The Pump by Sydney Hegele

Author:Sydney Hegele
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781988784823
Publisher: Invisible Publishing
Published: 2021-09-07T00:09:59+00:00

* * *

The next morning, nervous sweat wet Jacob’s shirt as he typed an anonymous email and sent it to two addresses: the Daily Dam and the Toronto Star. Something about money should work, he thought. The headline hit both papers the next morning, and the Pump police showed up at the office by the afternoon.

Speechwriter and Son of Mayor Jacob Jameson Jailed for Embezzlement

Case called his father’s cellphone from the jailhouse. Jacob did not pick up. It vibrated against his wooden desk and moved in little semicircles. The guilt boiled deep in Jacob’s bones. He started to cough again, wild and violent. The coughing turned to sobbing.

His secretary popped her head through his office door. We’re set up—are we ready to go? He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He nodded.

His assistant slipped into his office. Yellow hair grazed her shoulders. She had sunken wrists and tired cheeks—teeth a little big for her mouth.

She passed him her speech, written on a café napkin. Jacob liked how Case had always typed up his speeches real nice on glossy white paper, letters in bold so he could see them better.

It would have to do.

At the press conference, Jacob told reporters that the people living in the houses near the marshes were lying. He explained that the lower class were mad about there not being enough beavers to hunt, and they were mad about not getting rich, so they were killing each other and blaming it on something that wasn’t even there anymore. He told them that they were killing each other because they were poor—because they wished that they weren’t from The Pump, but they were, and now they didn’t want to exist.

He lied and told them that there was nothing wrong with the water—nothing wrong with the beavers. Trust me, he promised.

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