The Case

by Lee Cunningham

  Heath was instantly reminded of just how isolated he had become in life. He hated his solitary existence. He had no partner, no real friends, and a strained relationship with any family he had left. His thoughts soon drifted back to his wife…or ex-wife, now happily paired with another man...and his daughters. He cringed and shut his eyes tightly, at the thought, and remembered.

  Still, the picture in his mind remained. The picture of his ex-wife with another man, and the man raising his daughters. His twin baby girls, who were now growing through life without him. A wave of anguish overcame Heath. He wrenched his eyelids down harder, as if doing so would allow him to block the pain the picture triggered. It didn’t work in the least.

  “Headache?”

  Heath heard the words coming from somewhere behind the picture of his family with the substitute man, an image now lodged on the backside of his brain. The picture began to fade, as the question now registered and struggled to take first position in his mind, replacing the pain the scene had created.

  Heath forced his eyes open and blinked twice, realizing a lone teardrop had rolled down each cheek on his face. The young, toned, olive-skinned beauty stood staring at him, her head cocked, with a look of concern one seldom saw in strangers.

  “Shooting pains.” He offered the explanation apologetically, instantly realizing no apology was needed. He was embarrassed by the young woman’s concern, caused by his own lack of control.

  “We’re not supposed to…but I have Acetaminophen…if you would like to try it. I can’t take bad headaches for very long without some pharmaceutical assistance, myself!”

  “I’m sure it will be fine in a minute,” Heath countered. He flashed a reassuring smile, as his eyes flickered down, belying the smile.

  “You don’t have to be the macho man with me. We haven’t even met, so you have no image to protect…yet!” The beauty smiled and revealed the whitest, most perfect teeth Heath had ever seen. She grabbed a necklace absentmindedly with her left hand, and toyed with the gold Christian cross that dangled from a matching gold chain. As she stared at Heath he looked down at the cross. And as he did she looked down and realized she had pulled it from its resting place in her blouse where it had been nestled between her firm breasts.

  “A gift from my mom before she passed away. It was hers…I guess I touch it a lot without even realizing I touch it.”

  “Nice…very nice.” Heath smiled back.

  Another customer moved in behind Heath, impatiently waiting to place his order. Heath ignored the man, and held out his hand. He said, “I’m Heath.”

  “Jessica,” the beauty offered as she took his hand. “Have a seat and I’ll bring your drink and the rest of your order.” She motioned to a free two-top table against the wall to her right. Heath complied, sitting down next to, and not far from another two-top where two young men sat debating. His attention was immediately drawn to their spirited debate.

  “James, most of Hollywood is behind them, our President is behind them, and almost the entire party is behind them. Our country has enough money and resources to take them all in, feed them, clothe them, house them, educate them, provide them medical care, and help them integrate in to our society. It’s our responsibility, as a nation of compassionate people. We just need to take more money from corporations and the rich, to help the poor. And most of the wealthy in Hollywood support the idea!”

  The other man countered. “What gives those pampered, west-coast Hollywood elitist actors, artists, and all their coastal elitist friends the remotest idea that they alone, have the gift of superior knowledge, and that they possess an inherent right to lecture me on how I should think, vote, and act, as a citizen of the United States…or even as a person?! These assholes are no different than their Ivy League professor buddies, who sit in their gilded halls of pseudo-knowledge, and lecture the children of the rich and famous, indoctrinating generations of empty-headed, impressionable, naive young minds. They brainwash the youth to believe in social systems, that if implemented, would destroy the very way of life that allows these same tenured, myopic, idiotic educators to bloviate. The same way of life, that allows the pampered darlings of the wealthy to continue the very privileged existence they were born in to, without straining to make a living!” The angry young black man in his thirties was well built and fired up. The veins in his neck began to thicken and stand out, as his anger flared. Heath considered him carefully.

  “Communism, socialism, fascism, dictators and war-lords of all shapes and sizes...it’s all been tried and failed, hundreds, if not thousands of times throughout history! And yet these simpletons in our own country try to lead us down the merry path of fools toward destruction, beseeching us to try these same old tired and failed systems again!”

  “And they use podiums created by lefty liberals, for lefty liberals, at events like the Oscars or Golden Globes, or even worse the SAG Awards, where they pat themselves on the back for getting paid millions of dollars to act. Act, Mike! They reward themselves because they PRETEND to be someone they aren’t! These same poor excuses for human beings seem incapable of learning from the lessons of the past, even as they watch the societies they worship fail, time after time.”

  “And by the way, exactly how do the liberal elite magically acquire all this impressive knowledge, that seamlessly transforms a pampered A-list star, in to a world renowned expert on social issues, environmental science, poverty, law, warfare, interrogation techniques, women’s rights, race relations, and the grey lines separating free speech from the need to classify and protect sensitive information…just to name a few of the skills presumed by the coddled famous. Skills they acquire, by the way, at the very moment they make it big?! And damn it all to hell, and shame on us, for listening to this chorus of fools, broadcast by the leftist media who worship these sons-of-bitches.”

