Mommy Was a Whore Ch. 10

EPILOGUE

In the summer, two and a half years after finding irrefutable evidence that Sergeant Tom was the founder of Palin, Gina Lott, heavily pregnant and wearing her ceremonial chain with the symbolic key to the city, sat alongside the Governor on the dais on The Balcony on Gina's modernized Youngerman Building (formerly known as the Gaynor Building). Tubby wearing his mayoral chain sat on the other side of the Governor with his wife. Behind them were the Governor's wife and a top aide along with Nathan holding 2-year-old Oriana and Zoë Ross of the Founders' Society.

A crowd of some two thousand citizens packed in the closed-off intersection. The Governor made a short speech and declared the Founder's Memorial to Sergeant Thomas Palin officially in place. At that moment the Amy exploded an enormous star shell above the scene and three Army buglers played 'Taps'.

The monument was exactly what Gina wanted and in a newspaper poll the design and proposed placement had won the support of 87.8% of respondents. It was a full-size bronze of a horse and cavalryman with saber raised, the face very much like that from the old photo of Sergeant Tom. It was set on a three-stepped circle of flower gardens and had cost an enormous amount of money, the council paying half and a state grant contributing the other half.

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After the ceremony at 'Palin Intersection', the official party traveled by bus to the Palin-Gina Lott Events Center a mile away to join 400 guests arriving for the official luncheon. Gina, on behalf of protesting citizens, had led the campaign she named 'Tubby's Folly' to have the Events Center located at the vacated railways freight yards instead of being pushed across the river into city's second largest industrial area that included a huge meat plant. Securing the railway land and sufficient parking for 10,000 vehicles cost the city $22 million. But as Gina had argued before a commission appointed to settle the dispute between the council and a huge number of protesting citizens, the council would secure forever that prime site as public land for a valued public amenity. Before the commission delivered its decision the council advised it had changed its mind and would proceed with the railways yards proposal. At that many citizens began cheerfully calling the mayor Tubby. He found he liked that and forgave Gina for opposing him head-on and temporarily giving him a bad name.

Gina was now a minor celebrity, known beyond the state for matching up her city with its founder, being profiled in leading national magazines and in the year after solving the founder riddle, was named in fourth position in the country's most influential 'Woman of the Year' declaration.

She had failures of course and other triumphs, the most memorable being captured in the photo of an estimated 400 women, standing in candlelight vigil outside Palin Hospital when Gina had been rushed in for a premature birth. That newsworthy photo circulated far beyond the state, being a most unusual outreach of support. Gina had joined the public campaign a year earlier to have birthing facilities and staffing ratios at the hospital improved. She opted to lead the march though the city to the hospital after city authorities refused to issued a permit for the march because it was scheduled for a Friday, peak day for traffic flows. Campaign organizers pulled out of leading the march, leaving the potential protest in disarray, Gina volunteered to head the parade and be arrested, if that's what it took. The police backed off under instructions when Gina appeared at the head of the parade wearing her Freedom of the City ceremonial chain.

The media had been advise of the threat of arrests and had gathered around Gina licking their lips at the potential for a good story. When there was no arrest the media used the theme, 'Heroine of the City Forces Police Back-down'. The march reached the hospital where the chief administrator invited Gina inside, accompanied by two other marchers of her choice, to begin negotiations. In typical flamboyant style Miss Lott arrived for the talks flanked by a Catholic nursing sister in habit and the mayor's very pregnant baby sister -- another great photo and filming opportunity for the media.

So when Gina slipped on a patch of water in Palin Mall and felt her baby was coming, three weeks early, she was rushed to the hospital. Women began networking when hearing a radio news item about the mishap. Women contacted were requested to bring candles and began gathering outside the hospital late afternoon. As women left after an hour or so more women arrived to replace then. The crowd roared approval when it was announced Gina had refused a C-section. Just before 9:30 it was announced little Oriana had arrived and mother and baby were doing well. A big photo of Oriana in Gina's arms appeared on the front page of the Post next morning along with the very impressive photo of the candlelight vigil.

Flowers piled up outside Gina's room and along the corridor and outside into a main corridor and bags of congratulatory mail began arriving at the hospital simply marked, Gina and Oriana. Asked by a top female TV network journalist flown in for an exclusive beside interview why did she think she was such a celebrity Gina said, "It completely puzzles my husband Nathan. I think its partly because I try to look glamorous and wear glamorous clothes -- except here in hospital -- and I don't get pushed around by men and I say to men things more polite women wished they could say publicly to men. But above all I think it's I'm seen to care when working under public spotlight and I emote directly to people when I speak to them. Women particularly like seeing that. I lived for ten years in Italy Deborah and by god the Italians know how to emote."

