“I guess it wouldn’t.” Marilyn was looking at me in confusion. I just said, “Little pitchers, big ears. I’ll explain it later.”
Charlie caught part of it. “Were you a pitcher on a baseball team?” I rolled my eyes and let Marty deflect that one.
“I’m actually kind of glad I wasn’t over there last year. Dhahran would have been Target One for Saddam Hussein if he had pushed south from Kuwait. Everything he was after was along the east coast, all the oil fields and refineries. He would have taken all those westerners and used them as human shields, too,” Marty told us.
I nodded in understanding. “That would pretty much suck. I have a buddy, still in the service. He was artillery like me, but was commanding an MLRS battalion during Desert Storm. The one thing he said was that the whole place was simply hotter than the surface of the Sun!”
“It is that!”
After dinner we went into my study and I showed him some of the pictures on the wall. He knew about the billionaire investor part, but that’s different then seeing me and Bill Gates signing papers. I had a few pictures of Bill and Michael Dell, and of course there was the plaque of me getting my Bronze Star. One of my more recent photos included the President, and another one with the Governor of Maryland, William Donald Schaefer. He was a fascinating fellow, coming up through the Baltimore City Democratic machine, serving 16 years as the Baltimore Mayor, and now was in his second term as Governor. A very popular guy, and even the Republicans were polite to the man.
“What are these pictures doing here?” asked Marty. “You should have all this stuff in your office in Washington.”
I shrugged. “I never thought about it before.”
“Christ, Carl! There are people in that building who can’t do half of what you routinely get away with. Do you think Michel or Gingrich have Bill Gates on speed dial? These guys are lucky to get a handshake at a meet and greet. You have awards for heroism here. Get this stuff down to D.C. on Monday!”
“Well, okay, if you think it would be good.”
“In Washington, power is perception. If people down there think you have power, then you have power.”
“So, why don’t you come work for me? You can teach me this stuff. God knows, somebody needs to!” I replied.
Marty smiled. “I can’t afford to work for a government paycheck.”
“Money! Whatever happened to helping your country out!?” I teased him.
“Yeah, money! Patriotism isn’t going to pay my mortgage.”
“Do you like buying and selling Congressmen?” I asked. “Is that what you want to do when you grow up?”
Marty gave me a wry smile. “No, but so what. Carl, I hate to tell you this, but you’ve sunk to a new low here. Remember when we were in that jail in Florida for sleeping on the beach? As a general rule, our fellow inmates had higher standards than most of Congress.”
“Well, I know that. They’re mostly lawyers, right?”
Marty flipped me the bird at that. “Fuck you, too, buddy.”
“Marty, I might not know the rules, but I know people and politics. You can do anything you want if you can pay for it. I can pay for a lot of things. You can’t get by on a government salary? Why can’t I hire you directly?”
“Because government employees can’t moonlight or get paid by somebody else. We’ll both go to jail.”
“What if I hire you through the re-election campaign or something like that? I pay what people are worth, not government rates.”
He nodded at that. “Legal, but then I would be limited to only things related to your re-election. I wouldn’t be a government employee. I wouldn’t be able to get a decent security clearance, for instance, if I needed one.” Then he gave me an odd look. “Although, there is a degree of moonlighting allowed. I am allowed to earn a certain percentage of income working for the campaign.”
I smiled at that. The best way of winning an argument with a fellow is to let him argue your side of the argument! “Any way you can squeeze something more out of the government?” I asked.
Marty was in that deep lawyer mode of thought I had seen in John and a few of the others. “Over time, there might be committee staff duty possible…” He was slowly speaking as much to himself as to me.
“There has to be a way,” I told him. He just smiled.
“Jesus! I am going to have to think on this.”
“Think fast. Next week I need to start looking for somebody,” I said.
Saturday I put Dum-Dum on her leash and Marty and I walked around the property. It was cold, but it hadn’t snowed and you could see the property fairly well. The pool was covered, but we hadn’t drained it, and there was a giant beach ball under the cover to break up any ice. We had the pool house, and I showed him that. I pointed out where Charlie had busted his arm trying to ski jump over the highway, and Marty asked me about the trails cut through the property where my son went dirt biking.
“Are the girls going to be riding, too?” he asked.
I shrugged and gave a wry look. “Not that they’ve told me. Then again, I’ll probably be the last person in the know. They like watching Charlie race, but I don’t see them as tomboys. They’re more girlie-girls.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“Ask me when they turn thirteen!”
Marty grinned. “Oh, I’ll bet that will be fun!”
“I’ve still got my service pistol somewhere. I’ll just remind any of the boys I’m the crazy billionaire murderer,” I replied, smiling. Maybe a reputation as a killer would be a good thing!
“Tell me about that. I watch the Sunday news shows as much as the next Washington insider, but what really happened back then?”
I nodded. “Let’s go inside where it’s warm. You should hear it from Marilyn, also. She was involved as much as me.” We turned around and went back to the house, Dum-Dum leading the way.
We took off our coats in the laundry room and left our shoes there, too. Unfortunately, we were the only ones around. Marilyn had bundled the fruit of my loins off to karate and ballet. We were on our own for a few hours until they came back, so we talked politics and what George Bush was going to do with the economy and the growing budget deficit. Right now it wasn’t great, not a thing an incumbent President wants to experience right before an election season. The Democrats were still horsing around trying to figure out who was going to run. I knew it would be Clinton, but hearing all the names that Marty was tossing around was a real flashback. Wait until he got a load of Pat Buchanan and Ross Perot!
Marilyn returned after taking the kids through Mickey Ds. Seeing my daughters in tights and tutus always brought a smile to my face. Suzie hadn’t been one for ballet, and I hadn’t been around the house all that much longer anyway. Holly and Molly were closing in on being seven this summer, and I had moved out when Suzie was only ten. I never saw her growing up this time, and I just didn’t remember any more from the first go. I asked the girls about any recitals or dances coming up, and then asked Charlie how his workout went. I got some answers, but then they ignored me. I was just Dad, nobody important.
Considering Marilyn and the children had already eaten, I warmed up some leftovers for lunch for Marty and me. Then Marilyn sat down with us at the island and in low voices we told Marty about that terrible time back in ’83. Marty knew about my family troubles from back in college, but this put a whole new spin on things!
My old buddy stayed with us another night, and we watched the Sunday morning news shows together. Then around lunchtime, we drove him back to the Westminster airport and I had him flown back to Washington. Again he marveled at this kind of casual display, but by now it seemed second nature to me. He promised to consider working for me, and I told him to consider quickly.