Chapter 75: “There is no justice in this world!”

December 9, 2000, Chicago, Illinois

“What a total cluster fuck!” I growled. “Scalia is right, but it’s just going to make the problem worse. The RIGHT solution was to let the political process work. But NO, we can’t let THAT happen. So, given where we are, I agree with the stay which stops the statewide manual recounts for the exact reason Scalia said in the ruling - you absolutely have to have a statewide, objective set of standards before you do a manual recount, and no such standard exists.

“Fighting about the legality of votes AFTER you’ve counted them creates a ridiculous situation where you have to decide the standard after the fact and then try to retroactively apply it. That’s why the dissenters are both right and wrong. They say counting every legally cast vote cannot cause harm, and they are right; but we don’t know with certainty what constitutes a legally cast ballot when counting by hand, so saying the count should go on makes no sense. We know what a legally cast vote is for machine counting, which is completely standard. The machine counts, as well as Florida law and the US Constitution, are all in Bush’s favor, so Gore is trying to find some way around the law and the Constitution to win the election.”

“Turn off the TV and relax, Tiger,” Jessica said. “Your friends will start arriving soon.”

“What are you girls doing tonight?”

“We’re going to see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, then go to a bar with live music. The under-twenty-one contingent are going for ice cream instead.”

“You do realize how stupid that is, right?”

“When you and your band of subversives take over, you can fix it!”

I heard the front door open and a moment later Terry and Penny came into the house.

“Violet is with the kids next door,” Penny announced.

“How are you doing, Boss?” Terry asked.

“Your wife didn’t tell you?”

Terry laughed, “If I believed what Penny said, then the two of you were too busy screwing to write a line of code! Fortunately, I know when my wife is fibbing! Not to mention the code check-ins in CVS.”

“I’m doing OK,” I replied. “I’ll be back in the office after my trip to Ohio next week. As promised, I’ll work from home on Monday and Tuesday.”

“People are a bit antsy about you disappearing and there are rumors you’re very sick.”

“The rumors of my death, or impending death, are greatly exaggerated!”

“It might help if you came into the office, but Liz is adamant that can’t happen before a week from Monday.”

“How bad is it?” I asked. “Honestly?”

“I’d compare it to a low-grade fever.”

“I have an idea on how to fix it,” I said. “Or at least bring down the fever. Let me talk to Charlie and Claire when they get here.”

About half the attendees arrived before Charlie, Clayton, Claire, and Brad, Claire’s current boyfriend arrived. I asked Claire and Charlie to join me in my study.

“I hear there are rumors rippling through the office,” I said. “I need you two to help stop them.”

“What IS wrong?” Charlie asked.

“This isn’t for public consumption, and only Elyse, Liz, and now the two of you, know what the issue is - I had a mild manic incident and Liz felt it was best for me to get out of the office. I’m working with Doctor Al, Doctor Mary, and a counselor I’ve been seeing from the time I was about fourteen, to come up with whatever lifestyle changes are necessary to control it.”

“Related to your carbohydrate metabolism weirdness?” Charlie asked.

“Yes, and there’s been no real change there, and you know none of the doctors think that there is anything life-shortening, let alone life-threatening, about that ‘weirdness’, which is probably a better way to say it than calling it a disease.”

“What can we do to help?” Claire asked, then smirked, “I mean, besides the obvious!”

I chuckled, “I don’t think Charlie can help that way! Clayton is a good guy and a great friend, but he’s not going to tolerate THAT!”

“True,” Claire replied, “but I’m sure Becka and Mattie would be more than happy to help in that regard!”

Charlie laughed, “You three might actually kill him! And if Abbie were around, that’s a foursome that WOULD kill him!”

“Oh, but what a way to die!” I chuckled.

“So this ‘manic episode’,” Charlie asked, “what’s up with that?”

“I suffer from mild mood swings, that are exacerbated when I don’t get enough sleep or don’t follow my carbohydrate-restricted diet.”

“Your trip to South America?”

