Decency (4 page)
In less than fifteen minutes Samantha was in the kitchen of her childhood home, crushing a full quarter of a box of Saltine crackers for the crab cakes. Two eggs, a tablespoon of mayonnaise, teaspoons each of mustard and Worcestershire sauce, a half teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning, chopped fresh parsley with the crushed crackers, and a pound of the Jumbo Lump crab meat gently folded into the other ingredients. She formed six crab cakes and put them in the refrigerator to firm them for cooking. They set the table, warmed the green beans and dished out the salad. When Harlan came in, Samantha melted a quarter pound of butter, then slowly browned the crab cakes.
With the first bite, a chorus of “Mmm-mm” erupted from her parents.
“These are
the
best. The best I’ve ever had.”
This line completed the ritual. Samantha felt completely at home, and so happy that she could do such a small thing for her parents’ enjoyment.
Kathy finally asked if there are any men on the horizon.
“Still looking for one to measure up to the one you married, Mom.”
Harlan insisted she couldn’t be looking very hard. They did not press her. They trusted her judgment second only to their own. With short reminiscences, the long day caught up to the elder Pierces. Samantha’s plane ride was tiring as well. With the dishes washed, dried and put away, they were all glad to be in bed just after 9:30.
The next day, Harlan was up and out by 5:00. Kathy left for the cafe at 7:00. Samantha made a pot of coffee at 7:30 and was in the cafe with her mother by 8:00.
With the details left unattended by the “night crew” put right - ashtrays emptied and washed, customers still smoked here, stray bottles cleared, cups and glasses washed - the deposit made at the bank, and the dish machine emptied, readying for the lunch crowd started. Then Kathy had a chance to talk.
“Samantha, you look like your old self. We’ve been worried. Your letters have sounded like your work was not as fulfilling lately.”
“I am better.”
“Just better?”
“Well, there isn’t as much stress now. When Dad comes in I want to talk about it with you both.”
Harlan usually got to the cafe about 10:30 for coffee and a chat before the lunch orders consumed Kathy’s attention. Today, with his daughter home, he was a half hour early.
Kathy poured the coffee. Harlan hugged them both and assured his daughter once again that they were the best crab cakes ever. He and Samantha sat down on barstools, Kathy brought the coffee and joined them across the counter.
“Dad, I’ve told Mom there is something I want to talk about.”
“Well, I’m ready to hear it.”
Harlan sipped his coffee with his eyes fixed on his daughter’s.
“First of all, I feel better now than I have for a long time. I’ve written you so many times how things have changed so much. The turmoil and uncertainty over what we are supposed to be doing at NSA and how we are supposed to do it is still there. But I have a better handle on it now.
“That may not seem to be true when I tell you what I really need to tell you though. I will probably be leaving the NSA. They may not want me anymore.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“Normally it isn’t, Dad. They referred me to a psychological evaluation.”
Both Harlan and Kathy wore blank, puzzled faces.
“Please don’t worry. There is not a single thing wrong with me. But my NSA career is probably over. I am absolutely fine, never better. The reason the referral is significant is I have to keep a security clearance, as you know. The clearance can be pulled if they find that I am not psychologically ‘reliable.’ It’s almost a standard procedure anymore for NSA to get rid of people by having them flunk the psych eval.”
“But Samantha, why is there any possibility of flunking in the first place… if you’re as fine as you say, and as you look to us?”
Samantha’s face saddened.
“Mom, I have just seen it too many times. The whole idea of referring someone for the psych eval is to get rid of them. It is just the way they do it.”
“Can they do that?”
“Yes. And they do. But really, I’m okay. I actually don’t intend to stay at the Agency any more. It just isn’t like it used to be. Even if I get a clean bill from the psychologist, keep my clearance and my job, I wouldn’t get promoted anymore, so there isn’t any reason to stay.”
Harlan and Kathy still mulled all of this over.
Samantha brightened and said, “Besides, a woman computer scientist can get a great job any day of the week. Really, I’m fine. I’m ready to move on. I just wanted to explain this to you face to face, so you wouldn’t worry that I was keeping something from you so you wouldn’t worry.”
Harlan chuckled.
“Well, you’re right about that. We would worry. Why do they want to get rid of you?”
Samantha elbowed him. “It’s all your and Mom’s fault. I wouldn’t go along with giving one of my subordinates a bad write-up. They wanted to get rid of him, who knows why. So they wanted me to give him the bad performance report. I wouldn’t do it because I wanted to be able to look you in the eye, whenever I come home, and say I always did the right thing. You taught me to do that before doing anything else.”
That was all Harlan needed to hear. “I’m so proud of you. Get out of there as fast as you can. They’re just not good enough to keep you.”
That night in bed, Kathy turned to Harlan.
“Do you think she’s telling us everything?”
“Well, probably not everything. But the truth, yes. She feels good about herself. She wouldn’t if there was something more to it. She’s handling it right.”
Two days later, Samantha packed her suitcase and put it in the rental while her folks were getting up and around for the day. Over coffee on the table her Dad made himself, she said, “I’ll be home for Thanksgiving, for sure, if not before that.”
Tears already misted Harlan’s eyes. Kathy’s too. Departures were just as bad for her as they were for him in the absence of the excitement of home-coming.
“Go on ahead and get that new job.”
“I promise. I will.”
“Keep us posted on everything.”
“I will, Mom. This has been such a good time for me. Thank you for it, and as always, for everything.”
She hugged and kissed them at the table, then once again at the car.
“I love you, Mom…I love you, Dad.”
Then, smiling brightly, she was gone. For the last time.
Tom Koonce stopped in that day, chagrined at hearing he missed her.
S
IX MONTHS AFTER THE ACT
.
…2:30…better go to bed Kathy…you aren’t going to get it in any better shape now…
In the months since the funeral, Kathy Pierce spent almost every possible moment aside from daily necessaries assembling papers, collecting her thoughts, re-reading Samantha’s letters, making and checking notes, writing, re-writing, and memorizing her story, all for the trip to the lawyer.
Bowen & Pitts was the oldest continuously operating law firm in Lincoln, Nebraska. It perused the downtown area from atop the Bank Building. From among those who bothered to apply, it picked very carefully. Michael Carson was one. Harlan and Kathy could have gone to their business lawyer or their banker’s law firm. They chose Mike because he knew Samantha. They grew up together, and seriously dated in high school. He would fight for Samantha. They came to him to begin that fight.
“Mr. and Mrs. Pierce, good to see you again even though the occasion is so sorrowful.”
“Thank you, Mike. You were kind to send the flowers and come to her funeral. Are you still as good a basketball player as you used to be?”
“Not hardly. And I wasn’t as good as Samantha…” His voice caught. “But, please let me hear what you have to say. Why don’t you start from that time frame right after high school, when Samantha left.”
Kathy said, “All right. Some of this will be from our memories and some will be from what we’ve learned since her death.”
“That’s fine. I’ll make notes and then we’ll go back over those. Also, if you don’t mind, I’ll record this so I don’t interrupt too frequently.”
Kathy poured out her heart. She said, as Mike would recall, Samantha’s grades were outstanding. She won enough scholarships to afford going to Duke University, and did well there. She didn’t wilt from competition with a wider pool of talented kids, she relished the chance to have so many friends as smart as she was.