Chapter 65: A Meeting of the Minds

March 23, 1997, London, England

After Jiang made her request to walk with me and said I could buy her an ice lolly, I stole a quick glance at Pippa who showed only a hint of a smile, but her eyes gave away the fact that she’d told her ‘best friend’ about our encounter. To me, mentioning an ‘ice lolly’ was tantamount to a declaration that Pippa had done exactly what I suspected, and Pippa’s look confirmed it. And I had the sneaking suspicion that inviting Jiang had been, in effect, a setup.

Jiang was pretty, and definitely a ‘Steve type’, and as I thought about it, I should have been wary of this kind of outcome the moment I saw her with Pippa and Lawrence. That was especially true given Pippa hadn’t said anything to me about bringing someone else with her besides her boyfriend. That said, I wouldn’t have refused to have dinner, and I hadn’t said or done anything that encouraged Jiang, nor had she flirted, or at least not beyond the usual sort of polite teasing that was normal in casual situations.

I knew this was the inflection point, because if I let her walk with me, and I did buy her an ice lolly, she was very likely going to end up in my bed before the evening was out. There wouldn’t be any impediments, I was sure, because I would be absolutely shocked if she hadn’t had a very recent STD test. It was also possible I was reading way more into this than I should, but I highly doubted that was the case. Of course, I could always say ‘no’, but I realized I was probably kidding myself with that thought.

I wondered what she was thinking, as I hadn’t made any attempt to hide the fact I was wearing my wedding rings, one on each ring finger. Perhaps that led to some kind of misunderstanding, but I highly doubted that. And if Pippa hadn’t told her I was married, then Jiang hadn’t noticed, or had ignored it, and might be in for a rude surprise. Not to mention nothing about my rings, nor the conversation, had indicated I had children.

In the end, those facts would have to come out before anything could happen, if it was going to. I knew myself too well to say that I ruled it out unequivocally, but I wasn’t going to try for it. She was, indeed, a ‘Steve type’, and from what I knew about her so far, I felt she might make a fun dalliance.

“Sure, I’ll walk you home,” I replied after that moment’s thought.

“It was good to see you again,” Pippa said, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

“And nice to meet you,” Lawrence said, extending his hand.

We shook, bade each other ‘goodbye’ and after Pippa and Jiang hugged, she and I set out in the direction of the InterContinental.

“What did Pippa tell you?” I asked after we’d crossed the street.

“Just that you were a fun, interesting guy.”

“Which I hope is true,” I replied with a smile. “But I suspect she said more - ice lolly?”

“She told me you’d find that funny, but didn’t say why.”

The entire exchange made me somewhat suspicious, and didn’t know what I could trust Jiang said about what Pippa had revealed. I really only had three possible options - ask direct questions; decide in advance to not do anything; or simply let things play out. Part of me wanted to know exactly what had transpired between Jiang and Pippa, because I wanted to know if Pippa was a trustworthy friend.

“Is something bothering you?” Jiang asked.

“No,” I replied. “I was just woolgathering, which is something I do quite a bit. Where do you want to stop for your ice lolly?”

“There’s a shop not too far from my parents’ flat. You do seem very thoughtful.”

“I do try to be sure to engage my brain before opening my mouth! I’m not always successful. My daughter would insist that’s because I’m a boy!”

“You have a daughter?” Jiang asked with surprise, suddenly causing me to doubt my suspicions.

“I do. I’m guessing Pippa didn’t tell you that?”

“No. The only thing she told me was what I told you before - that you were a fun, interesting guy. Are you divorced?”

“No, I’m married; I’m guessing Pippa didn’t mention that, either!”

“No, she didn’t.”

“Still want that ice lolly?” I asked.

“Why wouldn’t I?” she asked, innocently.

“I owe you an apology,” I said.

“An apology? Why? I don’t think you’ve lied to me or done anything bad.”

