Chapter 44: End of the Semester

May 1, 1988, Chicago, Illinois

Bill Elliott had a decent day at Talladega, starting 11th and finishing 7th, though he never led a lap. Phil Parsons, of all people, won the race, something that had surprised me. The best part of the day was that Bill had finished in front of Earnhardt and picked up eight points. Unfortunately, he finished behind Marlin, losing nine points. That left Bill 107 points behind Earnhardt and 47 points behind Marlin. He'd gained a tiny bit of ground, but decent days on superspeedways were not going to get the job done unless he could improve his short-track performance.

One other thing that was quite surprising was the behavior of AJ Foyt. He'd intentionally wrecked Alan Kulwicki, though Kulwicki had managed to continue and finished three laps down in 26th. Foyt later spun in the pits, and intentionally drove through several pit stalls, all resulting in a black flag. Foyt had a volatile temper, but it was unclear what had set him off. The announcers predicted that he'd receive a serious talking-to, and possibly even a suspension, from NASCAR.

May 2, 1988, Chicago, Illinois

The NIKA open house for students was in full swing. We had invited nine prospective employees and five prospective intern or work-study candidates. It was also Kayla's first day at NIKA, which only added to the chaos.

"What did you think of that Aloha Airlines 737 that had part of its roof tear off?" Joey, a work-study candidate from UofC, asked.

"Wild!" Jody Pancook said. "A flight attendant was sucked out!"

"Blown out," I corrected, feeling pedantic after listening to plenty of inane conversation during lunch. "They were lucky it wasn't worse. Did you see the pictures of the plane?"

"Yeah, in the paper and on CNN," Joey said. "What do you think happened?"

"They ruled out a bomb," I replied, "so I'd guess some kind of structural failure. We'll have to wait for the NTSB investigation, which can take months. But forget all that. Do you have any questions about NIKA for me?"

They just kind of shrugged and went back to eating. I wasn't impressed. I finished my lunch and went back to my office, leaving the students to Dave, Julia, Cindi, and Alonzo. Elyse had gone home to feed Matthew, and I decided that I should have gone with her. There was something off about this open house, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. I pushed that out of my mind and logged on to my Unix system.

I fired up 'rn' to see what the latest postings were, but didn't see anything that particularly caught my attention, though I did have an e-mail from the administrator of an online Diplomacy gaming group saying that I could join, as well as the next move from my opponent in the rec.chess ladder tournament. I grabbed the small magnetic chessboard I kept on my desk and moved a black bishop to a new spot. That had been the response I'd expected, and my next move was a fork of that bishop and a rook. I double-checked the board, saw that it didn't cause any trouble, and replied to the e-mail with my move.

"Hi," Jody said, interrupting my train of thought.

"What's up?"

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No. I just wasn't feeling like small talk today for some reason. I'm not sure why. Don't worry about it."

"OK. I just don't want to blow my chance of working here."

I smiled, "That's not up to me. It's up to Dave, Alonzo, and Julia. But given you're here, can I ask what happened to Courtney?"

"I thought you knew! She tested positive for HIV and dropped out of school. She didn't tell you?"

"No, she just disappeared one day. I heard rumors, but nothing definitive until now."

"It's sad, really. They think she got it from a blood transfusion when she was nine. She was in an auto accident and hurt pretty bad. They removed her spleen, but otherwise she healed OK."

"That really sucks," I said.

"It's worse; because she was on the Pill, she wasn't worried about getting pregnant and had unprotected sex with a couple of guys."

I'd dodged a bullet there, and the wisdom of Jessica's insistence on STD tests was driven home.

"And that right there is why I insisted that she be tested," I said.

"I'm negative!" Jody said invitingly.

"Ask yourself this question," I said. "Would you rather have a job here, or a one-time roll in the hay?"

"Does that mean I'm getting the internship?" she asked brightly.

"No, it means if you go to bed with me, you WON'T get the internship. Period."

"Oh. Well, uhm, I guess I'd rather have the internship or a full-time job, or both."

"That's what I thought!" I chuckled. "And don't worry, what you just said won't affect anything."

"Thanks. I need to head back to IIT for class. We have exams next week!"

"I know. And good luck on them. Dave will be in touch about the internship, one way or the other, before exams are over."

She smiled and left my office. I logged off the Unix system and looked over the design document for some changes that had been requested by Ford, Jackson, and Finch in Los Angeles, and then got to work on the programming. I still didn't know what it was that was bothering me about the open house, but I quickly got into the 'zone' and lost myself in my work.

May 3, 1988, Chicago, Illinois

"Happy birthday, Jess!" I said when Kara and I greeted her outside the ER.

"Yes, happy birthday!" Kara added.

"Thanks!" Jessica said, giving us each a soft kiss.

"Did you enjoy your surprise party?" I chuckled.

