Chapter 87: Culture Clash

July 6, 1997, Chicago, Illinois

“Happy Birthday, Albert!” I said to him when I walked into the house on Sunday afternoon.

“Thanks! My friends just left!”

“We’re having another celebration tonight with the whole family, but right now, Dad needs a nap.”

“OK! I’ll show you my presents later, OK?”

“Absolutely.”

Kara came to the stairs and walked up to our room with me. She shut the door behind us, and I stripped down to get into bed.

“She wore you out?” Kara asked.

“You have no idea!” I grinned.

“Well, if I could only have you for one day, I think I’d do the same thing! Are you both happy?”

“Yes. Wake me in time to get Jess, please.”

“I will.”

We kissed and I slipped into bed, and was asleep before I heard the door close. I slept soundly, and Kara woke me at 5:40pm, which gave me enough time to wake up and quickly dress so we could leave to get Jessica. We walked quickly to the hospital, only to have to wait until about 6:20pm for Jessica to come out due to a major trauma which had come in about an hour-and-a-half earlier.

“You look frazzled,” I said.

“A five-car pileup on the Dan Ryan. We got them all because, well, who the heck knows? Dad got called in because he was close. I kept an eye on him.”

I laughed, “I’ll be sure to let him know the next time I have lunch with him!”

“I’m TEASING, Tiger!” Jessica protested.

“And so am I!” I replied. “But in all seriousness, you gave him the less critical cases, didn’t you?”

“Yes. But that was mostly because we couldn’t exactly leave them to bleed to death or become paralyzed or whatever while we waited for him! The people called in usually get the less serious cases just because of triage.”

“Tom was working today, right?”

“Yes. I didn’t even have time to talk to him other than get vitals for a six-year-old whose head hit the side window. Skull fracture and blood loss.”

“What the heck?”

“One of the nurses talked to one of the firemen. A semi lost control and flipped, and cars slammed on their brakes and lost control trying to avoid it. A couple of them spun and this one got t-boned.”

“Sounds similar to the wreck in Georgia when I had my first concussion,” I replied. “I stopped but the guy behind me slammed into my Trans Am. Did they all make it?”

“Except for the truck driver, but I’ll wager anything you care to that he had a heart attack. He was in full arrest when they brought him in and we never got so much as a beep on the machine that goes ‘ping’!”

“Only you could make a Monty Python joke in this situation!”

“Tiger, you know we have to joke or we’ll all go batshit crazy!”

“Uhm, go?” I asked with a grin.

She smacked my shoulder hard, but both she and Kara were laughing with me.

“How was your date?”

“She wore him out!” Kara said. “He came home and went straight to bed!”

“Then I suppose it’s a good thing it’s the little girl’s turn tonight!” Jessica teased. “He couldn’t handle us!”

“I got four hours of sleep,” I said. “Tiger is ready to roar if you need him to!”

“Unfortunately, it’s Albert’s birthday and Dad and Belinda will be at the house by now. Tomorrow night!”

“As you wish!”

When we arrived home, Jessica showered and dressed, while I spent time talking to Al Barton, who gave me a better picture of just how crazy the ER had been with thirteen victims, not counting the DOA trucker. He agreed with Jessica’s theory that a massive heart attack had killed the trucker, but also agreed they wouldn’t know until the autopsy was complete.

“Albert is very happy to have his grandpa here for his birthday,” I said.

“And I’m very happy to be able to spoil him and exact revenge at the same time! The drum set will be delivered tomorrow!”

“Revenge for WHAT? You can’t take revenge for Gerry!”

“Says who?” Al grinned. “He doesn’t have kids yet, and Fawn was always VERY well behaved!”

“So I suffer?”

“Ignore him, Steve,” Belinda said. “He didn’t get him a drum set.”

“The attic room is well insulated,” I replied. “So it wouldn’t have been a big deal. What did you get him, if I may ask?”

