Red Tape

by Michele Lynn Seigfried

  Eleven volunteers were recruited from the Facebook post. I turned over the job of handling supplies to them and I got busy with all the last-minute election details. I called the county board of elections and asked them to deliver the poll books to my temporary office in Madisen Township. I double-checked with the church that was housing our emergency polling location to make sure the voting machines were delivered. I called the poll workers to provide them with directions on where to pick up the poll books and where to report to work. The polls opened at six in the morning and poll workers were required to report at five fifteen a.m. I put out posts about where and when to vote and I notified the newspapers about our emergency setup.

  According to the county clerk’s office, there were already a large number of people taking advantage of early voting. Early voting wasn’t typically permissible in New Jersey, but the Governor created an executive order to grant it due to the dire circumstances we were facing. I created my spreadsheet for the election tallies and included an extra column for the early votes.

  The only thing that bothered me about the election was Mayor O’Donnell. I found it outrageous that she didn’t step down as mayor and that she continued to campaign for her reelection despite her arrest. I kept my fingers crossed that she wouldn’t win her bid for reelection. I didn’t know her opponent. He was a newcomer to the Town of Sunshine. The only requirements to run for office were that a candidate had to be a resident for one year and a registered voter. Alexander Phillips had moved into town just over a year ago. He was an Independent candidate and he filed his petitions on the day of the Primary Election, back in June, prior to my return from maternity leave. I had hoped that the voters read the newspapers and would think better than to vote for a corrupt politician like Frita.

  * * *

  On Monday morning, the supplies for the polling places arrived. The county decided to combine the four districts of Sunshine into two districts. That meant I had only two sets of poll books to be picked up and eight poll workers. Rose Sciaratta and Giuseppe Fruscione had volunteered to do the pickups for the two districts.

  Giuseppe arrived first.

  “Hiya there, Chelsey!” he said.

  “Hey, Giuseppe. How did you make out in the storm?”

  “Oh, Chelsey. I had a terrible time. I decided to ride it out. I never thought it would be so bad. My family was worried about my staying at home so my grandson, Roberto, came to stay with me. At some point during the night, after I fell asleep, Roberto came and woke me up. The water had risen and filled the downstairs of my house. He told me we had to get to the attic. He pulled me up the small ladder. I couldn’t have gotten up there without him. Then he broke a hole in the roof and he carried me up another ladder to the outside. We waited for three hours on the roof until a helicopter came and rescued us.”

  “Oh, Giuseppe! I’m so sorry! How horrible! I had no idea!” I gave him a hug. “I’m so happy you’re okay!”

  “I’m okay because of my grandson. I owe him my life. I would have drowned if it wasn’t for him.” He started to cry. “My home is gone.”

  I felt so bad for him. I asked him if there was anything I could do for him. He was a proud man and he wouldn’t accept anything from me. He told me he had a large family that was taking care of him.

  “Ah, my grandkids will help rebuild the house if they know what’s good for them. It’s their inheritance,” he said.

  I helped Giuseppe out to his car with the poll supplies and I told him I’d stop in to check on him at the church in the morning.

  Rose came in shortly after Giuseppe left. I asked her how she made out with the storm. She had stayed with her daughter during the storm, but didn’t know the condition of her apartment yet. I hadn’t seen the apartment complex when I was on the island, but I had heard it was in fairly good shape. I let her know.

  “No worries,” Rose said. “I hate my landlord. This was the kick in the bum I needed to get out of there and get moving. I’m going to look for a place near my daughter.”

  “You’re moving out of Sunshine?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I think it’s time. There’s a nice senior citizens’ community near my daughter. I think I’d like it there.”

  “I’m going to miss you, Rose!”

  I also walked her out to the car to help her with the supplies. When I returned, Bonnie informed me that Rodney called with the announcement that residents would be permitted on the island for the day with some restrictions. The streets had been cleared of enough sand to allow cars on the island.

  I took the message from her and quickly put out a Facebook post: Residents will be allowed into Sunshine Township today from noon until five p.m. Residents must bring a photo ID and proof of residence in order to gain entry. One vehicle per household will be permitted. It should be noted there is still no electricity or gas on the island.

  I called my parents and told them the news. I was sure they would want to drive to their house to check on its condition and gather some of their belongings.

  “If you want to check on your house, you can go ahead. I have enough volunteers to help me with phones and supplies,” I said to Bonnie.

  “What’s the point? I have no downstairs to my home and have no way of getting to the upstairs of my house to get my things. I might as well stay here. I’d much rather answer all the ‘where do I go to vote’ calls than sit in front of my home and cry,” she responded.

  “The causeway will be backed up for miles anyway, with the military stopping each car to check IDs,” I told her, in an attempt to let her know I thought she was doing the right thing by not going to see the ruins.

  At the end of the day, I decided to take a ride home to check on the status of the electricity. I unlocked the front door, then flicked on the light switch and voilà, the lights worked. I was ecstatic! I could move back into my house. But then it occurred to me, if I moved back in, I wouldn’t have a baby sitter, since my parents’ house was not currently inhabitable. I only had a two-bedroom home—there was my room and Mandy’s room. After working out some details in my head, I called my parents. My mother sounded upset.

