High Spirits: A Providence Tale by Elle Wickenden

Author:Elle Wickenden [Wickenden, Elle]
Language: eng
Format: azw
Published: 2022-07-24T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

After the fight I stew for a few hours at the campaign office. We have emergency meetings and I retain none of it.

Finally, as the sun sets, I just get up and leave, with the meeting still going. I’ve still got the running clothes I wore out of the house this morning.

I run.

I run up Blackstone Boulevard. My usual loop takes me down towards Fox Point and back along the water but the deep dark feeling, the rage, gets me to hang a right on Waterman and pound up, up, up College Hill, through the Brown campus and down the other side of the hill.

I should stop, I think. I should stop, I shouldn’t go over there.

That’s what I was thinking as I flew over the bridge on Westminster Street and into downtown. It was like I was being drawn to the arena by a magnetic force, like I wasn’t actually running at all, like my feet weren’t touching the ground. I passed between the Biltmore and City Hall and sprinted down Washington Street, dodging people hanging outside of Lupo’s.

No one recognized me. They wouldn’t. Not yet, and if all this bullshit works, not ever.

I sprint across the broad street flanking the Dunk, which is what everyone calls the downtown arena. There’s so much noise. I knew the arena was full. The plaza in front is full, too, and there are jumbotrons set up, with the massive face of Donald Trump on them.

“I mean, who do you really want to run your city? Somebody who’s gonna defund your police and ask you what your pronouns are? I don’t think so. I think the people of Providence are too smart to fall for that. You elect her and they’ll start putting litterboxes in schools for kids who identify as cats.”

The crowd roars and begins chanting.

“You know, if she gets elected Mayor she won’t do anything to stop the crime, or the illegal immigration, or anything. Do you want this to turn into some shithole city, like they do in Baltimore, or in Chicago, where people can’t even walk down the street? You get shot.”

“You think she’s going to respect our flag, our country, our people who serve in the military? I don’t think so. No, I don’t think so. Good thing you have a choice here, huh? You could turn this city into a dump but you don’t have to. You could elect Larry here and be fine. Better than fine, you could elect Larry and have a great city, a first class city.”

“Why have problems? Nobody wants problems and that’s all you’ll get out of her. I mean, I just don’t know why she even thinks she’s qualified, not to run a city like this. You’ll want someone like Larry, someone tough enough to deal with the teachers unions and to support our police when all these liberals are coming down on them.”

I start to hear something, yelling, to my left, over the wall of sound from the speakers.

I see commotion, back up, thinking that if there’s a fight it could spill out into the street.

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