Chapter 7

The middle of May in Arizona can be quite nice weather wise. It’s also when the University bestows the degrees upon the graduating students. Inside the auditorium, Ed sat in the crowd of students wearing a maroon gown and cap. It was hot under the gown and he fidgeted restlessly. He was here because Kelly had wanted to see him attend the ceremony. John was seated somewhere with the faculty. Kelly and Beth were up in the stands. He had no idea where the cats were, and wondered how John had managed to keep them from acting as bodyguards.

While the bigwigs at the front of the room made their speeches, he kept contradicting them in his mind. At least he didn’t think out loud or else he probably would have angered everyone around him. It was just that the majority of the speech dealt with going forth to meet with the world for the first time. He knew his attitude was unfair as most of the graduating students had come here from home, spent their days at school, and were only now facing the arduous task of supporting themselves. However, he had been supporting himself since he was sixteen. In a way, he wished he could get up there and say that they needed to work hard, live simply, and learn to play cheap.

Out of boredom, he kept taking off the cap and examining it. It was an odd kind of thing that reminded him of a beanie with flat piece of cardboard glued on top. He checked the program again in the hope of finding an explanation for the weird shaped hat, but there wasn’t one. There was a long description of the meaning of the various colors that appeared on the hoods, but he had already read that three times.

The guy sitting next to him nudged him and whispered, “Stand up.”

Looking around, Ed saw that all of the other honor students were standing. He rose to join them, deciding that he should probably pay attention from now on. He sat down when the other honor students sat. He listened a little more carefully. They asked for all of the people with 4.0 GPAs to stand. Not thinking much about it, Ed stood and realized that he was one of three students standing. There was a large round of applause and then he was able to sit down again.

The guy sitting next to him whispered, “Hey, nice going. I was happy with a 2.8.”

“Thanks,” replied Ed. He looked at the guy wondering how someone could actually spend four years in college and graduate happy with a 2.8 GPA.

He sat back and listened to what the Provost of the University was saying. As he listened to the Provost describe the Outstanding Student Of The Graduating Class, he was not impressed. Everything they were saying about this guy, he had done and didn’t think anything special about it. When the Provost started talking about graduating in three years and with a perfect GPA, it began to dawn on him that they were maybe talking about him.

He heard the guy next to him swear, “Shit, that guy must be superman.”

When Ed heard his name called he stood up in time to hear the Provost ask him to approach the podium. Ed made his way there, happy that they had placed him on an aisle seat. That’s when he realized that it wasn’t an accident that he had been held up in the procession and given this chair. When he reached the podium, the Provost shook his hand and slipped an envelope in it stating that it was a full scholarship for graduate school.

Standing next to the Provost, Ed felt ill at ease being in front of so many people. He had no problem finding Kelly and Beth in the audience as the two women were jumping up and down screaming out his name. They were actually part of a large group of people waving at him. He gave them a quick wave to let them know that he had seen them.

The flashes from several photographers nearly blinded him. He looked out and could see himself on the screen that was part of the basket ball scoreboard that hung down over center court. Looking up at it, he was happy to see that he didn’t look as uncomfortable as he felt. It was with relief when the Provost told him he could return to his seat. Although he did his best to walk in a dignified pace, he kept feeling like he was running. He knew his face must have been blushing a bright red, it felt hot enough.

He sat down in his seat and breathed a great sigh of relief. The guy sitting next to him asked, “You really did all that stuff?”

“Yeah, I didn’t think much about it at the time,” replied Ed. The fact of the matter was that he had been having so much fun that he hadn’t seen it as work. He looked around and saw that a large number of students were looking in his direction.

He decided that rather than look back, it would be better to listen to what was being said on the podium. Several more students were brought up to the front podium to receive honors of various types. Ed clapped as hard as anyone for the achievements of the other students.

The Chief of the Campus Police took the podium and said, “Earlier this year, a monster was preying upon our students. One of our students was being attacked by this monster and another student apprehended the monster. This particular student took on the knife wielding suspect placing his own life at risk. He subdued the suspect and rendered aid to the victim.”

Pausing for a moment, the Chief continued, “There was a five thousand dollar reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect. The delivery of the reward was held up because the student has credentials that identified him as a criminal investigator for a government agency. However, we discovered that he is an unpaid volunteer and is therefore eligible for the reward.”

When Ed groaned, the guy sitting next to him stared at him. He whispered, “Don’t tell me that you’re the guy.”

“I’m afraid so,” replied Ed.

The Chief announced, “Would Ed Biggers please come to the podium?”

Ed made the long trip to the podium for the second time. As he walked up there, he was trying to decide what to do with the money. When he reached the podium, the Chief of Police said, “It gives me great pleasure to give this reward to you.”

After shaking hands with Ed, the Chief of Police handed him an oversize check. Again, Ed was nearly blinded by the flashes of cameras. Ed looked at the check and handed it back to the Chief of Police saying, “I’d like to donate this money to the student crisis center for use in counseling the victims of violent crimes.”

With a look of great surprise, the Chief of Police returned to the microphone and said, “Mr. Biggers has something to say.”

Ed stepped up to the microphone and said, “I appreciate the reward money and recognition, but I don’t really feel like I deserve it. The people that deserve our respect are the victims that survived horrible treatment at the hands of the suspect. I wish there was more that I could do to help them. For now, I’d like to donate this money to the student crisis center for use in counseling the victims of violent crimes.”

