by Mark Spaid
“Dad, can I have a friend over tonight?” Brian asked his father.
“What did your mother say after you got in trouble at school?”
“But she’s gone and you’re in charge of us now.”
“Surely you know you can’t use me as leverage against your mother?”
“All I want to do is have fun, watch a movie.”
“But you lost that privilege when you got in trouble again.”
“So, I told the teacher off, big deal.”
“It is a big deal.”
“Because I’m, the President’s son?”
“No, because you’re my son and your mother’s son.”
“But shouldn’t they cut me some slack since I’m the first son?”
“No, you should be held to a higher standard if anything.”
“Well, I never asked to be in this position.”
“No and we didn’t ask if you wanted it. You’re the President’s son, get over it and get over yourself.”
“I just want to live a normal life.”
“As long as your mother is President there’s no chance of that…for Shelly or me either. All we can do is make the best of things.”
“So, I can’t go anywhere?”
“No, you’re grounded.”
“And, I can’t have anyone over?”
“No visitors.”
“For how long?”
“Until your mother gets back.”
“When will she be back?”
“Ten days or so.”
“So, I’m sentenced to my room until then.”
“I wouldn’t say that exactly,” Don said.
“But I can’t wander around the White House.”
“No, you can’t do that.”
“So, I’m under house arrest.”
“We all are, Brian. I can’t wander around either. Your mother can but I can’t and neither can you or Shelly.”
“That’s it then, I’m not allowed to have fun?”
“Not exactly, you can have pizza and see a movie,” Don said.
“I can, you mean I can go out?”
“No, you can watch it with Shelly and me downstairs.”
“You mean the three of us in the world’s largest living room?”
“Precisely.”
“No thanks.”
“Suit yourself then. Shelly and I ordered pizza from the kitchen and it’ll be ready in a few minutes. We’re headed downstairs now. The movie will start in fifteen minutes. Come with us or not, I don’t care. I won’t ask you again.” Don left the room and Brian sat staring at the wall for a moment before following his dad.
“Glad you could join us,” Shelly said and Brian gave a fake grin as he sat next to his sister.
“It beats being stuck in my room.” They were close as brothers and sisters go with no fighting or arguing except for the little squabbles that all siblings have.
“You wouldn’t be there if you behaved at school and stopped giving Mom fits,” Shelly posed.
“You too?”
“Yes, me too. Look, I don’t like being in a bubble with the whole world watching any more than you do but that’s the way it is. Our mom is President and I am so proud of her I could burst. There, I said it and I’m glad. She has the hardest job on the planet. She’s under constant pressure from all sides in this country and around the world. She needs our help by not being a problem for her as a parent.”
“Are you my mother now?”
“No but if I was, I’d be harder on you than she is.”
“You would?”
“Yes, Brian, you’re a jerk sometimes and it hurts Mom.”
“I am?”
“You must know that.”
“Maybe I do.”
“When she gets back can you try to cause her less headaches?”
“Yeah, I suppose.”
“Good, now let’s have some pizza and enjoy the movie.”
“Okay,” Brian said as he shrugged his shoulders. Don was sitting a couple of rows back in the White House mini theater and he grinned as he took in the entire conversation. Perhaps Brian would take his sister’s advice or not but, in any event, he didn’t think it would be wise to add anything to what Shelly said so he sat there and watched the movie.
“Sir, the President is on the phone for you,” Cheryl Wallach said peeking her head in the theater as the movie credits were rolling. When Trent Wilson was gone with the President, Cheryl was in charge of White House security.
“Where?” Don asked.
“There’s a room next door, sir.” Don followed Cheryl and answered the phone.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Don, how are things going?”
“Fine, I vetoed three bills on your desk, I dismissed two cabinet members and I booked you in a hot dog eating contest next month.”
“Boy, you’re funny today,” Ellen said.
“Well, I’ve thought since we arrived that what this place needed was a good laugh.”
“Then I’m glad you’re there and I wish I was with you.”
“You’re not looking forward to Slavic land?”
“I’d much rather be with you than halfway around the globe.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. How is the domestic front?”
“Brian wanted me to overrule you.”
“And your response was.”
“I told him you were scary when mad.”
“You did?”
“Of course not, I told him that we stand together and not to try and drive a wedge between us.”
“What did he think of that?”
“Not much but we’re watching a movie together the three of us. Shelly had a long talk with him. She might be your biggest fan after me.”
“She has her head on straight, Don.”
“I know. She’s smart, polite, very mature, a real sweetheart. She reminds me of someone I know.”
“You helped too you know.”
“Maybe or maybe you made Shelly the way she is and I made Brian the way he is.”
“He’s going through a tough time. He wants to be a teen-age boy and he can’t be as a child of the President.”
“I hope he straightens out soon.”
“Me too. Everything else okay?”
“Yes, the free world is singing along nicely thanks to me being in charge here.” She chuckled.
“If I could I’d trade places with you…”
“Not a chance, I wouldn’t get to flirt with all the secretaries at the firm.”
