Did Elvis put you up to this?!
“Did Elvis put you up to this?!” A.S. had burst into Mt. Zen Cafe and was screeching at Angie. It was the first free moment Dora had been able to squeeze out of her Back To School schedule with Roscoe. Ever since he had taken over as the head of the ranger’s office, it had been difficult to get time together. Dora had suggested a nice dinner at Mt. Zen Cafe.
It was one of those strange evenings when the whole town decided on the same thing. The scent of Curly’s food must have drawn them all in. For the first time in a while, the restaurant was full of locals only. There was Kevin, Roscoe’s new ranger. He had come in with his friends that live in the Bowen house, that skinny blond and her husband, the computer guy. “Never thanked him for showing me Photoshop.” Dora thought to herself. Had it really been almost a year since that day? Her whole artistic life had changed that day and she had never thanked him for opening that one small door. Now it had been far too long to thank him for it.
“I KNOW he tried to get that rich guy in the Bowen house to run for mayor. Did he getcha to do this?” A.S. was waving one of the “Angie for Mayor” signs that had popped up along the main highway. They reminded Dora of those old shaving cream ads, except they all just said the same thing over and over instead of funny jokes. Her drive up to Emigration every day to teach was peppered with “Angie for Mayor” and “Angie for Mayor” every few miles.
That nice computer guy stood up. He calmly put his hand on A.S.’s shoulder and said, “I don’t think we’ve met. My name’s Randy McCain. I’m that rich guy who lives in the Bowen house.” A.S. shrugged him off advancing toward Angie behind the counter. Curly came out of the kitchen and Dora saw him scan the crowd at the restaurant. She cringed when she realized that the entire town was witness to this fight between old friends. Kit Kat would DEFINITELY want to know about all this. Dora would have to send her an email tonight before she forgot all the details.
“Don’t think for even a second that you can win this!” A.S. hissed at Angie and Curly came between them. That computer guy went over to Angie’s Internet Cafe computer and started clicking away. Curly’s quiet voice tried to calm the raging. “Now, Andrea, don’t get all defensive ’bout this. Your daddy is a great guy and we all love Tort. We just think he needs a little more help than he’s been getting. It’s kinda hard to run a town when he’s all bent down like a turtle.”
A.S. shook the sign and a tiny clod of dirt fell off the flimsy metal wires onto the floor. Dora couldn’t help but stare at the dirt while A.S. exploded. “Osteoporosis doesn’t affect the brain, you dolt! He’s just as capable of runnin’ Merriton as he ever was! How are you going to be mayor if you got the cafe to run?!” Angie stood up straight and calmly responded, “Ever since Bree came to town, we got a good head waitress for the winter months. She said she’d come on full-time as soon as the harvest is over.” She looked at her watch. “Oh look, harvest was over a month ago.” Angie looked to her right and the hulking woman who had taken Dora’s order nodded calmly at A.S.
A.S. threw the sign on the floor and it skittered along, ending at the computer guy’s feet. He was so focused on the computer screen that he didn’t even flinch. What was he working on? She could see the words “Angie for Mayor” at the top of the screen in big letters. “How’re you gonna AFFORD to run for mayor? You can barely keep this place afloat as it is?” Before Angie could answer, the computer guy stood up. “Angie, I just set up a fund for you on the Internet. Anyone in the town can log in and donate money to your campaign without leaving their house. All you have to do is set up a PayPal account that can accept the money.” He walked over to A.S. and placed his hand on her shoulder. “As soon as she sets up her account, I’m going to donate $1000 to her cause.” He quietly returned to his table with Kevin and his wife.
Both Angie and A.S. were silent. Angie leaned one hand on the counter and put the other hand on her mouth, wiping away the sweat from her upper lip. A.S. glared at the computer guy and mumbled, “Too late for her anyway. Only a month to the election and she ain’t got enough time to tell everybody that she’s runnin’.” She turned around and slipped a little on the dirt clod on the hard wood floor.