All Hail (Continued), (Ezzy's Education: Part 31), By Garrett Murch
Statement from Victorious Lucinda Barron
By Luci Lipps 4:25 p.m.
Lucinda Barron, elected today with the votes of less than 20 percent of Ebbing students, has provided the following statement exclusively to Loose Lipps. Actually, it’s another video of Lucinda talking. Loose Lipps wonders if the release of the election results was delayed to give Lucinda time to get dressed up and shoot this video. We may never find out.
Luci Lipps’ post included a freeze frame of Lucinda wearing a black dress with “I love those who voted for me” painted on it. Link clicked on the screenshot and Lucinda started talking.
“Today, the vast majority of votes counted at Ebbing High School were for me. Justice has spoken and for the first time in my life, I can say I am proud of my school.
“My voters have been threatened by the terror of toxic masculinity posed by the now- vanquished Trunk Langston. Recently, my opponent’s masculine father attempted to firebomb our school using my pamphlets, which he torched at a football game within sight of fans who later screamed during the game. This botched terror attack marked the greatest threat ever posed on Ebbing soil. Without decisive action to advance Justice, we may not dodge the next bullet.”
“She sounds like some of the national Justices,” Link said.
“Shush,” Kayla said to Link.
Lucinda continued:
“There is now a mandate to redeem ourselves, and Justice will not wait. New guidelines will prohibit the presence of red meat at school with little exception. Guidelines will also prohibit the idling of vehicle engines at school, again with little exception. And to move Justice forward, armed police officers shall not be permitted inside Ebbing High School unless there is already an imminent threat to physical safety. To advance safety, the school board will confirm student monitors from a list of students that I will soon send them. These wonderful student monitors, champions of Justice, will ensure Justice prevails at our school because Justice is the key to safety.”
”Officer Holmes won’t be allowed in school?” Ezzy asked. “That’s insane.” Lucinda continued:
“These democratic reforms will allow us the freedom to live according to the dictates of Justice, and deliver us from the evil, fascist Patriots. Justice will not be obstructed by excessive spiritedness, or outdated notions of rugged individualism my mother says never existed. Dangerous assertiveness will be reserved for well-trained Justice followers we’ll call leaders. Collectively, we will learn we are all in this together, and our collective sacrifices will make me—and all of you—more happy, satisfied, and successful than some of us would otherwise ever be.”
“She’s speaking in riddles so people won’t understand what she’s really talking about!” Link yelled again.
“Link!” Everyone yelled at once.
“Shush,” Kayla said to Link, smiling.
“I bet her mother helped her write this,” Link said. “Okay, I’m shutting up now.”
Lucinda closed her speech, saying, “Again, I thank all of you who voted for me. I will never forget. God bless you, God definitely blessed me, and may God bless Ebbing High School.” Lucinda smiled and winked and with the end of her video the laptop screen went black, but for a white silhouette of an eye in the screen’s center.
The living room went silent. Ezzy felt her heart beat, beat, beat. “Thanks, Ezzy,” Madison said.
“What does that mean, Madison?” Link asked.
Ezzy knew what Madison meant. All I had to do was skip one weekend of fishing and Lucinda would not be president. One stupid weekend! She thought about firing back at Madison in anger, but hung her head instead. Madison was not wrong.
No one answered Link’s question about what Madison meant. Ezzy figured they all knew the answer, even Link knew and was just being protective of her. “We need to form a resistance,” she said. Everyone looked at her. “A sensible, effective resistance that’s nothing like what Trunk does. Things are about to get even worse at school and we’ve got to find a way to survive, stay sane, and still get an education.”
“Count me in,” Kayla said.
“Me too,” said Link, who grinned at Kayla.
Ezzy blocked her impulse to be pleased at the way Link looked at Kayla. Later. Business right now. But that’s a good sign. It’s sad being victims of Trunk might be what it took to bring them together.
“Let’s do it,” K said.
“But do what?” Jasmine asked.
“We should create a secret, satirical newspaper that covers the insanity at school,” Madison said.
“Bad idea,” Link said.
“Why is that?” Madison asked.
“I’ve read about this,” Link said. “Horror novelist Stephen King tried that in high school, over in Lisbon actually, about an hour from here. He wrote about it. He got in trouble for that newspaper and said he hasn’t written much satire since then. I don’t know if it would work, anyway, but it might not end well for us.”
“Uh, okay then,” Madison replied. “I figured you’d be the head of the newspaper, so I guess that’s out. Ezzy, what do you propose we do?” Madison removed his glasses.
Ezzy thought for a moment. Her thoughts and experiences were converging into something almost coherent. She knew she hadn’t figured it out, though. “First off,” she said, “we must acknowledge the reality, much as we don’t like it, Lucinda is now president. We can’t change that. She won. This time. We want to win the future, so we don’t elect preachy, bossy, narcissistic leaders who only care about themselves. And to do that we can’t be reactionary. We can’t resort to childish stunts.”
“What do you mean by reactionary?” Jasmine asked.
