Micky nodded silently. He had heard all this before but he would not dare to say so.
"The nitrate mines are only the beginning, the first step," Papa went on. "When we have more money, we will buy more rifles. Different family members will become important people in the province."
Micky's ears pricked up. This was a new line.
"Your cousin Jorge will be a colonel in the army. Your brother Paulo will become chief of police in Santamaria Province."
So that he can be a professional bully instead of an amateur, Micky thought.
Papa said: "Then I will become governor of the province."
Governor! Micky had not realized that Papa's aspirations were so high.
But he had not finished. "When we control the province, we will look to the nation. We will become fervent supporters of President Garcia. You will be his envoy in London. Your brother will become his minister of justice, perhaps. Your uncles will be generals. Your half-brother Dominic, the priest, will become archbishop of Palma."
Micky was astonished: he never knew he had a half-brother. But he said nothing, for he did not want to interrupt.
"And then," Papa said, "when the time is right, we will move the Garcia family aside and we will step in."
"You mean we will take over the government?" Micky said, wide-eyed. He was bowled over by Papa's audacity and confidence.
"Yes. In twenty years time, my son, either I will be president of Cordova ... or you will."
Micky tried to take it in. Cordova had a constitution which provided for democratic elections, but none had ever been held. President Garcia had taken power in a coup ten years ago; previously he had been commander-in-chief of the armed forces under President Lopez, who had led the rebellion against the Spanish rule in which Papa and his cowboys had fought.
Papa surprised Micky by the subtlety of his strategy: to become a fervent supporter of the current ruler and then betray him. But what was Micky's role? He should become the Cordovan Minister in London. He had already taken the first step by elbowing Tonio Silva aside and getting his job. He would have to find a way to do the same to the minister.
And then what? If his father were president, Micky might be foreign minister, and travel the world as the representative of his country. But Papa had said Micky himself might be president--not Paulo, not Uncle Rico, but Micky Was it really possible?
