The local station's producer came over and said, 'George is wrapping up his interview with the couple that got kicked off Dancing with the Stars last night. You're up next.' He sized Bode up then turned and shouted, 'Make-up!' Back to Bode: 'New York will run a setup piece then you'll go live with George.'
The make-up lady arrived and gave Bode a once-over through her red reading glasses. She then patted a powdery pad on his forehead.
'That'll keep the glare down. Not much I can do about the hair.'
Lupe had brushed and sprayed his hair to perfection that morning. The make-up lady stepped away, leaving Bode to stare at Jim Bob in the corner fiddling with his phone. Texting. Twitting. Tweetering. Whatever. Immediately after the shooting on Saturday, the Professor had commenced orchestrating a nonstop media blitz for the coming week. The shooting had made front-page headlines in every major newspaper in the country on Sunday-they called him an 'American Hero'-and the Mansion switchboard had been overloaded with calls from media outlets across the country and around the world. Everyone wanted a piece of Bode Bonner. Jim Bob Burnet held the hottest news story in America in his hands, and he was using it to Bode's best advantage-because in the 24/7 news cycle that was life in America today, anyone could become someone in twenty-four hours.
Bode Bonner was now someone.
Jim Bob stepped over to Bode with the phone held high and said, 'You got over two hundred thousand followers now, more than Romney. Course, he's a Mormon. How exciting could his life be? Oh, you made the nationals.'
'I did?'
'You did. The Rasmussen tracking poll puts you at ten percent among Republican voters, Gallup at twelve. You're in the game now, Bode. America saw you for the first time this weekend and they liked what they saw-a rugged, handsome, action-hero.'
He paused as if pondering the mysteries of the universe.
'What are the odds? We go out to John Ed's ranch that day, we're on that ridge and you're already sighted in at the exact moment the girl tries to escape-right place, right time, right gun. If I were a religious man, I'd say it was God's will. But I'm not, so I'd say you are one lucky SOB. And one thing I've learned from gambling in Vegas- when you're on a lucky streak, don't quit.'
'Ride the wave.'
'All the way to the White House. The 'Bode Bonner for President' campaign starts right now. I've plotted out a media tour for the next seven days, starting with the network morning shows. After that, we fly back out to John Ed's ranch for the 60 Minutes profile. Tomorrow we fly to L.A., then Chicago, New York, and wrap up the week in D.C. on Fox News Sunday. One week from today, you'll be the presumptive Republican candidate for the presidency of the United States of America. If you don't fuck it up.'
'How?'
'By saying something stupid on national TV.'
'No. How will I be the Republican presidential candidate in one week?'
'Because you're fixing to catch the biggest wave in politics since Reagan in eighty. He was bigger than life, and you're about to be. This is a game changer, Bode. The sort of thing that can put a Texan back in the White House.'
'How do you know?'
'Because this is what I do.'
What he did was make Bode give up the Armani suits. 'Italian suits and French cuffs won't sell in Iowa and New Hampshire.' So the governor of Texas was wearing a starched, buttoned-down, long-sleeved, pearl-white shirt with the athletic cut to accentuate his impressive physique, jeans, a black cowboy belt with a sterling silver Great Seal of Texas buckle, and black cowboy boots. The Professor was frowning.
'Did Lupe spray your hair this morning?'
'Of course.'
'Well, don't do it anymore. Man using hair spray, evokes vanity and femininity. Voters don't want their president to be vain or their commander-in-chief to have a feminine side.'
'You never complained before.'
'You never had a chance to be president before.'
His eyes hadn't left Bode's hair, and the frown hadn't left his face. He reached his hand up with his fingers spread wide to Bode's head-but he froze in midair.
'Where's Mandy?'
Bode nodded toward the back corner where Mandy stood with little Josefina, whose arms were wrapped tightly around herself. She was only twelve and slight of build and looked more like a skinny boy than a girl. When Mandy reached out to touch her shoulder, she recoiled. Jim Bob called out to Bode's aide and mistress.
'Mandy!'
She broke away from Josefina and arrived with a frown.
'Josefina's terrified of being touched by anyone. We need to get her a therapist. I'll ask mine if he counsels children.'
'You have a therapist?'
She shrugged a yes.
'I'm taking the kids to the pediatrician this afternoon,' she said.
'Check their eyesight. A couple of the boys sit two feet from the TV. And take them to the dentist, their teeth are terrible. Take Lupe to translate.'
'Can I use the campaign credit card?'
'Sure.'
The Professor's eyes had returned to Bode's head.
'Mandy, run your fingers through Bode's hair.'
She eyed his hair then Jim Bob.
'But his hair looks perfect.'
'Exactly.'
She shrugged and stepped close enough to Bode that he could inhale her scent. He felt a stirring, then he felt guilty. His wife knew about his mistress, but he still felt guilty. His mistress now ran her fingers through his hair. Jim Bob observed the result in his professorial mode.
'Again.'
She repeated the maneuver. This time Bode felt strands of hair fall onto his forehead. Jim Bob framed Bode's face with his fingers.
'Audience for these morning shows is female, so you've got to appeal to women. Mandy, look at this man. As a woman-and God knows, you are a woman-do you want this man?'
'Every day. Every time I see him. In fact, right now. God, I love it when he wears those tight jeans.'
Her face flushed as her body temperature spiked, and she licked her red lips then took a step toward Bode as if to embrace him.
'Downshift your engine, girl,' Jim Bob said. 'We got cameras in the room.'
'Oh… yeah.'
She blew out a breath and shook her head at the opportunity lost then returned to the kids. Bode and Jim Bob looked after her-her firm bottom encased in the tight form-fitting knit dress-and Jim Bob said, 'Naturally horizontal.'
'We're live in ten seconds!' the TV producer said. 'Children, quiet down.'
They were chattering muy rapido in Spanish.
'I feel like I'm at a bullfight in Juarez,' Jim Bob said.
'Mandy, give them some more donuts.'
She passed out donuts, and the kids quieted down. Jim Bob went back to the corner, and Josefina took her place at Bode's feet.
'We're live!' the producer said.
On the monitor, Bode saw the anchor in New York addressing the camera.
'As all of America knows by now, this past Saturday Texas Governor Bode Bonner went on what he thought would be just another hunting trip on an isolated game ranch in the desolate Davis Mountains of West Texas-but
