Chapter 1 to 2014

CHAPTER 1

Wednesday, November 7, 2012. Austin, Texas. 5:53 AM CST.

A quiet morning sleep is disturbed by the ringing of the phone next to Governor Wallace's bed. Groggily, the Governor reaches in the dark to find the phone to silence its shrilling ring.
“Hello,” the Governor says in that faraway voice that is stuck somewhere between the land of the living and the land of dreams.
“It's time,” is all the voice on the other end of the line said and as quickly as it was uttered the line went dead as the caller hung up. Even before putting the phone back on its base, the Governor sits up in his bed with a look of fear and urgency on his face. This is the moment he has feared for over 20 years, when he made a deal of a lifetime. He was promised power and a place in the world and that was more than enough for the young Wallace to sign up. Now, he is being asked to help start the process for the end of the status quo.
Governor Richard Wallace has been the most popular Governor in the state of Texas for a long time now. He has reached a third term. Not too bad for a kid who grew up in Brooklyn and had to push himself harder than most kids his age to build the life and goals that he wanted. Instead of girls and football games, Wallace spent his nights reading and studying. He wanted nothing more than to gain access to the good life. He worked harder than anyone could ever imagine, including himself, gaining a full academic scholarship to Harvard University.
It was at Harvard where over 20 years ago, he met the person on the other end of the phone call. Wallace was told if he believed in the group and executed the plan, he would have great power and would not have to worry about wealth for his life. However, as most deals like this there was a catch and now is the time that he hoped would never come. Having enjoyed success in life Wallace was hoping that this day would never come, where he would have to honor his part of the arrangement, for he knows the consequences of the action that he will start today. Once he starts the ball rolling, there will be no going back to normal and everything he worked so hard for will be shattered. However, he knows that he has no choice. He is just hoping that he made the right decision.
The Governor gets out of bed and does his preparations to go into the office for work. As he is showering, he tells himself that today is the moment where he gets to start rewriting history. He is wondering how he will be remembered. Will he be a hero, a revolutionary, or will he end up being vilified? He quickly disregards this line of reasoning, because he knows in his heart how he will be remembered will depend on the outcome.
Wallace gets ready to drive to the office. He kisses his wife, who is still asleep, on the forehead and then leaves the house. He gets in his Lincoln MKZ Hybrid car and drives to the Governor's office. He pulls in around seven o'clock, which is early for him, but he knows that he has a busy day ahead of him. He is the first one in the building and he heads to his office. He picks up his office phone and dials his press secretary Louise Corsaro. The phone rings twice before she picks up.
“Good morning, sir,” she says, “you're in early today.”
“Good morning Louise. I know I'm in early and I apologize for calling so early, but I'm going to need you to come in a little early today. I'm going to need you to set-up a press conference today. Try and get out of town markets in here, if possible. It is an important conference, so I would greatly appreciate it if you could get reporters form Dallas, Houston and San Antonio as well as the local news. I'm also going need you to call in all my staff in as soon as possible. It's going to be a busy, but important day. Have them all meet in my office at 10:00AM, except for Chief-of-Staff Ryan, ask him to meet me in my office at 9, please.”
“Wow, may I ask what this is about?” Louise asks.
“I'd rather this remain a secret until the press conference. If you can schedule it for three o'clock today that would be absolutely perfect.”
“No problem, Governor. I'll be at the office within the hour.”
“Thank you, Louise,” Wallace replies. “I will see you soon.”

Wallace sits back in his chair and then proceeds to open up the bottom drawer of his mahogany desk and stares at the contents of the drawer. He looks at the shiny, unused .45 that rests next to a half empty bottle of Chivas Regal Scotch and for a brief moment he wants to grab the handgun, but thinks better of it and takes the bottle of scotch out of the drawer. He does not open the bottle to take a drink; however, it is what is under the bottle that is of his concern. It is a document that will put into motion the state of Texas, returning to its nation-state status when the state broke away from Mexico. It is the form to authorize secession from the United States of America. All Wallace needs now is the support of the people in order to win over the Texas State Legislation. For two decades now, Wallace has lived with the thought that one day he will be the man who will live or die as either a hero or live in infamy as the man who may start a second American Civil War. It has been so long and he has witnessed so much over these years that he thought this day would actually never come; but now he knows that the talk of idealism in his youth is going to come to a burning head.