  “Mom? Are you okay?” I asked.

  “It’s just seeing the house earlier. I know we were a lot luckier than some people. We didn’t lose everything, but it was a lot to take in.”

  “How long will it take to get the insurance money?”

  “The insurance company said there is a long wait list. They have tons of claims. There’s no telling when we’ll see some money. It won’t pay for everything anyway. We’ll need to hire some people to come out and gut the downstairs. Your father and I are just too old to do it.”

  “I have a suggestion.”

  “I’m all ears.”

  “I just got electricity back in my house. I was thinking about sleeping on a cot in Mandy’s room and giving you and Dad my room. It would help us both out. You and Dad wouldn’t have to drive over an hour each way to get back and forth to your home while you’re having it repaired and I would have someone to watch Mandy without having to drive more than an hour back and forth to work.”

  “I like the idea. I’ll just run it past your father to make sure.”

  “Do you mind if I stay here for the night? I have to be at work byfive tomorrow morning for the election and if I stay here, I won’t have to leave the house before four a.m.”

  “That’s fine. Mandy is just fine staying here.”

  “Feel free to move in tomorrow when I’m at work if Dad’s fine with it. I won’t get home until close to ten. I can’t leave until the polls close, the results are tallied, and I take the hand-written ballots back to the county.”

  “We’ll probably see you tomorrow,” my mom said.

  Chapter 22

  At four o’clock in the morning, I jumped into the shower. It was so nice to be in my own shower, in my own home. I missed my little peanut, though. It was going to be a rough day. I drove over to the church in Madisen first to put out signs and see how the
poll workers were making out. Bonnie would always say that our workers were so old that their spouses were already collecting survivors’ benefits. It was only five o’clock and they were already setting up. They might have been ancient, but they were incredibly reliable. I reminded them to start up the machines and open the doors to the public promptly at six.

  I then headed over to the all-purpose room to man the phones. The main calls were people wanting to know how to get to the emergency poll location and when people would be allowed on the island again.

  Bonnie arrived to help me at nine in the morning. I ran out at ten to buy donuts and coffee for the poll workers. When I arrived at the polls, I noticed that a reporter from the Lagoon Tribune was doing exit polling. Out of curiosity, I asked her what the polls were predicting. She said it was a close race, to my dismay. I dropped off the donuts and coffee and took a long lunch to reenergize myself. I headed back to my makeshift office around two o’clock so that Bonnie could take a breather as well.

  When Bonnie returned, I headed back out to the church. The poll workers reported it was slow all day. I hoped the polls would pick up during the evening hours, when the nine-to-fivers were on their way home from work.

  As the close of polls neared, I found myself biting my nails. I was a nervous wreck waiting for the results. I wanted to be rid of Frita O’Donnell as soon as possible, and not having to work with her was a start. There was no date selected for her trial yet and I didn’t want to wait for a trial and sentencing for her to be out of my life for good.

  The fax machine rang at eight thirty and I got a taste of the preliminary results. The write-in and early voting ballots were tallied with Frita winning by only ten votes.

  “Nuts!” I said.

  “What? What’s the matter?” Bonnie asked.

  “I have the county’s tallies and they are showing Frita winning by ten votes.”

  “That doesn’t mean she won.”

  “It’s usually a good indication of the winner,” I told Bonnie. It was the truth. In every election I had worked, the write-in results mirrored the machine results. The winner of the write-ins was always the winner.

  I was on the edge of my seat waiting for Rose and Giuseppe to come to my office with the machine votes.

  “I predict Rose will be here by eight forty-seven,” Bonnie said.

  “I’ll take Giuseppe by eight forty-two,” I said.

  It was a little game we decided to play to pass the time—predicting who would be the first poll worker to bring us results and what time. I was the closest; Giuseppe arrived at eight forty-five. We had a system where I checked in the poll supplies to make sure everything was signed properly, the machine keys were returned, the machine cartridges were sealed, and the written ballots were properly handled. Bonnie took the result print outs from each machine and entered them into a spreadsheet so that we had a final tally.

  When Bonnie finished the tally, she breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Well? Don’t keep me waiting any longer!” I said impatiently.

  “New guy won,” Bonnie announced.

  “Are you messing with me?”

  “Nope, new guy won by a little under a hundred votes.”

  I did a little victory dance and Bonnie laughed. As of January 1st, whether or not Frita was put away for her crimes, she would no longer be my boss! I couldn’t have felt more overjoyed at the moment.

  We finished up our work for the evening, and I drove to the county to deliver the written votes. I arrived at home to see my parents’ car in the driveway. I smiled; I was glad they decided to stay with me and I couldn’t wait to see my precious baby girl.

  I went inside and told my parents the good news about Frita not winning, then I crept into Mandy’s room to sleep next to her. She looked like a peaceful little angel in her crib. I drifted off to sleep, listening to the sounds of her breathing.

