An Adventure in Politics Part II
Eventually, with the hall now filled with local voters, the media and a large group of political activists, the chairman made his way out to the centre of the stage, followed closely by the four candidates that were standing for the seat in Congress. The Democrat came first, to a smattering of polite applause, with his agent at his side, and was closely followed by the Green party representative. Sue then strode purposefully onto the stage, shocking all the former Warblers by being in a business suit and not a tracksuit, accompanied by an equally well dressed Mrs Duval. She caught sight of Jeff as she walked across the stage, sitting with his parents, and she froze for a moment, before she broke into a small smile. Finally, Mr Duval stepped onto the stage to a mixture of applause and jeers, with Mr Smythe at his side. The latter looked quietly confident until his eyes too saw someone in the audience. It would have been hard for him to miss his youngest son, given that he was waving at him, but the sight filled him with a horrible feeling that everything was going to go wrong. Next to him, Mr Duval saw nothing, too caught up in the adulation of his loyal supporters and smiling for the cameras in general. Sebastian's waving was noticed however by Sue, who then saw not only the meerkat, but the blond and the two ex-councilmen beside him. She permitted herself a grin for the fact that they had come, and would obviously be rooting for her. She had to admit a grudging respect for the loyalty that those prep school boys had for each other…
The debate began with each candidate introducing themselves and outlining what they thought were the key points in the election. Once more the Democrat was applauded, as was the Green candidate. Sue was next, and she stood up to say that she actually had to agree with some of what both had her predecessors had said, but was against them on other issues. Likewise though, she was opposed to some of the more right wing ideas being mooted by her party's Presidential candidate; she felt that the last thing that would make the nation great was hate, and that was what he was introducing into the discussions in no small measure. She ignored the urge to strangle Mr Duval, who as she made her points was rolling his eyes, shaking his head, checking his phone and even laughing at something as she talked. Then it was the turn of Nick's father to speak. As he spewed forth the by now all too familiar Trump rhetoric, Sue closed her eyes and did not react, keeping down the urge to destroy him. This approach would make her look better in the eyes of the sympathetic media than her jeering fellow Republican. In any case, he was being heckled from the crowd, and she was sure she could hear yawning and snoring going on too…
The speeches made, it was now time to throw things open to the audience. The moment that this was done, Nick slipped into the room through a door in a darkened corner, and now slipped his way quietly down towards the front of the room. He listened as the first question about jobs was posed, obviously by a plant, and was answered; then continued to stand quietly in the shadows as a second one about defence was given the same treatment. The third question, on the issue of healthcare, did lead to a more lively debate. To Nick's delight, his father was booed loudly as he stated that in his opinion, the system known as Obamacare needed to be axed on day one, and indeed, the future of the entire Medicare system needed examined. He did not see why the hard working wealthy people in society should have to spend tax dollars on the poorer people in society, or indeed why he as a parent should be subsidising healthcare for children, including his own. As the boos grew louder, forcing his father to stop speaking, Nick knew he had just been given a perfect lead in…
"Our next question," said the Chairman once the noise had ceased, "is from the person with card No. 4. There is no name given here for the holder of this card…" He stopped as Nick emerged from the shadows, stepped right up to the lectern that the question posers had been allocated, and handed card No. 4 to the lady waiting there. On seeing who it was, Mr Duval went scarlet, and Sue hid her face to avoid showing the media her smile…
"I'd like to ask the panel about their opinion on family values, but I guess I should introduce myself first. My name is Nick Sterling-Duval, but before my marriage two years ago, I was plain old Nicholas Duval. And yes, I am his son…" There was an immediate buzz of chatter around the auditorium; the media, some of whom had been getting bored, now focused on the podium, sensing that there was a story here. It was at that moment that Nick suddenly caught sight of the familiar faces in the audience, including one that he should have known to expect, and he couldn't help but smile, all the more determined now to do what he had to do.
