Chapter 12: Basic Respect

October 5, 1995, Chicago, Illinois

“Steve, I have Dante on the line for you,” Kimmy said.

“Did he say what he wanted?” I asked.

“He’s breathing hot death about some lawsuit he was served.”

I chuckled, “Well, let him stew for a couple of minutes, then put him through.”

“Will do!”

“What round is this?” Penny asked.

“I’ve lost count. But I’ll wager he’s calling to blame me for Melissa suing him!”

“You did make him take that clause out of the settlement agreement.”

I nodded, “I sure did. Want me to put the call on speaker?”

“Oh, God, yes! Please!”

“But you have to be quiet and NOT laugh, at least until I hang up.”

“You are REALLY enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Maybe a bit too much,” I said. “Now that I think about it. I actually need to stop doing this.”

“What?! No!”

“Come on, Penny, it’s not right.”

“We’re talking Dante here!”

“Even so, I need to treat him with basic respect.”

“You dope! He’s the enemy!”

I smiled, “A beaten enemy. There’s no need to be a jerk.”

Penny rolled her eyes and shook her head, but I greeted Dante politely when Kimmy put him through.

“Good morning,” I said, trying to sound pleasant. “What can I do for you?”

“You KNEW she was going to sue me when you negotiated for her!”

“No, Dante, I didn’t,” I replied calmly. “On the other hand, I did suspect you added that clause because you were making use of some of your old patents. I was simply helping Melissa and Mark protect their company.”

“You can talk to her and get her to drop the suit. She’s going to lose, and it’ll just cost us both a bunch of money. You know it; I know it.”

“Truthfully, I don’t know that. I haven’t seen the claims she’s making, and I don’t know enough about electrical engineering to make any judgments about the validity of those patents. But, I will point out, she has nearly a million bucks which you just paid her to fund this without taking anything from their corporate profits or her personal resources. In other words, you’re effectively funding both sides of the lawsuit.”

“So she blows all that cash just to harass me?”

“Again, I haven’t read the documents, but I suspect she has sufficient grounds such that you can’t get a summary judgment. And while I’m sure you can try to have the patents invalidated, that’s a long, expensive process where you’re spending money and she isn’t. That’s not harassment, that’s simply the way the system works.”

“I KNEW I shouldn’t have sold the company to a woman! They’re irrational, and she’s obviously entertaining enough for you to do anything she wants. Dumb, Adams; dumb!”

“Although it’s not really your business, Melissa and I are friends and business partners. I know you don’t think women are useful for much beyond pleasure, but believe it or not, they are. In fact, the best engineer at M&M is female.”

“I want the suit dismissed!”

“Are you using the patents?”

“Just how dumb do you think I am?”

Plenty, I wanted to say, but refrained.

“Dante, if you’re using the patents, you brought this on yourself. Evidence suggests you are. Now, if it was me, I’d work around the patents, and provide reasonable proof that I wasn’t using them. Short of that, why SHOULD Melissa drop the suit? I mean, did you REALLY believe you could get away with violating your non-compete and get away with using the patents you sold and assigned to Mark and Melissa? If you want my advice, it’s this - sell LP Engineering to someone and focus on Peach.”

“You’re telling me to compete with you?”

“I’m simply suggesting a course of action which would end this silly conflict. I know you’re upset with how Melissa has changed your firm, but that’s her right. She and her brother own it and can do with it as they please. If I ever were to sell NIKA, not that I have any plans ever to do so, the same thing would be true. Frankly, you should have taken the money and enjoyed Tahiti and your young girlfriend. Sign a truce, Dante. Anything else results in no winners, and with you getting the worst of it. It’s a very bad proposition bet.”

“And what prevents YOU from doing the same thing to me?”

“The law and legal precedent. If you paid attention to intellectual property precedent about software, you’d know that software can only be protected by copyright, not patent, and unless you steal our code and use it, there isn’t much that can be done. And, if you looked at our contracts and licensing agreements, which I’m sure you have, you’ll see that we make it easy for a customer to switch to another company’s software.”

