*
The Soviet economy was getting worse and worse, according to the CIA report in front of Congressman George Jakes. Gorbachev’s reforms – decentralization, more consumer goods, fewer weapons – were not enough.
There was pressure on the East European satellites to follow the USSR by liberalizing their own economies, but any changes would be minor and gradual, the Agency forecast. If any country rejected Communism outright, then Gorbachev would send in the tanks.
That did not sound right to George, sitting in a meeting of the House Intelligence Oversight Committee. Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia were running ahead of the USSR, moving towards free enterprise and democracy, and Gorbachev was doing nothing to hold them back.
But President Bush and Defense Secretary Cheney believed passionately in the Soviet menace, and as always the CIA was under pressure to tell the President what he wanted to hear.
The meeting left George feeling dissatisfied and anxious. He took the dinky Capitol subway train back to the Cannon House Office Building, where he had a suite of three crowded rooms. The lobby had a reception desk, a couch for waiting visitors, and a round table for meetings. To one side was the administration office, crammed with staff desks and bookshelves and filing cabinets. On the opposite side was George’s own room, with a desk and a conference table and a picture of Bobby Kennedy.
He was intrigued to see, on his list of afternoon appointments, a clergyman from Anniston, Alabama, the Reverend Clarence Bowyer, who wanted to talk to him about civil rights.
George would never forget Anniston. It was the town where the Freedom Riders had been attacked by a mob and their bus firebombed. It was the only time someone had tried seriously to kill George.
He must have said yes to the man’s request for a meeting, though he could not now remember why. He assumed that a preacher from Alabama who wanted to see him would be African American, and he was startled when his assistant ushered in a white man. The Reverend Bowyer was about George’s age, dressed in a grey suit with a white shirt and a dark tie, but wearing trainers, perhaps because he had to do a lot of walking in Washington. He had large front teeth and a receding chin, and salt-and-pepper hair that accentuated the resemblance to a red squirrel. There was something vaguely familiar about him. With him was a teenage boy who looked just like him.
‘I try to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to soldiers and others working at the Anniston Army Depot,’ Bowyer said, introducing himself. ‘Many of my congregation are African Americans.’
Bowyer was sincere, George thought; and he had a mixed-race church, which was unusual. ‘What’s your interest in civil rights, Reverend?’
‘Well, sir, I was a segregationist as a young man.’
‘Many people were,’ George said. ‘We’ve all learned a lot.’
‘I’ve done more than learn,’ said Bowyer. ‘I have spent decades in deep repentance.’
That seemed a little strong. Some of the people who asked for meetings with congressmen were more or less crazy. George’s staff did their best to filter out the lunatics, but now and again one would slip through the net. However, Bowyer struck George as pretty sane. ‘Repentance,’ George repeated, playing for time.
‘Congressman Jakes,’ said Bowyer solemnly, ‘I have come here to apologize to you.’
‘What for, exactly?’
‘In 1961 I hit you with a crowbar. I believe I broke your arm.’
In a flash George understood why the man looked familiar. He had been in the mob at Anniston. He had tried to hit Maria, but George had put his arm in the way. It still hurt in cold weather. George stared in astonishment at this earnest clergyman. ‘So that was you,’ he said.
‘Yes, sir. I don’t have any excuses to offer. I knew what I was doing, and I did wrong. But I have never forgotten you. I just would like you to know how sorry I am, and I wanted my son, Clam, to witness my confession of evildoing.’
George was nonplussed. Nothing like this had ever happened to him. ‘So you became a preacher,’ he said.
‘At first I became a drinker. Because of whiskey, I lost my job and my home and my car. Then one Sunday the Lord led my footsteps to a little mission in a shack in a poor neighbourhood. The preacher, who happened to be black, took as his text the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew’s gospel, especially verse forty: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of these the least of my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”’
George had heard more than one sermon on that verse. Its message was that a wrong done to anyone was a wrong done to Jesus. African Americans, who had more wrongs done to them than most citizens, gained strong consolation from that notion. The verse was even quoted on the Wales Window at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.
Bowyer said: ‘I went into that church to mock, and I came out saved.’
George said: ‘I’m glad to hear of your change of heart, Reverend.’
‘I do not deserve your forgiveness, Congressman, but I hope for God’s.’ Bowyer stood up. ‘I will not take up any more of your valuable time. Thank you.’
George stood too. He felt that he had not responded adequately to a man in the grip of powerful emotion. ‘Before you go,’ he said, ‘let us shake hands.’ He took Bowyer’s hand in both of his. ‘If God can forgive you, Clarence, I guess I should too.’
Bowyer choked up. Tears came to his eyes as he shook George’s hand.
On impulse, George embraced him. The man was shaking with sobs.
After a minute, George broke the hug and stepped back. Bowyer tried to speak but was unable to. Weeping, he turned and left the room.
His son shook George’s hand. ‘Thank you, Congressman,’ the boy said in a shaky voice. ‘I can’t express how much your forgiveness means to my father. You are a great man, sir.’ He followed Bowyer out of the room.
