A Different Plan

Jon's houseguest had come into his life as a result—indirectly, at least—of the incident six months earlier, when Eugene Hackett had physically attacked him at the rec center and then peppered the front of his house with a .45. When Jon had spoken to Hackett at the Los Angeles County Jail, he had assumed that the confrontation and subsequent forgiveness would be the end of it. God, however, seemed to have other plans.

Jon was officially notified by the county that Eugene Hackett was being released. The letter also stated that Eugene's home had been foreclosed upon. However, a citizen sponsor had been found, a sort of big brother "to assist Mr. Hackett in returning to the community as a productive citizen." Citizen sponsors, the letter explained, provided safe, positive living environments as well as mature guidance and companionship. The letter closed with an invitation for Jon to let them know of anyone who might be interested in becoming involved in the program.

 

Jon had argued with God about it for several days but his resistance was short-lived in the face of such an obviously God-ordained opportunity. Apart from the intervention of a caring adult, Eugene Hackett would likely be an L.A. gang fatality in a matter of a few years if not months. Jon knew that mercy and compassion were every bit as important to God as justice. Once justice had been served, it was time to exercise love. So Jon had volunteered to become a citizen sponsor. As a result, Ben entered Jon's life.

Not Giving Up

During a press conference at noon on Saturday, Senator Bellardi had made clear his intention to continue the campaign. He was so adamant about not giving up, Stevie had noted while listening, that he seemed to mock the peril facing him and his loved ones. She had never seen such resolve blaze from his eyes before. It had caused her to wonder about the balance of his commitment to family and career. He seemed intent on pushing through to victory at all costs. His goals for North California were important, but were they worth the loss of a wife or a son?

 During the Saturday evening debates on the topics of crime in general and legalized drugs in particular, Senator Bellardi was his confident, articulate self again, as if the fire had never happened. He took his characteristic black-and-white hard line on crime issues and adequately defended his position against Juanita Dunsmuir, who pressed him on the gray areas as she had during the abortion discussion. It was not a resounding victory Stevie had assessed, but she was confident that the senator was inching farther ahead of his challenger in the debates, just as she had hoped. A victory party until midnight had drained the last ounces of Stevie's energy. She fell asleep grateful for a Sunday morning with no responsibilities.

“AntiCrist”

Senator Bellardi had been driven home in the middle of the night to view the fire damage and talk with his security staff. The note from AntiCrist (his spelling) was discovered early Saturday morning. News of another attack, especially one that could have destroyed the senator's home and killed his son and housekeeper, sobered Stevie. Hearing of AntiCrist's threat to purposely hurt someone—particularly someone the senator loved—gripped her with fear.

Even though Robert had made it a point to assure her that Wes had escaped the blaze unharmed, Stevie still had felt moved to call him. When she finally reached him late Saturday morning, her protege was as non-communicative as ever, but Stevie was relieved just hearing his foggy voice. She wanted to implore Wes to quit the campaign and fly back to the university. Whoever AntiCrist was, he was crazy enough and crafty enough to make good on his threats—and Wes might very well be a target. So she urged him to be careful. Every thought of harm coming to Wes reminded her of the tragic overdose that befell her own Dougie.

Exhausted

It had been a grueling weekend for Stevie, not so much physically as emotionally. Though very little of her time had been required by Senator Bellardi and the debate team, Stevie had spent the last forty-eight hours wound tight, ready at a moment's notice to help out as needed. Then for two hours each evening she was on the edge of her chair emotionally during the Bellardi-Dunsmuir debates. Stevie had the sense that each question, each comment, each word uttered on the platform in front of the television cameras bore directly on her future in North California. Every Bellardi gain was a personal gain for Stevie and her children. Every glimmer of a Dunsmuir success felt like a personal defeat.

 Being so close to Robert Johnstone all weekend had also taken an emotional toll on Stevie. Although they had not spent any time alone together, Stevie was constantly aware of his presence. She found herself counting the days until November so that she and Robert could finally begin spending personal time together. Even more taxing to Stevie's emotions this weekend had been the frightening event at the Bellardi ranch.

Fire!

