After Freddy and Michael reminisced about the time that Michael’s father stayed over at their apartment for a bit, they could see outside their broken window that it was getting late.
“Guess the police aren’t coming, huh?" Freddy said, as he got up from the couch.
“I didn’t think they would” Michael replied, as he got up with him. “With the campaign you’re running, you’re basically all on your own in regard to protecting yourself.”
“That’s absolutely insane. I find it hard to believe that they’d let us get injured or killed because I said there needs to be reforms to the police department.”
“You heard their police union leader on tv today, Freddy. They don’t want you on the ballot at all. They see you as a threat. They certainly aren’t going to protect you after all of this.”
“Absurd. Let’s take some pictures of the broken window and table to send to our insurance company and also in case we hear from the police in the morning.”
“Alright. I mean, it might be better to wait until the morning when we can get better shots, but suit yourself.”
“Better to preserve the scene of the crime as soon after as possible, in my opinion.”
“Ok.”
Freddy borrowed Michael’s communication device and snapped some pictures of the broken window, the broken table and the brick in the living room. When he was done, he followed Michael upstairs where they got ready for bed. Before making their way into their room, they peered into Evan’s room to see him fast asleep. Smiling, they quietly closed the door shut and got into bed together.
Sleep did not come right away for the two men, so they continued to chat about politics.
“Let’s say you were hired to run a political campaign like mine full time” Freddy asked, as he looked at Michael in the dark. “What would you do to help raise my polling numbers? What’s your idea for a strategy?”
“My feeling on it is this” Michael replied. “Presuming I even believed a campaign like yours was even worth giving strategic advice to, I would say that a slow and steady rise works best. If you start peaking early, that gives the mayor and the political establishment a ton of time to damage you and weaken your standing come November. Your best bet is to rise little by little, until you can get within striking distance a few weeks before voting begins. From there, you work to push yourself over the edge at the last minute and try to score an upset victory.”
“That’s some very good advice, Michael. Thank you.”
Michael shrugged, as he tried to settle into a position that was conducive to sleep. After tossing and turning for a while, Freddy did so as well.
The next three months saw little traction in Freddy’s campaign. The police never stopped by the house the next day, nor did they take down a report at the precinct on the brick throwing psycho. As a result, Freddy and Michael's insurance company refused to cover the damage to the window and the broken table. Michael had suggested that Freddy might want to hire security, but this suggestion was rebuffed. It didn’t really matter all that much, anyway. Despite his efforts to reach out to voters face to face, Freddy's polling numbers did not budge much at all.
The negative media onslaught served its purpose. Freddy’s approval ratings amongst voters in their own town, if they even knew who he was, were abysmal. He was perpetually stuck at just 5% in a matchup against the incumbent mayor and wasn’t seeing a way to change that. Michael had put more pressure on Freddy numerous times in the preceding months to drop out of the race, but Freddy was stubborn and determined to see this to the end.
While Freddy didn’t make much of a showing in the polls, his campaign did make one important accomplishment. The mayor’s approval ratings started to drop and voters began to question him more aggressively on the issues Freddy brought up on the campaign trail. In town hall meetings, the mayor was asked about high settlement amounts for police brutality, his penchant for spending their tax dollars wildly and the fact that the whole local government operated under his control. Even if the mayor was beginning to feel that Freddy wasn’t a real threat to his position as mayor, the heat his administration was receiving from the voters was making him nervous.
Sensing weakness in the mayor’s standing, Freddy received a race altering call in early April that would change the trajectory of his campaign forever. A local political club was inviting him to speak at their monthly function, where they would make a decision on who to endorse in the race. Such an opportunity excited him immensely, seeing as his otherwise lackluster campaign showed no other signs of life.
This recent announcement alarmed the mayor and his political aides.
“What are those fuckers trying to pull over there?” the mayor angrily asked his cabinet in his office. “This Freddy guy has been sputtering like an old locomotive for three months now. Why would they want to elevate him with an invitation to speak at their political function this month?”
