🚀 go-pugleaf

	          < continued from preceding post >

   The attorney for the petitioner snuck another peek at the memo in
his hand.  In big block letters it read 'DESTROY HIM', referring to
the current witness.  So far, the cross-examination had not yet gone
as expected.  The witness was expected to wilt in humiliated defeat
when reminded that the Cold War was over; instead, General Tripper had
launched a twenty-minute discourse to the contrary.  Unable to dream
up a more fortuitous outcome, the lawyer let him speak, and happily
sipped his mocha, savoring the rich aroma of the Colombian bean.
   His counterpart, of course, was not so comfortable watching the
credibility of yet another character witness crumble.  But he suffered
in quiet, sipping his Turkish blend; his client just listened with
rapt attention.
   "I stand corrected," the lawyer smiled, when the general finally
came to the end of what he seemed to think was a complete and logical
proof.
   "Stay that way, soldier," Tripper replied.
   "Yes, sir!  So, General, does Richard Jackson share your opinions?"
   "Jackson is a patriot," Tripper confirmed.
   "Ah, yes, so you've said before.  Just what does that mean to you?"
   "It means that he loves his country, and will act to the best of
his ability to maintain her interests."
   "To the point of breaking the laws of the land?"
   "At times, it *is* necessary to heed a higher law."
   "And is that enough to justify arson and murder?"
   "Objection, your Honor!"
   "Sustained.  We were through this only a half hour ago."
   "My apologies, your Honor.  I'll withdraw the question.  General.
As you know, you are here to vouch for Mr. Jackson's character.  What
opinion do you have of his role as a single parent?"
   "I support him one hundred percent."
   "But this goes against America's great family values!"
   "Look to your own client, then.  I will not have my man faulted for
the failure of a woman."
   The lawyer did look to his client, seeing her bristling with rage.
"Roast Him!" she mouthed silently.  He smiled briefly and turned back
towards Tripper.
   "Do you approve of the way Mr. Jackson has raised his daughter?"
   "Yes.  I think he has done admirably."
   "Do you think he values her?"
   "He cherishes her."
   "In your opinion, which does he love more: his daughter or his
country?"
   "What?"
   "Which do you believe Jackson values more: daughter or country?"
   "That is a meaningless question."
   "I beg to differ.  Let me rephrase it.  If you found Mary to be
dangerous, and ordered Jackson to kill her, would he do so?"
   "I am confident he would do the right thing."
   "And what is that right thing?"
   "Jackson will not let personal sentiment interfere with his duty to
his nation.  If I gave the order, he would follow it."
   "No further questions, your Honor."

   Richard sat in silence, staring at the witness chair, even after
the witness had vacated it, deep in thought.  It was some moments
until he noticed Horace shaking him and trying to get his attention.
   "Mayday!  Mayday!"
   "I'm here."
   "I'm putting you on the stand.  Now!"
   "That wasn't part of the plan."
   "We have an emergency.  Weren't you paying attention?  Your CO just
said you'd kill Mary given the order!"
   "It's true," Richard said simply.
   "And so I need you to -- what?"
   "If necessary, I *would* kill her.  I've come damn close already."
   "Now, you know and I know that was only a dream."
   "I don't mean the dream."
   "There was something else?"
   "Yes, but I don't think *she* knows."

   The judge called from the bench.  "You may call your next witness."
   "One moment, your Honor!  You say Mary doesn't know about this?
Then I'll recall her.  Your Honor, --"
   "No!" Richard countered, tugging on Horace's arm.  "Don't bother."
   "But if we don't, we'll lose the case!"
   "So, maybe we should.  I'm not a good father for her.  You've heard
the evidence -- I'm a lawless amnesiac who steam-rolled his daughter
into an unwanted career."
   "That's not true, and you know it!"

