Chapter 11: Put My Toe into the Political Pond

Friday February 19

“Hola, Lily,” I said, as I plopped down in the seat next to her.

“Hola jefe, es un placer verte.” (Hey boss, it is a pleasure to see you.)

“¿Por qué ... uhm... tan formal?“ (Why ... uhm ... so formal?)

“Hoy tenemos un examen,” Lily answered. (We have a quiz today.)

“¡Hijo de puta!“

Lily giggled. She’d been teaching me to cuss in Spanish.

“David!” Ms. Cruz reprimanded.

“Uh... Lo siento,” I said, embarrassed I was caught. (Sorry)

I found that, with Lily’s help, I was picking up Spanish quickly. I’d learned some from Rosy, the James’ cook, but between having to speak it in class and Lily tutoring me, things were coming along. I attribute a lot of it to my acting and having to learn lines. A lot of what I spouted off was just memorized. I could still say most of the Japanese lines from my sunglasses commercial, and I had no idea what I was saying for that. Lily made me think about it and actually know what the words meant. I would get frustrated because I tended to have a lot of ‘uhms’ thrown in as I thought about what to say.

At lunch, a theater girl and Halle approached me.

“They say you agreed to be the lead in the play if I was going to do it as well,” Halle said, as she fixed me with a stare.

“Hang on. I never said I’d do the lead. I just said I’d help out,” I complained.

“They’ve decided to do Our Town and want you to read for the part of George Gibbs. I’ll try out for part of Emily Web, your love interest,” Halle said.

The theater girl thrust a script into my hands.

“Tryouts are Monday after school,” she said, and then scampered away.

“Why do I think we just got roped into doing more than we planned?” I asked Halle.

“It’ll be fun.”

Halle put her hand on my arm. I just shook my head. If she wanted to do it, I’d go along. I’d already said I would help out, so I’d keep my word.

Brook and I were let off school early so we could drive to Northern Illinois University for the campaign rally for Governor Higgins and Senator Dixon. I took her home with me so we could drive my new car. Mom was home, and she had an envelope for me. It was my SAT scores. I opened it up and read it. I shook my head and frowned.

“What did you get?” Brook asked.

“I got a 720. Crap, I thought the best I could get was 2400 when I added the essay section. I didn’t even get half. I might have to go to State or even junior college,” I complained.

With the new NCAA guidelines, I might have an issue because of this score. I would have to really knuckle down and study so I could take it again.

“Let me see,” Mom said, and took it from me.

She read it and then gave me a disgusted look. Way to pile on, Mom!

“‘Stupid boy,’ that’s your Critical Reading score. You received a 695 in Math and 715 for your Writing section. Your total score is 2130 out of 2400. I guess the reading section score was wrong,” Mom said.

Brook had her phone out doing searches to see how good that was. She made a face.

“Ooo, it looks like you could barely qualify for Harvard. Their minimum is 2100,” she shared, and then checked out some other information. “It says if you’re above 1900 you’re in the 90th percentile. I guess you did okay.”

I let out my breath with relief. I could stop worrying about my score now. Mom said she’d send it to Kendal so she could forward it to whoever wanted to see it for football recruiting.

Peggy had agreed to swap cars with me for the weekend. She admitted that the Jeep was easier to park than the Ford SUV. We then made the trek to Brook’s house so we could pick up Ian and Ava, Brook’s parents.

Ian came out of the house pulling two roller bags and a garment bag. Brook had to go in and get hers. I jumped out to help him load his and Ava’s luggage.

“What kind of car is this?”

“It’s a Ford Hennessey VelociRaptor SUV. I wanted something large enough to carry a big group.”

“I’ve never heard of it before,” Ian said.

“They’ve been in production only a few years, and only a little over 400 have been built. I was lucky that Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan found a used one, or I wouldn’t have gotten it. They retail just north of a hundred and sixty thousand when new.”

Brook and Ava came out with a cooler filled with drinks and snacks, along with Brook’s roller and garment bags. Even with all the luggage, there was plenty of room in the storage area in the back. This vehicle was big. My Jeep would have never worked.