“Perhaps they’re mad at you and are using this invitation as a means of showing spite” one of the mayor’s aides suggested.
“Or perhaps they’re looking to get some sort of concession from this office, with this Freddy guy as a bargaining chip” another one of the mayor’s aides suggested.
“Well, I don’t want to be left in the dark over what their game is here” the mayor said. “I want one of you to go to the function and listen to Freddy’s speech. See if he somehow impresses these people and what their reaction to his communist pitch is. Go around the room and listen to the conversations of the political leaders of the club. Find out definitively whether this is a serious show of interest in this bozo’s campaign or if they’re trying to get something out of me.”
“I’ll do it” another random aide volunteered.
“Good. I just want it to be known that, unless it comes to the point where we have to give out some sort of payment, I don’t want you agreeing to anything in exchange for their endorsement of my campaign. If they want to be iced out by my office for endorsing him, then that's their prerogative. If we start throwing money at anyone who might endorse that Freddy guy to secure their support, then the rest of the clubs will smell blood and do the exact same thing. We can’t afford to be throwing money at these groups left and right unless we absolutely have to. This race is not close. We shouldn’t be acting like it is.”
The mayor’s aides nodded, as the mayor pointed to his advisor Marley.
“Marley, let’s see that file you compiled on Freddy Benson again.”
“Yes sir” Marley replied, as he ran to grab a blank folder and placed it on the mayor’s desk.
Peering into its contents, the mayor looked at the various documents showing records, images and other information about Freddy and his husband Michael.
“Public defender” the mayor read aloud “a homosexual, failed track and field racer. Nothing in his background is that objectionable that can be used to sink him. We just have to wait until he either says something on camera that can be used against him or hope he doesn’t rise in the polls anymore.”
“He’ll probably stay at 5%” one of the mayor’s advisors insisted. “So long as we keep people’s perceptions of him negative, he doesn’t have much room to grow.”
“Still” the mayor replied “I’m worried about that husband of his. Michael Scavolini. Harvard graduate? How the hell did he end up as a stay at home dad after graduating from a place like Harvard? And with such good grades too? Someone like that should be working in the highest levels of government or at a big corporate law firm, not baby sitting some eleven year old. How did he end up in this town?”
“They grew up in this town” one of the mayor’s advisors replied. “There’s some sort of sentimental attachment to this place that got them to move back here ten years ago.”
“Where were they before?”
“They were living in Sacramento for about six years prior.”
“Marley, I want you to get more information about this Michael character. Something isn’t adding up about him. I want to know why he’s not working in a bigger law firm and making more money and what he’s doing, if anything, to help this Freddy guy run his campaign.”
“Yes sir” Marley replied.
“We may have put all of our focus on Freddy up until this point, but I’m worried that the real threat is the man he’s married to.”
The mayor stared at a picture of Michael, as the rest of his advisors got up and left his office.
The day of the political function arrived in no time at all. Getting ready, Michael looked at himself in the bathroom mirror, as he fixed up his hair and and cleaned up his face. Stopping for a moment, Freddy peeked his head in to look at his husband.
“Almost ready? Freddy asked. “I don’t want to be late. This is a very important day for my campaign.”
“Almost” Michael replied.
Freddy kissed Michael on the cheek, before he went back to their bedroom. Michael tried to distract himself from his feelings, but he couldn’t get them off of his mind. He had left Evan with his mother for the day, who loved to dote on her grandson. What bothered Michael was that this was the first, and only, such function they had been invited to so far. By this point, the mayor had already locked up the endorsements of half the political clubs in town.
“What do these guys want with Freddy?” Michael thought to himself, as he finished getting ready. “What’s their game here?”
Michael stepped out of the bathroom to see Freddy dressed in a nice suit, with his shirt, tie and shoes looking spiffy.