“Because I suspected you knew more than you were letting on and assumed Pippa had told you more than she apparently had.”

“What am I missing?”

“I’m not sure it’s all that important, really,” I said. “When you asked about the ice lolly, it just gave me pause.”

“Why?”

“Here’s my problem - I don’t want to reveal anything that might or might not have happened between Pippa and me, so I really can’t go into it.”

Jiang smiled, “I think I just figured it out. A number of things Pippa told me, without names, about some things that happened.”

“Assuming for the moment that you’re correct, do you still want me to buy you an ice lolly?”

Jiang laughed softly, “I understand why you’re reacting the way you are, especially given I asked you to walk me home and buy me an ice lolly. And yes, I’d still like you to buy me one!”

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t have one.”

“Doctor’s orders?” she asked lightly.

“Pretty much,” I replied. “The only sweet things I’m allowed to taste are female!”

Jiang laughed, “Now THAT is the personality Pippa told me about!”

“Then let’s go find your ice lolly. What flavor do you like?”

“Sadly, I can’t think of a silly response, so I’ll just say that I prefer watermelon.”

“I’ve had a lot more time to hone my ability to be a Smart Aleck and speak in double entendres.”

“Do you have something on the tip of your tongue?”

I laughed, “Did you do that on purpose?”

“It was the best I could do.”

“The cheeky answer is, ‘not yet’!” I grinned.

“And I would have thought you would have preferred the tip on MY tongue!” she teased.

“Now you’ve got it!” I chuckled.

“Not yet!” she smirked.

“Come on,” I grinned, “let me buy you your ice lolly so I can enjoy watching you eat it!”

“To evaluate my technique?”

“Perhaps I simply enjoy watching a girl eat a popsicle, what you call an ‘ice lolly’.”

“Or perhaps you’re imagining something else! But would your wife approve of you even having those thoughts?”

“I’ve been married for over eleven years.”

“Which says nothing about whether or not your wife would approve of those thoughts!”

“Quite true. And to be honest, in my fairly extensive experience, most of my friends’ wives do not get upset about their husbands thinking about things like that. I think the simplest way to put it is to say that fantasies are just fine, so long as they don’t destroy your reality.”

“So, you don’t believe in ‘crimethink’?”

“An educated woman! I think the entire idea is quite repugnant, and is doubleplusungood. Or, to quote Winston Smith directly, ‘The mind should develop a blind spot whenever a dangerous thought presented itself. The process should be automatic, instinctive. Crimestop, they called it in Newspeak.‘. I think that is a VERY dangerous thing. Fundamentally, it says a mental disagreement with those in power is, in and of itself, a crime.

“To put it in current terms, rather than in the ‘Newspeak’ of ‘Ingsoc’, you have to check your brain at the door. Heck, you have to check your brain, period! No thinking, just mindless agreement. ‘But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved big brother.‘. What I truly fear is that like Oceana, we’re entering a time when political truth will replace scientific truth.”

“You just quoted those two passages off the top of your head! Wow!”

“I’ve read Nineteen Eighty-four perhaps a dozen times, and I read through it again just recently because of a discussion group I hold at my house. May I say I’m happy you went straight to Orwell’s novel.”

“Why?”

“Because if you understand that, you won’t fall for the lunacy that is taking hold in the world.”

“After what I saw happening across the border from Hong Kong, I realized just how dangerous ‘groupthink’ is - to insist that the individual must defer to the collective in all things, including thought, and that to object is, effectively, to commit treason. That’s why my parents decided they had to leave Hong Kong before the Red Chinese take over. They don’t trust them to uphold their promises.”

“May I ask your political leanings?”

“Liberal,” she replied, “but I think that means something different in the States.”

“It does,” I replied. “You support civil liberties and economic freedom, under the rule of law. Government is fine, so long as it respects the individual, their freedoms, and their right to make a living.”

“A very good description. And you?”

