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“No. I don’t deserve your vote, but I’m going to ask for it anyway. This is not about who is more deserving. It’s about who can deliver. Who cares. Who owes a debt to this community the most and is ready to serve, and that is me. Story time, as they say on the clock app.” After the laughter settles, I say, “My family, the Shelbys, have been a bad actor around these parts for a long time, but it didn’t start that way. Our patriarch Josiah Shelby began this community as something of a co-op. It was his dream to form a simple community where everyone thrived. A former sea captain, Josiah saw how greed and power corrupted in the noblest men. Some people in my family say Josiah saw the light, that time and circumstance changed him into the man he should have been all along. That when he died and bequeathed his sugar farm to his nephew Mathias, my tenth great-grandfather, he told him our family’s motto:By will, by might. I don’t know the real story, and it’s lost to time, but as we know, history is told by the victors. Regardless, even before I inherited a fortune no person could possibly spend in ten lifetimes, I knewby will, by mighthas no place in our society.
“I saw how one man’s will brought families with small children across the border to be exploited in our supposedly free land. How women were trapped in abusive relationships with no place for comfort. I vowed I would be the change I wanted to see. I would do everything I could to make my mother, Isabella, proud of me.
“Isabella Sousa Vasconcelos, the daughter of a wealthy Brazilian family, was promised to the Shelby family at age sixteen. She once told me she fell in love with my smart, charming father the moment they were introduced.” I have to swallow. “Y’all, she was the best mom.” I take out my handkerchief, wiping away a stray tear. “The very best. I watched her care for the people who worked our land. She created a school, a clinic, and housing for them. Many of you only know that she was paralyzed. What you don’t know is the accident was because she was trying to save me.” I pause, looking at the crowd. “If she gave everything to me. I can do no less for you. I humbly put my name forward and ask for your vote. My vow to you all is to be someone she would be proud of and to work hard for you.”
I step away from the wave of applause from the crowd.
“Man, that was something. You had them eating out of your hands,” LL exclaims, thumping me on the back with his heavy hand.
“I mean it,” I say over my shoulder. “There are too many politicians making promises, then caving to big money once they get into office.”
“I wouldn’t have joined you otherwise,” he tells me. “You just brought it home.”
I nod, accepting his congratulations but not seeing the one person I want to share this moment with.
“Hey.”
I turn to see Angel approaching, Mama- and Pa-Pete on his heels. We clasp hands, and he pulls me in for a tight hug. “Proud of you, irmão,” he says for my ears alone. “Your mãe and vó would be too. Trust me on this,” he continues in words I taught him many years ago when we were both boys helpless to do anything to save the mothers we loved from being hurt by the man I idolized when I was little above all others.
My chest is full of emotion. He knows more than anyone save Nikki what I endured and the guilt I still carry.
“I’ll make sure I’m worthy of it,” I tell him.
“I know you will.” He confirms with a nod of his head.
I pull away and greet the well-wishers and campaign staff.
Nat organized another meet and greet with what she termed the “bring it home” donors many of whom were from out of state. Though I know the stage of this campaign is national, it still seems wrong to have them come here instead of somewhere out of sight. Making sure to include local partners and businesses in the endeavor, I did what I needed to assure them I’m the better, safer bet. LL smooths over any questions about Nikki, who I’m starting to get irritated about not being there since the speech.
As soon as I find myself free, I go in search of my wife, pretty sure I’ll find her under a pile of children, doing some type of acrobatic trick for them.
After asking the fifth person, I begin to worry.
“Have you seen Nikki?” I ask Krie, who’s manning The Camellia’s tent after volunteering to provide sides for the barbecue.
“Nope.” She shakes her head, consternation playing across her features. “I thought y’all were coming over to eat. I set aside some food special for y’all.”
“We will as soon as I find her,” I promise, pulling away, nodding at Kiyoshi, who’s sitting at an empty table, seemingly working and keeping an eye on his wife.
I scan the crowd wondering where Nikki can be. In my periphery I notice Kiyoshi whisper something to Krie, then fall into step beside me.
“What is she wearing?” he asks, already typing into his phone.
I take mine out, not thinking of contacting campaign security until now. “A periwinkle nineteen-fifties vintage dress,” I tell him, still scanning the crowd, worry eating at me like gnats in the summer on sweaty skin.
“My men will find her. I have all of Krie’s cousins looked after for her peace of mind,” the tech billionaire informs me.
“I appreciate it,” I tell him, yet I know it has more to do with the women in the Love family’s penchant for disappearing into thin air more than it has to do with regular safety.
“No problem,” he says. His next words prove my point. “May I ask if you were on good terms with your wife today?”
“Excellent.”
He arches a patrician brow in doubt.
“We resolved the issue from the other day.” Though I pause, thinking we didn’t really say any more about Nat joining the campaign other than I’m letting her go once we’re done with it. Surely that wouldn’t be enough to make her leave me. The last time she left, it was obvious she was highly upset. She’d stormed out after confronting me. I can’t see her leaving after sharing her cotton candy and the naughty promise I gave he afterwards. She’s not a deceiver. She’d leave me and do nothing to hide it. And she’d know without a doubt I would hunt her down just like I did last time.
“They will still try it,” Kiyoshi tells me, as if reading my thoughts. Knowing what they risk, they still will leave if given enough cause, my friend. You have to make sure you stop giving her reasons. I saw the ex-fiancée is back on the campaign. Nothing you do on that front will ever assuage your wife. I made sure all such loose ends were severed but not soon enough. Cut them and burn them.” He falls silent after dropping that gem.