"So I am here to ask a specific question on family values. Do the candidates believe that it is ever justified to use violence and intimidation towards a member of your family? I ask purely because there has been so much in the media recently on the subject of family values. Most of it has come from my father, who is obviously such an expert on these issues. I just thought that it would be fair to let the other candidates have a chance to express their viewpoint…"
The answer to Nick's question came swiftly and in the negative from the first three candidates; the Democrat and the Green both now sensed that something was happening here, and that Sue knew what. That left the final candidate. From him there was a stony silence, and a look of pure thunder written right across his face. As the silence stretched, Nick could not resist the temptation to go in for the kill. "Well, dad, you've been quite vocal up until now on family issues, so please tell us what your opinion is. I mean, for example, would it be right to hit someone if they, say, came out as gay? Would it then be justified to push your teenage child so hard that they fall and crack their head open on a coffee table? Would it then be right to lock them up in their bedroom without even checking to see how serious said injury was? Would it be acceptable to try and force that same child to go to a gay to straight conversion camp not just once, but twice, the last time when they are an adult and married? Is all of that justified in the interests of protecting 'family values', in your honest opinion?"
Around the room, conversations had sprung up as people realised exactly what Nick was saying; that he was that child, and the parent in question was the candidate…
Then the man in question stood up, and spoke in measured tones. "Now you see, this kind of action and attitude is just what I would expect from a young man whose brain has been damaged and whose soul has been poisoned by our liberal educators. I believe that it is the father's duty and right to protect their child from harm, and to ensure that they follow the correct, Christian path. However, I would like to have one thing put on the record here and now. My son is a great storyteller, and none of the things that he implied right now are true. They are all figments of his warped imagination."
"I would beg to differ." The audience who had been engrossed in watching the spat between the candidate and his estranged son now spun round to observe the blond haired young man that was now standing up in their midst. "My name is Jeff Sterling-Duval; technically I am his son-in-law, but he would never acknowledge me as such. It was to my house that Nick fled on the night that his father assaulted him; he did so after risking further injury by jumping from an upper storey window, then having to drive with a throbbing headache, and possible even a concussion. He arrived with dried blood caked on his forehead and matted into his hair, and it broke my heart. His only crime was to fall in love with me. I was always told that in a real family, there is always love; that a parent's love for their child is unconditional. If that is the case, then what kind of family man does that make you, sir?"
"One that has the good book on his side in condemning the sodomites like you, boy. No wonder that your natural parents rejected you," came Mr Duval's immediate reply. There was a gasp from the audience at those words; the other three candidates looked horrified, and were all shaking their heads, although Sue was also trying her best not to smile. Behind Mr Duval, Sebastian's father was face-palming, as he realised just where all of this was heading. Then, just when he thought that it couldn't get any worse…
"I think that Jeff is quite glad that his natural father rejected him, actually, given that he was, and this is of course public knowledge, a man called Gordon Clarington…" As a few gasps of recognition went up around the room, the voice continued. "Yes, that Gordon Clarington. He was a close friend of yours at the gun club I believe, Mr Duval - and yours too, dad?" Sebastian smiled as he finished from his spot where he was now standing by Jeff, a supportive arm around him.
"That fact has nothing to do with anything in the current electoral campaign in any case, boy! In any case, you have no business in attending this meeting, any of the three of you! This meeting is for voters from the Westerville district, and as all three of you now live in the biggest cesspool of them all, New York City, you don't qualify. So I suggest that all three of you repugnant fags shut your God damn mouths and head back to your lives of depravity!" Mr Duval finished, his voice having risen as he spoke. There were a few claps of support, but very few…
"Well, Duval, I am a registered voter in this district, and I also witnessed the state of your son when he arrived at our place that night," said Mr Sterling, as he stood up next to the two young men. "So I'd just like to confirm that everything that has been said is true…"
"You might well live here, Sterling, but is the liberal minded assholes like you that have made this country the disgrace that it is. If you had taught your adopted son the right way in life, if you had beaten it into him if necessary, and you had had his sickness treated instead of tolerating it, then maybe my son could have been saved!"
"I could never have done that to Jeff, because I love my son. I would never have laid a hand on him, and I certainly wouldn't have condoned the idea of sending him off to some quack to be set straight as you so eloquently put it to your boy. I would never have considered it as it would have changed the child I loved, plus there are the statistics; do you realise just how many young people sent to those charlatans end up committing suicide? My job as a parent is to love him and keep him safe, not destroy him."
"Your job, Sterling, was to save him from himself, and to stop him spreading his disease to others. Better dead than a fag in my opinion…" screamed Mr Duval.