  * * *

  The day after the election, Frita showed up in the Madisen Township all-purpose room where I was working. I picked up my cell phone and dialed 9-1-1. She was screaming, “You rigged the election, you little rat! I am going to kill you!”

  I backed away from her, but she kept coming at me, yelling and carrying on like a lunatic. I grabbed my purse, reached in, and pulled out the pepper spray Bonnie had given me. I depressed the pump and shot her in the eyes with the spray. She shrieked and rubbed her eyes. “You witch!” she hollered. Within minutes, Madisen Township police officers showed up. I handed them a copy of my restraining order, which I always carried with me, and they placed her under arrest for violating the order.

  The officers dragged her out in handcuffs as she kept yelling, “I’m going to call the attorney general; you rigged the election. I’m going to get you, Chelsey Alton!”

  I thought, Be my guest! I yelled back at her as they dragged her out the door, “There is no way I could have rigged that election and if you have to tell yourself that in order to accept your fate, then so be it.” That was a woman who was in total denial.

  Madisen’s clerk came into the room. “I’m just checking to see if everyone’s okay,” Kathy said.

  “We’re fine now, thanks! You probably aren’t going to ever invite us back with all the drama we brought today,” I said to her.

  “Are you kidding? This was the highlight of my week! Nothing ever goes on here. I was excited for a change!” she said.

  We all laughed.

  “You’re definitely working the council meeting tomorrow for me, right?” I asked Bonnie.

  “I will, but I’d much rather see you have to work the meeting, so I can watch you pepper spray that bitch again!”

  I was relieved that Bonnie would handle the meeting for me. I didn’t know how that would work out anyway if I was supposed to work the meeting. I’m sure Colby would have directed me to stay away from the meeting, given the circumstances and the restraining order.

  I asked Bonnie to text me after the meeting to see how it went. The resolution to officially reappoint Bonnie as the deputy town clerk was on the agenda and I was eager to know if it passed without issues. She later told me it did.

  * * *

  The remainder of November and most of December were dedicated to cleaning up the municipal complex and putting the office back together. Rodney hired a contractor to drain the flood waters from the basement of the municipal building, gut it, and handle mold remediation. The ground floor offices were in decent condition and didn’t need much work. Replacement windows were installed in one afternoon.

  Bonnie and I spent a lot of time taking in donations, coordinating volunteers and helping those in need get back on their feet. The range of support and donations we received to give out to the community was astonishing.

  Even though we were all working hard, Sunshine wouldn’t be completely back to normal for a long, long time. Streets were littered with drenched carpeting, rotting drywall, mold-infested furniture, and inoperable major appliances. Garbage haulers were working overtime in an attempt to clear all the debris. Utility companies were providing around the clock teams to restore power to the community. Crews were removing fallen trees and limbs for weeks. The public works department was desperately trying to rebuild dunes that had washed away in the storm in an effort to protect the town from any winter storms that might have been on the horizon. Most residents were unable to inhabit their homes and the majority of those who worked in Sunshine lost their livelihood.

  The large dunes near the municipal complex protected the buildings in the complex and I knew I was lucky to have a home and a paycheck coming in. I actually felt sorry for Mr. Triggers. He had lost everything, which was his greatest fear. It was like he had a sixth sense about something like this happening and it made him extremely passionate about trying to save his home in advance.

  By Thanksgiving, not too many Sunshine residents had a lot to be thankful for. Rebuilding had begun for only half of the homeowners and businesses in town. My parents were still living with me and I liked having
them around. They had a way of making me feel safe and secure. They loved being around Mandy 24/7 too, but they would have liked to be back in their own home.

  A contractor had begun working on their house earlier in the week. He estimated that renovations would be done by Christmas. With my parents around all the time lately, it made me realize I wanted a big family of my own. I was done with my independent phase. I realized that life was too short and could be taken away easily. I wanted to share my life with someone special and have a happy home, much like the home my parents provided me with growing up.

  Chapter 23

  December

  21st. It was supposed to be the end of the world, according to those who believed in the Mayan calendar doomsday predictions. It seemed like the end of the world when Mr. Triggers showed up at the window. Bonnie and I were about to exchange our Christmas presents when he arrived and put a damper on the holiday spirit.

  “I want to see the mayor now!” he demanded.

  “Perhaps you’d like to wait until after the first of the year when the new mayor takes office,” I suggested.

  Mr. Triggers turned around without saying a word and walked away. His face showed no expression.

  “That was weird,” I said to Bonnie.

  “Sure was,” she said.

  We opened our presents. Bonnie had bought me a cashmere sweater, scarf, and hat.

  “I wish you wouldn’t spend so much money!” I said to her. “Thank you very much!”

  I had bought Bonnie a gift card to Woody’s for dinner. I never knew what to buy for a woman who had it all. Or should I say, had it all before the storm. I didn’t know what she needed, but I thought being able to take a break from renovations and going to dinner would be something she would enjoy.