“I swear I do not know how you stay in business when you basically give away your profits AND you let your customers run roughshod over you!”

I chuckled, “And I find it hard to believe you’re successful when you treat your employees so poorly and write contracts which are, in my mind at least, unconscionable!”

“You get taken advantage of at every turn!” Dante protested.

“No, I don’t. We’re successful for precisely the reasons you think I’m doing things wrongly. I refuse to take advantage of my customers or my business partners, or abuse my employees. You’ve seen that yourself.”

“You bent me over repeatedly!”

“I’m sure you believe that, but only because I refused to let you gain an advantage, NOT because I took advantage of you.”

“Just make this go away, Adams!”

“Only you have that power, Dante. You can end this silliness by selling LP and staying out of the test equipment business. It’s really up to you.”

“Drop dead!”

“I don’t think I’ll follow that suggestion,” I said. “The ball is in your court, Dante. Pretty much as it has been since the day we first spoke. I’d suggest you consult with your attorney, have them talk to Billie Lawson, and find a graceful way out. That’s my advice.”

“Fuck off!” he spat, and hung up.

“You were WAY too nice,” Penny said.

“And yet, Dante was equally pissed at the end of the conversation,” I replied. “Talking to him rationally and calmly gets his goat, too. I don’t NEED to be a jerk.”

Penny laughed, “God, you are a sneaky, underhanded, conniving bastard!”

“At your service, Ma’am!” I grinned.

I ignored her muttered, “I wish!”

I picked up the phone again and dialed Melissa’s mobile phone. She answered almost immediately.

“I assume Billie filed the papers late yesterday?” I asked.

“How did you know? Dante?”

“Of course. Like clockwork. I was sure that would happen, which is why I didn’t want to know when you were filing, or exactly what the claims were. I told him to sell LP and get out of the business for good.”

“I bet THAT went over well!” she laughed.

“He’s stuck, Melissa. Based on what all the attorneys have said, it’s going to cost him a small fortune to try to have the patents invalidated. You should simply let him spin his wheels. When he files his counterclaims, don’t do anything other than file the minimum denial. But then insist that the invalidation claims be handled first. He spends all of his money, and you simply sit back and wait.”

“But I have to defend the claims.”

“Yes, and you’ll do it with what Dante used to get the patents in the first place. You don’t need to do any research, or anything until he shows up with evidence that could lead to the invalidation. Let him try to find ‘prior art’ or prove ‘obviousness’. You get to use HIS claims in the patents against him!”

“Do you think he’ll try to attack the patents Mark recently filed?”

“Maybe, but again, you do the same thing. Just ‘rope-a-dope’ him!”

“Huh?”

“Muhammad Ali’s strategy for the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ - his fight with George Foreman. Basically, he leaned back against the ropes and let Foreman wear himself out. Ali only threw punches that would connect for points, while Foreman wasted all his energy on blows to Ali’s arms or side, which were absorbed by the elastic ropes around the ring. Ali won by a knockout in the eighth round.”

“So he just let him flail away, then nailed him when he was vulnerable?”

“Exactly. That’s what we do here. ‘Rope-a-dope’. And if Dante changes tactics, then we, like Ali, change ours. Remember, Ali was best known for ‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’ before that fight.”

“I’m so glad we developed a good relationship,” Melissa said. “I’d have been lost without your help.”

“I’m glad, too. How is Mark handling all of this?”

“The way Mark always does - he ignores it and simply does his engineering work.”

“And you’re holding up OK?”

“Hanging in there. I could probably use some whisky, a sauna, and a shoulder rub!”

“Booze and the sauna do not mix,” I said. “At least not in that order. I’m free on Saturday and Sunday afternoons if you want to drop by.”

“Maybe I will,” she said.

“Talk to you later.”

We hung up and I waited the split-second for Penny to say something.

“Oh sure, SHE can get it, but not me!”

“You’re in our sauna regularly! And I HAVE rubbed your shoulders when you’ve been tense!”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it!” she hissed.

“Not that it’s really any of your business, but if we start counting the day after your sixteenth birthday, Melissa and I have had sex exactly the same number of times you and I have had sex!”

