“I
wish I could be so confident of that,” said Nat quietly.
Both
candidates were applauded by the small television audience as they walked out
onto the stage for a program billed as “The Final Encounter.” The two men met
in the center of the stage and shook hands, but their eyes remained fixed on
the camera.
“This
will be a live program,” David
Anscott
explained to
the audience, “and we’ll be going on air in around five minutes. I will open
with a few questions, and then turn it over to you. If you have something you
want to ask either candidate, make it short and to the point-no speeches,
please.”
Nat
smiled as he scanned the audience, until his eyes came to rest on the man who
had asked the Cedar Wood question. He was sitting in the second row. Nat could
feel the sweat on the palms of his hands, but even if he was called, Nat was
confident he could handle him. This time he was well prepared.
The
television arc lights were switched on, the titles began to roll, and David
Anscott
, smile in place, opened the show. Once he’d
introduced the participants, both candidates made a one-minute opening
statement-sixty seconds can be a long time on television. After so many sound bites,
they could have delivered such homilies in their sleep.
Anscott
began with a couple of warm-up questions which had been scripted for him. Once
the candidates had given their replies, he made no attempt to follow up
anything they had said, but simply moved on to the next question as it appeared
on the autocue in front of him. Once the interviewer had come to the end of his
set piece, he quickly turned it over to the audience.
The
first question turned into a speech on choice, which pleased Nat as he watched
the seconds ticking away. He knew Elliot would be indecisive on this subject,
as he was willing to offend neither the women’s movement nor his friends in the
Roman Catholic
church
. Nat made it clear that he
supported unequivocally a woman’s right to choose. Elliot, as he suspected, was
evasive.
Anscott
called for a second question.
Watching
from home, Fletcher made notes on everything Nat Cartwright said. He clearly
understood the underlying principle of the education bill and, more important,
he obviously thought the changes Fletcher wanted to bring about were quite
reasonable.
“He’s
very bright, isn’t he,” said Annie.
“And
cute too,” said Lucy.
“Anyone
on my side?” asked Fletcher.
“Yes,
I don’t think he’s cute,” said Jimmy. “But he has thought a great deal about
your bill and he obviously considers it an election issue.”
“I
don’t know about cute,” said Annie, “but have you noticed that at certain
angles he looks a little like you, Fletcher?”
“Oh
no,” said Lucy, “he’s much better looking than Dad.”
The
third question was on gun control. Ralph Elliot stated that he backed the gun
lobby and the right of every American to defend himself. Nat explained why he
would like to see more control of guns, so that incidents like the one his son
had experienced while at elementary school could never occur again.
Annie
and Lucy started clapping, along with the studio audience.
“Isn’t
someone going to remind him who it was in that classroom with his son?” asked
Jimmy.
“He
doesn’t need reminding,” said Fletcher.
“One
more question,” said
Anscott
, “and it will have to be
quick, because we’re running out of time.”
The
plant in the second row rose from his place right on cue. Elliot pointed at him
in case
Anscott
was considering anyone else.
“How
would the two candidates deal with the problem of illegal immigrants?”
“What
the hell’s that got to do with the governor of Connecticut?” asked Fletcher.
Ralph
Elliot looked straight at the questioner and said, “I’m sure I speak for both
of us when I say that America should always welcome anyone who is oppressed and
in need of help, as we have always done throughout our history. However, those
who wish to enter our country must, of course, abide by the correct procedure
and meet all the necessary legal requirements.”
“That
sounded to me,” said Fletcher, turning to face Annie, “over prepared and over
rehearsed. So what’s he up to?”
“Is
that also your view on illegal immigrants, Mr. Cartwright?” asked David
Anscott
, a little puzzled as to what the questioner was
getting at.
“I
confess, David, that I haven’t given the matter a great deal of thought, as it
has not been high on my priorities when I consider the problems currently
facing the state of Connecticut.”
“Wrap
it up,”
Anscott
heard the producer say in his
earpiece, just as the questioner added, “But you must have given it some
thought, Mr. Cartwright. After all, isn’t your wife an illegal immigrant?”
“Hold
on, let him answer that,” said the producer. “If we go off the air now we’ll
have a quarter million people phoning in to find out his response.
Close-up on Cartwright.”
Fletcher
was among
those quarter
of a million who waited for
Nat’s reply as the camera panned across to Elliot, who had a puzzled look on
his face.
“You
bastard,” said Fletcher, “you knew that question was coming.”
The
camera returned to Nat, but his lips remained pursed.
“Wouldn’t
I be right in suggesting,” continued the questioner, “that your wife entered
this country illegally?”
“My
wife is the Professor of Statistics at the University of Connecticut,” said
Nat, trying to disguise a tremble in his voice.
Anscott
listened on his earpiece to find out how the producer wanted to play it, as
they had already overrun their time slot.
“Say
nothing,” said the producer, “just hang in there. I can always run the credits
over them if it gets boring.”
Anscott
gave a slight
nod in the direction of the head-on camera.
“That
may well be the case, Mr. Cartwright,” continued the questioner, “but didn’t
her mother, Su Kai
Peng
, enter this country with
false papers, claiming to be married to an American serviceman, who had in fact
died fighting for his country some months before the date on the marriage
license?”
Nat
didn’t reply.
Fletcher
was equally silent as he watched Cartwright being stretched on the rack.
