Chapter 18: Connections

June 23, 1986, Chicago, Illinois

"Mario called last night to let me know he was safely in Los Angeles," Julia said to kick off our Monday morning meeting.

"What did you decide about Cincinnati?" I asked.

"Cindi and I will do it," Julia said. "With your sister and Elyse handling the day-to-day administrative stuff for the Summer, I can spend the time. The real pinch is that it's going to take Cindi away from sales for a week. We don't have an option, though, because we really can't afford to hire anyone at this point. Dave, how are things in Waukesha?"

"Good. Tom's there now, of course, and I'll be heading up tomorrow. We have most of the user interviews done for the Jail and the County Clerk — those are the first two things we're working on. Stauffer Information Systems installed the new Computer Aided Dispatch system for testing and training, so that's happening as well. I think we'll be ready for Debbie to start working in Waukesha right after the Fourth of July."

"When is the next status meeting with them?" I asked.

"I do one every Friday, but if you mean with Julia, those will be every two weeks. Did you want to be invited to those?"

"No. Just so I know when they are. Tom's pretty much a self-starter, and he'll do a good job of supervising Debbie's work day-to-day. How much longer do you think you'll be there four days a week?"

"Most likely, until mid-July. By then, we'll have the rest of the user interviews done for the remaining systems. After that, it's mostly just letting the programmers crank out code."

"Cindi?" Julia asked.

"I sent three proposals out on Friday — one each to Rockford, Milwaukee, and Naperville. I'd say we're 80% at least on all three of those. Before he left, Mario closed a couple more deals for the estimation and inventory software. I'm trying to get my ducks in a row for the Cincinnati trip on the 7th."

"Sounds like in July it's going to be Steve, Charlie, Penny, and Zeke in the office," Julia observed. "Zeke, did you get the spreadsheet for logging your calls ready?"

"I did," he said. "I can run a report any time you're ready. One thing we're missing is software that will let us do billing. Elyse has been doing that manually, but it would be better if I could record billable hours in a program. I think we need that for Waukesha as well. I found a package that will do it. It's written for dBase, so it would run on our systems here."

"How much?" I asked.

"About $500. But it'll save a ton of time."

I nodded, "Julia?"

"Elyse and I will talk, but it makes sense. We're getting too big to do our billing manually, and we're a software company, for Pete's sake!"

"And I have NO desire to write accounting software," I said. "Though if we did, we have code that we wrote in class as a base. But that has to be in the future, if we were to decide to do it. I need to focus on the medical office software with Penny while Charlie handles the legal software. Zeke, how are things with Purina Mills?"

"Good. They haven't reported any bugs in the last week, though they did send me a list of things they want implemented that I gave to Julia."

"I have to get the estimates to them this week. Charlie will have to do that work, of course. We're just so busy with everything. My concern is that Ford, Jackson, and Finch will want significant new functionality. If they do, then we're going to really be over a barrel for programming staff."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," I said. "We need to be conservative."

"Agreed," Elyse said, speaking up for the first time. "Our numbers are really good, but hiring another quality programmer will eat significantly into our revenue if we can't keep them busy on chargeable work. Get the medical office software out as planned, and we should have enough revenue for another programmer."

"I'd say that's a call to get to work!" I chuckled.

"I don't have anything else," Julia said.

Penny and I huddled and discussed what we'd work on for the day, and then, shoulder-to-shoulder, we both started typing on our keyboards.

"Your wife is here with your son," Penny said to me four hours later.

"How do you do that?" Kara said. "Jesse has been babbling away saying 'da' for two minutes and Steve didn't even flinch."

"I have the gift!" Penny smirked, licking her lips.

"He's told me all about that!" Kara laughed. "Come on, Steve, Jesse is ready for his walk!"

"We can't have him miss his date with Francesca!" I said. "Are you coming along?"

"Do you need protection from Carol?" she teased.

"No! Though I might need protection from Penny!" I said, running my hand through Penny's long, blonde hair.

"Stupid rules!" Penny groused, but with a smile.

She leaned over and kissed my cheek, and I got up and went with Kara. We put Jesse in his buggy and headed out into the warm sunshine. As soon as we got into the park, Jesse was looking around, saying 'Fa Fa' — his name for Francesca. We spotted Carol sitting on a blanket under a tree with Frankie and Francesca. Kara and I walked over, took Jesse out of this buggy and put him on the blanket, and then sat down.

"Fa Fa!" Jesse cooed, and Francesca crawled over to him and planted a sloppy wet kiss on his cheek. He gurgled and smiled, and she moved next to him.

"They're so cute!" Carol said. "Has he mastered flipping over yet?"

"He's doing his best," I said. "He can go from stomach to back, but he can't seem to go the other way just yet. He really, really wants to stand, but he has no chance of that right now. He can sit, though, for about six seconds before he topples over."

"Really? That's pretty good for four months. Give him a month and he won't topple so easily and he might even start crawling."

"Steve's kids are going to be advanced in just about everything!" Kara said. "Jesse is already getting kisses! And sloppy ones, at that!"

