Gerald Ford was not that Gerald Ford. He could have been. George Bush had a home in Kennebunkport, after all. But Gerald Ford was unrelated to the Gerald Ford who had been president.
He was, however a town councilman.
He often wondered if that was partly a result of his name, though. Actually, most of the time he assumed it was entirely because of the name. George Bush in Kennebunkport and all.
Be that as it may, Gerald still had to do the job, whether or not he’d gotten it because of his name. To be fair, he’d also gotten it because his family had lived in Berlin for generations, their tombs could be found in the cemetery with dates as far back as the 1700s, when there was little question that the main occupation of anyone living here was maritime. In the Fords case, on a merchant basis. No one in the Maine territories at that time was involved in the Boston business, but the Ford family loved to tell guests that they had been close associates of Thomas Hancock.
It was also true that when someone of the younger generations asked if he was that Gerald Ford, he didn’t exactly go out of his way to dissuade them.
At any rate, that was why he spent a great deal of time listening to angry Berlin citizens at town meetings asking him what he was going to do about Kate Meadows, what he was going to do about Shirley Stanley, about Harmony Wright. Even when he was just sitting down for his morning coffee at the Hawkeye. Especially when he was sitting down for his morning coffee. He’d previously enjoyed a leisurely approach to his diner visits. Shandy refilled his mug at minimum three times. Used to, anyway. It was getting to where Gerald could hardly wait to leave before the first had reached the bottom.
Now whenever anyone asked about Tara Thompson from over in Portland, when the FBI was going to get involved, Gerald dreaded the attention. He started to hear comments he’d never previously experienced, references to Chevy Chase, to Richard Nixon. Especially after declaring the town’s official stance was that Tom Malkovich needed to be left alone.
This is to say, Gerald Ford started to feel cursed for the first time in his life.
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