The iCandidate (25 page)

MICHAEL

The sound of
Jessica rummaging through dresser drawers in the bedroom echoes in the hall as I enter my condo following the fracas at Chelsea’s house. The tell-tale thuds of violent slamming serves notice that the next confrontation will not be a pleasant one. Today has already sucked.

It’s
three p.m., but being suspended from work and getting punched in the face by Bruce were only the undercards. With Jessica here for the first time in weeks, we arrive at the main event.

“Jessica?”
I call out to her as I drop my assault pack on the floor and walk into the bedroom. The normally tidy room is in disarray. An open, half-packed suitcase sits on the bed and Jess is rummaging around in the walk-in closet. She emerges with a pile of her clothes still on their hangers.

“
Well, this can't be good,” I say, reprising my role as Captain Obvious.

“
What did you expect?” she responds, plopping the clothes into the suitcase.

“I’ve tried calling you a couple of dozen times
last night, and tried to find you at school this morning.”

“
Well, those of us not suspended still had to teach today. Besides, we’re way beyond talking now, don’t you think?”

“Seriously?
You can't possibly believe—”

“I don't
!” she snaps, an edge to her voice and boring into me with ice cold eyes.

“Okay, s
o why are you packing?”

“Because I’m leaving,” she says, going back into the closet. Her turn to point out the obvious
, I guess.

“Yeah,
I got that part. Why?”

“There’s no room for me
and
a political campaign in your life. You prioritized one at the expense of another.”

“
Jess, I was the victim of a sleazy tactic. Nothing more,” I say as she returns clutching several pairs of shoes from the closet.

“Wow, you just don't get it do you?”

“Get what?” I fire back, getting increasingly annoyed.

“
You really want me to spell it out? You asked for this! You decided to make the bet! You decided to go through with it! You involved your students! You set them up to be used as pawns in a political game—”

“I’
m teaching them what it takes to make a difference! They’re experiencing something they can't learn in a book!”

“
That’s a bunch of bullshit and you know it!” she screams, slamming the shoes into the suitcase. “Oh, sure, you brought them along for the ride. Decided to take away the last year they can enjoy being kids to help you settle your personal vendetta.”

“
What the hell are you talking about?”

“
This isn’t about them anymore, it’s about you! You’ve had an ax to grind with America since you got back from the desert. This whole thing may have started as a lesson, but once you actually started participating, you decided to teach a lesson to the rest of the country too. It’s why you are running your campaign like a high school class election and not talking about a single issue. You’re making the race a popularity contest to prove a point.”

I’m a pretty good poker player, but
she learned my tells long ago. She’s right, of course, but since I haven’t told anybody, I can’t help but think who else might have come to that conclusion too.

“What? You think I didn’t know why you were doing this?
” she mocks. Actually, considering we’ve barely talked in the last few weeks, no, I didn’t.

“
So you think you’ve got it all figured out, don’t you? You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I dismiss with a shake of my head.

“
Don’t play that game with me, Michael! You may have the rest of the country fooled, but I know
you
.”

Jessica’
s flushed with anger as she closes the flap and zips her suitcase shut. She yanks the oversize bag to the floor and extends the handle.

“
This thing spun out of control and you couldn’t back off. I should have known you wouldn’t. It’s not in your DNA,” she continues. “I’m sure you never thought it’d get this big, with all the attention, news reports, and people hanging on your every tweet. Who would have thought you’d ever be winning? God knows you don’t need to get elected to prove your point.”

“You’re mad
that I’m winning?”

“No!
I’m mad that you ran at all! I’m mad I had to fight my way through a bunch of reporters just to get to my car and drive here! I’m mad that you didn’t see where this was going and stop when you had the chance!”

“
Look, I’m sorry you got hassled leaving work. But why would I stop? Why even expect me to? You were clear from the start you wouldn’t support me. I hoped you would, but no, it’s always about
you
. What
you
want, what
you
need. For once can you please think about somebody other than yourself?”

