The Minnesota Candidate (35 page)

“Maybe he has to go to the bathroom,” said Sam,
picking at his teeth.

“Let’s get in there. If Mom and Marie see him,
they’ll blab it all over town.”

Sam’s head snapped back and he began walking
briskly up to the house. Tom followed after him and they walked in
through the patio door. Chona stood at the top of the stairs and
Senator Levitz was already halfway up to meet her. “Oh my God,
Senator Levitz! You’re supposed to be dead.”

“I need to see Shari,” said Levitz. “This is a
matter of life and death. Is she in her bedroom?”

“Shari, yeah… but I can’t let you see her,” said
Chona.

“No,” said Tom, “it’s okay. Senator Levitz was a
friend of Shari’s father.”

Chona crossed her arms and stood blocking the
stairs. “You don’t understand, Tom. I can’t let him in there.”

“Get out of my way! Shari, come out here!”

Tom grunted and shook his head. He then charged
up the stairs and he stood behind Senator Levitz. “Move it, Chona,”
he demanded. “Let us pass!”

Chona bared her teeth to the men, but she
stepped aside. Levitz charged past her and ran to the closed door
of the master bedroom. Tom was right behind him and Sam was already
on Tom’s heels. Levitz rapped on the door. “Shari, its Merle
Levitz, I’m coming in!”

Tom watched as Levitz threw open the door and
the entire group rushed into the bedroom. “Oh my God,” whispered
Tom.

Shari appeared to be asleep on the bed, except
she was lashed to the bed, hand and foot, by a bright yellow rope.
Levitz turned to Chona. “What the hell is going on?” he asked. “Are
you people crazy?”

“I tried to tell you,” Chona said to Tom, “but
you wouldn’t listen to me. Shari asked me to tie her up. When she
wakes up, she can tell you, herself.”

Tom ran to the bed and he began stroking Shari’s
hair. “What have you done to her? What, did you drug her?”

“No, it wasn’t like that. She’ll be fine.”

“You people are sick,” spat Levitz.

“Hey,” said Sam, “you watch your mouth. I don’t
give a shit who you are. I’ll punch you in the nose if you get
lippy with my gal.”

Shari moaned and her eyelids began to flutter.
She stared up at Tom. “Where am I?” she groaned. She turned her
head and looked around the room. And then her eyes grew wide.
“Merle?” she asked. “Oh my God, am I in heaven?”

“No,” said Levitz, rushing to her bedside. “I’m
alive, we’re both alive. This woman tied you to your bed and she
said you asked her to do it. Shari, is this true?”

Shari blinked her eyes, several times, as if she
were trying to blink back a memory. “That’s true,” she whispered.
“I did ask her to do that.”

“That’s because she’s been programmed,” said
Chona.

“Are you out of your mind?” asked Levitz,
turning on Chona and raising his finger at her.

“No, I’m not. Look, I’ll show you. Shari, we’re
going over to your parent’s house. Is that okay with you?”

Suddenly, Shari roared with anger and began
thrashing on the bed. “I’ll kill you all!” she cried. “Untie me,
you rotten bitch!”

Chona turned back to Levitz. “Listen, you
liberal bastard, you have no idea what’s going on around here. Keep
that big yap of yours shut and we’ll tell you all you need to
know.”

“Liberal bastard?” asked Levitz, planting his
small hands on his narrow hips. “I’m a United States Senator and I
expect some respect.”

“Blow it out your ass, Jew-boy. I never voted
for you.”

“Let me go! I’ll kill every last one of you!
Nobody is going into that house!”

Levitz narrowed his eyes at Chona. “An
anti-Semite,” he hissed. “I should have suspected as much. You
people are all alike.”

“And what the hell is that supposed to
mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean. I’ll have the
combo number five, chop-chop.”

Chona nearly pounced on the little bleeding man,
but Sam grabbed her by the waist and held her. “That’s enough out
of the both of ya. Just shut up.”

“Let me go!” cried Chona.

“Untie me, you dirty sons-a-bitches!”

“Nobody is going into your parent’s house,” lied
Tom. “Just calm down, honey, we’re not going anywhere.”

The room was silent as the rage drained from
Shari’s face. She stared at Senator Levitz. “What happened?” Shari
asked. “Mr. Levitz, you look like you’ve been to hell and back.
Tom, will you help Merle get cleaned up? And then I want to hear
about everything that has happened. The whole world seems to have
gone crazy.”

