by S. Poulos
suggest then?" he said.
"I want you to trust me. If you trust me; things will turn all right for everyone."
"What shall I do then?"
"When do you have any important meeting with any dignitary in the near future?"
"In four days I have to meet the Secretary of State... wait for it... to congratulate me for the good work we are doing. But this won't happen here, but at the foreign office."
"That is even better. Can you call a meeting of the committee that day?"
"Yes."
"And how much quorum do you need in order to make an amendment to one of previous recommendations the WCFET made?"
"Sixty-five per cent out of present committee members."
"Do you think you can gather that number?"
"I believe I can." For the first time the chairman felt alive again. He felt like conspiring against the conspirators... against the whole system that brought him into this mess. He did not include himself in it no... everything could be swept away with a fresh breath and above all he didn't mind to losing the chair of such an important position. The idea that he would get his family back gave him wings.
To hell with this jinxed chair, he thought. This chair does not bring any good to anyone; it just brings worries and despair.
"Yes I can and I will do it," he said, and for the first time his voice had a shade of optimistic tone.
"Now," Michael said, "how many confident pals have you that trust you?"
"Right now I am invisible. Everyone trusts me for the good job I am doing. Everyone wants to be my friend but for sure I can say four; the ones I was conspiring with to change the amendment."
"Is there a special form when the WCFET issue a recommendation or it is done on a normal official paper?"
"We have a special form for it."
"Can I see it?"
"Sure and the chairman handed one to him.
After Michael studied it for a while he said to the chairman, "Can you persuade your four buddies to sign this blank recommendation form just before you are supposed to see this dignitary because... say... lack of sufficient time for it and that you are going to fill it out later on?"
"I think I know where you are going with this. I think you are brilliant and you are not even a lawyer."
"Not yet. Now listen carefully; how good an actor are you?"
" I don't know anything about acting."
"Well you better learn fast. Make sure everyone knows about this important meeting with the dignitary."
"They all know about it."
"Well, at the last minute, just before you leave for this important meeting, you will pretend that you forgot something and that you have to take care of another item. Open your briefcase. Go first to your buddies and show them the form. Sign it, telling them that a slight amendment has to be made and that you don't have time to fill it right now, but they need to sign it too.
"While you are getting out of the meeting room you will stop at the door. Turn and in a natural way you will say, 'Friends, there is another small item we have to take care of. Unfortunately I don't have time to explain, but I and some other members have already signed it. It concerns the recommendation. It needs a slight amendment for more accurate wording, as the last was too general. I will take care of the exact wording later. After all we cannot let the secretary wait for me, can we?' Do you think you can do that?"
"By golly how did you think about all that? You are a genius."
"Listen, it is not a joke. It is absolutely necessary to choose the right words you are going to use in this case. I doubt it very much but someone may dispute it in court. They won't dare do it, because they have signed it and you told them that you intended to make an amendment, which you then did. You are a lawyer and you know the weight words carry and the consequences of it. You may even find more appropriate words to use."
"You are a whiz kid; where do you get all this from?"
"I don't know. They just come."
"Then what?"
"Then we roll into action."
"You mean all this was the pre-game stuff?"
"Exactly."
"With this kind of laymen on the loose who wants to be a lawyer?"
So the day of the meeting was set and then Michael left the WCFET place and went to eat something in a restaurant. Then he went back to the motel. After a short reflection of the day he fell asleep.
Next day he thought to ring the ex-chairman to inform him of the progress he was making.
"Chairman," he said, "I don't want to raise your expectations high but something is brewing here."
"Good, because I'm in a dead end here."
"Chairman, I want you to concentrate on the appeal side of the case. Do you know when they are going to convene? Have you got any idea when will be a good time to lodge an appeal?"
"I know that at the beginning of next week they are going to hear an appeal by one defender of the former Yugoslavia. If we lodge one soon they will probably accept it for that day but we will need a case for it and I can't imagine it happening."
"Let us be positive about it. I will call you as soon as I have something solid to tell you."
After the telephone call, Michael decided to write down the new recommendation to have it ready if needed.
After considerable re-examination and deliberation of the so-called Teacher's case, I the chairman, and the committee members of the WCFET, have decided to re-enact the recommendation to its former stature as we were unable to gather sufficient evidence to support our previous findings and as we were misled by various accusations that proved groundless so we have no sufficient evidence for the continuation of his indictment.)
This signed by the majority of the committee members and especially by the chairman himself should be sufficient reason for an appeal to upheld, Michael thought, and as the driving force behind this second recommendation was the chairman himself and his four buddies he did not think anybody would dispute it.
Besides, most of them were lawyers and they should be careful where they put their signatures next time. You have to use the same weapons as they use in order to fight evil he thought; you have to use fire against fire.
The day of the committee meeting arrived and Michael went to the WCFET to see the chairman. The chairman told him it was the first time since he made the decision to amend this recommendation that he had slept peacefully.
"Even my wife notices the change in me and she is much softer towards me. I am looking forward to opening a new page in my life," he said.
"You even look much better since I saw you; things are starting to look up. Anyway this is the new recommendation I have drafted. I want you to have a look at it."
The chairman read the recommendation and said, "I couldn't write it better myself. I will only change some words to make it more incomprehensible." He laughed.
The time arrived for the meeting and the chairman made sure the recommendation form was in his briefcase.
Michael suggested he should see the Secretary of State after all for it would look more official and give more prestige and more status to his recommendation. Everyone would associate this meeting in the Foreign Office with the new recommendation.
"So in one hour time you must leave the committee meeting to go to the other meeting, and before that, you must tell your secretary to take the recommendation form signed by the others and to leave it on your desk and that it is important.
"Now how long you think you need before you can come back here to your office?"
"I don't know. In about three hours I suppose."
"By then the WCFET will close its doors for the public I presume?"
"Yes and the committee members and everyone will be gone home by then."
"Can you give me a ring as soon as you leave the secretary's office? I will be around here, and then we can walk into the office together."
"I will sure do that."
"Now I want you to look like a billion dollar man. Be as confident as can be. I am
sure you can do it and we will meet in front of the building whenever you finished with the secretary."
The chairman entered the meeting room with the flair of a king. His four buddies stood up clapping and soon everyone followed suit. The chairman looked elegant and graceful and every member wanted to shake his hand and to congratulate him.
The meeting rolled with some formal and mundane topics and when towards the end the chairman asked his buddies to sign the recommendation form, they did it without hesitation. Going towards the door he stopped and repeated what Michael told him to say but his confidence and the way he said it even surprised him.
As soon as he closed the door behind him he ran to his office and had a gulp of his whisky.
The Secretary of State was waiting for him at the front door of the building with some photographers taking some pictures for the occasion. This time the chairman was far more confident; after all, he didn't really have to act, he merely had to acknowledge the prizes and the honors.
After some formalities and well wishes, the Secretary of State guided him to the front door of the building for some more photos and then off he went for the WCFET headquarters.
Piece of cake, he thought on the way there. Piece of cake.
Then he rang Michael to say he was on his way.
They met in front of the building and walked together to the chairman's office. They found the recommendation form with all the signatures on the table, and they started to work on it.
Then Michael rang three of the major newspapers to send a reporter each to the WCFET concerning of the amendment of the recommendation they made about the Teacher.
"It's a complete one hundred and eighty degree
