by Trey Martini
Meryl continues where Marie has left off. “I believe that the California courts will see the wisdom in what you’re trying to do and will treat you with respect. The publicity will give the public some exposure to the compromise and time to get used to the idea. I think that you two, a federal judge and a respected psychiatrist, make the perfect plaintiffs for a thoughtful resolution of an issue that is both cultural and legal."
Anthony adds his thoughts next. "It’s not so different to what’s been done with the word gay. Gay used to just mean happy–now it also means homosexual. And right now many in the LGBTQ spectrum are aren’t so happy about the bad feelings that have cropped up here and there and complicated what should have been their beautiful moment of equality. We’ve been talking about this issue for weeks. But Jon may have the most clever idea of all.”
Luke chimes in. "Jon? Clever? Blow me away."
Jon gets going: "Think what DaVinci and Michelangelo would have done if they'd been in this situation. Let’s try being creative–and use the down-low approach. We’ll look for non-confrontational approaches to support the idea of parallel spelling. One idea is to get the librarians to start the ball rolling by getting marriage with an E in the dictionary.”
“How can you do that?” Luke is skeptical.
“We’ll find a local columnist in The Chronicle to write about the idea. Then look for a magazine like the New Yorker to cite that column. Next we find a journalist in The Times to mention it in a story or editorial. Get the ball rolling on slow news days when Goldilocks is golfing. Once we have some buzz about the alternate spelling, we look for someone on the A list in Hollywood or New York or Washington to speak out on it–or maybe get a million ‘likes’ on some site–whatever. Once we have some history of use for the parallel spellings, we move to have merriage established as an equal form of the word in the dictionary. I think it'll happen fast."
Luke is suspicious. "So how long will that take, smartass?"
Jon has a tongue-in-cheek answer. “I put both spellings in the online Urban Dictionary this morning. That took about 5 minutes. I expect Webster’s and Oxford to take longer–but maybe not. Oxford’s website now calls itself the “Oxford Living Dictionary” and publishes a list of new words added every year. Webster’s does that too. Everybody loves online publicity today, and that includes dictionary publishers. These new words are usually related to culture or technology. Oxford just added the noun ‘clicktivist’, that they define as someone who shows support for a political or social cause via the Internet using social media or online petitions. That sounds just like what we’re trying to do. I can see some publisher moving fast to support our idea. Let’s face it, our proposal is great clickbait–and that’s a word already in both Webster’s and Oxford. Online clicking is how everybody makes money these days.”
Luke pushes. “You still didn’t answer my question, Choir Boy. How long do you think this will take? Our Dads look hot to trot, and they aren’t getting any younger.”
Jon laughs out loud at Luke’s joke. “The fastest that a totally new word was listed in Webster's was probably the word 'AIDS'. It was added by most dictionary publishers within about 6 months in the Eighties. It helped that the editors were sympathetic and concerned then. We think those editors will be sensitive here too. Once Webster’s has marriage with an E included, the ball starts to roll. Those who want to settle this will find the dictionary entry an reason to save face. We may not even need our Dads to go to court. But if they need to, they can at least point to the dictionaries as proof of common usage and we’ll be better prepared to win when the conservatives attack marriage equality."
"If you win." Luke sneers.
"When they win." Meryl pats Luke hard on the head. “And they will win because there is no down-side to this. Everybody wins.”
Tony breaks out in a grin that is felt by all those in the room. "I can see how this could work. I don’t see a down side either. Of course someone will complain–someone always complains about everything."
Liam chimes in. "Remember, I’m a lawyer too. This is either a good idea or some damned good wine. Let’s make a case for our vowel!" Liam gets down on one knee in front of Tony." When I’m with you, I’m happier than I’ve ever been. That can’t be wrong to anyone. Will you merry me?"
Tony lifts Liam back up off his knee and now gets down on his knee instead. He looks up to Liam tenderly. "I’ve always agreed that merriage should be private but I’ll stand up for this–whatever it takes. Will you merry me? With an E or an A–any way you want it. It may be a bit of a fight and you know I don’t like fights. But if there’s a way that the spirit of marriage can be restored and accepted by everyone–I’m in."