  This man was now on a fast roll, and rapidly continued venting, while his friend sat looking down at his coffee cup. The friend stared hard, as he rolled the cup back and forth. He strained to see, as if the cup were bottomless, and he was trying to decipher a defense, located at the furthest depth of the container…a defense he could barely see with the naked eye.

  “They turn to Scientology, or eastern religions, and haughtily feign enlightenment, only to discover there are no better answers in those realms, either. And yet they still can’t shut their pie holes. They continue to preach and chastise the working class, and then run off to Saint Barts, where they board their designer yachts, attended by throngs of servants, so they can rest up for their next public appearance.”

  “Yet another appearance, Mike, where the liberal media once again welcomes them with loving outstretched arms, and film them admiringly, as they continue to vomit forth their diatribe. Once again, they graciously consent to instruct the rest of us peons on how we should think and act, to prove we are for the working class, and by that proof, worthy to survive, and breath their precious air.”

  “Hell Mike, we ARE the damned working class. It’s only the freeloaders, and the lefty liberals who love the adoration of the freeloaders, who are for these crazy ideas. Fuck them! Fuck them all!”

  “James, you voted for this administration, just like I did. He’s leading us in the direction we chose!”

  “Mike, you and I didn’t choose this path! And I’m tired of the Liar-In-Chief lecturing me on what it means to be an American, and telling me how I need make sacrifices, as he takes his entourage and seventy-five secret service men on paid overtime to protect him, on one of his many vacations. He’s either an idiot, a liar, or one of the craftiest men in our history! Either way, he’s one of the biggest single problems our country has faced, in decades!”

  Mike raised a hand to protest and countered, “He said he’s socially liberal, but fiscally conservative. You should like that!”

  The angry man cut him off, and snapped, “Bullshit! Socialists all say that crap. It’s a tired old leftist party line. Like they told us we have plenty of money, while w
e can’t even meet the obligation to pay the interest on our country’s loans. And, they spout this B.S. while the liberal administration increased the national debt more than any other president in history, while it left the country less able to defend itself against enemies from within or without…and, while it racially divided the country, sending us backward fifty years, as it reignited race wars. All bullshit, smoke and mirrors.”

  “James, that’s all wrong. This administration is offering a hope for a positive change in everyone’s lives. It’s about social justice, inclusion, health care, and equalizing the plight of less fortunate nations, forced to deal with the massive economic force the U.S. represents. The left offers hope to the world and is committed to remaking our country for the better.”

  “More bullshit, Mike! Socialism does massive damage, and when criticized, claims the other side was responsible for the real damage. They say they just tried to save us all from ourselves. Leave us the hell alone. Take the Hippocratic Oath! First do no harm! You don’t pass a 2,500-page law, taking away people’s right to buy medical insurance as they choose, and take away their choice to keep their doctors and preferred plans, only to later read the law you passed, and discover the harm you’ve done. Years after you did it, you finally begin to understand the mess you’ve created as the system crashes and burns! And then you won’t even admit the problem! And that’s only one example. Stupid, stupid, politically motivated bullshit!”

  The man’s friend said, “If you talk to someone on the far left, they will defend these actions and state the facts a little differently than their opposition, you do realize. That stupid law got medical insurance…for 12,000,000 people that never had it, before the law!”

  “Hell Mike, Liberals can’t defend their actions or lack of actions, so they continually revise history and lie. Don’t you understand that their only defensive solution is to alter history? By lying about the facts and pretending that it’s just all better now, they justify their own failed policies. The deductibles and costs are so high for those 12,000,000 people they can’t afford to use that insurance! Fuck that bullshit.”

  “And if we’re discussing the mistakes of the ruling left, I’m sick and tired of the absurd political correctness destroying our country, as we take an ostrich-like, head-in-the-sand posture while refusing to honestly confront our problems and our enemies. Now our government even apologizes for the actions of those who erode our civilization, and threaten our way of life. Our President is an idiot, or a traitor, who is intentionally trying to destroy our country, to level the playing field with other emerging nations, much to the detriment of his own citizens.” The man finally paused, as his peak pet peeves seemed to have been stated.

  The man’s tablemate, Mike, leaped at his obvious chance to interrupt the pace and object. “But James, you can’t think that way. You’re ivy-league educated. You’re successful. You’ve worked in government. For god’s sake, you’re even a registered Democrat! And, lastly, you’re a black man!” he protested.

  “That’s exactly the problem the socialists have created, Mike. Thanks for proving my point. As you pointed out so eloquently, I am a black man and I know I’m black. And I have my own mind. And I can think any way I choose…and I choose my way.”

  “You see my friend, identity politics only serves to divide the nation by defining and juxtaposing the identities that wrestle each other for power and control, and in so doing encourage more division and opposition. Black lives don’t matter anymore than the lives of any other race. But saying they matter more, creates division and invites bigotry and hatred. All lives matter. All men, women, and children matter. We can’t divide to achieve harmony…we have to unify, and eliminate division, to create harmony!”