“A remote-controlled airplane. We should be able to fly it in Washington Park, but if not, I’ll take him to an area near the golf course with lots of open land.”

“Are you TRYING to annoy your daughter?” I asked.

“Yes! Remember, I’m with you on this one. She needs to lighten up a bit. Honestly, as much as I want to see Sweeney again, he shouldn’t have to fly here because of Jessica’s fears.”

“True, but he arranged it as a consultancy, so he’s counting it as some kind of training.”

“Yes. He’s working with Malik on a new technique for dealing with thromboses and reducing the risk of pulmonary embolism. Did you hear Malik is retiring from practice at the end of the year?”

“No! When did that happen?”

“Thursday. He’s developing arthritis, so he’s going to teach full time, and serve on the medical ethics board. Eventually, he’ll probably be Dean of the medical school. It’s not public just yet, but Jessica knows.”

“I’m sorry to see him leave active practice, but good for him.”

“He’ll still be able to consult; we do that with all of the teaching doctors who don’t actively practice.”

“I’ll call you for the intervention when Al faces the same issue,” Belinda said.

“And that is my cue to leave!” I chuckled. “I need to go check on dinner, anyway.”

“Coward!” Belinda teased.

“Self-preservation!” I replied.

I got up and went to the kitchen where Stephanie, Winter, Birgit, and Matthew were putting the finishing touches on dinner. I helped them carry everything to the dining room, and then we called the extended family together for our weekly meal. As we sat down, I wondered how long Samantha and Brian would continue to join us, as soon they’d have a small family of their own, but, as with my own kids, I knew it had to happen eventually.

We ate, then sang Happy Birthday to Albert, and he blew out the candles on his cake. Jessica surprised me with a special dessert which Alex had dropped off earlier in the day, while I’d been with Cindi. After dessert, Albert opened his gifts and the remote-controlled aircraft was by far and away the one he liked the most.

We had an enjoyable sauna, with ‘weekend’ rules, though I had to be honest with myself - I really wouldn’t have minded seeing Belinda naked, given that Fawn was a spitting image of her, albeit a few years younger. Later, after everyone had left and the kids had been put to bed, I joined Maria Cristina in her room.

“So, are you in charge of the gang now? Or is it still Birgit’s and you’re just another one of her posse?”

Maria Cristina laughed softly as she slipped out of her blouse and skirt.

“I’m the adult advisor, though sometimes I get to be a kid, too!”

I finished taking off my clothes and got into bed and watched as she removed her black satin bra and panties, and then climbed into bed and snuggled close.

“If it’s not prying, what’s up with that?” I asked.

“I never had a little sister, and Birgit and her friends, even though they’re way younger, are all more like I think a sixteen-year-old sister would be. It’s a really nice benefit of living here I didn’t really expect because the girls are chronologically so young.”

“I know they really like you, too, and I think they can learn from you.”

“I won’t replace Katy,” Maria Cristina said, “Birgit worships her!”

“I think you might be underestimating yourself. Not to mention, Tiffany and Rachel don’t have someone like Katy.”

“I hadn’t thought of it that way because Birgit is the ringleader.”

“And yet, she needs guidance from someone older and wiser.”

“That can’t be me!” Maria Cristina protested.

“Well, there are no telegram delivery boys about to join the Hitler Youth around!” I teased.

Maria Cristina laughed, “The Sound of Music! But she was Austrian, not Cuban!”

“I know. As for it being you, why not? You’ve been through many of the things Birgit and her friends are going to go through in the not too distant future. You’ve finished a year of college and by the time they’re fourteen or fifteen, you’ll be ready for medical school. The girls will be in High School and will be able to come to you for advice.”

“That’s just so weird. We have so little in common!”

“I think you’ll find that’s not true, because, in the end, people are the same everywhere - they simply have different cultures: Austrian, Cuban, American. Ultimately, though, we’re all human at heart, and we’ll always have that in common. We may do things differently, but we all love, we all procreate, and eventually we all die.”