Ernesto "Ernie" Cruz, a high school friend and supporter of Dan Bellardi,  was a California Highway Patrol who took an early retirement from the CHP and formed a security patrol company. His four armed officers were stationed unobtrusively in the darkness around the Bellardi ranch. Once every two hours—the four men checked in on the radio, surveyed their quadrant, and then rotated to new positions. Suddenly, one of the men yelled over the radio, “Fire, Ernie!  Part of the back of the house just lit up like a torch."

Ernie called the county fire district as he ran back toward the house. He was puffing, “You guys look for some garden hoses. I'm going inside to get the kid and the housekeeper out." Wes Bellardi was sick with a cold. The room reeked of cold medicine. Ernie shook the young man, who seemed drugged and helped him mumbling and stumbling out the front door. Then he took off for the housekeeper, who met him whimpering with fear. "Elena, it's a fire, but you're all right," he assured her, then ushered her quickly out the front door to the driveway where Wes sat stunned on the cement. Thanks to the men's quick work, the Bellardi home would be saved and the fire damage would be minimal.

 During the fire crew's mop-up, Ernie Cruz toured the perimeter of the house. Everything was secure except the door from the backyard to the attached garage. The county fire chief told him off the record that arson was a strong possibility. They would later find a single sheet of paper in the tray of the fax machine at Bellardi headquarters,  "The fire was no acident [misspelled]. Belardi [misspelled]must quit north [should be capitalized] California. Next time someone you love will get hurt. AntiCrist [should be antichrist]."

Abortion: A Fight to the Finish

Stevie marveled at Senator Bellardi's self-control. Were she at the lectern instead of him, she would be worked into a fire-breathing frenzy right now defending the senator's cause in the face of the challenger's impudence. Yet Bellardi remained self-assured and winsome as he calmly deflected the challenger's verbal assault. And he always seemed to know which camera was trained on him, holding both the on-site audience and the television audience with his steady gaze.

 Ms. Dunsmuir's prepared fifteen-minute presentation on the topic of abortion would be next. The senator would be allowed a ten-minute rebuttal, which would be followed by Dunsmuir's three-minute response. Thus would end round two of the debate. The folksinger-turned-politician had launched an impressive mid-round offensive, Stevie thought. But the former state senator from California had minimized the threat and turned it to his advantage. Stevie did not know much about boxing, but she would have to give rounds one and two to Senator Bellardi. She could not wait until tomorrow night. She could smell a knockout coming.

Convenience Abortion is Wrong

"Ms. Dunsmuir has done well to remind us of the heartrending stories of girls like Jenny." Senator Bellardi exhibited no ill effects from his opponent's barbed rebuttal. His poise at the lectern seemed unflappable. "And although a sanctity of life standard must be upheld in all cases, my quarrel is not primarily with women who submit to abortion during a momentary lapse of conscience or good judgment. Thankfully, these occurrences are in the minority. Rather, the pro-life legislation I propose is aimed at multiplied thousands of women who think nothing of terminating new life simply because pregnancy or motherhood is incompatible with their lifestyle." A soft murmur of affirmation from the audience confirmed that the senator's supporters were also present in force.

"I refer to these women impersonally as Ms. X, because their unconscionable acts are inhumane. Animals sometimes kill their young, but sane and sensible people made in the image of a loving God do not. We cannot tolerate careless, thoughtless, heartless women and their male partners whose devotion to convenience, career, and the good life leads them to kill their young in the womb. Convenience abortion is not right anywhere at any time. If that is intolerance, so be it. As governor of North California, I will make sure that the rights of the unborn are protected by law."

Abortion Rebuttal

Senator Daniel Bellardi's platform says, “Abortion is a crime, abortion is murder— period” Juanitia Dunsmuir said with conviction. “Do the crime and you do the time. It's the right thing for North California.” Fellow North Californians, the “Jenny's” and “Elizabeth's” of the world need guidance, counseling, encouragement, understanding, and love to turn their lives around—a little tolerance and compassion, if you will. Contempt and incarceration are not right for these girls. And if it's not right for them, then it's wrong for North California. "Remember, a vote for Dan Bellardi is a vote of intolerance."