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When Gina rose to speak at the Sergeant Palin Monument Unveiling Luncheon, she grasped her lower abdomen and sat back on her chair.

"Call an ambulance," someone shouted and Nathan rushed to her side. At Gina's request the microphone on the speaker's rostrum was handed to her.

"I apologize everyone. My husband Nathan has always said I am a flamboyant person so it's only to be expected I should do something flamboyant here. We were married quietly almost three years ago with only twenty-four people present so I don't regard that as being flamboyant and what's happened here is a product of my marriage: my water just broke so another early delivery can be expected. Please excuse me for sitting. This has been a dream day for me, and I like to thank, on behalf of Sergeant Tom, my core of strong supporters who stood alongside me to get Sergeant Tom elevated to his rightful place in this city's history."

Gina brushed aside officials who attempted to take the microphone from her.

"I'd like to thank everyone and I mean everyone who did their bit on this campaign, even if it was just buying a campaign button for two bucks. I thought we might buy a plaque with that money the buttons raised but under-estimated the response. Our magnificent buttons team sold 38,700 buttons -- the demand almost exceeded the population of this city and also came from our environs. That money not only paid for the plaque but it also paid for the concrete base with three flower gardens in tiers on which our gallant founder is now immortalized. It paid for the watering system and paid for two surveillance cameras to watch over Sergeant Tom 24/7 to detect anything stupid behavior around him and the monument is also fitted with silent alarm sensors. I'm so proud of the supporters of the Sergeant Tom campaign and what has been achieved. It's a magnificent statue and I believe I'll shed a wee tear whenever I look at it, not for Sergeant Tom being spurned by this city for so long -- that's all behind us now -- and not because he's not here for the unveiling."

Gina stopped to wipe her eyes.

"Well as far as I know he's not here (that raised a huge laugh from the audience). No, I'll shed a tear or two remembering he died a pauper's death. Tom later in life worked for my great-great-great-grandfather Silas and when he retired continued living with Silas and that was very generous of Silas. But I regret Silas didn't spend to buy a marked grave for Tom's final resting place. Ah well, this city has now made up for that oversight. Perhaps Silas had run into hard times in that year of 1909. The generosity of contributors means that when we see that monument and think what it represents, the spirit of Sergeant Tom Palin and his small bunch of original settlers lives on. It almost makes me cry thinking about that. When I have this little bundle of joy safely in my arms I have another job to do. Your far-sighted council has asked me to head the team to investigate providing a new City Hall. I was surprised I did not have to promise not to recommend it be sited next to the meat plant across the river. Thank you Governor Richards for officiating here today. You and your delegation being here is the icing on the cake for me. Thank you too the good people of Palin City."

Everyone in the hall including the Governor rose to acclaim Gina with rousing applause.

She was taken away during the mayor's speech. He stopped to say, "Good luck Gina. May it be twins!"

Next morning the Post carried a big photo of Gina with sweet looking Rocco. 'My son cries and looks very pretty. Women will love him," Gina was reported as saying.

From 11:00 that morning vans began arriving with flowers and late afternoon the first mailbag address to 'Gina and Rocco' was delivered. The previous night, maternity staff, almost all female, had been given cigars by a very proud father.

The executive of the Palin Founders' Society met to choose from a catalogue a baby bath for Rocco that sat low enough for Oriana to help bath her baby brother. The junior vice-president said, "Zoë, some of us would like you to step aside to allow senior vice-president Gina became our president. We have nothing against you, it's just..."

"Be my guest Daisy. Go to her with a deputation and I really do wish you luck. She has spurned twice-yearly representations from me to accept the presidency and declines always with the same words, 'You were a great inspiration to me Zoë in the Sergeant Tom campaign. As far as I'm concerned you have that chair until they carry your out in a box'. But please do ask her. I believe she enjoys declining and making that little speech."

Just before dawn, only hours after the birth of Rocco, Salty arrived to pick up Gina accompanied by a nurse. He drove them slowly along Central Avenue and they watched as the rising sun came in directly over River Road and slowly lit in a golden glow the charging cavalryman.

"Oh this is marvelous Salty. Thank you for thinking of this. Ohmigod, what's that around the monument?"

"Wreaths and bouquets Gina," Salty sniffed. "Hundreds of them. People lined up to place them yesterday all afternoon and into the night. I think the people rather like their new statute and are sorry it's taken so long to get it."

The young nurse held Gina in her arms. They both sobbed.]

THE END