Pop: Chapter 20c

    "About three years ago.  I had just started back working after my paternity leave with Darrin.  I met a lawyer at the court house I hadn't seen in a few months, Douglas Anderson.  At first, I thought he just wanted to catch up, but he needed to see me about a case of his.  See, Dr. Mendel's daughters had hired him about something that happened to him in prison." Rick goes on.

    "Are you sure you should be mentioning this?  Privilege and all."

    "It's fine Chris," Rick pauses.  "You see, a few months after he was incarcerated, Dr. Mendel castrated himself, or so he said."

    "What?! Why did he do that?" Pete cries out.

    "He might not have.  The daughters think in was some of the other prisoners who went and did that.  Maybe even some of the guards.  Mendel wasn't speaking about it, even after he was transferred to another prison.  Everything was cut off.  He couldn't even go to the bathroom until a special prosthetic was put in.  The doc kept saying it was because he felt ashamed for what he did.  Doug was going around asking some of his former patients if he actually did do anything with them, beyond encouraging them to have their pictures taken.  The daughters felt that someone had been spreading rumors at the prison, possibly management, so that their father would be attacked.  Mendel wasn't cooperating, so the daughters were going out on their own to sue.  I told Doug what I remembered, and he asked if I could be deposed when the time cam."   

    "Ouch.  What happened next?  Some of this sounds familiar for some reason."

    "I'm getting there," Rick continues.  "I had trouble sleeping the next few nights.  I couldn't help thinking that I was the cause for all of this.  I was the one who came forward and brought Mendel to justice.  I didn't even tell my wife until she caught me sleeping that weekend in the middle of drinking.  I wasn't drunk, technically, but I was tired and it wasn't going to take much to get there.  For the next few months, I would drink one weekend a month to help clear my mind, but it wasn't helping. Almost a year after that, reporters had gotten wind of Mendel and other problems at the prison."

    "That's why it was so familiar.  I read it in the paper awhile back.  Maybe on television too."

    "I don't read the newspaper any more.  Not my taste, but I may have seen it on tv."  Pete chimes in.

    "Well, with the publicity, the prison struck a deal.  No trial, so I wouldn't have to testify, but I still felt that I was to blame for Mendel's injury.  Sure, he deserved to be sent up the river, but not the pain he suffered.  I started going to a counselor soon after.  Sorry I didn't ask you for a consult, Will, but I didn't want you to know."

    "None taken," Will says after a few seconds.  He has spoken in a few minutes.  Almost as quiet as the thunder.

    "Yeah, she has been saying I should open up more, but it didn't feel right, until tonight.  Last night actually.  When I went to get some of my last special edition brews and they were gone, I thought I had been drinking them without remembering.  Didn't even think that Jim took them.  My counsellor thinks I should quit alcohol, at least for awhile, until I get my head in a better place.  She's probably right.  I've just been so confused lately.  I've even been thinking about leaving law and going back to writing.  True crime stuff, like I was going to report on before I got enamored and sidetracked.  Maybe when I take off for the new baby. I could really use ..." Rick stops.

    A loud crash roars through the hall.  This is the loudest the thunder has been for a few minutes.  And here I thought we were through the worst of it.

    Will starts laughing as the roar dies down. He just keeps getting louder as the echoes of the thunder subside.

    "Dude, what's wrong with you?  Rick just spilled his guts and now you are laughing at him."  Pete yells.

    Will stops as the last slam of the thunder suddenly ends.

    "It's not you or Rick, it's me.  I finally found out why your were gone when I needed you the most." Will gets serious, his laughing over.

    "Will, what's do you mean?" Rick asks.

    "Well, while you were getting operated on that summer, my brother's best friend tried to assault me."

    This night just keeps getting weirder.

Pop: Chapter 20b

    A low rattle of thunder rolls through.  Definitely winding down.

