Lee kissed him, one of those rare tender kisses the man doled out like favors for doing a good job. He had so much to learn about human interaction. “You…you do, don’t you?”
“Yeah. Maybe it’s pointless. You’ve over thirty years of grooming, making you hate things that you shouldn’t, making you care more for some than others.”
“I care about you, Eli. You and…” He chuckled a little and then said, “Mars. You and Mars. The only two people that ever saw anything in me except a continuation of a long con. Another player in a rigged game, rigged in my favor, if I want it.”
“And you never really wanted it.”
Lee gripped his hip, hard, like he had to hold onto something in order to finish. “Eli, being there, surrounded by men clapping you on the back, telling you that you’re welcomed into this thing that’s been around for hundreds of years…it’s addictive. I never wanted it, no, but when I was there, and accepted, I did feel, at first, like I had some power.
“Then…then I read a bill proposed by the other side. It was going to be good for the middle and lower class. It was paid for by taking just a half a percent from the defense budget. We spend so much on that, I figured, why not? I made it clear I was voting in favor of it, and that was my first mistake.”
“Bipartisan bills? You couldn’t vote for it?”
“No. It was when I was first elected, and I was in my first six months of being a junior senator from my state. If I ever would have power, I had to vote with my party and my party was totally against it. They didn’t want a win for the other side at all at that time, and more than that. They wanted to take the money from a part of the defense budget that a lot of us were, me included, though I didn’t know it, that we were invested in. I have, from my own trust, two million invested in the tanks that they’d be taking the money from. It’s all very complicated, I don’t even understand it all.”
“Most of the defense budget goes for private contractors, Lee. You do know that.”
“Of course. But it’s not just for the big investors, Eli. A lot of people work for those companies, a lot of towns live off that money too.”
“If you’re worried about our country, then bring your money back here. I’ve seen the statements, Lee. More than half your money is kept in banks that aren’t in the United States. The Cayman Islands, Brazil, even…even Russia, Lee.”
Lee moved over him to get off the sofa and stood but didn’t storm off for once. “I know.” He held his hand to Eli, helping him to his feet. “Let’s shower the sex stink off us and get some food.”
“I’ll let Mars know we’re hungry.”
“Thanks.”
By the time he called Mars, Lee was already in the shower. He stepped in after giving Mars an order for a ton of food. “You look good wet,” he said as he grabbed Lee’s waist.
“Back at cha.” Lee enveloped Eli in his arms and rested his head on Eli’s shoulder. “You have been…such a breath of fresh air, Eli. You…anyone else would have…”
“Shh. I’m no hero, Lee, you are. I’m nagging behind the scenes while it’s your reputation, your family and even your life on the line. I’m just the man in the shadows, prodding you to do things that could hurt you. That’s not a hero.”
“Okay, you’re my hero. You are making me feel like I can do anything.”
“Because you can, Lee.”
“You may judge me differently when you see my family in action.”
Eli did see it, from practically the moment they got to the Cape.
Cape Cod was diverse enough, sure, and driving through it, even as Lee insisted they make out before they couldn’t touch each other for two days, he saw it. There were modest homes, even poor ones, but those were inland. Near the beach, the closer they got to Lee’s home, he saw more opulence.
“Lee, let me look. I’ve never been here.”
“You’ve never been to the Cape? Oh, babe, you’ll like it. Our home here, it’s beautiful. My mother likes to redecorate every couple of years, but it never changes all that much. Lighter blues and brighter whites, mostly.”
“It does sound beautiful, Lee,” he said without much enthusiasm.
Lee watched his face, seeing his eyes cut away, and asked, “It’s because I said our house.”
Eli turned, shocked that he’d figured it out so quickly. “Lee…It’s none of my business.”
“I get it. It’s my parents’ place. It’s not mine. Sure, it will be when they both die, but they’re fit and healthy. They’ll be alive long into their nineties. Maybe I should buy my own home here.”
“Why here? There are coastal cities all over the place.”
“Voters hate people that own three or four houses, Eli. My father put all his property into a company name before he ever thought about running for office. He wanted to seem like one of them, to them. To everyone else on the planet, it’s obvious he’s a very rich, and very privileged man.”