Chapter 41: Oranges are Omens

March 3, 1996, Chicago, Illinois

“Steve, do you have a minute?” Jodie asked on Sunday afternoon.

“Sure. What’s up?”

“I’m working on a project for my advanced software engineering class and I’m having a problem with refactoring some code.”

I chuckled, “You’ve come to the right place. Dave’s mostly had me working on refactoring old code off and on for the past two years because I can’t usually commit enough hours to work on new modules. Let’s take a look!”

We spent about an hour going over the concepts and applying them to her code. Jodie had a couple of ‘Aha!’ moments, and said she knew what to do, so I left her and went back to the great room to watch the rest of the Pontiac Excitement 400 from Richmond.

Jeff Gordon won the race, with Bill finishing tenth. He had led about thirty laps over the course of the race, but didn’t have enough at the end. He was sixth in points, 126 behind Dale Jarrett, which wasn’t TOO bad, given it was still early in the racing season.

When the race finished, Kara and I went to the kitchen to work on the family dinner, and Jessica joined us when she got out of bed.

“Sleep well?” I asked.

“Yes and no. I’m rested, but I miss sleeping with the two of you. It’s so nice to be cuddled up in bed with you both. I’m thinking about taking a shift schedule that included weekend days. It would be two twelve-hour shifts, and then three eight-hour shifts during the week. Plus six hours for the classes I’ll teach in the Fall.”

“Whatever you need to do, Babe,” I said.

“I agree,” Kara said. “I miss having you in bed with us.”

“What about Sunday dinner? The shifts go from 6:00am to 6:00pm.”

“We’ll move dinner to 7:00pm,” I said. “The kids are old enough now that they’ll still have a bit of time to play after dinner. And that gives you some leeway in case something runs late. Are you sure you can get it?”

“Probably. It’s one of the least desirable daytime shifts because you aren’t guaranteed to get two days in a row off. Most people want two consecutive days off. The following year, when they hire all the new docs for the expanded ER, I’ll have more options. But Doctor Barton is looking at a complete revamp of how we’re scheduled.”

“Reducing hours for PGY1s?” I asked hopefully.

“Let’s not be crazy now,” Jessica laughed. “You know he wants to do that, but he can’t act unilaterally. Everyone is still waiting for the complete fallout from the case in New York. I’m hoping we get it down to 80 hours from 96. That would make a HUGE difference. But, we’d have to hire more Residents, and that requires the Federal government to increase funding because nearly every Resident’s salary is at least partially funded by Medicare. And that’s a big problem because there are bills in Congress that could freeze the number of Residents.”

“So what would happen?” I asked.

“Nobody knows. So Doctor Barton is working with the Board and some consultants to see what they can do. They may actually open the expanded ER early, even if it’s not ready for a full patient load just so they have the slots available.”

“What would happen to a new hospital?”

“They’d be evaluated and have their number determined. It wouldn’t be zero. But existing programs would be frozen. And that means either local funding or we’re short-staffed.”

“Rant #3!” I laughed. “Handcuffed by federal funding! That’s how the Feds forced the lower speed limits and higher drinking age on the states. In your case, because everyone expects the Federal government to pay for it, they’re up a creek without a paddle when it doesn’t.”

“According to Doctor Barton, that’s exactly the problem. Most of the Board believes they don’t have to worry about funding for Residents, so they won’t even consider any other options.”

“Isn’t THAT special,” I sighed.

After a wonderful family dinner, we had ice cream for dessert, and my sister made an announcement.

“Steve, you’re going to be an uncle again in August!” Stephanie said, sounding very happy.

There were cheers and offers of congratulations from around the table.

“You know what that means,” I grinned. “In just over a year, I get a new CEO!”

“I hate you!” Samantha said grumpily.

“You’ll be done with school and be full-time at Spurgeon,” I replied.

“And I’ll lose my best troubleshooter!”

“Ask her to stay,” I grinned.

