The Widening Gyre (5 page)

”And senatorial aspirant,“ I said.

”Senatorial aspirant? Jesus Christ. Want a job on the editorial page?“

”I need to know anything I can about Browne,“ I said. ”I won’t tell you why. Probably never will tell you why, and I’d rather no one knew I was interested.“

”Well, that sure sounds like a good deal for me,“ Cosgrove said. ”Meet me someplace tonight, around six thirty, and I’ll give you what I got.“

”Ritz bar,“ I said. ”I’ll pay.“

”You should,“ he said. The phone rang and Cosgrove picked it up. I got up waved him good-bye and went out. I turned in the rental car and walked to my office. It was still raining, steady and cold now. No longer pleasant. The office was stale from emptiness and I opened both windows while I went through my mail. Across the way the art director was in residence and I blew her a kiss from the window. She smiled and waved. The mail was not worth opening. I dropped it all in the wastebasket. Maybe I should get an unlisted address. What if I did and nobody cared? I called the answering service. There were no messages. I sat down in my swivel chair and took out my bottle of Irish whiskey and had a drink. The cold wet air from the window behind me blew on my neck. I thought about lunch. I looked at my watch. Twelve twenty-five. I had another pull on the bottle. I looked at Susan’s picture on my desk. Even filtered through a camera I could feel her energy. Wherever she was things coalesced around her. I made a small toasting gesture with the bottle.

”Like a jar in Tennessee,“ I said out loud.

I drank another shot of whiskey and looked at my watch again. Twelve thirty already. I put the cap back on the bottle and put it away. Lunch.

I walked up to a Mexican place on Newbury Street called Acapulco and had a plate of enchiladas and three bottles of Carta Blanca. Then I walked to my apartment on Marlborough Street and went in and aired it out. There was a letter there from Paul Giacomin. Things were good at college. He was going to spend Thanksgiving with me, and he might bring a girl friend.

Whiskey, enchiladas, and beer did not make for a lively afternoon. At 1:15 I lay down on the bed to read Legends of the Fall. About 1:30 I rested my eyes for a moment and at 3:20 I woke up with the book still open on my chest and the thick taste of empty calories in my mouth. I got up and took a shower and put on sweat pants and a waterproof jacket and ran along the Charles for an hour until my blood moved once again without protest through my veins and the guilt of sleeping during the day was dissipated. Then I went over to the Harbor Health Club and worked on their new Nautilus until I felt sure of redemption and it was time to see Wayne Cosgrove.

I arrived at the Ritz bar freshly showered, shaved, and pleasingly exhausted at 6:20. I had primped for the Ritz bar, which was one of the few places in the city where ties are required and jeans are barred. I had on my brand new corduroy jacket with leather buttons and a tattersall shirt and a dark blue knit tie that picked up the blue in the tattersall. I took off my leather coat as I walked into the Ritz lobby and checked myself in the mirrors near the bar. With my gray slacks and my cordovan loafers I was fit for permanent display. My gun was tucked away on my right hip out of sight. I thought about getting a tweed holster but decided it would jeopardize my credibility.

The bar was uncrowded and I got a small table near the window where people passing on Arlington Street could look in and assume I was closing an important deal. Cosgrove hadn’t arrived yet. When the waiter came I asked for a Rolling Rock Extra Pale in the long neck bottle. They had none. I had to settle for Budweiser. Even the Ritz bar must disappoint occasionally.

I had finished the first bowl of peanuts and managed to choke down three Budweisers when Cosgrove showed up. He was wearing the same outfit he’d had on earlier except he’d added a long plaid woolen scarf. He carried a big thick manila envelope.

”Sorry I’m late,“ he said. ”Knowing it was the Ritz I had to go home first and brush my teeth.“

”I don’t mind,“ I said. ”It just meant more peanuts for me.“

Cosgrove sat down and handed me the big envelope. The waiter appeared. Cosgrove said, ”Martini, stirred not shaken, twist of lemon.“

”No olive?“ I said. ,

”Only a fucking beast would have an olive in his martini,“ Cosgrove said. ”Olives are packed in brine, ruins the taste.“

”I figured the gin and vermouth had already done that.“

Cosgrove shrugged. ”No accounting for taste,“ he said.

”You prove that,“ I said. ”What’s the scarf for?“

”Strangling muggers,“ Cosgrove said. ”You still working for Meade Alexander?“

”You’ve been busy,“ I said.