Now I’m angry.
I dammed up all the emotions about our relationship to work on the campaign, and the dam has burst. All the feelings of not having her support, encouragement, and even love come rushing forward. I clung to the thought that we could make it through this. Now it is apparent the wedding we have been planning for months will never happen.

“One to talk,” she says, shaking her head. “You want to teach your students about life?
You want America to learn a lesson? Fine, but you’re about to learn a lesson of your own. Let’s see if you can live with the consequences of
your
actions. You’ve already lost your job and the respect and trust of, well, pretty much everybody. Now you’ve lost me. Hope it all ends up being worth it.”

Jessica
brushes by me on the way out the bedroom, struggling to lug the large rolling suitcase behind her. I turn and follow her down the hall, stopping short of the foyer. Her key to my place drops with a clang onto the glass plate atop the small table near the door. The message is clear. She won’t need them anymore.

“
I asked you to listen to me. I begged you to listen to reason. I told you this campaign was dangerous. You chose to ignore me.”

“You want
ed me to tow your line. It’s your way or the highway, right? Always has been in our relationship. There’s no room for discussion with you, only listen and obey. I get it now. You don’t want a husband, you want a lap dog.”

She slides her engagement ring off her ring finger and throws it at me
. I catch it against my chest, and take a moment to admire how it reflects the light from the room. In colonial America, men gave women a thimble as a sign of eternal companionship. The women would remove the top in order to create a ring. Looking at the precious diamond fastened to this one, we’ve come a long way. Or maybe not.

“
Rationalize all you want, Michael. It really doesn’t matter now.”

Her words hang in the air as she
leaves, the suitcase trailing behind her providing the media circling outside everything they need to know about our relationship. The competing images of Bruce coming to my defense and my fiancée leaving over this scandal will provide debate fodder over the truth for the political pundits right up to election day.

As the door slams in her wake, I begin to realize the enormity of
what’s happening in my life. She’s right, I am losing everything. In the span of a few hours, I have lost my livelihood, fiancée, and probably the election. And even if people in town haven’t lost respect for me because of Bruce’s comments, they’ll always look at me and wonder if the story is true.

I need time to think clearly, but all the emotions of the day have left me numb. Running, exercising, or even breaking something might help ease the enormous feeling of stress, but I can’t do any of them
without drawing unwanted attention. I slide down the wall I was leaning on, tucking my knees into my chest and bury my head in my hands.

KYLIE

This is not your typical New England sports bar. Being closer to New York, t
he walls are adorned with copious amounts of memorabilia from the Yankees, Mets, Giants, and Jets instead of the Boston teams. There are televisions everywhere, and the big screen is currently tuned into ESPN. The place is busy, but not crowded for a Friday night.

Michael
is sitting in a booth tucked away from the bar, a nearly empty glass of beer in front of him. There is no media present, and I am left to wonder how he managed to ditch them. Worse, how long it will be before they find him here? What will that report will sound like?

Each booth has
its own little TV, and while most are tuned into one sporting event or another, he has Fox News on. I would have figured he’d seen enough for today.

“
While the flap about Michael Bennit's possible affair with a student has cost him in the polls, the race may still go down to the wire,” the anchorwoman says. “No doubt both candidates will be working hard tonight, and this weekend, to make their plea to the voters.”

“
If she only knew how wrong she was.”

Michael looks up in time
to see me slide into the bench seat across from him. A waitress in a black waist apron and New York Giants jersey comes over to take my order.

“Sam Adams Boston
Lager,” I tell her, “and bring another for him.”

“Good choice
,” he affirms as she departs. “You know what I like.”

“
So, drinking yourself under the table is your idea of last minute campaigning?”

“
In light of recent events, my doctor says I need to drink more. In other news, I changed my name to Doctor. Nice to meet you,” he says, finishing the lame joke. “Besides, the one advantage to being a social media candidate is I can work from anywhere.” He drains the last of the beer in the pint glass in front of him.

“
Yeah, you're working real hard.”

“
How’d you find me?”

“
I'm a reporter. It's my job.”