He knows deep in his heart that this may be a very hard sell to the people of his state, but he also fears that it may be the easiest sell he's ever made. Wallace knows that there are a lot of problems throughout this country and in his home state and there may be no other resolution to help out his constituents. The biggest problem he knows that will come is fighting the United States to let his state leave the Union peacefully. The doubt that creeps into his soul over that thought haunts him in this moment, but he knows what the person who called him has planned and knows that it will happen either with or without him. He stares at a portrait of his favorite President, Abraham Lincoln. The courage to make the tough decisions and stick with that choice is always a difficult one, especially when one knows that this decision may cause the death of millions and a destruction of a way of life that so many have grown accustomed to.
Wallace also knows that if the plan comes to full fruition and is successful that he will be a hero to many and his name will live on forever. As he thinks of that, Wallace decides to get up and grab a glass from a little table to the side of the office. Upon grabbing it, he goes back to his desk and grabs the bottle of scotch from his drawer and decides to pour himself a generous shot. Here's to the future, he thinks to himself as he does the entire shot in one gulp.
“I hope you know what you're doing,” Wallace says aloud to no one.

At 8:58, Chief of Staff Steven Ryan, steps inside Governor Wallace's office.
“Good morning, sir,” said Ryan a man in his early 40's with slightly balding hair, but even through his tailor-made Armani suit you can see the glimpses of the former athlete he once was. Ryan was an All-Pro receiver for the beloved Dallas Cowboys, who after two devastating knee injuries left the game to focus his life on helping the people of his native Texas. Wallace was smart enough to bring in the popular figure early in his first campaign and most political pundits give Ryan the credit for Wallace's victory and overwhelming popularity within the state. Most people believe that Wallace could get the approval of anything and anyone in the state, because of his popularity and the majority of that popularity goes to Ryan; a fact that is not lost on anyone inside the Governor's staff.
“Morning Steve, could you please close the door behind you?” Governor Wallace says to his Chief of Staff.
“Absolutely, sir,” Ryan says as he closes the door behind him and takes a seat in the center of the office where the staff has their meetings. He notices the glass and bottle on the desk and says with a smile, “I guess it's an early day for us this morning.”
Wallace looks down at the bottle that he left on the desk that he forgot about with all that has been on his mind. “Yeah, I guess it is.” Wallace puts the bottle back in his drawer. “Steve, I'm not going to bullshit you here, today is going to be the day that will change everything. More than ever I'm going to need your support to help sell this idea to the people.”
“What are we talking about here, sir?” Ryan asks.
“I'm talking about returning the glorious state of Texas to its own nation again.”
Ryan puts his papers on down on the table in front of him and stands up. “Sir that may really not be that hard of a sell to the people of Texas; there are a lot of disgruntled citizens out there who are angry with the way the country has turned. We will still need a lot of time to get everything going, though.”
“I hate to do this to you, but you won't have a lot of time to go convince people. I'm going to announce the plans for this today at 3 o'clock. I know that this is going to throw a shockwave, but that's what I want,” Wallace says.
“Sir, I don't understand why we are going to rush this. Give me time to poll the people so we get the right data and figure out if this is even a feasible course of action. We don't need to throw it out there without warning to the good people of the state!”
Governor Wallace stands up, “I understand your concern, Steve, but if we get found out running polls, the United States Government will be up our asses so fast that we will never get this through, but if we take the initiative and announce this and state that it is our Constitutional right to declare secession, then they will have to quietly allow us to go through the petition phase. That will give us 30 days to get the 25,000 signatures from Texas citizens to put in the legal forms to the United States. During that time we can finish the logistics of making this move. It's going to be a lot of work for all of you and it will be essential to get volunteer help as well as the support of all the businesses based here, mainly the oil companies that are our meal ticket to help us be a sustainable self-sufficient nation.”
“I understand all of that, sir; I just want to be sure you are ready for the consequences of this course of action. This could lead to war with America!” Ryan exclaims.
