“Are you trying to say I don't know the…” Michael is about to start again but I cut him off.
“I’m trying to say, Mayor,” I say with a damn sneer. “That you don’t care about anyone other than yourself. You could care less about me, the environment, or even the jobs you think my bill is going to kill.”
“You’re out of line, Governor!” Michael shouts. “And as someone who is standing h
ere testifying in the hopes of avoiding a corruption and bribery scandal, you’re not doing yourself a bit of good.”
I think back to the Mayor and everything surrounding him. How he only came out as gay six months ago, right before the New York City mayoral election. This man fooled a city of 8 million. It’s time for someone to show the world who he really is.
“You want to know what I think?” Michael asks me aggressively. I don't get a chance to answer. But I bet you he’s going to tell me anyways. “I think you had a secret quid pro quo deal with the Chinese, Governor. Maybe not a deal—that implies intelligence. But they tugged at your heartstrings. Poor environment. Save the owl. Or something like that.”
Jesus Christ. I’m sitting there, silent as he continues. “And then once you did what they told you to like a good little boy, they decided to start rewarding you.” There is angry grumbling all around me. People can’t believe this garbage, can they?
“But, unfortunately Governor Andrews, this time you got your hand caught in the cookie jar. And now it's time to pay,” Michael declares.
I got to admit. This man has played me very admirably. This is going to be a lot more of a knife-fight than I realized.
That’s when I hear a voice behind me at the back of the chambers near the door.
“Mr. Mayor, if you’re going to start accusing Governor Andrews of things, you better say it to my face too,” Liam says, as people begin to whisper and low murmurs start rippling through the hall. “That way I can see that smug look of yours on it before I bash it in with my fucking fists.”
Yeah. This wasn’t how I had intended for today to go down, either.
32
Liam
“Mr. Mayor, if you’re going to start accusing Governor Andrews of things, you better say it to my face too,” I say out loud as I see people turn around to look at me. Of course they know who I am; my face has been on enough papers and televisions in the last two months that I’ll never be able to go to a strip club by myself again without getting photographed. “That way I can see that smug look of yours on it before I bash it in with my fucking fists.”
That’s when the hearing bursts out in commotion. I’m guessing that they don’t get that many lawmakers fucking threatening each other in here too often. It’s too bad, really. Really does work well in getting all the fucking bullshit cleared up.
I start walking toward the main witness table that Carter is sitting at.
I told him when we first started preparing. I told him that just explaining his case wasn’t going to do it.
We had to be prepared for a fight. And I’m sorry to say, but I was fucking right.
I know you’re looking at me and wondering what the hell is going on. Why should I give any fucks what happens to Carter Andrews?
You’re probably rolling your eyes. You’re going to chalk it up to saying that this is a plot point that could have been better developed. That the author was in too much of a fucking rush to get to the end and how did the transition fucking happen where I went from getting into fights with my fists with this guy who I’m standing next to defending him.
Well, you’d be fucking wrong, first off. But that’s okay. We all make mistakes. Except yours fucking truly. But you wouldn’t care because if you and I were talking, we’ve already established that you would be wanting to fuck me. And yes, every time we do talk, I’m going to raise the fact that you want my fucking cock. I mean, it’s 12 inches of…
“Mr. Jeffries, this is a closed session and you are severely out of line,” the fucking prick Mayor of New York City who is somehow leading this circus says out to me coldly. “You either need to sit down or leave, but I cannot have you disrupting these proceedings.”
Don’t worry about him. I don’t give a flying fuck about Michael Anders. If you want to still talk about how thick and veiny my hard cock is, I’ll pull it out right here. I bet the press would love that.
But no, you want to know why I’m even here defending this Carter fellow after we’ve locked horns so many times in the past, right? Jobs, Vivian, you name it.
“Mr. Mayor, I don’t know what you’re doing up there questioning Carter,” I say out loud and in a clear voice so everyone can hear me. “But if you're really looking to probe for corruption, you need to hear what I have to say. Otherwise this isn't an inquiry. It’s a fucking lynching.”
That gets everyone all excited and they begin to murmur all over again until the Chairman calls for order. He’s clearly not happy over what’s going on. But then again, he’s already fucking half-asleep. Probably dreaming about the day he gets out of this job and starts working giving paid speeches to people who are looking to curry favor in the government.
“There can’t be anything you could say to defend this man, Mr. Jeffries,” Michael Anders says to me. You notice he doesn’t call me Mayor? Like he’s the only mayor in the fucking world. Just because he’s the leader of the greatest city on earth.
“I want to speak on the record, and if you don’t think it’s relevant, then I’ll get the fuck out,” I reply back. I got to stay cool. Grace under fucking fire.
There’s a moment while Michael Anders looks at me. He knows Carter and I love the same woman. He knows Carter has spent a fair amount of time with Vivian in New Kingston. But he also knows that at the beginning Carter and I hated each other.