Chapter 39
“Davey?” Dad’s voice was filled with concern and reached through the blackness that seemed to be all that I could see.
Oh, my eyes were closed.
Things were slightly blurry as I opened my eyes, and the sudden heat of a blush filled my cheeks as a wave of embarrassment came over me. Oh no, I’d broken my word and caused a scene during Dad’s meeting with the President!
“Dad, I’m so sorry!” I exclaimed quickly, trying to sit up from the couch I was laying on. Uncle Ronnie’s blurry face came into view and I reached around, searching for my glasses but couldn’t find them for a moment. Uncle Ronnie solved that problem by putting them in my hands. Things came into focus a little better when I put them on.
“It’s okay, son.” Dad said softly and he had a weird look on his face. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Looking at those awful pictures in that file.” I answered him after thinking for a moment. That file had been sickening to read. “You know, you always talk about how it’s the job of people in public office to serve people. I don’t like it but if we have to move here so you can help those people, to keep that disease from spreading, then I’ll do my best to be happy.”
“We’ll talk about that later, son.” Dad said with a sad smile as he ruffled my hair. I swear, one of these days I AM going to have it all shaved off just so people won’t be able to do that!
“Davey, why don’t you go back upstairs if you’re feeling better.” Uncle Ronnie said.
“Yes sir.” I said with a small smile. “I’m sorry if I caused a scene.”
“It’s okay, son, don’t worry about it.” Dad said with a smile of his own and I got up and headed towards the door. I felt a great sense of relief as I got ready to leave the Oval Office.
“Tell your mother that I’m going to be keeping your father for a few more minutes while we talk about some things.” Uncle Ronnie told me with his gentle smile still on his face. The look in his eyes though, was a little odd. He looked really worried about something, and he was holding an envelope that he shuffled between his hands – almost like it was a hot potato.
“Okay.” I told him, turning to leave the Oval Office. One of Uncle Ronnie’s assistants led me back to the Residential section of the White House, although I was sure I could have gotten back there on my own without her help. When I entered the main part of the Residence, Mom and Aunt Nancy were sitting on one of the couches, bent over some binders with one of Aunt Nancy’s assistants.
“How did it go?” Mom asked me with a wide smile as I came in the room and sat down on the couch next to her. She put her arm around me and I noticed that the binder was filled with drapery patterns.
Oh great, they were redecorating already.
“I think I passed out when Uncle Ronnie showed me what he wants Dad to work on.” I admitted with another blush and Mom hugged me close. The assistant got up and left at a nod from Aunt Nancy.
“I got sick to my stomach when I first saw that stuff.” Aunt Nancy said with a frown.
“I’m nervous just hearing about it from you two.” Mom said with a slight shudder. “Is it really as bad as all that?”
“If it spreads too much, it could kill twenty or thirty million people over the next few decades.” I told my mother, remembering something from the file. “Luckily it only spreads through direct contact of body fluids, but if it mutates, which it could, it could be even more deadly.”
“Well I still don’t want you kids living in this town, even if your father does have to work here for a few years.” Mom said firmly. “No offense, Nancy, but I’m not having my kids grow up in an environment like Washington D.C.”
“If Ronnie’s kids weren’t grown, we’d probably be thinking about the same thing.” Nancysaid with a gentle smile. “Luckily enough, I don’t think we’ll have a problem getting David on a plane home most weekends and Ron will pay him enough that the apartment he’ll need here in town will be affordable.”
“Don’t think I won’t be making trips out here during the week to check up on him!” Mom stated with a firm tone that left no doubt just how serious she was. It had been years since they almost broke up, but she’d never relented one bit in checking up on Dad. That made me feel safer, really, knowing that she was watching to make sure he didn’t backslide. Papa certainly approved of it and made sure she could leave whenever she wanted to head up to Sacramento.
“He’s lucky to have you for a wife, Sandy.” Nancy Reagan said with a slight chuckle.
“Where’s Jenny?” I asked suddenly, noticing my sister wasn’t around.
“She’s at the Smithsonian.” Mom said and laughed when I let out a groan. I’d wanted to go to that museum! “You wanted to go to the Oval Office with your father, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember.” I groused sullenly. “Do you think one of the Secret Service guys can play catch with me?”
“Sure.” Aunt Nancy said with a smile. “Let me go ask one of them.”
“Thanks.” I told her as I got to my feet. “I’m going to go get changed.”
“Make sure you wear your new outfit!” Mom shouted back at me as I disappeared in the room I was staying in while visiting here. Jeez, like I’d pack any of my old stuff when I was going to the White House! What did she think I was, eight?