  “That’s where the hate crime enhancement went wrong, and damaged our chance to solve different crime problems. Why should it be a worse crime to kill a person if you’re motivated by your dislike for the victim’s sex, religion, creed, race, sexual orientation etc., than it is to just kill them? They’re fucking dead, Mike! They don’t care if you killed them because you didn’t like them or not. I think they assumed that you didn’t like them when they died.”

  “You see? We lose touch with the crime of murder, when we focus on it being worse if a person murders a member of some protected group. And someone else is always left out of the protected group status, and their assailant doesn’t get the press or prosecutorial attention that they should…so that group is divided out, and angry. We need to focus on the crime itself, and then suddenly we’re back to the same justice for all…no division.”

  “Mike, someday I hope you’ll understand that I can be a black man, and a Democrat, and a conservative. I can fight for what I think is a correct social agenda, and not feel any guilt when confronted by a party-line spewing, ultra-left, progressive liberal. My life and my mind are formed from the union of my being, and the sum-total of my experiences and judgements. I don’t have to agree with the first black POTUS because he’s half black and identifies only with that half, any more than I must agree with my mother’s pro-life viewpoint, because she’s a woman, or because she’s my mother. I’m an American, and I’m free to choose, and free to be me.”

  “If we could all set aside the division, and work together, we would all be solving the problems that face us, just as the founders believed we could. And then, we would really all be a lot better off in every way.”

  Mike laughed. “Well you have a point there. But to work together we would have to rely on receiving factual information. And to do so, news would have to be just real facts, instead of politically, emotionally and racially choreographed opinions and conjectures. And even then, we would have to rely on honest discussion and debate, instead of name calling, and shout-down techniques! It’s sad to say, but we’ve strayed so far as a nation in to our separate polarized divisions, I really don’t know if we can ever get back to sanity and reality.”

  And with that the two men both smiled at each other and clinked their cups, and the tension was dissolved.

  Heath realized he hadn’t even considered politics for years, and yet it remained an important part of many people’s daily lives. He had been watching the men, somewhat mesmerized, as they shared very different opinions, yet retained their friendship, and a mutual respect. They reminded him that he had one more void in his abnormal life. As he contemplated what had transpired, Jessica sat his drink, a chocolate muffin and a small plastic sleeve containing two capsules in front of him. She grinned.

  Before she left she said, “Nice to meet you Heath. Here is a card with our web site listed. You can take a survey on the site, and receive a free drink with your next drink purchase. Once you complete the survey you can print out your coupon, or bring it in on your phone app.”

  Heath took the card. On the back Jessica had included a note of thanks, her name, and a phone number. Heath looked up as she walked away. He couldn’t help but focus on her tight butt and shapely calves. He smiled and nodded as she looked over her shoulder at him. After finishing the muffin, he took the coffee drink and walked to his car to drive to the park.

  Heath parked where he could keep watch on the main arteries that fed the park with walkers, bicyclists, motorists and the occasional police unit. He had come here in the past and had watched Nevada Highway Patrol and Carson City Sheriff’s Office vehicles park side by side, and head to tail, as they chatted through open driver’s door windows. Some came here alone to eat their lunches, or take a break. Oddly enough, Heath felt comforted knowing that law enforcement was here, and where they were, for two very different reasons.

  As he sipped his Mocha, he thought how odd it was that he had always been a supporter of the police, even those that arrested him. It was the criminals you couldn’t trust. The cops were just the good guys doing a job that nobody else wanted to do, to keep society from falling in to anarchy. Anarchy was a horrible place where no one was safe...and no one had any rights. And even more difficult to understand, was h
ow quickly the average citizen turned on the cops. In prison Heath had learned that the average career criminal respects the cops. He may try to kill them to avoid arrest, but he respects the job they do, for the most part.

  Heath always found it odd that the biggest critic of the police was often the smart ass, know-it-all college kid with no life experience, or the institutionalized radical college professor, who also had no life experience apart from college. They thought they knew much more about the cop’s job and law, than the police did after years of training and experience.

  Then there were the soccer moms whose kids were detained for smoking dope or underage drinking, who couldn’t believe that their little Johnny or Jane could possibly do anything wrong. They would threaten to sue the cops or have-their-badge for even talking to their smug little shits. They just couldn’t seem to admit there was a real problem with their own little angel. Once again the cops were just doing their jobs, which seemed to be fine with everyone, until they themselves were the subject of law enforcement.

  Heath knew lots of stories from prison about how mommy and daddy had protected their darling little dummy, and fought against holding their child accountable for anything they ever did wrong. The stories were repeated each week at visitations throughout the nation’s lock-ups. He saw families with the same sad eyes, who came to visit their inmate loved one in the “joint.” They still just couldn’t believe that little Jonny had killed those four teenagers, in a drunk driving traffic accident, and that he was now serving four concurrent sentences of 10 years in prison, for four vehicular manslaughter convictions. The parents didn’t understand how they couldn’t have known their child had a drinking problem. They still believed “if only” they had received some warning they would have helped the little drunk.