It took several minutes for the chairman to restore calm and order to the room after that outburst. To Sue's delight, the bulk of the room were baying for Mr Duval's blood; there were a few hardcore rednecks screaming in his support, but as the scuffles broke out, mainly caused by the fact that Nick had left the stage and pulled Jeff into a hug, she was concerned outside, but grinning inside. The polling would love this statement, and the fact that the cameras were still rolling, showing the events to those outside the room made it all the better. Behind her, Nick's mother had remained calm and dignified throughout. Mr Smythe had also kept quiet, although as she observed, he now had his head in his hands, as if all the trouble in the world was now pressing down upon him. She almost felt sorry for the man; he had to have been dreading what Sebastian might say, but now he must be feeling that an outburst by him would have been preferable to this.
As the melee died down, and some sort of order was restored, Sue glanced towards the door. There she saw Mrs Sterling, showing some photographs to a group of very interested journalists. She wondered what they were, and was determined she would find out later. In the end, she didn't need to. As the room fell more or less silent, Nick walked past his mother-in-law with Jeff and Sebastian at his side, and seeing Sue look over, he said in a loud voice "I'd forgotten that your mom and dad took pictures that night, Jeff, just in case I wanted to press charges in the future and report it to the police…"
Sue had to resist the temptation to cheer in delight; she could guarantee that those pictures would be somewhere in the media in just a few hours. She glanced at her opponent, who had gone pale, and at the man behind him, whose eyes were now bulging as he weighed up the enormity of the situation, and wondered how to get an injunction fast. Then she looked to the woman behind her, whose eyes were moist now.
"They have photographic evidence of what he did to Nick," Mrs Duval whispered. "I would like to see them, because I saw nothing at the time."
"It would be best for you to wait and see them after the meeting is finished. If they are as bad as they sound to be, you might not be able to remain as cool and calm as you have been, and you marching up to him and punching him in the face, however much he deserves it, would not be any good for anyone right now," counselled Sue.
"You're right, but once we are out of here, once the cameras are away, then I will be giving him a huge piece of my mind. I cannot believe that I stayed with that philanderer for so long!"
At that point, with decorum now restored, the chairman banged his gavel to restart events. Sue was left to wonder what she meant. Had her opponent had affairs? Was this another potential weapon against him in the dirty tricks campaign? Then, as the chairman asked for the question from cardholder No. 5, she looked up at the audience again. She almost grinned this time when she saw who was handing the card with the number five on it to the lady by the podium.
"Thank you. I am Thad Harwood, teacher at Dalton Academy. I would like to ask the candidates views on anti-bullying policies in schools; are they right, or should we just let the kids be bullied so that they can be toughened up?"
In corridor, Nick had remained close to the door, his arm still wrapped around his husband. He had hugged him and given him a kiss the moment they had stepped out of the room full of people. Sebastian had pouted a little, until Nick relented and had given him a hug too. Now, as he heard the next question being asked by Thad of all people, he had to control himself, as the temptation just to laugh out loud was great. It was exactly the question that Sue would have wanted someone to ask, but as far as he knew, Thad had done so off his own bat….
The Democrat replied first, in favour of the policies, and then went on to speak candidly about his own experiences in high school, and how he was glad that the country and the bulk of society had now moved on and recognised that bullying was a problem. The Green candidate also backed them. As for Sue, she too swiftly agreed, and cited her own work to bring in just such a policy at McKinley in Lima; the struggle she had had to achieve it in the first place, but then the positive things that had come out of it, not just for those that were victims of bullying, but for every student at the school. She then took a moment to praise Aaron Carmichael for being ahead of his time in bringing in the policy at Dalton, when it was the first of its kind in the state of Ohio. It had been from hearing all about the policy from one of her own bullied students about the wonder of safety he had felt there during a brief sojourn that had made her determined to bring in one at her own school. She concluded by saying that if she had her way, such policies would be enforced in every school across the nation. That earned her loud applause from the bulk of those in the room.
All eyes then turned to Mr Duval, as did three pairs of ears in the corridor outside. He was silent for a moment, then he spoke. "Thad Harwood… That name is familiar to me. I think that you were a student at Dalton yourself, and if I recall, was there with my son…" The last word was delivered with such an acid tone that no-one could miss his feelings towards Nick. "So, if that is indeed the case, aren't you a little bit young to be a member of the faculty? I mean, if you had said cleaner, or janitor, or even lunch lady, then maybe, but teacher - I don't think so…"
"A newly appointed teacher, actually. I graduated with the top marks in my class with a history degree from UCLA at the beginning of this month, and I officially took up residence at the school, in my rooms that come with my role as a housemaster, two days ago. As well as teaching, I will also have oversight over the Warblers, the school choir. That was the place that I met your son - and a more polite, kind and intelligent young man you could never wish to meet, in my opinion. I'd say he was a credit to you…" Thad said no more, leaving the audience to decide on how the sentence should be finished in their own words.
