Dead Man Running (47 page)

"I'm not going to hurt you, Tammy."

She hated
him using that name
.
  Only Granny T was permitted to call her that.
  "My name is Tamesha," she said.  "And you hurt my arm."

"I didn't mean to," he replied.  "Momma says I have strong fingers like Pop
-
Pop.  She always says how Pop
-
Pop was good with his hands, before he died.
"  He paused, thought for half a block.  "
He's dead now – cancer you know – so I guess his fingers aren't
so
strong anymore."

"What do you want?"

"I want you to be my friend," Hank answered.  His voice went down to a whisper.  "You're the only person I can trust," he added.

Tamesha knew they still had ten minutes before they reached school, before she could escape Hank's attentions.  She had no choice but to listen.

"My parents are weird and so are the Chins.  Don't you see it?
"  He looked around the bus, his eyes lingering on the bus driver seated behind the scratched Plexiglas.  "
They're not like me and you
, none of them are
.
"  He p
atted
her arm with his cold fingers.  "
As soon as I saw you, I knew you were meant for me.  God had given you to me."

"God gave me to my Momma and when she didn't want me,
He sent me to live with
my Granny T
,"
Tamesha said.

"That's not true," Hank shouted before modulating his voice again. 
Some of the other children emerged from their electronic haze to see what was happening.  Hank, disturbed by the sudden attention,
squeezed her arm
once more
,
n
ot
as hard as before
. 
He smiled vacantly. 

The scattering of students on the bus returned their attention to their electronic toys.

"God placed you on the Earth for me.  You and I will be married and multiply.  Like Adam and Eve."

"Okay," she said.  She wanted him to let her go.  Maybe by agreeing
to his ramblings
he would do so.

"We'll get married, make babies and leave home."  He placed a thoughtful finger against his nose.  "Maybe not in that order."  Tamesha smiled at him and he released her arm.  He smiled back, teeth numerous, wide and radiant.

His words came quickly as the bus pulled in front of the school.  "
Will you go with me Tammy?  You see I've decided to rename you Tammy.  How do you like your new name?  Don't you want to be a totally new person like me?"

"Yes," she said as she slipped past the delighted boy. 

There would be no bus ride home this afternoon
n
or
a bus ride
to school
tomorrow.  She wo
uld make sure of that.  Tamesha could fe
e
l the sickness coming over her already
, necessitating a ride home from Mr. or Mrs. Chin.  She w
ould
bravely volunteer to attend the last day of school, if her foster parents could see themselves clear to provide door to door transportation.

They would, because the Chin's were nice people.  It wasn't their fault
that
they lived next door to a monster
that
would likely kill them all.

Zombie Ben Wiley, murderer of thousands, was ushered into the Oval Office by a presidential aide.  As he stepped into the historic space, Axelrod and Obama awaited him.

The president, long and lean, was the first to extend his hand.  "Welcome, Ben," he said.

Wiley
then
shook hands with Axelrod.  The shrewd political operator had a reluctant smile on his thin lips.  "Good to see you again, Ben," he said and Ben Wiley counted that as the first of many lies he would hear in the room.

Why not bomb the two and be done with it? 

Wiley ha
d
heard that question more than once from his aides.  The answer
:
Americans respect authority
in times
of c
risis
.
  As
America
awoke to the
zombie
threat from without and within, its duly elected Vice President, named president after Obama's death, would be unquestioned regarding the steps he took to secure the homeland.  As with Lincoln and Roosevelt in wars past, he could ruthlessly eliminate dissent
by suspending habeas corpus
and hous
ing
threatening citizens in concentration camps
.  O
nly this time the
prisons and
camps would fill and empty quickly as the human meat
was
rendered for the increasingly hungry zombie masses.
  The domestic population would need to be managed with a steel glove until complete control of the military
wa
s achieved.  Then, the zombie atomic bombs would be deployed over
America
's skies, eliminating all further
resistance
.

They sat on the couch.  In front of the couch was the rug featuring the American
eagle
.  Ben had been thinking about the symbol of the new earth.  Perhaps a severed hand, with fingers rolled into a tight fist.  He even had a motto, a twist of the old
Maine
credo:  "Die then live free."

Obama broke into Wiley's reverie.  "Ben, the reason we asked you here is that, with Joe's sudden withdrawal, we have an opening on the ticket."

"Yes, Mr. President," Wiley said.  He smiled mildly, Mr. Innocent.

"I would like you to fill that opening.  I think you would be a terrific Vice President."

Axelrod broke in at this point, not letting Wiley respond.   "I know what you're thinking, Ben." 

No, he didn't.

"You're thinking would it be best to wait four years when you would be at the top of the ticket?"  He paused,
and then
continued when Wiley said nothing.

"The numbers all indicate that with you on the ticket, the president easily wins the swing states and cake walks to two seventy.  You will be this nation's next VP, Ben.  From that platform, you can implement many of your initiatives, which will set you up as the obvious choice for your party and your nation in 2016."