Placards, demonstrations, and overt campaigning were strictly prohibited in the auditorium, which was supposed to be a neutral site. But Dunsmuir supporters in the crowd of eight hundred spectators were notable by their enthusiastic applause as their candidate returned to her chair. Senator Bellardi had three minutes to respond to Ms. Dunsmuir's rebuttal before the challenger presented her own case on abortion. Even though she did not know what the senator would say, Stevie anxiously and confidently awaited his reply.

Heartstrings of Abortion

Clever strategy, Stevie thought, for a New Age atheist like Dunsmuir to introduce “Elizabeth” as a Christian and intimate that her abortion was an act of mercy. She is as persistent as she is resourceful at poking holes in the stained-glass curtain between her and Senator Bellardi.

 Juanita played to the heartstrings of the crowd with two more brief scenarios. The stories were carefully framed to make each girl's choice for abortion appear logical and even moral. "Legislation proposed by Senator Bellardi," she concluded, "would brand as criminals the Jennys and Sarahs and Elizabeths of our new state. Can you imagine your teenaged neighbor being handcuffed and hauled off in a police car just for protecting an innocent child from a brief, painful life and a horrible death? Can you imagine your own niece being arrested and imprisoned simply because she made a hasty, emotional decision that will punish her with regret for the rest of her life?

Abortion and Regret

Stevie marveled at how Juanita Dunsmuir was subtly turning the senator's presentation to her favor. Transforming the impersonal Ms. X into a "Jenny" was a stroke of genius. Stevie wished she had thought of it earlier, even though she knew there was no real Jenny in Windsor, North California. By stating Jenny's "regret" at having an abortion, Dunsmuir had purposely introduced a small margin of doubt about the firmness of her formerly unyielding pro-choice position. She was cutting the senator some slack in an attempt to make a few friends in his camp.

Stevie silently acknowledged that the Dunsmuir group had done its homework. While appreciating their effort from a professional standpoint, Stevie's faith in the senator's ability to deal with the clever ploy remained firm.

Juanita Dunsmuir continued her rebuttal. "Elizabeth, an upstanding Christian student at College of the Siskiyous, was abducted at knife point and raped. Discovering she was pregnant from the attack, Elizabeth decided to risk the embarrassment of her condition and the misunderstanding of her family and friends in order to bear the child for the sake of adoption. But when the rapist was apprehended, he tested positive for HIV. In order to spare an innocent child the horrors of AIDS, Elizabeth mercifully terminated the pregnancy."

Dunsmuir on Abortion

Juanita Dunsmuir quickly changed the complexion of the debate, as a boxing match would change if one combatant pulled off the gloves and began swinging fists armed with brass knuckles. Dunsmuir was not reacting emotionally, Stevie knew. Her tack of biting, rhetorical questions was carefully calculated to solicit support for her liberal position.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Ms. X Senator Bellardi introduced to you does not exist. No one in North California goes by such an impersonal name. But there are numbers of young women in our state named Jenny and Sarah and Jessica and Patty and Elizabeth. They are your coworkers, your neighbors, your nieces, and your daughters. These girls are troubled, frightened, and embarrassed. They have one thing in common: unplanned or unwanted pregnancy."

"Sixteen-year-old Jenny over in Windsor was talked into a night of intimacy by her twenty-year-old boyfriend. When Jenny confessed that she was pregnant, her boyfriend disappeared and her alcoholic mother threw her out of the house. Feeling abandoned and scared about the future, she hastily sought an abortion, a decision she now regrets."

Bellardi on Abortion

On the topic of abortion, Senator Bellardi cited convincing data supporting the viability of the fetus at all stages of development. He introduced a hypothetical example, the unwed and pregnant "Ms. X," at the crossroads of a decision between a convenience abortion and the responsibility of bringing the child to term and offering it for adoption to a loving, childless couple. "The right thing for North California is to do the only right thing for Baby X," Bellardi declared. "Let this defenseless little person live, and stand against anyone who would take from it the precious gift of life."

 Using a poignant, true-to-life example in the presentation had been Stevie's suggestion. She marveled at the strength of the story and its application as Senator Bellardi delivered it.