Despite the fact that we were only here for a day or two, some maid or butler or something or another had unpacked the bags I’d brought with me and put their contents in the ancient dresser in the room. It didn’t take me long to shrug out of the darn suit I was wearing and hang it up properly in the wardrobe. It took a few minutes of rummaging through the dresser that had probably been made before the civil war to find my dark blue sweat pants, a pair of regular white socks, and a dark green t-shirt that was one of my favorites. After I’d put on the sweat pants and t-shirt, I found my white tennis shoes and slipped them on before hiking up my sweat pants just below my kneecaps. I hated wearing them longer when I was pitching. They tended to bunch up when I wound up, distracting me in the middle of a pitch.
“Don’t forget a sweatshirt!” Mom’s voice called out from the main room and I let out a sigh. She was right though, it was cold outside so I dug out the matching dark-blue sweatshirt and put it on before grabbing my glove off the top of the dresser, along with a ball and headed out into the main room. A younger-looking Secret Service guy was waiting for me, with my father’s glove in his hand and a smile on his face.
“I’m Tom.” He introduced himself to me and I smiled at him.
“I’m Davey.” I told him, reaching out to shake his hand. “You don’t mind, do you?”
“Not at all.” He told me with another smile. “I played ball in college and I’ve heard you’re pretty good.”
“I’m getting better.” I agreed and followed him as he headed outside. My Mom was already engrossed in discussing drapery patterns or some other nonsense with Aunt Nancy.
I had to trudge through a light layer of snow outside when Tom led me out a side exit from the White House. At least here on the South Lawn it was fairly quiet, and while my breath was already frosting, it wasn’t really all that cold. He insisted that I warm up though, which I would have done anyway. It was just plain trouble for a pitcher to throw without stretching first, or at least that’s what all my coaches said.
“Not bad.” Tom said as I threw my first pitch to him after we marked off the appropriate distance. It had been a curve ball, and hadn’t quite made it inside the imaginary strike zone I was picturing, but I caught his return throw easily and waited for him to crouch down again and put his glove up. This time the curve ball was perfect, just inside the plate we’d drawn in the snow, and just above the height of the imaginary batter’s kneecaps. The cold breeze was making goose bumps form on my bare legs, but I ignored them as I moved to practicing my slider. It was my hardest pitch at the moment, really testing my control, and I wanted to have it ready for the next season.
“Who is that?” The question was barely audible nearly fifteen minutes later as a small crowd began to form about twenty feet away. It seemed the White House Press Corps had seen us outside practicing and a small gaggle of them were now watching. It didn’t take more than a minute before some of them lifted cameras and began taking pictures. I wanted to groan as Tom spoke into the cuff of his black suit coat, but I didn’t. Instead I threw a perfect slider that would have caught any batter by surprise.
“That’s the Jones guy’s son.” I heard a female voice answer the questioner and quickly moved to put the audience out of my mind. It was the same thing I did on the mound during a game. People in the stands always tried to distract a pitcher, and I had to ignore them or they’d mess up my control. Another ten pitches flew down to be caught by the Secret Service guy. He was a good catcher, always on top of the ball, even when my control slipped a bit. It really was getting a little too cold.
“Thanks.” I said after I threw one more pitch. Tom caught it, as well as my meaning and threw the ball back to me before trotting up until he stood next to me.
“You’re pretty damn good for a twelve year old.” He said with a smile. “You ever think of playing professionally when you get older?”
“I’d love to, if I get good enough.” I admitted with another blush as we headed inside, totally ignoring the shouted questions from the reporters. They were probably bored, looking for some filler story on the President’s First Day in office. That was their problem, though, not mine.
“Well, I’ll probably be paying to see you play one day.” Tom said with a smile. “Then I’ll be able to tell my kids that I once played catcher for you.”
“If I make it that far, I’ll send you some tickets for free.” I told him with a shy smile and he laughed before clapping me on the back as we went inside the warm White House. It was a dream I’d had for the last year now, to one day become a professional baseball player. I knew I could make it, if I worked at it hard enough, but it’d be a lot of work.
“You had fun.” Mom said as I came back to the residence. I was sweating slightly and there was a very nice burn starting in my pitching arm. It wasn’t much, just a slight one telling me I’d given it a decent workout and I just nodded at my mom’s statement. “Go take a shower, we’re having lunch soon and your father will be back up by then.”
“Okay.” I replied with a wide smile. It was always nice having lunch with my parents. They were always so busy and I never really got the chance to eat lunch with them a lot.