“I love your passion, Steve, and I am well aware of what may happen by making this move. War is a possibility and something that we will have to make sure that the people of Texas understand is a possible outcome of this situation, however, I assure you that I have it under good authority that we will not be the only ones who will be going this route. We are just going to have the luxury of being the first to announce it to the world.”
“Whose authority? Have you been conspiring with other states?” Ryan asks.
“No, I haven't. Trust me, all will soon be revealed. The United States is going to have no choice but to accept our petition and all things will be fine. The United States is not going to want to look like an aggressor and have the world watch them turn their military on its own people; people who are just exercising their right to initiate change from within. Believe me, I want you behind me on this, but you have your own free will to decide if you want to be a part of this or not.”
Ryan sits down and stares at his friend for a few moments. “Sir, I have always been behind you and supported you all the way and I'm not about to change now. I just like to run all possibilities and analyze the options that are in front of me.”
“I know. That is what made you the great Chief of Staff that you have been. There is nothing wrong with looking at every angle and looking for the best outcome. When this is all settled, my friend, you are going to be on the world stage as a leader and everyone is going to see what a great leader you are. Believe me, I will do everything possible to make this as peaceful as possible. We are just looking for a better reality for all the people we serve. This nation has a lot of problems that everyday seems to grow with no one wanting to do anything to fix it. We have the ability to make change and survive on our own and take care of our people and that is something that as elected officials we need to do. It's in the people's hands anyway. Without the signatures, this is all meaningless anyway. That is why the United States Government may leave us alone figuring that we are bluffing and let this course of action play out. Again, we have a hard sell, first to the staff and then to the people that we serve, but I have faith that we can do this. Most importantly, I'm going to need you to make sure the Lieutenant Governor will be behind this all the way, just in case something happens to me along the way.”
Ryan stands up once again and this time heads over to the Governor's desk. “I sincerely hope nothing happens to you, but I will go speak to the Lieutenant Governor right now to ensure that all things go well on your behalf. I assure you that the rest of the staff will be behind you and I promise you that you will have more than enough signatures for the petition. This is something that is going to go down in history for all time and the most important part of it is that we are doing this for the benefit of the people, not ourselves,” as he says this he extends his hand out to Wallace for a handshake.
Wallace gets up and shakes his friend's hand, “Thank you for everything, Steve. Your service has been amazing and I cannot thank you enough. Now, let's get ready for the staff meeting and get ready for this historic day,” after Wallace says this, they both head back to the meeting area in the Governor's office and wait for the staff to arrive.

Wallace is easily able to convince his staff of the decision that Texas leaving the Union is the right choice. You may not get a truthful response from most Texans, but some will tell you they are a Texan first and an American second. Wallace, though he was not born a Texan, has done his best to ingratiate himself with the people of Texas. It wasn't any easy road for him at first moving to the Houston area fresh out of the Ivy League. He used his time at Cambridge wisely building up business contacts and working hard so he could save up enough money to start his own business immediately. He had spent every summer vacation back in New York interning for any investment house that he could. The summers before his junior and senior year were the most beneficial for him as he got paid and was an employee for Merrill Lynch. He was being groomed to become part of the company, but he surprised his bosses when he asked if he could transfer a Houston office upon his graduation. Manhattan is where the money is after all, but unknown to his bosses Wallace would have a greater ambition than being an investment banker. His course of action was for him to end up in Austin in the Governor's office.
Wallace would have to wait for that as he had two major requirements to fulfill. He would have to become a resident of the state for at least five years and have to wait until he hit the age of 30 before he could even consider accomplishing the goal that was laid out for him back at Cambridge. Even bigger than waiting for those requirements to happen, he was going to have to earn the trust of the people in the state. As an outsider and perhaps even worse a Northerner, he was met with not a lot of approval in the Houston community immediately. It was tough to gain the trust of the people with his Northern accent, which was an odd mixture of New York and Boston accents. It sounds like this is such a petty thing, but one thing about the human collective is a slow acceptance of those who are perceived as different. So Wallace relied on what he knew best, his determination, intellect and work ethic to get the best clients and to make him known in the Houston community. He even went so far to work on his accent and get more twang and drawl in his speech. When not at the office, for the first few years there, Wallace spent all his time studying the laws of the state as well as the interests of the people, by the time he was done with all of that he could easily pass the state bar exam.