“Oh, I’ve tried, believe me. If there were a dollar number big enough, I’d pay it. There isn’t. Could we discuss alternatives?”

“Let’s talk over lunch, rather than bore everyone here to death.”

“Tuesday? At the office?”

“Sure.”

Later that evening, after everyone had left and we got the kids to bed, Kara and I walked Jessica to work.

“Are you going to let Samantha keep Stephanie?” Jessica asked.

“Maybe for a bit. Samantha graduates in June, and she’ll need some time to find and hire the right person. As her mentor, I’d say that means maybe the end of the year, rather than August as I’d planned.”

“What can she offer you in the way of compensation?”

I chuckled, “A good argument, along the lines I just set forth. Honestly, as her mentor, I need to make sure she has the tools she needs to be successful. Dave will be unhappy, but another six months or so won’t kill us. It’s not just him, though; I’m getting itchy about programming. As much as I try to make time, I just don’t have enough, even with Kimmy doing a lot of the work. We’re big enough that the CEO job is full-time even with an assistant, and I’m trying to do it part-time. Even when Stephanie takes over, I’ll still have corporate stuff to do. As Elyse likes to say, I am NIKA, and that can’t really change.”

“Are you happy?”

“With NIKA? Absolutely. With my role? It’s a love-hate relationship! There are times when I love the CEO job, and times when I hate it. Right now I’m in ‘I hate it’ mode.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s pure drudgery. Someone like my sister who actually enjoys looking at spreadsheets and projections and analyses would love it. I don’t. It was fun when I was battling Dante or taking over BLS or dealing with the Lone Star fiasco. Now? It makes me cross-eyed and annoys the hell out of me. Most of business leadership is BORING, with a capital B. As Tom and Stuart like to say, their jobs are hours of boredom surrounding minutes of pure adrenaline dumps. Or think about gridiron football, where you have six or seven seconds of extreme exertion and then forty-five seconds of standing around waiting.”

Kara laughed, “Jon really had an effect on you, didn’t he?”

“He did. Now when I say ‘football’ I mean the kind they play in the rest of the world. Kajri and Eve Dunham love it! The NFL fans think I’ve lost my mind.”

“Well...” Jessica teased with a smirk.

“Years ago, Babe; years ago.”

“Before I forget, did you get the tickets for Vermont?”

“Do you think Birgit would let me forget?” I chuckled. “My only concern is your sleeping schedule.”

“It’ll be messed up no matter what we do. I’ll be fine. What’s nice is I only miss one shift, and it’s being covered by a ‘doc-in-a-box’ who needs the hours to keep his trauma certification.”

“Cool. I also confirmed with the Jaegers and Quinns. Bethany’s mom is coming up to watch their boys, and Kathy’s mom and Kurt’s mom are coming to watch their three. And Jennifer and Josie are lined up to help Elyse run the circus!”

We reached the hospital and after hugs and kisses, she went through the doors of the ER and Kara and I turned for home.

“She’s not doing so well,” Kara said quietly. “She hides it, but she’s unhappy.”

“I know. But she said something about it and we talked about it, and she proposed a solution. That’s the new Jess, not the old one.”

“You’re not worried?”

“No. Believe it or not, her being unhappy is a GOOD thing.”

“How so?”

“Because she’s unhappy she’s away from us, not because she’s with us. All things considered, that’s a big win. How is she doing with Maria Cristina?”

“Good, I think. Jess will make a good mentor; she certainly knows all the pitfalls and all the things not to do.”

“And you?”

“I picked her, Snuggle Bear!” Kara laughed. “She’s exactly what we need. The three of us. You were right about it needing to be a set of interlocking relationships.”

“And she’s comfortable with us?”

“Very. She was a bit confused as to why you’re playing things cool and letting Jess and I take the lead, but I did my best to explain to her that the most important relationships might be between the three women. With Elyse, it was only partly there because of how close you two were by the time I came back on the scene and we met Jessica. We tried with Samantha and Michelle, but it never quite got where it needed to be, though for different reasons for each of them.