   The gavel pounded.  "The bench would like to remind you two that
court is in session."
   "A thousand apologies, your Honor," Horace replied.
   "Do you have a witness."
   "Yes, your Honor.  I wish to call Richard Jackson to the stand."
   Richard turned suddenly.  "What?  No!"
   "It's the only way to show the truth!"
   "You told me yourself that the truth is irrelevant -- that this is
about winning and losing.  I know a lost cause when I see one."
   "But we can beat this!  We can explain the amnesia!"
   "Oh, right -- that will go over well.  'Your Honor.  There really
is nothing wrong with me.  It's just that my Author drank something he
shouldn't have!'"

   The judge coughed.
   Richard turned to the judge.  "Your Honor, I refuse to testify."
   Horace spoke up.  "Your Honor, I would like a brief recess to
confer with my client."
   "That won't be necessary, your Honor," Richard disagreed.
   "You're a stubborn son of a gun!" Horace told him.
   "So I've been told."
   "Which is why you can't give up!  It's not in character!  You're
supposed to stick with it, against all odds!"
   "Because that's what my Author wants?"
   "Right!"
   "That settles it then.  The Defense rests, your Honor."  He sat
down like rock.
   "What?!" Horace gaped.
   "Perhaps you mean 'respondent'," said the judge.  "This is not a
trial."
   "Sure fooled me."
   Horace glared at Richard.  "What do you think you're doing?!?"
   "I'm being stubborn."
   "But you can't do this!"
   "Yes, I can!" Richard retorted loudly.  "I'm tired of pretending to
be someone I'm not!"  He looked over to Lovitz.  "Go ahead; take her!
You win!  I don't want her; she isn't worth the trouble!"
   "Daddy!!" Mary screamed, before bawling.

   Horace stood alone amidst the tumult, and looked about.  Lovitz was
sitting back laughing loudly, pleased as punch, while her associates
traded high-fives.  The gallery was noisy with commentary, only to
slowly subside as the judge pounded her gavel.  When all was still,
all eyes looked to him for his next statement.
   "Respondent rests," he muttered quietly.
   "Very well, then," replied the justice.  "There will be a short
recess while I make my decision."  She retreated to her chamber.

   Just after she left one end of the courtroom, the doors burst open
at the other.  Ichii ran in and darted to Richard's table.  "I got the
info you wanted!"  He dumped a sheaf of papers onto the table.
   "It's a little late now," Horace muttered sourly.
   "What'd you find?" asked Richard.
   "Well, for one thing, 'Chris Lovitz' ain't her real name.  It's
`Christina Tolavitz`."
   "Is that supposed to mean something?"
   "Probably not, but this will.  She's the shock jock for a radio
station in North Carolina.  They call her Two-Way Tina.  Looks like
you've been screwed."
   "Smile when you say that," Tina instructed him.

   For her part, Tina merely watched Richard, Horace, and Ichii as
they reviewed the new evidence, then sat back in anger.  "Betty Yeh --
she's here, someplace.  Find her."  Two toadies scrambled, and she
just sat staring at the judge's door.

   Everyone rose as the judge entered and sat after she sat, all save
Horace who remained standing.  "If it please your Honor, respondents
have recently received evidence which may be important to this case."
   The judge looked evenly down at him.  "Denied."
   "But, your Honor.  This data is truly explosive."
   "Denied!  Counsel is advised to consider appeals through the usual
channels.  *This* judge has made a decision."  She glared at him until
he sat down.

