Chapter #5Getting Political Up In Here by: Rita   "Tyrese Duke!" Pete stupidly said out loud when he got a good look at the man he knocked down. The man in question being one of the most important people in town. Tyrese was the mayor, and the best mayor the community had ever seen. He singlehandedly saved the town from countless emergencies. The townsfolk not only respected Tyrese, they adored him. He was like a shining savior, here to fix everyone's problems, and Pete just knocked him down. "Holy crap, I am so sorry Mr. Duke," Pete profusely apologized, "I didn't mean to do that, sir. Honestly, I don't know what i was doing. I'm so sorry, I'm..."
"Honestly, kid, I'm alright. It was clearly an accident, no need to apologize." Tyrese said, as he flattened out his suit jacket, "But maybe stay off the phone when you're just walking around."
"Yeah, that's probably the smart thing to do," Pete smiled, happy he didn't piss off the most significant man he knew.
"Huh," Tyrese rubbed his chin as he looked at Pete, "What's your name, kid?"
"Peter Connors," Pete said, but quickly added, "But everyone calls me Pete,""
"Alright, Pete it is. You must be Jane's boy!" Tyrese asked, to which Pete nodded, "Nice lady, real funny. How old are you Pete?"
"I just turned 18,"
"Perfect!" Tyrese exclaimed, as he check his watch, "Look Pete, the reason why I'm walking around in the first place is because my secretary was sick today. Not usually a big deal, but I find myself a little lost without her today. I tried to get myself coffee, but I ended up 20 minutes in the wrong direction! Just goes to show that even I need help every once in awhile. With that in mind, I was wondering, if a young and capable man like yourself, would be willing to help me out with some stuff in the office. How about it, Pete?"
"Um, I don't know." Pete sheepishly said, "I don't know anything about office work, Mr. Duke"
"You can call me Tyrese, Pete" He said, with his signature grin, "And it wouldn't be any computer work or anything like that. I would just need you to move around some stuff while I make some calls. Sound easy enough? You would really be helping me out."
"I..." Pete started to come up with another excuse, but decided to do what he thought was the morally correct thing to do, "I would be happy to help, Tyrese."
"Fantastic!", Tyrese, clapped his hands together, "Now follow me back to the town hall. We've got business to do, Pete!"
...
About thirty minutes later, Pete had just finished unloading 20 crates full of folders. Tyrese wanted him to organize them all by color, which was pretty simple since there were only three different kinds colors. Pete smiled with satisfaction as he saw all the folders neatly put together. Pete headed back towards Tyrese's office to tell him the work was all done, but once he was in earshot, he could hear Tyrese having a loud conversation with someone on the phone. Reminding himself that the whole purpose of being here was so that Tyrese could make some phonecalls, Pete waited patiently on the other side of the door until the phone call was over. While he was waiting, Pete couldn't help but overhear the conversation Tyrese was having.
"...I know that, I'm just started to think you don't!" Tyrese angrily said, "Of course we need money! But not for another election, you ridiculous buffoon! This town needs it! If you and I don't do something immediately, everyone could lose their homes!" There was a short pause, "Of course you don't understand, Henderson! All you think about is what new car to buy! Someone's gotta give a fuck about these people and it sure as hell ain't gonna be you!" Tyrese slammed his phone down and loudly slouched in his office chair. Peter was certain he wasn't supposed to hear any of that. Everyone could lose their homes? Pete recalled what he overhead, What could he mean by that? How could that even happen? Pete, deciding that he must find out more, knocked on the door, "Oh, Pete," A somewhat surprised Tyrese responded, "Come on in,"
"Hey," Pete said sheepishly, as he slowly entered the office, "I finished up organizing the folders for you, Tyrese"
"Ah, that was faster than I thought," Tyrese said, as he opened one of desk drawers and pulled out a cigar. Just as he was about to light it, he looked back up to Pete and asked, "You don't mind, do you?"
"Go right ahead," Pete shrugged as the mayor lit his cigar and took an eager puff. Pete figured that now was a good of time as any to bring up the phone call he heard. "Um, Tyrese," Pete tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, "Is everything alright?"
"It sure is, Pete," Tyrese smiled at his cigar, but turned melancholy, "Actually, no. It's not alright, Pete. Just a lot of bureaucratic nonsense that stops me from doing what's best for this town. Nothing for you to worry about, though,"
"Well, maybe I could help," Pete suggested, worried about the state of his town, "Even if it's something small, I wouldn't mind lending a hand out for my town."
"Your town?" Tyrese acted offended, but then laughed, "You're alright, Pete. Some people in this godforsaken office forget what makes communities great. It has nothing to do with taxes, laws, or how big your office is. It's about the people. Good people, like yourself, are what makes small towns like these amazing. It's that heart and decency that's so hard to find. That's why I love this place, Pete. I would never let anything bad happen to it."
"Well, geez," Pete rubbed the back of his head, "I don't think anyone has ever said something so nice to me before,"
"Well, I might have gone a little overboard," Tyrese laughed again, and opened a different desk drawer. Tyrese then pulled out a green folder, "You know," Tyrese put his hand on the folder, "There is something you could do, Pete,"
"Oh, great!" Pete happily said, "Anything to do my part, Tyrese."
"That's good to hear," Tyrese opened the folder and began to read, "Now this job might seem strange, and that's why no one else will take it. But don't mind that, those people are just lousy pencil pushers. They don't really care if the town goes down the toilet. But you would basically be hero for doing it. Everything you would do would practically be saving the town. But first off, I need you sign here," Tyrese pushed forward a piece of paper with a line underneath paragraphs of with tiny words, "This will let me know that you are fully willing to do whatever is necessary on you part. Is that a problem?"
"Not at all!" Pete eagerly signed, not even glancing at the words on the paper, "So what am I doing?"
"Well Pete," Tyrese took back the paper,and grinned at Pete, "I need you..   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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