“Funny.” There was a pause.
“Ellen, I’m not only glad to be your husband but I’m proud to live in a country where you’re President. There, what do you think of that?”
“I love you, Don.”
“And I love you.”
“I guess I better hang up, Bonnie says I’m wanted.”
“I have to go too because I need to issue a bunch of executive decrees.” Ellen laughed.
“Good-bye, Don.”
“Good-bye Ellen.”
“Ma’am, I’m sorry to bother you but Speaker Jensen is on the phone.”
“Oh, great, you know I put her on the other plane at the second so she wouldn’t be bothering me every five minutes. The next time I’ll have Trent disable the phone system.”
“She’d just climb on the fuselage and wave semaphore at you, Ma’am.” Ellen chuckled and shook her head.
“The funny thing is, you’re probably right.”
“She’s on line one, Ma’am,” Bonnie said then left.
“Hello, Valerie,” Ellen said without enthusiasm.
“Madam President, I saw the itinerary,” Valerie said then paused.
“And?”
“The seating for the meal has me at the table behind you and Deniken.”
“Valerie, you are the Speaker of the House of Representatives, a position of some importance but not as much as you think.”
“It is the most important position in the
government. The Founding Fathers intended for the House to run the country led by the Speaker. The President was just supposed to be a figurehead.”
“Yes, Valerie, I took American History as well and I know what they intended but things changed with the advent of the modern presidency. Live with it and be happy. You have power in your chamber and that’s where it ends.”
“The party would like me to take a central role in the government.”
“What party, who said this? You for one but I don’t hear anyone else clamoring for the Speaker to take over the Presidency too.”
“This is an insult to the Speaker’s position.”
“To the Speaker’s position, Valerie, or just you.”
“You know Clark offered me the second place on the ticket before you.”
“Yes, the whole world knows that, we all watch the news. You should’ve taken it then you’d be over here on Air Force One and I’d be back in Maine.” Ellen couldn’t see but she knew Valerie was fuming and clenching her fists. Ellen grinned and chuckled as there was silence. “Valerie, are you still there?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, thank goodness, I was afraid for a moment that we got disconnected.”
“We’ve been disconnected for some time now, Madam President.”
“Allegory, I like that, we need some mood music to highlight the symbolism of that statement and a close-up of me looking flabbergasted.
“Go ahead and make jokes but the country is teetering on the edge of disaster.”
“The only thing teetering on the edge of anything, Valerie, is your ego and when it finally falls to Earth it’ll make more noise than if the space station crashed on the White House lawn.”
“You won’t win re-nomination, Ellen.”
“Oh, and that would crush me to leave the most burdensome job in the world and go back to beautiful Maine and enjoy the fall colors without listening to you.”
“I’m running for President.”
“Gosh, I wonder if there is anyone in this hemisphere who doesn’t know that.”
“You’re smug and impossible to talk to these days.”
“Why because I don’t cower at the sound of your voice like your sycophants in the house?”
“Those sycophants will all be delegates next time.”
“Yes, Valerie I know and they’ll all be in your hip pocket.”
“If they know what’s good for them.”
“Yes, your majesty,” Ellen said.
“Good-by, Madam President.”
“Are you okay, Ma’am?” Bonnie asked as she poked her head inside.
“Drained after Valerie. Do you have anybody nicer on the phone like Attila the Hun maybe?”
“Senator Miles, Ma’am.”
“He’s a pussycat, put him on, Bonnie.”
“Line two, Ma’am,” Bonnie said grinning as she left and closed the door.
“Hello, Charley.”
“Sorry to bother you Madam President.”
“I just had a round with Valerie Jensen, Charley. After that anything is easy, what can I do for you?”
“Well, I wondered why I’m not speaking at the meeting.”
“Because the meeting is between President Deniken and me. You’re not meeting with him.”
“Oh, I see, well, okay, thanks Madam President.”
“Good-bye, Charley.” She hung up the phone, leaned back and yawned.
“Ma’am,” can Clarice and I have a word?”
“Sure.” There was one pressing matter that needed tending to as soon as possible. After Ellen became President, she appointed Richard Hazeltine as vice-president. He was from Texas and it sort of balanced the top office with a progressive from Maine and a conservative, Texas oil-man. Neither liked the other very much but they knew how politics worked and it was a good match. Hazeltine was fifty-three and in excellent health. Then three months into his new office he had a sudden and fatal heart attack. Ellen had to appoint a new vice-president. She chose Gwendolyn Ramzeyer, the governor of Nebraska. They went to law school together and had been close for many years. Ellen wanted to choose Gwen the first time but the party bigwigs insisted on a man. She caved because she was new and considered their advice worthwhile. But now, she’d have the person she wanted originally. The problem was getting Gwen though the Senate. Nearly all the leadership positions were held by men. Conservative white men who bristled at the notion of two women running things. Ridiculous of course but the patriarchy holds on tight where it can.
“Ma’am, I’ll be blunt,” Clarice said.
“You always are, Clarice,” Ellen said grinning.