“What did you get?” I asked Brook.

“I’m not telling.”

I just raised my eyebrows. Her parents gave her a look, but I kept my mouth shut. I had to remember her parents were around all weekend, and I’d be pissed if she outed me about my scores to my parents.

Ian was my designated copilot as we found our way to the highway. The Ford had a built-in navigation system, but Ian said he knew where we were going. He was excited about helping out with the campaign. He explained that he was working on a few local campaigns with his college classes, so he hadn’t had time to get involved in anything bigger.

“You did a good job at the zoning meeting. Your grandmother told me that was your first political event, so to speak. She and I agreed you swayed the vote in favor of the homeless shelter,” Ian said.

“I didn’t really feel prepared for it, though. I think I could’ve done better,” I said.

“What do you think you missed?”

I thought about it for a moment.

“Two things come to mind. I should have prepared talking points to make sure I covered everything that needed to be said. I also didn’t take the time to go around the room and meet everyone. If I had, I might have gotten a better idea of what the key issues were for the local homeowners,” I admitted.

“Why, so you could counteract their arguments?”

“No, no, so I could also make sure their needs were met. The only way for something like the homeless shelter to work is if the people living around it are happy. Mr. Orange and the Homeless Coalition’s worst outcome would have been to win, but have all the neighbors pissed off. In the end, they could make it very difficult for him if they were. I think he still has a long way to go to prove that he and his organization can be good neighbors,” I said.

Ian shook his head.

“I sometimes forget that good government isn’t about winning. In the last ten years, things have really polarized. No matter what the issue, it’s about winning and not what’s right for the people that are being governed. I find most of it is raising funds for the next election. Don’t ever lose your point of view, it’s refreshing,” Ian said.

I guess I was a little naïve. I know my grandfather had never wanted to move up in office because he felt he would have too many people telling him what to do. From what I’d been told, he was a real power broker and seemed to get a lot done for the people he represented.

Then Ian changed the conversation.

“I hear you and Brook want to spend spring break, diving.”

I looked in the rearview mirror to see how Brook wanted to handle it. She gave me a reassuring smile.

“Yeah. I guess we should figure something out,” I admitted.

“It’s only five weeks away,” Ava provided.

“Where do you want to go?” I asked Brook.

“Somewhere warm. Somewhere where the diving is better than a local farm pond,” Brook said.

“Do you have your passport?” Ava asked me.

“I had to get one for a photo shoot in the UK, and now I’m getting a visa because I’m filming a movie in Cuba this summer. I guess the studio is still working out some details with the State Department, and part of that was to give them a list of who all was going and confirm that they had all gotten passports.”

“Then you could go almost anywhere. You could go to Australia and experience the Great Barrier Reef. I hear some of the Pacific islands are great places to go. If you didn’t want to travel so far, you could do the Caribbean,” Ava suggested.

“Of course, we would go with you,” Ian dropped in.

Well, wasn’t that a kink in my plans to plunder his daughter for a full week. I glanced in the mirror and I could tell that was the first Brook had heard of these plans. I decided to be evil and see how committed they were.

“I could see if my parents wanted to go also; or if you wanted to, you could do your own thing and they could come with us.”

I knew my parents would allow some frolicking.

“That’s a great idea. I’d like to get to know your parents better,” Ava said as she got her cell out and called my mom.

Who knew she had Mom on speed dial? I suspected my mom had been talking to more than Ava. I knew Mom talked to Rita, Halle’s mom, and there had been some comments that made me suspect that she talked to Ruth Pearson, Zoe’s mom. Brook leaned forward and smacked me in the back of the head. I guess I deserved that.

Northern Illinois University is home to twenty-two thousand students and was located in DeKalb, 65 miles from Chicago. It was a smaller city with about forty-three thousand full-time residents. They scheduled the rally at the Convocation Center, a 10,000-seat multipurpose arena.

Ian directed me to the parking area. Max, a member of the governor’s campaign staff, met us. He and Ian had talked on the phone.

“Max, this is my wife Ava and daughter Brook,” Ian said as introduction, and then turned to me. “This is David Dawson, Davey Dawson’s grandson.”