It took me nearly forty minutes to get showered and dressed in a pair of slacks and a nice dress shirt. We were still in the White House and it just wouldn’t do to wear grubby blue jeans like I’d prefer. Mom and Dad had both hammered a sense of decorum into me over the last few years. Sometimes it was the right thing to dress down, and other times it was necessary to dress up. It was always necessary to dress for where we would be and what we were doing.
That was part of the price you paid when your father was an elected official.
It took me another fifteen minutes after getting dressed for me to get my hair done just right. It was medium in length right now and I liked for it to look slightly windblown. Once I’d figured out you needed gel to get it to look right, I’d gotten better at this, but it still took time to get it done right. When I finally was ready and headed out to the main room, I found that the rest of my family had already assembled at a smaller table that had been set up for our lunch. Aunt Nancy was gone, so it was just the four of us.
“There were all these big planes there!” Jenny was saying excitedly to my father and mother who were standing near the table, obviously waiting for me. When my sister saw me she frowned and crossed her arms. “Took you long enough. Who you trying to look pretty for?”
“For you, sis.” I said while giving her my most charming smile. Mom laughed aloud as Jenny stuck her tongue out at me and Dad smiled. He looked slightly worried still, but it was good to see him again, even if it had only been a few hours.
“Why don’t we sit down and eat?” Dad said and we moved to all take our places with Jenny and me sitting across from each other while Dad sat at the head of the table, and Mom at the foot. When we were all seated, Dad bowed his head and prayed. “Lord, we thank you for providing the food we are about to eat, and we pray for you to give us your guidance in the days and weeks to come as we struggle to do your will on this earth. Amen.”
“Amen.” We all said before I looked down to find a ham and cheese sandwich with French fries and a small cup of fruit. As I tore into the sandwich, Mom and Dad stared across the table for a few minutes before taking a few bites. It was Dad who started the conversation I knew would be coming.
“Jenny, Davey and your mother are already aware of this, but the President has asked me to take a position here in the White House.” Dad began by informing my sister of the basics, without going into any of the messy details. When he was done, he paused for a moment and moved a fry around his plate before finishing. “I don’t really want to give up my position in California, especially after people just re-elected me again, but I’m being called to a greater service and I can’t find any good reason to refuse it.”
“Do we have to move here?” Jenny asked with a little bit of whine in her voice. “I mean, the museum was cool and I’d love to learn how to fly those planes, but I don’t want to move either. I have friends in Modesto and I want to stay there.”
“It should be possible for me to fly back most weekends.” Dad said carefully, looking at my mother who nodded. “Your mother and I are thinking that we’d like to keep Modesto as our home for now.”
“Good, then you can do it.” My sister said with a nod as she ate the last of her own sandwich. Like me, she largely ignoring the French fries and focusing on the fruit next.
“I think this will work out just fine, Dave.” Mom said with her own smile. “There’s no reason I can’t fly out once or twice a month and spend a few days of the week out here with you, to keep you company, and during the summer after Davey’s baseball season, he can fly out here for a few weeks, and of course Jenny could spend a month of the summer here as well if she wants.”
“That’d be cool!” Jenny said excitedly. “The Secret Man told me that there’s a really cool Air Base near here. Do you think I could go there and look at the planes during the summer?”
“I think we can arrange that.” Dad said and I could sense they would be spending a lot of time looking at planes during the summer. I knew my father had loved flying and had commented to Mom a time or two that he’d love to get a pilot’s license, and it looked like my sister now shared that passion with him.
“Did you know the museum has the plane that was the first one to break the sound barrier?” My sister asked excitedly. “It’s really funky looking. I could show it to you sometime if you want to go look.”
“That’d be fun.” Dad told her with an indulgent smile while I rolled my eyes. Mom caught that expression and gave me a sympathetic look. Too bad she couldn’t catch a ball, or we’d have something else to do. Maybe we’d go out on a few shopping trips while they were at the museum. That was something both my mother and me loved to do a lot.
“Have the two of you caught up on your homework for the days you’re missing at school?” Mom asked to change the subject, and both my sister and I groaned. My mother had an evil gleam in her eyes as she nodded her head. “I thought not. Well, after lunch I want to see the two of you go get your books and bring them out here. You’re going to have to finish all your homework. David, I assume we’ll still be flying back tomorrow?”
“Yes, I’ll be having to stay an extra day, but I’ll see you to the airport.” My father said with a heavy sigh. “The President really wants me to get started as soon as possible. I’ve already called the Chair of the Party in California. He understands, even if he’s not too happy and we’ll make a public announcement tomorrow, or at least the President’s Press Secretary will and I’ve got my capitol staff working up a press release already.”