The
waitress returns with the beers. He downs more than half of it while I take a sip of mine.

“
I heard about you and Jess. I'm sorry.”

“
Damn, bad news travels fast. It is what it is. She made her choice.” Michael shakes his head dismissively.

“
Is that what you said about getting suspended from teaching, too?” Michael only rewards me with an annoyed grin, so I’ll give him another verbal poke or two. “I wouldn’t have guessed you’d pick drinking as a way to run from your problems. I didn’t picture you to be the quitting type either.”

“I’m not. But even Atlas went down
on a knee when they put the weight of the world on his shoulders.”

“Fair enough.
How’s the staff handling all this?” I ask, more than a little curious how they’re faring.

“
They think they’re in over their heads.”

“They didn’t actually believe the Beaumont
attack machine’s propaganda, did they?”

Michael exhales impatiently. “No, even teenagers know bullshit when they see it. Look,
Kylie, I'm not in the mood for a chat right now.”

“Good. Then shut up and listen.”

I take a long sip of beer from the glass. I’m not sure exactly what I want to say to him. A lot of things are rattling around my mind. I’m sad, angry and, disappointed all at the same time, but I’m not sure how to articulate those feelings. Eh, screw it.

“
You know what the real tragedy of this mess is? There’s going to be a whole generation of students who will not get to learn from the great Michael Bennit. You went ‘all in’ with these particular kids at the expense of those who follow. Maybe it was worth it. I think you’re a jackass.”

“That's some pep talk, Kyli
e.”

“
I'm a reporter, not a cheerleader. I don't give pep talks, I get facts. Why did you really do it?

“You know why.”

“No, I want the whole story this time. Nobody goes through all this for a civics lesson to eighteen-year olds. I want the other reason.”

“We off the record?”

“Screw you. We’re beyond that crap now. I can’t help you anymore unless I know the whole story. Answer the question.”

Michael takes a long pull of his own draught and then returns the glass to the table, swirling it in circles as he gets lost in his thoughts. I am about to lose my patience until he finally speaks.

“We like to believe all kids are equal. They're not. Chelsea, Vince, Peyton, Amanda, Brian, Emilee, Vanessa, Xavier - they are special, and I challenge anybody to say otherwise. I saw an opportunity to take an active role in their lives instead of just being a bystander. Maybe for once I was trying to actually make a difference as an alternative to sitting in my classroom and reading from a textbook. That’s the whole story.”

“
Bullshit.” I study his face intently, and it betrays him. There’s more to the ‘why’ he is doing this and I deserve to know. I’ve been patient through this process, but I am at the end of my rope. “Earned, not issued,” is all I say in pleading my case.

“You’re beginning to sound like Jess,” he says
with a smile before exhaling deeply. “And yes, you’re right, it has been earned.”

He then goes on to explain everything. Why he took the bet in the first place,
decided to include his students, how he ran the campaign, everything. Suddenly the enigma that is Bennit for Congress has an answer, and the world makes perfect sense because of the answer.

Michael Bennit is either an evil genius or a reincarnated founding father. He i
s one of those rare breeds willing go to great lengths to prove a point because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. Not in the negative way, but in the ‘I’m not asking you to believe me, let me show you’ way important men and women of the world have throughout human history.

The founders fought a war to prove America
was better off without the Crown. Lincoln went to war to mend the divide between north and south. FDR went to war with the Supreme Court over the benefits of the New Deal. Michael Bennit is going to war over the American election process itself.

Well, the comparisons may be a little extreme, but I’m excited.
Bruce Stanton was right. Michael will make a terrible politician, but he would be one hell of a leader.

“Wow,
” is all I manage to say when he finishes. My mind is racing. It is the most selfless thing I have seen in politics. Ever. All I want to do is find ways to help. I’m just not sure what more I can do.

“
You're paying an awful steep price for this. Your kids are going to pay up too. Is it worth it just to make a point?”

“
That’s for them to decide. Is it worth it for me? Well, I guess we'll see next week.”

“
If you win?”

“
No. If the country gets it.”