Oath of Office

CHAPTER 20

Lou rolled double sixes and moved his pewter Scottie dog ahead twelve spaces. Emily reacted immediately, springing from her beanbag chair, and tapping feverously at the IN JAIL square on their Monopoly board.

“Oh no you don’t,” she said. “That’s your second double in a row. You’ve got to go to jail.”

“No, no, no,” Lou countered. “It’s three doubles in a row and go to jail. Two in a row and I get to buy North Carolina, which I, in fact, am about to do.”

This was a serious development, and the teen’s somber expression reflected it. Her father already owned two monopolies to her one. North Carolina would give him a shot at putting her away. Her usual strategy of acquiring railroads at any and all cost along with the orange or red monopoly wasn’t working out.

“I’m sure it’s two doubles,” Emily said, as she plucked up Lou’s dog and set it on the jail square. Lou picked up the piece and reestablished it on North Carolina.

“Three,” he said.

“Two.” Emily moved the terrier back to jail.

Lou sighed deeply and spoke through clenched teeth. “Okay.… Let’s … get … the … rules.”

“We’re not getting the rules.”

“Because you know that I’m right.”

“No. Because I know that I’m right. And giving you the rules would be the same as admitting that I could be wrong.”

“I could always send you to your room.”

Emily’s face lit up. “I knew it. I knew you’d resort to that. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“Okay, I’m ashamed of myself. Go to your room!”

Lou could not keep from smiling as well. These were the times he treasured the most-though this one would sadly be ending soon. It seemed that with each passing day, Emily was becoming sharper and more fun. He loved spending time with her at his apartment, even though Renee rarely missed an opportunity to disapprove of his chosen neighborhood. The cozy two-bedroom place above Dimitri’s Pizza, across the street from the gym and not far from his old halfway house, had served him and, more important, Emily quite nicely.

“All right, then, the rules,” Lou said.

Emily dug out the flimsy, Scotch-taped rule booklet from underneath a pile of tattered Monopoly money.

“Come and get it!” She tossed it between them.

When he reached for it, she dived at him and wrestled him facedown onto the rug, bouncing on him until he cried uncle. When she let up and rolled off, he quickly read, “‘If you throw doubles three times in succession, move your token immediately to the space marked In Jail.’”

Emily looked at him, batting her eyes. “I’m sorry, Mr. Butler,” she said in a heavy Scarlett O’Hara accent, “did you say something?”

“Not really.”

“Good, because when it comes to rules, frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. They’re stupid.”

“Oh, they have their place,” Lou said.

Emily harrumphed. “Do you know how many rules Steve has?” she asked. “It’s insane over there. But he’s still like way more strict with me than with his own brood.”

“That’s a little hard to believe.”

In a split second, she went from lying on her stomach to sitting in a lotus position. “Oh, trust me,” she said, “it’s true.”

“Example, please.”

“Okay. He and Mom won’t let me have my computer in my bedroom, and when his brood is with us, he lets David have his.”

“You can’t have your computer in your bedroom here, either,” Lou said.

“That’s not the point. The rules should be the same for everybody.”

“How are you and Steve getting along these days?”

Lou knew the answer to that question. Renee had filled him in on Emily’s more recent flare-ups with her husband, and had even asked Lou’s help with reining in her temper.

“Steve’s all right, I guess,” Emily said. “When he’s not trying to be my father.”

“From what I’ve heard, I don’t believe he thinks of himself that way,” Lou replied. “I know he loves you, and wants only what’s best for you.”

“Well, what’s best for me is getting rid of the no-laptop-in-my-room rule.”

Lou frowned, but it was hard for him to maintain a stern expression. His daughter’s spirit reminded him of her mother.

“You know, sweetie, part of the art of living is knowing when you can break the rules, and when you can’t.”

Emily made a sourpuss face. “I prefer to follow your example,” she said. “You don’t take shit from anybody.”

“Hey, come on. You have too much class for that kind of language. And for your information, I’ve managed to get myself into quite a few pickles by not following the rules, so don’t make me your shining example there.”

“Yeah? Name one?”

“Uh … how about, God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can-”

“-and the wisdom to know the difference,” Emily said, finishing the Alcoholics Anonymous Serenity Prayer that Lou had long ago imprinted on her. “Okay, but that’s different. You had a problem and you dealt with it. I’m talking about rules like what you fight against at the Physician Wellness Office all the time.”

Lou’s chest did a double-clutch. How much had Renee told her? Did she know about his suspension-that Filstrup blamed him for what Meacham had done?

God grant me the serenity …

“What about the PWO?”

Emily shrugged. “Just that you say you’re always fighting with your boss because you know that you’re right and he’s wrong about something. You don’t play along just to play it safe. You fight for what you believe. And I believe if David can have a laptop in his room, I can have one, too.”

Lou quickly decompressed. She knew nothing. But, he decided, it was time she did. “That’s not always a winning strategy,” he said. “There are times you can be wrong, even though you’re right. Does that make any sense?”

“No.”

“What if I told you that because of my tendency to trust my judgment more than the rules, that I’m currently not employed with the PWO.”

Emily went pale. “You got fired?”

“Not fired exactly, but I’m not in good standing right now with our board of directors.”

“What’d you do wrong?”

“Let’s just say that if I listened to my boss and some others who didn’t feel as strongly as I did, things might not have gotten so drastic so fast.”

“So if you hadn’t always been trying to prove that you were right, you might still be working there. Is that what you’re saying?”

“Something like that, yeah. Listen, I don’t want to see you complicate things with Steve. Give him a chance. Don’t fight him at every corner. Show him that you at least respect his judgment. Ask him what you could do to earn the same privilege that David has. Maybe the answer will surprise you. Maybe it will turn out to be something simple.”

“Now you sound like Mom.”

“Well, your mother is a very intelligent woman.”

“And beautiful.”

Lou nodded. “Yes, and beautiful.”

“Very beautiful,” Emily said.

“Very beautiful.”

“And incredibly talented.”

Lou sensed something was afoot. “Yes, your mother is very talented. She’s a great cook and fabulous dresser.”

“You forgot to mention a brilliant psychologist.”

“One of the best around.”

“And that you’ll never meet a woman who’ll compare to her.”

“Quite possibly so. It’s true your mother has set a very difficult standard to meet. And I say my nightly prayers of thanks that you inherited so many of her wonderful qualities.”

Emily was smiling-beaming was more like it. Then Lou realized that she was looking past him. He twisted around.

Renee was standing in the doorway, her set of his apartment keys in her hand. “Oh please, guys,” she said. “Don’t stop on my account.”