limited amount of time.
Dexter switched off the engine and pulled the keys out of the ignition. “Should I
say something to them?”
Elliot turned and looked out of his window. When Steve and Fred saw him in the
black BMW, they smiled and flapped their hands. Elliot smiled back. But he said,
“You’re not going to have a choice. These two are the vicious types, but with smiles on
their faces. They’ve been dying to meet you. Just be friendly, but don’t trust them and
don’t take anything they say seriously. Especially when it comes to Fred. He’s the type
who will hug you and tell you you look spectacular on the day you look your worst.”
Dexter raised his eyebrows and nodded. “Ah well, I see,” he said. “Fred’s a cunt.”
Elliot smiled. “You’ve got the picture.”
When they got out of the car, Fred and Steve were standing at the end of their
SUV waiting for them. Fred walked over to Elliot, hugged him, and said, “It’s so good to
see you, Elliot. We love you so much.” His voice rose with a false, planned lilt.
Steve was less obnoxious. He hugged Elliot and said, “It’s nice to see you again.”
Elliot smiled at them both. “I’d like you both to meet my new friend and the
newest member of the Provincetown Retail Business Association, Dexter Moore.”
Fred smiled. His eyes bugged and his lips pursed. “It’s so nice to meet you,
Dexter. We’ve heard about you. You just bought Keel Cottage on the west end of town.
We just love that house. We really do.”
Dexter smiled and reached out to shake Fred’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Fred.” Then he turned to shake Steve’s hand. “Hi,” he said.
He tried to focus on their faces, but it wasn’t easy to do. Steve had the body and
clothes of a twenty-year-old, but he had the face of a sixty-year-old. His short spiked hair
was dyed light blond and it looked stiff. From the neck down, his stomach was flat, his
low-rise jeans hugged his slim hips to perfection, and his pointy Italian shoes looked
expensive. But from the neck up, he looked like someone’s grandfather after the facelift
and Botox injections.
Fred must have been about ten years younger. He had darker hair with graying
sides, but it was too short for someone with a nose so large. His outfit looked as if he’d
raided Madonna’s 1980s closet. He wore a shiny silver shirt covered with a shiny bronze
vest. His parachute pants were made out of some kind of plastic material and his shoes
were black quarter-boots with three-inch Cuban heels. Dexter hadn’t seen anyone dress
like that in years.
Elliot smiled. “Dexter is somewhat famous, Fred.” He named the sitcom that
Dexter had been in and mentioned the reality show that was being filmed that night.
Fred smiled. “I thought you looked familiar, Dexter,” he said. “We loved that
show. We love you in that show.”
Steve removed his hands from his pockets and said, “We’re going to be on TV
tonight?”
“I have a film crew following
me
,” Dexter said. “I’m going to be on the show, and
the meeting is going to be on the show. But they are going to block out all faces and a
names to protect everyone’s privacy.” Dexter wanted them to know he wasn’t trying to
be dishonest, and that they had nothing to worry about. But when Steve heard that he wasn’t going to be on TV, he frowned. Evidently,
he wouldn’t have minded being part of the show.
Fred smiled and said, “I guess we should go inside now.” He didn’t seem to care
about the film crew or the show.
Dexter said, “We’ll be inside in a moment. I want to get something out of the
trunk. “You guys go on ahead of us.” He didn’t like them. Fred used the word “love”
much too freely. And when Fred smiled, he reminded Dexter of Madam the puppet.
When they were gone, Dexter and Elliot walked over to Jesse and the film crew.
They’d parked way back, on the other side of the parking lot. Dexter smiled at Jesse and
said, “Wish me luck, guys. I’m starting to get a little nervous about this speech.”
“Just keep it real,” Jesse said. “We’ll be in the back getting it all on camera.”
Dexter frowned. “You’re sure you’re not going to get anyone’s face or name?”
Jesse raised his hands and said, “Man, trust me. I’m not looking for any lawsuits.
I know what I’m doing. This all comes down to careful shots and great editing. It’s all
about you, Dexter, and the general cause.”
Dexter took a deep breath and sighed. “I haven’t given a public speech in years.”
Elliot patted his back. “You’ll be great. I’ve seen how hard you’ve worked to
learn what this is all about in such a short time. I have faith in you.”
When they entered the multipurpose room where the meeting was being held,
they headed toward a group of people sitting toward the front, on the right side of the
room. Elliot knew where he was going. He said the people they were sitting with were a
few other members of the retail association. They had been saving seats for Elliot and
Dexter, waiting for them to arrive. The entire room was filled, with standing room only. Elliot said that he hadn’t seen such a large turnout for a Special Town Meeting since the
last time the sewers had backed up in Provincetown.
Dexter smiled and sat down next to a large man wearing a baseball cap. He
looked around the room and sighed. Everyone’s expression was pinched and serious. And
there was a clear division in the room. Fred and Steve had taken seats on the left side of
the room. It looked like those in favor of losing the fundraiser were on the left, and those
in favor of keeping it as a town tradition were on the right. They were all passing nasty
looks across the room to each other. Some were even sneering.
When the Board of Selectmen took their seats at the front of the room and the
meeting began, they started listening to arguments from the Chamber of Commerce about
how having an art festival in town would improve business and enhance Provincetown’s
reputation as an art colony. Fred, the president of the chamber, spoke first. He began by
saying, “The chamber
loves
this town. We
love
everyone in it.” His voice rang out with a
singsong lilt, and he smiled and used exaggerated gestures as if he were giving a sermon
in church. And he hadn’t memorized his speech. He was looking up and down, between
the papers in his hands and the people in the room.
