Party Foul - Abby Knox
Prologue
Newcastle Dispatch, Evening Edition
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Governor Resumes Campaign While First Daughter Parties On
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By Ainsley Smith
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Governor George Locke boarded his tour bus before dawn this morning to once again hit the campaign trail, citing “there’s still work to do,” while some critics say the real work that’s needed is on the image of his family.
First daughter Fiona Locke has come under heavier-than-usual scrutiny lately after social media images surfaced of her attending college parties that seemed to imply she was in possession of narcotics.
Combined with her repeated brushes with the law and complaining neighbors, some of Locke’s longtime supporters think they need to rein in the 24-year-old for the sake of saving his political career.
“I have voted for Governor Locke in the past four elections because he’s been tough on crime. He’s done just okay. He’s had enough time to take down these crime families that run roughshod over our city and state, but now it’s time to put up or shut up,” said Rudy Sutcliffe, a longshoreman who lives in the troubled Dockside neighborhood.
The Dockworkers Union has endorsed the governor’s opponent, Casey Fisher, himself a former union president who has criticized the governor of focusing too much on organized crime in the capital city of Newcastle, and not enough on the state as a whole.
Still others have an even harsher message for the first family. Mary Rogan, whose Castle Hill address is far removed from the crime-ridden areas of the city, said after a recent PTA meeting at Longfellow Elementary School, where her two children attend, “I volunteered for his campaign in the early days, before I had children. We’ve all been very patient while the first family has been experiencing growing pains,” Rogan said. “And now, we think there may or may not be some kids of big time criminals attending these parties with her? It says to me that there’s a lot more going on with the Lockes than what we’re seeing.”
Rogan added, “Honestly, it makes me question everything about that family. She’s a grown adult and they still can’t manage to keep her name out of the newspapers. If things don’t turn around, I doubt I’ll be voting for Governor Locke again.”
In recent days, neighbors of the Locke’s estate in the Shoreline neighborhood have registered noise complaints and called police on trespassers that have allegedly spilled over from one of Ms. Locke’s notoriously raucous parties, according to the police reports.
These complaints came at the same time as social media photos surfaced of Ms. Locke appearing to be in possession of narcotics at the aforementioned party, with other partygoers suspected to be connected to the Girardi crime family.
The governor’s decision to spend the holidays campaigning around the state has also chafed many critics.
“He should spend more time with his family around Christmas and New Year’s and less time trying to raise money,” said downtown shopper Rita Smith. “His wife’s family has money, he doesn’t need anything else from us but votes.”
The governor’s campaign tour bus, which came with a $300,000 price tag, left the state capital at 5 a.m. this morning and is expected to conclude its whirlwind tour on Saturday in Newcastle, where a lavish fundraiser is planned at his family’s estate in the borough of Shoreline.
When asked about the reports of his daughter’s behavior at the estate, Governor Locke replied, “Fiona is an adult who makes her own choices.”
Currently enrolled as a student in the humanities school at Castle Hill University, Ms. Locke’s name has repeatedly appeared in the Newcastle Dispatch police blotter with her attendance at fraternity parties to which police have been called for vandalism, public drunkenness, and disorderly behavior.
Charges against Ms. Locke have been quietly dropped each time her alleged antics have resulted in run-ins with police.
The governor has declined to comment further on the matter with his daughter, or when she plans to graduate.
According to sources close to Ms. Locke, speaking on condition of anonymity, the governor’s daughter is on her “sixth year of her five-year college plan.”
Chapter One
Levi loved taking out the trash.
He especially savored moments like this one: removing a 187-pound sack of shit named Jerry Walls from Crow Bar.
The back alley behind the neighborhood pub reeked of fish heads, and that’s where guys like Walls belonged.
Walls’ stubby digits clawed at the longer, rangy fingers belonging to Levi that gripped him around his neck. The neon orange glow of the Crow Bar sign at the end of the alley glinted in Walls’ watery, bulging eyes. Levi made