by Bob Blanton
“I will.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Matt, I know you have the period free, let’s do it,” Emily said. It was Friday before school started and the last chance to change their classes.
“Why would I want to take journalism? I’m going to be a computer scientist,” Matthew said.
“Because you’re already a secret agent, and journalism will teach you how to read people. A good journalist is like a good spy, they get close to people to learn things, and they even follow them around.”
“Why don’t you get Alex to take it with you?”
“She and Jason are taking drama. They’re going to be totally busy with that. Come on, it’ll be good for you.”
“Your reasoning seems pretty weak.”
“Well, I want to take it and I figure if we’re both in the class, we can help each other. Besides, working on the school paper will look good on your college application. And besides that, you owe me for warning you not to go with the Winthrops to the US Open.”
“So you’re not above using guilt to get me to take this class with you.”
“Whatever it takes.”
“Okay, I’m in, but I have a feeling I’m going to regret it.”
“No you won’t.”
Chapter 2
Back to School
“Hey, Superman,” Terry Walsh called out when Matthew rode his bike onto the Pacific Coast Academy campus. Terry was referring to a short blurb in the local paper about how Matthew had helped to foil a robbery at a diner when he, Emily, and Jason were driving to the East Coast with Matthew’s mother. The waitress who was behind the robbery had tried to shoot Matthew but he’d used his portal to block the bullets. She’d told everyone he must be Superman because the bullets bounced off of him. Since she was a little crazy, everyone there had laughed it off. But that didn’t stop the reporter from putting it in the article about the event.
“Terry, give it a rest,” Matthew said.
“Aw, come on. Our own local hero and it turns out he’s Superman.”
“That waitress was nuts. She couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.”
“Sure, sure. Just make sure you’re around if any of us needs to be rescued.”
“I’ll make sure to rescue anyone but you,” Matthew said.
“Ouch, man that’s cruel.”
By this time Matthew was next to Terry. He reached over and grabbed his wrist, applying a little pressure to the pressure point in the web of his thumb.
“Ouch, let go!”
“Just letting you know the kind of pain wise-ass remarks can cause you,” Matthew said. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got to get to class.”
Matthew didn’t actually have a class. It was Tuesday, the first day of school, and since he attended his Calculus III class at UCSD on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, he had study hall in the library on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But he wanted an excuse to hurry away from Terry and his idiot remarks.
◆ ◆ ◆
“Hey, Emily, where are Jason and Alex?”
“They switched to civics instead of political science, it’s easier. Didn’t you see them head out after lit class?”
“I wondered why they were going the wrong way. Why did they switch?”
“Alex is worried that drama will be a lot of work this semester. Don’t worry, they’re still on the AP track.”
“So that means we only have AP lit with them.”
“Yes, and I have calculus with them, too,” Emily said.
“Oh, right. Here comes Mr. Ward,” Matthew said as he slid back into his seat and focused his attention on the front of the class. It would be nice to be able to just focus on class since he no longer had to worry about Sayid.
◆ ◆ ◆
“Welcome to journalism,” Ms. Whittaker said. “Our first order of business is to get volunteers to work on the school paper. Volunteering will only get you an interview; you have to pass the interview to work on the paper. If you would like to volunteer, please stop by after class and I’ll assign you an interview slot.”
After class, at Emily’s insistence, she and Matthew lined up with the others volunteering for the school paper. Emily allowed Matthew to go first.
“Ms. Whittaker, I’m just here for moral support,” Emily said, “but don’t let him know.”
Ms. Whittaker gave Emily a nod and pretended to write out an appointment. “Thanks for not wasting our time,” she whispered as Emily took the slip of paper.
◆ ◆ ◆
Matthew and Emily met Jason and Alex for lunch at the Teriyaki Bowl. Jason, Alex, and Emily loaded up with Sushi, while Matthew took the place’s name seriously and had a Teriyaki bowl.
“Jason, how are you managing Hanna?” Matthew asked.
Jason snorted.
“Oh, Matt, you should know better,” Emily said. “Hanna is staying over at our place. Cara would never trust Jason to watch after her.”
“That must be a houseful,” Matthew said. “Alex, Hanna, and Sonja; how is your mother standing it?”
“Yvette does most of the work, but it is a bit overwhelming. It’s been a week with one more to go.”
“If you guys want a break, I bet my mom would be okay with Hanna and Sonja doing a sleepover with Jessica. Jen could babysit.”
“Are you sure?”
“I can ask.”
“Please. Maybe it would get me out of the dog house,” Emily said.
“Sure.”
“Hey, you’ve never really explained why you’re in the dog house,” Alex said.
“Just a little misunderstanding when we were in New York,” Emily said.
“Well?” Alex asked expectantly.
“Hey, you’ve got enough dirt on me, I’m not giving you more.”
“So, Matt, are you getting any driving in?”