"Some surprise! I saw them bring the cake in and knew what was coming. But it was fun. I was able to share some cake with a little boy who I'd just stitched up. Nothing too bad, just a dozen stitches from a dodgeball accident!"

"I had one of those, but from kickball," I said. "The scar over my right eye is the result of thirteen stitches when I was in 2nd grade. I kicked the ball, ran to first, and had a head-to-head collision with the first baseman. Knocked me silly, and I bled like a stuck pig!"

"Whoever did that suturing did a pretty bad job!"

"Hey, it wasn't done for looks! And it became infected, too, which I'm sure didn't help. But so what? It adds character!"

"You ARE a character, Tiger!" she laughed.

"Yes, I am! Are you ready for dinner? I have reservations at Connie's for 6:00pm. Kathy and Kurt will meet us there."

"Yes!" Jessica gushed. "And I have reservations for being fucked silly by my husband and wife after that!"

"Then let's not waste any time!" I laughed.

Kara and I each took one of Jessica's hands and we hurried home so that we could go to dinner and get home for dessert.

May 4, 1988, Chicago, Illinois

"Do you have a minute?" Dave asked on Wednesday afternoon.

He had Alonzo with him, so I assumed they wanted to talk about hiring. I waved them in, and Dave shut the door behind them.

"I assume you've come to me with a hiring plan?" I asked with a smile.

"Yes. Tasha accepted the internship, which shouldn't come as a surprise. Her current working hours will change a bit. She'll be working full days on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as half days on Saturdays. Penny's schedule will stay about the same — Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and full days on Saturdays. That brings us to the other intern spot. It's between Jody Pancook from IIT as an intern, and Joey Gerhardt from UofC who would be on work-study."

"I don't have a problem with either of them," I said. "And as we discussed, we can afford work-study."

"I'm leaning towards Joey, but Alonzo prefers Jody because she's a known quantity. He talked to Tasha about Jody because Jody was on Tasha's team in Scott's class."

I smiled, "Gee, Dave. It sounds like you have a dilemma on your hands. Let me know what you decide!"

Alonzo laughed, "You called that one right, Dave. He said exactly what you thought he would!"

"Well, of course he knew!" I grinned. "This isn't the first time I've said that. Anyway, what about the new position and Heather's replacement?"

"It's a tough decision between Julio Moreno and Jefferson Greene," Dave said.

"You have two slots, why not hire them both?" I asked.

"I don't think two more IIT grads are a good idea. We need some people with different perspectives and different training."

"I'd say that makes sense. Do you have someone in mind?"

"Jeri Lundgren from UofC."

"The mousey, brown-haired girl who didn't say two words when I was around her at the open house? And who barely answered our questions during the interview? I'm not sure she fits in."

"Before you veto her, you might want to check out her letters of recommendation and her grades."

"What am I missing?" I asked.

"Straight A's with a double-major in computer science and math. She has glowing recommendations from the chairman of the math department, the chairman of the computer science department, AND the dean of the engineering college. Oh, and she scored a 1590 on her SATs."

"Damn! But her personality doesn't seem to fit. Not to mention with credentials like that, why NIKA? Not that we're a bad place to work, but she could easily get a job with Apple, Sun, Microsoft, or some other big company."

"She lives in Kenwood, with her parents, and doesn't want to move out. That kind of limits her options. She interviewed with SPSS, the company that's run by the stats professor from UofC that Elyse liked so much, and a small consulting firm in the suburbs called DEVCOM Mid-America. She likes us a lot better."

"How the heck do you know that?" I asked, chuckling. "She doesn't talk!"

"She did to me," Alonzo said. "Get her one-on-one and she never shuts up! She's just ridiculously introverted and shy, and if there is more than one person in the room, she just clams up. But I think we can work on that. This place isn't wild or crazy, and for the most part, we work in pairs."

"And you'd rather have her than both Julio and Jefferson?" I asked.

"She's my first choice, even above those two, so yes," he said.

"Dave?" I asked.

"He wants her on his team, and following your guidance, I think he should manage his team, don't you?"

I chuckled, "Nice jiu-jitsu move, Mr. Kallas! Well, then, which of the two do you want?"

"We don't agree on this one. And after talking to Tasha, Debbie, Greg, and Terry, it's split right down the middle."

"And you want me to break the tie, so to speak? I'd rather not. Did you get Penny's input?"

"She wasn't available for the interviews and doesn't know them. Tasha based her opinion on interactions at IIT. Penny's a Freshman so she never had any classes with them."

"Did you talk to Scott?" I asked.

"He wrote letters of recommendation for both of them," Dave chuckled.

"Well, shit!" I chuckled. "Sounds like a duel is needed. Pistols at 20 paces, or whatever. Whoever is Burr gets the job."

"Say what?" Alonzo asked.

