The Minnesota Candidate

by Nicholas Antinozzi

  Tom shrugged his shoulders, but he thought it couldn’t hurt to ask. He wondered why Levitz was so desperate to talk to Shari. Surely, the man had plenty of friends in the area. Why hadn’t he tried reaching any of them? Tom thought about that as they parked in front of the downed oak tree. He climbed out of the truck, only to see Senator Levitz was already out of the bed of the truck and running alongside the house. He turned to look up at the helicopters. There was no sign that they had spotted the man.

  “Maybe he has to go to the bathroom,” said Sam, picking at his teeth.

  “Let’s get in there. If Mom and Marie see him, they’ll blab it all over town.”

  Sam’s head snapped back and he began walking briskly up to the house. Tom followed after him and they walked in through the patio door. Chona stood at the top of the stairs and Senator Levitz was already halfway up to meet her. “Oh my God, Senator Levitz! You’re supposed to be dead.”

  “I need to see Shari,” said Levitz. “This is a matter of life and death. Is she in her bedroom?”

  “Shari, yeah… but I can’t let you see her,” said Chona.

  “No,” said Tom, “it’s okay. Senator Levitz was a friend of Shari’s father.”

  Chona crossed her arms and stood blocking the stairs. “You don’t understand, Tom. I can’t let him in there.”

  “Get out of my way! Shari, come out here!”

  Tom grunted and shook his head. He then charged up the stairs and he stood behind Senator Levitz. “Move it, Chona,” he demanded. “Let us pass!”

  Chona bared her teeth to the men, but she stepped aside. Levitz charged past her and ran to the closed door of the master bedroom. Tom was right behind him and Sam was already on Tom’s heels. Levitz rapped on the door. “Shari, its Merle Levitz, I’m coming in!”

  Tom watched as Levitz threw open the door and the entire group rushed into the bedroom. “Oh my God,” whispered Tom.

  Shari appeared to be asleep on the bed, except she was lashed to the bed, hand and foot, by a bright yellow rope. Levitz turned to Chona. “What the hell is going on?” he asked. “Are you people crazy?”

  “I tried to tell you,” Chona said to Tom, “but you wouldn’t listen to me. Shari asked me to tie her up. When she wakes up, she can tell you, herself.”

  Tom ran to the bed and he began stroking Shari’s hair. “What have you done to her? What, did you drug her?”

  “No, it wasn’t like that. She’ll be fine.”

  “You people are sick,” spat Levitz.

  “Hey,” said Sam, “you watch your mouth. I don’t give a shit who you are. I’ll punch you in the nose if you get lippy with my gal.”

  Shari moaned and her eyelids began to flutter. She stared up at Tom. “Where am I?” she groaned. She turned her head and looked around the room. And then her eyes grew wide. “Merle?” she asked. “Oh my God, am I in heaven?”

  “No,” said Levitz, rushing to her bedside. “I’m alive, we’re both alive. This woman tied you to your bed and she said you asked her to do it. Shari, is this true?”

  Shari blinked her eyes, several times, as if she were trying to blink back a memory. “That’s true,” she whispered. “I did ask her to do that.”

  “That’s because she’s been programmed,” said Chona.

  “Are you out of your mind?” asked Levitz, turning on Chona and raising his finger at her.

  “No, I’m not. Look, I’ll show you. Shari, we’re going over to your parent’s house. Is that okay with you?”

  Suddenly, Shari roared with anger and began thrashing on the bed. “I’ll kill you all!” she cried. “Untie me, you rotten bitch!”

  Chona turned back to Levitz. “Listen, you liberal bastard, you have no idea what’s going on around here. Keep that big yap of yours shut and we’ll tell you all you need to know.”

  “Liberal bastard?” asked Levitz, planting his small hands on his narrow hips. “I’m a United States Senator and I expect some respect.”

  “Blow it out your ass, Jew-boy. I never voted for you.”

  “Let me go! I’ll kill every last one of you! Nobody is going into that house!”

  Levitz narrowed his eyes at Chona. “An anti-Semite,” he hissed. “I should have suspected as much. You people are all alike.”

