“PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES,” she replied.
I can think of more rewarding
ways of bankrupting myself,” said her
father as he removed the
... [Show More] half-moon
spectacles from the end of his nose and
peered at his daughter over the top of his
newspaper.
“Don’t be frivolous, Papa.
President Roosevelt proved to us that
there can be no greater calling than
public service.”
“The only thing Roosevelt
proved...” began her father. Then he
stopped and pretended to return to his
paper, realizing that his daughter would
consider the remark flippant.
The girl continued as if only too
aware of what was going through her
father’s mind. I realize it would be
pointless for me to pursue such an
ambition without your support. My sex
will be enough of a liability without
adding the disadvantage of a Polish
background.”
The newspaper barrier between
father and daughter was abruptly
removed.
“Don’t ever speak disloyally of
the Poles,” he said. “History has proved
us to be an honorable race who never go
back on our word. My father was a
baron-”
“Yes, I know. So was my
grandfather, but he’s not around now to
help me become President.”
“More’s the pity,” he said,
sighing, “as he would undoubtedly have
made a great leader of our people.”
“Then why shouldn’t his
granddaughter?”
“No reason at all,” he said as he
stared into the steel gray eyes of his only
child.
“Well then, Papa, will you help
me? I can’t hope to succeed without your
financial backing.”
Her father hesitated before
replying, placing the glasses back on his
nose arid slowly folding his copy of the
Chicago Tribune.
“I’ll make a deal with you, my
dear-after all, that’s what politics is
about. If the result of the New
Hampshire primary turns out to be
satisfactory, I’ll back you to the hilt. If
not, you must drop the whole idea.”
“What’s your definition of
satisfactory?” came back the immediate
reply.
Again the man hesitated,
weighing his words, “If you win the
primary or capture over thirty percent of
the vote, I’ll go all the way to the
convention floor with you, even if it
means I end up destitute.”
The girl relaxed for the first time
during the conversation. “Thank you,
Papa. I couldn’t have asked for more.”
“No, you certainly couldn’t,” he
replied. “Now, can I get back to figuring
out just how the Cubs could possibly
have lost the seventh game of the series
to the Tigers?”
“They were undoubtedly the
weaker team, as the nine -three score
indicates.”
“Young lady, you may imagine
you know a thing or two about politics,
but I can assure you you know absolutely
nothing about baseball,” the man said as
his wife entered the room. He turned his
heavy frame toward her. “Our daughter
wants to run for President of the United
States. What do you think about that?”
The girl looked up at her, eagerly
waiting for a reply.
“I’ll tell you what I think,” said
the mother. A think it’s well past her
bedtime and I blame you for keeping her
up so late. “
“Yes, I suppose you’re fight,
Zaphia.” He sighed. “Off you go to bed,
little one.”
She came to her father’s side,
kissed him on the cheek and whispered,
“Thank you, Papa.”
The man’s eyes followed his
eleven-year-old daughter as she left the
room, and he noticed that the fingers of
her fight hand were clenched, making a
small, tight fist, something she always
did when she was angry or determined.
He suspected she was both on this
occasion, but he realized that it would
be pointless to try to explain to his wife
that their only child was no ordinary
mortal. He had long ago abandoned any
attempt to involve his wife in his own
ambitions and was at least thankful that
she was incapable of dampening their
daughter’s.
He returned to the Chicago Cubs
and their loss of the series Prologue 3
and had to admit that his daughter’s
judgment might even be right on that
subject.
Florentyna Rosnovski never
referred to the conversation again for
twenty-two years, but when she did, she
assumed that her father would keep his
end of the bargain. After all, the Polish
are an honorable race who never go
back on their word. [Show Less]