Chona broke free from Sam and she squatted next
to the bed. “Shari, Senator Levitz is going into your parent’s
house.”

Shari’s eyes flashed with anger and once again,
she began thrashing against her bonds. “I’ll kill you!” she
screamed. “I’ll bash your brains in! You stay out of there! Let me
up! Let me off this bed!”

“That wasn’t nice,” said Sam.

“Damn it, Chona,” grunted Tom. “Senator Levitz,
why don’t you follow me? I’ll see if I can find you something to
change into and you can get cleaned up.”

“What about that Super Glue?” asked Sam.

“Untie me!”

Chapter 26

“I’m sorry,” said Senator Levitz, “but I just
don’t see it. I’ve known Shari her entire life. She can be very
stubborn. She doesn’t want anyone going inside her parent’s house
and I think we have to respect that.”

Tom looked at Levitz in disbelief. The shower
and change of clothes had done nothing, Tom thought, except
transform the man back into a bleeding heart liberal. Senator
Levitz wouldn’t listen to the facts. His only concern seemed to be
Shari and how she felt about things. They sat in the dining room
while Sam held Chona at bay in the living room. She made no bones
about not liking Senator Levitz and that feeling appeared to be
mutual. Chona sat on the sofa and read the journals, while Sam
watched an old Brando movie and ate microwave popcorn. Tom
continued on with his argument. “What about the microchips?” he
asked, “you saw her, are you saying that was rational
behavior?”

“Tom, Shari has experienced a tragedy that you
and I can’t even fathom. Her parents were her entire world. She was
crushed when she lost them and she was subsequently damaged in the
aftermath. Who are we to say what is rational or not? This is your
wife we’re talking about. How can you just sit there while she’s
upstairs, tied to her bed, like some kind of wild animal? I just
find that deplorable.”

Tom shook his head. “You don’t understand.
You’re not listening to me.”

Senator Levitz sat at the end of the table and
he stood up. “You keep saying that, but what about Shari? What
about her rights as a human being? I demand that you go upstairs
and cut those ropes, Tom. Shari’s heart is crying out to be
freed.”

Tom didn’t like looking up at the diminutive
politician, so he rose to his feet. “Please,” he said, “tell me
more about Shari’s rights as a human being. Oh, and try not to
forget that your own wife is next door, right now, probably crying
her eyes out. She thinks you’re dead, Senator. As a human being,
doesn’t she have the right to know that you’re alive?”

“You know damn well that I have to remain
hidden. That was dirty pool, Tom, dirty pool.”

Chona walked into the room, carrying an open
ledger. Her eyes and mouth were wide open.

Levitz held his chin high in the air. “I guess
I’m going to have to do this by myself,” he said. “I will not stand
idly by while my dear friend has her human rights trampled.”

“You’re not untying her,” said Tom. “I won’t
allow it.”

“You just watch me.”

“Sit down and shut up, both of you!” shouted
Chona. She slammed the open journal down onto the table.
“Everything has changed. You both have to read this.”

“I don’t have time to read, not while a fellow
citizen is suffering.”

Chona picked up the journal and in three swift
steps, she was standing next to Senator Levitz. She slid the
journal in front of him and jammed her finger down onto the open
page. “You aren’t going anywhere until after you’ve read this,” she
growled.

“What are you talking about?” asked Tom. “What
did you find in there?”

“This Norma woman, she wrote about Senator
Levitz. And Tom, she also wrote about you.”

Patronizingly, Levitz nodded his head to Chona.
“Norma and I were friends for many years. I’m not surprised that
you’d find mention of me in her journals. She looked up to me.”

“She wrote about me?” asked Tom. “I don’t ever
remember meeting her.”

“This is a stall tactic,” said Levitz. “I’m
going upstairs.”

“You’re going to sit your ass down in that
chair,” said Sam, who was now standing in the room. “Don’t make me
get rough with ya.”

“This is ridiculous,” grunted Levitz, but taking
his seat. “Fine, where would you like me to start? I’m warning you,
this isn’t going to change my mind.”

“Start reading at the top of the page,” said
Chona. “This is going to blow your mind.”

Tom stared at Chona. She no longer sounded
angry. Slowly, she backed away from Levitz and the journal as if
they were possessed by demons. Sam walked over to her and he took
her into his arms.

