America 1982-Chapter 54 - 11: A Dream Come True?
Pam was pulling on a red and black Wildberry Creek High School student uniform over his body, hoisting his trousers while asking Dennis, "Are you sure there’s no problem with me spreading rumors at Wildberry Creek High School about our summer camp having professors from Princeton? This uniform looks a bit too big compared to the Saint Cross one, which might make it hard to escape when facility members recognize me."
"Just remember to steady your glasses before you make a run for it, yes, I can guarantee you’ll be fine, and you’re the one amongst us three who looks the most like a diligent student," Dennis said, with a leisurely smile, a cigarette dangling from his lips.
Tommy Hawk sat on the workbench in Pam’s garage, nibbling on a finger biscuit lost in thought until Dennis handed him a cigarette, "Tommy, what do you think of my publicity strategy?"
Tommy snapped out of it, looked over at Pam who was dressed in the uniform, and nodded, "Brilliant, you’ve grasped the very essence of advertising—rumors."
Instead of leveraging his powerful connections for a straightforward promotion of the summer camp, Dennis decided to take an indirect approach. Since all summer camp organizations were heavily advertising near schools or in newspapers, Dennis, as one of the three penniless guys, knew that they stood no chance in a head-on promotional campaign.
He had to come up with a genius method, like the time he guided police at Saint Vincent to drive away wild boars with the help of the United States Marine Corps, a lateral attack.
The guy got his hands on uniforms from many nearby high schools, planning to have Pam wear them to infiltrate those schools and spread a false rumor—an imposter message that Princeton and Lincoln High School were jointly hosting a summer camp, and although the Saint Cross High School principal was in on it, he’d kept it hidden, not informing the students, merely because it was something Saint Cross High School failed to achieve, but Lincoln High School had.
"Give me some credit, bro! The promotion, the fundraising—I sorted it all out, even got a hold of one hundred twenty high school textbooks! While you and Pam did nothing when I was dead tired from working my ass off! I’m the only one who’s truly putting the effort in this organization!" Dennis, slightly annoyed, said after Tommy simply complimented him and seemed ready to drift back into his thoughts.
With his trousers in hand, Pam looked at Dennis, "F*ck you, Dennis, if you sorted everything out, what am I doing now?"
"The proposal’s been faxed to Princeton, and it’s been four days without a response; it seems more like a joke now." Tommy Hawk looked at Dennis and laughed, "So, I was thinking about our actual promotional approach when we do start—focusing on our mock governance program. It should be aimed at places like New York and Boston, where there are plenty of elite high schools, and parents are willing to invest in their kids’ education. The only problem is, getting those local newspapers to advertise for us won’t be possible with just our four-hundred-something dollars. So I’m considering how to persuade the principal to give us more support, or perhaps look into collaborating with another high school to co-host the event. If you think you are better at these issues, I don’t mind doing the fundraising."
Dennis shook his head irritably, "No, you handle those things. They sound boring to me."
"You haven’t told us how you managed to secure those textbooks, Dennis, you’re really impressive, you know, you’ve earned my respect," Tommy patted Dennis, his tone full of confident encouragement for his pal.
Flattered by Tommy’s praise, Dennis cleared his throat and gently tapped his forehead with a finger, "Of course, I’m a leader of the youth in America; I have the wisdom. It’s all about using your brain, you understand? Tommy, using your brain—you need to learn from me more."
"Pam and I always say you’re the smartest among the three of us. I suspect Einstein’s last name might have been Hebers; you’re exactly like him," Tommy said. "Tell me, how did you fundraise those textbooks?"
"Well, I made a few donation boxes and placed them outside several nearby middle schools," Dennis said with pride.
Pam and Tommy both seemed incredulous, with Tommy asking, "That simple? Since when are the local high schoolers so charitable?"
"Just a donation box obviously wasn’t enough, so I added some words on it: Free the hands of high school students, write homework for free. Just dump your textbooks and homework in, and someone will do it for you without charge." Dennis, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, recounted how he collected high school textbooks: "Then I found someone to pose as the first person to take the bait, tossing in his books and homework, assuring the onlookers that this sort of thing had happened to him before, nothing to make a fuss about. Then, a bunch of idiots too lazy to do their assignments started to follow suit."
Tommy was already dumbstruck: "What about the sports equipment?"
"I first led some people to pretend to be from several sports clubs and caused a little vandalism in the municipal park. Now, guys from some of the school’s sports clubs are suspended and under investigation by the school. Forget about any sports activities for the next two weeks. After that, it’s the long summer vacation, which means nobody will open the equipment room for months... so, you get the idea. We better make some money, buy new equipment, and send it back, or you can wait for the school to settle the score with you, brother," Dennis coolly explained to Tommy Hawk.
Tommy Hawk trembled his cigarette a few times and eventually hung his head, speaking in despair, "You’re really Presidential material, perfectly mimicking America’s tactics towards other countries, damn near flawless! I’ve got another question, though, why am I the one to settle the score? You did this."
"When I took the equipment, I meticulously signed your and Pam’s names in the log, just conveniently forgot to sign my own," Dennis said with utter candor.
"F*ck you, Dennis!" Pam, who was just adjusting her uniform from Bramble Creek High in front of the mirror, cursed as she heard Dennis’ words: "I didn’t do a damn thing!"
"That’s why I said, you gotta do those things, sort out the money, and we’ll help you with the hardest part. We left the easiest problem for you, Tommy. I hope this show of friendship moves you," Dennis said with a smile.
Tommy cursed frantically, "I’m so moved right now I could cry, Dennis, you’re dumber than the maggots that grow out of Einstein’s crap! Damn it! So now, on top of publicity costs, I’ve got to keep reminding myself to plug the hole you’ve ripped with your ass by the end of summer vacation!"
The phone suddenly rang, and Pam extended a line from the garage to answer the house phone: "CSLS Committee office."
"Pam, let Tommy take the call." On the phone was Ottilia Farrell’s voice. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
Pam handed the receiver to Tommy: "I’ve always felt Miss Farrell lacks sufficient goodwill towards me. Ever since I complimented her on how nice she looked in stockings, she never wore them again, nor spoke to me."
"I’d say the fact that she didn’t call the cops on you for snapping pictures of her and instead just let you off is the greatest kindness Miss Farrell could’ve shown you, Pam," Tommy said, then answered the phone, "Miss Farrell, this is Tommy."
"Tommy, two things. First, you were right, I got ahead of myself. My godfather didn’t reach out to Princeton. Today, the school received a $5,000 check from the State Education Committee’s Public Education Fund, intended to support summer camp, arranged by my godfather before his overseas visit," Ottilia quickly started on the phone: "He didn’t switch it to my name, just provided a $5,000 support."
Tommy looked at Dennis: "Now money seems to be the easiest problem indeed."
"That’s great, Miss Farrell. And the second piece of news?" Tommy then asked Ottilia.
On the phone, Ottilia took a long breath: "Secondly, Princeton just sent a reply. After reviewing your proposal, although there are details to be discussed with our high school, they can already confirm that one professor will definitely attend, and another is yet to be sure. Congratulations, Tommy. Your plan has caught the attention of this country’s top university."