Carol looked at me, winked, and licked her lips. She usually made sure I knew what was on offer, but was holding back somewhat today because Kara was with me. I found it both amusing and sad. Carol seemed like a really nice lady, but it also seemed to me that her husband wasn't treating her very well. I couldn't be sure if that was part of her seduction or if he really did treat her poorly. It wasn't something I could do anything about, though.

We spent about thirty minutes with Carol and her kids, and then I picked up Jesse so that we could go home for lunch. He protested, just as he always did, and let off a stream of babble that I was sure for a teen would translate to something like 'Quit interfering in my love life, Dad!' Kara and I said 'goodbye', and then walked back to the house with Jesse babbling away and apparently giving us a piece of his mind.

"I can't wait until he can talk," Kara said. "I would LOVE to know what he's trying to tell us right now."

I chuckled, "Dad, I was trying to get laid! Come on!"

"That WOULD be your son!" Kara laughed. "But I noticed that Carol seems like she's very unhappy with life."

"I thought it was an act, but now I'm not so sure. She just eats up the attention I give her. She's pretty, has a nice body, has two great kids, and has a great sense of humor. Maybe she's a bitch at home, but it sure doesn't seem like that would be the case."

"Do you know what her husband does for a living?"

"He's an accountant," I said.

"Maybe he's putting her feet to sleep!" Kara smirked.

"Bad sex isn't the same as bad treatment," I said.

"What would you possibly know about bad sex?" Kara giggled.

"You know what I meant. If she was just complaining that he couldn't make her cum, and she was looking for some fun, I could see it. But it's deeper than that. Deep enough that she'd seek attention from a married man."

"She wouldn't be the first woman to latch on to you in that way," Kara observed. "You care about people and you treat them wonderfully. You've even managed to find a way to be friends with Becky, despite everything bad that happened. I think Carol senses that about you."

"I can't help her that way," I said. "But maybe you could make friends with her. Perhaps your perspective would help. I see her hanging out with the other moms in the park, but I wonder if she talks to them the same way she talks to me?"

"I can try. Tomorrow, you take Jesse for a walk around the UofC campus and I'll walk over to the park and talk to Carol."

That would work perfectly, because I needed to check in with Theo and I wouldn't have to either ditch Kara or try to explain it to her. And Jesse certainly wasn't going to give away my secret! Though he'd be VERY unhappy with me.

"He's going to have a fit if he can't see Francesca!" I said.

"Have him take a cold shower!" Kara giggled.

We had lunch together, and I fed Jesse his bottle before going back to work.

June 24, 1986, Chicago, Illinois

"Come on in kid," Theo said. "That baby of yours is getting big!"

"He is. He already has a girlfriend!"

"Just like his old man, then! I got instructions. We need you to play messenger with Alderman Bloom. You're a non-Italian businessman and that gives you good reason to cozy up to the Alderman. Technically, you aren't in his ward, but it's close enough. And I know you were looking to move your business out of your house, so that's another good excuse to talk to him."

"Sounds easy enough. What do you need me to do?"

"Just go by his office once every two weeks, on Fridays. I'll have an envelope for you which you can pick up at the dry cleaners on Hyde Park Boulevard, about a block from Woodlawn. You know the place?"

"I do," I said. "It's the only one there."

"Pick it up, deliver it. Make sure you spend at least ten minutes or so talking about business opportunities. Have lunch with him if you can. He may give you a message for me. Just drop it at the dry cleaners."

"I think I'll start wearing button-down shirts that need to be laundered and ironed. I can take those on Fridays and it'll look legit."

"Good thinking, Kid. When you go on Friday, tell the secretary that Mr. Christopher sent you. Got it?"

"Mr. Christopher," I repeated. "Got it. I just need to figure out how to keep my wife from trying to tag along."

"Call it a business lunch. I guarantee that will work. You're developing contacts with the city so you can do business easier in the community."

I nodded, "That should work. Thanks."

"No trouble with the union shops?" Theo asked.

"No. I send them program updates for the membership rolls. I wouldn't mind signing up some more, though we could do it for a lot less money."

"Let me talk to some people. Do you have your business card?"

I handed him several cards from the small case I carried in my pocket.

"These will be regular business deals, not special like the other four."

"Agreed."

Jesse and I walked back home and when Kara came back, I handed him to her.

"How did it go?" I asked.

"She is really, really unhappy," Kara said. "Basically, her husband works late, comes home and drinks, and goes to bed. He pretty much ignores her."

"Wow. What's up with that?" I asked.

"I have no idea. If it's OK with you, I'm going to call Bethany and ask her advice."

"Of course it's OK!" I said. "Before I forget, I have a business lunch on Friday, and I also need to do some clothes shopping tonight. I need some more Oxford shirts."

"Trying to look a bit more professional?"

"I am," I said. "Let me know what Bethany says. I need to get back to work."

I kissed her and went back upstairs.

That evening, after karate, I made a quick trip to JC Penney for some shirts. I'd get some properly tailored and fitted shirts, but those would take more than a few days. After the shopping trip, Kara and I went to the Indian room to cuddle and talk.