”Are you?“

”Yes.“

”That why you want the Browne stuff?“

”No comment.“

The waiter brought Cosgrove’s drink and a fresh bowl of peanuts. He looked at me. I shook my head. I’d only been redeemed for a half an hour.

When the waiter left, Cosgrove took a sip of his martini, looked pleased, put the glass down, and said, ”No fucking comment? You work a week for a politician and you’re walking around saying no fucking comment?“

”You’re right,“ I said. ”It’s embarrassing. Ask me again.“

”You investigating Browne for Alexander?“

”I don’t want to answer that question,“ I said, ”and if you ask it again, I’ll beat your teeth in.“

Cosgrove nodded. ”Better,“ he said. He drank some more martini. ”How’s Susan?“ he said.

”She’s away,“ I said.

Cosgrove started to speak, looked at me, stopped, and then said, ”I wouldn’t have thought Meade Alexander was your style.“

”I don’t think he is,“ I said.

”On the other hand,“ Cosgrove said, ”who is your style, except maybe that goddamned African assassin you hang around with.“

”Hawk,“ I said. ”I’ll tell him you said that.“

”That was on deep background,“ Cosgrove said. ”How come you’re working for Meade Alexander?“

”Best offer I had.“

”How’s Mrs. Alexander?“

”Fine.“

”Hear she drinks a little.“

”Don’t we all,“ I said. ”Know anything worth telling about the Alexanders?“

”We having dinner afterward?“

”Sure.“

”I’ll think on it,“ he said, and sipped more martini.

We ate in the cafe.

”Ronni Alexander drinks. We both know that,“ Cosgrove said. ”She drinks too much and when she does she gets boisterous, and sometimes mean. When I was in the Washington bureau it was sort of a common joke.“

”I picked up some of that,“ I said. ”Why haven’t I ever read about it?“

Cosgrove ate some scrod. ”We do news, not gossip. Or we try to. The fact that a congressman’s wife’s a boozer isn’t news unless it involves her in something that is news, you know?“

”And I gather it didn’t.“

”Not that I ever knew. They live in Georgetown. She didn’t spend much time in public with him. When she did usually she’d be on good behavior. And the staff was very alert.“

”No other scandal?“

Cosgrove shook his head. ”Nope.“

”What kind of congressman is Alexander?“

Cosgrove sipped a little white wine. ”Disaster,“ he said. ”He really is a born-again fundamentalist Christian. And that limits him. His options are so proscribed by his convictions that he can’t legislate very well. He’s not a big thinker either. He’s impatient with complicated issues because he doesn’t understand them. Often he doesn’t even know they’re complicated.“

”What’s his chance of getting elected to the Senate?“

”Possible.“

”In Massachusetts? I thought this was the most liberal state in the country.“

”The national media says that because we went for McGovern in 72. It’s bullshit. Some parts are liberal, some parts are conservative. But the statewide mood these days, as us political analysts say, is conservative, bedrock, down home, let’s-get-back-to-the-old-verities-and-truths-of-the-heart-that shit. Bobby Browne’s a traditional liberal-social programs, government money, federal mandates. Keynesian economics. Straight New Deal Democrat.“ Cosgrove shrugged. ”Most people are saying fuck that. Guy paying twenty percent interest wants a change. Browne’s a continuation. Hell, Eddie Moore hand-picked him when he decided to retire.“

I was having broiled scallops with lemon butter. I ate some.

”So you think Browne has reason to worry.“

”Yes.“

”Who’s the paper backing?“

”Browne. Jesus Christ, Spenser. Meade Alexander once wanted to ban the teaching of evolution in the public schools.“

I nodded.

”I mean, U. S. senators are supposed to be worrying about how not to have a nuclear war. Alexander worries about unisex bathrooms and jiggle television.“

”He honest?“ I said.

”Who, Browne or Alexander?“

”Either.“

”Alexander’s honest. He’s so honest he makes your teeth hurt. I don’t know about Browne. Most of them aren’t. Honesty in a public servant is overrated.“

”How about Farrell?“

Cosgrove grinned. ”Old Fix. Fix thinks he’s John Wayne, carries a fucking gun, for crissake. But he’s hot these days. The world is coming closer to Fix’s point of view. If Fix has one. He’s been the resident fascist on the City Council for twenty-two years and he believes in counting heads and calling in favors and paying off debts. He believes in getting even. He believes in arm-twisting and buttonholing and rabble-rousing. When Alexander surfaced in the Senate race, Fix jumped aboard early. All that piety gives Fix a good tone, and if Alexander makes it, things will pick up for Fix. One thing I’ll give him, he knows how politics work.“

”He refers to your employers as the Boston Glob.“

Cosgrove grinned again. It pleased him. ”Yeah, I know. You gotta love old Fix. He’s almost perfect.“

Cosgrove finished his wine. The waiter removed our dishes, offered us dessert. We declined.