“That’s a lot to think about.”

“It is.”

“Love me, please?”

I turned to her and we made slow, passionate love before falling asleep in each other’s arms.

July 7, 1997, Chicago, Illinois

“You can’t really talk to her,” Deborah said.

“Do you realize just how stupid this is?” I protested.

“I know, but Bob is right. I’m not saying she would do this, but if she filed a sexual harassment claim against you and NIKA, she’d very likely win. And if you talk to her now, it’s going to look like you’re pressuring her, even if you aren’t.”

“No good deed goes unpunished,” I replied. “And Jamie wins.”

“Don’t blame the messenger, please. I know you have issues with Jamie and Bob, at least with how they interpret employment law. The thing is, they’re right. What’s the ONE difference between those two and me?”

“Besides the fact that you’re female?”

Deborah rolled her eyes, “Yes, besides that.”

“Well ... they like girls; you like girls!”

“Yes, yes,” she replied somewhat impatiently.

“You’re all giving me the same basic advice, though with some nuances. The difference is, you start out by massaging me by telling me you agree with me. Melanie does the same thing, by the way.”

“In other words, we stroke you first!”

I chuckled, “It’s been a long time since Melanie stroked me! And I sure as heck don’t want Bob or Jamie to stroke me!”

“Your ego!” Deborah replied.

“You said it the way you did on purpose, Counselor!”

“Of course! And that’s actually another difference - I use humor similar to the way you do, which also makes you more receptive.”

“A seduction technique.”

“My job is to protect you, via the legal system, in exactly the same way Eve protects you with her gun.”

“And we all know that one lawyer with a briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns!”

“Use a gun to rob a bank and you’ll get maybe a few thousand dollars, a dye pack, and a world of hurt. Use a lawyer, and you can get millions, if not hundreds of millions, and walk away smelling like a rose!”

“So now we know why you went to law school!”

“I went to law school because I found the law intriguing. I read my first Supreme Court decision when I was about ten. I read Furman v. Georgia, the death penalty case.”

“I read that one as well. I remember writing to the Supreme Court to get a copy of the ruling when I was ten. That was right after it was published. It’s too bad that one didn’t stick.”

“You do realize that you have some pretty hard-core left-wing beliefs.”

“On the contrary, I object to giving the government the kind of power necessary to impose the death penalty. I believe in an extremely limited government. It wasn’t Jefferson, as many claim, but I absolutely agree with the idea that a government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have. And that would include your life.

“My positions aren’t ‘progressive’ or ‘conservative’ or any other thing on the political spectrum. They rest on the foundational principles that all men are created equal, and have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We institute governments to secure those rights, and when the government fails to do so, we have the right to replace it with another which we think will better guard our liberties. That’s not right, left, center, or any other thing - that’s American.”

“Those men believed in slavery and the death penalty!”

I nodded, “Indeed they did, but a misapplication of their own political theory shouldn’t cause us to reject the political theory.”

“They thought they were compatible!”

“Well, they were wrong, weren’t they?”

“I obviously think so.”

“So do I. Look, chattel slavery is an evil from the pit of hell, and many of them knew it. The compromise they adopted to allow the United States to form was a terrible one, and it led to the deadliest war in American history. You can pretty much draw a straight line from the compromises made to allow ratification of the Constitution to secession. But none of that should take away from the amazing strides that have been made.

“The problem, as I see it, is that people have a completely wrong view of the Constitution, and mostly because the Supreme Court has confused the situation. Most Americans think that we have rights because they are listed in the Constitution. That’s not true. The Constitution lists the rights we already had, and then, only some of them. There is no such thing as a ‘Constitutional right’, except in the sense that it states a right which the people already had. And this is obvious to anyone who has basic reading skills, as the Constitution expressly says it!”

“The Ninth Amendment?”

