The Dog of Jesus by Michael P. Sakowski

Author:Michael P. Sakowski
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION/General
Publisher: Baltimore Books
Published: 2013-11-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

The Vatican Takes Notice

Mendy finished shaving and dragged his fingers across his face searching for vagrant whiskers. He stared at the face in the mirror and it stared back at him. It looked foreign and strange, as if it weren’t really his. “What are you looking at?” he asked to no reply.

A large thunderclap exploded overhead and Mendy flinched. The sounds of screaming echoed emptily in his memory and he saw the faces of some of the people with whom he had shook hands at the parade stand in El Paso. He gave one last glance to the stranger in his mirror, and walked into the adjacent bedroom, where his wife was brushing her hair. He watched her silently, the way she gave a twist to the brush at the end of each stroke, and remembered the young beauty he had married over twenty years ago. Claire saw him watching and turned around and smiled warmly.

“I remember you watching me like that, twenty years ago.”

“Yes,” Mendy said softly.

“But not lately.”

“Because you have a stupid husband.” He smiled and studied her face, and the young innocent girl was still there, still beautiful, and warm and kind, devoid of any pretense.

“Are you okay?” Claire said, and stopped brushing her hair.

“Yes.” He crossed the room and bent down and kissed her forehead. “I was just thinking that it would be nice to go to church together this Sunday. Maybe Saint Mary’s. I haven’t been for quite a while.”

“I know,” she said with a sweetness that scolded. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Better than okay.” He touched his hand to her cheek and looked deep into her eyes with warmth that she hadn’t seen in a long time. “I was just thinking how lucky I am to have you.”

Claire’s eyes filled as she smiled, and she quickly grabbed a tissue and dabbed them dry.

“Get out of here, you charmer,” she said with a smile.

Mendy hugged her and rubbed her on the back and went out to his study. Graham was already there, waiting for him.

The media control console was turned on and Graham was monitoring six stations simultaneously, constantly flipping through channels to view campaign results and developing issues. Mendy watched silently, momentarily mesmerized by the man and his method.

Graham was good at what he did, not just because he was a news junkie, but also because he had an innate ability to connect the dots of seemingly disparate events and project future possibilities. Beyond that, he was a brilliant broker of human emotion, knowing what buttons to push and when. He knew what would sell, and more importantly, he knew how to sell it.

Carlota Cabreza appeared on one of the screens, and the camera panned past her to a shot of a makeshift shrine to Santo. Grown up around his sculpture were many candles, bouquets, and remembrances that had been carried to Chamizal Park by enraptured believers. Some had erected crosses on either side of the sculpture, and it was surrounded with thousands of flowers and gifts left to commemorate those who had died there.

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