“I’ve been called a libertarian, which would be similar, but with a minimalist government. It’s been suggested I hold anarcho-capitalist views, but I think the bottom line is I’m a classical liberal, within the framework of the US Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution, which call for limited government and economic freedom.”

“How much government is OK?”

“At the national level, the minimal amount necessary for common defense, regulation of foreign trade, and the regulation of actual interstate commerce. At the local level, the minimal amount necessary to keep the peace and facilitate commerce.”

“So roads are OK?”

“And schools. And police forces. And fire brigades. But those need to be locally controlled, not at the state or federal level. If that were to happen, then people could run their lives the way they want and vote with their feet. If people wanted to live in a totally controlled society, they could, but the rest of us could live in places where we mind our own business.”

“Sounds like I hit a sore point when I brought up Orwell.”

“Sorry,” I chuckled. “I’ve tangled with the government quite a bit over the past several years, and while I’ve never been in any real trouble, I’ve seen just how oppressive and stupid it can be.”

“I think you might want to rethink that in light of Red China.”

“Possibly. I think my gravest fear is that we’re heading down that path, and it starts when the individual is made to suffer for the benefit of society.”

“So you’re Winston Smith?”

“Actually, that’s a significant concern - that one day I’ll be forced to succumb, and lose control over my own life, such as it is. And you? Are you Julia?”

“A ‘rebel from the waist downwards’?” she smirked.

“And we come full circle,” I chuckled.

“Well, the LAST organization I’m going to join is the ‘Junior Anti-Sex League’!”

“Good to know,” I chuckled. “But I have to say I think the recent development that scares me the most is the likelihood that the Gulf War is the beginning of perpetual war. I honestly think we’re coming to a point that Goldstein warned about in Nineteen Eighty-four - war which consumes human labor, capital, and commodities in such volumes that it will impoverish all of us. And the impoverished, clueless masses will not realize what is happening, nor rebel against the government.”

“That’s a fairly bleak outlook.”

I nodded, “That’s a fair assessment. Do you think it’s wrong?”

“I think it could be right; I hope it isn’t. What do you plan to do?”

“Object; teach; rebel in non-violent ways.”

“You’re a pacifist and a karate instructor?”

“I find the two go hand-in-hand, unless you happen to be Chuck Norris. I’ve been studying for going on sixteen years now, and I’ve used my skills twice in self-defense. And in each instance, I applied the minimum force necessary to ensure my safety, and not a bit more.”

“Mind if I ask?”

“No, I don’t mind. The first time was to protect the honor of a young woman who was being called very nasty names by an ex-boyfriend, who took swings at me. I blocked them and asked him to stop. He didn’t, so I warned him. He swung again, so I broke his nose.”

“Defending a lady’s honor? How chivalrous! And the other time?”

“A lowlife thug threatened me on the street with a knife. I encouraged him to drop the knife and in the process of encouraging him, he broke his own wrist.”

“How?”

I grinned, “I put him in a wrist lock and applied pressure. He chose to try to fight.”

“A bad choice. I take it you’re a high-level black belt?”

“6th Dan,” I replied. “My Japanese title is Kyōshi, which means ‘Senior Instructor’.”

“That’s impressive. You’re pretty young, right?”

“What do you consider young?” I asked with a soft smile.

“At least fifteen years younger than my dad. He’s fifty.”

“Then I scrape by! I’m thirty-four this year. But at our dojo we have a young man who’ll be seventeen this Summer who is a black belt.”

“Wow!”

“Oh, and on the opposite end of that spectrum, my dad will be eighty in August.”

“You must be the youngest, then.”

“Eldest,” I countered. “He didn’t marry until he was forty-four. Long story, but he worked for the government, covertly, for quite some time after serving in World War II.”

“When I was a little girl I wondered if my dad worked for MI6 because he traveled so much. I imagined he was like James Bond!”

“And what would your mom say about that?”

