Novel Excerpts–The Boaz Stenographer, Chapter 54

The primary aim of the "Novel Excerpts" blog category is to showcase my creative writing, specifically from the novels I've written. Hopefully, these posts will provide a glimpse into my storytelling style, themes, and narrative skills. It's an opportunity to share my artistic expressions and the worlds I've created through my novels.

The Boaz Stenographer, written in 2018, is my fourth novel. I'll post a chapter a day over the next few weeks.

Book Blurb

Walt Shepherd, a 35 year veteran of the White House’s stenographic team, is fired by President Andrew Kane for refusing to lie.

Walt returns to his hometown of Boaz, Alabama and renews his relationship with Regina Gillan, his high school sweetheart, who he had ditched right before graduation to marry the daughter of a prominent local businessman.  Regina has recently moved back to Boaz after forty years in Chicago working at the Tribune.  She is now editor of the Sand Mountain Reporter, a local newspaper.

Walt and Regina’s relationship transforms into a once in life love at the same time they are being immersed in a growing local and national divide between Democrats and traditional Republicans, and extremist Republicans (known as Kanites) who are becoming more dogmatic about the revolution that began during President Kanes campaign.

Walt accepts two part-time jobs.  One as a stenography instructor at Snead State Community College in Boaz, and one as an itinerant stenographer with Rains & Associates out of Birmingham.

Walt later learns the owner of Rains & Associates  is also one of five men who created the Constitution Foundation and is involved in a sinister plot to destroy President Kane, but is using an unorthodox method to achieve its objective.  The Foundation is doing everything it can to prevent President Kane from being reelected in 2020, and is scheming to initiate a civil war that will hopefully restore allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.

While Walt is writing a book, The Coming Civil War, he is, unwittingly, gathering key information for the Constitution Foundation.

Will Walt discover a connection between the Foundation  and the deaths of three U.S. Congressmen in time to save his relationship with Regina, prevent President Kane from being reelected as the defacto head of a Christian theocracy, and the eruption of a civil war that could destroy the Nation ?

Chapter 54

Last night Regina had invited me for lunch today, a working lunch she called it.  We would eat Grilled Chicken Salads from Wendy’s at the round table in her office.  It was Wednesday and her least busy day.  I hadn’t been to her office in several weeks and was anxious to be with her no matter where we met.

Mitzi, the new receptionist, led me back to Regina’s office like I didn’t know where to go.  Of course, she didn’t know that I knew.  Mitzi said she heard I was a good teacher and was interested in learning stenography.  I told her that I would be happy to sit down sometime and discuss educational requirements and job opportunities.  She was right out of high school and looking for direction.  I encouraged her to pursue education with a vengeance.

Regina was already seated and squeezing Ranch dressing on her salad when I walked in.  “Hurry, I’m hungry.  Sorry, I didn’t wait.”

“No problem.  I’m not used to you waiting on me anyway.  Like Sunday afternoon when you woke up from our nap and went downstairs to eat the rest of my Black Walnut ice-cream.”

“That was different.  That was your fault.  You had said you wanted to take a nap.  You deceived me.  I wish I could resist you master.”  Regina said licking Ranch dressing off the end of the packet.

“Funny as usual.  What’s up?  You don’t usually invite me here unless you have something non-personal on your mind.”

“Nothing and everything.  I just wanted to see you and pick your brain.”  Regina said.

“Why did you get me Thousand Island dressing.  You know I’m trying to watch my calories.”  I said.

“Shut up and eat.  You know you’re thankful I did.  You love it and you hate dieting.  Listen, you may need the energy to get out of town with me.  We may have to leave in a hurry.”  Regina said.

“I know, we are not the two most popular people in town.”

“Nothing new really, but the Reporter is taking a lot of heat about your last editorial.  It seems people love their religion.”

“You mean they love their Christianity.  Truly, they love their delusions, more than one, Christianity and Kane.”  I said eating my first tommy-toe tomato.

“I often regret creating the comment system on our website.  It’s just too easy for every crackpot to disclose his ignorance.”

“I still believe it is a good thing.  It is a way for everybody to be a real stenographer.  I know it’s a little twist but think about it.  The commenter ‘hears’ someone—himself—make a statement.  It’s in his head but it is real.  He then records it just like he hears it.  He records it online, right on your website.  I love it.  Well, I love the stenographic aspect of it.  But, I do agree with you that it creates a forum to conjure up hatred for you and me.”  I said.

“I’m seeing a lot of comments that are saying we should move back to where we came from, that we don’t represent the Boaz community.  It bothers me.  It makes me sad.  You and I both grew up here.”

“They are right you know.  We don’t represent them.  We are different.  We are both able to see how they are brainwashed.  We are fortunate to have broken free.”  I said.

“I agree, but the community certainly doesn’t see it that way.  They believe we are the ones who are deluded, especially after you wrote what you did about the teacher’s prayer system.”  Regina said.

“I haven’t looked.  Has there been a lot of backlash about that?”  I said trying to open a pack of crackers.

“Oh man.  You would think you are Hitler himself, the worst atheist ever.”

“Hitler probably was an atheist even though he was born Catholic and was confirmed in the Catholic church.  He used Christianity politically but probably rejected it.  This doesn’t mean his lack of a belief in God caused him to exterminate six million Jews.”  I said.

“This illustrates part of the problem with the locals.  They don’t care too much about logic.  This is the scary part.  They are so used to taking things on faith they never learned basic logic.  I think they are prone to simply insert ‘God did it,’ into their elementary analysis and leave it at that.  It’s kind of like the prayer thing you wrote about.  God gets praised for all the wonderful things he does, the things that believers think he did.  Things like, the woman whose eyesight is poor at night thanking God for His grace in giving her a big semi-truck to follow home from Birmingham.  Someway, this woman concluded it was God who had supernaturally placed that truck and that driver at that location just for her.  Again, the scary part is these people believe this, they cannot see the insanity of their logic.”

“There is another equally important side to their argument.  When things don’t go good or they become aware of horrible things, evil things such as the suffering and death of millions of children every year throughout the world.  Fundamentalist believers simply chalk these consistently recurring events up to ‘God is mysterious.  How could we ever know His mind?’  They have no problem believing this is simply a part of God’s plan for the world.”  I said.

“How on earth are we ever going to make any head way in Boaz, Alabama?  That’s what I want to do.”  Regina said.

“I agree.  I know the old codgers will likely never change, never learn logic and rationality, but who I’m truly and deeply concerned about is the young people.  Like, your Misty.  She thinks she wants to learn stenography.  She told me as she brought me back to your office this morning.  It would be interesting to know about her religion.  My point is, young people of all ages, especially teenagers, need a counterpoint to their Sunday School teacher and pastor.”

“And to 99% of all the other people they meet as they go about their daily lives.”  Regina said.

“I guess my weekly response to The Boaz Stenographic column is about all I can handle right now.  Do you want your pickle?”  

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 Help a starving artist.