Liam pulls Tony back up. “I’d hoped for a simpler and more passionate response. But I’ll take that as 'yes'.” Tony reaches in to Liam. "Yes, I’ll merry you. You had me the moment I saw you 25 years ago."
The two men kiss deeply in front of the family for the first time.
Marie is the first to respond. "I thought I’d hurl if I ever saw that. But congratulations."
Sean steps forward to shake Liam's hand. He embraces his nephew and Tony with a big hug. "Here’s something to get us all to love like they do on Sesame Street. It starts with the letter 'C': a check." He hands the check to Tony and Liam.
Tony is impressed. "A very, very large check. Made out to Marry.Merry.org. You came prepared, thanks!”
Sean laughs with pleasure. "Dick said you had enough crystal."
Marie follows up. "Meryl figured you’d get with the program. She and Todd registered the website and started a campaign fund with huge checks from Meryl and her friends."
Liam reaches out for another kiss. "So there’s no backing down, Tony." Tony answers with a hug that shows his commitment.
“Finally,” Marie rolls her eyes. And just so you know, there’s no time for you to dawdle. Things are going to heat up fast on the issue of marriage equality–and everything to do with marriage as a matter of fact.”
“Really, you have a crystal ball now, Marie?” Tony prods.
“Call it intuition.”
“I call BS. You know something. I can tell.” Jon pushes.
Liam already understands the kids better than any anyone. “Nice try, Marie,” he pinches her nose gently, “you were just waiting for someone to ask you. You have a secret that you’re just dying to share.”
Anthony gives Liam a fist bump. “You’re good. I thought I was the only one who noticed that, and I’ve had 20 years of practice.” Anthony reaches over and gives Liam a high five. “Come on Marie, spill. Does it have something with your mother being so late for the family dinner tonight? She’s always on time for everything.”
“Sorry, I forgot to tell you. Momma won’t be coming at all tonight.”
“She called to say she had to go out to D.C. to file some divorce papers for an important client.”
“D.C.? That’s a surprise. I didn’t realize she practiced outside Nevada yet.” Tony thinks aloud. “We all took the Connecticut bar after Yale Law. Since there’s reciprocity between DC and Connecticut, I guess she can file papers in the District. Did she tell you who the client was?
“I asked, she said it was attorney-client privileged information. She did say it was some big-assed Republican.”
“I didn’t know Momma worked in the dark web,” Jon jokes.
“Momma has been a closet Republican for years,” Marie gloats at her private information.
“I figured as much. How’d you guess?” Tony is curious.
“Have you ever tried to lick an envelope and get it to stay stuck when you’re wearing lipstick?
“Not recently,” Tony laughed.
“That’s why it’s always easy to open her mail-in ballots.”
“Don’t tell me you peeked!”
“Of course I did. I would have changed her votes but she always used ink. Voted straight red ticket as long as I’ve been checking: McCain, Romney and Trump. Don’t forge
t she’s a Randolph and has all those old family connections. I guess she made some friends in high places.” Marie’s face shows that she’s dying to be asked more.
Liam sees through her and pushes gently, “So, I’m guessing your mother gave you a hint about her client…someone in a high place, did I hear right?
“Maybe,” Marie is coy.
“Come on,” Liam teases, “you’re ready to burst, you want to tell us so bad. What was her hint–or hints?”
“She just told me to watch out for a Tweet-storm.”
“What else?” Liam pushes, “there’s something more, another clue.”
“Well maybe,” Marie grins, “probably nothing.”
“Probably something,” Liam has Marie giggling now.
“Well, after she said good-bye on the phone she might have added a little clue–maybe not.”
“I knew it,” Liam gloats. “What were those last words?”
“Be Best!” Marie lapses into an uncontrolled cackle.
