like oil, right into our pockets.â
â Me ?â Viceroy laughed and shook his head. âFool, do I need to pull down my pants so you can see what shade of black my ass is? Nah, I ainât the one. You need a white boy for that.â
âNonsense!â Bob protested smoothly. âYouâve spent your entire life preparing for a role like this. Youâve chaired the Regional Power Committee and served on the Gas Committee too. Not to mention that you were nearly killed in an oil rig accident. You survived and spent months in a coma and endured endless rehab and you still bounced back on your feet! Youâre exactly the man weâre looking for, Viceroy. Hell, if you ask me the state of Texas owes you one. The electionâs going to be tough, but the campaign will be very short. Youâve got a tear-jerking survival story thatâs perfect for these bleeding heart liberals, and we need their votes too! Besides, youâre the head of the richest black family in Texas. That alone makes for a great public interest story and could help win over the hearts and minds of the specialty voting block.â
Viceroy stopped slurping from his bottle and stared at the old man like he was smoking weed.
âDo you know how much crazy shit my family is going through right now, Bob? Didnât you just see me trash my whole damn office? My wife is a fuckinâ floozy! My sonâs banging the shit out of his own cousin, my youngest daughter canât decide if she likes nuts or cooch, I got a crazy New Yorker trying to shoot a reality show in my living room, and a big-dicked cross-dresser named Peaches is flouncing around my house in a little pink skirt!â Viceroy shook his head and swiped his hand down his face. âAnd if all that donât fuck you up, Okrah Sinfree and her crew are gonna be at my house filming an interview this afternoon.â
Bob counted off on his fingers. âYes to Okrah, no to the reality show, and hell no to the queer guy. In fact, get rid of him right away!â he snapped distastefully. âIt sounds like youâve got a lot of cleaning up to do at home, but I believe it can be done. Truly, this is the perfect opportunity for a man like you, Viceroy. Itâs your time. This position is powerful and prestigious and you deserve to hold it. Who knows? It might lead to a federal appointment one day.â
Viceroy still couldnât see it. âMan, Bob, I just tore up my whole fuckinâ office! I smacked the shit out of an intern and scared the hell outta good olâ Ginny. A couple of leaked emails about that and I can kiss a whole lot of lily white votes good-bye.â
âNonsense!â Bob waved him off. âRemember, youâve had a very severe head injury. Everyone expects these type of weird things to happen with you every now and then. Ginnyâs fine, so donât worry about her, and Iâll make sure the intern gets a great job offer and a nice bonus too. All you have to do is agree to do it. Just get your household in order and say youâll run.â
âLet me get a few days to think about it.â
âWe donât have a few days! The election is in three weeks. The deadline to submit your filing documents is in less than seventy-two hours.â
âSeventy-two hours?â
âThatâs right. We need a quick decision here. If you say yes, I can have the necessary forms filed immediately.â
Viceroy took a deep breath as his mind flitted over the possibilities. The only way he could truly fuck a big-time oil man like Rodney Ruddman up the ass was from a position of power. Political power. If he was the head of the state regulatory board not only would he have the power to give those in the oil business damn near everything they wanted, heâd have the power to take it all away too.
âOkay.â He reached out to shake Bobâs hand as he got ready to go home and clean house. âBet.