Jiang laughed, “She always teased him about having a second family stashed away somewhere, but it was all in good fun. I can’t imagine my dad cheating.”

“That’s a fairly egregious violation of your wedding vows.”

“That is not the comment I expected.”

“Going back to what you inferred, if it happened, and I am not saying it did or didn’t, it wouldn’t have violated any wedding vows.”

“If it happened? Didn’t you admit it?”

“I neither admit nor deny anything. If you want a definitive answer to that question, ask Pippa directly. Whatever she tells you is the truth.”

“Now that’s an interesting take. How do you know what she’ll say?”

“I don’t. But whatever she says is the truth.”

“Wait! If she says nothing happened, but it did, how is that the truth?”

“While I reject the idea of individual truths, and I know what did or didn’t happen, it’s against my principles to reveal that, so whatever Pippa says HAS to be the truth, so far as the world at large is concerned.”

“And if she lied about something?”

“So long as she’s not accusing me of criminal behavior, hers is the only statement you’ll hear.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“In this case, how does a lie, if she told one, hurt me in any way, shape, or form?”

“I hope you don’t mind my saying but that’s a very weird position to take.”

“And yet, it is completely consistent with my view that no man should ever discuss that topic, except in very limited circumstances, and most people never encounter those circumstances.”

“What would those circumstances be?”

“If he was confessing an indiscretion, or if the nature of his relationship with his partner required communication of that kind of thing.”

Or, I thought, he had to tell his lawyer, or the Board of Directors of his company, to protect the young women, his company, and himself, in that order.

“I think I get the logic. Will you tell me if my logic is correct?”

“If it doesn’t violate my principles.”

“If your goal is to be truthful, you have to answer the way you are, because not denying it happened is a tacit admission, if you have ever denied it happened at any time in the past. So to ensure nobody can know, one way or the other, you simply don’t answer.”

“Exactly! You’re very smart.”

“Chinese genes!”

“That accounts for maths,” I replied.

“Logic is part of maths!”

“And part of philosophy, too, which I’m assuming you’ve at least dabbled in from this conversation. What else have you read recently?”

“The Republic, Animal Farm, Brave New World, and the Bhagavad Gita.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes,” Jiang replied. “What’s the issue?”

“That’s basically the reading list for the discussion group I have at my house!”

We arrived at the shop, and I bought Jiang a watermelon ice lolly. As I expected, she winked and mimed oral sex, licking the ice lolly and then pushing it as far into her mouth as she could.

“Want a taste?” she asked.

“I don’t think a taste will hurt.”

She held out the ice lolly and I flicked it several times with my tongue, then leaned forward and took it as far into my mouth as I could, sucked hard, pulled back and flicked it with my tongue again.

“You think you’re pretty good with your tongue?” she asked, then took a lick of her ice lolly.

“My opinion is of little relevance,” I replied. “Just because you think you’re good at something doesn’t mean you are.”

“Karate?”

“I didn’t get the belt out of a Cracker Jack box,” I replied. “Nor did I award it myself.”

“But you think you’re good?”

“Compared to whom? Myself? No. Anyone else? I don’t care.”

“You don’t care?”

“It was never, ever about being better than anyone else. It’s always been about improving myself. I only measure against me. I let others decide if I measure up or not. They seem to believe I do.”

“You don’t believe in your own abilities?”

“That’s a different question. I do. But I also don’t care to compare myself with others as a measure of success in karate.”

“But in other things?”

“Hold ‘Em poker,” I grinned. “And programming.”

“And your tongue?”

I shrugged, “The individuals I’ve engaged in ‘sexcrime’ with have never complained!”

Jiang laughed, “You mean sex isn’t supposed to be emotionless, pleasureless, and purely for the purpose of creating babies?”

“Not unless you’re a Roman Catholic,” I grinned. “Or at least what’s implied by certain statements by an old guy in Rome with an affection for white clothes!”