“Yes, I am. Well, we need a vice-president and we need one now,” Clarice said.
“She’s right, Ma’am,” Bonnie added.
“I agree and I appointed a very capable person.”
“We know that, Governor Ramzeyer would make a fine vice-president, but her name is going nowhere in the Senate. Senator Thompkins is stalling it in committee,” Clarice said.
“To make it worse, Senator Benitez wants her name withdrawn too,” Bonnie added.
“A woman senator opposing this, I can’t believe it.”
“She wanted to be Secretary of State when Preston resigned and you gave it to Ingersoll. Senator Benitez holds a grudge,” Clarice detailed.
“And as you know Speaker Jensen has reached her long arm into the Senate to meddle. There are senators who owe her favors,” Bonnie added.
“She wants to be the most important woman in the country,” Clarice said.
“The world,” Ellen said and they all laughed.
“Madam President, you need to consider picking someone else,” Bonnie suggested.
“Clarise, Gwen would make an excellent vice-President” Ellen said looking at her domestic advisor.
“I agree, Ma’am, but you need to be expedient” Ellen looked away and thought for a moment then she turned and looked at Bonnie and Clarice.
“When Harry Truman was President, Dean Atchison was being vilified for being soft on Communism. He offered his resignation as Secretary of State to President Truman because Atchison felt he was hurting Truman. Truman refused to accept it and stuck by Atchison. The politically smart thing to do was to get rid of Atchison but Truman did the right thing. For me the expedient thing to do would be to choose someone else but I’m doing the right thing and sticking by Gwen Ramzeyer. Where’s Kent?”
“I’ll get him, Bonnie said and returned with the press secretary.
“You wanted me, Ma’am?”
“Kent, when we get back, I want to speak to the full Senate and I want an address to the nation in prime time to tell the American people that Gwendolyn Ramzeyer should be the vice-president. Can you arrange that for me?”
“Yes, Ma’am. I can.”
“Thank you, Kent.”
“So, your mind is made up, Ma’am?” Clarice said.
“Yes, it is.”
“Very well, then can we talk more about the bill to help abused women?” Ellen chuckled.
“Yes, Clarice we can.”
“Okay, I had an idea…”
* * *
“We’ll be landing in an hour folks,” Johnny Rodriguez announced as he walked down the aisle from the pilot’s cabin.
“What’ll we do when we land?” Belinda asked.
“The President will leave in her car first while we wait on board,” Dave said.
“Then what?” Belinda asked.
“A car will take us to the hotel,” Dave replied.
“Will we eat supper with the President?” Belinda asked.
“No, Lind, we’re here to do a story but the story is about the President, actually, both presidents. It’s not about us. We’ll be lucky to see her at all until we leave. I may see her briefly for an interview but that’s up to her,” Justin detailed.
“Oh,” Belinda said and her shoulders sagged. Jozette looked at Tatiana.
“Hey, we’ll tour the city, see the sights, find a nice ca
fé and whatever else we can do, okay?” Tatiana asked as she put her arm around Belinda.
“Okay,” Belinda said as she looked up at Tatiana and grinned.
“I can’t wait to get off the plane,” Justin said.
“I thought you were over your fear?” Warren asked.
“I’m better than I was but I hate a long flight. The one to South America was bad and this one is worse.”
“What language do they speak in…where are we going again?” Belinda asked. Little Wolf had told her and Jozette multiple times but Belinda tuned out things that weren’t interesting to her or about her, which tended to be the same thing.
“Kerch,” Miss Belinda,” Julieta said.
“Is that a city or a country or something?”
“It’s a city, Miss Belinda,” Little Wolf said.
“I guess everyone else knew that.”
“Perhaps but it’s not a requirement that you know geography,” Little Wolf said and Belinda grinned. “In Kerch they speak Russian, Ukrainian and other languages.”
“Not English?”
“No.”
“Will anyone understand us?” Belinda asked.
“No, but I speak Russian so we’ll be okay,” Tatiana said.
“Thanks for not making fun of me, Little Wolf.”
“I would never do that, Miss Belinda, you’re my friend.” Belinda smiled broadly and Tatiana chuckled under her breath.
“I read that the Kerch airport was not in good shape,” Warren posed.
“It wasn’t but when this meeting was announced they began some emergency repairs and upgrading. It’s now ready for Air Force One and the Russian President to land,” Dave reassured everyone.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We’ll be landing in a few minutes. Please return to your seats and fasten your seat belts.” They buckled up as did everyone on board.
“We’re beginning our decent,” Dave said. Belinda held Justin’s hand as he leaned back and closed his eyes. The landing was pinpoint and smooth.
“Ladies and gentlemen this is your captain again. We have landed. The passengers in the front should remain in their seats until you are given the signal to deplane. The Presidents car arrived and was inspected by Trent Wilson. The driver didn’t like it much but Trent didn’t care. The President’s safety was Trent’s job and he’d step on any toes he needed to do it. In ten minutes, the President’s car pulled away with motorcycles in front and behind.