    "He told us the basics as soon after we sat down," Rick continues.  "He told us how the first pervert was detained by UK security, but the guy wouldn't reveal how he got those pics of me and the other patients.  Not through the school, fortunately.  Dr. Mendel had left a few years prior after his wife died.  No one knew where he took off to.  Other former patients of his were being scoped out, based on the information on some of the pictures, but not might not get any leads.  Furthermore, because the pics were released on the web, the FBI might be getting involved.  He finally added that another attorney, Collins, would be taking over the civil side of our case while he would be staying on just to keep tabs on the criminal proceedings."

    "Why didn't you tell us anything about this sooner?"

    "There were naked pics of me online!  While I was kind of an exhibitionist at the time, this was another matter entirely." he shouted. "Do you want me to finish or what?"

    "Go ahead, Rick.  I'm sorry I interrupted."

    "As we were finishing up, a young woman came in with some papers and refreshments.  Thompson said that she was his daughter, Elaine.  She was finishing up a semester early at Transy and was already shortlisted for UK Law."

    "Hold up.  I guessed Elaine might be older than you, but not that much older than you." Pete pipes up.

    "You don't mention a woman's age, Pete.  But yes, she is a few years older than me.  Don't bring it up again." Rick says, with just a touch of threat lingering behind the statement.

    "Gotcha.  Moving on." Pete almost whimpers.

    "When Elaine asked me about myself, I blurted out that I was pre-law as well.  I gave my parents a sharp look to shut them up.  I was smitten on her immediately, so I kind of lied to get her attention.  Now, some of my professors had suggested I should look into law, but I never brought that up to my parents or you guys.  That following Monday,  I called up my advisor and asked to switch over to pre-law, so Elaine wouldn't think I was lying to her.  My advisor reluctantly agreed, but only if I kept going for my journalism degree as well.  After a few months of meetings with Collins, I felt that I could ask Elaine out, now that her father wasn't actively our lawyer.  We were steady by the time I got the news about Mendel."

    "Were you two using my dorm room for your 'meetings?'  I'm sure someone was using the extra bedroom after Evan moved our a few days into the spring semester.  I didn't get a new one until the next year.  I guess he felt a little embarrassed after what happened to you, but he did stay at school." Will asks.

    "I told you guys last night.  Elaine and I didn't hook up until we were married.  I didn't want to risk pissing off her dad while he was working on my case." Rick says.

    "Uh, that would've been me.  You gave us the spare key, so I used it a few times when you were out and I needed the space for me and my girlfriend to, you know.  I swear I didn't use it any more after you got that second roommate."

    "Ugh.  I wish I hadn't known that.  Please continue Rick." Will says.

    "Anyway, when I had gotten back from our spring break trip, my dad called saying that Mendel had been found in New England somewhere.  Vermont, maybe?  Or New Hampshire?  Well, he was extradited back to Kentucky, where he was charged on federal and state crimes.  I was already in law school by the time the trial started.  Having multiple letters of recommendation from Thompson's firm really helped booster my only slightly higher than average test scores.  After the guilty verdict, I proposed to Elaine and we got married a year later.  The state charges weren't contested, and the class action civic case for his patients was settled out of court.  No one got much money, as Mendel didn't have much left after his trial.   A little over a year after that, Lydia was born.  I thought I wouldn't have to deal with Mendel any more, but I was wrong." Rick sighs.

    "What happened next?  What could have happened?"

    

Pop: Chapter 20a

     Even when doing it with three of your friends.

    "My visits were routine.  I didn't experience any more painful episodes.  Not until late April, and it was minor.  When I went in the following week for my regular visit, I had grown about a quarter of an inch and put on about five pounds.  Dr. Mendel was urging me and my parents that I should get the operation soon, before my growing caused another bout of pain.  Both my dad and I agreed I should wait until after school ended for the year.  I didn't want to miss out on any finals, not to mention how awkward it would've been to explain the operation." Rick continues.