  “And what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “You know exactly what I mean. I’ll have the combo number five, chop-chop.”

  Chona nearly pounced on the little bleeding man, but Sam grabbed her by the waist and held her. “That’s enough out of the both of ya. Just shut up.”

  “Let me go!” cried Chona.

  “Untie me, you dirty sons-a-bitches!”

  “Nobody is going into your parent’s house,” lied Tom. “Just calm down, honey, we’re not going anywhere.”

  The room was silent as the rage drained from Shari’s face. She stared at Senator Levitz. “What happened?” Shari asked. “Mr. Levitz, you look like you’ve been to hell and back. Tom, will you help Merle get cleaned up? And then I want to hear about everything that has happened. The whole world seems to have gone crazy.”

  Chona broke free from Sam and she squatted next to the bed. “Shari, Senator Levitz is going into your parent’s house.”

  Shari’s eyes flashed with anger and once again, she began thrashing against her bonds. “I’ll kill you!” she screamed. “I’ll bash your brains in! You stay out of there! Let me up! Let me off this bed!”

  “That wasn’t nice,” said Sam.

  “Damn it, Chona,” grunted Tom. “Senator Levitz, why don’t you follow me? I’ll see if I can find you something to change into and you can get cleaned up.”

  “What about that Super Glue?” asked Sam.

  “Untie me!”

  Chapter 26

  “I’m sorry,” said Senator Levitz, “but I just don’t see it. I’ve known Shari her entire life. She can be very stubborn. She doesn’t want anyone going inside her parent’s house and I think we have to respect that.”

  Tom looked at Levitz in disbelief. The shower and change of clothes had done nothing, Tom thought, except transform the man back into a bleeding heart liberal. Senator Levitz wouldn’t listen to the facts. His only concern seemed to be Shari and how she felt about things. They sat in the dining room while Sam held Chona at bay in the living room. She made no bones about not liking Senator Levitz and that feeling appeared to be mutual. Chona sat on the sofa and read the journals, while Sam watched an old Brando movie and ate microwave popcorn. Tom continued on with his argument. “What about the microchips?” he asked, “you saw her, are you saying that was rational behavior?”

  “Tom, Shari has experienced a tragedy that you and I can’t even fathom. Her parents were her entire world. She was crushed when she lost them and she was subsequently damaged in the aftermath. Who are we to say what is rational or not? This is your wife we’re talking about. How can you just sit there while she’s upstairs, tied to her bed, like some kind of wild animal? I just find that deplorable.”

  Tom shook his head. “You don’t understand. You’re not listening to me.”

  Senator Levitz sat at the end of the table and he stood up. “You keep saying that, but what about Shari? What about her rights as a human being? I demand that you go upstairs and cut those ropes, Tom. Shari’s heart is crying out to be freed.”

  Tom didn’t like looking up at the diminutive politician, so he rose to his feet. “Please,” he said, “tell me more about Shari’s rights as a human being. Oh, and try not to forget that your own wife is next door, right now, probably crying her eyes out. She thinks you’re dead, Senator. As a human being, doesn’t she have the right to know that you’re alive?”

  “You know damn well that I have to remain hidden. That was dirty pool, Tom, dirty pool.”

  Chona walked into the room, carrying an open ledger. Her eyes and mouth were wide open.

  Levitz held his chin high in the air. “I guess I’m going to have to do this by myself,” he said. “I will not
stand idly by while my dear friend has her human rights trampled.”

  “You’re not untying her,” said Tom. “I won’t allow it.”

  “You just watch me.”

  “Sit down and shut up, both of you!” shouted Chona. She slammed the open journal down onto the table. “Everything has changed. You both have to read this.”

  “I don’t have time to read, not while a fellow citizen is suffering.”

  Chona picked up the journal and in three swift steps, she was standing next to Senator Levitz. She slid the journal in front of him and jammed her finger down onto the open page. “You aren’t going anywhere until after you’ve read this,” she growled.

  “What are you talking about?” asked Tom. “What did you find in there?”

  “This Norma woman, she wrote about Senator Levitz. And Tom, she also wrote about you.”