“Did you bring photos to hand out?” Max asked.

Caryn had me bring several big boxes of Stryker photos and a handful of Sharpies.

“They’re in the car. Do you need us to bring them in?” I asked.

“I’ll send someone out to get them. I guess we should get inside so I can walk you through everything,” Max said, and he walked into the arena.

They took us to one of the entrances. I saw several tables set up with a voter registration sign above them. Behind them was a big eight-foot poster of my character, Stryker, with a table in front of it. Next to that was a poster of Birthrite and a similar setup.

“We plan to run everyone through these doors. What I’d like to have you guys do is help with voter registration. If someone signs up or can produce a voter registration card, they can meet either the band or David. Brook, can you help David at his booth tonight?” Max asked.

“Sure. I can keep him in line,” Brook said.

“Great,” Max said, and then turned to me. “We’ll have the band go on stage half an hour before the senator and governor go on. The governor has asked if you wouldn’t mind playing MC, introduce the band, and then once they’re done playing, introduce all the guests. I’ll get you the information so you can do that.”

“I can handle that,” I said. “I need to change. Where can I do that? Also, we haven’t eaten yet. Is there somewhere we can get some food?”

“We’re using the locker rooms as a Green Room and changing area. Let’s get you fed first and then you can get changed. Could I have your keys so we can get the photos and any luggage you might need?” Max asked.

“I’ll just go out with them and help,” I suggested.

Fritz had someone install both dash cams and internal cameras in the SUV, so I wasn’t worried about anyone stealing anything; but I didn’t need to tempt fate, either. Ava might have some jewelry with her, after all. I walked out with a couple of the volunteers and had them grab a couple of boxes of photos. I grabbed my garment bag and a pair of dress shoes. Dakora had stepped up and paid for me to wear their clothes this weekend. Tyler seemed to figure out how to make everyone a little cash for things like this.

I found the Davis family stuffing their faces.

“You need to get to the buffet. This food is fantastic,” Brook said.

She was right. I think the governor must have some serious funds for his campaign, if the buffet was any indication. There was a full salad bar; beef, pork, turkey and shrimp; a pasta bar; and ice cream sundaes. I attacked the salad bar and loaded up on peel ‘n’ eat shrimp. While I was eating, I saw Hana, Riley, Amy and Jett show up with Angel.

“I see you found the food,” Jett teased.

“Get some, it’s not bad,” I said as I hugged all the girls.

Brook had finished eating and appeared by my side.

“I want you to meet my friend Brook,” I said.

“As in girlfriend?” Hana, the one with black hair, asked.

“No. We’re just good friends,” Brook said. “Which one of you is Jett?”

I’d never told Brook about Jett and me spending some time together. The only person that might have known was Halle, and even then, she would have had to have either Fritz or Trip tell her. My money was on Trip. When she figured out who she was, Brook took her off for some girl-talk.

I pointed out Max to Angel so she could get the band’s equipment set up. I showed the girls the buffet as I went back for ice cream.

I smiled when I saw Ms. Dixon come in. She was here to support her dad. She came over and took my ice cream from me.

“Hey,” I complained.

“Don’t be a baby. Remember that you might need me to like you at some point,” she teased.

It was nice to see her in normal mode as opposed to scary-lawyer mode. I went and made another sundae for myself.

“Why are you here so early?” I asked.

“I volunteered to help. I guess I’m making sure people know where to go.”

“You should be good at that,” I said with a straight face.

“Easy, Tiger. I could tell all the girls that you’re single and looking.”

“I am single and looking,” I said with a big smile.

“To be in high school again. Actually, let me change that. I had way more fun in college,” Ms. Dixon said.

I honestly couldn’t imagine her having fun. She was always focused on her job. Well, I guess I did remember her taking my mom shopping, but I wasn’t with her then. It was good to see her relaxed.

An hour before the band was to go on, they opened the doors. They had free hot dogs and sodas, which the college students were not going to pass up. The band and I were busy as soon as the people began to pour in. People would get me to sign a photo or three, and then I’d stand up and they’d get their picture taken with me in front of the poster. Brook was kept busy, as they wanted her to snap the shot with their phones.

