'No man does.'
Bode again looked at his wife's image in the photos. His smiling wife. He hadn't seen that smile since early in his first term. It was a real smile, not the smile of a politician's spouse. She hadn't been happy as the governor's wife in Austin, but she had found happiness as a nurse in the colonias on the border. With Jesse Rincon. The man who had his wife and now wanted his job. The Professor spoke in a solemn voice.
'So let me sum up the situation for you, Bode: You and Jesse Rincon are now rivals for both the Governor's Mansion and the governor's wife. You're the top Republican contender for the White House, you're being hunted by hit men working for a Mexican drug lord, and your wife is working in a colonia with the man who wants your job and just across the Rio Grande from the man who wants you dead. And if that's not enough, your fucking twenty- seven-year-old mistress is pregnant.'
Bode looked up from the photos of his wife to his ace political strategist.
'Jesus, Jim Bob-you can't make this shit up.'
'Bode's Babe'… 'Bawdy Bode'… 'Bonner's Blonde Bombshell.' All three network evening news shows led off with the press conference-what, you don't have real news to report? And then the cable talk shows had a field day. They splashed photos of Mandy… Mandy and Bode… Mandy and the Mexican kids… more Mandy. They reported rumors- they had no proof! — about sex in the Governor's Mansion when the governor's wife was out of town. About a possible love child. And where was the governor's wife? Had she left the governor? Is the happily- married-man image just an image? Is Bode Bonner just another two-timing politician not worthy of his wife's trust? Or the American people's trust? How could Bode Bonner be president, a man who had hidden a twenty-seven- year-old mistress from his wife and a twenty-seven-billion-dollar deficit from the voters? On and on they went for hours and hours, until Bode couldn't bear to watch anymore, like watching a train wreck or Romney at a tea party rally. He forced himself to change the channel, but it was even worse. Leno and Letterman both made him the butt of their monologue jokes. He was no longer an American hero. He was the biggest punch line in America.
And his wife was having an affair.
THIRTY
Jesse Rincon put on the coffee then dressed in his running shorts and shoes. He and Pancho were almost outside for their morning run along the river when the phone rang. He debated whether to answer, then relented.
'Hello.'
'Jesse, this is Jorge Gutierrez again, from San Antonio. I am sorry to call at this time of the morning, but I wanted to catch you before you left for the colonia.'
'Mayor, you have been busy with your Mexican Mafia.'
'Have you received more checks for the colonias? '
'Many more.'
'Excellent. Did you see the news last night? The governor is now embroiled in scandal and the worst kind-a sex scandal.'
'What does that mean to me?'
'That means he is vulnerable. He can be beaten. By you.'
'I am not a candidate.'
'Not yet. Jesse, you have gotten very favorable press-'
'Thanks to you.'
'I do what I can. And you are rising fast in the polls. Jesse, you are now a household name in Texas and in most of the nation. You have gotten for free what most politicians can only dream of: name recognition.'
'But I am not a politician. I am a doctor.'
'You will be the governor, if you will only run.'
'I do not want to be governor.'
'All the better. People hate ambitious politicians, I know this for a fact. It is best to be begged, and we are begging you, Jesse.'
'Mayor, I-'
'Jesse, will you at least meet with us? Allow us to make our case?'
'Us who?'
'Me, the chairman of the national Democratic Party, donors, Democratic senators, the entire Hispanic caucus in Congress, many of my mafia, perhaps even the vice-president… Jesse, they care about our people.'
'They are all going to come down to Laredo just to meet me?'
'Uh… well, no. They are coming to San Antonio.'
'Why not Laredo?'
'I am too old and too tired to travel to the border-the sun, the heat… and the Anglos, they are too afraid of the drug violence. You know how they are.'
Jesse laughed. 'No, I do not. They are too afraid to come to the border? Here is where our people are, Jorge. Here is where help is needed. If they want to help our people, they need to come see our people. Where they live. How they live.'
'Jesse… I am seventy-six years old. I have lived in Texas my entire life. I have suffered as a Hispanic, and I have seen the suffering of other Hispanics. Texas once belonged to us, but it was stolen from us. We can reclaim Texas for ourselves. This is our chance to take back what is ours. We can win. You can win. You can bring respect to our people. To us.'
The Governor's Mansion felt like a morgue the next morning, and with good reason: the governor's political career had died. Bode Bonner was a dead politician walking. The staff averted their eyes when he walked down the hall. Even Lupe could not make eye contact at breakfast. He was now slumped in his chair in his office.
' 'Bode's Babe.' It's not even a good photo of her. You'd think if they're gonna blame me for having an affair with a woman half my age, they'd at least use a photo that shows how gorgeous she is. I mean, it's not like I'm cheating with trailer trash.'
'That's what you're worried about? Whether you're getting enough credit for the quality of your mistress? You'd better worry about the fucking poll numbers.'
'How bad?'
'You're going down faster than a drunk college coed at a frat party. The overnight flash polls-your numbers took a dive, nationally and in Texas, and your Twitter followers are dumping you in droves. You're below Eminem.'
'The candy?'
'The rapper. And Rincon's numbers shot up.'
'Great-he wants my job and my wife.'
'Which one do you want?'
He didn't answer because he didn't have an answer. Now that his wife had someone else, he found himself wanting her more than ever. But… he was so close to the Oval Office. So close. Why did he have to choose between his wife and his adventure?
'It's not fair. One illegitimate baby, and I can't be president.'
'Fair is where you go to see farm animals. Politics is winning and losing. And there's only one way you're gonna win now.'
'Which is?'
'You gotta get her back. Lindsay.'
'She won't want me back.'
'Not back like that-back here. In the Mansion. Being the governor's wife. Standing by her man. At least until the election. People love her. If she stands by you, they'll stand by you. Beg her if you have to, Bode, but get her back to Austin.'
At least his daughter loved him. Bode found Becca standing in her room staring out the window. He went over to her and put his hands on her shoulders.
