When he saw the campaign ads he had to laugh. Family. Religion. Good Old Fashioned Morality. Right to Life. Playing backyard basketball with the family. Wife smiling in background.
``Gimme a break,'' he said.
When he tried to call he never got through. He had his instructions: ``Never try to contact me,'' his lover said.
He got a visit from an aide.
``Just stay the hell away!'' the aide said, and left a thousand on the coffee table.
``In your dreams!'' he shouted down the stair well.
Strange how things change, he thought. He was lying on the couch watching Nightline, his cat Carol C sleeping on his chest. He'd smoked too many cigarettes.
``There I was,'' he said to the cat, ``in a good relationship. A partner who's rich and witty and idealistic and good looking. Then he starts running for office in local elections and no-one seemed to care,'' At first anyway. It just wasn't any big deal. A claque of gays followed him at a respectful distance, cheering him on.
Then he was running for State Senate and their relationship was over. He should have seen it coming but he didn't. No-one warned him.
``You could have run as a gay,'' he thought as he stared at Ted Koppel's hair, ``no-one cares any more.''
But he knew that wasn't it.
The guy had gone straight.
When he got hit by a car some thought it suicide. Others said it was an accident. The driver of the car that hit him said he was staggering and disoriented and so did other witnesses, but they found no drugs in him.
His friends wondered. What had he been doing so far from home?
They stored their suspicions and went about their business.