“There are a few things working in our favor here, and the big one is that Maria Cristina is very focused on her goal, and really wasn’t interested in having a serious relationship because she knew how tough it was going to be to become a doctor, and how little time she might have. The only unease is that she hasn’t quite figured out that there isn’t a ‘catch’.”

I nodded, “She expected to make the deal Samantha did.”

“Yes, and I think she’s feeling a bit ... not guilty, but like she’s taking advantage if she doesn’t fulfill the bargain.”

“And that’s fine. She’ll decide, one way or the other, and she’ll end up at UIC if she’s not interested in having sex with me for the next eight years or so.”

“Wait!” Kara gasped. “You planned it this way from the start!”

“Perhaps,” I grinned.

“Which is why you’re keeping a bit of distance.”

“Yes. She has to be comfortable with the concept before she can be comfortable with me. And that means totally comfortable with you and Jessica, AND she has to have a good understanding of how our family works. Once that’s done, then it’s a matter of being comfortable with me. The last thing I want is the ‘vibe’ to cause her to do something she might regret and then feel obligated to continue.”

“But don’t you think that could happen anyway? She could change her mind?”

“Of course. But I can’t have that conversation with her just yet. She’ll ask me to talk when she’s ready to decide. If I do ANYTHING which puts pressure on her, it could go very badly.”

“And here you were worried about me bringing a girl to you!”

“I adapted, I improvised!”

Kara laughed, “You love that movie!”

“I do. What’s the worst-case scenario here? That she’s cold and calculating, and is going to use us to pay for college but not integrate into the family. Do YOU think she’s like that?”

“Of course not, or I wouldn’t have considered her.”

“So, then, what happens?”

“You’re unreal,” Kara said with a sigh of admiration. “She comes to YOU and asks you to make love with her. Or she goes to UIC.”

“Exactly.”

March 5, 1996, Chicago, Illinois

“This can’t be a negotiation, can it?” Samantha said as we sat down with our lunches in her office.

“Go on,” I said, taking a forkful of my salad.

“You can’t be bought, and I have nothing to trade. And Stephanie can’t be bought, either.”

“So?”

“All I can do is ask a favor.”

I smiled, “Go on.”

“You’ve taught me a very different way of approaching business, and life, from what my dad taught me. It doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game, and in the long run, you do better making mutually beneficial deals than you do trying to screw the other person, though in OUR case, we did that, too!”

I laughed, “Yes. But that, too, was mutually beneficial, not one-sided. Right?”

“Very. And the funny thing is, in the end, it wasn’t about sex, was it?”

“No. YOU thought it was at first, and then you discovered it didn’t have to be, which is what led us here.”

“So how do we work this out?” she asked.

“You tell me, Grasshopper.”

She was quiet for a moment, then a broad smile spread across her face.

“Wrong movie! ‘Some day, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me.‘.”

“Continue.”

“I’ve done you several major favors, albeit they were mostly mutually beneficial. But if I were to put everything on a scale, I think I could call in a favor or two, in return for, say, giving you use of the Gulfstream. But I didn’t do that in order to get something back.”

“As in ‘that day may never come’?” I asked.

“So you stockpile favors ... like investments! They grow until you are ready to cash them in!”

“Are you cashing them in?”

“Yes. How long can I keep her?”

“How long do you need her?”

Samantha laughed, “I figure thirty years or so until she and I both retire and my son or daughter takes over, but that is a favor you couldn’t do, any more than Don Corleone could whack the kids who beat up Bonasera’s daughter, or provide a million bucks in ‘finance’ for Sollozzo. Some requests are just too big to make.”

“Is this some kind of warning that I’m going to be shot buying oranges when I leave my office?” I asked with a silly grin.

“Why mention oranges?”

“Because every time we see oranges in The Godfather it portends death or near death for someone in the Corleone Family. They’re an omen.”

“I hadn’t noticed. I’ll need to go back and watch the tape. Speaking of which, can I do a quick subject change?”

“Sure.”

