“He should never have been a part of Cal threatening her grandbaby.”
“Yep. I would bet between your mom and Duke, they get several signed today. We need to find other places where we can knock out a large group of signatures.”
“How about church?” I suggested.
“Call them and see.”
I called Reverend Jackson and told him what I wanted to do.
“Hmm, that might be possible,” he hedged. “Did you hear we’re raising funds for a new roof?”
I just laughed.
“I’m sure I need a tax write-off for something. Call Caryn Buckley on Monday and tell her what you need. We have a process for my charitable donations,” I said.
“Smart man. Make sure I fulfill my end of the bargain first,” Reverend Jackson joked.
“I’d like to address the congregation on Sunday, as well.”
“If you somehow bring God into the conversation and mention the building fund, you have a deal.”
“How long do I get?” I asked.
“How big is your donation going to be?” the reverend countered.
I wouldn’t commit to anything because Caryn had made it clear that I wasn’t allowed to agree to anything like that. We had set it up so that I could just say that. Once word got out, the direct requests for money had slowed way down. Most of the local charities now knew to bypass me and talk to Caryn.
We finally agreed that the reverend would give me a minimum of five minutes and a maximum of ten. Reverend Jackson would also have tables set up in the lobby where we could have people sign Duke’s petition.
I was discovering that politics was all about making deals.
◊◊◊
Brook had called while I was on the phone, so I called her back.
“What are you up to?” she asked.
I told her about shooting another vlog with Tracy and that I was working on getting Duke elected mayor.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Why would you do that?” Brook asked.
I explained how our current mayor had been arrested and that left only Thomas Fox standing in the coming election.
“Isn’t he that idiot that made up all that stuff about you and Pam?” Brook asked.
“Yep, and my mom seems to be looking at this as payback time. She’s out right now getting Duke’s petition signed so he can get on the ballot. I’ve been trying to come up with ways to get enough signatures. I called my church, and Reverend Jackson agreed to let me talk to the congregation and have a sign-up table.”
“You really are a ‘stupid boy’ sometimes. All you have to do is ask, and I bet we can find a hundred or more people to go door-to-door this afternoon.”
“How are we going to do that?” I asked.
“I have twenty-four cheerleaders, and you have probably a hundred guys playing football. We do a call tree and have them all meet us at the school. Give them all a goal of signing up ten people each by Monday. Easy-peasy, and you’re done.”
Uncle John had always said I could get more done with the help of others. This sounded like a fun plan.
“We could make it a competition. We could pit the freshmen, JV, and varsity against one another. Whoever gathers the most signatures gets a prize of some kind,” I said.
“I know what the girls all want: a date with you,” Brook teased.
“Didn’t we just have this discussion in reverse? You sure you want to do that?” I asked.
“It’s just a date,” Brook retorted.
Apparently, her mind was made up. It was for a good cause, so I didn’t fight it.
◊◊◊
I don’t know why I was surprised when almost the whole football team and all the cheerleaders showed up to help out. My dad had come with me to help explain how the signatures had to be collected so they couldn’t be challenged. He predicted that Mr. Fox would do everything possible to keep Duke off the ballot. He’d called Ms. Dixon, and she agreed. She looked forward to facing our nemesis in court again. She seemed to dislike him almost as much as my mom did.
Brook came home with me after we’d sent our minions off to do their work. She, Peggy, and the little ones helped me shoot footage of Duke doing different things for his campaign ad. I made sure I captured a lot of tail-wagging and wet doggy-kisses. The little ones and Duke must have been tired from being my actors because we found them all piled up in the living room, taking a nap. Of course, I added that to the footage.
Mom and Dad were going out with Brook’s parents tonight. They planned to try the seafood restaurant in Washington that had fresh crab legs flown in each weekend. They asked if we wanted to join them, but Brook declined. I was a little disappointed because I love king crab legs. Rumor had it that they would have Dungeness crabs tonight instead of king crab legs, so I was a little mollified. Still, I extracted a promise from my dad to bring me some home if they had them.
◊◊◊
“Where do you want to go for dinner?” I asked.
Peggy had taken the little ones and Duke to Pam’s for dinner. The plan was for them to take Little David and Coby swimming. The added bonus was Lacy, Pam’s mom, got some much-needed grandma time.
“I thought we would order in,” Brook replied with a sexy smile.
