Chapter 45: Setting Priorities

Sunday, October 16, 1983

We hit the road mid-morning, after breakfast at IHOP, and made it home by three, just in time to head over to Gene’s for Study Group.

Gene’s mom was back from New Orleans, so we had no naps today, but we did pretty much keep to the party feel of things. Tests big and small were behind us, and most of us were skipping the next tournament. Senioritis was starting to creep in, most likely, infecting us with a lack of concern about high school in general.

While it wasn’t completely true that our fates were set (particularly those of Sue, Gene, Connie, and Jimmy), it was close. As long as we didn’t crash and burn so badly that we didn’t graduate, the odds were that I, along with Angie, Jas, Paige, Cammie, Mel, Andy, and Cal could do nearly anything academically and still get in where we wanted to get in, quite possibly even with the same scholarship.

It was seductive. We would still mostly ignore the siren’s song it was singing, but it was out there, tempting us. What harm could dashing ourselves against the rocks just a little do, anyway?

Connie had baked a cake for Jimmy (the first one of us to reach the magical eighteen), and we all sang ‘Happy Birthday’ before Jimmy blew out the candles. I could guess what he wished for, and my guess was that it was much more significant than a nap, but who knew? By this point, both sets of parents had to know this was a serious relationship that might last. If they were going to try any last-minute shenanigans, the clock was running.

I didn’t think they would, but then I didn’t know them very well. I hoped they wouldn’t, anyway. They were a great match and had a bright future.

Monday, October 17, 1983

I was slightly amused to find out that Baltimore had wrapped up the World Series last night. I hadn’t had the slightest clue if they, or the Phillies, were going to win, but now that they’d won I could just convince myself that I’d known it all along.

Under the circumstances, I hadn’t bet anything on it, and I was fine with that. I had enough issues with gambling winnings right now. Until those were resolved, adding more seemed like a mixed blessing.

I spoke briefly to Sarah during lunch. I think she started out worried that it was going to be about Mike. When she found out it was about Carolyn, she relaxed.

“Carolyn?” she said. “Yeah. She’s my cousin. She lives over in Meyerland. Why?”

“She’s dating a former friend of mine. More of an acquaintance now, but as far as I know he’s a good guy.”

“Oh! Oh, wow! What a small world! I’ll have to tell her!”

“We used to play Dungeons and Dragons a long time ago.”

She giggled. “I still can’t imagine you doing that, even though I know you did.”

I shrugged. “It’s actually fun, but there’s no way I could find the time right now.”

“I know literally nothing about it other than the name.”

“In a way, it’s like combining a game with storytelling. There are dice, for deciding how fights turn out and anything else where probabilities matter, but every player is telling the story of their character, who is some sort of medieval or fantasy archetype. A fighter, a magician, a healer, a priest, a thief, whatever. Human, or elf, or dwarf, or a lot of other things. Meanwhile, the Dungeon Master is telling the story of everything else in their world.”

She smiled. “That actually makes it sound a lot more fun than what I thought it was.”

“Anyway, Dave doesn’t play anymore, I don’t think, or not much, and I haven’t since junior high. From what I know of him now, he’s a cool guy. We barely ever see each other, though.”

“I’ll let her know. Thanks!”

“Welcome! It’s good to talk to you,” I said.

She stepped in and hugged me. “It’s good to talk to you, too,” she said. “I still can’t really be around any of you very much. It still hurts. I thought...”

She trailed off and blinked. I was fairly certain she was fighting back tears, and that she really wanted to keep them held back.

“We’ll talk when you can.”

“Thanks!” she said, hugging me again quickly. “I should run!”

“See you soon,” I said, wondering if it would only be ‘seeing’. Mike had clearly cut her deeply, and she might just want to cut ties and wait out the year.

The school office sent me a note during Debate. It asked me to call home when I could.

I was fairly certain that I was getting more notes this year than most kids. That seemed likely. I was a pretty busy kid, though, so it made sense.

