Middleweight Boxing Champion of Brigham Young University - Conclusion
The rain woke me up a few minutes before the alarm clock. I used to like to sleep in. They woke me up at all hours while I was in Hanoi and when I got back home I used to sleep in for hours just because I could.
Now it's my favorite time of day. That first half hour after the alarm clock goes off. Because it's all mine. No speeches, no phone calls to donors or bundlers, no endless meetings with these little twits of Karl Rove's who tell me what to say and what to think.
The pillow next to me was as empty and unruffled as it had been when I went to bed.
I showered and got halfway dressed before Mark knocked on the door at the usual time to shave me. He didn't ask whether Cindy was decently dressed before stepping in. Mark used to make sure of this before coming into my hotel rooms in the mornings but he stopped asking.
"Polls look good today," Mark said as he lathered my face. He looked at me in the mirror as he spoke.
"Last week you said that polls don't matter."
"They didn't matter last week. They matter now."
"They matter when we like them and they don't when we don't."
"That's right."
He rinsed the shave cream from his hands and started with the razor. I held very still with my chin slightly up.
"We've turned a corner, John. We've turned a corner."
"Uh-huh," I grunted. It's best not to say much while Mark is shaving my neck or else I get nicked.
"It's a whole new race now. We've really got a shot again."
"So you're saying we didn't have a shot before?"
I winced. Mark put down the razor and plastered a small piece of toilet paper onto the small red lines over my adam's apple.
"It looked pretty bad. Almost everybody said so," Mark answered.
"You never said so. Nobody said a damn thing to me."
"It was bad news."
"Nobody wants to give me bad news?"
"That's right."
"Cindy still gives me bad news."
"That's right."
"She's straight with me."
Mark didn't answer. He rinsed my face down with a warm, damp cloth.
They brought me a Starbucks cappuccino and a plate of fried eggs and bacon for breakfast. And a copy of the Washington Post. My phone rang and it was Cindy.
"John, I'm so glad you answered."
"Where are you, Cindy?"
"I'm in New Orleans. Oh, come get me John. Come get me out of here. Bobby had to come straight back because of the hurricane, so I came with him."
I held the phone a bit away from my ear. Partly because I had to on account of my arms and also because it was nicer that way. Cindy's voice sounded tinny and distant coming out of the speaker. Like this was something happening far away and I was just watching it.
"He wanted me to move into the Governor's mansion with him and I told him I would but obviously I can't. It would ruin him, John. Can you even imagine? And the looks that his staff give me. They hate me John, they really hate me."
I said nothing.
"So I left. I just left while he was in the shower this morning, only I left my purse in the bathroom and forgot it and I can't go back in there now to get it."
"You'd look pretty silly," I said.
"Just come down here and get me, please John."
After I finished the phone call I folded the newspaper and called in one of those nameless new aides and told him that we'd better change things around for today because I've got to go down to New Orleans this evening.
Now it's my favorite time of day. That first half hour after the alarm clock goes off. Because it's all mine. No speeches, no phone calls to donors or bundlers, no endless meetings with these little twits of Karl Rove's who tell me what to say and what to think.
The pillow next to me was as empty and unruffled as it had been when I went to bed.
I showered and got halfway dressed before Mark knocked on the door at the usual time to shave me. He didn't ask whether Cindy was decently dressed before stepping in. Mark used to make sure of this before coming into my hotel rooms in the mornings but he stopped asking.
"Polls look good today," Mark said as he lathered my face. He looked at me in the mirror as he spoke.
"Last week you said that polls don't matter."
"They didn't matter last week. They matter now."
"They matter when we like them and they don't when we don't."
"That's right."
He rinsed the shave cream from his hands and started with the razor. I held very still with my chin slightly up.
"We've turned a corner, John. We've turned a corner."
"Uh-huh," I grunted. It's best not to say much while Mark is shaving my neck or else I get nicked.
"It's a whole new race now. We've really got a shot again."
"So you're saying we didn't have a shot before?"
I winced. Mark put down the razor and plastered a small piece of toilet paper onto the small red lines over my adam's apple.
"It looked pretty bad. Almost everybody said so," Mark answered.
"You never said so. Nobody said a damn thing to me."
"It was bad news."
"Nobody wants to give me bad news?"
"That's right."
"Cindy still gives me bad news."
"That's right."
"She's straight with me."
Mark didn't answer. He rinsed my face down with a warm, damp cloth.
They brought me a Starbucks cappuccino and a plate of fried eggs and bacon for breakfast. And a copy of the Washington Post. My phone rang and it was Cindy.
"John, I'm so glad you answered."
"Where are you, Cindy?"
"I'm in New Orleans. Oh, come get me John. Come get me out of here. Bobby had to come straight back because of the hurricane, so I came with him."
I held the phone a bit away from my ear. Partly because I had to on account of my arms and also because it was nicer that way. Cindy's voice sounded tinny and distant coming out of the speaker. Like this was something happening far away and I was just watching it.
"He wanted me to move into the Governor's mansion with him and I told him I would but obviously I can't. It would ruin him, John. Can you even imagine? And the looks that his staff give me. They hate me John, they really hate me."
I said nothing.
"So I left. I just left while he was in the shower this morning, only I left my purse in the bathroom and forgot it and I can't go back in there now to get it."
"You'd look pretty silly," I said.
"Just come down here and get me, please John."
After I finished the phone call I folded the newspaper and called in one of those nameless new aides and told him that we'd better change things around for today because I've got to go down to New Orleans this evening.