George sat back down, feeling dazed. Well, he thought, how about that?
*
He told Maria about it that evening.
Her reaction was unsympathetic. ‘I guess you’re entitled to forgive them, it was your arm that got broken,’ she said. ‘Me, I’m not big on mercy for segregationists. I’d like to see Reverend Bowyer serve a couple of years in jail, or maybe on a chain gang. Then perhaps I’d accept his apology. All those corrupt judges and brutal cops and bomb makers are still walking around free, you know. They’ve never been brought to justice for what they did. Some are probably drawing their damn pensions. And they want forgiveness, too? I’m not going to help them feel comfortable. If their guilt makes them miserable, I’m glad. It’s the least they deserve.’
George smiled. Maria was getting feistier in her fifties. She was one of the most senior people in the State Department, respected by Republicans and Democrats alike. She carried herself with confidence and authority.
They were in her apartment, and she was making dinner, sea bass stuffed with herbs, while George laid the table. A delicate aroma filled the room, making George’s mouth water. Maria topped up his glass of Lynmar Chardonnay then put broccoli into a steamer. She was a little heavier than she had used to be, and she was trying to adopt George’s lean cuisine tastes.
After dinner they took their coffee to the couch. Maria was in a mellow mood. ‘I want to be able to look back and say that the world was a safer place when I left the State Department than when I arrived,’ she said. ‘I want my nephews and nieces, and my godson, Jack, to raise their children without the threat of a superpower holocaust hanging over them. Then I’ll be able to say that my life was well spent.’
‘I understand how you feel,’ said George. ‘But it seems like a pipe dream. Is it possible?’
‘Maybe. The Soviet bloc is nearer to collapse than at any time since the Second World War. Our ambassador to Moscow believes that the Brezhnev Doctrine is dead.’
The Brezhnev Doctrine said that the Soviet Union controlled Eastern Europe, just as the Monroe Doctrine gave the same rights to the US in South America.
George nodded. ‘If Gorbachev no longer wants to boss the Communist empire, that’s a huge geopolitical gain for the US.’
‘And we should be doing everything we can to help Gorbachev stay in power. But we’re not, because President Bush believes the whole thing is a confidence trick by Gorbachev. So he’s actually planning to increase our nuclear weapons in Europe.’
‘Which is guaranteed to undermine Gorbachev and encourage the hawks in the Kremlin.’
‘Exactly. Anyway, I have a bunch of Germans coming tomorrow to try and set him straight.’
‘Good luck with that,’ George said sceptically.
‘Yeah.’
George finished his coffee but he did not want to go. He felt comfortable, full of good food and wine, and he always enjoyed talking to Maria. ‘You know something?’ he said. ‘Aside from my son and my mother, I like you better than anyone else in the world.’
‘How is Verena?’ Maria said sharply.
George smiled. ‘She’s seeing your old boyfriend Lee Montgomery. He’s a Washington Post editor now. I think it’s serious.’
‘Good.’
‘Do you remember . . .’ He probably should not say this, but he had drunk half a bottle of wine, and he thought what the hell. ‘Do you remember the time we had sex on this couch?’
‘George,’ she said, ‘I don’t do it often enough to forget.’
‘Unfortunately, neither do I.’
She laughed, but said: ‘I’m glad.’
He felt nostalgic. ‘How long ago was that?’
‘It was the night Nixon resigned, fifteen years ago. You were young and handsome.’
‘And you were almost as beautiful as you are today.’
‘Why, you smooth talker.’
‘It was nice, wasn’t it? The sex, I mean.’
‘Nice?’ She pretended to be offended. ‘Is that all?’
‘It was great.’
‘Yeah.’
He was possessed by a feeling of regret for missed opportunities. ‘What happened to us?’
‘We had separate paths to follow.’
‘I guess.’ There was a silence, then George said: ‘Do you want to do it again?’
‘I thought you’d never ask.’
They kissed, and immediately he remembered how it had been the first time: so relaxed, so natural, so right.
Her body had changed. It was softer, less taut, the skin dryer to his touch. He guessed the same was true of his own body: the wrestling muscles had gone long ago. But it made no difference. Her lips and tongue were fervently busy on his, and he felt the same eager pleasure at being drawn into the arms of a sensual and loving woman.
She unbuttoned his shirt. While he was taking it off, she stood up and quickly slipped out of her dress.
George said: ‘Before we go any further . . .’
‘What?’ She sat down again. ‘Are you having second thoughts?’
‘On the contrary. That’s a pretty bra, by the way.’
‘Thank you. You can take it off me in a minute.’ She unbuckled his belt.
‘But there’s something I want to say. At the risk of spoiling everything . . .’
‘Go ahead,’ she said. ‘Take a chance.’
‘I’m realizing something. I guess I should have figured it out before.’
She watched him, smiling a little, saying nothing, and he had the strangest feeling that she knew exactly what was coming.
‘I’m realizing that I love you,’ he said.
‘Do you, really?’
‘Yes. Do you mind? Is it okay? Have I ruined the atmosphere?’
‘You fool,’ she said. ‘I’ve been in love with you for years.’