Yes.”

He looked at her.

“The same day the debt is acknowledged,” he said. “The first property transfers.”

“Yes,” she said.

“That’s—” He stopped.

“What?” she asked.

“Architecture,” he said. “That’s what Nene meant. Architecture is everything.” He looked at the whiteboard. “You built the day like a building.”

“She taught me,” Selene said. “Without knowing she was teaching me.”

Her phone buzzed.

Maya.

A voice note.

She played it.

They’re letting me go home tomorrow morning. Kofi is already planning what to cook me for the next three weeks, which I’ve told him is absolutely not happening and he ignored me completely. Also Dr Okafor says my pressure is normal. Also I have thoughts about the Q4 projections that cannot wait. Call me.

Selene smiled.

She put the phone down and looked at the window.

Three days until Friday.

Everything is building toward it.

Her phone rang again.

Unknown number.

She answered.

A careful aged woman’s voice came through. 

“Ms. Castellano Pierce,” the woman said. “My name is Esperanza Reyes. Kevin Walsh gave me your number. I hope that’s alright.”

“Of course,” Selene said.

“Friday,” Esperanza said. “The man who is coming is Edward Pierce?”

“Yes,” Selene said.

“I want you to know something before Friday,” Esperanza said. “I’m not coming to forgive him. I want to be clear about that.”

“I understand,” Selene said.

“I’m coming because I have things to say,” Esperanza said. “Forty-five years of things and I want him to hear them.”

“Yes,” Selene said.

“And I want to see the land trust paper,” Esperanza said. “The one that says a family gets to stay. I want to hold it in my hand.”

“It’ll be there,” Selene said.

A long pause.

“My mother cleaned houses in the Mission for forty years,” Esperanza said. “She died in 2018. She never saw this.”

“I know,” Selene said.

“Make sure Friday is real,” Esperanza said. 

“It will be real,” Selene said.

Esperanza hung up.

Selene lowered the phone and looked at Avalon.

“She’s not coming to forgive him,” she said.

“I heard,” he said.

“Good,” she said. “He shouldn’t expect forgiveness.”

She stood up.

“Three days,” she said.

She picked up her bag.

“Take me home,” she said. “I need to rest. Elena needs me to rest and Friday needs me to be ready.”

He stood.

“Friday needs all of us to be ready,” he said.

They left the office together.