Chapter 7

Memorial Day

My family is normally pretty hardcore about Memorial Day. My father was in the Navy during the build-up to Vietnam (he was one of the first "advisers" to ship over), and I've had uncles and other family members in the armed services. So usually, when the whole family is together, much of the day is spent in simply remembering. We'll visit my mother's folks in the nursing home and listen to Grandpa talk about life during World War II, then visit a local cemetery for a service.

When I was a kid I always used to hate the cemetery visit, except at the end, when the 21-gun salute happened. Then I, along with half the kids in the town I grew up in, would race around, finding loose shells. Usually the shells were returned to the color guard, but sometimes I'd get to keep one.

For the longest time I wanted nothing more than to be in the military, but as I grew up and had my experience with my uncle the "rapist," my career goal changed, although my reverence for those who had served their country did not.

This year was a little different, in that my family was more spread out than normal and my folks had moved during the past year to Arkansas, so I was alone.

So it was kind of a surprise when I got a call early Monday morning.

"Hello?" I said, wondering who could be calling so early. I hadn't been asleep, but I hadn't been awake for all that long, either.

"Mark?" It was Sandra.

"Hey there. What's up?"

"I was wondering... if you were doing anything today?"

"No... no real plans. I have something I need to do sometime today, but it's not really on my "schedule," just something that needs to be done at some point. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, if you were going to be doing something..."

"No. Nothing real important, like I said. What were you thinking?"

"Just... "

"What?"

"I was wondering if you'd come with me today... this will be the first year..."

Sandra trailed off, and I could hear from her voice she was fighting tears.

"It's okay," I said. "You can tell me."

"I want to go visit my brother," she said.

"And you want me to come with you?" I kind of laughed. "Does he know about the bet?"

"He's dead."

Shit. "Sandra, I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"I know. You didn't know. I haven't said anything about him before... why should I?"

"Where is he buried?"

"National. He was buried there last year. He's been gone ten months."

"Iraq?"

"Afghanistan."

"How did it happen?"

"We don't really know," Sandra replied. "He wasn't Special Forces or anything, but we kind of get the idea he either wasn't where he should have been or he was on a mission that no one really wants to admit exists."

"You should be proud."

"I am," said Sandra and finally gave into her tears. "It's just... after he died my mom kind of withdrew and I finally had to buy the headstone around Christmas. I've only been there the once, last August, and I'm not sure... could you drive me?"

"Of course."

I told Sandra I would be over to pick her up in about an hour. I showered as quickly as I could then went out into the heat. I stopped at a super mart on the way to her house. It was about forty-five minutes later that I was knocking on her door.

"Sorry," I said when she answered. "I'm a little early."

"That's okay. Come on in. I'm sorry to inconvenience you," she apologized. "Did you have to rearrange your plans?"

I laughed. "Only a little."

"You're sure?" she asked.

"Not a problem." I waited while Sandra hurried around the house. She was ready to go in a couple minutes and together we drove in silence out to the cemetery.

"It's always so quiet," she said as we looked at the guide to the grounds. Although the place had only been dedicated in 2000, there were already more than 11,000 people buried here and Sandra said the place looked a lot different than it had at the funeral. "But it's not like I was looking at the landscaping," she said.

"I know. I think it's so pretty out here."

"You come here often?" Sandra asked. I nodded my hand and held up the plastic bag in my hand.

"I was actually coming here today, even before you called," I said.

"Someone you know is here?" she asked. I shook my head.

"No, but I used to drive past here quite a bit and it always seemed so empty and lonely that a couple years ago I started coming here to attend to a couple graves."

"I thought you didn't know anyone," Sandra commented.

"I don't, but I always try to put flowers on a couple graves, at least, that don't seem to get any attention. I suppose it's kind of like your family. If you weren't in town, who would pay any attention to your brother's grave?"

"No one."

"And so I just want to make sure that someone... that someone cares."