“Some. I’m still taking the drivers-ed course in Encinitas and Mom lets me drive whenever we go anywhere. I’ve still got three months.”
“And two weeks,” Jason added.
“Yeah, I can count.”
“What are you going to do for a car?” Alex asked.
“Not sure. I should probably start looking for one in the Auto Trader,” Matthew said.
“You’re going to buy a used one?” Jason asked.
“Hey, I’m not rich.”
Emily shot Coke through her nose. “Sorry, it just went down the wrong way.”
Matthew gave her a mean look while he patted her on the back.
◆ ◆ ◆
“Sorry, Matt. I couldn’t help myself,” Emily said as she and Matthew drove back to school.
“Yeah, right.”
“Really. You said you’re not rich and all I could think was that you’ve got over 200 million dollars stashed in those offshore accounts you stole from Sayid,” Emily said. “Plus you’re getting 200K per year from the Prince.”
“The money in those offshore accounts isn’t mine.”
“Then whose is it? You’re not going to give it back.”
“No. But I should donate it or something. I’ll figure something out.”
“But you could still afford a new car with the money you’re getting from the Prince.”
“Not really. Our accountant worked things out so I’m putting away a lot of it into a 401K, and I’m helping with expenses so Mom can cut back on her hours and spend more time with Jessie.”
“Still.”
“I don’t need a new car. If anything, Mom needs a new one.”
Chapter 2
Political Science 101
“The cost of legislating morality,” Matthew read off the board as he and Emily took their seats in class.
“Sounds interesting. What do you think it’s about?”
“Drugs.”
“Quiet everyone,” Mr. Ward called out. “I thought I’d introduce a provocative subject this week. I know you’re still settling into the pattern of being back in school. Come on, take your seats.”
It was only a little o
ver a minute before the class had settled in. Everyone liked Mr. Ward’s lectures.
“Okay, let’s list the way we legislate morality. . . . Jess.”
“We pass laws making things illegal.”
“Are there other ways? . . . Come on, what else is the legislature famous for?”
“Spending money.”
“Correct. The choices the legislature makes on how much money to spend and where to direct that money also impacts how people live. And can in effect legislate morality. Now what kind of morality do we legislate?”
“We have laws against murder.”
“Now is that legislating morality, or is it self-preservation?”
“Both?”
“If there wasn’t a moral reason not to murder someone, would the laws still ban it?”
“Probably.”
Matthew raised his hand. Mr. Ward immediately pointed to him. “Drug and Alcohol use.”
“Excellent, a favorite target.”
“That brings up the use of taxes,” Matthew added.
“I was wondering if someone would bring that up. Taxes, legislatures love taxes, especially, sin taxes. . . . Now other ways of trying to legislate morality?”
“Gay marriage.”
“Good.”
“Underage sex?”
“Excellent!”
“Pedophilia?”
“An interesting addition. We definitely need to discuss that.”
“Smoking.”
“A very good topic.”
“Public nudity.”
“Good.”
“Prostitution?”
“Excellent, that one is also a favorite of politicians. . . .” Mr. Ward looked around the class to see if anyone else was going to offer up other examples. Seeing no one with their hands poised, he went on. “Now, let’s divide them into things that have some form of protection associated with them.”
“What do you mean by protection?”
“Where the law also has the benefit of protecting the people. Like banning smoking can be argued as protecting people from the health risk of second-hand smoke.”
“Public nudity,” Jackson called out.
“How does that protect the public?” a student in the back called out.
“Keeps you from wrecking your car when a hot babe walks by without any clothes on.”
The class burst out laughing at that.
“Is there another way it protects the public?”
“Isn’t it a health risk to have people walking around naked?”
“Yeah, like, no shirt, no shoes, no service.”
“Correct. Clothes limit how we spread germs. I certainly wouldn’t want to sit in a restaurant booth after some naked person had been sitting there.”
That got another laugh. “Now others that protect people.”
“Laws against drugs.”
“Who does that protect?”
“The person taking the drugs?”
“What about the public?”
“If you take drugs and drive.”
“Then you would pass a law like the one outlawing drinking and driving.”
“Laws against pedophilia protect young people.”
“Why?”
“Because young children don’t understand about sex.”
“Correct, they cannot consent.”
“The same is true about underage sex.”
“True. That’s an extension of the laws against pedophilia. Now, others?”
Mr. Ward waited a few minutes before going on. “Okay, so the laws that also offer protection might be considered necessary independent of the morality of the situation. One could say that the laws happen to coincide with current moral thinking. Now, what about the others?”
“What’s left?”
“You can see the list,” Mr. Ward admonished the class.
“Sin taxes.”
“Prostitution.”
“Drugs.”
“Gay marriage.”
“Gay sex.”
“Okay, so what is the effect of passing laws that ban those things?”
“It stops them from happening.”
“Does it?”
“Well, it makes them happen less often.”
“Are you sure?”
“I think so.”
