The Age of Hamilton

Chapter 12

"You weren't born here!" Another had shouted. Laughter escaped his throat. He had known the public would turn against him. And yet one sacred document hung in the white house, a document so powerful it trumps all other state laws in the United States. He began to pace the stage, his head bowed, words crackling in his mind as if it were a fire. "My place of birth is an irrelevance."

The crowd roared at that. His voice was calm, even. "Most of your brothers, fathers, siblings fought against the British tyranny. Fought for liberty in 1775. Like your family, I know the sound of musket fire, the crack of the cannon as the earth trembles beneath it. I know that in your hearts, you disagree with the British Isles keeping an eye on our nation. You don't hate me, you hate what I may represent-" He paused allowing silence to accentuate his words. Coughs became audible in the tense silence. His gaze fell back to his wife and child. They stared at him, watching him work. He could catch snippets of their conversation. Angelica asking if his behavior was normal. Elizabeth's lips curled at the corners of her mouth into a confident smile.

The crowd became unruly, impatient. "You're nothing but a whore's son!"

As he paced down the stage to where Elizabeth was standing, he froze. His gaze snapped towards the crowd. "Whomever said that statement, please stay after." His tone remained even but had a sharper edge to it. His lip twitched, his palms gripped the podium. He resumed pacing. His arms slackened. Elizabeth watched as his palms flexed. His eyes hardened. "I'd like to know something." His voice resumed. Elizabeth watched as his fingers twitched in anticipation. It appeared as though he was ready to fire a pistol. However, instead, Alexander walked towards the crowd, eyebrows"Raise your hand if you have or, had, a family member fight in the war."

Soon, one hand. Three. Fifteen hands slowly raised from their sides. "What does this have to do with anything? Jefferson already has my vote."

"Where was Jefferson during the war? Where was Jefferson while people like you, soldiers, veterans sacrificed everything they had for the goal of a better future. Jefferson was in France, the ambassador. Perhaps drinking; sleeping his way into fame. Jefferson and I have disagreed on about fifty different fronts. When I came back from service, I never had a family, a mother or dad embrace me when I came home. Fourteen years old, I lost my own mother."

Elizabeth's hand shot up, covering her mouth. She wasn't aware of his mother's death. Elizabeth gripped Angelica's shoulder. Alexander's gaze fell to the floor as he stood frozen. His lip quivered once again. His gaze finally shot up from the floor. "NO!"

***

Police officers stormed the building. Hamilton sat on the steps of the stage, his gaze falling to the man whose breaths were jagged. His heart beat had crawled to his throat. "The hell were you thinking, son? Public forum without officers present? Your wife and child are alright though."

Alexander staggered to his feet. Elizabeth embraced him. The smell of her perfume wafted up from her flesh to his nostrils. "Officer?"

The young officer raised an eyebrow and said, "I believe the law firm I have been working with has been getting less than reliable funds under the table."

The officer raised an eyebrow and said, "Richard Jackson and James Eacker's firm? The one here?"

Alexander nodded and said, "Swing by my house, I'll give you the files if you want."

With those words, Alexander and Elizabeth led their daughter out of the forum. "Sir, you wanted me to stay afterwards."

Alexander froze and nodded. He watched as Elizabeth and Angelica walked to the horse stables. The man standing before him wore a crisp suit, dark eyes rimmed with bags under them. His hair was unkempt, messy. "Are you a lawyer, Mr. Hamilton?"

Alexander nodded. "It's a job that pays well."

"How'd you even get into the firm? How'd you get into the country?"

Alexander stared at this man. This man was indirectly threatening his life. Indirectly threatening his chances of running for president. Shaking his head, clearing it of the metaphorical demons, his gaze hardened as he stared down this man. Rolling his shoulders back, Alexander replied, "I moved here."

"Yes. From where though?" The man inquired gently.

At first, Alexander felt his heart skip a beat. He hadn't told Eliza until the night he got the correspondence from Aaron Burr. Clenching the bridge of his nose, he shook his head and said, "New York City. I moved here from New York City."

The man seemed genuinely ecstatic at the response. He watched as the voter walked away joining up with his wife who wore a thin jacket. Alexander remained standing in the street. Anybody would assume he was a police officer, a local minute man ready to take out those who threatened his own life but as he stood in an abandoned street, his horse standing in its stable, he knew gunshots would echo throughout the town. Chaos would erupt in the street, smoke would billow and he had only himself to blame. Shaking his head, he walked towards his horse, hearing amused shouts come from behind him.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw young men in their mid twenties snickering as they held pamphlets that had been passed out prior to his surfacing as a candidate. His name would be written on ballots but he knew he would lose. He knew he would have to establish himself as more than just a man who knew Jefferson's every view. As Hamilton mounted the horse, the group of men stared at him, their lips curling upwards in a proud smile. One whispered to the others and he caught a couple words. Federalist. Hamilton knew, by the look on their faces, that they thought his candidacy would turn out to be a total smack in the face. "Aren't you worried about losing?" One with shaggy blonde hair inquired.

Alexander rolled his shoulders back as he slipped off his horse. His lips curled at the corners of his mouth as the aroma of alcohol stung his nostrils. These men were drunk. The rheum of the intoxication caused their eyes to shimmer. Glisten at Hamilton's challenge. He was a lawyer, one of the youngest congressmen during the adoption and edits made to the constitution. Why was he so keen on proving himself a valuable asset to the American experiment? He didn't respond to the man's inquiry. Once again, he mounted his horse and snapped the reins. He caught the murmurs that the group of men knew he was going to lose. What the group of men didn't know, was the simple fact that he debated with Jefferson, knew his views. Knew his political standing.

He wasn't going to rest until he was sworn in.