“I suspect so,” I said. “At least in part.”

“I think the answer is easy then - you picked up something on your trip and you can’t quite seem to shake it, so you’re taking it easy. Are you working at all?”

“Penny was here Thursday and Friday working with me. I’ll be working remotely on Monday and Tuesday, and I’m sure she’ll be here as well.”

“Then I think that’s the answer,” Charlie said. “Claire?”

“Agreed. Though I’d like to help in his recovery!”

I chuckled, “As much fun as that would be, waiving that rule is probably not a good idea.”

“Boring Bob would have a freaking heart attack if he had ANY clue about The Club!” Claire exclaimed.

I nodded, “While that’s true, ‘Boring Bob’ helps keep us out of trouble with nosy government busybodies. Shall we enjoy the evening?”

“Yes!” Claire smirked.

“I meant Guys’ Night and Girls’ Night Out!”

“Spoilsport!”

“You’re just no fun anymore!” Charlie added, in an almost perfect imitation of Penny.

We all laughed and I got a hug from each of the girls before we left my study. The ‘under the weather’ answer was a good one, and I used it with Dave and Julia, and that seemed to seriously lessen her concern. We had a good evening, with Terry winning the poker tournament and me finishing third as my concentration was off just enough to give him and Pete an advantage.

December 10, 2000, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Jesse

“Let’s go, Jesse!” Mom Two called up the stairs.

I knew I was running out of time, but I’d promised Father Basil I’d do the longer version of morning prayers when I had to miss church for hockey. I only needed about a minute more, so I returned my focus to the words in the prayer book, which I actually knew by heart. I finished my prayers, then went downstairs, and then down to the basement to get my gear. I lugged everything upstairs and then went out to the driveway to put my bag and pads in the trunk of Mom Two’s car.

“Hi, Jesse!” Libby exclaimed. “Win for me today?”

“We should win today,” I replied. “We beat these guys once already, and won by three goals. Did you hear from the rest of the gang?”

“Yes. Everyone but Heather and Kelly will be there. Well, and Cynthia, obviously. Heather is siding with Kelly and Cynthia. Juliette is joining us, too. What about your teammates?”

“Kenny and Mia are going to be there. Blake has to do something with his parents this afternoon. I also invited Rachel, Tiffany, and Birgit.”

“Cool. Think everyone would be up for using the sauna?”

“With towels or suits? Sure. I’m not sure Missy or Sally would go for being in there naked. And Tiffany isn’t allowed by her mom.”

Mom One and Mom Two came out of the house and the four of us got into the car for the drive to the rink on the north side where we were playing our game. When we arrived, I grabbed my gear, and headed into the building just as Blake came in carrying his gear.

“Are you and Libby a couple now?” Blake asked as we walked towards the locker room.

“She’s my best friend, not my girlfriend.”

“Best friend? A girl?”

“Why not? She’s totally cool, we like most of the same stuff except video games, and we’re in most of the same classes.”

“I guess it’s the difference between you being a Freshman rather than a Junior. I don’t want to be friends with girls, I just want to fuck them!”

I almost laughed out loud, but managed not to. The two things were not mutually exclusive, which was one of the things about sex and relationships on which my dad and I agreed. I liked sex, and Libby was lots of fun, but we had no commitments except to be friends. Given what had happened with Francesca and Kelly, it sure seemed like having a ‘friend with benefits’ was the way to go.

“Mr. Conroy!” Coach barked. “We do NOT speak about young women that way and we do not use that language. Do you hear me!”

“Yes, Coach,” Blake replied, rolling his eyes, though Coach couldn’t see.

“That’s your first and only warning!”

“Yes, Coach.”

“Hanging around you is dangerous, Jesse,” Tom declared. “Mia got suspended for one game and now Blake is on probation!”

“Hey,” I protested, “I didn’t DO anything except say that Libby was my best friend!”

“The cute chick with the frizzy hair and the smoking hot body who comes to some of the games?”

“That’s her,” I said.

