The Means by Douglas Brunt

calm, he forces himself to think of what a calm person would say. “Look, Bubba. You and I want very similar things. We may not agree exactly on the path, and I admit my path may be a bit longer. We can debate all night whether that’s a good or a bad thing. But in the end, you and I are aligned.”
    â€œAmen,” says Benson when what he really wants to say is Holy fuck what a disaster.
    Bubba’s still pissed but Tom is feeling very good about being his own man.

10
    â€œThe Herald Sun says ‘Pauley in a Squeaker.’ The News & Observer has ‘2 a.m. Concession Gives Pauley the Win.’” Alison holds up a newspaper in each hand under the frame of the open front door. Tom sees her from his chair at the kitchen table and wishes he had a photo image of her at that moment to keep with him. He smiles and commits to remembering.
    The election was so close that Mills refused to concede until most of the state was asleep in bed. He had made the call to Tom just in time for the papers to get the headlines correct in the morning.
    â€œGet over here and kiss your governor.”
    â€œYes, sir. Is it sir? Your Excellency?”
    â€œFor Bubba and Benson, I think Your Excellency will do. The First Lady of North Carolina can call me whatever she pleases.”
    *   *   *
    The article below his in The News & Observer has a report on the Air France Flight 477 crash near JFK from a few months earlier. There had been signs of mechanical failure and now the black box recording indicates that one of the pilots was hungover or drunk or both.
    The article credits reporting done by Samantha Davis at UBS. Tom recognizes the name. He pushes the paper across the table and kisses his wife.

11
    Tom drinks from the marble water fountain of the Old Well. He takes Alison’s hand and turns to deliver his victory speech in the heart of the UNC campus, just three hours after Alison read the headlines. Because Mills had not conceded the night before, Tom’s team rushed preparations for the speech at his alma mater.
    Thousands have gathered and more swell into the brick walkways around the old landmark like blood gathering behind a clot. The student body knows Tom is an alumnus and he appears young enough that he seems recently one of them.
    The Old Well is a small rotunda more than a hundred years old. There are eight columns and it is only a few steps across. The top is twice the height of a man. It used to function as the sole water supply for the Old East and Old West dormitories. Now students drink from the fountain on the first day of classes for good luck. Tom wipes a drop of water from his lip and waves to the crowd.
    Standing on a bench are two young girls in bikini tops and tiny jean shorts that match. They each hold over their heads a bottom corner of a sign, the kind they use in the stands at the basketball games. This one reads, “Finally a HOT Governor!” Another sign held by two girls Tom assumes must be from the same sorority reads, “Luv the Guv.”
    Tom scans the growing crowd and sees there are many more females than males. From farther back comes a scream—a sorority-aged voice that has the raspiness and edge of a girl who is not the prettiest but is pretty enough to be bold without a chip on her shoulder and is usually drunker than the rest. “Tom Pauley is gorgeous!” She holds the last syllable for several seconds and there is audible damage to her vocal cords.
    Tom laughs. Alison laughs too. She squeezes his hand and leans into the microphone that Peter Brand has set up on the Old Well. “I second that!”
    Alison is enjoying the attention for her husband as much as he is. Her ease with the uproar makes it more of a celebration.
    She kisses Tom’s cheek then he whispers in her ear, “I’m not universally hot. I’m politician hot. It’s a much lower standard.”
    Tom quiets the crowd with both hands raised as