Levitz began reading. At first, he chuckled and
then he rolled his eyes. And then he looked as if an invisible gong
had been rung, right behind his head. He sat straight up in his
chair and his head snapped back. “Dear God,” he cried. “No… no,
this is impossible. What sort of trickery is this?”

“That ain’t no trickery,” said Sam. “What the
hell does it say?”

Levitz shot Tom a haunted look and then he
continued to read. The color drained from his face and his hands
began to tremble. “I can’t believe it,” he whispered. “I won’t
believe it. How did you do this? Who put you up to this?”

“Shut up,” said Chona, “and keep reading. Tom is
waiting.”

Suddenly, Tom didn’t want anything more to do
with the journal. His mouth felt dry and he could feel his blood
pressure rising. He watched Levitz, theatrically slapping his
forehead and whimpering like a child as he continued to read. Five
long minutes passed. Tom’s lunch began to roll over in his stomach.
Finally, Levitz motioned for Tom to join him at the far end of the
table. “Just tell me what it says,” he said. “I don’t want to read
it.”

“You have to read it,” said Levitz, mopping
sweat from his forehead.

“Read it, Tom,” said Chona.

Like a condemned man, Tom walked slowly around
the backside of the table. He then sat down as Levitz flipped pages
in the leather journal. He then slid the open book to Tom and
pointed to the top of the left hand page. “Start here,” said
Levitz. “Chona, do you know if Shari keeps any kosher liquor in the
house? I could really use a drink.”

“I’ll go take a look,” said Chona. “I’ll be
right back.”

Their little exchange terrified Tom. Only
minutes ago, the two had been at each other’s throats. Tom rubbed
his cheeks and began to read. Thirty seconds later, Tom pushed away
from the table. “No… no,” he moaned. “This has to be some kind of
sick joke.”

Senator Levitz shook his head. “I don’t think
so,” he said. “Just keep reading. You haven’t seen anything…
yet.”

Marie hacked away at the door with the crowbar,
but the door was much sturdier than it had originally appeared.
Doris stood at the open window. There didn’t seem to be any air in
the little room and something else bothered her. The window was on
the west side of the house, which was the direction the storm had
come from, yet there wasn’t a drop of moisture to be seen. Doris
thought that with the west wind had lashed the heavy downpour, that
there should have been standing water in the little room. At the
very least, the carpeting should have been wet.

“You piece of shit!” Marie screamed. “Damn
it!”

Doris watched Marie as she repeatedly jammed the
crowbar into the door, as if it were a living thing that refused to
die. She then turned away and stared down at the ladder. On the
ground, the ladder looked a mile away. Doris fought the urge to
panic. What if Marie couldn’t open the door? How long would it take
for someone to come looking for them? “Open that damned door!” she
shouted at Marie.

“What do you think I’m trying to do?”

“Get out of my way!” Doris cried, and then she
lowered her shoulder and charged the death-defying door. There was
a loud crash and Doris was thrown backwards. She landed on her
backside with a plop. The door had barely flexed.

“That was stupid,” said Marie. “You could’ve
been hurt and I can’t carry your fat ass out of here. You’re not
hurt, are you?”

Doris rubbed her shoulder and shook her head.
“I’m fine. I’m just claustrophobic, you know that.”

Marie swore under her breath and turned back to
the door. “Hey,” she said, “look, you knocked it open.”

Doris looked up and sure enough, the door was
hanging open. This seemed very strange to her, but she scrambled to
her feet and gathered up her bag. She was desperate to get out of
the little room. Marie was right behind her. They charged out into
a dark and narrow hallway. What little light there was, spilled out
from the open doorway. “Give me a flashlight,” said Doris, “I can’t
see a damn thing.”

“You were supposed to grab the flashlights.”

“Are you kidding me?”

Marie laughed. “Will you just settle down? I
grabbed each of us a flashlight. What do you think I am,
stupid?”

Doris didn’t like the way Marie had said that,
but she was thankful that Marie had remembered the flashlights. She
watched as Marie dug in her canvas sack. A moment later, a beam of
light appeared inside the sack. Marie handed the glowing flashlight
to Doris and she pulled a matching one from out of the sack. She
then flicked it on.

The hallway looked straight out of a Howard
Johnson’s. There were doors offset from each other, roughly fifteen
apart. The carpet was done in shades of cream and swirls of burnt
orange. From where they stood, the hallway seemed endless. “Where
should we start?” asked Doris.