North Carolina Boundary Lines Drawn on an Oak Desk

sharp.

“This is an official notice of suspension,” I said, reading the first line through my reading glasses.

“With pay, for now,” Ralph said, twirling the brass pen again. “Until the full committee review on the fifteenth.”

“The map vote is on the fourteenth,” I said.

“I am aware of the calendar,” he said, and his gravelly voice softened just enough to continue reading …