“What about them?” I asked with some curiosity. He had some really good people working for him in the Capitol and in his district office. “What are they going to do for work now?”
“Well, I’ve already talked to a few people about that.” Dad said with a shake of his head and frown. “All of the capitol staff will be able to get jobs in the building with other legislators. We’ve got two new Republicans coming into office and they’ll need good, experienced people, so my people will be able to get jobs with them. As for the District Staff, I’ll be trying to help them find jobs over the next two weeks. That’s how long they’ll have before the office shuts down. The Governor now has to call a special election for the district anyway, so I’ll help them get jobs as soon as we find a person to run in place.”
“That doesn’t sound like fun.” Jenny said with a frown.
“This decision is going to affect a lot of people, not just us.” Mom reminded us and had that look that meant she wanted us to learn it as a lesson. “Sometimes, we forget that our lives touch a lot of other people, and can be both good and bad for them.”
“Yes, it’s a quandary sometimes.” Dad agreed with her and I nodded, as did my sister. It was a sobering thought that so many people might be out of work now, and not be able to pay bills and stuff like that. These people had worked for Dad almost since his first election and it would be like losing members of the family.
“So is someone we know going to run for your seat?” I asked Dad who just shook his head.
“I haven’t had much time to think about that, to be honest.” He told me. “Most of my time in the next few weeks is going to be getting things up and moving. I have to coordinate with the State Department, with the Defense Department, and with the Surgeon General and most of the people leading those agencies now are brand new, just like me. It’s going to be a lot of long hours.”
“I’m sorry.” I told him and he laughed slightly.
“Thanks, son.” He said and pushed back his plate while taking his napkin off of his lap. He dabbed the corners of his mouth with the napkin before putting it on the plate. “Speaking of work, I had best get going. I’ll see you kids before you go to bed tonight, and hopefully in the morning before you head out for the flight home.”
“Good luck, Daddy.” Jenny said as she jumped out of her chair and hugged our father before he left the room. I got up as well and claimed my own hug. His ruffling my hair before he left irked me again, and I thought once more about just cutting it all off.
The rest of the day was fairly boring, with most of it spent doing all the homework I’d been ignoring during our little trip. The homework wasn’t hard, really, and I spent more time drawing out my letters in fancy calligraphy than I did actually thinking about the problems. My teacher would sigh with exasperation the way she always did when she saw my homework, but I knew she enjoyed the fancy letters as compared to most of the chicken scratches kids turned in to her.
Dad wasn’t home by bedtime, although we spent an hour watching television with Mom and Aunt Nancy. We were sent to bed right at nine p.m., just like always, and I was asleep within minutes. The only time I woke up all night was when Dad came in just after midnight to kiss my forehead while I slept. I pretended to be asleep, just enjoying his presence and took comfort in the fact that he’d come in to see me instead of just going to bed. The next morning, he was there for breakfast but only for a few minutes before rushing off to his new job. He was wasting no time, I knew, and that was a good thing even if it meant I got to see less of him than I did when he went to the capitol in Sacramento.
Uncle Ronnie was too busy to say goodbye to us, but Aunt Nancy rode with us to the airport, which meant we got to go in a full motorcade. It was kind of exciting knowing we had police moving people out of our way, and riding in the limousine, but some little part of me worried that I could get far too use to it, and that it didn’t fit with the life we led in Modesto.
Our plane landed in San Francisco after a long, boring flight, and Nanny met us at the airport with her new brown Buick. As a porter loaded our luggage into the car, she suggested to Mom that we spend a few hours at Pier 39. Of course my sister and I loved the idea, begging Mom to agree. It had been a long trip, but thanks to time zones, it was only two hours after we’d left Washington, at least in local time. Mom gave in, and I had a sneaking suspicion she liked the idea as well, but didn’t want to let us know that.
Pier 39 is nothing but a great big tourist spot for San Francisco, but it was at least a fun one when you’re a kid. Jenny went on the carousel ride, fawning over the different types of horses that were carved out and she nearly couldn’t choose which one to ride on. I loved the end of the pier, where I was able to watch an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate pulling out to sea. I felt a longing to be aboard her, and to stand on her bridge, but it disappeared when Mom announced it was time to go get some lunch.
School was almost a letdown the next day.