“Uh-huh.”

“The funny thing about the truth, Penelope, is that it’s true whether you believe it or not.”

Penny didn’t reply, she just turned towards her keyboard and started typing. I knew that once her divorce was final, she’d put on a full-court press, but that was something I couldn’t countenance. Not just because of the rules, but for Penny’s own sake.

That evening, after dinner, I went out to the coach house to see Jennifer. She offered me some semi-sweetened lemonade, which was very tart, with very little sugar added, and we went to sit outside.

“I wanted to ask you how Melissa is holding up,” I said.

“I wondered how long it would be before I was asked to spy for you!”

“Come on, Jen, it’s not like that!” I protested.

“Of course not!” she said smugly, with a twinkle in her eye, “But I STILL can wind you up faster than Jesse does Birgit!”

“Not true!” I chuckled. “He can do it by simply walking into the room and looking at her!”

“Are you sure?” she asked with an impish smile.

“Well, if you mean it THAT way, YOU can wind ME up just by walking into the room!”

“Even after all these years?”

“Tell me you don’t have the same feelings, despite your sexuality being as clearly defined as mine.”

“I can’t deny it, and you know it! But the cost is far too high.”

“I agree. So, about Melissa?”

“She’s stressed. And I mean seriously stressed. The whole thing with Dante, from the beginning, has really weighed on her.”

I nodded, “Which confirms what I was thinking. How is it affecting her work?”

“Mostly she’s unhappy for the same reason you’ve been unhappy - she’s a programmer and can’t spend nearly enough time programming. If it weren’t for Dante, she’d be able to code a lot more.”

“Dave was on my case again about not being able to commit the hours he needs. I’m going to have to allow him to hire another programmer, because I don’t see this letting up for at least a couple of years.”

“Dante?”

“Partly, but also everything else. It’s one thing after another. And even with Kimmy handling a lot of stuff for me, I STILL can’t get in enough coding time.”

“That’s exactly what happened with Melissa and why she hired Callie.”

“Mark is doing OK?”

Jennifer laughed, “He’s the consummate nerdy electrical engineer. He’s totally oblivious to anything except circuit diagrams and creating prototypes! He’s what you would have been without your mentors. You remember what happened with Four Dimensional Software, right?”

“Beth and Krista did all the ‘business’ work and I programmed. I did have time for girls, though!”

Jennifer laughed, “And so does Mark, though he’s about as straitlaced as they come in that regard.”

“And how do you know THIS?” I grinned.

“We talk. He married the first girl who would give him the time of day, and has been faithful to her from that day forward. He loves to make crude jokes, but he’d never, ever act on them. Think Greg Burroughs, but with a bit more class. Well, than what Greg had at first.”

“The grease-stained t-shirts?” I chuckled.

“Yes. Anyway, I think Melissa needs to take a vacation. A long one. Preferably with a guy who can give her some serious relaxation therapy!”

I laughed, “Nice euphemism! She’ll actually stop by this weekend for a sauna, a shoulder rub, and some whisky.”

“And relaxation therapy?” Jennifer asked with an arched eyebrow.

“She had the opportunity, but veered off right before.”

“I kind of got that drift from the conversation I had with her. She wants to, but she’s nervous about it and that gives her pause.”

“That’s exactly it,” I said. “Not everyone can handle the craziness that is my life!”

“How are you doing?”

“Everything is good,” I said. “Of course, in the past, that’s when things have gone to hell in a handcart, but honestly, I think we’re past that.”

“A lull in the storm that will last for about five or six more years!”

“Jesse and Birgit?”

“Followed quickly by the rest of the circus!”

“Has he told Francesca that Larisa is coming to visit?”

“He simply mentioned a friend, but Francesca is suspicious because Jesse only gets visits from females!”

I grinned, “Like father, like son!”

“One day, she’s going to offer, and he’s going to have a real dilemma.”

“Offer? You don’t think they’ll just get to that point on hormones alone?”