   "Now, I have the following comments with respect to the case filed
by Chris Lovitz against Richard Jackson, petitioning for the custody
of Mary Elaine Jackson.  I can say categorically that the petition is
sound.  Although he may have raised his child well, it is evident that
the respondent has recently undergone severe changes, which render him
unfit for continued role as parent and guardian.  Furthermore, it has
been shown that the respondent has unduly influenced the development
of a minor's aspirations; railroading is something I do not abide.
However, just as I will not abide such influence, nor will I be party
to it.  One factor that seems to have been omitted in this discussion
is the age of the subject, who will be eighteen in less than a year.
Since our nation deems her old enough to vote in the future of her
country, it is certainly her right to have a say in her own.
   "Will Mary Jackson please rise?"  The teenager stood, wiping the
remaining tears off of her cheeks.  "Mary, you have heard all of the
discussion in this courtroom, as have I.  Considering all that you
have heard, what would be your choice?  Stay at home with your father,
or move in with your natural mother?"
   Mary stood and looked about.  She smiled wistfully for a long time
at Tina, making the latter uncomfortable indeed.  Seeing this, Mary
turned to Richard, who didn't look back at her at all,  She frowned,
and noticed Ichii there as well.  She then looked back at Tina.
   "Mom, I love you, I really do, but Daddy needs me.  He was always
upset that Elaine left him, and I don't want to do the same."  She
then turned to the judge.  "I want to go home!" she cried, before
running from the courtroom.
   "There it is.  Judgement is for the respondent."

				*****

   Tina's spokesman dropped back into his chair after the judge left
the courtroom.  "I suppose I must be punished now," he said to Tina.
   "You did your best.  If it weren't for the judge, we'd have won."
   "But you said that if we lost this case, we'd be punished!"
   "Yes," chorused one of the other flunkies.  "You promised!"
   "You mean you still want to suffer the consequences?"
   "Yes!  Punish us!" repeated the second flunky.
   "Does this mean you really wanted to *lose* this case?" Tina asked
her lawyer.
   "My only wish is to serve."
   "Well, all right.  But if I find out that you researched the judge
and found out that railroading business, I'll give you a whipping
you'll never forget."
   "Yes, mistress."
				*****

   "Cheer up, Betty.  Isn't this great?"
   "It's five hundred bucks I'm not getting, Skinny.  I know it's been
a long time for you, but some of us still need to eat."
   "But look what you got for that money!  A family reconciled in the
face of invasion by an overbearing nymphomaniac!  Oh, the passion!
Oh, the drama!"
   "If I wanted that, I'd have spent ten bucks on a movie.  Button up
your jacket.  Your ribs are showing."
   "Hey, they're great ribs!"
   "Would you like to go back in the briefcase?"
   "No!  Not right now.  I think I'll go for a walk."
   "I don't think I like the sound of that."
   "It's okay!  Trust me!"  And he was off.

   Betty sighed and made her way to Richard's table, where Horace,
Ichii, and General Tripper were trying to cheer him.  "Mr. Jackson?"
She extended a hand as he turned.  "Betty Yeh, Private Investigator.
I helped Tina find your daughter."
   "So, you're behind all this?" Tripper demanded.
   "What is that supposed to mean?"
   "You're Chinese, aren't you?"  He added to Richard, "It figures
that Communists were in this somewhere."
   "I was born in Texas, thank you very much!  Now, I swear: when I
promised to help her, I had no idea she would go this far.  All I did
was try to reunite a daughter with her natural mother.  Taking this to
court was entirely Tina's decision."
   "Do you know why she did it?" Richard asked quietly.
   "Yes, she told me.  She didn't like to think of her daughter being
raised by a military father.  She never got along with her own, who
was a marine.  Also, she's personally seen an Admiral Stanson abuse
his own son."
   "Stanson is a fine man!" Tripper interjected.
   "Well, he's a crap father!  And from what I hear, you can tell him
that!  Anyway, after Thanksgiving, Tina filed this case, and hired me
to investigate you.  I deeply apologize; I never realized you and Mary
were close."
   Richard grunted and looked at the floor.
   "You really do need to get out more, Mister Jackson.  What little I
*could* find in the newspapers about you was not flattering.  Believe
me, I *tried* to find some justification in keeping you two together."
   "I guess having no record is almost as damning as a bad one, huh?~
   "Sometimes.  If it's any consolation, I'll do what I can to help
you in the future, free of charge.  I understand you still miss your
old flame."
   "To think I almost lost to a woman who talks trash on the radio."
   "She's not the only one.  I recently read about someone talking
trash on a Motown station 25 years ago."
   Richard and Tripper both looked at her coldly, the latter asking,
"What would you know about that?"
   Betty smiled.  "Only what I read in the papers.  I used to be a
librarian, so I know how to find these things.  Here, I saved a copy
of the clipping."