“As
you seem unwilling to answer my question, Mr. Cartwright, perhaps you can
confirm that on the marriage license your mother-in-law described herself as a
seamstress. However, the fact is that before she landed in America, she was a
prostitute plying her trade on the streets of Seoul, so heaven knows who your
wife’s father is.”
“Credits,”
said the producer. “We’ve run out of time and I daren’t break into Baywatch,
but keep the cameras running. We may pick up some extra footage for the
late-night news.”
Once
the monitor on the stage showed credits rolling, the questioner quickly left
the studio. Nat stared down at his wife sitting in the third row. She was pale
and shaking.
“It’s
a wrap,” said the producer.
Elliot
turned to the moderator and said, “That was disgraceful, you should have
stopped him a lot earlier,” and looking across at Nat added, “believe me, I had
no idea that
..”
“You’re
a liar,” said Nat.
“Stay
on him,” said the director to the first cameraman, “Keep all four cameras
rolling, I want every angle on this.”
“What
are you suggesting?” asked Elliot.
“That
you set the whole thing up. You weren’t even subtle about it-you even used the
same man that questioned me on the Cedar Wood project a couple of weeks ago.
But I’ll tell you one thing, Elliot,” he said, jabbing a finger at him, “I will
still kill you.”
Nat
stormed off the stage and found Su Ling waiting for him in the wings. “Come on,
little flower, I’m taking you home.” Tom quickly joined them as Nat put an arm
around his wife.
“I’m
sorry, Nat, but I have to ask,” said Tom. “Was any of that garbage true?”
“All
of it,” said Nat, “and before you ask another question, I’ve known since we
were first married.”
“Take
Su Ling home,” said Tom, “and whatever you do, don’t talk to the press.”
“Don’t
bother,” said Nat. “You can issue a statement on my behalf saying that I’m
withdrawing from the race.
I’m
not having my family dragged through any more of this.”
“Don’t
make a hasty decision that you may well later regret. Let’s talk about what
needs to be done in the morning,” said Tom.
Nat
took Su Ling by the hand, walked out of the studio and through a door leading
into the parking lot.
“Good
luck,” shouted one supporter as Nat opened the car door for his wife. He didn’t
acknowledge any of the cheers as they drove quickly away. He looked across at
Su Ling, who was thumping the dashboard in anger. Nat took a
hand off
the steering wheel and placed it gently on Su
Ling’s leg. “I love you,” he said, “and I always will. Nothing and no one will
ever change that.”
“How
did Elliot find out?”
“He’s
probably had a team of private detectives delving into my past.”
“And
when he couldn’t come up with anything about you, he switched his sights onto
me and my mother,” whispered Su Ling. There was a long silence before she
added, “I don’t want you to withdraw; you must stay in the race. It’s the only
way we can beat the bastard.”
Nat
didn’t reply as he joined the evening traffic. “I just feel so sorry for Luke,”
Su Ling eventually said. “He will have taken it so very personally. I only wish
Kathy had stayed on for another day.”
“I’ll
take care of Luke,” said Nat.
“You’d
better go and collect your mother and bring her back to our place for the
night.”
“I’ll
call her just as soon as we get in,” said Su Ling. “I suppose it’s just
possible that she didn’t watch the program.”
“Not
a hope,” said Nat as he pulled into the driveway, “she’s my most loyal fan and
never misses any of my TV appearances.”
Nat
put his arm around Su Ling as they walked toward the front door. All the lights
in the house were off except for one in Luke’s bedroom. Nat turned the key in
the lock and as he opened the door, said, “You phone your mother, and I’ll pop
up and see Luke.”
Su
Ling picked up the phone in the hallway as Nat walked slowly up the stairs,
trying to compose his thoughts. He knew Luke would expect every question to be
answered truthfully. He walked down the corridor and knocked gently on his
son’s door.
There
was no reply, so he tried again, saying, “Luke, can I come in?”
Still no reply.
He opened the door a little and glanced
inside, but Luke wasn’t in bed and none of his clothes were laid out neatly
over the usual chair. Nat’s first reaction was that he must have gone across to
the shop to be with his grandmother. He turned out the light and listened to Su
Ling talking to her mother. He was about to go down and join her when he
noticed that Luke had left a light on in the bathroom. He decided to switch it
off.
Nat
walked across the room and pushed open the bathroom door. For a moment he remained
transfixed as he stared up at his son. He then collapsed onto his knees, unable
to get himself to look up a second time, although he knew he would have to
remove Luke’s hanging body so that it wouldn’t be the last memory Su Ling would
have of their only child.
Annie
picked up the phone and listened. “It’s Charlie from the Courant for you,” she
said, handing the phone across.
“Did
you watch the program?” the political editor asked the moment Fletcher came on
the line.
“No,
I didn’t,” said Fletcher, “Annie and I never miss Seinfeld.”
“
Touche
, so do you want to make any statement about your
rival’s wife being an illegal immigrant and her mother a prostitute?”
“Yes,
I think that David
Anscott
should have cut off the
questioner. It was obviously a cheap setup from the start.”
“Can
I quote you?” said Charlie. Jimmy was shaking his head vigorously.
“Yes,
you most certainly can, because that made anything Nixon’s got up to look like
the
The
Muppet Show.”
“You’ll
be glad to hear,
Senator, that
your instincts are in
line with public opinion. The station’s switchboard has been jammed with calls
of sympathy for Nat Cartwright and his wife, and my bet is that Elliot will
lose by a landslide tomorrow.”
“Which
will make it that much tougher for me,” said Fletcher, “but at least one good
thing comes out of it.”