I had to give an oral report for my class about what it was like to stay in the White House and to watch the inauguration of a President. Of course, I had to keep saying ‘The President’ instead of ‘Uncle Ronnie’, but I think I only slipped up once or twice. Kenny was glad to see me at recess, and so was Sean who’d not been able to come over the night before because he was still in trouble for getting a “B” grade last winter. My friend Kenny was quite worried that I’d not be around anymore, and I reassured him that even after the end of the school year, he could always come to my baseball games during the summer.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months as we settled into a new routine. Dad really did make it back almost every weekend, except those that he traveled out of the country. He was meeting with big, important people from countries like France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and several African nations. Every time he came back from one of those trips, he’d bring us little trinkets, and every flat surface of my bedroom was filled with them. Mom had finally broken down as well and let me start buying posters of baseball players to put up on the walls.
For Spring Break, I got to go a baseball pitching camp, something I’d wanted to do for a long time. It was one of the most expensive baseball camps in the country, but it was a good thing for my pitching. They really helped me fix a lot of the small mistakes that I was making and I got even better than I’d been before.
It was just after Spring Break that Uncle Ronnie was shot by a crazy guy known as John Hinckley Jr. Apparently the guy shot Uncle Ronnie because he was in love with Jodie Foster. It made no sense, really, and Mom got us on the first flight to Washington. Apparently, Aunt Nancy had called her and asked her to come out, so we stayed at the White House while Mom visited the hospital with Aunt Nancy.
It was kind of weird, because according to Dad there had been some confusion about who was in charge while Uncle Ronnie underwent surgery. Luckily Dad was able to stop Alexander Haig from making a big mistake in front of the television cameras, and he was able to do it in such a way that no one really knew what had almost happened. I only knew because I overheard him ranting about Haig to Mom later that night. Apparently, Dad didn’t like Haig and the feeling was mutual. We flew back home a week later, and I had even more homework to make up than I’d had earlier in the year when I went to the inauguration.
The really odd thing was Dad asking if I’d known the President was going to be shot. How was I supposed to have known that? He just nodded when I said that and told me not to worry.
It was in the beginning of April that the special election to replace Dad had taken place. He’d picked a guy to run on the Republican side, a developer friend of Mr. Rule, and the guy won the election easily with Dad’s support. The people of the district were surprisingly not upset at all about Dad’s leaving his office for Washington. In fact, polls taken showed that people were proud of him even though they didn’t quite understand what he was doing in Washington.
That all changed the week after the special election when a big news conference was held in Washington D.C. with Dad, the Surgeon General of the United States, several doctors, including one that looked very familiar by the name of Dr. Grayson, and some people from the United Nations. It was Dad who did most of the talking, and I sat riveted to the television as I watched my father address the entire nation for the first time. Of course I was watching on our new Videocassette Recorder since they hadn’t shown it at school.
“Thank you all for being here today.” Dad had started the press conference off with a broad smile. His voice was firm and clear, and even sounded reassuring. “I know this matter may not seem like an important one at first glance, but if you stick with me as I explain it, I believe you will begin to realize its importance.
“About four years ago, a French Doctor by the name of Jean-Claude Dessier was working with the United Nations’ World Health Organization in the African Country of Zaire. He had two patients suffering from a disease he couldn’t’ identify. Both men died within a month from a respiratory infection. At first, he didn’t note the cases as being too unusual beyond the fact that he couldn’t identify what had brought about their weakness to the respiratory infection that killed them. Over the next two years, he saw three more similar cases while another United Nations doctor working in Mozambiquehad three similar cases. Several more similar cases appeared in the next year in several countries along Africa’s western coast.
“In January of 1980, the first case appeared in France. The victim was a flight attendant who had worked on several flights to and from Africaover the previous year. She died within two months of being admitted to the hospital. Since January of 1980, nearly sixty cases have appeared in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Another fifty cases have been found in other countries in Africa and Asia, as well as Australia. Six months ago, doctors were able to discover the cause of this mystery illness, something called a retrovirus that until recently was not detectable by modern science.
“They have called this new form of virus the ‘Human Immuno-deficiency Virus’ or ‘HIV’ for short.” Dad continued in a calm steady voice. I felt restless as he continued to explain, and fidgeted on the couch. So far, things sounded good at least. “HIV attacks a human’s immune system, making it so weak that any opportunistic infection can become deadly. As of yet, there is no known cure, nor even a vaccine, nor is there hope of one anywhere in the near future. The best scientists of the world have informed me that there is no cure for ANY virus right now, and tremendous leaps forward in our medical science will be needed before there is hope of curing any virus, much less this one.”
“That sounds bad.” Jenny said from the couch next to me and I nodded while Mom cuddled her closer to her.
“Don’t worry, dear, your Dad’s working on the problem.” Mom assured her and I smiled at them while dad continued speaking on the television.
