Political Science 101

Chapter Eighty-Eight

MITCH WAS still unsure if he had the correct address for the St. Louis campaign headquarters of Ray Doyle. However, this question was promptly answered when Ray himself serendipitously stepped out the front door of the office and onto the populated downtown St. Louis sidewalk as Mitch was approaching on foot. It was a little odd, Mitch though, as he approached from about half-a-block away, that Ray was just sort of standing there looking down. But Mitch continued to walk toward him, unsure of whether he should say something — some sort of salutation, perhaps — or simply approach casually.

Mitch resigned himself to the thought that this situation was a less-is-more kind of situation, so he simply approached, walking as normal as possible, until he brought himself to the front of Ray's campaign headquarters, standing next to Ray Doyle himself.

Ray didn't look over, but was clearly aware of Mitch's presence. And yet, for some reason, the silent pause didn't seem awkward at all.

"They let you into the United States Congress," Mitch said after a moment.

"Now that's Lieutenant Dan," Ray replied, finally looking up.

Both friends smiled a familiar smile, as if they had just been reunited with a long-lost brighter. Then both reached out and gave the other one of those enthusiastic tight back-patting man-hugs, laughing for the sake of laughing. They hadn't spoken in such a long time — neither could remember how long, but it must have been before the accident — and both men did their best to show how happy they were to see the other (without revealing the true extent to how much the other was missed). They were both guys, and guy emotion rules applied.

Mitch's emotional faculties were a bit confused as he released his embrace from the man he'd grown up with, shared a college dorm room with, shared infinite beers and "Kirk & McCoy" drinks with, and stood beside him on his wedding day. He'd spent so many months being angry with Ray that he'd become almost accustomed to a bitter mindset regarding his former best friend, so greeting him with a smile didn't quite mesh with his emotional norms. But he knew it was the right thing.

Mitch originally told himself the only reason he was going to reestablish contact with Ray was — at the urging of his little sister, Sarah — because Ray's son and Mitch's daughter had been dating for over a year and the feud between the two was making life difficult for their children. But on the drive over to Ray's office from the university, Mitch managed to convince himself that this was not the only reason — or even the real reason — but rather, it was just a good excuse for Mitch to go get his friend back. He'd had no idea how the interaction would go; he simply knew that if his friend was lost for good, then he simply had nothing to lose.

"It's good to see you," Mitch said, still smiling.

"Likewise," Ray replied. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, you know," Mitch said, attempting to sound casual, "just wanted to catch up, talk about stuff. Is this a bad time?"

"Nah," Ray replied, "I don't have any plans today."

Both men chuckled at the joke.

"Right," Mitch replied with a smile.

"There's a machine in there," Ray said, turning his body to the door of his campaign office, "with dozens of moving parts." He paused. "I doubt they even need me to be here."

"Wow," Mitch replied, raising his eyebrows, "that's quite the staff."

"Yeah," Ray replied, "and that's not counting the steady flow of volunteers who come in and make phone calls, stuff envelopes, and just do random things. We even have volunteers today who are driving to people's houses and taking them to their polling places. It's a well-oiled machine. I'm just the face on the package."

Both men chuckled again.

"Well hell," Mitch said, "maybe you could teach me a thing or two about campaign politics."

"Are you kidding?" Ray said with a higher-than-normal inflection in his voice. "Everything I've been through in the last year-and-a-half has almost been, verbatim, from your book. And it's like they used it as their manual!"

"Yeah?" Mitch said, suppressing his pride. "So you finally read my book?"

"I've read it cover-to-cover three times since going to Washington," Ray said in all seriousness. "You were right about all of it." Ray grinned. "You're so wise, like a miniature Buddha, covered in hair."

"Well," Mitch replied, "I'm kind of a big deal. People know me."

"Don't you have class?" Ray asked as the two laughed at their tandem Anchor Man references. "Shouldn't you be teaching right now?"

"I canceled class, the rest of the day," Mitch said. I kept my 8AM freshman Political Science 101 class long enough to give them a specific Election Day assignment, then I cut them loose."

"Nice," Ray said with a little bit of envy in his voice. "Must be nice to make your own decisions in your own job."

"Damn, man," Mitch said, sounding suddenly serious, "sounds like we need to talk about some things."

"Oh," Ray said, shaking his head and looking down, rubbing his forehead, "you have no idea."

"Well, actually," Mitch said, "if anyone would have an idea, I bet I would."

"This is true," Ray replied.

"What time is it?" Mitch asked, fishing in the pocket of his tweed jacket for his cell phone.

"Almost eleven," Ray replied.

"Good," Mitch said, "because eleven is close enough to lunch and lunch is the first meal of the day when drinking is socially acceptable."

"Indeed," Ray replied.

"You in?" Mitch asked.

"Is the Pope Catholic?" Ray asked in response.

The two men turned and began walking toward Mitch's car, parked on the street half-a-block away.

"It's good to see you," one of them said.

"You too," the other replied. "Seriously. You too."