Chapter 35
When Billy and Brian re-grouped with Julie, Ben, and Holly, Ben was on
his cell phone with a sheepish look on his face. Julie mouthed,
"Josh".
Ben, for his part, was getting an earful from his parents, who were both
on the line. Suddenly, the new phone they'd given him as a birthday
present didn't seem quite so wonderful.
"All three adults with you told you to stop and you didn't."
Donna pointed out.
"I know. I already told them I'm sorry." Ben explained.
"That's a start anyway." Donna muttered.
"He WAS provoked." Josh noted.
"Are you saying that justifies him calling an adult a moron, or a
drunk? Or how he ignored the adults we clearly told him were in charge
while he was there?" Donna asked sharply.
"Ummm…no." Josh hedged. "I'm just saying it
wasn't like he picked the fight."
"Joshua…"
"Look, obviously he shouldn't have ignored the adults around him
or spoken to any adult, even a drunken, retarded Republican like
that."
"You're really not helping." Donna told her husband in a
tight, quiet voice.
"Do you want me to come home now?" Ben asked somberly.
"If you want to, but first you need to fix it." Josh replied.
"And how exactly do you suppose he should do that?" Donna asked.
"Apologize." Josh said briefly.
"He said he already did." Donna noted.
"I could call back later." Ben offered.
"No!" both parents chorused.
"Ohhh-kay." Ben agreed.
"He should apologize to the retarded, Republican drunk, and the
people that saw it." Josh maintained.
"How is he supposed to do that? Invite them all back?" Donna
laughed.
"Not exactly…" Josh let it trail off.
"Oh, no…" Ben could hear his mother shaking her head through
the phone. "Absolutely not."
"Billy's there. He'll make sure nothing happens."
"Like he did before when he got physically assaulted?"
"He'll... make sure nothing happens to BEN." Josh amended.
"No." Donna replied, but her resolve was weakening. Ben could
hear it in her voice.
"Ben, don't you think you should apologize to the retarded,
drunken, Republican guy?"
"Yes…" Ben agreed reluctantly.
"Me too. So does your mother." Josh continued. "You should
take care of that. Get Billy to help you. Is he there?"
"Yeah…"
"Josh." Donna was getting more strident.
"And when you do the rant thing, Ben? You should always start with
your guy's name and what they're running for, that way if they
edit the rest out later, you still get your guy air time." Josh
advised.
"JOSHUA." Donna's volume increased dramatically.
"I mean when you get older. Not now. No rants at any adults
now." Josh amended. "Put Billy on."
"Yes, sir." Billy took the phone.
"Have you got someone there you trust?" Josh asked.
Donna interrupted. "How about, `Is your face okay, Billy?'
or `Thanks Billy, for standing between our son and some drunken
idiot'?"
"Fred's a game player; he's fine. Have you got someone you
trust?" Josh countered.
"I think so."
"Run Ben through a non-apology apology and don't let him get
away from you this time."
"Yes, sir." Billy smiled even though it hurt. "He really was
something, you know."
"Yeah…" Billy could hear the paternal pride in Josh's voice
before he coughed suddenly. "I mean, it was inappropriate and rude,
and you should point that out to him again."
Billy could only imagine the glare Donna as giving him at that moment.
"Oh and Fred?" Josh stopped Billy from hanging up.
"I want to know who this guy is, where he's from, who he works
for and what is dog's name is." Josh's voice hardened.
"Got it, boss. Bye, Donna."
"Bye, Billy. Put some ice on that face of yours."
They hung up and Billy got to work with Ben.
**************************************************
"You're sure you're okay with this?" Billy asked again.
"You've already asked him 4 times, Billy." Julie objected.
"I just don't want him to be nervous." Billy shot back.
"I think that ship has sailed." Brian pointed out as Ben just
stared at them looking like a deer in headlights.
"This is a bad idea." Jenny said again.
"Okay everybody, back off." Billy decided and waited until he
had some privacy with the oldest Lyman child. Instead of asking more
questions, he just waited silently until Ben decided to speak. It
didn't take more than 3 or 4 minutes, but it felt like a long time.
"I don't want to mess up again." Ben admitted.
"You didn't mess up, Tiger." Billy assured him.
"It feels like it. Mom and Dad are mad. Your face is all messed up.
I didn't listen to Brian or you or Julie. She's probably mad
too. They're going to be talking about what I said now instead of
her campaign."
"Julie's campaign is fine, my face will heal, and I'll tell
you a little secret about parents." Billy offered. "Sometimes,
when we get scared, it comes out sounding mad. But that's just
because we're mad at ourselves for not protecting our kids better.
Your mom and dad are miles and miles away. They can't see you or hug
you and they have to watch on TV while some drunken loser tries to
hurt
you."
"What if I screw it up more?" Ben asked.
"Hmmm…I hear there are some very reputable adoption agencies
around here. I'll give you a ride to one of them."
Ben chuckled.
"If you don't feel comfortable with this, say the word and
I'll take you back to the hotel. No questions asked. Nobody will
blame you."
"Really?" Ben questioned.
"Really." Billy leaned closer. "Listen, what you did today
took guts. It was quite a sight, Benjamin. We were all proud of you, we
were just concerned that you might get in over your head and get hurt.
You need to listen to us next time."
"There isn't gonna be a next time." Ben promised.
"Of course there is…you're a Lyman and Lyman's can't
help it. That's why the Fernandez family is going to reign supreme
in the political world."
"Right." Ben scoffed.
"You don't believe me? I'll sic Paige on you; Jenny
too." Billy threatened, but Ben only smiled sadly.
