North Carolina Boundary Lines Drawn on an Oak Desk

to Ralph Hise. He sat behind his large desk, twirling a heavy brass pen between his knuckles. The room smelled of fresh paint and expensive carpet, a sharp contrast to my basement archive.

“I noticed a gap in our vault registration log from October eleventh, Senator,” I said, setting the charts on the corner of his desk.

Ralph gave a dry, gravelly chuckle continue reading …