Meg had no problem with my using the phone in the tiny office she and Steffie shared, so I went in, closed the door, and called home (using the special ring, of course).

Dad answered. He let me know that Mr. Lancaster had called with an update on the case and that I should call him back. I told him that I’d call back right away, after double-checking that the case was still mine to direct. Dad seemed to think that was funny.

Once we’d hung up, I called Mr. Lancaster’s office. I got one of the secretaries, who put me on hold for a couple of minutes until Mr. Lancaster came on the line.

“Steve?”

“Yes, sir.”

“We have a settlement offer on the table. The offer is $75,000 for you and $6,000 for Jasmine. After attorney’s fees, that’s $50,000 to you and $4,000 to Jasmine. I’ve already checked with Jasmine’s parents, and they’ve indicated that they’d prefer to follow your lead, which certainly makes life easier for me.”

“What would you advise?”

“Well ... McBride’s outburst spooked them, I’m certain. That seems plain. This is, arguably, a generous settlement offer given your relatively light injuries and the impact it had on your extracurricular activities. However, I’ve seldom seen a first settlement offer delivered this early that’s the final word. There’s almost always room for negotiation.”

“What are you thinking?” I said.

“We could counter at nearly anything, but I’d suggest coming back with $100,000 and $10,000. That’s almost certainly too high, but it’s a round number. If they laugh me out of the room — which they won’t — we’re unlikely to have lost anything. The basics of the case are the same. If they come back with a hard take it or leave it on the first offer, at that point I would likely advise taking it. Otherwise, if you’ll give me leave to negotiate in that range — $75,000 to $100,000, and a similar range for Jasmine — I’ll give you an update no later than Thursday and we can see where things stand.”

“How often do things like that fall apart?” I said. “Someone counters with an offer that much higher and they simply withdraw and let it go to trial?”

“Very seldom,” he said. “A trial means it stays an issue for them for months, during which McBride could go off the rails again. Any incident involving alcohol would play well for us. They also have to contend with the risk that you’ll continue to have your reputation bolstered in the press. It puts the whole thing into the hands of a jury, and Texas juries are notoriously prone to large judgments. If they want to wash their hands of it at $81,000 total, I seriously doubt that they’ll be so offended by our countering with $110,000 total that they’ll simply walk away. At most, they’ll just reiterate $81,000.”

“Then let’s do that. Counter at $100,000 and $10,000 and let’s see where that goes. And, yes, you can negotiate. I don’t need every dollar we could get, either. If we’re at the point where the incremental gain is a few thousand, but things are strained and difficult, pull the plug and take what you have.”

“Thanks! That’s exactly what I’d hoped for, and what I’d have suggested you do. I’ll call back as soon as I know something concrete. Also, to protect all of us, I’ll write up a memo covering our discussion and your settlement authorization and send it around for you and Jasmine, along with your parents, to sign. I’ll have it couriered to your house.”

“Can you have it couriered to Jasmine’s house instead? It’s easier for me to get there, then take it home, than vice versa.”

“No problem!”

“Thank you. I’ll make sure it gets signed and back to you by tomorrow morning. I appreciate your hard work on this!”

We hung up, and I headed back, deep in thought. During class, I pulled Angie and Jas aside and told them where things stood. Both of them were happy with the direction we were going and thrilled about the numbers. We still had a way to go, but I was very optimistic that this would all be over soon.

The Student Council meeting required some fancy footwork. I knew we wouldn’t need to work on grade points, but didn’t want to announce anything before the School Board made it official. Instead, I proposed pushing for changes that matched what we’d get anyway. Everyone agreed with them, and with my discussing them with Principal Riggs in the near future.

It wasn’t quite cheating, but it certainly fit the definition of leadership that says ‘Find a parade and get in front of it.’ That’s a useful skill to have, even if it’s not exactly leadership, really.

We wrapped up all of the dress code changes and put that on my agenda for discussion with Principal Riggs, too. Hair color and facial hair were included, as were some more minor additions to what clothing was allowed. We stood a very good chance of getting the hair color rules changed or eliminated, and nearly no chance to get facial hair allowed, in my estimation. Faculty still weren’t allowed to wear facial hair, after all.

