Standing in the Rainbow - Fannie Flagg [152]
“Oh, but Hamm, the whole thing is ridiculous. I don’t know anything about politics much less how to be a governor.”
“You don’t have to know anything. You wouldn’t really be the governor, you’d just be standing in for me.”
She went over to the dresser to get another Kleenex. “And that’s another thing. I’m the mother of two children. I don’t want to be involved in some scam, something that’s illegal.”
“But it is legal. Wendell told you it was.”
“Maybe so. But it’s totally dishonest. To pretend to be the governor when I’m not. What will people think?”
“Honey, it’s not dishonest. People will know they’re voting for me. And people will thank you. You know how high my ratings are. They would vote for me anyway if it were not for that stupid law. You’re doing everybody a favor. Wendell told you that.”
“Well then, why doesn’t Wendell run?”
“Because. Honey—”
“I’ll tell you why. Because everybody knows he’s got good sense and I’m just an idiot you can push around. That’s why.”
“Oh now, Betty—”
“And what about my house? I’ve waited eight years . . . and you promised me, just four more years, you said.”
He came over and sat down on the bed. “I know I did, sweetheart, and I’m just as sick about it as you are. But we have a duty to the people.”
“But what about us? We’re people. What about the boys? I wanted them to have a normal life for a change. They never see you. I never see you.”
“But, honey, this is about the boys. And their future. I don’t want them to have a daddy that failed. My name is all I have to leave them. I want to make sure for their sake the Hamm Sparks name is one they can be proud of. I owe it to them.”
He could see she was now at least listening. He pulled out his big guns. “Betty Raye, I’m ashamed to tell you this but I haven’t been completely honest with you. I was seriously thinking of running again in sixty-eight. But now I know it would be too late. If I don’t hang in there now, while I still have a foothold, and fight now for everything good I did, all the work and sweat and sacrifice will be for nothing. And honest to God, Betty Raye, I don’t think I could take it. You’re the only hope I have. . . . Do you think I’ve enjoyed being away from you and the children so much? No. But if you stick with me one more time—”
“Hamm, don’t. I’ve heard that before.”
“I know you have. But—and I mean this—if you will do this, I will swear on my life, on my children’s life, that I will never run for governor again. I’ll swear it on the Bible in front of the Missouri Supreme Court if you want me to.”
Another hour of Betty Raye crying, with Hamm pleading, went by and Betty Raye was beginning to weaken.
“Hamm, please don’t make me do this. If you do, then you might as well get a gun and shoot me right now, because I’ll just die if I have to get up there and make speeches.”
“You won’t have to do a thing—just stand up, introduce me, and sit down. That’s all you have to do. Other than that, everything will be exactly the same as it always was. The only difference is this time you and I will be together twenty-four hours a day. I’ll be right by your side all the time; all you have to do is just be my silent partner. Why, if I was to take a regular job I’d be gone every day and we’d never see each other. Don’t you see, honey, this way we can be close like we used to be. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes, you know I would but—”
“It’s just four little years and then I can leave knowing I’ve done the best job I could and we’d be done with politics forever.”
She swallowed hard. “Are you sure it’s the only way?”
“You heard what Wendell said. If you don’t do it the whole state will suffer.”
She teared up again. “But what about my house? I bought so many nice things . . . it was going to be so pretty. . . .”
“I’ll tell you what. You can keep the house.”
“Really?” she said.
“Sure. It will wait, it ain’t gonna go anywhere. And you and Cecil can decorate to your heart’s content. Then when the term is over, we will walk out this door and move right in. In the meantime you and the kids and I can go over and spend