"According to Bethany, this kind of thing happens a lot. Husbands don't deal well with the relationship changes that come with a family and resent the amount of time a woman spends with the kids."

"Seriously?" I said.

"Seriously. Think about it — you go from being a couple to three, and the third one needs and gets far more attention from the wife. Or four, which takes even more time. That makes the man feel neglected — kind of like what happened with you and Sofia when Bethany was hurt."

"OK. I could see how that makes sense," I said.

"So what happens then is the husband withdraws and works or drinks or shuts down, or a combination of the three. Or he has an affair if he feels that he's not getting the love he needs. Having a baby often involves a short-term loss of romance. And then you add on the additional responsibilities, and it's a mess. She also asked if they had problems before they had kids, because sometimes people have kids thinking that's going to change their relationship for the better, when it really makes things harder.

"Then, there's also the phenomenon of men not wanting to have sex with a mom, so to speak. They love their wives, and enjoy sex with them, but now she's a MOM, and they freak out about it. It really makes a mess of intimacy for men who have that kind of reaction. Basically, there's a whole host of things that could be bothering him, and it could be any of them, all of them, or something else."

"So, how do you deal with that?"

"Communication, time together, and hard work. You know, like you've done in the past with Sofia to get past her feelings of neglect. Bethany thinks they need to see a relationship counselor."

I chuckled, "Of course she does! When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail!"

"That's mean, Snuggle Bear! But I see your point. Anyway, I'll go see Carol on Friday with Jesse and encourage her to talk to someone and see if she can get her husband to go to counseling with her."

"I hope you can, she's a nice lady, and this revelation makes it even more certain I wouldn't do what she wants. That's a recipe for disaster."

"I agree."

June 27th, 1986, Chicago, Illinois

"Mr. Christopher sent me," I said to the young man sitting at a desk in the 5th Ward offices.

"Alderman Bloom is expecting you," he replied, standing up.

He ushered me into an office where a graying, dapper, bespectacled man was sitting behind a desk. He stood up and reached across the desk to shake my hand.

"Larry Bloom," he said.

"Steve Adams," I said. "I wanted to talk to you about my business."

"That will be all, Fred," the alderman said. "Have a seat, Steve."

I sat down across from him and took the white, business-size envelope from my pocket and put it on his desk. He picked it up and dropped it in the center drawer.

"I hear that you're running your own computer software company right out of college," Alderman Bloom said.

"Yes," I replied. "I started it right after I graduated. We're working out of my house on Woodlawn right now, but at some point we're going to need to expand and your ward is a very good choice for us."

He nodded, "When you're looking for space, or if you need to hire anyone, let me know. I'm sure that I can help. Well, probably not with programmers, but with secretaries, that kind of thing. I'm sure that Mr. Christopher and his associates have explained how things work here."

I nodded, "They have."

"Good. Let's take a walk to the deli next door and get sandwiches."

"OK," I said.

We talked about my business, about his ward, and about his vision for Chicago as a third location for technology after Silicon Valley and Boston. He also talked a lot about unions, city contracts, and ways that I might be able to help him, and the kind of help he could provide.

"You know how things work, so the right word to the right person will get you in the door that you might otherwise not get into. I have a question for you. Is Jenner & Block one of your clients?"

"No, but we're soliciting them. Why?"

"Let's just say that after Operation Greylord, it would be good to have someone inside to let us know what recommendations they're making to clean up Chicago."

This was the man who was called the 'Conscience of the Council' in Chicago and he was as corrupt as the day was long. I was amazed, but I also knew that if we got the deal with Jenner & Block, I'd have a nasty conflict that I'd need to deal with. Fortunately, that was something to worry about in the future.

"If we get the deal, I'll let you know," I said, wondering just how deep I was going to end up in this mess.

We finished our lunch and after a handshake, I headed back home to finish out my workday.

June 28th, 1986, Chicago, Illinois

"Mr. Adams, today is your first test," Sensei Jim said once our warm-up exercises were complete.

"Yes, Sensei!" I answered.

"This is the sparring test. You will spar with Mr. Herndon, Mr. King, and Miss Kells. You do not have to win. You will be judged on form, selection of attacks, selection of counter-moves, and accuracy of your strikes and blocks."

"Yes, Sensei!"

The three sparring sessions lasted five minutes each. I was handily beaten by Walt Herndon, a 3rd Dan black belt, though I felt that I had done well enough to pass. Against Bob King, a recent black belt, I won, but it was sloppy, and I had seen several frowns from Sensei Jim. I redoubled my efforts against Therese Kells, a brown belt, and executed each move crisply and accurately, and won almost as handily as Walt had beaten me. When I finished, I went to where Sensei Jim was standing and bowed deeply.

"Pass!" he said. "Congratulations."

There was polite applause from the other students and then our normal class period resumed. At the end of the training session, Sensei Jim called me over.

"Your bout with Mr. King was extremely sloppy, but you realized it, and your bout against Miss Kells was a thing of beauty. Against Mr. Herndon, you performed honorably in defeat against someone with far more experience than you. Well done."