    "When I went back for the final visit the day of the operation, I had grown another inch and a half or so and put on almost fifteen pounds.  I was having pain almost every day, as puberty was hitting me, 'hard.' The doctor said the operation would have been more difficult if I had waited much longer.  That morning, I had to procedure, stayed there overnight, and left the following afternoon when it was apparent I wasn't going to have any complications.  We stayed in Lexington for the rest of the week, and when I measured myself when we got home that Saturday, I had grown another half inch.  I couldn't get the area wet, so no regular baths or swimming for a few weeks.  Hated that."

    "I could only imagine, considering how much time you spent in the shower in college," I add.

    "When I went in more a follow-up visit a few weeks later, I was a little over five ten, maybe taller than the doc.  He barely looked me over, and then he said I was fine.  My growth spurt had sped up the healing process, I guess.  By the time I started high school, I was just over six feet tall, one of the biggest guys in our class.  And I finally looked like all the other guys, down there.  I was no longer embarrassed in the restroom or locket room.  In fact, I guess I had a 'cockiness' to be myself, now that I no longer had to hide." Rick laughs at his own little joke.

    "I'll say," Will pipes in.  "You would barely open up to me back in grade school, and even then I felt you kept things back.  When all but stripped down naked that first time in the locker room for PE, in front of so many strangers, I couldn't believe it.  Or when me and Pete did the same."

    "Hey, I joined in too." All four of us laugh at that point.  Who knew that barely a month later, we would see a lot more of each other.

    "I didn't think about that any more, until our second year of college," Rick carries on.  "When Pete had left, Chris needed a new roomie.  I volunteered, especially when one of Will's pre-med classmates needed a new room himself.  His name was Evan, something."

    "Evan Neilson.  I haven't heard from him years, not since he moved out."Will adds.

    "Well, those first few weeks, I would accidentally wind up in my old room, since in was at the near end of the hall.  Evan didn't seem to mind when I walked in unannounced, but he would rarely talk to me when you weren't there, Will.  Finally, in October, I asked him one day, why he didn't want to talk to me.  He hesitated a minute before finally saying that I looked like a person in some naked pictures his old roommate had on his computer.  Now, I got naked a lot more frequently than I probably should have in both high school and college, but it was never in a situation where anyone could've taken pics of me.  I 'kindly' asked him about his old roommate and to take me to his room immediately.  Will came in, so I wouldn't get an answer from Evan for a few more days, but that Friday, Evan took me over to another hall so I could confront the guy." 

    "I don't remember any of that.  Evan was acting weird that fall, but neither of you mentioned anything." Will says.

        "I wanted to keep things quiet, until I knew more.  Reporter's instinct and all. Anyway, Evan old roommate had stepped out for a minute. He showed Evan while I stayed behind until he left. He hadn't gotten a new roomie yet, so he had the whole suite to himself.  And he was able to keep him computer out and open all the time.  So, I was able to easily bring up some of the stuff he had.  I quickly found the pictures of me.  And video.  They were the same ones Dr. Mendel had taken of me before the surgery."

    "But, you were only ..."

    "Yeah," Rick adds with a sense of finality.  "There were other pics from other patients, but the only video was of me. I confronted Evan immediately, why he didn't bring this up to the authorities sooner.  Evan didn't cave.  I mean, I was a few inches taller than him, and way heavier.  I was picking him when the roommate walked back in.  I dropped Evan and rushed the other guy.  He had seen that I had been watching his computer and ran out the building before I could catch up to him.  Campus police caught him a little later.  What that guy did was a crime, and he was kicked out of school.  Evan was allowed to stay, but on a probationary status."

    "Why didn't I hear about this?  You think this would have been all over the campus."

    "I was a journalism major, remember.  I made sure that the story was kept quiet, especially since I was part of the story.  The university wanted to keep things quiet too. I called my dad that afternoon, before I was set to go home for the weekend, and told him everything.  I few minutes later, he called back, saying that I needed to stay in town that weekend.  He had contacted a firm in Lexington that had worked with the sheriff's department frequently and that we had an appointment to see what could be done.  The firm of Collins, Jacoby, and Thompson."

    "Thompson? Isn't that..."

    "Yep.  My future father-in-law." Rick chuckles upon answering.