In 1996, his third year in Texas, he met a young woman named Julianna. They met at a fundraiser for her father who was running for re-election to the U.S. Senate. The two were smitten for each other from the start. In 1999, after 3 years of courtship the couple married and in 2001 they had brought a son into the world. Wallace was living the life he always dreamed of and had gained enough in roads through his marriage into the political world that in that same year he announced that he was putting his name in the mix for the office of Governor. He ended up being the party’s main candidate and in the 2002 election, he won the office by a landslide victory. Not bad for a kid from Brooklyn, Wallace would think to himself. His conservative politics made him popular with the people and as stated earlier won re-election in 2006 and 2010.
Now, he sits in his office by himself for the first time in his adult life he is totally unsure of what he must do. It had been so long since he received an envelope that mapped out his career path. He had come to believe this moment would never come, but perhaps that was his foolish wishes. It’s a lot easier to make a deal when you have nothing to lose and are handed the outline for your dreams to happen. It’s a difficult decision to honor that deal 20 years later when one has so much to lose. Wallace is not scared of the reaction within his state; he’s more afraid that this idea will be met with overwhelming popularity than discontent.
In less than an hour, he will be going live to the major news outlets in the state and knows that it will be a matter of minutes before what he says will be sent out throughout the land via national TV news stations and the internet. He has the added pressure of being the first to do something this radical in over 150 years. The fear for his family is coming into his mind and he wonders if he should’ve talked to his wife and maybe even his father-in-law before making the press conference, but he wasn’t sure if that was the plan called for. He had to tell his staff, because he was going to need them to garner the support of the people, but even so he was scared that maybe he shouldn’t have after all he was unsure as to who was actually running the group. There’s no way he could have gotten all of this into place all by himself, Wallace thinks to himself. He had to threaten his staff with termination if any word of this got leaked out before his three o’clock press conference. It’s 2012 and Gov. Wallace is asking the near impossible, keeping something from the media until it’s officially time to tell them.
He knows there is going to be serious heat thrown on him and his family from up on high. The press will be all over this story for a long time and will either praise him or crucify him, most likely both. He’s afraid on how the world will react to his wife and children. The problem with trying to do something great is when you have others that matter in your life and you have to look out for them as well. The life of a politician would be so much easier if you had no family to worry about. With all his fears and doubts, however, he knows that he has to start this wheel in motion. It’s the same fear for his family that makes him certain that he must do this. He doesn’t want to know what the repercussions would be if he failed to go through with his deal.
His thoughts are interrupted by a knock on his door and his press secretary comes in. “Sir, it’s time to get ready for your press conference. They are all outside in a frenzy wanting to know what this is about and hating me right now for not giving them anything to prepare for.”
“Thank you, Louise,” Wallace says as he looks at his watch. “I guess they aren‘t used to being kept in the dark anymore. It‘s good for them to sit and wonder all they want. I imagine they are going crazy trying to figure out what this press conference is about.”
“I imagine so, sir. I just want you to know that I’m behind you 100%”
“Thank you Louise for your support. It makes this moment easier knowing that I have the support of my staff,” Wallace says as he straightens up his tie.
“You look regal, sir.”
“Thanks,” Wallace says with his charming smile. “I guess now is the time to shock the world,” Wallace says as he and his press secretary head outside the Governor’s office building. He wanted to make this announcement outside and open to the public as possible. Governor Wallace’s press secretary steps up to a podium set up in front of the building.
“Thank you all for your patience and cooperation while waiting for the Governor to make his statement to all of you. The Governor will have a statement for all of you and will not take any questions at this time. Governor Wallace will be ready in 30 seconds,” Louise Corsaro told the group of reporters that were in front of the podium. It was a mixture of newspaper reporters and television news reporters out there waiting for the news that Gov. Wallace was about to deliver. Gov. Wallace walked up to the podium ready to speak.