"Billy…I'm really sorry." Ben choked out.
"It's okay." Billy patted the young man's shoulder and
decided to tease him some more. "Plus now your dad is going to
seriously owe me for getting my faced messed up to protect you."
"Your face was messed up WAY before this." Ben teased back.
"I see you've inherited your father's quick wit." Billy
drawled. "So…what's your decision?"
"If I'm going to do this, I'm going to need another deep
fried Snicker bar." Ben slipped into negotiation mode.
"You know that's absolutely disgusting, right?" Ben just
smiled and Billy gave in just as Ben suspected he would. "Fine.
Let's go get your disgusting snack. I have the feeling that someone
from WCCO might be stopping by soon to talk to you."
*************************************************
Fueled on deep fried Snickers, Ben returned to the DFL booth
completely
wired. As promised, Rebecca and her crew `dropped by' to see all
the activity.
"Ben Lyman? My name is Rebecca, I'm with WCCO. Do you think I
could talk to you for a minute?"
Ben exchanged looks with Billy and getting Billy's nod of approval,
Ben agreed.
"I heard there was some excitement here today? Were you hurt?"
"No, Billy stepped in front of me to protect me. I'm fine."
Ben assured her.
"That must have been quite scary." Rebecca noted.
"I was too angry to be scared when it happened."
"What did the man say that you made me so mad?"
"He insulted me and my parents and our candidate. I shouldn't have
called him a moron though, even if he was totally out of line. If I get
the chance, I'd like to apologize to the guy. He can believe
whatever he wants about politics and Democrats; I just didn't like
it when he criticized my parents."
"I don't know many boys who would. Have you talked to your
parents since then?"
"Uh-huh." Ben rolled his eyes. "They saw the tape on your
website. They... weren't very happy."
Rebecca chuckled. "I bet they weren't. But you didn't get
sent back to Virginia?"
"No. They believe in Julie Peterson's campaign as much as I do.
She's going to be the greatest Congresswoman Minnesota ever
had." Ben said sincerely.
"Is that what your parents tell you?"
"No. Well, they agree with me, but I told them first. At least, I
told Dad first. Mom maybe already knew."
"I'm confused Ben, what do you mean?"
"Sometimes, the D triple C asks my parents to interview candidates
to figure out who they're going to run in an election. When Julie
first came out to meet us, I knew right away she was the one. She
already had plans for how to make things better in Minnesota. So Dad
and
I talked it over and decided to work on her campaign."
"It sounds like you're a big part Lyman Campaign
Consulting." Rebecca teased.
"No, we're all a part of the team. That's why my parents
were upset with me. I didn't listen to the other members of the team
when that guy got rude and it got somebody on our team hurt.
Teamwork is
the most important part of Lyman Campaign Consulting."
"I can see that. So if I'm an undecided voter, what would you
say to convince me to vote for you candidate?" Rebecca was curious
about what his answer might be.
"Julie Peterson has the experience, the character, and the right
plans to represent the people of Minnesota. She's going to work
very hard for the people here because this is her home and she cares
about what happens here."
"Very good sales pitch, Ben."
"Does she have your vote?" Ben asked.
"You know, if I lived in her District, I think she just might."
Rebecca admitted and made Ben smile. "You're a very smart young
man, Ben Lyman. I'm glad I got a chance to meet you."
"Thanks." Ben shook her offered hand. "Are you going to be
talking to the guy that hit Billy?"
"Maybe."
"Can you tell him I said `sorry'. I'm not supposed to
talk to adults that way…Plus, I probably shouldn't have said
that part about the drinking." Rebecca and Billy, who'd been
standing beside Ben the whole time, burst out laughing.
"If I talk to him, I will tell him you apologized." Rebecca
promised.
"Thanks. I should go back now." Ben indicated the busy booth
behind him.
"Yes, you should. Thanks Ben." Rebecca called after him. The she
turned to Billy who was still nearby. "He's a pretty special
kid." She remarked.
"Yes, he is." Billy agreed. "You did very well with
him."
"Thanks. I'd keep my eye on the 10:00 broadcast. I wouldn't
be surprised if we got part of this on air. Any chance I can get a word
with the candidate?"
"Every chance. Follow me." Billy led her over to Julie and the
two women had an in depth conversation about Julie's stands on
important issues that ran on WCCO the next day. But as Ben would
point
out, his fight with the drunken Republican got way more internet hits
than her policy interview. The eldest Lyman child had become a political
operative.
Two days later Josh took a phone call from a guy named Ed who
wouldn't give Liz a last name or company. She remembered the call
distinctly because she didn't think Josh would take the call from
some anonymous guy on the phone, but Josh had picked it up
immediately
and spoken to him for about 10 minutes.
When she was in his office later, trying to sort out his habitual mess
she found a pad of paper with the name Ed underlined at the top of it.
Underneath that were notes from their conversation:
Jerry Fornier – age 38, Manager- Burnsville Bowl, divorced
(restraining order!), DUI, multiple speeding violations, assault
(pending). No party affiliation, not registered to vote. Figures! No
dog.
Liz didn't know what that was all about, but if Josh was doing a
background check on the guy, he'd failed the check miserably. Just
reading about him gave Liz the creeps. Not knowing where to file it or
what campaign it was associated with, she just left it on his desk. But
she did wonder who the unfortunate Mr. Fornier was the rest of the day.
*For those who doubt the superiority of the Minnesota State Fair, my
friend Jennifer found this site that features some of the highlights:
http://www.citynoise.org/article/5143
<http://www.citynoise.org/article/5143>