"Sorry," I said with a slight smile. "I'm a history buff. Didn't you learn about the duel between Vice President Aaron Burr and the former Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton?"

"I must have missed that one in American History class," he chuckled.

"Burr felt insulted, so he challenged Hamilton to a duel, and killed him during the duel. I was kidding, obviously. Any idea how you'll resolve this one?"

"No. I'm going to have to think about it a bit more. I'll decide by the end of the week so we can get offers out. I do have a candidate for tech writer I want you to talk to."

"When?" I asked.

"Friday, if you can. A graduate from Loyola who majored in English and minored in computers. He's been doing manuals for SPSS for the last two years. They hired him right out of college."

"Sure. Set it up. What's his name?"

"Jack Kern. He can come during his lunch hour. I take it you don't need more than fifteen minutes?"

"That's usually enough," I said. "Let me know what you decide about the other two spots!"

"Zo and I will hash it out," he said.

"'Zo'?"

"Zo, yeah," Alonzo grinned. "It's a grade school nickname that I thought was cool, so I use it occasionally."

"Just let me know."

May 6, 1988, Chicago, Illinois

"Steve, this is Jack Kern," Kimmy said, showing a chunky, sandy-haired young man into my office.

"Hi, Jack!" I said. "Grab a seat."

He sat down and we talked for about ten minutes. It didn't take me long to decide that I liked him. His language was precise, but not haughty, and he seemed to have a good grasp of what we did. I thanked him for coming and let him know that Dave would be in touch. I buzzed Kimmy, and she came to escort Jack out. Dave appeared in my office about five minutes later.

"No issues," I said. "He's fine. Did you decide on your other two?"

"Alonzo and I agreed to split the difference. We'll pick one I liked and one he liked and call it a day."

I nodded, "Which two?"

"Joey and Jefferson," he said. "I have all the forms here for your initials and signature so I can get them to Julia and Elyse can get offer letters out by the end of the day."

"Now we just need some revenue to pay for these new hires and still be profitable," I said.

"It'll come. Cindi is sure of it," Dave said.

She was, but I was still concerned that we were using a more aggressive forecast than we had in the past. That greatly reduced our margin of error. On the plus side, we still had revenue from Waukesha County that we hadn't planned on initially, and that made a huge difference. But that would go away at the end of the year, and that meant a potentially huge hit to profits.

May 11, 1988, Chicago, Illinois

"You have got to come to the conference room and check out this news report!" Kimmy said on Wednesday afternoon.

I got up and went to the conference room where Elyse, Julia, Alonzo, Terry, and Dave were watching Channel 9.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Some kid did a painting of former Mayor Washington in a tutu and some black aldermen are having a fit about it, and trying to have the police confiscate the painting!"

"They haven't heard of the First Amendment?" I asked.

Dave laughed, "How long have you lived in Chicago?"

"Long enough," I grinned. "But FEDERAL judges aren't like Chicago or Cook County judges."

The reporter described the painting, which was titled 'Mirth & Girth', and I just shook my head as Alderman Dorothy Tillman threatened to burn the painting, and she and Alderman Bobby Rush demanded the police confiscate the painting. A short time later, a policeman and three aldermen actually took the painting and fled to a police car and drove away.

"It'll take about two seconds for a federal judge to order them to put that back," I said. "And once it's back, we're going to the Art Institute to see it, just to make a point."

"The painting is kind of rude," Alonzo said. "But the First Amendment is pretty clear. The dumb thing is that if they'd just ignored it, nobody would really know about it. Now it's going to get huge publicity. Sometimes, you just ignore shit like this."

"On that, we agree!" I said, heading back to my office.

May 14, 1988, Chicago, Illinois

"What do you need me to do, Squirt?" I asked.

"Nothing! Just enjoy yourself. I told you that you were invited to the party! There will be at least a dozen single college girls here! You'll have plenty to pick from!"

"That's ALL I need," I chuckled.

"I meant for dancing and conversation, of course! What else did you think I meant?"

She stuck her tongue out at me and I did the same thing back to her.

"What are you two, five years old?" Jorge asked with a laugh.

"Pretty much," I chuckled.

"And how do you know she didn't invite those 'single college girls' here for ME to choose one or two?" he smirked.

"Uhm, because she told ME that they were for ME!" I said smugly.

"Maybe it's a cover for me to have invited some 'single college guys' for ME to have fun, too?" Stephanie retorted.

Jorge frowned for only a moment, then smiled.

"You know, there may be too many for Steve to handle without being rushed," he replied, winking at me. "I think I should take some of the overflow. We need to talk!"

My sister had a look of surprise on her face, but it quickly faded, and she joined in the laughter. Jorge was really starting to fit in, and I was glad he was comfortable enough to joke with my sister about things like that in front of me. Maybe there was something more to her relationship with Jorge, after all. Only time would tell.