The band had just as many fans, except their fans were all guys. Angel also had CDs and t-shirts for sale.

When there was a lull, Angel came over and got her picture taken with me. The next thing I knew, the girls in the band all came over to get a group shot. We did a couple, and then I pulled up Brook and all the volunteers for some photos. Then another group of college students came in and we were busy again.

Max came out and said they were ready for the band, so we went on stage. Being shy, I grabbed the mic and went to the center of the stage.

“You ready to have some fun?!” I called out.

They’d set it up so they were only using half the arena. The stage was pushed back to give people room if they wanted to be in front of the stage. I would guess there were probably close to three thousand people there. They seemed ready, by the response.

“I’m David A. Dawson, and I’ll be your host tonight. Some of you might have seen me in the movie Star Academy. If not, it’s in theaters right now,” I said with an unapologetic plug.

I was a little surprised when I got a few cheers.

“Take your shirt off, Stryker,” a girl called out.

I ignored it and went on.

“I’m sure you didn’t come out to see me. We have a special treat before our governor and Senator Dixon talk. I’ve actually had the pleasure of seeing this band perform. You might want to come down and dance a little, because they’re a lot of fun. I give you Birthrite!”

The band broke out into the Violent Femmes’ Blister in the Sun.

I went back out front to do my signing and photo job. You could hear that the girls were killing it. They were the perfect college-crowd band. The only thing missing was several kegs of beer.

The plan was for the girls to play for thirty minutes and then the politicians would talk. Word must have gotten out that the band was good, because people from all over campus started to show up. Max was ecstatic and let the girls play for an extra fifteen minutes. Governor Higgins found me finishing my job of taking pictures and handing out photos to registered voters. He wanted a picture of the two of us. I convinced him to take one with Ian, Ava and Brook. I thought Ian would have kittens, he was so happy.

We walked in as the girls were finishing up. Jett saw me and winked. The governor worked his way through the crowd and shook hands. I smiled when I saw him do what I normally did. I wondered if my granddad had taught him that.

Birthrite finished their last song.

“We had a great time, and you were a fantastic crowd,” Jett said. “Now, I want you to put your hands together for someone I think of as a friend. He’s a model and actor. Please give a warm Northern Illinois welcome to David A. Dawson!”

The band began to play Hall of Fame. I smiled because that was the same song they’d played when I was a guest on The Talk, a daytime TV show. I came out and waved at a much larger crowd. I went up to Jett and danced with her as she sang,

Yeah, do it for your people
Do it for your pride
How you ever gonna know if you never even try?

Do it for your country
Do it for your name
‘Cause there’s gonna be a day...

When you’re standing in the hall of fame
And the world’s gonna know your name
‘Cause you burn with the brightest flame
And the world’s gonna know your name
And you’ll be on the walls of the hall of fame

I got the crowd swaying. There were a lot of students down on the floor to get close to the band. I have to say that the band played a great version of the song. When Jett and the girls finished, I clapped along with everyone else, and she handed me the mic. The students indicated they wanted more. I could see Max wanted to move things along, but he’d sent me out to MC.

I leaned close to Jett so she could hear me.

“You have another song or two?” I asked.

Her smile was worth any grief I would get from Max.

“Do you want to hear them play some more?” I boomed into the mic.

The crowd made their feelings known. I saw Governor Higgins and Senator Dixon talking in the wings, watching us.

“Governor Higgins and Senator Dixon, come out here for a moment,” I called.

They both gave me a startled look, but this wasn’t their first rodeo. They both came out and waved at the happy crowd.

“What do you think? Should we let Birthrite play a couple more songs?” I asked them.

The governor grabbed the mic.

“I bet you’d rather listen to them than us. Would you agree?” he asked.

The crowd cheered, and he handed the mic to Jett. They broke out in their version of Boys (I Dated In Highschool), a quirky fun song. They then they played something a little more top-forty in Miss Movin’ On. When they were done, I went back on stage.