The applause was tremendous and Ed returned to his seat. On the way, he spotted John and saw the wink given him. Shaking his head, he collapsed in his chair and whispered to the guy next to him, “One more trip up there and I’m leaving.”

Chuckling at the statement, the guy said, “Are you telling me that there’s more?”

“I hope not,” replied Ed.

It seemed like it had lasted forever, but the event finally ended. Ed slipped out and headed to the spot where he had agreed to meet the rest of his family. The trip to their meeting point took a lot longer than Ed had anticipated. Several times, he was stopped by people congratulating him on his achievements. It was embarrassing being the center of attention just because he had been himself.

He reached the meeting spot to be greeted by two extremely cheerful women, an amused John, and three sulky cats. After accepting hugs from Kelly and Beth and a handshake from John, Ed bent down and said to the cats, “I sure missed you guys.”

That appeared to improve the mood of the cats significantly. Smiling, John said, “Let’s drop off the gowns and get over to the restaurant. I’m hungry.”

The group headed over to the area where they were collecting the gowns. There was already a pretty long line. The guy that had been sitting next to Ed called over, “Hey, come over here.”

Ed called back, “I don’t believe in cutting in line. Thanks for the offer.”

Waving happily, the guy turned back and waited his turn. Ed, accompanied by Shadow, joined the end of the line and removed the robe. Once the initial surprise and comments about the cat had passed, a number of the students in line commented on how amazed they were that he had given the reward money away. Doing his best to change the topic, Ed asked people what their plans for the future were. As the new topic raged around him, the line moved forward quickly. He dropped his robe off in the box and had his name checked off the list.

The group met up and headed to the restaurant. They were stopped by a young woman and her family. It took Ed a moment to recognize her as the woman he had saved. She introduced herself, “Hello, I’m Kim Green. These are my parents.”

The man extended a hand to Ed and said, “I’m John and this my wife Grace.”

Shaking his hand, Ed said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. This is my husband, John, and my wives, Kelly and Beth. The cougar is Rover, the panther is Shadow, the feisty cat over there is Tiger.”

John Green looked at the Carter Clan with surprise. Under the gown, Ed had worn his normal jeans and work shirt. It was clear that he was a cowboy. John stood there with his walking stick and cloak. His long white beard and white patches in his long hair gave him the appearance of a wizard. Kelly was wearing off the rack clothes that were fairly conservative. Beth was wearing a designer dress that was conservative as well. The idea of a group marriage disturbed him significantly, but he managed to hide what he thought about the group marriage pretty well.

After a quick glance at Beth and Kelly, John said, “Would you and your family like to join us for a celebratory dinner over at the seafood place?”

Kelly said, “Please join us. We have a whole room rented and there are still some empty places. You’ll have a good time.”

The father felt a little uneasy, but agreed to go with them to the restaurant. The group headed out with John talking to the father. Beth and Kelly flanked Kim and talked to her about her experience. The caring that drove them to the medical field emerged as they talked with the young woman. Ed was left talking to the mother who expressed significant interest in the cats.

John Green asked, “So what government law enforcement agency does Ed do volunteer work for?”

Glancing back at Ed, John answered, “He works for the IRS in the criminal investigation branch.”

“Really? I’m a CPA,” replied John Green. He thought that he had known all of the IRS agents in the area. He added, “I thought I knew everyone in the Phoenix office.”

John replied, “He’s working on a joint case with the FBI at the moment so he isn’t really ever in the Phoenix office. We’ve been working out of my office.”

“You work for the FBI?” asked John Green surprised that the FBI would accept an agent in a group marriage.

“Like Ed, I volunteer my time. I also work part time here in the physics department.”

“Oh,” replied John Green. He decided that even though John was an FBI agent, he was also a nut. He asked, “So how do you support your family?”

“Royalties from my inventions,” replied John. He watched as Tiger ran off after a squirrel. The squirrel easily made it up the tree before the cat ever reached it. It looked like the cat was more interested in discharging a little energy than eating.

Grace was totally captivated by Ed as he told stories about being a cowboy. He was describing what it was like to be out on the range watching the sunset from the back of the horse. Kelly came up to him and hugged his arm. She said, “Are you trying to seduce another woman?”

Laughing, Ed replied, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Kelly turned to Grace and said, “Your daughter is positively lovely. She seems to have gotten through her ordeal very well. Of course, when Ed rescues someone he makes sure that they are treated very well and that their needs are the first to be meet.”

Grace asked, “He’s done that before?”

Sighing, Kelly replied, “John and Ed always seem to be in the thick of things. It seems to me that if they don’t rescue someone twice a year, they aren’t happy. They kid each other about it. It seems that John is always rescuing men and Ed gets the damsels in distress.”

“You don’t sound all that pleased about that.”

Kelly shrugged, “They get injured sometimes. John has died twice. It’s a little difficult dealing with the fact that your husbands are out there in harms way.”

Embarrassed at being the subject of conversation, Ed dropped back to talk to Kim. He asked her how things were going and what her plans for the future were. She said, “Well, when you rescued me, you told me something that has stayed with me. It changed my life significantly.”

“What did I say?”

“You said that you enjoy being a white knight rescuing damsels in distress. Now I must admit that was a schoolgirl fantasy of mine, but the entire situation made me realize that I didn’t really like being a damsel in distress,” replied Kim. The fairy tales didn’t talk about the misery, fear, and anguish that went with being in distress. She said, “When I was dating, I always was waiting for the guy to rescue me somehow. After the incident, I realized that I don’t want to be in a position where I need to be rescued.”