Dance and spirit revenue were still strong, and would likely continue to be strong. Mel said that some teachers had approached her with some proposals to close ‘loopholes’ in dance rules. For obvious reasons, none of us were interested in those, and I’m sure those teachers knew it. They just wanted to be on record as opposing our new, more liberal, dance rules.

On the other hand, Memorial had gotten considerable positive press over its current dance rules. They couldn’t push too hard and they knew it. The press coverage would likely be brutal, and they had to know that at least some of us (not just me) might be able to call a reporter or two and get the ball rolling.

We were a pretty well-oiled machine by now. The meeting didn’t take that long, and we all went out to dinner at the Italian place after the meeting.

After the meeting, Angie, Paige, Jasmine, and I headed to Jasmine’s house. Mr. Lancaster’s memo was waiting. Camille had already signed off. Jasmine signed when we got there.

We hadn’t planned anything, and it was already late enough that we would just barely catch Dad still up, so we said goodbye. Angie and I dropped Paige off, then headed home, talking about the case and the settlement offer a bit.

When we got home, Dad signed the memo and offered to drop it off at Mr. Lancaster’s office in the morning. That sounded good to me, as it was generally on his way while completely in the wrong direction to me.

Hopefully we’d hear something good soon!

After Mom and Dad went to bed, Angie just grabbed her PJs and changed in my room, then crawled into bed. I hit the lights and snuggled up.

“So...” she said.

“Mm?”

“This is good. Think we’ll still get to do this in college?”

“Sometimes?” I said. “Jas would be fine with the occasional night, I think. She understands. Paige ... I don’t know? That’s your area.”

She chuckled a bit. “She knows, and she thinks it’s cool. Partly, she thinks it’s cool because Ted is on her shit list right now. Mind you, she hasn’t confronted him yet, but there’s not really any doubt. She’s happy that you’re not some secret jerk and happy that we’re close. I mean, you could be her brother-in-law, after all, and she’s good with that. Which is kinda where Jas and I were with each other a year ago. Still are, I mean, but we got there a long while back. We’ll make great sisters-in-law. Anyway, um ... oh, yeah. Paige will be fine with the occasional night. What I don’t know is whether she’ll be okay if we stop behaving, and ... that matters.”

“Of course it matters,” I said. “If she’s not okay, then it’s not okay. Jas is fine, but if it was cheating on Paige, Jas would be very not fine.”

“Yeah. Two years ago, I’d have said ‘screw it’ and gone for it, and made you go for it, too. Like ... prior commitment, right? And we’re not dumping them for each other. But that’s two years ago.”

“I kinda remember that conversation, about prior commitments. I agree: we can’t just go for it.”

Angie nodded. “Honestly, my bet is that she’ll go for it. We’re not biologically related, we’re in no way traditional adoptive siblings, neither of us are in exclusive relationships that way, and so forth. But I haven’t asked any specific, or even leading, questions that way.”

“And you don’t have to, yet. We don’t even know if it’s going to happen.”

“I’m pretty sure it will, unless Paige disapproves or ... whatever. But then I’d have said it definitely was going to happen two years ago.”

“Me, too.”

“So...” she said, then shrugged. “Probably. Maybe. Maybe it’s just that we’ve matured even more, to the point where, as glorious as it would be, it’s not worth risking Jas or Paige.”

“But then maybe it’ll just strengthen things with them.”

“Uh-huh,” she said. “Paige would borrow you in a flash, in theory anyway. And, I mean, we know that’s an option, but we’re also concentrating completely on us for now. That’s definitely a ‘for now’ thing, though.”

“It’s been a while for me.”

She giggled. “Poor baby. I know why, too. Linda’s busy, and maybe not the best choice if she wasn’t. Darla’s off limits, essentially — and maybe not the best choice. Jess isn’t there yet. Most of the cheerleaders are busy. Things will happen.”