I thanked them and then the music cued for Senator Dixon. He was also running, but his job was to fire up the crowd. I’d been given a page of his accomplishments, which I recited from memory. Acting really had paid off. From there, I was done, because the senator would introduce Governor Higgins.

They had chairs set up behind the speakers, and Max pointed to one next to Betty, the governor’s wife. I was happy to see the Davises and Ms. Dixon were also on stage, so they got good seats to hear the senator and the governor give their fiery speeches to encourage everyone to get out and vote in the upcoming primary.

Max rounded us all up after the rally to tell us what our marching orders were.

“I have a packet for each of you with an itinerary for the rest of the weekend. We’ll be spending two nights in The Peninsula Chicago, located in the River North neighborhood. You’ll be sharing a room when we can, to save some money. We’ve arranged for you to be able to spend fifty dollars a day at the hotel. If you go over that amount, it’s your responsibility.

“Please remember that you’re representing the governor and senator, so try not to get arrested,” Max said with a smile.

“What are the plans for the next two days?” Ian asked.

“We have four events planned for tomorrow. Three will be at universities: University of Chicago, Loyola and DePaul. We plan to do a similar process to today. Meet-and-greet with voter registration first. Second, we’ll have the band play, and then the governor and senator will speak, along with a couple of other local candidates. We’ll pack up the band and everyone working the first part of the event, then go to the next college, and repeat the process.

“That evening we’ll have a fundraiser dinner, which you’re all welcome to contribute to, but it’s not required,” Max said.

“What about Sunday?” Ian followed up with.

“Sunday we’ll do an event at Northwestern. Same format as the others. We’ll try to get you out by one,” Max said.

Max looked at his notes to see what he’d missed.

“If the press approaches you, please refer them to me if it’s about the campaign. I’m sure you can handle anything else. Oh, and just valet park your cars at the hotel. We’ll have buses for everyone on Saturday. My cell number’s in the packet if you need anything.”

Max let us go at that point. I looked in my packet and saw that I had a room to myself. There was also an invitation for a private get-together tonight in the governor’s suite. I went to the locker room to get my things. I was happy to see the campaign team had taken all my boxes of photos. Brook had told me we’d handed out over 500 of them tonight.

I came out and found that Jett and the band were doing an on-camera interview with Channel 9, Chicago’s flagship station. Brook came and stood by me.

“I’m rooming with Angel. She said she’d take my parents to the hotel, because Jett wanted to ride with us. She’s pretty cool,” Brook admitted.

I had to agree, Jett was pretty cool. I watched her interview, and made some mental notes to help her get better. Angel was watching like a hawk, but had a big smile when it was done. This series of shows would be great exposure for the girls and help them sell some CDs, or book some gigs.

When they finished, we all went to find my car. Jett claimed shotgun, since she claimed to know where The Peninsula Chicago was located. She directed me to the highway and we started our trek to probably my favorite city. Granted, LA had better weather, and there was a lot to be said for New York. What I liked about Chicago was the people. I know it was stereotypical, but Midwesterners were much more polite than New Yorkers and had a better work ethic than people from LA. That didn’t mean that New Yorkers couldn’t be nice, or people from LA were a bunch of slackers. It was an in-general type of thing.

The governor’s motorcade blew past us, so I decided to join the parade of big black SUVs. Having a state trooper lead the way with his lights flashing cut our commute time considerably. I saw that Angel followed our lead with the band’s equipment van. We came to the entrance of the hotel’s parking garage and were ushered in. They had staff waiting on us to help take our bags to our rooms. I surrendered my car key and followed everyone to the lobby to get our room keys. I slipped my extra key to Brook.

I looked at the clock, and it said it was ten. I debated whether to go to the governor’s suite or not, but curiosity got the better of me. I was ushered in and saw the governor was in another room, deep in conversation with his staff and the senator. I was happy to see Jack and Bev Mass. She would be with us for all the events tomorrow and even the one Sunday. Evanston, where Northwestern was located, was in Cook County.

