𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 ℂ𝕒𝕟'𝕥 𝕋𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝔸𝕨𝕒𝕪 •𝕁𝔽𝕂•

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 23 - ᴄɪᴠɪʟ ʀɪɢʜᴛꜱ

(Two Months Later)

I stood by a corner, behind a pillar, at the White House School on the third floor. Caroline was finally making friends, and so was John, I thought to myself when I saw them sitting together in a group of four black children, all of them being Mr. Gaines' grandchildren . I smiled at the innocence of these children, they didn't judge and neither did they know what the meaning of segregation was. Here they were sharing their crayons, playing with each other. Momentarily, someone from the White House press would come up here with their camera and click their pictures, which would be leaked to the magazine's the very next day and be published.

"Come on, darlings, time to go have lunch." I clapped my hands and the teacher smiled and nodded in my direction. Caroline and John stood up, their tiny feet flapping in my direction. I lowered myself on my toes, now face level with Caroline. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your new friends? I'd like to say hi."

Caroline ran up to the four boys and she whispered something into their ears and their eyes lit up. Although they seemed really shy, they still followed Caroline until they were all standing surrounding me. The corners of my lips curved into a sweet smile and I cleared my throat.

"Hello there, and what are your names?"

The one who was the tallest, confidently stepped forward, staring at me through his wide eyes.

"Wheeler, and that's Milo, Wallace and Michelangelo," he pointed towards his brothers. 

"Ah, I see. Those are some lovely names right there. Now, I see four little boys with their hungry tummies waiting to have lunch. Now who wants to have lunch right now?" I said, in a tone.

"He be eatin all the time," one of the boys pointed towards his brothers and they started to have a verbal quarrel.

"Come on, kids, enough with the fighting, lunch is getting cold." I grinned and took John's hand and started walking towards the staircase, with Caroline and her newest friends following her.

An hour later, their plates were almost empty when John Kennedy walked into the dining room whilst rolling his sleeves . He stopped when he reached the dining table , a pleasant surprise look on his face when he saw his butler's grandsons having lunch.

"Oh, we have visitors I see." Jack smiled and sat down on a chair at the farther end of the dining table. He really hated being served by someone and made it a point to ensure that when the First Family was having a meal, all the household helps left the dining room area, something I loved about him. I watched as he served himself some broccoli and asparagus salad while he made small talk with those children.

By the time Jack had finished eating, the kids had all left to play in their rooms. It was just him and I left. I could see that he was worried about something, the wrinkles on his forehead and the corner of his eyes were looking more prominent.

"What's wrong, Mr. President?" I wrapped my arms around his neck from behind him and a faint sigh escaped his lips.

"It's today, Joanna."

"Is it? Oh I completely forgot. " I placed my palm on my lips in surprise and my mouth was almost open. Today was the final hearing of the civil rights bill.

He sighed and his shoulders slumped like that of a defeated man. He then looked up and I sat down on the chair nearest to him. His eyes had a fire to them. "If I fail, if we fail, all the efforts we have put in will be for nothing. That bill needs to be passed, Joanna. If it doesn't, then we are fucked. We are riding on it. If we fail, we need to be prepared to pack up and lose to the Republicans."

I lifted my hand and placed it on his hand that was resting on the table and smiled.

"Jack, I remember sitting at my Dallas apartment, watching your speech on civil rights , live from the White House. I kept listening, until that one second when I removed my eyes and my ears from the TV set and realized that I had tears in my eyes and goosebumps on my body. That was the effect you had on Americans, us, the ones with a moral, I remember Jack, I was one of the only whites standing that day in the crowd, listening to Martin Luther King. That day was crazy Jack, it was crazy. So many emotions, so many tears. I had a dream.." I bit my lip and sat back more comfortably, squeezing his palm. "You know what I had in my mind? If only there was somebody who could turn his dream into a reality. That person is you, Jack. Only you could have and can turn that distant dream into a reality."