And that’s exactly what President Gabriel Knight did that sunny afternoon in July. Not only did he cut the lawn, but he sang, off-key, at the top of his lungs, as he tooled along at three miles an hour. Every news channel carried the event on the evening news. The commentators started off their hourly news by saying, “Hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen, what you are about to see is something never before shown on TV.” The picture that popped up on the screen was the President waving to one and all as he buzzed around the White House lawn, a grin as wide as the Grand Canyon on his face. It was clear to one and all that he was having the time of his life. And as the news commentators said, why shouldn’t the President have the time of his life. He was, after all, the leader of the free world.

The moment Lincoln Moss saw the picture flash on the screen, he went from placid to nuclear, knowing that a picture was worth a thousand words and that Gabriel Knight just jumped up twenty points in his approval rating. He smashed up his state-of-the-art kitchen, where he was eating his solitary dinner at the kitchen counter.

“Son of a bitch!” he cursed.

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The boys sat around Myra’s kitchen table, drinking coffee. “I don’t get it, why are we even here? What’s going on? I feel like I should move my stuff here and take up residency,” Dennis grumbled.

“Sometimes, it’s good to be on the down low, kid,” Ted said as he poured fresh coffee into everyone’s cup. They were on their third pot since their arrival a little after sunup.

Harry, the only one not drinking coffee, looked at the tea leaves in the bottom of his cup as though the answer to all life’s problems could be found there. He mumbled something that sounded like, “We’re just the second string.”

“How’d you guys like those pictures of the prez on the news last night?” Jack asked, grinning. “I actually did a double take. Good for him.”

Ted joined in the laughter. “Those pictures made it around the world in like sixty seconds. Feedback was positive the world over. That’s what’s been lacking in the guy’s presidency, the human side of him. Not the side that Lincoln Moss wanted presented to the world. I gotta say, though, he can’t sing worth a damn.” Another round of laughter rang through the kitchen.