Dexter frowned and stared down at his lap. It was hard to watch. Even if you
could forgive the fact that he hadn’t memorized his speech, Fred was one of those
amateur public speakers who try so hard they come off looking ridiculous and fake.
Elliot poked Dexter in the ribs and whispered, “Have you noticed that Fred just
loves
everyone and everything? Trust me, when he tells you how much he
loves
you,
that’s the time to watch out because there’s a knife in your back.”
Dexter smiled. He whispered back, “He does seem a bit insincere.” When someone on the right side of the room shouted, “Hey, this is bullshit!
You’re giving us all a great speech about how much the town needs this so-called art
festival, but you’re not mentioning the fact that you want to cancel a longtime
Provincetown tradition to do this. And you’re not mentioning all the people who will
suffer disappointment if this fundraiser is canceled. There are people who depend on this,
you asshole.”
Dexter frowned again. He’d expected a more civil meeting. Marion had warned
him that things could get testy. But he’d thought she’d been exaggerating.
Everyone on the right side of the room roared and applauded the man’s comment.
The left side of the room started shouting at them. The chairman of the Board of
Selectmen had to quiet the crowd by banging a gavel. Fred just stood there and smiled
with his hands clasped together; his eyes were wide and his expression was innocent.
When he smiled with tight lips, it looked as if he’d just smelled a rotten fish.
After Fred spoke, Dexter stood up and read his speech. He’d written it himself,
and he’d memorized it so he wouldn’t have to be distracted by shuffling papers. First, he
thanked Fred for presenting his side of the argument. Then he introduced himself to the
people in the audience by telling them he was new in town and that he’d just moved there
from Hollywood. He mentioned he’d been the child actor on a well-known sitcom. When
he named the sitcom, everyone applauded, even the people on the other side of the room.
He’d known most of the town knew nothing about him, and he wanted to use his small
amount of celebrity to his advantage.
After that, he started speaking about how necessary the fundraiser was to people
with AIDS and to the community of Provincetown. He used all his training as an actor and public speaker. The fact that he truly did believe was he was saying made him even
more convincing.
No one on the other side of the room interrupted him. He took command of the
audience and held their attention until the last line of his speech.
When he was finished speaking, he thanked them all for listening and sat down.
But before his ass even hit the seat, someone from his side of the room shouted, “We’re
tired of being pushed around by powerful restaurant and hotel owners, and a Chamber of
Commerce that knows nothing about small retail business in this town. We don’t want an
art festival and we’re going to fight all the way to stop it.” The man raised his fist in the
air and the crowd roared. Dexter sighed and shook his head. He felt as if the hard work
he’d done to promote solidarity had all been ruined.
The meeting became a shouting match between the Chamber of Commerce and
the Retail Association. Insults were exchanged and more than a few pejoratives were
passed around. The Board of Selectmen tried to control the meeting, but it got ugly. The
passion ran so thick that one member of the Retail Association crossed the room and
grabbed a member of the Chamber of Commerce by his collar. A couple of police
officers had to break them up and drag them out of the room.
Then the Board of Selectmen decided it was time to adjourn the meeting. The
chairman stood up and said, “Due to the strong emotions on this topic, we’ve decided to
hold off on a decision at this time. We’ll call another special meeting and give a final
decision then. The next special meeting will be decided at our regular board meeting.
This meeting is adjourned.” The crowd, on both sides of the room, began to shout and boo. Dexter turned to
Elliot and asked, “What does this mean? I thought we’d get a decision tonight.”
“It means,” Elliot said, “that they don’t want to commit to anything right now.
They want to drag this out because they don’t want to make a decision and turn half the
town against them. I’ve seen it before. It’s all political. Some of them are up for re
election this year.”
On the way outside, Jesse met Elliot and Dexter at the exit. “Kellan shot your
entire speech. It was wonderful. It reminded me of something from an old movie and you
were the small-town hero. I have a feeling this show is going to be the best one I’ve ever
done.”
Dexter had almost forgotten about the TV show. He shrugged his shoulders and
said, “I’m doing my best.” But he wasn’t sure how the rest of the show would be. Now
that the meeting was over, he still had to face the fact that his life was not very interesting.
He turned to Elliot and asked, “Are we going to do any kind of campaign to get the
support of other members of the community?”
Elliot gave him a blank stare. “I’m not sure. I don’t have anything planned.”
“If we’re going to win this thing,” Dexter said, “We should start educating people
in town. I know this was a large turnout for a meeting, but I’m sure we’re not reaching
everyone in Provincetown. If we’re going to win over the board, we’d better start
lobbying for more support.”
Elliot smiled and slapped his back. “You’re right,” he said. “We need a
chairperson. And I’m nominating you for the position. From now on, you’re in charge of
organizing and educating so more people become aware and involved.” “This is great,” Jesse shouted. “The network is going to love it. It’s just like an
old-fashioned movie and you’re Jimmy Stewart.” Jesse had a tendency to repeat himself
when he was excited.
Dexter just stood there smiling and nodding. He didn’t feel like Jimmy Stewart.
He knew Jimmy Stewart had never removed his clothes on purpose and walked around in