“Figures. She’s a lezzy, so just being friends makes sense.”

“I dare you to use that word with my moms!” I said tersely.

“Keep your voices down!” Terry said quietly but firmly. “Coach will have a fit if he hears you!”

“You can’t have two moms dude!” Tom declared. “You have to have a mom and dad, so unless one of your ‘moms’ secretly has a dick, you only have one mom and one dad.”

“Just shut up!” Terry insisted before I could reply, his eyes darting around, looking for Coach or the assistant coaches. “Jesse, just ignore him! We have a game to win!”

“No problem,” I said, taking a deep breath and doing my best to control my temper, “He’s not worth it.”

“God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!” Tom sneered. “Or Abby and Eve!”

Terry and Blake grabbed my arms and moved me away from Tom, and it was a good thing, because I was about to deck him. I sat down on a bench and began to change into my gear, but I was seething. I knew I was supposed to just let stuff like that roll off my back, but it was difficult to do when someone was in your face about something that wasn’t a choice. Mom One didn’t choose to be lesbian any more than Kenny chose to be black.

“Ignore the idiot,” Kenny said, sitting down next to me to change. “I get shit like that about being black all the time from players on other teams. Those white bread suburban kids learn their lesson really fast when I skate circles around them!”

“I know it’s just ignorance,” I said, feeling just a bit calmer. “And I can’t go to coach because I really don’t want another suspension of someone on the team. We can’t afford it!”

“You just gotta do what I do, and ignore the bigots on the team. If I let every slur or whatever bug me, I’d go nuts. I know which guys would never invite me to their house, and just avoid having anything to do with them except play hockey.”

“I know,” I replied.

“Jesse, seriously man, focus on the game. We can’t win if you don’t. This should be an easy game. We want to win because you know what winners do, right?”

I chuckled, made sure none of the coaches was close and then said in a low voice, with a fake Scottish accent, “Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and fuck the Prom queen!”

Kenny and I both laughed at the line from The Rock which a bunch of us had watched on a DVD from Netflix the previous weekend. Laughing put me in a slightly better mood, and by the time we left the locker room for warmups, I had mostly let go of Tom’s ignorant comments. Right before the game started, Kenny skated over and urged me to stay focused.

I did keep my focus and it was a good game for us, with the final score 5-1 in our favor. After the game, we showered and dressed, and then I headed to meet my moms and Libby for the drive home.

“You guys did great today,” Mom Two said as we got into the car.

“Thanks. Remember we’re all going out for lunch, and after lunch we might use the sauna, though with ‘weekend’ rules because Tiff will be there along with Missy and Sally who I doubt would agree to be naked.”

“Just use common sense,” Mom One said.

“It’s not so common,” I complained.

“What happened?”

“Just one of the guys on the team making bigoted comments about lesbians.”

“What brought that on?”

“Me saying Libby was my best friend.”

“I’m missing something,” Mom Two said.

Libby laughed softly, “I like girls, too!”

Both my moms laughed.

“Who said it?” Libby asked.

“Tom,” I replied.

“How could he know?! Only you and Juliette know about me and Juliette!”

I shrugged, “I have no idea.”

“Libby, did he hit on you?” Mom Two asked.

“Sure. I told him to leave me alone. I didn’t want to be one of his conquests.”

“That might explain it,” Mom Two said. “I remember in High School when guys started nasty rumors about girls who wouldn’t go out with them.”

“Now I REALLY want to kick his ass,” I declared.

“Jesse,” Mom One cautioned. “Violence solves nothing.”

“Even if it involves beating sense into him? Do you want to know what he said about you and Mom Two?”

“Not really, but you should probably tell us.”

“That I couldn’t have two moms because I had to have a dad. And if I claimed to have two ‘moms’ it was because one of them secretly had a dick!”

“Now I want to kick his ass!” Mom Two growled. “What a little shit!”

“Why?” I asked with a smirk. “HAVE you been hiding something from me?”

My moms and Libby all exploded in laughter and Mom One had to be careful to keep steering the car straight.

