The Uncle Tom Gambit

Allie and Julia and Elizabeth were laying by the pool at Elizabeth's mansion. Allie kept looking in the main house, frowning as Moses did some chores.

"So what's his deal anyway. Why are you with ... him?" Allie asked, her tone full of revulsion. "I've heard stories about him. That he's corrupt. That he's an ex-con. That he's a .... liberal." That last was clearly the worst epithet of all in her book.

"He's ... not all that," Elizabeth said, trying to think of a way to put it. "He made mistakes in the past yeah. And fuck, everyone does in politics. Julia? Didn't your second cousin, the councilman, end up impeached for what he did? And Allie? Don't tell me your family is all perfectly innocent either. Your brother had two DWIs and a manslaughter. And don't forget, my father absolved Moses of his crimes, and the governor pardoned him." She looked flushed, having worked herself up.

"And the liberal part?" Allie asked. That's what the bitch cared about, Elizabeth thought.

"You know what they say. If you're conservative and 20, you don't have a heart. If you're liberal and 60 you don't have a brain. Moses is actually quite conservative and value-oriented now."

"What ... like some sorta Justice Thomas?" Julia asked, confused. Almost, Elizabeth thought. More like an Uncle Tom.