Chapter 21: Called to Testify

Just before the end of the term I received a visitor in my office that asked my name. I knew this was coming so I thought I would have some fun with it.

“Who wants to know?” I asked. “I need to see some ID or you can leave or I can have you escorted off of campus by security.”

“Look I am just doing my job,” the stranger answered. “I have a legal summons for you if you are the person I need to serve. Its nothing personal.”

“I asked for ID or you can leave. I am not kidding around. I have no idea who you are and you could claim to be a process server and actually be an assassin. So how about it? I show you mine if you show me yours. ID I mean,” laughing at the poor guy’s expense.

With and eye roll he drew out his wallet and showed me his out of state driver’s license. And also his company’s ID. In turn I should him my North Dakota driver’s license.

“Now was that so difficult?” I asked. “You cooperated and I cooperated. We both got what we wanted.”

“I’ll take it now, you have done your job. Have a safe trip home.”

He handed me the summons and left my office. I am sure I made his day. More likely just glad to be out of my presence.

I looked the summons over and it was for me to appear as a witness at a hearing in Chicago the second week of June. I would have to share that with Karen so she wouldn’t schedule anything for while I was testifying. Month of June looked like it was going to turn out to be a busy one. I would be getting married. Moving to a new state. Trying to find a job at a recognized university and lastly testifying at a mental competency hearing for Ginny B. Sure wasn’t going to be a boring month for me. I had to make sure I let everyone know what my schedule would be like. Plus I knew I had to call Mom to let her know what was up with Ginny B. I still got the feeling that my Mother didn’t exactly believe the truth about Ginny. Hopefully when the facts are out that would change.

Then it dawned on me. I didn’t have Karen’s phone number in Chicago. Some fiancee I turned out to be, becoming engaged and having no means of contacting my intended. I hoped Mrs. Jorgeson had her phone number. I was almost positive that she did. How other wise did she talk to her over the phone before Karen’s visit? Everything had moved so fast that asking for it never occurred to me as I was overwhelmed by everything else these past two weeks.

That evening before I walked up the steps to my apartment, I knocked on the door of my landlady and waited for her to come to the door. She opened the door and it appeared as if I had caught her getting ready to go out the door. She had on a sweater and had her purse on her arm.

“What do you need grandson?” she asked me.

Grandson was the pet name she gave me once Karen made the announcement that we were engaged. She was so happy that I was finally corralled in to the family. All that was left was the branding, the marriage between Karen and myself.

I answered sheepishly, “Do you have Karen’s phone number? I neglected to get it while she was here.”

I don’t think I had ever seen a bigger smile and a stiffled belly laugh than what I saw then.

“Ah, are you sure you are ready to take on the responsibility of matrimony? After all being married is a lot to put on a man who is used to running free,” she kidded me.

“Yeah, yeah, just give me the number or I just may forget I am engaged to your grand daughter and all your evil scheming will have been for nothing.”

I never thought I would see the day when a kindly old grandmother who loved baking cookies would give someone the finger. With that she turned and went back into the house. I followed her in and waited by the table. She soon came back with a post it note with Karen’s phone number on it.

“You think you can hold on to this one Grandson or do I need to make copies to keep on hand for you?” my soon to be Grandmother in law asked.

“One is enough,” I said and turned and headed for the door. I waved goodbye over my shoulder as I left. I didn’t want to hang around and give her additional ammunition to tease me about.

After supper I called Karen and told her about the summons I had received and the dates I would be involved with it. I certainly didn’t want it to interfere with out wedding plans. I also didn’t tell her about me asking her grandmother for her phone number I was sure she would here about it soon enough. We spent another 20 minutes about where we would live, and my chances of finding a position in Chicago. I told her I didn’t think that would be a problem because once it became known I was available I would be flooded with offers from research universities wanting me to be part of their faculties. We said our goodbyes and ended the phone call.

In the morning before my eight AM statistics class reality hit me. I had just over two weeks left before my time at the college would come to an end. I had mixed feelings about that. On one part I would miss the place and the people here. For the most part they had veen extremely good to me and I would miss the school and the students. It was a nice change from the fast paced life that I had experienced on the Pacific Coast. Here things moved slower and people were not as intense in their interactions with their peers. That I would definitely miss. And the other I was looking forward to the change. I was excited by the challenges ahead that a new position might hold for me. I was moving up in the ranks of academia. I would soon be playing in the major leagues I had done my time in the minors.

After my class was through I went back to my office and closed the door behind me. I went to sit behind my desk and sat there looking at my surroundings. I wondered what my future held for me. With that I took a deep breath, held it and finally let it out slowly. I reached down to my bottom drawer and pulled out my address book in which I kept my contact names, addresses and phone numbers. Now was just as good a time to start making calls to my contacts in the Chicago area and let them know that I was available and was looking.

That afternoon my phone rang. Thinking it was one of my contacts calling me back with an offer of employment and offered incentive perks I picked up. It wasn’t. It was Agent Foster wanting to know if I had received my official notice of when I was to appear in court as a witness.

“Yes, Agent Foster I received the official notice the other day. I just haven’t decided whether to fly or drive down to Chicago. Plus I don’t know where to stay for sure. Chicago downtown hotels are not the cheapest in the world you know.”I said in answer to his questions.

“Don’t need to worry about getting here or where to make a reservation to stay. The federal prosecutor’s office has already made the arrangements. Sorry to say you won’t be flying Air FBI this time but by commercial flight and in the cheap seats to boot. And your lodgings will be at a nearby hotel that they have a contract with. That place will be secure and comfortable yet spartan. You know the government they always go with the lowest bidder.”

It appeared that I would be at least comfortable for the time I was there to testify. I was pretty sure I would be isolated and not allowed to contact Karen or my university contacts while I was there to testify.

Agent Foster ended the call shortly there after. He was a good guy and a friend I was glad to have, but he was all business when it came to the job. He would cover what was needed to be said and then ring off. There was no socializing on government time.

A few days later a packet came by courier to my office at the college. In it was my round trip ticket from Minot to Chicago, my contact’s information in Chicago, and a voucher for my hotel room and meals while I was in Chicago. There was even a memo on what I could expect after I arrived in Chicago. As part of the memo was a suggested dress code for the court room and what was acceptable behavior in and out of the court room. I don’t know why but I felt like I was back in elementary school.

The flight for Chicago was scheduled to leave Minot at four PM local time Sunday with a thirty minute layover at Minneapolis-St. Paul and then on to O’Hare. The flight’s total time was 4 hours. That would put me in Chicago at eight PM local time. I made a note to put some snacks in my luggage in case I wouldn’t be able to get anything to eat once I got settled in my hotel in Chicago. I would pack my clothes, a book to read and my suit for my court appearance into my carry on flight bag and a suit bag that I planned to have checked once I arrived at the check in counter.

The weekend of my flight to Chicago I tried to keep myself busy running errands and getting boxes to pack my things up in anticipation of my move to Chicago. Saturday at noon I took Grandma/Mrs. Jorgeson for a motorcycle ride to her favorite restaurant to complain about and had a late lunch. After lunch we took a two hour ride out in the countryside. This would probably be the last opportunity I would have to ride here and most likely to ride period once I moved to Chicago. I was not looking forward to riding in the city traffic of Chicago. In fact the thought of it terrified me, the collision between a motorcycle and a city metro bus would not be survivable.