“Exactly. The courts have largely ignored it, but like the First, it is unequivocal - The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

“Fundamentally, that’s a philosophical statement,” Deborah objected.

“Exactly! And it says that all those ‘common law’ rights we had and have didn’t disappear into statutory law. Sadly, we’ve come to a place where we rely on statutory law, and worse, we rely on it to tell us what is legal and what our rights are. That’s how things got so fucked up! Tell me, Counselor, what do the words ‘Congress shall make no law’ mean?”

Deborah smiled, but shook her head, “A week-long debate in my ConLaw class! There was a guy who took your extreme position on that. Eventually the professor simply ended the discussion.”

I grinned, “Because there is no possible way to define ‘no law’ that permits laws to be made, without making the First Amendment a dead letter. Once you start down the slippery slope of saying ‘you can ban THAT speech because people object to it’, you’ve lost every protection the Amendment was supposed to provide!”

“Conspiracy to commit murder?”

“What’s the ‘felony murder rule’ in Illinois?”

“That if you commit a predicate crime, you can be charged with murder, even if you aren’t the person who pulls the trigger, or even if you didn’t intend to kill.”

“So let’s say you and I talk about committing a murder, but neither of us actually takes ANY action towards doing so. That’s not a crime. The minute one of us takes action, you have attempted murder and you charge the other person as an accomplice. That’s not splitting hairs and that’s not criminalizing mere speech.”

“You do a better job than the kid in my ConLaw class, and I really don’t want to go too deep into this, but yelling ‘Fire’ in a crowded movie theater?”

“Simple - it’s a tort. The theater owner has a tort for loss of revenue and any damages caused, and the patrons have a tort for loss of the ticket price and any injuries.”

“But that’s very inefficient.”

“So? The Constitution doesn’t say that rights go out the window because it’s inefficient to handle most things as torts! I shouldn’t be charged with a crime because it’s inconvenient for the legal system to have people sue me! And, if we go back to the ideas of the Founding Fathers, restitution and reform were the main goals of the legal system in most non-capital cases. Yes, there were far too many things which were considered worthy of chopping off someone’s head, but we’re at a point now where even petty crime is treated as a ‘Scarlet Letter’, branding the person a criminal for life and rejecting the idea of reform.”

“There’s that progressive thinking again!” Deborah smirked.

“Actually, it’s traditional Christian thinking,” I replied. “Repentance, in the sense of turning away from the sin, and living a proper life. They didn’t name them ‘penitentiaries’ because they liked that word! Incarceration was about doing penance. A crime which was considered so heinous that society couldn’t take a risk in releasing the individual was usually ‘capital’.”

“You should run for office.”

I shook my head, “I’d never get anywhere because people are losing sight of the foundational principle of America. We’re losing the «kami» of the Founders, and once we do, the country is going to come apart at the seams. It can’t survive.”

“That’s a depressing thought.”

“I know. And in OTHER depressing thoughts, what do I do about Claire Colson?”

“Because she comes to the Rap Sessions you hold?”

“Exactly. I’ve known her for seven years. She was my sister’s roommate at UofC for a time. She’s attended the Rap Sessions for years. And there’s Jodie Billings, too, who I mentored for four years and promised her parents I’d watch out for her, which I’ve done. Bob probably would have objected to the situation with John Kyle in Pittsburgh, but he’s ‘management’ now.”

“You always paid him for the tickets, right?”

“Always. But Bob’s ‘anti-fraternization’ policy would go so far as to prohibit that, if Mario hadn’t promoted John. Jamie raised the issues of the Rap Sessions some time ago, and we’re at a point where most staff no longer attend, mainly because they moved, like Kajri, or have started families, or just lost interest. And you know my take on business and friendships.”

“I do. And I think the situation with Claire is manageable. And so is the one with Jodie. I think what you’re actually worried about is hiring someone you consider a close friend in the future to a role which isn’t classified as management.”