The [Un]Popular Vote

by Jasper Sanchez

I could hear this kid, clearly fresh out of middle school, arguing with a grown man. You took one of the pocket Constitutions they were giving out and held it in the air for the rest of us to see. Then you started quoting from Article One, Section Eight, without even looking at the darn thing. You used the John Birch Society’s own swag to drag their entire philosophy of limited government. I’d never seen anything like it.” “It was the Elastic Clause,” I say, chagrined. I remember that day. I was impulsive and unprofessional. I ranted at the chief Bircher for ten minutes until one of the girls from St. Anastasia’s pulled me away and made apologies on my behalf. “It was badass, is what it was.” Pablo summarily ignores me. “That was when I knew. You weren’t at JSA because you thought it would look good on your college applications or because you’d heard how lit the dances were. You were exactly what it said on the tin: a statesman. That’s the truth, Mark. You were born for this.” That’s what I always hoped Dad would say when I told him I wanted to follow in his footsteps. Harvard, law, politics, manhood. I look out the window. Ignore the prickling sensation at the corners of my eyes.