“HIV is the cause of what our doctors are calling ‘Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome’ or ‘AIDS’ for short.” Dad continued in that steady, calming tone. His years as a preacher were really helping here, giving him just the right tone for this, something that not a lot of politicians possessed, even with all their campaign speeches. “Once a person is infected with HIV, it can take at least six months for the first signs of the disease to appear. Sometimes, our scientists are estimating, it could be years before the infected person develops AIDS. It is when they develop AIDS that their immune system degrades, allowing any opportunistic infection to kill them.
“Because of its long dormancy period, and because anyone infected with it is not expected to recover, this is the most deadly disease we have ever faced as a nation, even as a world. It’s a disease that knows no international barriers, and that could one day endanger the entire population.
“Ladies and gentlemen, that’s the bad news.” Dad said after a long, dramatic pause. His voice had risen a little as he made that speech, but now it was calm, and comforting. “There is some good news. The first of the good news is that we have discovered this disease now, before it has time to spread into epidemic proportions. Our best estimates, even our most feared estimates, put the number of infected people worldwide at less than ten thousand. Here in the United States, that number is less than two thousand. More good news is that HIV is not a particularly robust virus outside the human body. When exposed to air, it dies very quickly, and it does not appear to be a virus that is likely to mutate into an airborne variety.
“That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, the best news of all is that HIV is not airborne. Unlike the common cold, or the flu virus, you cannot get HIV from someone sneezing. It requires the direct sharing of bodily fluids, especially blood. Currently the most common form of transmission is from drug users sharing I.V. needles. Another form of transmission appears to be from unprotected sexual intercourse. Women are particularly susceptible to this form of transmission, as are homosexual men engaging in anal intercourse.
“Let me be blunt here.” Dad said as he leaned forward on the podium with the Presidential seal. He had a slight frown on his face and his voice became even softer, almost as if he was whispering to people on the other side of the camera. “Before entering public service I was a preacher. I still attend church almost every Sunday. My kids, who are going to be watching this broadcast this evening with their mother, are twelve and ten years old. I’m a little worried about them hearing this part of my prepared remarks, but I think it’s important. It’s an important message for them, and other children on the edge of puberty to hear, just as it’s important for grown adults to hear what I’m about to say.
“Right now, only a few thousand people worldwide are infected with this disease. Each and every one of them who are infected will be dead within two years. Because this disease can only be spread through direct contact of body fluids, because it dies essentially on contact with air, there are people who are going to be tempted to call it God’s retribution on the wicked. I am telling you right here, and right now, that I, as a Christian, am going to be ashamed of anyone who dares to utter those types of words.
“Here in the United States, we live in a free society, and while some of the ways this disease is transmitted are illegal in this country, like the use of intravenous drugs, most of the others are not in many of our states. If we are to have a decent hope of containing this disease and preventing it from taking the lives of thousands, even millions of our fellow citizens, we will have to approach it without judging anyone already infected, or at risk of being infected. I, for one, in leading our nation’s efforts to contain and eliminate this horrible disease, will not be making any such judgments. Instead, I will do my best to help each and every person in this country at risk from the disease.
“As a preacher, I’d call having sex outside the bonds of holy matrimony a sin. As a Christian, I still believe that, but as the government official charged with overseeing our response to this threat, I make no approval or disapproval of those at risk. My only goal is to help them. Obviously, it goes without saying that to reduce any risk of catching this disease to the point of it being non-existent, anyone who uses intravenous drugs should stop immediately. Anyone who engages in sexual activity outside of marriage, with anyone other than his or her spouse, should also stop. That is the most effective way of preventing the spread of this disease.
“In addition to being a Christian, though, I am a man and I know that for those who don’t share my beliefs, stopping such behaviors might not be wanted. If you are going to be engaging in such high-risk behaviors, there are things you can do to lessen the likelihood of spreading this disease. For drug users, don’t share needles. Use a fresh needle each time you use drugs. For sexually active people, use a latex condom. In a little bit, I’ll be sharing what exactly the government is preparing to do to halt the advance of this disease, as well as to fund research to cure it. At the present, though, I’m going to turn this over to Doctor Grayson of San Francisco, who is one of our leading clinicians on the treatment of this disease. I warn you, some of the pictures he’s about to show are going to be graphic. I advise those with young children, including my wife Sandy to turn the television off for now…”
“I think that’s enough.” Mom said as she used the remote to turn off the television. My sister was looking at her curiously, and I broke out laughing when she spoke.
“Mom, what’s a condom?” Jenny said with a straight face as I doubled over in laughter. Mom just glared at me, and I wondered what I’d tell her when she got around to asking how I knew what a condom was.