Sandra smiled sadly. I could see tears in the corners of her eyes. She reached out and gave my hand a squeeze.

"Thank you," she said.

We spend more than an hour in the cemetery. Most of it was with her brother, but a good fifteen minutes or so were spent on a couple of grave sites. As I said, these weren't people I knew, and I never attended to the same graves twice in a row. I just wanted to make sure the headstones were clean and there were flowers there."

At the end of the morning I drove Sandra back to her house. "Did you want to get something to eat?" I asked. She just shook her head.

"I think I want to be alone for a little bit," she said. "But thank you... for everything."

"Any time."

She turned to go, but I had another thought.

"You know... we don't need to do... we don't need to do our thing, tomorrow," I said. "If you're not feeling up to it." I know I was going to feel a little uneasy about what I'd had planned for Tuesday. Somehow it didn't seem right. But Sandra seemed to think otherwise.

"I told you this is fun, remember?" she asked. "Or at least you figured it out. I think by the end of tomorrow I'll be ready for a little fun."

"Okay," I said softly. "I'll see you at work, and if you change your mind..."

"I won't."

"... Just let me know."

Punishment Three

Tuesday was a rough day. It's always tough going back to work after having a long weekend, but this weekend in particular had been an emotional one. Add in that I had a shitload of cases in the afternoon after a shitload of client meetings in the morning, and I didn't know if I'd have enough energy - or desire, especially after our trip to the cemetery - to properly "punish" Sandra.

Fortunately, the emotional roller-coaster she had been on the day before seemed to have come to a happy end.

"Morning," I heard on my phone's answering system when I checked my messages. "How are you this fine day? Come on over around noon if you get hungry or whatever."

I called Sandra immediately, explained my insane day and apologized for not being able to meet her for lunch.

"It's okay," she said. "It's not like I would be able to show you off to my friends, anyway, right?"

I laughed and admitted it was true. "You thinking there might be possible conflict-of-interest issues there?"

"Hmm... not really," Sandra finally said. "I don't think there's anything against two opposing lawyers dating - or getting involved in kinky bets, for that matter - as long as their schedules don't overlap."

"And so far they haven't, which is good," I said, finishing her thought. "But what if..."

"I've thought of that," she said. "And I've come to a solution, if..." Sandra trailed off.

"What?"

"Well, it's kind of presumptuous," she said. "Thinking that..."

"That I might be interested in seeing you in an out-of-the-office situation? I mean, besides on game night?" I joked.

"Well, yeah."

"I've thought of it myself."

"And?"

"And I'd like to hear your solution."

"One of us has to put in for a transfer. Or quit."

"Quit? Why can't..."

"I thought about just winging it, hoping you didn't pick up a defendant on a case I was working, but I thought that was risky. Then I thought..."

"Whoa. Hold on a second."

"Yes?" Sandra asked. She sounded fearful, like a girl, afraid of making me angry.

"No, nothing bad," I promised, trying to be reassuring. "It's just that... maybe this is a little ahead of the situation, don't you think?"

"Probably," Sandra laughed. "But..."

"I know what it is," I said, trying to add a little humor to the conversation. "Of all the guys you've ever met, no one has ever dressed you up and paraded you in front of the pizza guy, or..."

"Mark!" Sandra screeched. I heard a clicking noise and a little nervous laughter.

"Yes?"

"I had you on speakerphone!"

"Oh. Um... sorry?"

Sandra sighed. "See... we can't keep doing this, at least not at work, at least not until..."

"Yeah?"

"Until the series is over."

I smiled, although Sandra couldn't see, of course. "Okay... we'll wait until then. Otherwise... how are you feeling? Are you up for tonight?"

"Oh yeah," sighed Sandra. She caught herself and again there was a nervous laugh. I could almost hear the blush over the phone.

"Good," I said, feeling reassured myself. I had an idea for tonight but didn't want to do it if Sandra wasn't one hundred percent "into" the evening. "So... my place? Say... six o'clock?"