”Brandy,“ I said.

”Sure. How about in the bar. Makes me feel upscale.“

I paid for dinner and we went back to the bar. It was fuller than it had been. Tables were occupied, so we sat at the bar. Cosgrove had Galliano. I had brandy and soda.

”Good thing about Fix is he knows he’s a lout. Stays out of the way when Alexander’s talking to the Dover-Sherburne Republican Club, you know. Lets Westin handle the press. Fix knows that if the Friends of the Wenham Library spent ten minutes with him, they’d call the cops.“

Cosgrove drank his Galliano, and put the glass down and looked at his watch.

”Gotta run,“ he said. ”Mary gets home from class at nine.“

I nodded.

Cosgrove said, ”Anything you want to tell me about Browne, or Alexander, or anybody, you just give me a call, buddy. You know where I am.“

I nodded again. ”I’ll be in touch,“ I said.

Cosgrove left and I sat at the bar and had another brandy and soda. But I never liked sitting alone at a bar, so after I finished the second one I paid the check and went home.

The rain had stopped. The streets were dry. I sat in my office with the morning sun coming through the window and read through the clips and Xerox copies and computer printouts that Wayne Cosgrove had assembled for me. My office was quiet.

I didn’t know what I was looking for. I hoped I’d know it when I saw it. There were interviews with Browne, the text of speeches, editorials endorsing him, columns speculating on his future, columns assessing his performance, news stories covering his participation in key house votes and floor maneuvering, pictures of Browne at ribbon cuttings and tree plantings.

I felt like I was studying for an exam in a subject I didn’t like. The office felt hot. I opened the window a crack and the November draft was cold on my back. I closed the window. Read in sequential mass like that, the news coverage of Browne’s career became an immersion course in politics. As I read I realized that no one took it seriously, in the sense that one takes, say, love, seriously. Everyone took it seriously the way they take baseball seriously. The question was of performance, of errors made, of runs scored, of wins and losses. Rarely was the question of substance discussed. Was Browne good or bad? Were the things he did good for people or bad for people? These questions disappeared behind a tone of journalistic objectivity. The excitement was: Would he win the election or lose it? Was his support of legislation calculated to help his chances or hurt them? Was the vote in Congress a defeat for the President; was it a victory for the House leadership? Even the editorials tended to judge politics in terms of a contest, or victory and defeat.

At noon I went out and got a roast beef sandwich with chutney on whole wheat bread and a cup of black coffee and brought it back to my office. I ate in the silence and drank my coffee and looked occasionally at Susan’s picture on my desk. Let us be true to one another, dear. I read some more reportage. I looked at pictures of Browne at ship christenings and fund-raising parties. I even read the text of a couple of his speeches. Somebody, maybe Adlai Stevenson, had said that wanting to be elected disqualifies you for the job. I read some excerpts from the Congressional Record. I read a letter to the editor that Browne had written to the Worcester Telegram. I looked at a picture of Browne shaking hands with an eagle scout. I studied the ADA rating list where Browne received good marks.

At 2:30 I went out and bought another cup of black coffee and brought it back to my office. I read some more. What kind of a man wanted to be in politics? Was it possible to be a good man and do politics? Maybe not. I drank some of the coffee. Swiveled my chair and stared out the window. Maybe it wasn’t possible to be a good man and do anything. The afternoon sun reflected off the windows across the way and I couldn’t see in. I didn’t know if the art director was there today. Maybe she could see me. I waved, in case. Maybe being a good man didn’t amount to anything anyway. It didn’t seem to get you much. You ended up in the same place as the bad men. Sometimes with a cheaper coffin.

I looked at Susan’s picture again. I drank the rest of my coffee and dropped the empty cup into the wastebasket.

”The sea of faith is at its ebb, babe,“ I said out loud to her picture. Her picture smiled its elegant, devilish smile and made no comment.