“Did you read Bo’s analysis of the new device Sony is supposed to bring out later this year?”

“The small form-factor video disk? Yes. My dad had one of the old, LP-sized LaserDisc players, where you had to flip the thing over to play a full movie. What’s your question?”

“Will it work? Will it sell?”

“It will work, but my biggest concern, after discussing it with Sam, is the idiotic attempt to encrypt the movies and make it impossible to play DVDs sold in Europe or Asia in the US and vice versa. That won’t matter to the average person, at least at first, but what it means is you wouldn’t be able to buy a DVD in Europe and have it play here. And the talk is of six region codes.”

“How bad is that?”

“As I said, at first, it won’t be a real issue. In the long run, it could. But, the short answer to your questions is - yes, it will work; yes, it will sell. In fact, we plan to make use of the computer version to distribute our software, once recorders become inexpensive enough for us to buy one.”

“What do you think of Bo’s analysis of the pricing?”

“He’s right in that it should match what happened with VCRs. Our parents paid close to $1000 for their VCRs, and movies were expensive. Well, your dad got his from Hollywood, but the general population couldn’t. I’d say it’ll be a hit technology and kill off the VCR for playback the way CDs have killed cassette tapes.”

“Thanks. Sorry for the detour, but mentioning the movie and tape made me think about that report.”

“And gave you time to formulate an answer,” I grinned.

“I don’t know why I bother,” Samantha sighed, but she was laughing. “You play this game very well.”

“Thank or blame a bunch of people, including, believe it or not, Dante Puccini.”

“He’s been quiet lately.”

“Yes and no. Cindi’s team is running into some very stiff competition with small firms, and Peach is winning a fair share. To some extent, he’s buying the business, but not in a way that’s going to screw him long term. It’s nothing to worry about too much at the moment, but we’re paying very close attention. The same is true, to a lesser extent, of Hastings Mill Software and Chickasaw Systems. So?”

“December 31st of next year. That gives me six solid months after graduation to get settled in my role full-time, and to find someone to succeed your sister. Nobody could replace her.”

“OK, Lieutenant Valeris!” I chuckled. “December 31st, 1997. But you’ll have to ask Stephanie to agree to that date.”

“I’ll talk to her after lunch. I have a proposal for you.”

“I’m listening.”

“Sorry, not about that; this is a new topic. Bo and I, and a couple of analysts were talking about forming a roundtable of technology professionals in Chicago. Part of it would be to bolster our analysis of tech firms, part of it would be cooperation between the firms, and part of it would be educational outreach to the schools in the area. That last part would be similar to what you and Dave do at IIT.”

“I think it sounds like a good idea. I nominate Sam.”

“I want you.”

“Doesn’t everyone?” I asked smugly.

“How DO Jessica and Kara put up with you?” Samantha laughed, then quickly added, “Never mind. I lived with you guys, so I know. Sam would be good, but I would like you to participate within what your schedule would allow. Call it a favor to me.”

“The magic word!” I grinned.

“May I ask something about that?”

“Sure. I’m your mentor. Ask anything.”

“On balance, do you owe, or do people owe you?”

“What do you think?”

“I think except for me, nearly everyone is in your debt. But you don’t lord it over them, either. You simply assume the debt can be called at any time, like a callable bond, and they’ll pay up. And you’ll never, ever ask for something they can’t, or won’t, do.”

“That is the secret. This isn’t about having someone by the short hairs. It’s about relationships. That’s a lesson Dante never learned - he’s successful IN SPITE OF himself, not because of. Compare him with Alec Glass.”

“My dad was more like Dante,” Samantha said.

“Are you going to see him?”

She nodded, “And try to get him out for my wedding. I already talked to the State’s Attorney, the Illinois Attorney General, US Attorney, the US Marshals, and someone at the DOJ in Washington. I’ll file a petition with the court, and if the judge grants it, then my dad can come to the wedding. Of course, he’ll have two or three Marshals guarding him and be on a strict time limit, but it can happen.”