"Well, gosh, isn't that a glowing report!" came his reply, in a tone once more laden with acid. "Still, it is only to be expected; after all, that is what your kind do. You stick together. Now, personally, I don't think that people of your sort should be allowed to teach, but I suppose that there are only so many hairdressers, fashion designers and actors that we actually need…"
As mouths dropped open, Thad made eye contact with David, and with a tiny movement of the head stopped his friend from dashing up to scream at the man. He took a breath, then through gritted teeth replied, "Oh, certainly we do, just as people of other groups do. It is a natural defence mechanism." He went no further, determined to ignore the blatant homophobia. "Anyway, you still haven't answered my question, and I would be grateful if you actually would, given that there must be other people anxious to pose their own. I would hazard a guess though that you probably think that the intelligent geeks should be beaten up by the dumb jocks; that children from a different race or creed are just asking to be tortured, and as for the gay kids, well it's pretty much open season on them…"
"I don't believe that there is any point in wrapping kids up in cotton wool that doesn't exist in the real world. After all, all of the people you described have made their choices, and because of them, well life will be hard. It's nature…"
"Really? That is interesting, because I didn't think that a kid could choose their racial background, but then again, what would I know…" quipped Thad, earning himself a burst of laughter.
Mr Duval's face had promptly turned a puce colour with rage at the fact that he had been made to look like a complete fool. "You want my answer, then here it is. I think that it is a great pity that such policies exist, because if people like you had been sent to a proper school, where the laws of nature were permitted to exist, and the strong were allowed to rule the roost, then you might not be quite such a cocky piece of shit, and who knows, maybe you would have turned out right instead of being just another worthless fag!"
Thad blinked, then ignoring the urge to scream back, merely replied, "Thank you, Mr Duval. I think that you have just given all of us a very valuable insight into the beliefs that you would take, on behalf of the people of Westerville, into Congress, if we chose to elect you…"
Thad left the lectern, and retook his seat, where he immediately found himself shaking with the rage that he felt. David took his arm, and instructed him just to breathe. Around them in the room, the noise level was rising once again, people shouting out and heckling. Mr Duval just sat there, shaking his head, as were the other three candidates, albeit at something different. When Mr Duval noticed that, he jumped out of his seat and went over to the podium; then, at the top of his voice, he shouted at the audience.
"You see, this is the kind of namby pamby liberal mumbo jumbo that has ruined our country! Years of policies based on equality and diversity, on tolerance, have demonised the honest, good, hard-working, white family man like me. It has destroyed us! We have to end this scourge and end it now. We need to reverse the liberal agenda; crack down on the new order and revert to the good old ways. We need to return to everything that was good and valuable in the time of my grandparents! If you vote for me, and for Mr trump, then we will make it happen!"
Behind him Sue raised her voice and spoke. "The time of your grandparents? I'm guessing you mean the fifties? Homophobia, segregation, and the time that a woman knew her place, which was slaving away in the kitchen all day to make you your dinner when you go home from work?"
"That is exactly what I mean!" Mr Duval responded. Behind him, Mr Smythe groaned and Sue grinned, as the chorus of disapproval swelled into a roar of outrage, particularly from the women in the room…
After that, the meeting had to be abandoned; the chairman could not regain control of the room, his voice not enough to carry over the screams and cries of the disgruntled voters. There were naturally some in the room that agreed with Mr Duval, and it was one of them that started the small scuffle at one side of the hall, although some would say that his wife punching him in the face was the initial catalyst. Sue just shook her head sadly, and after the Green party candidate fled, she went to stand at the side of the Democrat party candidate, both of them condemning the actions of Mr Duval. This naturally lead to them being interviewed by the media
"It is not often that you will find me agreeing with the liberals," said Sue to the camera crew of the local Westerville news channel, "but if Duval is the kind of person that Mr Trump believes are fit to make America great again, then he needs to have his head checked. I am a Republican; I am not a homophobic, misogynistic racist, and such policies should be repulsive to anyone with any sort of intelligence. Let me say this, I will not be heading off into my kitchen anytime soon just to satisfy that man. If he had any kind of integrity and decency, then after what we have all heard tonight, he should consider standing down."
