Chapter 20: The Poll

Dolly called the Auxiliary meeting to order on Thursday night by banging a wooden spoon on the Legion Hall podium.

A hundred and sixty people sat in folding chairs, because word had gone around that Pete was paying out.

Pete stood beside her in his rubber apron with a cigar box under one arm.

He had been running the town pool for eleven years, and he looked like a man about to have a very expensive evening.

I sat in the third row with my coat in my lap.

Emmett leaned on the back wall in a clean shirt, as far from the aisle as he could get.

【Pete: Before I begin, I want it on the record that I lost money on this story.】

【Sue: You lost money on every chapter, Pete. That's what makes you consistent.】

"First order of business," Dolly said, and her glasses flashed. "The vote."

A cheer went up before she'd even said what it was.

"The Locals has spoken. By a margin of sixty-one percent, the name of this particular situation is..."

She paused for effect, which she'd learned from watching Channel 9.

"The Third Post."

The hall went up.

I put my face in my hands.

【SpellCheck_Sue: Runner-up: "Brittmett," 22 percent. "Emmbritt," 9. And 8 percent voted "Walleye" as a protest.】

【Helen: I voted Brittmett. Bless it, it's got a ring.】

【Pete: Brittmett sounds like a cold medicine.】

【POLL (Dolly's Locals): Cod or walleye? Cod 50%, Walleye 50%. One vote outstanding.】

"Does the couple have a statement?" Dolly asked, and every head turned.

I stood up slowly.

"I'd like to thank the Academy," I said.

"And the third post."

The roar shook the rafters.

At the back wall, Emmett had taken off his cap and put it over his face.

Pete opened the cigar box with a flourish and began to read from a notebook.

"Kiss or no kiss. Kiss paid at six to one. Winner, a Mr. Lou from the post office, who put in fifty dollars."

LakeLou stood up in the second row and took a bow.

"Britta vs. the Dettmers, who breaks first. Brock broke."

"Winner, one hundred to one, a five-dollar bet placed the night I opened the pool, by..."

He squinted at the notebook.

"By Dolores Wiegand."

The room stared at the podium.