Jon bellows a shout of understanding. “Holy shit! Goldilocks will be on the rampage like never before. His world is falling apart and he’ll take down everyone he can. Circle the wagons, it’s time to fight!”
Liam tries to calm the group. “He’s been on a rampage for years, that really doesn’t change anything about the way we need to behave. There’s still only one way to fight against an insecure man with all the power in the world: when he goes low, we go high.”
“Don’t count Goldfinger out yet,” Meryl cautions, “his mentor, lawyer and close friend for more than a dozen years was Roy Cohn, the best street fighter of the century. And Comrade Little Finger was his best pupil.”
“Roy who?” Jon pulls out his phone to Google the name.
“C-o-h-n,” Meryl spells the surname slowly.
Jon discovers a Vanity Fair link from June, 2017, and begins to summarize what he finds online. “Says here that he was Senator McCarthy’s chief counsel during the Red-Scare hearings in Washington; that he pushed for the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the parents of two young sons. Says Cohn was a political power broker in New York City and D. C. for years; had a history with Goldfinger from 1973; homophobic in public but that he led an active gay life; died from AIDS in 1986 but claimed it was liver cancer until the end. The article quotes Cohn saying Goldilocks called him 15 times a day for advice.” Jon looks stunned by the contents of the article. “Is that the Roy Cohn you said was the mentor…”
“Believe me, there was only one man like Roy Cohn,” Meryl confirms. “He ruled New York and even Washington politics with a combination of intimidation and reckless bluster. There’s an article by Frank Rich that you ought to check out too. It talks about Cohn’s influence in the Reagan White House, if you can believe that.”
“The more you read about Roy Cohn, the better you’ll understand what happened in 2016 and why we’re in this mess today.” Liam encourages the young adults to pay attention. “There’s an HBO special about Cohn coming up. We can all watch it together. Too bad they didn’t produce it before the last election.”
“Amen to that,” Meryl agrees. “We need to watch that show and take notes. Remember, the best way to beat any opponent is to understand them better than they understand themselves.”
CHAPTER 28
San Francisco City Hall
The week before Christmas, San Francisco's City Hall is decked out in a politically-correct display of winter holiday cheer. Tony's classic Jeep Cherokee is double parked at the curb as a policeman stands nearby writing a ticket. 'JUST MERRIED' is painted across the back windows of the Jeep. Inside, a crowd of photographers has gathered around the rotunda as a large, happy group sees the mayor conduct the merriage ceremony.
San Francisco's Mayor smiles, "I now pronounce you a merried couple. You may now kiss with pride." Tony and Liam are embarrassed, but kiss and hug awkwardly.
A reporter interrupts the moment with a call to Tony. "Judge Morrelli. Can you comment on the report out of Washington today that the President has you on her short list?"
Tony turns and speaks slowly, obviously very moved. "Since Kinsey started studying human sexuality almost a hundred years ago, researchers have estimated that approximately one in ten of us are Gay or Lesbian, Bi-Sexual or Transgender. As one member of that estimated 10%, and a man forever in love with another man, it would be a great honor to become one of nine."
Cameras snap and whirr as the crowd follows Tony and Liam outside to their waiting car.
THE BEGINNING
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Trey Martini, M. D., lives and works near Santa Barbara, California. Born in Canada, and educated at universities in the United Kingdom and United States, Martini has written more than a dozen novels and screenplays.
Copyright © 2018 by Trey Martini–All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems–except in the case of brief quotations in articles or reviews–without the permission in writing from its publisher, Trey Martini, M.D. All brand names and product names used in this book are the trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. We are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. This story, and all names, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious. We intend no identification of or with actual persons–whether living or deceased. No connection to locations, buildings, or products is intended or should be inferred. No person or entity associated with the production of this book received payment or anything of value, or entered into any agreement, in connection with the depiction of any products mentioned in this work of fiction. If any character in this book is, in any way similar to a private or public figure, the similarity is unintended and entirely coincidental. No animals were harmed in the publication of this book.