A God in Ruins - Leon Uris [142]
“That’s got to be it,” Quinn said.
“Before we won’t do again what we won’t do,” she said. “Oh, brother, could we create a scandal.”
“I had hoped that after the humiliation of Clinton, America might have gone beyond such things, but oh, boy, would we sell newspapers. I say, not with a great deal of pride, that we of the boomer generation wanted American society to come out of the closet: stop hypocrisy, be politically correct, no N word, no heroes, no goals, except money. Well, my son understood what homosexuality was in the fourth grade and listened to language on TV that the Marines wouldn’t even use. I think we’d better go back into the closet on some things. Greer, you own a piece of me, forever, but Rita is my life. That’s the real reason.”
The rebuff to Greer was soft and simple but, she knew, final.
“So how’s life by Greer?” he asked.
“Mrs. Warren Crowder or Ms. Greer Little Crowder? I’ve always given you a wide berth because moments like this one can lead to self destruction. Anyhow, when your mother and father came to New York and patched me up, years ago, there was no stopping me. Brilliant as he is, Warren was an ignorant innocent about a lot of things, including the birds and the bees.”
“Hadn’t he shed a couple of wives?”
“That’s right, but Greer baby came to play and to stay.”
Pitchers of martinis and vodka came with a lovely bottle of Chianti. Greer sipped and looked sad like a torch singer at the piano. “Warren wanted a tour guide through the hellfire clubs. I was better than good. I did things to please him and fetched my price: Mrs. Crowder, stock options, and the top woman in media in the country. You cannot imagine how rich I am, Quinn. Actually, Crowder owes more money than most third world countries…but wealth is counted not by what you have, but by what you owe. You see, his banks have to keep him solvent because if he ever defaults, he will take down a dozen banks with him and shake a number of economies.”
“Well, now, that’s power, isn’t it?”
“I care for Warren. I love his ruthlessness. So what if he found a little of his lost youth in ménages? He was a voyeur and we touched the edge of the drug scene, but Warren didn’t want anything that would fuzz his mind. After a while, even my dance of the seven veils became a bit static, so we drifted into a real marriage with a real calling, making hundreds of millions. I’m pretty straight now. I go into heat every once in a while. Maybe I’m still looking for Quinn.”
The food arrived with a robust aroma, as if to say in Waterloo there was something in the world other than meat and potatoes.
Quinn poured the Chianti. “Bang!” he said.
“So what brings you to Waterloo on this snowy night?” she said as she prepared the table.
“Greer, I came here kicking and screaming, and I’m not talking false modesty. All right…I came here because so goddamn many people told me to come here. So, I’m here, I’ll look around and say, include me out. I’ve been to Waterloo, folks, and there’s no way I can make the presidency.”
“You’re full of shit,” Greer retorted.
“No, ma’am, I’m not going to be meat for buzzards. I’m not putting my family through it. During my first campaign for governor, AMERIGUN threw the book at me, including the rumor that I was buggering sheep. Truth can be a little pebble that gets washed over a roaring dam. Yet some of those lying, rotten stories will stick on me to the day I die. Is there life beyond the presidency, or do they all leave office as dead meat?”
“I see snow out of the window,” Greer said. “I’m afraid you see acid rain. A tidal wave is forming up and could become unstoppable. You have rung the bell on an issue whose date is due. You are gun control to a nation pleading for it. You can’t walk away, man, no matter how it intersects your own life. Your country is bleeding, and that’s all the reason you have to know. There is another reason you won’t