“Ready?” Freddy asked, as he pecked Michael on the cheek.
“Ready” Michael replied.
Freddy smiled, as he held Michael’s hand and walked with him down the stairs and into his car. Driving to a small venue on the very end of town, Freddy projected confidence, while Michael fidgeted in the passenger seat.
“Everything is going to be fine” Freddy said as he drove. “You don’t have to be so nervous. If anything, I’m the one who should be nervous, but I’m not. I’m totally fine.”
“I’m not like you” Michael replied. “I don’t take to these kind of big social gatherings well. I get nervous in front of all these people.”
“Let me do all the talking, then. You just stand next to me looking all pretty like you always do.”
“I’m not pretty” Michael frowned.
“Handsome then” Freddy corrected, as he briefly turned to Michael, licking his lips. “And sexy.”
Michael let out an awkward grin, as Freddy pulled into the parking lot of the venue. When they got inside, a large gathering of people formed around them. Many political leaders and important people in the community and the northern part of the state went to shake hands with and talk to Freddy. Freddy was a natural in this environment, chatting them up easily. Michael, on the other hand, quietly stood next to him, awkwardly looking at the floor and occasionally glancing up to say hello to random glad-handers.
After about half an hour of schmoozing, the meeting was called to order.
“Good afternoon, everyone” an older man said at a podium. “Welcome to the Alan Cullen Democratic Club. We are excited today to have a very special guest with us. He is the man who is looking to challenge this town’s two term mayor, Mr. Freddy Benson.”
The room applauded, as Freddy stood up and waved to the crowd. Michael sat and awkwardly watched these events unfold.
“In just a few minutes, we’ll be inviting Mr. Benson up to the podium to say a few words to you all, but before I do that, I have some business to attend to first.”
As the older man rattled off the itinerary list for the club’s monthly meeting, Michael bent into Freddy’s ear and whispered to him quietly.
“I need to go up to the podium with you.”
“Why, Michael? That would be awkward for you to be standing behind me like that. People are going to think it’s weird.”
“I need to be near you in case you turn into a dog again.”
“What are the odds of that happening now? I haven’t transformed in three months. Why would it all of a sudden happen right here in the middle of my speech?”
“Because it happened at an inopportune moment last time—“
“Three months ago.”
“And we still haven’t gotten any closer to getting back that ring.”
During the three months prior to the political club function, Freddy and Michael had attempted numerous times to get back the Ruggeri ring from Tom. They tried to convince him that it was theirs, but he did not budge. They tried to offer him money for it, but he would not take it. They even scoured around his house hoping for a moment to steal it, but with his unemployment, Tom was home most of the time and when he wasn’t, he wasn’t gone long. That, and a strong security system, made a robbery basically impossible.
Sitting at a table in the gathering hall, Michael continued to whisper in Freddy’s ear.
“Let me go up there with you just to be on the safe side.”
“I don’t think that's such a good idea.”
“I think it would be even worse if you dogged out in front of all these people, before I could safely get you off the stage.”
Freddy sighed, as he agreed to let Michael come up with him. As they finished arguing, the older man on the podium pointed to Freddy.
“And now” the older man said “without further ado, I invite Mr. Benson to say a few words about his campaign.”
The room applauded, as Freddy got up, with Michael following him. As they made their way to the podium, a security guard stopped Michael from walking up.
“Where do you think you’re going?” the gruff security guard asked.
“I—“ Michael stuttered.
“He’s with me” Freddy insisted, as he extended his hand and pulled Michael up onto the podium with him.
The security guard shrugged, as Freddy got to the podium and looked out at the attendees below him. Michael stood behind him and watched as his husband began to speak.
“Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman” Freddy started.
As Freddy began to give his campaign stump speech, Michael watched his husband’s body closely. One too many brown hairs on Freddy’s body and he would drag his husband off the podium immediately. Little did Michael know that his insistence upon being there would save Freddy from dogging out in such a public place.
Across town….