“Any other little girl? Probably. Not Francesca. Her mom has beat into her head that you only do that with the person you’re married to. Of course, Francesca said something about Stan, so Carol modified it to be the person you’re going to marry.”

“Our son will NEVER accept that kind of deal at age fourteen! Matthew might, but Jesse? Never!”

“Matthew and Chelsea?”

“In her mind,” I chuckled. “But she’s three years older than he is, so she’s going to have to wait until she’s seventeen or eighteen if she wants him to be her first, and possibly only.”

“He’s turned around quite a bit on the topic!”

“A few years make a big difference at this age. Once he decided she wasn’t ‘icky’ they became friends. And she’s playing the ‘long game’, even if Matthew doesn’t realize it!”

“I’d say him being with the daughter of the first woman you had sex with was weird, but compared to the OTHER stuff in your life, that’s just run-of-the-mill!”

“True,” I chuckled. “Back to the reason I came to talk to you. Do you think Melissa is going to crack under the pressure?”

“She might. I’ve seen some signs. Convince her to go on vacation the way you do - no contact unless it’s a life-or-death emergency. She needs it.”

“And the relaxation therapy?” I grinned.

“She’ll need to find that on her own. You certainly can’t go away with another woman for two weeks, even if she’d take you along. And besides, you’re in a new phase.”

“We haven’t talked much in the past two weeks,” I chuckled.

“What did I miss?”

“A couple of ‘dall-yances’, as Miss Birgit calls them.”

Jennifer laughed, “You’re still my Steve!”

“And you’re still my Jen!”

We stood, exchanged one of those rare, deep, soft soul kisses, and she went back into the coach house, while I went back into the main house.

October 6, 1995, Chicago, Illinois

“Steve, Marcia’s at the door,” Kara said on Friday night.

“You know I can’t speak with her,” I said.

“I know. She knows, too. She’s not very happy about that, but she knows.”

“What does she want?”

“Well, under normal circumstances, I’d make a half-teasing joke, but I won’t.”

“And by saying that, you just did!” I replied.

“Sorry. Anyway, she wants you to talk to her dad.”

“Because THAT will end well,” I sighed. “The last thing I need to do is get in the middle of a fight between a divorced couple over custody of their kid!”

“I think you might be involved whether you want to or not. Marcia said one of the reasons her dad listed in his request for custody was her mom ‘irrationally’ pulling her from the karate school. I suspect Sensei Jim will be involved, too.”

“Wonderful,” I sighed. “And you know what happens next right? Jillian Ingles calls the cops or DCFS and claims I was sleeping with Marcia.”

“You have the truth on your side.”

“The same as I did the last time, if you remember,” I sighed. “I agree with what Mark Twain is reported to have said - ‘A lie goes around the world while truth is still putting on its boots’.”

“Reported?”

“I have a complete set of Mark Twain’s works and it’s not there. It’s similar to the quote by Michael Corleone which is often attributed to Sun Tzu.”

“Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer?”

“Yes. I suppose at this point, talking to her with three witnesses isn’t going to make things worse, especially given it’ll be on video.”

We did as Kara suggested, and she, Jessica, and Elyse stood between Marcia and me. It was a bit odd, but I felt Kara had made the right decision.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hi, Sensei. Could I talk to you privately?”

“Unfortunately, no. What’s up?”

“My dad filed for custody with the Family Court. I need you to talk to him.”

“Does he have a lawyer?”

“I think so, yes.”

“Let’s start with having his lawyer call my lawyer. I’m very concerned about what your mom might do.”

“She’s crazy, Sensei!”

“That’s what concerns me. Let me write down my attorney’s name and phone number. I’ll be right back.”

I went inside and wrote down Gwen Meyer’s phone number, then went back to the front porch. I handed the piece of paper to Elyse, who handed it to Marcia, so that I didn’t touch her even by accident. Marcia folded the piece of paper and put it in her pocket, then said ‘goodbye’ and left the porch. The girls and I went inside, and to my study, where I dialed Gwen’s mobile number.

“You’re going to get a call from an attorney for a Mr. Robert Ingles,” I said. “His daughter is, or was, one of my karate students.”