Madam President ✓

47. Ignorance Is Bliss

Tanya

"Madam President- the speaker of the house." An aide says, suddenly pulling me out of the paperwork. I look up- and there he is.

  Edward Marcellus. Former mayor of Las Vegas. In his own words, from an interview:

  "I guess I always knew I wanted to run for a higher office. The presidency I'm not so sure about but either way, I'm satisfied with how far I've come in life."

  Edward grew up homeless. In his book, he talked about how he and his mother had a singular, ratty old blanket the first five years of his life- that she rarely had enough food for both of them so she always looked skeletal, like she was going to drop dead at any second. Edward on the other hand never had to worry about where his next meal would come from because she always made sure he was full. During the winter they'd stay at homeless shelters and she would beg for money to get hotel rooms and other necessities. She managed to get a job when he was seven- working in the office of the mayor at the time as a speech writer.

  The mayor took a liking to them both and all but legally adopted Edward, gave them a roof over their heads until his mother could afford their own apartment and stopped looking like she'd intentionally starved herself for years. He was at said mayor's office( which would become his own much much later in life) as often as his mom was at work. A few eagle eyed investigative reporters have even spotted a young him in the background during one of the mayor's campaign events, and his mother giving him the universal "behave or else" look.

  As the rest of his story goes: His mother and the mayor got married when he was ten- at which point the mayor decided to retire. For years he'd dealt with the constant scrutiny of partisan politics and criticism from being the mayor of one of the largest cities in the country, and he was at his breaking point. When he started his political career he wanted to run for Congress- yet he never got the chance to.

  Aaron Alexander and Lily Marcellus died on Edward's twelfth birthday in what was called the most horrific car crash of the decade.

  Her entire face was separated from her skull and hung off by a single piece of skin. So much glass pierced her body that blood pooled in what was left of the car. Her left eye was gauged out by the impact, and both of her breasts were almost sliced off, hanging by the skin at the bottom.

  The pictures of Aaron- the former beloved mayor, weren't as hard to look at but they were still gruesome. He was lucky enough to have glass pierce his neck and to hit his head on the dashboard. It took him twenty seconds to go. Lily was on this planet for seven full minutes before her injuries pulled her under.

  As a child Edward saw what the foster care system did to his friends, so when he realized that he was utterly alone in the world, he made his decision.

  He ran from CPS's custody and went back to the streets, where he would make allies and live until the time he was sixteen and got a job at a barnes and noble. He would lie to his boss and his landlord about his age. He lied to everybody but the financial aide office at Harvard, where he got in on a full ride scholarship.

  And he continued lying to everybody about his past until he ran for mayor, when he started using it for political gain(which I can't blame him for), spinning his story to make him more relatable. When the documentary came out a few months ago after members of Congress elected him to the speakership by a margin of 388-30, though it wasn't his intention- his approval rating skyrocketed.

  It just goes to show how much stories like his help people rise through the ranks in politics.

  I frown. Random drop ins aren't that common, especially with him, and especially in the White House.

  "Mr.Speaker- to what do I owe the pleasure?"I smile.

  "Well-" he sits down. "I wouldn't exactly call this a pleasure. I just thought you'd like to know."

  "Know what?" I raise an eyebrow. Edward Marcellus is not a very secretive man, so I try going into the conversation with open ears.

  "My spy in the Russian government tells me something seems off."

  He immediately takes me aback.

  "Off how?" I ask.

  "He's said that... President Ivanov seems increasingly angry and restless with each passing day." He notices my facial expression change and narrows his eyes. "You wouldn't have anything to do with that would you?"

  "If you ever threaten a member of my staff again, I will personally kill you."

  "Nope. Mr.Speaker- do you have anything concrete? Anything that wouldn't make me sound like an idiot if I brought it to the joint chiefs? Anything that isn't far fetched speculation? I mean- this is President Ivanov we're talking about. He's always angry about something."

  "Madam President my spy is a credible, high up source in their government-"

  "I don't care who they are. We all have our own spies whose identities we're in charge of protecting at all costs until they've gathered the information they need to and can come to America for asylum. Until then, you won't tell me who they are so I can talk to them myself- will you?"

  It isn't that uncommon for higher ranking government members in the U.S to have these spies in other countries so they know if something's up, but more often than not these are low ranking individuals who wouldn't know too much anyways- because their governments wouldn't believe they're worth torturing.

  "No... Madam President."

  "Then don't waste my time, Edward. Goodbye." I go back to filling out my paperwork. He sighs.

  "Goodbye, Madam President."

Twenty Years Later

  "In your personal opinions, what do you think could have been done to prevent what happened in 2023?" The history teacher said, and a girl expected to be class valedictorian raised her hand.

  "President Clark should have just taken the house speaker seriously when he went to see her in 2022."