“Thank you all for coming today. I know this has been difficult for you all to come here and wait without having any idea of what this press conference is about. The reason for the secrecy will soon be made apparent to all. They say we live in times where there is nothing shocking anymore. I’d wager that this announcement today will quite possibly change the course of history. I’m not going to waste time with what I have to say to all of you today. Ladies and gentlemen of the great state of Texas, I am going to ask all citizens of this state to help start the process of returning the state of Texas back to an independent nation once again,” as Wallace says that statement there are several very loud audible gasps from the crowd of both reporters and citizens that had gathered for the press conference.
“I know that this may come across as very surprising and sudden, but it has been a thought for a long time now. For far too long, we have all been silent as there has been growing problems within this country. As a member of the political realm, I often ask myself if enough is being done to fix the growing problems that have arisen. Regretfully, I have finally come to the decision that the people of this nation are not the main concern of the majority of so many who hold public office and serve this nation.
“I know that not all of my decisions have been graced with overwhelming popularity, but I believe in my heart that I have always had the best intentions for the people of Texas. I may not have been born here, but I have been here long enough to fully embrace the people of this great place and I’m proud to call this place my home.
“Some of you may ask how this will come to pass. The first thing needed is a petition signed by the good people of the state. Starting tomorrow there will be copies of a petition for official state secession available in all local court houses as well as all statewide public libraries. All that will be needed for all citizens over the age of 18 who wish to sign is a valid ID and proof of residency in the state of Texas. This is a chance for all of us to take an active part in the government policies of the land and show Washington that this is still a nation for the people. I thank you all for your time and hope to see a lot of you out there signing the paper and sending a message to the nation and the world that if necessary, Texas will stand alone once again. Have a good day everyone,” Gov. Wallace says as he steps away from the podium and heads back to go inside his office building. The press corps looks at each other in disbelief and then the TV news reporters go to the business of reporting to the viewing audience and the print reporters try to rush to start working on this story for making the press for the early morning editions.
As Wallace heads back inside his private office, his secretary says to him, “Sir, you have President Jackson on line 1 and your wife on line 2.”
“Thank you, Nancy. I’ll take the call with the President right now and could you please explain to my wife why I will call her as soon as I am done with the President.”
“No problem, sir,” she responds.
“Oh Nancy, I wish to not be disturbed for the rest of the day, thank you,” Gov. Wallace says as he heads into his office and shuts the door behind him. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that President Jackson is calling me about this, he thinks to himself as he heads to his desk and picks up the line to speak to the President.
“Good afternoon, Mr. President, I’m sorry for keeping you on hold for as long as it took me to get back to my desk.”
“That’s quite alright, Governor. I guess it’s safe to say you caused quite a stir today,” the President says on the other end of the line.
“I imagine that it did cause quite a stir.”
“I have to ask just what the hell you think you are trying to accomplish here?” the President asks quite angrily.
“Sir, I assure that this is done with the best of intentions. I wanted to do something to shake things up and get the people in the state to stop being so apathetic to the problems that are in both Texas and this nation.”
“Well, what are you going to do if you get a massive amount of signatures and those people want action taken? Did you think of that?” the President asks Wallace still with a hint of anger in his voice.
“If it gets that far, sir, and that’s a big if, we’ll have to leave it in the hands of the courts to see how the will rule on this situation.”
“Richard, couldn’t you have waited a few days to do this. I’m still recovering from the re-election celebration last night. I’m going to have to bring you up here and have an official talk with you about all of this. I’ll have our secretaries set-up a mutually available time and date for us, there’s no hurry on this, as long as I have your word that you will not do anything in the very near future,” President Jackson says calmly.
“No sir, I don’t plan on doing anything with this in the immediate future. I’m sure I’ll be very busy over the next few weeks with all of this. I know the press is never going to leave me alone and that’s going to be a full-time job just keeping them with no story to print. Is there anything else, sir, because I really need to call my wife and really get my ass chewed out,” Wallace says with a laugh.
“You haven’t told your wife yet, you really are a brave one,” Jackson says jokingly. “But no, I have nothing else for now. I’ll be in touch if I see or hear anything that I find upsetting coming from here. I’ll meet with you soon, Gov. Wallace.”
“It will be my pleasure to meet with you sir. Thank you for your patience with this matter,” says Wallace.
