'No, not really,' disagreed the old politician. 'But Pee Wee put things together; it wasn't hard. After she left for Ireland, I used to go back there, for a couple of years quite frequently. I'd drink more than I usually did because nobody, like I said, knew me or gave a damn and Pee Wee always got me home without incident, as they say. I guess maybe I talked too much.'
'You went back to Mr. Mangecavallo's establishment when she married—’
'Oh, yes, that I did! I remember it as if it were yesterday—remember going inside, no memory at all of coming out.'
'Mr. Mangecavallo is quite lucid about that day. Names, a country, a city… a date—of severance, you called it. I went to Ireland.'
The Speaker snapped his head towards Varak, his unblinking eyes angry and questioning. 'What do you want from me? It's all over, all in the past, and you can't hurt me. What do you want?'
'Nothing that you would ever regret or be ashamed of, sir. The most stringent background examination could be made and you could only applaud my clients' recommendation.'
'Your… clients? Recommendation…? Some kind of House assignment?'
'Yes, sir.'
'The horseshit aside, why would I agree to whatever the hell you're talking about?'
'Because of a detail in Ireland you are not aware of
'What's that?'
'You've heard of the killer who calls himself Tammy O'Sheary, the provisional “wing commander” of the Irish Republican Army?'
'A pig! A blot on every Irish clan's escutcheon!'
'He's your son.'
A week had passed and for Kendrick it was further proof of the quick passage of fame in Washington. The Partridge Committee's televised hearings were suspended at the request of the Pentagon, who issued dual statements that it was revising certain financial 'in-depth' records, as well as the fact that Colonel Robert Barrish had been promoted to brigadier general and posted to the island of Guam to oversee that most vital outpost of freedom.
‘One Joseph Smith of 70 Cedar Street in Clinton, New Jersey, whose father had been with the 27th in Guam, roared with laughter as he poked his wife's left breast in front of the television screen. 'He's been hosed, babe! And that what's-his-face did it! He's my buddy!'
But as all brief periods of euphoria must come to an abrupt end, so did the temporary relief felt by the representative of the Ninth Congressional District of Colorado.
'Jesus Christ!' yelled Phil Tobias, chief aide to the congressman, as he held his hand over the telephone. 'It's the Speaker of the House himself! No aide, no secretary, but him!'
'Maybe you should let the other “himself” know about it,' said Annie O'Reilly. 'He called on your line, not mine. Don't talk, sweetie. Just push the button and announce. It's out of your league.'
'But it isn't right! His people should have called me—’
'Do it!'
Tobias did it.
'Kendrick?'
'Yes, Mr. Speaker?'
'You got a few minutes to spare?' asked the New Eng-lander, the word'spare' emerging as'spay-yah'.
'Well, of course, Mr. Speaker, if you think it's important.'
'I wouldn't call a shit-head freshman direct if I didn't think it was important.'
'Then I can only hope that a shit-head Speaker has a vital issue to discuss,' replied Kendrick. 'If he doesn't, I'll charge my hourly consultation rate to his state. Is that understood, Mr. Speaker?'
'I like your style, boy, We're on different sides but I like
