“It sure does,” he said. “Look at old Archer over there. How long has it been since he was sitting in the back of a pickup truck in some field, drinking beer and dipping snuff on a school night? Now he’s about to run for fucking mayor.”

“You’re joking,” I said.

“Shit,” Jamie said. “He didn’t tell you? I don’t think it’s a big secret. He hasn’t made his official announcement, but everyone knows. This is sort of his campaign headquarters, if you know what I mean. See those guys over there? The bald one is Randy McArthur. He runs the Metro Tourism and Convention Commission. The one with the glasses is Buck Mangold. He’s head of the transit authority. Arch has had all kinds of guys like that in here. Marshaling his columns to charge the foe.”

“Who’s the foe?”

“Well, there will be at least three to start with, but the only serious contender is Clem Cardwell.”

“I feel like I know that name. Is he a Yeatman guy?”

“No, those guys are all lining up behind Arch. Cardwell’s boys went to Montgomery Bell, but he grew up in Donelson himself. Self-made man. Put himself through UT and made his millions in real estate. Big-money guy for the Democrats. More of a backroom wheeler-dealer than a politician. But he’s got a lot of people around the city in his pocket, and the hicks love him, ’cause he’s one of theirs. Plus he’s built about three-fourths of their houses and just about every apartment from Nashville to Lebanon and Murfreesboro. He’s also built a lot of the new public housing, and the apartment complexes in North Nashville, and he’s held the rent down, so he’s got most of the black preachers too. Arch has his work cut out for him.”

“He’s a little young to be running for mayor, don’t you think?”

“Kennedy was twenty-nine when he ran for Congress.”

“Yeah, but his dad pretty much bought his seat for him, didn’t he?”

“Exactly.”

That familiar sadness flared up again in Jamie’s eyes. I remembered how Jim had been grooming Arch almost since birth, how Jim himself had intended to run for governor before my mother and Dolly sidetracked him. Arch had plenty of advantages—the largest of which was Jim Haltom, the fortune and influence he brought to bear—and no liabilities. At least none anyone knew about.

“Who’s the guy next to Arch?” I asked.

Jamie sighed.

“That’s Nick Averett. He’s a consultant Arch brought in from Texas. Some Ivy League hotshot who made his bones working for the Bushes. He’s all right, I guess, but he’s got his nose so far up Arch’s ass you can see the tip of it every time Arch opens his mouth.”