“No problem, now don’t keep your wife waiting any longer. Good day, Governor.”
“Good day, Mr. President,” Wallace says as the President hangs up the phone. Wallace puts the phone back on the receiver and reaches into his interior pocket of his suit jacket and pulls out his cellular phone. He looks down at the screen of his iPhone and sees that he already has three missed calls from his wife and two from his father-in-law. This is going to be fun, Wallace thinks to himself as he calls his wife. After two rings, Wallace’s wife Julianna answers.
“Hi honey,” Wallace says.
“Don’t give me that ‘hi honey’ shit. Would you like to explain to me how you can make such an important decision that affects so many including your family and not at least discuss it with me? Do you have any idea of the shitstorm that you are going to cause by doing this!” yells Mrs. Wallace through the phone.
“Hun, it’s going to be fine. I’ve just talked to the President about this and he understands what I’m doing at the present moment.”
“Exactly what the fuck are you trying to accomplish besides pissing off a lot of people across the land. We already have the press corps camping out at the house. You realize they aren’t going to leave us alone!” Mrs. Wallace screams.
“They’ll go away once they have no story to report. They will do their best to try and sensationalize this while they can, but as the way of the world something will come up to take their mind off of me and all of this. I’m sorry that I didn’t talk to you about this, but it was hard enough to make this move and I don’t think I could’ve done it, if we talked about it, because I fear I would’ve let you talk me out of it; even though I am positive that when the dust settles this is the right thing to do.”
“Hun, you know that if you believe that strongly about something that I’ll always stand beside you, even if I disagree with you. I love you Richard, even though you can be a stubborn ass from time to time. You are my husband, the father of my children and for that I will always be here; you do not have to ever worry about me not being there for you when you have tough decisions to make,” says a calmer Mrs. Wallace.
“Thank you dear, I’m sorry again that I didn’t discuss this with you. I’m going to need your strength, because I’m sure I’m going to be called a lot of things because of this; some people will think of me as a hero, while others will probably call me a traitor. I guess there’s no escaping the fact that no matter how this plays out, this will be my legacy. I’m going to leave the office and we can discuss this at home.”
“Ok dear, I’ll start making dinner for us.”
“I’ll be home shortly,” says the Governor as he ends the call. He then packs up his briefcase and prepares to head of his office. As he walks out his door, both Chief of Staff Ryan and his Press Secretary Louise Corsaro are waiting for him.
“Look, I’m sure you both have things to tell me, but it’s going to have to wait until tomorrow. I’m going home to spend some time with my family and I suggest that you both do the same, because we are going to have very busy weeks in the near future,” says Gov. Wallace.
“Sir, I just thought you should know there is a small mob outside right now!” exclaims Ryan.
“Are they supportive or protesting, or worse both?” asks Wallace.
“You should probably go outside, sir,” says Corsaro.
“Well if I go out there, I’m not going out alone. C’mon everyone, apparently there’s a party going on outside,” Wallace yells out in attempt to get his entire staff to follow him outside. When Wallace is sure that everyone still at work is ready he prepares to go outside. Wallace opens the exterior door and sees a small crowd of about 200 people that has gathered outside the Office of the Governor. The crowd erupts in a loud round of cheering as they see the Governor step outside. There is a small group of security officers that are trying to keep the mob back, but are being stressed to the brink by the excited mob. Wallace stretches out his arms and flaps them in a downward motion like a quarterback signaling the crowd to quiet down.
As the crowd quiets down, Wallace addresses the group, “We all here thank you for your support here today and I hope that the spirit of excitement that brought you down here today will continue through the weeks to come. Although we all appreciate all of you coming here today, I would kindly ask you all to go home to your families, like all of us here are wanting to do right now. These are going to be trying times, because there will be the same amount of people who will disagree with this move, but if we all stay united we will be able to present a strong case for the state of Texas to return as an independent nation. Again we thank y’all for being here and continue the enthusiasm that brought you here today to walk to the court house tomorrow and sign the petition!” Wallace says loudly so everyone could hear him and the crowd cheers loudly once again as Wallace finished. Wallace then heads away from the building to get to his car so he can head home to be with his family.