Chapter 216

“As for me, I did the stupidest thing in my life, which is saying a lot. I attacked the Titan Lord Atlas.”
—Rick Riordan, The Titan’s Curse

“JACOB, YOU’RE CRUSHING OUR WIFE.” I moaned and pushed myself up slightly on Desi’s cushy boobs.

“Huh?”

“‘S’okay,” Desi gasped. “I liked it. It’s getting a little hard to breathe, though.” I jolted fully awake and pushed myself up off Desi. I’d been sleeping with all my weight lying on top of her.

“Oh, my God! I’m so sorry, love. I didn’t mean to put all my weight on you.”

“You needed me and I love you,” she smiled. “I’m glad I could cushion your sleep.”

“Well, get up and get dressed, both of you,” Rachel said, leaning in to kiss each of us. “We’re at that grill you told the driver to stop at for lunch because you like it so well.”

We got ourselves presentable, including a quick sponge bath in the tiny toilet. The bus was comfortable and not just a bunch of straight-facing seats, but it wasn’t designed for showers like the motorhome. Abigail was waiting in the restaurant and turned beet red when she saw Desi and me. I didn’t know why she was embarrassed. It was Desi and me putting on a show. Not really. I knew the layout of the bus enough that she couldn’t have seen the action. She might have heard a little something, though.

“So, Abigail, is your mother offering us any words of wisdom or are you only a source of distressing information,” I asked as we sat at the table.

“What do you think you should do?” she asked back. Not giving an inch.

“Well, we could cancel the rest of the tour,” I said.

“Why would you do that?”

“Lack of credibility. Enlightenment. To focus on creating some new music.”

“That’s ridiculous. The whole movement would die,” Abigail said.

“Well, what can you expect when you leave it up to a teenager to decide?” I sighed.

“Believe me, I can’t imagine,” she shot back. “Look, Jacob, there are three kinds of people in a revolution. There are those who incite it, those who jump aboard and follow, and those who lead it. This isn’t from mother, but personally, I’d like to think you’re more than the person who incites the revolution. It’s up to you to choose, though.”

“Why, Abby? Why would you want me to be a leader?”

“Because I’d like to follow you.”

I opened up my tablet interface to Amanda when we got back on the bus. I didn’t want to be giving a lot of verbal commands to her while Abby was listening. What she said, though, was true. The pro-reform movement had evolved with the development of a more expansive platform than service reform. It was time to get them together.

Once Abby was on the road to Cincinnati, I was parked in front of Amanda in the motorhome.

“Are you grilling tonight, J?” Em asked.

“Someone else will have to do the honors,” I answered. “Having the President’s daughter on the bus with us slowed down what I need to do. I have a lot of calls to make tonight.”

“What are you onto, dear heart?” she asked, sliding up to the table next to me.

“We can’t win on the single issue now. The leadership is going to try to take it away from us right before the election. I need all the reform candidates on my side in order to change the disaster that’s coming. Amanda, please print out the list of all reform candidates and their contact info.”

“Sent to the printer, Jacob,” Amanda answered. Em snatched the first page off the printer and scanned it.

“J? You aren’t ... There hasn’t been a second party since the 1950s. Isn’t the caucus enough?” Em asked. Donna, Rachel, Desi, Cindy, and Remas gathered close.

“A second party? Do you think there’s enough support?” Remas asked.

“My grandparents remembered the days of the two-party system,” Rachel said. “They said politics had changed since then.”

“They have,” I agreed. “But we need broad adoption of the Reformist platform and there’s no time to hold a convention. I need to talk to each of these candidates.”

“Jacob, there are over six hundred names on this list.”

“Good. We’ll need each and every one of them. Amanda, how are these coded?” I asked.

“Candidates with an asterisk are considered leaders who can influence others on the list. They also bear a superscript number. All other candidates have superscript numbers assigned that match one of the thought leaders,” she said.