				*****

   Mary stepped out of the women's rest room, having finally dried all
the tears off her cheeks.  Out in the hall, she saw a pale, thin kid
covered almost completely in clothing, including gloves on his hands.
   "Feeling better now?" the gangly youth asked.
   "Who are *you*?"
   "Just a friend of Betty's.  That's a tough choice you made there."
   Mary nodded.
   "Cheer up!  Think of the bright side!  You can continue your life
knowing that your mother is out there and cares for you!  And besides,
now you know who she is!"
   "That's easy for you to say."
   "It sure is.  I still haven't found my own mother."
   "When did you start looking?"
   "Um... a long time ago.  It's a long story."
   "Tell me!"
   "Maybe later.  Right now, you've got a father to hug."

				*****

   Tina breathed deeply and crossed the courtroom, pointedly ignoring
General Tripper.  She walked right up to Richard and extended a hand.
"Congratulations."
   Richard grabbed the hand with reluctance, glancing at the documents
newly spread across his table.  Tina caught his glance.
   "I guess that means I don't need these any more," she shrugged,
pulling off a brunette wig and shedding her overcoat, revealing a long
blond mane running down to her waist.  "You don't know how good it
feels to get out of that get-up."
   "So, you've been lying to us all along," Richard said simply.
   "I had my reasons."
   "So I heard."
   "Well, I promise you, I did it for the kid.  She's the first person
in the world I ever really cared about, and I needed to see how she
turned out."
   Tripper snorted.  "'Cared about'!  You left her behind!"
   "Yes, I did!  I left her with a man that I trusted would be better
able to give her the love and care she needed!"
   "You're tell me you've *met*?  Jackson, do you know this woman?"
   Richard looked at Horace as he answered.   "Sir, I can honestly say
that I have no recollection of such a metting."
   "Ask your daughter," Tina suggested.  "It will give you something
to talk about."  She smiled mysteriously.
   "You've told her?"
   "I've told her a lot, and all of it was true.  It was the least I
could do.  And she's told me a lot about you too."
   Richard darkened.  "What did she tell you?"
   "That you're still in love with Elaine, after all these years!  Get
a grip, man!  I chose you so that you could give all that love to the
kid!  You did fine for awhile there, but I don't know what happened
since."

   Mary charged in at that moment and wrapped her arms tightly around
Richard's waist.  Richard held his arms out uselessly for a moment,
then rested them gently across her shoulders, returning the embrace.
   "That's a start," Tina smiled.
   "Hi, Mom," Mary managed to say from within the hug.
   "Hi, Mary.  Now you two just stay like that.  I'll be going now."
   Mary broke out of the embrace.  "Will we talk again?"
   "Any time, darling.  You can call me, or I can call you once a week
like we did."
   "Yay!"
   "Oh, and Richard, don't worry if you can't afford to send her to
college.  It's on me."
   "Any other advice?"
   "For you, no.  The kind of advice I give is not the kind you need."
She chuckled.  "But if you need help understanding a teenage girl,
that I can do."
   "Red raincoat, black leather skirt, white blouse," said Richard.
   "What?"
   "I've got this fleeting image of someone your height in a plastic
raincoat."
   "You remember!" Tina exclaimed.  "I'm impressed."
   "No," Richard replied.  "This is something I remember from last
January.  It's not important."
   Tina smiled knowingly.  "I understand.  Bye, now!"
   "Bye, Mom."
   "Good-bye, Mary.  You know, I really wish you weren't so attached
to your Dad and your boyfriend."
   "You noticed?"
   "Yes, I noticed.  It's just that, well, seeing you in that cabaret
outfit, I bet you'd have made a really butch dyke."

