It was the middle of the night when I heard the knock on the door. Which I'm sure you can understand was an oddity. However I couldn't just ignore a visitor. Even one arriving as late as this. No telling how important it could be.
Even now I'm not sure how surprised I actually was to see that my late night visitor was Alexander Hamilton. My rival and, I suppose, friend. It seemed that everything I tried to do somehow always caused our paths to cross. I don't know if it was fate or coincidence that caused our meetings again and again. However, it seemed to be in motion even then.
"Alexander." I greeted politely from my doorway.
"Aaron Burr, sir." He responded equally politely even as he smiled in that easy going way of his. I could tell he was attempting ANOTHER all nighter just from the circles already forming under his eyes. Even after all this time, I can't tell you what really drives a man like him to go beyond his bodily limits night after night.
" Well it's the middle of the night." I told him, looking at the star filled sky. It was my own polite way to try and point out that this was not the time for meetings like this. Again, i saw him as a colleague and I didn't want to alienate him by seeming impolite.
"Can we confer, sir?" he replied sounding eager despite my attempt.
"Is this a legal matter?" I asked. I was pretty sure it was, why else would he be bothering me this late, but it was polite to ask just in case.
"Yes, and it's important to me." he answered. Still sounding eager and maybe a bit embarrassed.
"What do you need." I conceded. I knew that he wouldn't let anything just lie, so I was going to hear him out. I didn't expect what I heard next.
"Burr, You're a better lawyer than me." He admitted. Now I knew Alexander a long time. He was not someone he liked to admit he was wrong, or that others were better than him at things. For him to admit that I was better than him in anything, especially with how his career was going, was big. That it helped prop up my own ego was a bonus.
"Okay." That being said, I tried to hide that even as a smile came to my lips.
"I know I talked too much. I'm abrasive. You're incredible in court. You're succinct, persuasive." I will admit that hearing Alexander point out the flaws of his behavior in the courthouse while praising my own felt good. "My client needs a strong defense. You're the solution." Well with how he was buttering me up, I just had to hear who he needed my help with.
"Who's your client?" I asked wondering just what kind of situation Alexander got himself into that he felt it needed MY touch and not his own. The fact that he went a little pale at my question I was willing to blame on the lighting my home and the starlight.
"The new U.S. constitution." He replied quietly and hesitantly. I let his words enter my ears. I let them sit there and become absorbed by my brain. I pondered on the request for a full second before my answer came to me.
"No." I said as I attempted to close the door on him and his insane notion.
"Hear me out!" he cried as he grabbed my door and prevented it from closing.
"No way." I reaffirmed. Not that it did me any good.
"A series of essays anonymously published, defending the document to the public." Despite my words he STILL tried to sell me on his idea. Admittedly he was trying to sell me on a tactic he had used in the past. To rather good effect too. He had a way with writing.
"No one will read it." I tried to reason with him. Tried to dissuade him. The constitution was looking to be unhealthy for anyone's reputation, and I did NOT want it tainting mine.
"I disagree." Of course he would. He just wouldn't let something he believed in lie. No matter how bad it looked. He was just too stubborn. Didn't help that that stubbornness and inability to let things go is what helped him get to where he was today. As well as the high stature he achieved during the war.
"And if it fails?" I tried to show him just how dire things could be.
"Burr, that's why we need it." And of course he continued to press forward. Always moving forward. Trying to take even more.
"The constitution is a mess." So I switched tactics. Tried to point out the flaws.
"So it needs amendments." He reasoned back. As if simply adding more to the confusing document would help anything.
"It's full of contradictions." I fired.
"So is independence." he shot back. His voiced took on a pleading tone, "We have to start somewhere."
"No, no way." This was just like him. Alexander was intelligent. There was no denying that. However he was also emotional. He was passionate to a fault, and used that as his leading argument instead of logic.
However logic was what I followed, and logic dictated that I step away from this. So I began to close the door on him again.
"You're making a mistake." He said it with such conviction, and by god I almost felt like I was.
"Good night." But I held strong against his passion. Something that many could say they have done.
"Hey!" But once again, my door was not allowed to close. "What are you waiting for? What do you stall for?" He called me out stepping into my home unbidden.
"What?" I tried to rally but he would not have it.
"We would the war. What was it all for?" He stepped up to me and stared me in the eyes, and I was the one who looked away. "Do you support this constitution?" he interrogated, and that's what this was. An interrogation. We were colleagues and peers. Despite our disagreements were were generally on the same side of things. However now I was showing signs that I wasn't. I wasn't agreeing with him about this, and to Alexander anyone who didn't agree was an enemy. And with his connections, I didn't want to be his enemy.
"Of course." I answered immediately. It was a conditioned response really. When you look at both sides you need to convince both sides that you share their view.
"Then defend it." It was an olive branch. I could hear it in his voice. See it in his body language. He was giving me a chance.
"And what if you are backing the wrong horse?" Too bad I wasn't one for commiting like that. It was a stalling tactic. A last ditch attempt to convince him that he wasn't right. An attempt he saw right through.
