The week Freddy began his run for mayor of his town was a whirlwind. After allowing himself time to think it over again the rest of the weekend, he made the decision that he was committed to running and nothing would stand in the way of that desire. Not wanting to divide his attention and also wanting to keep time available for Michael and Evan, Freddy took a temporary hiatus from his job as public defender to run for mayor full time. He was determined to make this work. Even if he didn’t win, the campaign would shed a spotlight on a town that was in desperate need of reform.
The Monday after Freddy’s arrest, he made another appearance in court, this time with the video footage from that previous Friday night. The police officers who had beat him mercilessly were in attendance and were infuriated as they saw the footage was preserved. Freddy recalled their violations of the law and their misconduct while handling him in custody. Seeing all of the evidence together, the judge, a woman in her early 50’s, dismissed the case, to the embarrassment of the district attorney’s office and the fury of the police department.
On the heels of this legal victory, Freddy had called around to the local media to put together a press conference. Standing on the steps of the court house with Michael, Evan and his court appointed lawyer by his side, Freddy made the announcement that would change his life forever.
“Good afternoon everyone” Freddy began. “I’m glad you could all be here today. My name is Freddy Benson and I am announcing my intention to run for mayor this fall. As I have experienced first hand in this court room today, our city is beholden to political interests that are not working in the best interests of the residents of this town.
“Our lives are held hostage to a corrupt mayor’s office that looks to use its police force as a revenue generator for the politicians, rather than a force to protect us and our civil liberties. Our police force uses the power of a mafia like union to scare politicians into allowing them to commit gross displays of brutality and corruption on a regular basis. The time for this system to have ended was many decades ago. The next best time is now.”
As Freddy continued his remarks to a very intrigued group of reporters, Michael stood silently and looked on in dread. He knew there was no way out of this now. He tried for the last few days to talk Freddy out of this decision, but his husband was very stubborn and having absolutely none of his objections. Resigning himself to this new reality, Michael tried to present a smile, as Freddy continued on with his remarks.
“I know the odds of defeating the political establishment in this town are slim, but they are not non existent. I hope that by pounding the pavement, meeting with voters and stressing the values of my campaign, that I can pull off an upset and become the next mayor of this town. The town I grew up in and currently raise a child in needs a champion. I intend to be that champion. Now without further ado, I am happy to take any questions you may have.”
As Freddy was peppered with questions by eager reporters, Evan stood next to Michael and looked up at his father. All he wanted was for his papa to spend more time with him. By wasting his time doing this, in Evan’s estimation, that would never come to pass. He knew that things weren’t so great in this town and that the police were horrible, but Evan wondered why Freddy had to be the one to do this and not someone else. He tried to put on a brave face, but cracks were showing in his demeanor.
When the press conference was concluded, Freddy made his way over a video reporter and got their business card. He intended to set up a taped interview for webcast, hoping to use the power of the web to spread his campaign’s message across town. When he finished schmoozing with reporters, he walked with Michael and Evan into town and began to hand out fliers to random pedestrians on the street.
“Hi Freddy Benson” he said to a random passerby. “I’m running to be your next mayor.”
As Michael and Evan looked on feeling a mix of embarrassment and dread, most of the town’s residents ignored him and refused to take his fliers. Those that did engage with him peppered him with questions about his campaign and why he was bothering to run.
“You can’t win” one old man said.
“You’re wasting your time” an old woman said.
“You can’t expect to win in this town with a campaign like that” a construction worker fixing a pothole said.
Freddy smiled as he tried to change these voters minds, but they were so far not coming around to his way of thinking. A mother and her baby in a stroller passed by and stopped to chat with him.
“I see you have a cute little baby in the stroller” Freddy said, as he leaned down and smiled at the infant.
“Why thank you” the mother responded. “He’s a year old and he’s my flesh and blood.”
“He’s so precious. I remember when my son was that age. He was so cute too.”
Freddy stood up and gently put his hand on Evan’s shoulder.
“This is my son Evan” Freddy said.
“Nice to meet you, Evan” the mother replied. “I wish you and your father luck in his campaign.”
“Thank you” Evan quietly murmured.
As the mother passed them by, another older man passed by with a feisty Australian Shepherd. The dog was very jittery, as her owner struggled to calm her.
“She just gets nervous around new people” the dog owner said, as he smiled at Freddy.
“That’s alright” Freddy replied. “When I was a teenager, my neighbor had a dog like that. She was very nice. I’m Freddy Benson, by the way. I’m running for mayor of this town.”
As Freddy chatted to the dog owner, Michael continued to feel exasperated over his husband’s embarrassing attempts to try to win over voters on the street. In addition, this dog was making Michael feel agitated, being that she reminded him of Freddy’s neighbor’s dog Ellie, the one who Freddy knocked up when he was Fido. After a few minutes of conversation, the dog owner went on his way, wishing Freddy luck in his mayoral campaign, though not committing to voting for him.
After about an hour or so of this constant rejection, Freddy resigned himself to go home and devise a more effective strategy. Before they left for the evening, Michael noticed a poster plastered on a random store front.
“Missing:
My dog Buddy has been missing since January 1st. He is a 2 year old German Shepherd male with a great disposition and shaggy coat of fur. If you find him, approach him cautiously and hand him a treat. Call my communication device at 0916066106290. A reward will be discussed upon the return of my beloved pet.”
Something about this made Michael shudder for a moment. Even though he recognized the number being that of one of their neighbors, he hadn’t realized that the man even had a dog. Maybe it was because they lived a few blocks down and Michael didn’t regularly associate with his neighbors or walk around the block, but he could have sworn that he would have noticed if their neighbor had a dog like that. Regardless, something about this poster was not sitting right with him.
“I don’t like this one bit” Michael thought to himself, as he stared at the dog on the missing dog poster. “It’s a very bad omen.”
Michael was not overly superstitious, but after his encounter with the Ruggeri ring as a teenager, he would never dismiss the seemingly absurd out of hand. Not after learning about what lied beyond this Earth.
Noticing Michael staring at the dog poster, Freddy stopped walking with Evan and turned to face him.
“What’s the hold up?” Freddy called out.
“Uh, nothing” Michael nervously replied, as he got one final glance of the poster, before joining Freddy and Evan on their walk back to the car.
On the ride home, Freddy tried to put an optimistic spin on the day’s events, while Evan tried to be supportive, but also a realist, in regards to his papa’s ambitions. Michael, on the other hand, sat in silence, as he worried about his feelings over the missing dog poster. While he didn’t think it was anything to worry about, something innately told him that it was a reason to panic. It would turn out that those instincts were right on the money.
A few days later….