“Just the two people I wanted to talk to.” I turned to Jack Mass first. “I’ve thought a lot about investing in Mass Construction. I just have one concern: will the issues surrounding Bev hurt your business?”

Poor Jack about choked on his scotch. Bev just shook her head at me. I waited for him to talk. I guess he went from shocked, to unbelieving, to understanding.

“You’re serious?” he asked.

“Yes, he is, and I think he has a point. We’ve not really talked about this issue ourselves,” Bev said.

Jack looked at his wife uncomfortably, and then answered my question.

“Honestly, I doubt it. Mass Investments and Construction have been around for years, and I think we’ve built a solid reputation. I don’t do any city, county or state projects because Bev went into politics and I never wanted there to seem to be any conflict of interest. Even if we ran into some backlash, I don’t think it would be significant. Our clientele tends to think in terms of getting the best-built home, not the politics of my wife.”

“What do you think?” I asked Bev.

“I think the police shooting was a travesty and I can see why people are upset. Heck, I’m upset. What I can’t do is throw all the police under the bus because of one idiot. I expect there will be further internal investigations, and there will be training and counseling for the force,” she said.

“I understand you can’t paint everyone with the same broad brush, but that’s not how the public is reacting. You see it across the country. They’re making claims that if you’re of color, the police treat you differently than if you’re white. I get the same sort of things for being an athlete. People assume I’m a dumb jock who’s a bully. I’m certain that at times I fit that stereotype. I’m certain the police react differently based on the color of someone’s skin at times as well. I’m even certain that people react to all police with more concern after an incident like this. I’d bet the press will highlight every single incident from now on where there’s a police shooting of a person of color.

“What I want to know is if Bev being in the position she’s in is going to affect your business. I honestly don’t know how it’ll play out, but you’re asking me to invest my money. I believe you think you’ll be fine, but I’d appreciate you letting me know what my actual risks are,” I said.

Jack looked at Bev for some help.

“You bring up good points. I personally believe in my husband. I would say that there will be some backlash, but with the funds you’re offering, I think his company will be able to weather any storm that comes from it. I personally would urge you to help him. I’ve known him for almost twenty years, and he’s a man of integrity. Jack will do right by you.”

I smiled.

“That’s what I thought. Contact Caryn on Monday to get it done,” I said, and I shook Jack’s hand.

Jack offered to get us drinks. I decided to get a scotch. It left me time to talk to Bev about Brandon.

“Have you heard anything about the rape kits?” I asked.

She got a sad look.

“I received a call today. It looks like all the rapes are related to three individuals. Now that there’s a link, they’re going to reopen the cases and look at them with fresh eyes. They’ll run the DNA found through the database and hope for a match. The problem is that none of the men they suspect has ever had their DNA tested.”

“So, why don’t they just take his DNA and test it?” I asked.

“It’s not that simple. Unless they get more evidence, it’s all just circumstantial. His dad would stop any attempt to take it against his will. I know it sounds bleak, but now that the police are taking this seriously, I trust they’ll figure things out and get him and his fellow rapists in the end,” Bev predicted.

Jack came back and had Governor Higgins with him.

“David, Max was really happy with you and the band you suggested. We had about double the turnout we expected,” the governor said.

“Max owes my grandmother. She’s the one that talked me into this.”

“She sent me video of you at the Zoning Board. You’ve got your grandfather’s flair. If he had your looks, he could have run for president,” Governor Higgins predicted.

“Heck, if you had his looks, you might win this thing,” Bev teased.

He gave her a look and then smiled.

“You might be right,” he admitted.

“I saw you huddled in the other room. Anything happening?” I asked.

“My eventual opponent in the general election is a jerk. There was an incident in California today. A couple went into some offices and shot a bunch of people. It looks like a terrorist attack. He’s all up in arms that I don’t have any plans to combat terror in the state. I think if he had his way, we’d have our National Guard roaming the streets enforcing an after-dark curfew,” he complained.

“There is the cheesehead issue,” I said, which got me some curious looks. “I think we need a fence to keep them out of the state.”

“Oh dear God! I can see you as governor someday. I just hope I’m dead and buried before that happens,” Governor Higgins said.