  Patronizingly, Levitz nodded his head to Chona. “Norma and I were friends for many years. I’m not surprised that you’d find mention of me in her journals. She looked up to me.”

  “She wrote about me?” asked Tom. “I don’t ever remember meeting her.”

  “This is a stall tactic,” said Levitz. “I’m going upstairs.”

  “You’re going to sit your ass down in that chair,” said Sam, who was now standing in the room. “Don’t make me get rough with ya.”

  “This is ridiculous,” grunted Levitz, but taking his seat. “Fine, where would you like me to start? I’m warning you, this isn’t going to change my mind.”

  “Start reading at the top of the page,” said Chona. “This is going to blow your mind.”

  Tom stared at Chona. She no longer sounded angry. Slowly, she backed away from Levitz and the journal as if they were possessed by demons. Sam walked over to her and he took her into his arms.

  Levitz began reading. At first, he chuckled and then he rolled his eyes. And then he looked as if an invisible gong had been rung, right behind his head. He sat straight up in his chair and his head snapped back. “Dear God,” he cried. “No… no, this is impossible. What sort of trickery is this?”

  “That ain’t no trickery,” said Sam. “What the hell does it say?”

  Levitz shot Tom a haunted look and then he continued to read. The color drained from his face and his hands began to tremble. “I can’t believe it,” he whispered. “I won’t believe it. How did you do this? Who put you up to this?”

  “Shut up,” said Chona, “and keep reading. Tom is waiting.”

  Suddenly, Tom didn’t want anything more to do with the journal. His mouth felt dry and he could feel his blood pressure rising. He watched Levitz, theatrically slapping his forehead and whimpering like a child as he continued to read. Five long minutes passed. Tom’s lunch began to roll over in his stomach. Finally, Levitz motioned for Tom to join him at the far end of the table. “Just tell me what it says,” he said. “I don’t want to read it.”

  “You have to read it,” said Levitz, mopping sweat from his forehead.

  “Read it, Tom,” said Chona.

  Like a condemned man, Tom walked slowly around the backside of the table. He then sat down as Levitz flipped pages in the leather journal. He then slid the open book to Tom and pointed to the top of the left hand page. “Start here,” said Levitz. “Chona, do you know if Shari keeps any kosher liquor in the house? I could really use a drink.”

  “I’ll go take a look,” said Chona. “I’ll be right back.”

  Their little exchange terrified Tom. Only minutes ago, the two had been at each other’s throats. Tom rubbed his cheeks and began to read. Thirty seconds later, Tom pushed away from the table. “No… no,” he moaned. “This has to be some kind of sick joke.”

  Senator Levitz shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he said. “Just keep reading. You haven’t seen anything… yet.”

  Marie hacked away at the door with the crowbar, but the door was much sturdier than it had originally appeared. Doris stood at the open window. There didn’t seem to be any air in the little room and something else bothered her. The window was on the west side of the house, which was the direction the storm had come from, yet there wasn’t a drop of moisture to be seen. Doris thought that with the west wind had lashed the heavy downpour, that there should have been standing water in the little room. At the very least, the carpeting should have been wet.

  “You piece of shit!” Marie screamed. “Damn it!”

  Doris watched Marie as she repeatedly jammed the crowbar into the door, as if it were a living thing that refused to die. She then turned away and stared down at the ladder. On the ground, the ladder looked a mile away. Doris fought the urge to panic. What if Marie couldn’t open the door? How long would it take for someone to come looking for them? “Open that damned door!” she shouted at Marie.

  “What do you think I’m trying to do?”

  “Get out of my way!” Doris cried, and then she lowered her shoulder and charged the death-defying door. There was a loud crash and Doris was thrown backwards. She landed on her backside with a plop. The door had barely flexed.

  “That was stupid,” said Marie. “You could’ve been hurt and I can’t carry your fat ass out of here. You’re not hurt, are you?”

  Doris rubbed her shoulder and shook her head. “I’m fine. I’m just claustrophobic, you know that.”

  Marie swore under her breath and turned back to the door. “Hey,” she said, “look, you knocked it open.”