The reporter smiled, then replied, "His views were a little to the right of what we have come to expect…"
"A little…?" replied Sue. "Young man, it would not surprise me at all if he had a white pointy hat with eyeholes somewhere in his wardrobe! Let us not forget the main thing here. He has been lecturing everyone about family; after what he did to his own son, the man is clearly a hypocrite. I mean, what kind of decent parent would do something like that? I don't think that America was a great country when we all knocked seven bells out of our kids if they dared to step out of the rigid line we set for them. Let us not forget, the boy had no choice over the issue; I believe the phrase would be that he was born that way. No, anyone that votes for Duval is voting for violence and a return to the bad old prejudices of the past."
Outside, a female reporter was waiting to catch the candidates as they left the building. The first to do so was Mr Duval, and she seized her opportunity to try and get an interview with him. The camera was rolling and she was live on air; it therefore caught the moment that he pushed her violently out of the way. She was caught by a quick footed Mr Smythe before she could hit the ground and hurt herself too badly. As gasps of outrage were heard from bystanders, along with comments about that being what he had done to his boy, Mr Duval stalked on, and on spotting a Fox News crew and a male reporter, he paused and asked if he wanted an interview. He did not expect the reply that he received.
"An interview with the man that just torpedoed his own electoral campaign with a few words, and then went on to make friends with the media by carrying out a physical assault on an award winning reporter? You know what, I don't think we'll bother…"
In the aftermath of the rally, Sue cornered Thad and David, and invited them to visit her headquarters, and they felt they had no option but to agree. Thad in particular felt galvanised after the events of the night into taking a stand, and the very least that he could do was collect an 'I'm with Sue!' pin. As he did so, he almost laughed as he thought about how proud his father would be that he was finally giving his backing to a Republican after all those years of embarrassing him by having thoroughly Democrat leanings. If he did find out and get in touch, he would swiftly burst his bubble for him by explaining the concept of tactical voting to him. The Greens and the Democrats had no hope in the seat, and Sue was the lesser of the two evils.
By the time that the two of them got there, the others were in a slightly celebratory mood. Jeff had been a little concerned about what Nick would say to him once they were out of the public eye; after all, he had broken his promise to him to stay away. However, Nick just pulled him into a deep hug, and told him how much he loved him. Both Sebastian and Grace had breathed a sigh of relief for that. The Sterlings had come along too, and had already taken a pile of posters for their own windows, along with a pile to hand out to friends and relations. Mr Sterling was fully aware that there would be a lot of discussion about the merits of tactical voting amongst them in the next few weeks….
Nick's mom had taken him aside a little while later, and had hugged him close to her and told him how sorry she was. Having seen the photos, she was horrified that she had ever chosen to take her husband's side in the argument. Nick forgave her without even being asked. Now she was on her phone, waiting for a poll result, given that the footage of the meeting had been streaming live throughout the night; between that, and an exit interview or two, they would be able to obtain a snap judgement of how the land now lay. As Thad pinned on his badge, she smiled a little, and thanked the person on the other end of the line. She then turned to the room, and spoke. "Before tonight, we were trailing by 3 percentage points; now we are in the lead by 8! I think that he has done it now. There will be other polls tomorrow, but by then things will be all over the media. Furthermore, I don't anticipate that this is just a temporary blip. In the whole sample, only two women said they would vote for him initially, and whilst we were on the line, one of them changed her mind. She had just seen a clip of him being a complete sexist pig. I think we are a lot closer to saying congratulations to Congresswoman Sylvester after tonight…"
There was general agreement to that, but as the older adults went on to discuss the next steps, Nick still felt like he had done a deal with the devil, and his face betrayed it. Seeing that, Sebastian walked up to him, and whispered, "She is the lesser of two evils Nick. She isn't so bad really. At least we know that as long as she continues to loathe and oppose Trump, she can't become too powerful should he win. If she ever does get an office of state, then we can worry about all of this…"
Nick nodded, but quietly cursed his well meaning friend. Until that moment he had never even considered that prospect; now he was going to have nightmares in which she was Secretary of State, or Vice-President, or even worse…