				*****

   Betty scanned the crowded hallway in the courthouse.  "Skinnybutt!
I know you're here someplace!"
   A trio of screams echoed from a side corridor and three teenage
girls darted past her.  One tripped on her high heels, before pulling
them off and following the rest.  Their hunter appeared moments later.
   "Ski-chan!" Betty scolded.  "What did I tell you about terrorizing
the locals?  We are guests here!"
   "Aw, you're no fun!  Tell me: that tall one -- doesn't she remind
you of someone?"
   "Not particularly.  A Tri-Delt is a Tri-Delt."
   "Oh, well, it was for a good cause.  Mary told me that they used to
bug her.  I just gave them a little friendly advice."
   Betty looked at his grin.  "I don't want to know."

				*****

   25 December 1995

   Mary held the red muslin frock up to her shoulders and let it hang
down in front of her.  "Oh, this is lovely!  Don't you agree, Daddy?"
   "Yes, I'm sure it is," Richard muttered.  After a moment's thought,
he continued.  "Would you be comfortable with having the neck line
like that?  It's not like wearing a tee-shirt, you know."
   Mary giggled.  "Daddy, I'm seventeen!  It's not like it's gonna be
a problem for me!"
   "Just checking.  If I remember, that's probably the first dress you
received in the last ten years."
   "Yes, it is!  I'll have to write Mom a letter thanking her for it!"
   "Yes, you will," Richard said quietly.
   "So, what did *you* get me, Daddy?"
   Richard pointed out a carefully wrapped box by the tree, which Mary
ran to retrieve.  After ripping of the wrapping paper, she raised the
lid and peered in, with a gasp.  "Oh, Daddy!" she cried as she lifted
out a red muslin frock and held it up to her shoulders.
   "I wanted you to look nice for your senior prom," he shrugged.
   Mary looked over at the dress she had examined before and giggled.
"It's really sweet!" she said, before kissing him on the cheek.
   "You don't mind?"
   "No, Daddy, I don't mind at all!  I was just expecting to see a
pistol in that box.  You surprised me!"
   "Well, I'll just take it back and exchange it for another."
   "Oh, no, Daddy!  Just leave it the way it is!"
   "If you insist."
   "I insist!"

   "Oh, and this is for you!"  Mary fetched a small, simply-wrapped
gift and handed it to him.
   "Where did *you* get the money to go shopping?"
   "Oh, Daddy!  Ichii has a job, you know!"
   "He should be saving his money for his future; not helping you buy
gifts for an old man."
   "Really, Daddy!  It's not a problem!  Just open it!"
   Richard relented, and carefully undid the package.  "A book?"
   Mary smiled happily.  "Look inside."
   Richard turned to the first page.  "This is handwritten."
   "Uh-huh!"
   "Is this your diary?"
   "Yes, Daddy!  I know you still don't remember very well, and I want
to help!  I've got a half dozen of those, and I want you to read them
all!  .. Except for the last one."  She giggled merrily.
   "I can't read this.  It is your private thing."
   "Daddy!  I'm *giving* it to you!  I'd rather you knew everything
about me than to remember nothing.  Please, Daddy, read it.  For me?"
   "You sure are a stubborn little girl."
   "I get it from my Dad," Mary smiled.
   "So I'm learning."
   Mary giggled, then impulsively sat in his lap.  "So, Daddy, let's
start reading!"
   "Uh, Mary.  This chair is only designed for one person."
   "You're changing the subject, Daddy!  And I'm not moving!"  She
kissed him playfully on the cheek, then snuggled against his shoulder
as he began to read.


This work assumes the standard copyrights of the Superguy mailing list.
All characters used herein are the property of the author, save three,
namely Two-Way Tina, Betty Yeh, and Skinnybutt, who appear by permission
of Randal Milholland.  The author extends his deepest gratitude for the
use of these characters.

Author's Note: The title of this episode, "I say, I am your mother."
is an actual quote from Shakespeare's _As You Like It_.