"That's what I'm worried about.", I told him. "Every conservative lobbyist in the city is going to want to weigh in on this, and some of them are just going to be whack jobs. If I can keep it in house, we can control it."
Marty simply shook his head. "It's too big for any one man to control, which means it's going to be pissed on by others. Forget about control, settle for influence. You can have some major influence in this, but it will never be entirely what you want. The soup tastes better when everyone has a chance to pee in it."
I grimaced. I understood what my old friend was saying, but I didn't have to like it. "Who do you think Newt will give this to?"
Marty shrugged. "Probably the Heritage Foundation, but maybe the Cato Institute. They might be a little too libertarian for Newt's tastes, though. Maybe the American Enterprise Institute. Those three come to mind anyway. My bet, you'll find out when Gingrich decides, and has you do another dog-and-pony show for them. He'll bring over a few people here for you to do your stump speech. Kiss some ass and get in with them, keep your fingers in the pie. Don't get on your high horse and try to order them around. They won't be impressed. They will be here long after Carl Buckman is voted out of office."
"True enough!"
"You said you wanted everyone to pick a specific piece of legislation and ride herd on it. It's your baby. Which one do you want?"
"I've been thinking about that. They're all really critical, but some are going to be so big I doubt I'll be able to get my hands around them enough. I was thinking to handle the gun bill and the Second Amendment." It still galled me what Marilyn and I went through ten years ago with Hamilton and trying for a carry permit.
"The NRA is going to want to weigh in on that."
"Yeah, but the good point to that is they're really the only big lobbying group that will care. The hard left nut jobs will want to ban the manufacture and sale of all guns in the country, and send storm troopers to go through every house and seize all the guns they find. The NRA wants every child to be issued a government supplied automatic grenade launcher at birth, with unlimited ammo for life. There has got to be a middle ground."
"Most of what you are trying to do with your bills, the Democrats are doing now. With Clinton in the White House and the Democrats controlling both houses, they are going to ram through a shitload of favorites. They are already planning a gun control bill of their own."
"Doesn't matter. The pendulum is swinging my friend, and it is swinging in our direction. In two years time we are going to own both houses, and it will be our turn to make some changes. Bill is going to be very surprised."
"We'll have to see on this.", commented Marty, as he got ready to head home.
"It's our time, Marty. You need to help me keep the hard liners from going overboard."
"Fair enough."
Chapter 115: The Bravest Man I Ever Knew
1993
I was in a pretty good mood when I got home. Newt and the Republican Party would have done the Contract with America whether I had recycled or not, but with me involved we had a chance of toning down the harsher aspects to it. I was already pushing to keep most of the 'family values' crap out of it. That was a sideshow that always sidetracked the Party and played into the hands of the Democrats.
My good mood broke when I got home. Bucky was staying with us, and while I really like my namesake, I was curious. "Hey, buddy, what's up? Where's the rest of the family?"
He gave me a strange look. "Mom said I was staying with you guys for a few days, maybe until the weekend."
I shrugged. "That's cool. Carter here, too?" Maybe Tessa and Tusker were taking a few days off for themselves.
I got that odd look again. "No, they were going somewhere with him."
"Okay, I'll talk to your Aunt Marilyn." I dropped my briefcase in my office and went down the hall to my bedroom and changed out of my suit. I was on the verge of heading back out when Marilyn came into the bedroom. She closed the door behind her, but she didn't have a playful look in her eyes. I knew she wasn't planning any fun and games before dinner. "What's up?", I asked.
"Bucky is going to be spending a few nights with us."
I nodded. "Yeah, I saw him out in the living room. What's with that?"
"Tessa and Tusker are taking Carter for testing."
"What's wrong with Carter?" The Tusk's second son was a good boy, and bright. Like his brother, he had his father's bright red hair, but where Bucky was tall and had Tusker's looks, Carter was smaller and looked a lot more like his mother.
Marilyn lowered her voice. "They are taking him to the Mayo Clinic. They think he has cancer."
I just stared at my wife while the blood roared in my ears for a second. She wasn't smiling, and this wasn't something people joke about. After a few seconds, I said, "What?! When did this happen?"
Marilyn gave a helpless shrug and sat down on the bed next to me. "He's been seeing his doctor for a few months now, but they just started putting the pieces together. He gets tired, his knees and elbows are constantly hurting, and he keeps getting bruises that never heal."
"I saw one of the bruises, over Christmas, and later, when we came back from the Bahamas. I thought it was different."
My wife shook her head. "It was the same bruise. It should have healed by then."
"Why aren't they taking him to Johns Hopkins? That's just down the road, and it's one of the best hospitals in the country!"
"They already have. His pediatrician referred him there. That's where they diagnosed it as cancer. This Mayo Clinic trip is a second opinion."
"Huh!" I sat there in disbelief for a second. "What kind of cancer?"
"I don't know. Some type of leukemia or something."
"How are they getting out there? They're not flying him through the airports, are they?! Have they left? I can get the Gulfstream..."
Marilyn took my hand and smiled. "I already did that. As soon as I heard I called Taylor and made the arrangements. They dropped Bucky off on their way out to Westminster. They're probably already there."
"Oh, sure ... okay." I should have known better. "Why us and not his grandparents?"
"Luck of the draw. His folks are in very poor health themselves, and hers are in Europe on vacation."
I nodded at that. Tusker was a year older than Tessa, but he was the baby of his family, and she was the oldest child in hers. His parents were at least ten years older than hers. I smiled back at her. "Well, it's not like he's never been here before. All we have to do is make sure he and Charlie don't try to build a moon rocket in the back yard."
"Launch the pair of them out of here!"
"Maybe they'll find out it's something else."
"Let's hope!", she agreed.
For the next few days we kept our hopes up and our mouths shut. Bucky didn't have any idea what was going on. He was a smart kid, and growing up as fast as a weed. He was fourteen now, and would be fifteen in June (as if I would ever forget his birthday!) He was already well over five foot tall and growing fast, and I wasn't even sure if he had hit his growth spurt yet! Even if he averaged out between his two parents in height, Tusker was taller than I was by several inches, and Tessa was about Marilyn's height. Bucky would probably be taller than me.