Standing in the Rainbow - Fannie Flagg [142]
“Is that so?” he said, taking the drink she handed him.
“Yes. I was very proud of you.”
“You didn’t think I was too loud or anything?”
“No.”
“I didn’t look stupid in this monkey suit? People weren’t laughing at me, were they?”
“Not a one.”
“You know, Vita, I have to say I was a little surprised. Once you get to know him, that Pete Wheeler is a pretty regular guy, isn’t he? I’m kinda sorry now I said all those things about him.”
“I’m glad you liked him. He really is a fine person. So is his wife.”
“Do you know what he said to me, Vita?”
“No, what?”
“He said that he envied me my ability to connect with people. He said he wished he had not been handed everything, could have been a workingman like me, and been given the chance to make good on his own, like I had.” He looked at her in wonderment. “Can you imagine that—here I’ve been jealous of him and all the time he envied me.”
She could have said I told you so but she enjoyed too much watching him discover things on his own.
Sometime later, Rodney, who rarely had anything to do except be on hand whenever Hamm wanted company, came strolling into the attorney general’s office. Wendell Hewitt glanced up from the work on his desk and said, “Come in and close the door, I need to talk to you.”
Rodney sat down. “What’s up?”
“You know, we’re the only two he’ll listen to and he depends on us to tell him the truth and, frankly, I’m a little worried about him and I think we both should sit him down and talk to him.”
“About what?”
“All this running back and forth to all those parties. I think he is beginning to enjoy this high life a little too much, all this getting written up in the society pages. If he’s not careful, he’s gonna get the people who voted for him riled up.”
Rodney waved his hand and dismissed the idea. “Oh, don’t worry about that. No matter how many new suits he gets or who he rubs shoulders with, they know underneath it all he’s one of them.”
“Do you think so?”
“Hell yes. Listen, those country people have some secret way of recognizing one another that you and I don’t know anything about. And you can’t fool them. They can smell a phony a mile away.”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah—don’t forget, I’ve known him for a long time. I’ve seen him with those people and first of all, he is one of them, and second, he likes them, he understands how they think, and what they want, and believe me, if he didn’t like them, hell, love them even, they would know it. Right now they believe he’ll stand up for them but, most importantly, he believes he will fight for them, even against us.”
“Do you think he would?”
“You bet. He means all that stuff about how there are no little men. It’s not just a come-on with him and it’s just what they want to hear. He knows where they itch and how to scratch it. Now, you or I couldn’t get away with it but they’ll stick with him through thick and thin—and he knows not to go too far.”
“You sure? I think he’s mighty close myself.”
“Naw . . . all those people have some invisible line. If you cross it, brother, watch out. They are done with you forever. But Hamm knows just where that line is. It’s like a dog whistle that only other dogs can hear.”
But despite Rodney’s lack of concern, there were a few rumblings about Hamm and some people did start to notice he was changing. Several editorials and column mentions popped up here and there. Some said he was spending too much time with the elite and not looking after the ones who voted him into office. But as Rodney had said, Hamm knew just when to say what and just how to say it. In his last big television address to the state before he was to go to New York for the National Governors Convention he ended his remarks with a slight little chuckle.
“You know, folks, it seems you just can’t please everybody. Some people complain that I’ve been hobnobbing with the rich too much lately and I agree, but let me ask you this. How am I supposed to keep my eye on them and make sure they’re not stealing from you if I don’t hobnob a little? Some say that I’m beginning to look like Lady