America 1982-Chapter 503 - 96: Jeff Murders a Jew?
By dinner the next day, when Tommy reappeared at Jeff’s house to dine with everyone, one could feel the family was back on track.
Although the smiles on Jeff and Jessica’s faces were no longer as natural as before, becoming somewhat stiff, at least when Martin started talking about the trip to Coral Street in the Southern District the day after tomorrow, Jessica was very cooperative. She didn’t nag or nitpick Marcus’s suggestions about attire and so on as she had before.
After dinner, Tommy handed Jeff a stack of speeches, "Read them a few more times. Even though Jews care more about practicality than old veterans, you still need the necessary fluency."
"Tommy... can I... can I talk to you for a moment?" Jeff, after receiving the stack of papers, first glanced at Martin beside him, then tentatively asked Tommy.
Tommy nodded, "Of course, no problem."
While Jeff went to get some beers, Tommy handed Gina, the prettiest girl in Jeff’s family, a manuscript and a room card, "My dear, memorize this script and perform it well. Stephen is waiting for you at the hotel to rehearse. Don’t be drooling now, I’m sorry to tell you that he won’t lay a finger on you tonight. To ensure his mind is focused on rehearsing with you, I’ve arranged for four Cuban girls to drain him twice each between lunch and dinner. So even if you were to strip naked and dance in front of him, I guarantee he won’t be tempted and will only concentrate on rehearsing."
Upon hearing Tommy’s words, Gina glared at him discontentedly, "You said before that I had a chance with that rich guy..."
"That’s right, but you need to focus on work first. No one gets to reap the rewards without putting in the effort first, right, my dear?" Tommy patted Gina on the head, smiled, and said as he then followed Jeff to the backyard.
Jeff handed Tommy a beer, and the two walked to the treehouse Jeff had built for the kids, leaning against the ladder. Jeff nervously spoke up, "Tommy, I... I think I’ve messed everything up. Jessica and I had a big fight this morning. She wants me to drop out of the race, and Martin didn’t object. But his company’s lawyer told me many veterans are dissatisfied and they also want me to refund their contributions. I know this is all my fault. I shouldn’t have thought of backing out. But Jessica does have a point, I... I’m just not cut out to be a congressman. I only know plumbing, and if it weren’t for... I mean, without you, without Martin, even if I got elected, I wouldn’t know what to say in Congress. After all, from the beginning of the campaign, all my speeches have been written by you and Martin, and even the clothes I wear have been picked out by Marcus. I haven’t done anything on my own."
This big white guy, his face now filled with confusion and weariness, looked sincerely at Tommy. In his eyes, Tommy was the smart one, a mysterious big shot. Martin, Marcus—everyone listened to Tommy. Martin even said Tommy was his biggest financier. If he really dropped out, he would owe Tommy two hundred thousand.
He didn’t want Tommy to support his dropping out, nor to write off that two hundred thousand in debt. He just felt someone as smart as Tommy could give him some good advice amidst the mess he was in.
"Jeff, how do you think a corpse would do as a candidate for the House of Representatives? Would it perform better than you?" Tommy, holding his beer, gently clinked it against Jeff’s bottle, and softly asked with a smile, "I mean a literal corpse.">
"How could that be possible?" Jeff shook his head, clearly thinking Tommy was joking.
After all, even if he didn’t understand politics, he should be better than a corpse.
"In Paducah, Kentucky, a year ago during the House of Representatives mid-term election, the candidates there, just like you in Miami’s Eighteenth District, threw themselves into the campaign with excitement and haste. After two months, they finally elected a congressman. Guess what happened? The elected congressman had been dead for half a month, due to a sudden heart attack, meaning everyone had been going crazy for so long, they had elected a corpse to Congress. What’s more outrageous is that the family didn’t officially announce the death until after the votes were counted and the deceased was declared the winner," Tommy said, his hand tracing the wooden ladder Jeff had made for the kids: 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞
"Bizarre, isn’t it?"
Jeff nodded, "Why? I mean... it’s definitely bizarre, but if the person is dead, why... why not tell everyone? Let them choose someone else to support?"
"Because by announcing the death after the election, the death creates a vacancy for the Democratic Party within the House of Representatives according to the U.S. Constitution, and the Democratic Party’s Paducah committee could directly appoint another Democrat to fill his seat, ensuring it wouldn’t fall into the opponent’s hands. What’s more interesting is that the person who succeeded the deceased was previously his strong opponent within the party. So by taking over the seat, all the deceased’s campaign promises to his supporters were null and void. That’s why last year, the Democratic Party’s Paducah committee gave all the honors they could to that corpse. Why? Because to the Democratic Party, that corpse did an excellent job as a candidate," Tommy climbed a few rungs of the ladder, then sat on them. From his angle, he could just see into Gina’s bedroom window:
"So that’s why I asked you, how do you think you compare to that corpse?"