Obama broke in then, selling goods to a man who already ha
d
the items in his shopping cart.  "We envision
,
Ben
,
a task force on the deficit and another on making government leaner and more efficient.  I'll name you chairman of both."

"You have strong support among the Tea Party kooks, Ben.  You alone can bring them to the table with this administration.  You alone can broker a deal that establishes the
fiscal and governmental
destiny of this great nation in the twenty-first century," said Axelrod.

Obama leaned toward Wiley.  He narrowed his eyes, as if he was having a hard time reading a street sign or the fine print in a contract.  "Will you do it Ben?  Will you be my running mate?"

Wiley waited a couple of beats.  It gave him pleasure making the leader of the free world and his white lapdog squirm.  He didn't realize before he walked into the room how much they feared being defeated in the fall.

Wiley smiled.  "Gentlemen, I have never shirked my duty as an American and I will not do so today."  He stared into Obama's brown eyes.  "I will be happy to campaign as your running mate, Mr. President.  Once we win I will be a loyal soldier in your war to fight waste and reduce the size of government."  Wiley stood and the two men followed
his
lead.  There were smiles, handshakes and back slaps.

They then transitioned into campaign strategy.  They would concentrate Wiley in the red and swing states.  Perhaps he could
shift
a few states from red to blue?  If so, it would give Obama the right to use terms like 'landslide' and 'mandate', more the better to push his agenda.

After being promised time with Obama on the basketball court or golf course – where the man seemed to spend
most of his time
when not fighting with Republicans – Wiley was shown the door.

Obama went back behind his desk and Axelrod took a seat in front.

"What do you think?" asked Axelrod.

"I think we use him as long as he is useful," Obama replied.

"How long will that be?"

"Sunday, January 20, 2013," the president replied and they shared a laugh.

"How do we do it – get rid of him?
   I sense the man's like a cockroach – tough to exterminate.
"

The grin left the president's face.  "Oh, I don't know David.  I think a man like Ben Wiley will create his own exit."

Axelrod thought of a rejoinder but decided not to pursue the conversation.  The president knew something he did not.  He knew not to push.  As always, he would trust that Obama had everything in order and under his steady, Cool Hand Luke control.  He thanked the president, stood and left the man to his work.  He thought no more about Ben Wiley in the long term.  His thoughts focused on Wiley the candidate and the bonanza he was for the ticket.

He realized during the limo ride back to his home that the challenge now becomes how to keep the
2012
rock star Wiley from overshadowing 2008's rock star, the sitting president.

Several days later, d
uring her free eighth period,
Athens
Georgia
middle schooler Alisette Morrow decided to get a head start on her Social Studies homework.  Her assignment was to make a persuasive argument for why Ben Wiley was the best choice to replace Joe Biden on the Democratic presidential ticket.

Alisette made her way to the school computer lab.  Her teacher, Mr.
Walton
, suggested that the students review President Obama's speech announcing his choice of Wiley as well as Wiley's appearance the
following
day on 'Meet
the
Press'.

Alisette typed in 'president wiley announcement' into the search engine and several news articles appeared.  She read a couple then printed them.  She collected the article
s
from the shared printer near the center of the room and placed them on top of her book bag.

  She then entered 'wiley meet the press' and several items appeared.  She clicked on the first
,
which took her to the Meet
the
Press website.  Her finger hovered over the video of the interview but she was reluctant to click it.  The
Athens
school district
had very little money to spend
, especially on something
as
unimportant as I
nternet connection speed.  As a result the
computer la
b's desktops
did little better than dialup.  She instead selected
the
'transcript'
option
and the transcript of the Wiley interview filled the screen. 
She sent the pages to the printer.  Obviously there was no lack of money in the budget for paper or toner.

After collecting the pages she sat down and began reading in the ten minutes she had before her bus arrived.

June 10, 2012

David Gregory:  We begin our program today talking with HUD Secretary Ben Wiley.  Secretary Wiley, welcome to Meet
t
he Press.

Ben Wiley:  Thank you, David.  It is my great pleasure to be here.

Gregory: For those few viewers who are unaware, Mr. Wiley was named by President Obama yesterday in a Rose Garden ceremony to replace Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket as vice presidential candidate.  Joe Biden decided not to run for office and instead to spend more time with his family.

Wiley:  I wish Joe Godspeed and all the best.

Gregory:  I think we all do, Mr. Secretary.  I was struck by the number of prominent Democrats attending the ceremony, sir.  This after hearing how the more liberal rank and file
is
not in favor of your candidacy.

Wiley: (Laughs
) I think we had to remind them that I was among the most liberal in Congress for two decades.  That, in essence, I'm one of them.

Gregory:  But you are no longer and that's the rub, correct?  You have turned your back on American Liberalism.

Wiley:  David, I
have
served
Harlem
for twenty years.  I thought and my liberal friends thought that we could tax and spend our way out of our problems.  I believed that the residents of my district just needed one more program – that magic bullet of programs – to make their lives better.  And do you know what?  After twenty years, their lives were no better.