Dynasty - John F Kennedy

VI

November, 1951

"Let's play a game," Maddie grabbed Jack's arm imploringly, "I think that I speak for both Ethel and myself when I say that we've talked about campaigning and practical matters enough for one night. This is supposed to be a dinner-party!"

Bobby and Ethel had moved to Washington a few days ago as Bobby had scored a new job at the Department of Justice. To welcome them to the city Maddie and Jack had invited them to dinner, even though they too had only just moved here last month. The night was beyond expectations. Maddie feared things would be uncomfortable with Bobby, but both he and Ethel were excellent company once they got seated around the grand rosewood table.

Enthusiastically, Maddie found some markers and a set of playing cards and sat down beside Jack, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"So, the rules of the game are simple. Write down the name of a famous person - it can be a real person or fictitious. It can be Grace Kelly as well as Frankenstein. Put the card on the table and pass it to the person to your right. Pick up the card, but don't look at it; lick the back and stick it on your forehead."

She dealt the pens and cards, only to look up to see the skeptical faces of Bobby and Jack. "I never thought I hear Grace Kelly and Frankenstein in one sentence; nevertheless, you have intrigued me, Maddie," Bobby said as his entire face broke into a smile, making that one slightly chipped tooth visible. Maddie found it cute.

"Won't we be ruining a perfectly good set of playing cards?" Ethel asked, looking wonderingly at the marker in her hand and then at the card. Maddie waved her off, insisting that it was no problem.

Maddie smirked when an idea popped into her head and shielded the card with her hand, scribbling down the 12 letters in John F Kennedy. She passed the card to her husband, and he hesitantly licked it and placed it on his forehead. Ethel passed her card to Maddie and tried hard to disguise her grin when they saw that Jack had his own name planted in his face.

"I'll start," Bobby said as he leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other, "am I a man?" Maddie looked at his card with 'Dorothy Gale' written on it and shook her head along with the two others.

They took turns, and the confused expression on Jack's face was every bit as fulfilling to Maddie as when she arranged her dresses by color in her closet.

"So I'm male, a politician from America, and I am not deceased. And I am not Truman. Am I Alben W Barkley?"

"You'll never guess it if you just continue to try one name at a time," Maddie elbowed his arm as he squeezed her thigh playfully.

"Eventually, I will. Slow and steady wins the race, Maddie," she proceeded to roll her eyes at him, "But am I Alben W Barkley?"

"No," Ethel, Maddie, and Bobby said in unison, and Jack smacked the table.

They continued to take turns, and Ethel won when she guessed she was Ernest Hemingway. And after an additional couple of rounds, Bobby managed to guess his as well, leaving only Maddie and Jack.

"Am I in Let's Make It Legal?" The others nodded. Maddie already knew who she was but decided to give Jack one last try, which Jack wasted by asking if he was Sam Rayburn.

Bobby drummed his hands on the table, "Am I Marilyn Monroe?" Maddie asked, throwing the card on the table, confident in her answer. Bobby yelled a big 'YES' unmistakably tipsy, and Ethel threw her hands in the air.

"Can I look who I am then?" Jack suggested, displeased. A few hushed laughs went around the table, and they nodded. He facepalmed as Bobby got up from his chair to put his brother tauntingly on the back and went to get more wine.