“Okay. Send out a message to all the thought leaders requesting a conference call this evening. We’ll talk to whoever can take the call. Tomorrow, we’ll try to get the thought leaders to conference their matching numbers. I might have to join some of those calls. Please offer scheduling assistance to any who need it.”

“Affirmative, Jacob.” The little device moved aside as I turned to look at my wives.

“I’m sorry, loves. I’m going to have to put work first.”

“It looks like my birthday orgy is on hold,” Desi said. “Shadows of losing my virginity. Give me the specs on the website. I’ll call Joan and Beca.”

“Amanda, please download the website specs we worked on earlier to Desi, Joan, and Beca.”

“Affirmative.”

“Donna, Rachel, Emily, we need to pack the audience in Louisville with people who’ve already bought into our program. Preferably, people with signs and loud voices. As soon as we’re sure we have a feasible number, notify the media that there will be unusual happenings at the performance Thursday night. Remas and Cindy, go to work on our program. This will no longer be a simple concert with a brief message. We’re turning it into a political rally.”

My wives looked startled as they stared at me. I realized what I’d just done.

“I’m sorry, my loves. I just took everything over and gave you orders. How should we go about this? I was just too focused on what I thought was the right thing to do. I didn’t even ask if you were with me on it.” They looked at each other.

“We’re with you, Jacob,” Rachel said. “We aren’t even upset about you giving us assignments. It was just such a dramatic shift from your usual self ... We wondered if the old man was coming out.”

“Oh. I don’t think so,” I said. “I don’t seem to have any memories that would support thinking he’d ever done something like this. If anything, he’s shocked to silence.”

“We’ve had a clear principle since we started the performances two years ago,” Donna said. “Further back than that if you count my role as a teacher or Nanette’s as a physical therapist. There is a clearly defined professional relationship when it comes to our job roles. I’m a producer. Emily is logistics manager. Rachel is over all of us at OCS. Those jobs and how we treat each other in them are separate from our relationship as domestic partners—husband and wives. I think in this instance we need to acknowledge that Jacob is the leader of the political movement. We’ve had tacit approval of that for some time as he does the pitch during performances. Let’s make it explicit. And not let it interfere with our lives as partners.”

“I agree,” Em said. “The only thing I’m not sure of is how it affects the music partnership with Cindy, Remas, and Desi.”

“We’ve always collaborated on the program,” Cindy said. “I don’t see a change in that. We’ll create a program that supports the message.”

“Are we all agreed?” Rachel asked. Everyone nodded. “Then let’s get at our assignments. We don’t have much time.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining me on this call,” I said when Amanda connected me on the conference call with nearly two dozen people we’d identified as thought leaders. A couple were familiar voices as they spoke their overlapping greetings.

“We’ve all been benefiting from your concert tour and the messages broadcast,” Governor Adamson said. “Even those of us who aren’t on your tour route are using the music and messaging to enhance our campaigns.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” I said. “Please give me a few minutes to explain the nature of what I’m proposing. You are all in a vulnerable position in this last two weeks of the campaign. Even if you are polling well at the moment, a surprise announcement could throw your campaign into jeopardy. I believe that announcement will come on Friday when the House reconvenes.”

“A House action?” Representative Nicolssen from Minnesota asked. “I haven’t heard any buzz about that.” A couple of others agreed.

“I don’t think you are supposed to know. In fact, the fewer people who are present at rollcall Friday morning, the better the anti-reformists will like it. I believe there will be a motion to suspend the rules and remove the reform bill from the table for debate.”

“Why would they play into our hands like that?” one of the reps asked.

“To undercut our message that the current incumbents are anti-reform and unwilling to even listen to the bill,” I said. “As soon as they have the bill open, they’ll tie the assembly up in technical rigmarole, suggesting amendments, and calling portions into question. They only have to keep that up for ten days, of which you’re in session for only three, for it to have an adverse effect on our candidates. They will be positioned as the voice of reason, willing to listen to opposing views, even though they believe they have the right path. Wednesday November ninth, they’ll move to table the bill again without action.”