Sometimes.
He and Ginny walked into the gym holding hands, looking around. Whoever was in charge of the decorations definitely had a sense of humor. Black crepe paper hung from the bleachers and the blackboards, funereal wreaths of dead flowers were arranged in stands next to the appetizers and drink tables in the center court. There were quite a few people milling about: most of the downtown merchants and owners of the businesses that made up the chamber of commerce, displaced municipal workers, unemployed construction people. They were talkative, friendly, not particularly somber, but the overall mood seemed grim.
The other candidates were awaiting election returns and holding their party at The Store. No expense had been spared and the affair was being catered by The Store's in-house sushi and espresso bars, all-you-can-eat free food being offered to all supporters. The Store had closed at noon so that employees could set up the decorations and clear an area of the building for the celebration, and a live remote broadcast was planned for the radio station.
Ironically -- and irritatingly -- both Sam and Shannon were working the party. They hadn't volunteered, they'd been assigned, and Bill could not help thinking that that was intentional. The Store knew that, though he was not running for office himself, he was one of the architects of the opposition, and Lamb and his people no doubt wanted to rub his face in it.
He was still unable to understand why more people hadn't turned against The Store. It was obvious to even a casual observer that since The Store had arrived, downtown Juniper had become a virtual ghost town, unemployment had skyrocketed, and the jobs that were now available had sharply lower wages than their predecessors. The Store was sucking the town dry, yet far too many people either didn't notice or didn't care. Putting aside the mysterious occurrences that had accompanied its arrival, people should be rejecting The Store on a purely personal, selfish, economic level.
Yet they weren't.
And he could not figure out why.
Street wandered over. He had already been drinking heavily, and he gave Ginny a huge unwelcome hug and boozily clapped an arm around Bill's shoulder.
'Mayday! Mayday! We're going down!'
'You don't seem too broken up about it,' Bill said.
Street shrugged. 'At some point, all you can do is laugh.'
Ben, Ted, and Ted's wife, Charlinda, made their way through the throng toward them. They talked for a few moments, then Ginny and Charlinda moved off toward the hors d'oeuvres and the men stood alone.
'How badly do you think we're going to lose?' Bill asked.
'We'll get our asses kicked!' Street yelled.
Bill ignored him, turned toward Ted. 'What's your feeling? You know a lot of people in this town. You're not a pariah like Ben or a clown like Street --'
'I resent that!' Street said.
Bill grinned. 'What's your bead on the situation?'
'I don't know,' Ted admitted. 'All I hear is doom and gloom from you guys, but everyone I've talked to seems pretty supportive. There's a lot of resentment toward The Store out there. People might be afraid to admit it, but most of them don't like The Store. I may be crazy, but -- knock on wood -- I think we have a fighting chance.'
_Afraid to admit it_.
Bill licked his lips. 'Why would they be _afraid_ to admit it?'
Ted shifted uncomfortably. 'You know.'
That was the problem. He did know. They all knew. And they faced each other, the knowledge in their eyes, until Street suggested that they all go over to the drink table and get something to wet their whistles.
The polls closed at eight, and counting began almost immediately. A team of election workers was at town hall, going through the ballots, and while tabulating results in big cities might take all night, the small number of voters in Juniper virtually assured that a count and recount would be concluded before ten.
The radio station had a live remote at town hall as well as at The Store party, and Street had hooked up a receiver to the gym's PA system so they could all hear the broadcast.
'How come there's no remote feed here?' Ben asked dryly, standing at the head of the drink table. 'Aren't they interested in our reaction?'
Everyone laughed.
Bill listened only intermittently to the broadcast throughout the evening, but when it became clear that the counting was almost completed and that the winners would be announced shortly, he and Ginny gravitated with everyone else toward Street's receiver, which was sitting on an unadorned table next to the locker room entrance. There was no sound coming out of the receiver -- it was issuing from speakers hidden high in the rafters of the gym -- but symbolically this was the origin of the radio broadcast, and more and more people gathered around the black metal box and stared at the blue digital call numbers as announcement time approached.
Ben was describing for the hundredth time that evening, how different the outcome of this election would be if he was still editor of the paper, when people in the crowd began holding up their hands for silence, putting their fingers to their lips.
'Shhhh!'
'Shhhh!'
'Shhhh!'
Everyone leaned closer to the receiver, as though that would enable them to hear the results more clearly. Street turned up the volume. Bill winced as Ginny's hand tightened, viselike, on his.
'It's official,' the radio announcer said. His voice echoed through the cavernous gym. 'All of the ballots have been counted, and Mr. Lamb, personnel manager of The Store, is the top vote-getter and has been elected Juniper's new mayor. Mr. Walker, The Store's Customer Service manager, and Mr. Keyes, Store representative, have also been elected to the town council.'
'Don't these assholes have first names?' Ben growled.
'Ben Anderson, Ted Malory, and Street McHenry have been soundly defeated,' the announcer continued. 'Final tally: Lamb, one thousand three hundred votes;
Walker, one thousand one hundred and seventy-two votes; Keys, one thousand and sixty votes; Malory, nine hundred and ninety-nine votes; McHenry, nine hundred and eighty-seven votes: Anderson, eight hundred and fifty votes.'
'Low turnout.' Ginny nodded. 'Interesting.'
' 'Soundly defeated?' ' Ted said. 'I thought we did pretty well.'
'Let's hear it for our side!' someone yelled. 'Hip hip hooray!'
The rest of the crowd joined in: 'Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!'
On the radio, the feed switched instantly to the victory party at The Store. Even muffled by the gym's speaker system, the size and enthusiasm of The Store crowd was impressive. The cheers coming over the radio dwarfed the noise from their little chant and made their supporters sound tired and pitiful.
Sam's there, Bill thought. And Shannon.
People began wandering away, clapping sympathetic hands on the losers' backs, offering compassion and halfhearted promises to keep up the fight.
Several supporters headed for the alcohol, but most were already making for the exit, ready to head home.
Bill and Ginny stood next to Ted and Charlinda, Ben and Street, as Mr.
Lamb gave his acceptance speech over the radio. He began with an embarrassingly insincere acknowledgment of the commitment and good intentions of his well meaning but misguided opponents, then heaped equally insincere praise on the gathered supporters.
Huge, inappropriate cheers greeted his every utterance.
'I think I'm gonna barf,' Street said.
'It is sickening,' Bill agreed.
'No. I think I'm gonna barf.' Street made a mad dash for the boys' bathroom.
Mr. Lamb was already talking about some of his plans for Juniper after taking office.