  Doris looked up and sure enough, the door was hanging open. This seemed very strange to her, but she scrambled to her feet and gathered up her bag. She was desperate to get out of the little room. Marie was right behind her. They charged out into a dark and narrow hallway. What little light there was, spilled out from the open doorway. “Give me a flashlight,” said Doris, “I can’t see a damn thing.”

  “You were supposed to grab the flashlights.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  Marie laughed. “Will you just settle down? I grabbed each of us a flashlight. What do you think I am, stupid?”

  Doris didn’t like the way Marie had said that, but she was thankful that Marie had remembered the flashlights. She watched as Marie dug in her canvas sack. A moment later, a beam of light appeared inside the sack. Marie handed the glowing flashlight to Doris and she pulled a matching one from out of the sack. She then flicked it on.

  The hallway looked straight out of a Howard Johnson’s. There were doors offset from each other, roughly fifteen apart. The carpet was done in shades of cream and swirls of burnt orange. From where they stood, the hallway seemed endless. “Where should we start?” asked Doris.

  “We might as well start here,” said Marie. There was a creaking sound, followed by a loud click. Marie spun around, but the open door behind them was now closed. “What did you do that for?” she asked.

  “I didn’t touch that damned door.”

  “You must have. Doors don’t close by themselves, ya know.”

  Doris swore under her breath and shook her head. She then slung her sack over her shoulder and tried the doorknob to the room across the hall. “Well, this is just great,” she grumbled. “The door is locked.”

  Marie was already trying another door. “They must all be locked,” she said. “This really sucks.”

  “Nothing is ever easy, is it?”

  “Not for us. I knew I should have grabbed that axe.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  “Because, stupid, I didn’t want to ruin your daughter in-law’s house.”

  “Quit calling me stupid!”

  Marie began to reply, but her flashlight beam flickered, grew dim, and it winked out. “Son of a bitch,” she said, slapping the flashlight. “I don’t suppose you remembered batteries?”

  “No,” said Doris, sarcastically, “I didn’t remember batteries.”

  “Well, this sucks.”

  Just then, the beam on Doris’ flashlight dimmed and they were suddenly plunged into blackness. “Shit!” cried Doris. “Didn’t you
check these before you took them?”

  “They worked just fine! Damn it, anyhow, Doris. Do you have a lighter? We’ve got to find the stairs.”

  Doris didn’t have a lighter, but she did have a book of matches. She dropped the sack and the dead flashlight and began digging in her pockets. The air in the hallway seemed noticeably colder. Something brushed past her and Doris shoved it away. “Quit crowding me,” she growled, “I’m trying to find my matches.”

  “I haven’t moved,” said Marie.

  “I’m freaking out over here. Stop trying to scare me.”

  “I’m not trying to scare you. Doris, I haven’t moved.”

  Doris found the matches and she tore them from her pocket. Blindly, with trembling fingers, she struck one of the paper matches and it slowly came to life. Doris and Marie huddled in the light. From somewhere behind them, came a loud crashing sound. Doris dropped the match and she began to run. Marie trampled behind her. They bounced like pinballs off of the hallway walls. They ran until the floor seemed to disappear under their feet. And then, tangled together, they were tumbling down a stairwell. Marie cried out in pain. They hit a landing, but their momentum sent them crashing off a wall and down another flight of stairs. Doris screamed. She grabbed a handful of something and pulled hard, but realized it was Marie’s hair and she quickly let it go.

  And then they were sent sprawling out onto a wooden floor.

  “Are you alright?” asked Doris.

  “I don’t know,” groaned Marie. “Will you get your foot out of my face?”

  Doris began untangling herself from Marie. She was banged up and bruised, but nothing appeared to be broken. Shafts of light pierced through heavy drapes in what appeared to be some kind of ballroom. Doris was just happy that she could see. Slowly, she rose to her feet. “Did you hear that?” she asked.

  Marie shook her head. “Yeah, I’m not deaf, ya know.”

  Doris was already moving toward the nearest window. “I don’t really know, but I think it was ghosts.”