“You’ve been in the sauna with us from the time you were a baby, you little turkey!” Mom Two said. “So you know full well what we look like naked!”

“Hot!” Libby giggled causing my moms and I to laugh uncontrollably.

“Thank you,” Mom Two said when she finally stopped laughing.

“Jesse, did you check with your dad about the sauna?”

“No, but it’s not Rap Session week. He’s having the Khans over for lunch, but they’ll be gone before we get there. I think they’d completely flip at the idea of a bunch of teenagers being in the sauna together even with towels and bathing suits.”

“Why?” Libby asked.

“They’re Muslims from Saudi Arabia,” I said. “The mom and daughter wear headscarves whenever they leave the house, and according to Birgit, the daughter, Fatimah, isn’t allowed to go out in public without her dad or brother, except for things like being driven to her all-girls school.”

“Whoa! I’d never go for that!”

“Me either, but their family gets to live how they want just as mine does.”

“Does the girl like that?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know. Birgit says Fatimah was totally shocked about Birgit having her own TV and computer and my dad not controlling what she watches on TV or does on her computer.”

“Nobody checks on you?” Libby asked.

“No. Why should they?”

“My dad says he does it to make sure I’m safe.”

“My dad thinks it’s important for kids to have freedom and he trusts us to not do anything dangerous.”

“It’s a fine line to walk,” Mom One said. “But we always come down on the side of allowing them to make their own decisions.”

“My dad isn’t TOO bad,” she said. “He just checks what places I’ve visited. But I know I can delete them from the history if I don’t want him to know!”

“Lesbian porn?” I teased.

Libby laughed, “Why watch it when you can do it?”

My moms and I laughed as well.

“Do your parents know you like both boys and girls?” Mom Two asked.

“No, but it really isn’t their business. They’d freak out a bit, but I think in the end, they’d be OK. But I don’t think I need to say anything right now. Jesse and Juliette are just friends.”

“With benefits?” Mom Two teased.

“Is that a problem, Ms. Dalton?” Libby asked.

“No, of course not! I was just teasing. So long as you aren’t being abused, you should decide who you have sex with. And please call me Josie!”

When we arrived home I took my gear to the basement and then Libby and I had some hot chocolate because it wasn’t quite time for us to leave for lunch. We’d just finished when Birgit, Rachel, and Tiffany came to the door of the coach house. I said goodbye to my moms and then Libby and I walked with my sister and her friends towards the diner.

“How are things at home, Rachel?” I asked.

“A little better. Your dad advised me to apologize for calling my mom a prudish bitch, so I did.”

“But she IS a prudish bitch!” Birgit protested.

“I think your dad agrees, but he was right that I shouldn’t have said it. It’s not like you and Jesse who can say anything you want to your parents.”

“To my dad,” I corrected. “My moms and the aunts don’t give us quite as much leeway.”

“Because Dad can’t argue when I call him a ‘dumb boy’!” Birgit giggled causing everyone to laugh.

“My mom supposedly called him all kinds of names and he said she was right!” Rachel declared.

“Like what?” Tiffany asked.

“Asshole, prick, and smug bastard. And she says he’s certifiably insane.”

“I can vouch for that last one,” I said.

“Me, too!” Birgit exclaimed.

All our friends laughed.

“But that’s what makes him SOOO much fun!” Rachel said.

“You and Jesse’s dad?” Libby gasped, her eyes wide.

“We don’t talk about stuff like that,” I said firmly. “Ever!”

“But...” Libby protested.

“He’s right,” Birgit said. “Just drop it, please.”

“Sorry,” Libby said. “Does everyone want to use the sauna when we get back?”

Everyone agreed, though Tiffany made the point about her mom.

“Mom says I have to wear a bathing suit,” she said. “But I keep one at your house.”

“We’ll have to do ‘weekend rules’ as my dad calls them anyway,” I said. “Missy and Sally would never agree to be naked in front of the guys.”

“Which guys will be there?” Tiffany asked.