"See you then."

Sandra hung up and I slogged through the day. My meetings were long, the cases were tedious, but eventually the hour hand dragged its way far enough around the clock that I felt okay in cutting out a bit early. I made a couple of phone calls to some friends I knew from the gym. I'd been thinking of inviting them over to the game before my bet and had to cancel. I checked my messages one last time and then grabbed my briefcase and was out my office door.

"See you guys," I called out as I practically jogged down the hallway.

"Leaving early? Gotta big date or something?" called out Johnny Gomez. I gave him a quick wave as I passed.

"Um... something like that," I replied. "See you tomorrow."

After bolting down the courthouse steps and to my car, I made a quick stop on the way home. A "friend" of mine, a one-time client named Vincent Stefano, ran a smut shop down by the airport, which wasn't too far from where I live in Arlington.

When I walked into the dark store, Vinny's first reaction was to raise his hands.

"I didn't do nuthin' this time, counselor," he called out.

"Vinny, it's your lucky day. I'm here on business."

"Business?"

"Yeah. Your business. I'm a buyer today, Vinny." After my brilliant legal defense resulted in only a two hundred dollar fine ("they looked older than they were," was Vinny's only defense to selling pornography to minors), which satisfied both of us, I figured Vinny owed me one. "Just don't ever tell anyone I was here, deal?"

"Deal, counselor," Vinny replied and slipped into salesman mode. "Now... what can I do for you today... sir?"

I glanced around the shop until I found a couple of items of interest. "Let me see... that... and that... and that," I said, and pointed to my selections.

Not that Vinny could ever truly be surprised - I'm sure all sorts of people came in and bought all sorts of things their neighbors would never expect - but I did catch his eyebrows rising just a bit.

"You sure, counselor? You know where that last thing goes... right?"

"Pretty sure I do, Vinny," I said.

"Okay... but if you don't mind me asking, what's this all about?"

"Let's just say I have a friend who lost a bet. This is the punishment."

"Ah." Punishment, it seems, was something Vinny understood. Not that this was surprising... not with all the leather in the shop, it wasn't...

"Let me see that," I said when Vinny managed to get the last item off the peg board behind the counter. "Interesting. Does this hurt?"

"Not if you do it right," Vinny replied confidently. "In fact, I'm told it's rather pleasant. If you do it right. And you'll definitely need this," he added and held up a small bottle full of clear liquid.

"Sure wouldn't want to do it wrong," I added and handed it back. Vinny looked at one of my items and looked questioningly at me.

"Counselor?" he asked. "I think I might have something a little more... suitable... if you don't mind my suggestion."

"Suggest away," I said. "You're the expert here, not me."

Vinny took his time, browsing through his stock until he had done better than I would have thought possible. Suddenly the evening's events looked like they might be a bit of fun, for both Sandra and myself.

"How much?" I asked, when Vinny was done bagging my purchases. Vinny put on an affected look.

"Counselor," he said. "For you, these cost nothing. In fact, let me help you out to your car."

"You sure?"

"After what you did for me, it's the least I can do."

I nodded and, feeling somewhat like a mob boss, allowed Vinny to escort me back to my car, even going so far as to hand him my keys so he could unlock the door.

"Well... thanks," I said when I was done. I shook his hand and was off. As I hit the ramp back to the highway I checked my watch. If I hurried, I figured I'd beat Sandra to my place by a few minutes.

Twenty minutes, as it turned out. More than enough to get everything set. In fact, I was sitting on the couch watching the evening news when Sandra pulled up and buzzed up from downstairs.

"Come on in," I said and buzzed her in. A minute later she was in my living room, looking around - a bit too eagerly, I though - for signs of her "punishment" for the evening.

"Well?" she said as she sat down. She was wearing a short pair of pink bike shorts and what looked to be little more than a lycra sports bra. For a moment I considered just having her stay like that, but thought she might be disappointed. "What's the plan for tonight."