Meet Derek Dyson, a six-foot-three, burly, fifty-something Black man living in the City of Mobile, Alabama. He's the proud owner of Dyson Motors, the third-largest car dealership in all of Alabama. Dyson made his fortune playing for various teams in the National Football League, between 1988 and 2001. Dyson was worth seventy three million at the time of his retirement, and unlike a lot of NFL legends, he was actually just getting started.
"A lot of brothers make their money in the NFL and the NBA and end up broke, I swore this wouldn't be me," Dyson said, speaking to Zahra Jabir, the pretty African American reporter for KTV-57 News Network. As he spoke, the brother kept stealing appreciative glances at the tall, curvy Black female reporter in the cream-colored pantsuit. That gal is certainly shapely, Dyson thought with a smile.
"I can see that, Mr. Dyson, between your auto commercials on television, the car dealership and those five restaurants you own, you're quite the success," Zahra Jabir said, smiling politely. What is it with lecherous older men always looking at me like a piece of meat? Zahra wondered. Not that Dyson was your run of the mill lecherous guy by any means. He had a lot of money, but money couldn't buy you everything...
"Ma'am, I thank the Lord for His blessings every day," Dyson replied, taking off his trademark Stetson hat for emphasis, and Zahra Jabir rolled her eyes. Like a lot of successful businessmen, politicians and others, Dyson claimed to be a devout Christian. Zahra Jabir, the daughter of a womanizing and thrice-divorced Somali Muslim preacher from Saint Louis, Missouri, wasn't the type to fall for that bullshit. She'd grown up right next to it, after all...
"That's nice, Mr. Dyson, and that's a wrap," Zahra Jabir said, and she looked at her cameraman, a skinny gay White dude named Floyd Stone, and he stopped filming. Ever the gracious host, Dyson invited Zahra and Floyd for a tour of the facilities, as in the parts he hadn't shown them while they were conducting the interview. Puzzled, the reporter and her cameraman dutifully followed their host into his inner sanctum.
"The secret of my success is relationships, I couldn't have built Dyson Motors without my investors and my friends, I had to show them that my success was good for them too," Dyson said, and he pointed to a picture on his office wall. Zahra looked at the picture and was surprised to see Dyson standing next to Mayor Anton Sterns, a tough-as-nails Republican who got into politics after serving twenty years as a police officer in the City of Mobile, Alabama. As a cop, Sterns made the infamous Sheriff Joe Arpaio look like a school chum, he was that hard on minorities.
"You're friends with Mayor Sterns? That's a surprise," Floyd blurted, and Zahra shot him a look, then looked at Dyson, who smiled. The burly Black businessman leaned against his oak desk, and smiled. Dyson found the flabbergasted looks on Zahra and Floyd's faces completely amusing. Everyone always underestimates the intelligence of a brother, Dyson thought, grinning wryly.
"Yes I am, son, and let me tell you, the Mayor is retiring at the end of this year and has asked me to run for office, and I'm considering this very thing," Dyson said, smiling at Floyd. Upon hearing those words, Zahra Jabir's eyes went wide with shock. A long-time stronghold of southern politics, Mobile was one of those towns that was part of what made the South what it was, and had always been. To call it conservative didn't do it justice. The place was simply conservative central...