“So what would you say to the study that showed that drug use in Denmark, which has relatively lax drug laws and enforcement is the same as drug use in Sweden where the laws are very strict and zealously enforced.”
“No way!”
“Yep. Even in this country, during prohibition, alcohol consumption only dropped thirty percent, except for the first year or two. So, what do those two examples tell you?”
“That cops do a lousy job.”
“That’s not fair!”
“You’re right, it isn’t fair,” Mr. Ward said. “But it does point out that law enforcement has a difficult time policing these laws. Why is that?”
“Nobody wants to narc on their friends.”
“Right!”
“But they’re breaking the law.”
“But they’re not hurting anyone.”
“And that is the heart of the issue,” Mr. Ward said. “These are so-called victimless crimes.”
“But what about prostitution? It victimizes women.”
“Some people would say that making it illegal, victimizes women more. If it were legal, then the women could go to the police when they’re abused. And they wouldn’t have to pay most of their earnings to a handler.”
“You mean a pimp!”
“That is one type of handler.”
“So who benefits from these laws?”
“The public!”
“How, if we don’t see a change in the behavior of people, where’s the benefit?”
“It helps politicians get elected,” Matthew said.
“How?” Mr. Ward asked.
“It gives them an issue to campaign on and motivates certain groups of people to aggressively support them.”
“Very good. Now, who else benefits?”
Mr. Ward waited two minutes while the class murmured. “Come on, you’re ignoring the biggest beneficiary.”
Emily cautiously raised her hand.
“Emily?”
“Organized crime?”
“Correct. One of the biggest beneficiaries of laws that restrict the behavior of people is organized crime. During prohibition, organized crime in the U.S. grew at astounding rates.”
“But how does it benefit them? You always have criminals.”
“But by making things illegal, you give organized crime a captured market. They’re guaranteed to make money. The demand is there, they just have to supply the product. Al Capone was making over 100 million dollars a year during prohibition. In today’s dollars, that would be over one billion dollars a year.”
“Wow!”
“Where would all the money go if these laws didn’t exist?”
“Legitimate businesses.”
“Correct.”
“What about sin taxes?”
“What happens when you tax something heavily?”
“We go to Nevada to buy stuff.”
“Correct. Most people call that smuggling. High taxes give smugglers a guaranteed profit margin.”
“Why can’t law enforcement handle that? It’s like stealing.”
“Yes and no. Stealing leaves a larger footprint behind. There’s someone calling the police. They can trace the goods, find evidence at the scene. It’s harder to rob a place than it is to walk in a buy a bunch of goods. In the second case, nobody complains, so all the smuggler has to do is figure out how to get the goods across the border since it’s mostly a victimless crime. People tend not to want to narc on a smuggler.”
“So why do we have the laws?”
“Good question, I would suggest that it is to protect the tax revenue for the state or country. Now, your term paper for this semester is on that subject. I want you to discuss whether
we should have these laws and why. You can choose either side, or even take both sides. Half the work has been done already, so quit groaning. The paper is due two weeks before the end of term, and since you’ve been so good, you get an extra ten minutes for lunch. Class, dismissed.”
◆ ◆ ◆
Emily followed Matthew to his locker, “What’s up with Mr. Ward, dismissing class early?”
“I think he didn’t want to talk about the subject anymore,” Matthew said as he grabbed his lunch bag. “He doesn’t want to prejudice us before we write our papers.”
“Maybe. You know, you can afford to buy lunch now.”
“Force of habit. Besides, I like PBBs.” Peanut butter and banana sandwiches were Matthew’s go-to lunch.
“Did you watch Brea’s match yesterday?”
“Of course. She looks good. She says she likes her next opponent.”
“Do you think she’ll make it to the finals?”
“She thinks so, and more important, so does Cara.”
“That’s great. Hey, did you see the story in the paper about the new drug supply on the West Coast?”
“I didn’t read it. Something about how they’re seeing new pharmaceuticals being distributed, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. They say someone is distributing opioids. They can’t figure out where they’re coming from.”
“They’ll figure it out.”
“But why don’t we figure it out?”
“Why?”
“We could wrap it together with Mr. Ward’s paper and write an article about it for the school paper.”
“Why should we care, it’s a victimless crime?”
“Hey, it’s a story. Think like a reporter.”
◆ ◆ ◆
The next day Matthew and Emily met for lunch again, this time they were heading to the sushi place.
“I wonder where Jason and Alex are,” Matthew said.
“Alex just texted me; they’re going to hang out with some kids from drama.” The two hurried to Emily’s Porsche Boxster, it was a tight timeline to make it to the sushi place and back before fourth period started.
“Matt, I researched the drug thing last night. Can you believe that the street price of Oxycontin is fifteen to fifty bucks a pill?”
“That explains why there’s a new source, big profits. So, what else did you learn?”
“They can’t figure out where the drugs are coming from. They can just tell that there’s a new source because the old source is complaining.”
