The First Counsel

* * *

Having overstayed my welcome with the waitress, I eventually move over to the restaurant bar, where the bartender's used to stranded commuters who just want to watch a little TV. "Do you have a lost-and-found?" I ask him. "I think I left some stuff here during my last trip."

He pulls a cardboard Heinz ketchup box from behind the bar and plops it in front of me. Amid the keychains and lost paperbacks, I pick out a pair of sunglasses and a Miami Dolphins baseball cap. My dad would've taken the box.

"All set?" the bartender asks.

"It's a start," I say, plastering the Dolphins on my head.

By nine o'clock, I've seen the story run four times. By ten, it's double that. I'm not sure why I'm still watching it, but I can't help myself. It's like I'm waiting for it to change--for the newscaster to come on and say, "This just in--Nora Hartson admits drug problem; Counsel's Office is completely corrupt; Garrick innocent." So far, it hasn't happened.

When the neon lights of the restaurant blink off, I take the hint and limp out toward the boarding gates. My ankle's better, but it's still stiff. Adjusting my glasses, and with my garment bag trailing behind me, I sink into a corner seat and crane my neck to see the televisions suspended from the ceiling. Three more hours of CNN brings the total up to twenty. Each time, the words are identical. Sure, there're some permutations--the anchorperson changes adjectives and intonations just to keep things lively--". . . this man, Michael Garrick . . ." ". . . this man, Michael Garrick . . ." ". . . this man, Michael Garrick . . ."--but the message is always the same. It's my face up there; my life; and as long as I sit here in my own little pity party, it's only going to get worse.