Shortfall

“Stop. You at the door cannot come into this room to speak to me if you are followed by a servant. You alone may enter with my guard.”

“Sir, he is not a servant. He is my brother.”

“No. He is first and foremost a black man.”

“He is under my command in the Patriot Army.”

“By the color of his skin, he is a slave.”

“He is not a slave but a soldier on my administration staff.”

“I don’t give a damn how you entitle him. You have gotten away with him as an escort in accordance to the traditions of Venezuela – nothing else. I contest his presence in my administrative space.”

“You and I are both generals fighting for American independence and yet you insult my leadership.”

“It is your choice how you receive my admonition. The servant waits in the hallway with one of my guards if you still decide to enter my office.”

“I come forward because I value our country’s freedom and independence from English rule more than your racial prejudice.”

“You proved that I’m right because you advanced to my desk alone. Do not sit. Stand. An armed guard remains behind you. He will remove you in a few minutes so I do not sit myself. I will be quick with you.”

“Your insults do not merit respect but I salute you on behalf of the Columbian Congress. The members sent me with an important message. I honor their decree that I appear before you.”

“Well now, you see me correctly as a general but your status is of no consequence to me. Your arrogance precedes you young man. You are not what your uniform designates. In fact, you enter my office as a mere civilian. I will hear your words as the comment of a civilian, nothing more.”

“Insult after insult will not cancel the importance of a decision you will make today.”

“Importance? Ha! You regard yourself through aristocratic superiority. I do not value a rich spoiled kid who is used to buying and getting his own way.”

“No matter how you regard me, I deliver this letter dispatched from Congress into your hand.”

“I place my hands behind me because I don’t care what you bring and I will not accept that letter.”

“I know you have heard my name and know of my military history. It is outlined in this letter. I plead with you to take it from my hand.”

“Stuff that letter back into your military dress coat and let it soak in body sweat. I earned my rank from Second Lieutenant to General on the battlefield. I answer to no one but the Field Marshal. No matter what you say, you bought your rank with your family inheritance and charmed your way with fancy words to get those Congressmen to react to your bidding. I will not submit my storehouse and men to their wishes.”

“You have forgotten the Patriot Army’s call for liberty against the enemy.”

“You are wrong. I am faithful to my superiors. I safeguard this city.”

“Whether I put this letter back into my pocket, burn it with a match or put it into your hand, it will always read the same. It is Congress’s order to supply my men with the food and weapons needed to move forward against English suppression.”

“I don’t care what those Congress landowners think they can do in my province. Let them get your army what it needs from their own district.”

“Sir, they outfitted me on previous battles. You speak as though their request for you to share from your abundant resources as robbery but it is only coordination of strength for all our valiant soldiers. Is it not?”

“I do what is best for my men which is to keep our supplies. You’re rich. Supply them yourself.”

“I have already invested all of my personal inheritance, sir. This effort takes mutual coordination from not just myself and Congress but from all the separate states to face the king who has sent forty-two ships of soldiers and equipment.”

“I’ve heard nothing of this.”

“My men overheard it from pirates at the local bar.”

“That’s drunken rumor.”

“Sir, I have learned to listen to my men. We need to be prepared.”

“Any pirate will tell any person what they want to hear if a free drink is involved.”

“What if the information is true?”

“Stop fidgeting with your cuffs young man. There is no audience here to judge your appearance. And there has been no word from my spies about such ships; not through bar talk, people on the shore, or sea travelers.”

“But we cannot ignore this. Whether now or later, you know the English will come and come hard. They are against our liberty.”

“I repeat. It is drunken rumor. Only . . . rumor.”

“I say liberty is essential at any cost.”

“In pursuit of that liberty, you have taken impractical risks like crossing desert marshes in the winter and climbing the Andes without adequate clothing and shoes. These acts have taken the lives of many a loyal soul before even meeting an Englishman, to say nothing of a fight. Hence I will not move an inch from my position at this desk to kill men on a hunch of danger. If you so believe this . . .  this gossip, you must prove it first.”

“Are you aware that you have denied three items sir. I count them on my fingers before you in case they have escaped your attention: one, you refuse an order from Congress; two, you ignore the warning of an imminent English attack; and three, you refute the necessity of us unifying our two armies for the betterment of all states. Think sir upon this matter for it is a question of life and death.”

“I tell you for the last time: prove the gossip and I will contact my Field Marshal for appropriate action.”

“Sir, once the ships arrive, it will be too late. You think too small.”

“I think not late or small. If attacked, this city has a stone wall of protection. It is impregnable.”

“Forty-two ships loaded with soldiers will have the manpower and weapons to climb and destroy that wall. The bigger wall is the one you are building between yourself and Congress. Bigger yet is the wall between your city and the country at large. How can any American walk free if there are Englishmen living elsewhere on the continent? Haven’t they proven to you time and again that they only want to steal our riches and take them abroad? Hasn’t that been enough proof to you?”

“You take too much on your exalted young self. Such a goal has never been attempted because it is impossible. It will take many individuals at every state to agree on the high cost of liberty above basic economic welfare and then they would have to agree on governing practices. That won’t happen. My refusal may be the first time you have had to swallow your selfish pride thinking you alone can do this.”

“Sir, there is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance – that principle is contempt prior to investigation.”

“We're done. Guard, take this civilian back to the hallway. Our business is finished.”