The Kennedys

Chapter Thirty-Five: End of the Line

"What about Bobby?" Joe asked.

Bobby threw his hands up. "I'm a hypocrite, Dad! Most of my law career has been fighting organized crime and here I am benefiting from it."

Bobby shook his head. "What a fucking mess you've created, Dad."

"Boys, plea-"

"Go." Jack sounded tired, worn down. "Go away. You aren't welcome here anymore. Not now, not ever."

Joe took a deep breath. He waited for a moment. Waited for his sons to say they forgave him. They didn't. He walked out of the door, leaving his sons in silence.

"How could he do it, Jack?"

Poor Bobby. The smartest of them all and yet still so innocent.

"Because he's Dad."

-

Bobby walked out of the Oval Office examining a classified document covered by a black binder. He was shaken by the day's earlier encounter, but he was determined to keep moving forward.

"Bobby."

Bobby could feel his head begin to pound. Lyndon. He hated him. Absolutely hated him. Still, he looked up and placed a cheeky smile on his face.

"Lyndon."

He closed the binder.

"What are you looking at?" Lyndon was prodding.

"I'm afraid you don't have the security clearance for this particular document." Bobby replied, placing the binder under his arm.

"But I'm the Vice President." Lyndon replied.

"Perhaps," Bobby moved closer to Lyndon. This was between the two of them. "But we all know who's really in power."

Bobby saw Lyndon's fists clenched. Good. Bobby liked to make him squeal. He began to walk off.

"Have a nice day, Lyndon." Bobby walked away, never turning away.

December 1961

The phone rang for the third time today.

"If that's Dad again tell him I'm not talking to him." Bobby picked up the phone as Jack examined documents.

"Dad, really-" Bobby stooped mid sentence. Jack looked up.

"Everything okay?"

Bobby put the phone down. "It's Dad..." he trailed off, his eyes clouding with tears.

"Bobby, just tell me." Jack's hand was shaking and the pen he was holding fell to the ground.

-

Bobby and Jack entered the hospital room. The rest of their siblings had already visited, leaving only them. Rose was sitting at her husband's side, holding his hand.

Jack walked over to his father, kissing his head. Bobby went to his mother, putting his hand on her shoulder. She shoved him away.

"Mom?"

"Don't you see?" Rose was in tears. "You have done this to him."

"Mom..."

"Your father," she wiped her nose. "worked his whole life for you. To get you where you are. And your threw him out into the cold."

"Mom, you know it was more complicated than that. He had committed voter fraud. We had to distance ourself."

"It doesn't matter." Rose stood up and opened the door. "Leave. I see before me two traitors, not two devoted sons. Look what you've done!"

She pointed to Joe, laying in his hospital bed, depleted, almost lifeless. "You have destroyed him. And for what?"

Bobby briefly touched his father's hand. "Bobby," he looked up, Jack was tearing up. "Let's go."

Jack walked over to his mother. "We'll come back when you're less upset." He kissed her on the forehead and left, followed by Bobby.

As they walked down the hallway, Bobby wiped a tear from his eye. Jack patted his shoulder. "We can't depend on anyone else, not anymore." Jack said.

Bobby looked up at him. "We have only each other."

And the two brothers hugged, alone in a dimly lit hallway of a hospital. Alone.