"Burr, we studied, and we fought, and we killed for the notion of a nation we now get to build. For once in your life take a stand with pride. I don't understand how you can stand to the side." And just like that he pulled my entire worldview out into the light. He pulled my stance on everything out for all of history to look upon and judge.
I felt anger then. Oh I was getting frustrated and angry the entire time I will admit. However at that moment my anger hit the boiling point. I couldn't help but think unkindly of him. How dare he look down on me. How dare he pass judgement just because I wasn't willing to stick my neck out in what was OBVIOUSLY career suicide. I just couldn't understand how he could look at this and NOT SEE JUST HOW BAD THE SITUATION WAS!
And that was the crux of it really. We just didn't understand each other. His passion could not see the situation as unfixable. Just as my logic could not see the same situation as salvageable. We were both so set in our own ways that we just could not see how anyone else could see it any other way.
I won't lie and say that the thought was immediate and shot through my anger like a musket ball. That would be a lie. No the thought came to me as we glared at each other. I had placed my hands on his shoulders and was prepared to forcefully push him from my home. It was as my gaze held is and saw the anger burning in his eyes that the thought crept up on me. Made me take a deep breath and straighten up.
The tension in the room was thick as I took my hands off of rival and turned away from him. "Alexander I've been rude. Why don't you take a seat while I get us some drinks. Than we can discuss this civilly." I gestured towards the study as I moved towards the drink cabinet.
"Thank you, sir" was his reply. Alexander could be rude yes, but I was trying to be polite so that meant he had to as well. That didn't stop the heat from still being in his voice. Which was fine. I was still upset myself. That was why I took my time grabbing the bottle of brandy and a pair of cups. I needed the time to get my composure back. I was mostly successful by the time I reached the study.
Alexander was already sitting in one of the chairs so I sat in the other and set glasses on a nearby table before pouring us each a glass of brandy. As I placed the bottle on the table and picked up my own glass I stared the other man in the eyes. He was still upset, but he was also curious. Which was good.
"Alexander, convince me that we need the constitution."
"Burr, sir." I could tell he was struggling NOT to grit his teeth. "I thought you said you already supported the constitution."
I will admit I smirked at him. "And i do. But think about it Alexander. If I, as a fellow supporter, can find glaring flaws in the document that give me doubt, how many can your opposition find?" That stopped him in his tracks. I could tell from the way his eyes widened and than looked distant. "Exactly. So you will have until I finish this glass to convince me. Otherwise I will escort you out of my home, and we will call the matter finished. Agreed?"
His answer was to smile at me smugly. Which was justified. I wasn't much of a drinker especially of such strong liquors. However when I lifted the glass to my lips only to lower it again with half of its contents missing, he stopped smiling. I myself turned my instinctive grimace of disgust into a frown of determination, and quietly swallowed down the coughing fit the burning liquid threatened to bring up. My message was clear. He did not have all night, and I would not make it easy on him.
In the end we both pulled an all nighter, and both of our glasses were refilled a number of times as we debated back and forth. Each of us redefining our arguments and refining our points as we circled the topic. This was our element. Not the near shouting match we had at the door, but this civil debate over drinks in the study.
Okay so it still had its heated moments. However with a hot head like Alexander, how could it not? I'm honestly surprised he needed to light a fire when the winter came with how hot his blood ran. That being said, when he we sat down and told to list his actual points, he brought up good ones. They were well thought out for the most part.
That didn't mean it wasn't hard to tear holes in most of them. To his credit though, he was quick to rally and back up his arguments in a sound matter. I dare say it was almost pleasant.
However, all things must come to an end, and as the sun started to peek through my study window I knew that the time had in fact come. So i placed down my empty glass and than stood up with a stretch and a yawn. 'Well Alexander it looks like however debate has to be put on hold. I believe it is about time you got home."
I could tell from his face he didn't WANT to go home, but he knew I wasn't going to budge on this. Though that didn't quite explain his somber look. "Burr, sir. Will you help me defend the constitution." And that was indeed the question wasn't it?
I stared down at him neutrally. I could see the worry grow in his eyes even as he tried to bury it. "Alexander." I said tersely, only to start smiling at him and hold out my hand. "You have yourself a lawyer."
By god the smile that split his face could have blinded the sun. He practically leapt from his chair and grabbed my hand in both of his his as he pumped it vigorously. "Yes! You won't regret this."
I couldn't quite stop the chuckles that bubbled from my throat. "I hope not. We have a lot of work to do to clear your client." I gently pulled my hand from his grip, and placed it on his shoulder to carefully guide him out. "Now go home and freshen up. Maybe even get some sleep. Alright? We can discuss more later."
My friend only nodded as he was lead to the front door. Admittedly we were both unsteady from both a lack of sleep as well as drink. However I knew Alexander was use to worse, and his home was not far from my own.
After I made sure that he was well on his way I closed the door and made my way to my own bed. I was looking at a late start to my day, still I felt content. I had gotten an actual look into the mind of Alexander Hamilton, and had begun to see what it meant to be him. It was only the first step of course. But it was still a step. I was no longer just lying in wait. I had taken my first step forward, and with Hamilton as my guide it wasn't to be my last.