“You know, reactionary,” Ezzy replied. “As in, just reacting to Lucinda with irritableness or anger or with counterproductive antics. Like what Trunk’s father did burning those pamphlets. Acting like that would make us look unserious. And people like Lucinda might start looking like a lesser evil.”
“Okay, gotcha,” Jasmine said. “Sounds like something Condoleezza Rice might say. I still can’t believe Lucinda trashed her for not conforming to the Justice agenda.”
“Condi Rice is an amazing woman,” Madison said.
“So Ezzy, are you saying we should just let Lucinda run roughshod over us?” Link asked.
“She won,” Ezzy said. “Our class is made up of kids like us who will soon be voting in real elections for the first time. Something within our power to do is show students there are alternatives to being cruel, narcissistic control freaks like Lucinda, or lunatic, reactionary narcissists who act like spoiled children, aka Trunk. We all know most students don’t like either of them.”
“We need to stop letting them be our only choices,” Kayla said.
“I agree,” Ezzy said. “How about we start inviting our classmates to join us just to chit chat about things once in a while? We can get a better sense of what they’re thinking.”
“We might be the only people willing to listen to most of the students,” Kayla said, eliciting another smile from Link.
“True,” K said. “Trunk and his gang will be doing stunts until they get stopped.”
“And if you’re a Patriot who’s not enthusiastic about their stunts, they’ll label you a fake Patriot,” Link said.
“And Lucinda,” Jasmine added, “she only wants to hear from people who tell her how great she is.”
“And what you can do for her,” Ezzy said. “Then she’ll tell you how much she cares for people like you.”
They all forced laughs, some weaker than others.
”Maybe one small victory,” Kayla said, “is other students will at least realize they want to block politicians like Trunk and Lucinda when their votes really count later in life?”
There was a brief silence.
“Kayla, that would be more than a small victory,” Ezzy said. “Some people will laugh and say talking will get us nowhere. But I’d disagree with that. And we’ve got to start somewhere.”
“I wish we could have another election,” Madison said. “This is it: our senior year.”
“We can’t, barring a miracle,” Ezzy said. “That was it. But we can show it’s possible to be reasonable, to treat people equally, and to support the common good without being brainwashed or forced into Lucinda’s Justice program.”
“Show them there’s another way,” Kayla said. “I like it. That could pay off when we’re all voting for real. It’s a shame InstaTok is so nasty. We could grow a massive network, way beyond just Ebbing high school students. Maybe not on InstaTok.”
“That would be epic,” Link said. “A voice of reason for young people. Right now the loudest voices are for the smallest groups. I saw a poll recently that said less than ten percent of people consider themselves Justice members in the Lucinda mold.”
“Of course Link was looking at a poll,” K said. They laughed.
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Ezzy said. “I think most people want more freedom, but we have to prove we can act like responsible adults with lots of freedom. If we don’t, the Lucindas of the world will get more support, more votes, and more power.”
No one said anything. The silence continued until Aurora, who had been watching them, said, “Miracles do happen.”
All six teenagers looked at Aurora.
“I believe that,” Ezzy said.
“Hey guys,” said Link. “Do you want to stick around here for a while tonight, maybe watch a movie or something, and get our minds off all of this?”
They all said they thought they could stay, and they would confirm with their parents one way or another.
“Link,” Aurora said. “I think your friends would like to have dinner.”
“Yes, of course, Mom.”
“I’m not in the cooking mood, and your father won’t be home until later. How would you young adults feel about Five Guys?” Aurora appeared to be holding back a smile.
“Yes please!” Madison said.
Ezzy, her spirit lifted, said, “Thank you so much Aurora!”
“Five Guys is the best!” K said with jubilance. “Thank you!”
“Okay, okay,” Aurora said, releasing her smile to be seen. “Hold on, I’ll take your orders.” Ezzy admired Aurora’s sparkling eyes, trying not to stare.
“So what movie do you all want to watch?” Link asked.
“Ezzy’s choice,” Madison said.
“Throw some suggestions out there,” Ezzy said.
”How about Don’t Look Up?” Jasmine asked.
“That movie is just a political attack on Patriots,” Link said.
“That’s true,” Ezzy said. “It’s simplistic and lopsided: not the sort of movie that will expand anyone’s thinking.”
“Okay, got it,” Madison said. “Since it seems you’re in the defending Patriots mood, how about Captain America?”
“I bet Trunk, in some delusional way, thinks he’s Captain America,” Ezzy said.
“I’ll take that as a no on Captain America,” Madison said.
“Yeah, you just kind of ruined that idea, Ezzy,” Jasmine said. They all laughed.
“There is a classic you all might like,” Aurora said. “It’s from even before my time. It’s about deciding whether to sit on the sideline watching the world burn, or to get off your butt, take action, and do the right thing.”
“What classic is that?” Ezzy asked.
“Casablanca.”
I don’t know how, but I’ve never watched that movie. “Casablanca it is!”
Ezzy's Education, the first novel by recovering Washington, D.C. political professional Garrett C. Murch, can be purchased here as a paperback or an eBook.