All in all, life was good, damn good, as my last year in elementary school ground to a close and the Little League baseball season began in earnest. I was pitching now on the best team in two leagues, and we advanced easily to the regional playoffs towards the end of the summer. I only got to spend a few days of the summer with Dad because of all the games as I played in two different baseball leagues that year. All too quickly the summer was over and I was doing back-to-school shopping with my mother. This year, we went at the same time as Sean’s mom was taking him, so we all went as a group.
Sean and I took great pleasure picking out similar clothing. A lot of what we picked were blue jeans, shorts, O’Neill shirts (with long and short sleeves), and a lot of OP shirts and sweaters. By the time we were done, Mom was out nearly four hundred for just my clothes and shoes. Sean’s mom bought a little less, but both of our mothers were griping all the way home about how expensive their boys were to dress.
Sean and I just grinned at each other.
The end of summer also brought about the orientation to the Seventh Grade on the Friday before school started. It was really boring, with the only excitement being when the Principal asked to see my mother and I. Mr. Borsch was a nice enough man, although he was balding and I kept getting distracted with the way the fluorescent lights shone off his bald head.
“Mrs. Jones, I can’t tell you how honored we are that you and your husband are willing to send your son to our public school.” He had started off by saying, in almost a sycophant way. For a moment, I started to dislike him, but I still wanted to give him a chance so I pushed those negative feelings down. “Not many public officials in a position like your husband think public schools are good enough, especially with a son as intelligent as David here.”
“He prefers Davey, actually.” My mother corrected him on my name, earning her a smile from me. “As for sending him to public school, my husband long argued in the legislature that if a public school is supposed to be good enough for most people’s kids, it should be good enough for his.”
“That’s one of the things that got him my vote.” Mr. Borsch admitted with a smile. “Now, I guess I might as well bring up the bad news. We participate in the GATE program, but all of our GATE classes are pretty crowded. Priority is normally given to students coming from our GATE feeder schools…”
“Excuse me, but what is the GATE program?” Mom asked. I almost groaned but bit it back. I knew what GATE was, and so did Dad, but I guess Mom didn’t.
“The GATE program is for gifted and talented students.” The Principal said with a look of surprise on his face.
“Oh, that’s right.” Mom said with a frown. “Davey was invited to go to that program but it was El Vista Elementary and he didn’t want to leave Sonoma.”
“Yes, well, that explains why he isn’t one of our GATE transfer students.” The Principal said with a nod of his head. A bead of sweat was forming on his forehead and it was a little distracting as he continued to speak. “Davey is obviously qualified with his perfect A grades of the last four years, but because he wasn’t in the program in Elementary school, we’re not supposed to give him priority over GATE transfer students. I’m afraid all of our GATE classes are full, but if you want, I think we can make an exception for him.”
“No, I don’t think Davey needs the special attention.” Mom stated and I did let a brief sigh of relief escape my lips. “It’d look bad for us, and for the school if strings were pulled in his favor. He’s done just fine so far in school and I see no reason to change that.”
“We have, of course, put him in the most advanced classes that weren’t part of the GATE program.” The Principal assured her and Mom smiled.
“That’s just fine then.” She told him and then paused for a moment. “Thank you for at least considering this, though.”
“Not a problem, Mrs. Jones.” The Principal said with a much broader smile. “We’re looking forward to having Davey here. I hope he’ll even consider playing on some of our sports teams.”
“Well, he’ll definitely want to play baseball.” Mom said and I smiled. I was also thinking about playing football, although the school team was only flag football. Mom had flat refused to let me play Pee Wee football, but now that I was older I was hoping that would change.
The first day of school was right after Labor Day. Dad had been back from Washington over the weekend and we’d had a wonderful barbecue over at Nanny and Papa’s. Grandma Jones had even unbent enough that she’d come over as well, along with Aunt Bev and her new husband, my other ‘Uncle Ron’. Several of my other Aunts and Uncles had shown up with their kids in tow, and all in all, over thirty of us had crowded into Nanny and Papa’s house. Next year, my parents would probably argue to hold it over at our house, which could hold more people comfortably.
Besides, we had a pool and Nanny and Papa didn’t.
“Aren’t you ready to go yet?” Sean asked from the doorway to my bathroom and I frowned at him before turning back to finish doing my hair. I still hadn’t cut it short, and today was a very special day. I wanted it to be perfect. Sean was wearing a white, sleeveless OP shirt with a hoodie. My own shirt was almost identical except it was a dark blue, which would show off my light blue eyes. My platinum blond hair looked good, I decided at last and turned to smile at him.
