Double Team
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.”
“You have this information from a dependable source?” Adamson asked.
“No. My search engine and my information sources are not quotable,” I said. “I know most of you are aware that I’m a nineteen-year-old musician doing my National Service and should have no access to this kind of intelligence. And all I can say is to trust me on this.”
“It’s asking a lot, Jacob,” Representative Smith from Des Moines said. “It takes a two-thirds vote of the representatives to suspend the rules. Do you think the anti-reformists have enough votes?”
“It takes a two-thirds vote of those present,” I said. “That’s why it was so critical to talk to you all. We need every reformist incumbent to be present for the vote. And we need to organize them so it can’t be seen that the reform movement is blocking consideration. Some representatives should vote for and some against suspending the rules as long as they fail to get two-thirds. I’m sure no matter how they position it, the anti-reformists will have some legislators who just aren’t willing to take up the measure.”
“That’s an incredible amount of organizing.”
“True, and that brings me to the second point I want you to consider. Many of you have already subscribed to the Reform Caucus, claiming a broader platform than just service reform. But the caucus is really focused on the legislative body. We need to broaden it to include candidates in both houses and at every level of state and local government.”
“What you’re suggesting…” a hesitant senator started.
“Is the quick formation of a political party,” I finished for him. “I know we have had only a single party system since almost the end of World War II. Perhaps this sounds like a divisive step for our system. In another day and age, I would agree. But the antis will muddy the water on Friday and we need to be ready to clear it up. By making sure the campaign is not factional within the party, we change the issue from being between two groups who are really on the same side and have a point of difference to two political parties who are distinctly divided on a variety of issues. We openly declare the opposition to be reactionaries who want to maintain the status quo or move us backward in our social progress and show that the Reformist Party believes everything in our political system should be examined and fixed. They can’t be seen as merely being willing to talk about it because they’ll do nothing. We need our candidates to be in favor of fixing the mess, not just talking about it.”
“It scares me a bit, but I see the sense in what you’re saying, Jacob. I think we need to move forward with this idea and be ready with announcements this week.”
“If you are in agreement, I plan to announce the formation of the party and distribute a list of party members to the media at my concert Thursday night in Louisville. It will include the Reformist Platform that Representative Nicolssen and Senator Taylor did such a good job of drafting before my Minneapolis concert. It’s simple. It has just six planks and they are all related to reform. Don’t try to muddy the party platform by introducing your pet project and trying to get it in the platform. We don’t have time. By announcing on Thursday night, before the session reconvenes on Friday, we’ll steal their thunder.”
“There is a lot of organizing to be done,” Rep. Smith said.
“Yes. We have some resources available to us, but I’d like to keep things like incorporation and donations to a minimum before the election. We’ll have a party website ready to launch and an email ready to go to every candidate’s constituency Friday morning. We do our work as volunteers at night. We’re National Service corps members during the day.”
“I vote yes,” Governor Adamson said. In a few seconds it was unanimous.
“We are sending out a list of your calling tree that should be in your email in a few seconds,” I said. “Please organize whatever calls you need to in order to get everyone on board.”
We ended the call and I collapsed in a heap at the dining table.
What have I done?
I won’t say there were no leaks about the party prior to our announcement Thursday night, but no one took them seriously. There hadn’t been an active second political party in nearly seventy years. I was pretty sure most people assumed the number of parties was prescribed by the constitution. I’d thought so before Amanda educated me. The little pile of shit was beginning to offer search results on things I was interested in before I asked for them. I hoped she wasn’t turning into another Alexa or Siri. But her searches were based on my conversations and writing rather than on what products she could sell me that I’d already bought.
The rest of my family arrived Thursday and Sophie immediately went to work with the rest of the women to include dances she’d previously choreographed with the new program material Cindy and Remas had designed. We were pulling out all the stops in reusing some of our most popular material instead of sticking to the strictly classical first set and Spanish second set. It was wonderful to have all twelve of my women with me. I had to take a break during the afternoon while they rehearsed dances on the stage, so I could work on what I would say in the announcement. I was sitting in the dressing room and had just asked Amanda to record my practice speech when there was a single knock on the door. It opened and a man in a blue suit walked into the dressing room, closed the door, and sat in a chair opposite me.
“I’m sorry, but I’m working on tonight’s program. I can meet with fans after the show tonight if you’d like to come back then.” His response was to try and stare me down. Mine was to wonder where my security was.
“Believe me, I’m not a fan,” he finally said.
“Is there something I can do for you? I really need to get ready for tonight.”
“Yes. You can shut up on stage. Play your guitar and stop talking about service reform. You are making things difficult for us.
“Who is ‘us’?” I asked.
“We are the people who will lose billions of dollars of revenue if your service reform bill goes through. And we are not pleased with that.”
“Who do you work for?”
“Let’s just say a conglomerate of interested businesses. Now, Jacob, I’m a pretty abrupt businessman. I manage thousands of people and am not used to doing individual negotiations with a peon. So, let me back off a bit. There are a lot of people in this country who depend on our products and services and on our companies for their employment, healthcare, and retirement. A lot of those people could be hurt significantly by a sudden loss of profits in our company. We are willing to cut a deal with you. For a nineteen-year-old kid, you show a lot of potential. At one time, we had to wait for a guy to finish college before we could see the kind of potential you show. I personally count that as one of the great benefits the National Service has brought to our country. There’s a fast track for kids like you into roles of responsibility in our companies.”
“I’m in National Service. I can’t really cut a deal with you.”
“I don’t think that is quite true. You see, we have intelligence at every level of the program and know the service has a strict hands-off policy when it comes to your message. We’ve had our eye on you from before you entered the program.”
“Enough so to arrange to have my papers forged and kidnap me to a different program than the music I love?”
“You have a very strong rescuer aptitude. With your strength and endurance, you could have led that team. It’s a great loss to the service to have you parading around with a guitar. Now listen, Jacob. I know that to you right now, the service is pretty much everything. But National Service is short-term. Two years and you’re done. Do you really think you’ll be able to earn any kind of living playing guitar when you’re out? You should be spending this time developing the contacts that will get you the kind of income you deserve when you complete service. We have mentors who will work with you for the entire two years of your service.”
“And what do you want me to do? I’m on a service deputation team committed to a pro-reform campaign.”
“Just subtly change your message. That’s all you have to do. Tell people to look at what the current congress and senate are doing to protect the lives of service corps personnel before they vote this fall. In fact, tell people to watch the news tomorrow and they’ll see perhaps there is no need to change the makeup of the house. Big changes are coming, based on what you’ve been campaigning for. Claim success. People will fall in line behind you.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Think about this, too, Jacob. We believe in your value to agribusiness so much that we could be persuaded to start you working in it tomorrow for the duration of your service. And believe me when I say we have the chops to put that transfer through. It’s hard work and I doubt you’d be able to play the guitar after two years of service in the fields. But it would be worth the rewards. Think about it carefully before you begin your performance tonight. We’ll be watching.”
The dude stood and left. I checked the floor to see if there was a trail of slime and then turned to Amanda.
“Stop recording,” I said.
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