“Let’s get going, Freckles.” I told him, using the nickname he hated. That earned me a punch, which hurt a little actually. His sleeveless shirt showed off his well-muscled arms. Years of working out with me had given him buff arms, arms almost as buff as mine. That was why we were wearing sleeveless shirts, and as we left my house (Mom had already driven up to Sacramento where she was doing a fundraiser tonight, and Nanny had stopped by to drive Jenny to Sonoma Elementary. She’d offered to give us a ride, but we wanted to walk the three miles to school today).
“Hi.” A female voice said as we started walking towards school. I slowed down and turned around to find two girls walking a few feet behind us. One was a little overweight with long black hair and the other was skinnier with brown chestnut hair. Both wore jeans and sweatshirts and had backpacks like Sean and I.
“Hi.” I said back as I stopped. Sean rolled his eyes at me while the girls caught up. We’d seen them a couple of times since the brown-haired one had moved in over the summer, but this was the first time we’d actually done more than said ‘Hi’.
“I’m Jeanette.” The brown-haired one said politely. “This is my friend, Ronna.”
“I’m Davey, and this is my best friend, Sean.” I told them and we all shook hands.
“You going to La Loma?” Ronna asked shyly and Sean nodded.
“Yeah.” He said aloud.
“Your father is that AIDS guy, isn’t he?” Jeanette asked and I nodded.
“He’s a Special Assistant to the President.” I said in further explanation and both girls just nodded, probably not really understanding what that meant.
“Davey’s dad use to be in the State Assembly for this area until he got called to Washington.” Sean said with more pride than I would have. The girls just nodded again.
“What school did you go to?” Ronna asked as we resumed walking. The girls had taken up positions between Sean and I as we made our way down the busy Scenic Drive and onto El Vista Drive.
“We went to Sonoma.” Sean answered them.
“Oh, we went to El Vista.” Jeanette said with a little pride. “We’re in the GATE program.”
“That’s nice.” Sean said with a little twinkle in his eye. We both could have been in that program, but we’d chosen to stay at Sonoma, and neither of us regretted the decision. The two girls started chatting some more, about different things and Sean and I mostly gave them short answers. As we got closer and closer to the school, my legs started shaking a bit and I had butterflies in my stomach. I was nervous, I knew, and my mouth was getting dry at the thought of all the things that could happen on my first day of school.
As we walked along the path that led to the school, more and more of my attention was taken up by that nervousness, and so when Sean was knocked to the ground by a guy running past us, I was taken totally by surprise.
“Watch where you’re going, short-shit.” The tall boy’s voice snarled back at us as he picked himself off the ground. He’d fallen after colliding with Sean, and as he got up I recognized those dark eyebrows and hair almost as blond as mine.
“Why don’t you watch where you’re going, fuck-face?” I fumed loudly, stepping up until I was in his face as Sean picked himself up off the ground too.
“Just who the hell do you think you are?” The guy demanded. He was the exact same height as me and my knees almost began shaking as I looked into his ice-blue eyes. They were so beautiful, even if they were angry right now.
“I’m the guy who threw you out in Little League four years ago.” I smirked at him and he blinked before stepping back a bit. He took a deep breath at that and looked me up and down, his eyes lingering on my bulging biceps. They were far bigger than most twelve year olds dreamed of having.
“You work out?” He asked me and I nodded. His frown turned into a smile as he held his hand out to shake. “I’m Brian Breckenridge, do you play football?”
“I’m Davey Jones.” I told him with an answering smile and shook his hand. “I’m thinking about football, but I think you owe someone an apology.”
“Oh, um, yeah, sorry dude.” Brian said to Sean, who was now staring at the taller boy with a mixture of surprise, anger, and humor. Brian turned back to me and gave me what I believed to be his most charming smile. “So, like, if you’re interested, there’s a practice today at 3:30 after school. We could use a guy like you on the team.” Turning to Sean, Brian said, “You too, dude. You’re pretty damn solid the way you knocked me down. I’m late to meet my friends, so I’ll catch ya later.”
“Bye.” I said as he turned to rush back off towards the school. Sean just shook his head and muttered something to Ronna, who giggled as did Jeanette. I was quiet though, and there was a spring in my step as well as a broad smile on my face as I practically skipped the last few hundred feet to school.
Yep, it was a big day, this first day of the Seventh Grade, and things couldn’t possibly be better.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The End of Do Over Redux.
As with all my stories, E provides immeasurable input, grammar checking, and all those other lovely editing thingies that make the story so much better!
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