by Lynn Murphy
Chapter Six
Tara watched from a slight distance as Kel worked a crowd in downtown Baltimore. She thought it must get exhausting to shake so many hands and speak to so many people day after day, but he smiled as moved through the throng that surrounded him and took the time to speak to each and every person he shook hands with. It seemed as if the entire population of the city had turned into the inner harbor to hear him speak. He had delivered a stirring speech with the American flag flying at Fort McHenry in the background and Mary Katherine assured her she had gotten that picture to use with the article she was writing about how he was doing on the campaign trail. The first installment in Newsworthy would be out the next week. She looked forward to seeing what had been edited out and the layout. There would be a debate in the Marriott hotel later this evening and Kel and John and Kimberly had flown in from three days in New Hampshire this morning. She was discovering that campaigning for public office was hard work. She moved in closer as he met with several reporters and listened to how he responded to their questions. She noticed that he spoke eloquently and never seemed to stammer or be at loss for words as she had heard other candidates do. She had watched him on television over the last two weeks at every opportunity and Mary Katherine was right when she had said the camera loved him.
He looked up and caught her eye and ended the press conference. He made his way over to where she stood. “So, you’re going to join us for the next couple of days?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure I want to. It looks exhausting.”
He smiled. “It can be. But it’s also interesting. I’m looking forward to the debate. As it happens, I’ve always been a capable debater.”
She said, “Is there anything at which you aren’t capable?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” he admitted with a wink. He was joking but his answer came from his own confidence in his abilities. He was never arrogant, but neither was he ever unsure of himself. “How familiar with Baltimore are you?”
“It’s my first visit.” she said.
“Then Little Italy will be the highlight of your evening.”
“Little Italy?”
“That’s where we are having dinner. Evan and Mary Katherine drove over from Georgetown and Skip’s at Johns Hopkins, so he’s joining us too.”
They settled around a table at Sabatino’s, one of the many classic Little Italy bistros and ordered a tomato and fresh mozzarella appetizer. The conversation was casual and animated as the three on the campaign trail told about the last few days experiences. Skip arrived a bit after they sat down, gave a quick glance at the menu and ordered and was noticeably quiet as the others talked. John and Evan exchanged a glance and Mary Katherine whispered to Evan, “What’s up with Skip?”
Evan shrugged and tried to bring Skip into the conversation without success. Kel and John were in the middle of expressing their need to bring on someone to handle the press and John threatened to steal Tara from Bobby for the job. They also discussed the need to find a more efficient way to travel as they were finding it difficult to book flights. Skip leaned over to Evan and said “Evan, can I talk to you for a few minutes?” He looked around the table . “Sorry everybody, I just need to talk with Evan about something.”
Evan said “Of course,” and stood and followed Skip out of the restaurant.
“Wonder what that’s about?” Kel asked.
“Whatever he wants Evan to talk to Ross about for him,” John said. The others laughed and he explained to Tara, “For years whenever one of our kids wants to do something or is in trouble for something they know we might not approve of, they talk Evan into championing their cause.”
Mary Katherine added, “Evan made sure Seamus got to run track ,that Janet and Sara got their ears pierced and Jim didn’t get grounded forever for breaking a Tiffany stained glass window with a baseball.”
“It sounds like he does a good job on their behalf,” Tara said. John agreed with her and began to brief Kel on the issues he thought might come up in the debate and the tactics his opponents might be likely to use against him.
Outside Evan and Skip found a quiet spot overlooking the water.
“What’s bothering you Skip?”
Skip took a deep breath and said “I’m failing Gross Anatomy.”
“Really failing or you think there’s a slight chance you might?”
“Really failing. I’m actually failing everything.”
Evan said, “Everything?” Skip had always been a straight A student.
“All five classes. Evan, I don’t want to go to med school.”
“Actually,” Evan said, “I never thought you did.”
“I can’t do it anymore. I just can’t and I don’t know how to tell Dad.”
Skip looked suddenly desperate and Evan understood this was about something far deeper than grades or changing career paths.
“Skip? What’s really going on?”
“ I was dating someone I was getting serious about. Serious enough I was going to bring her home to meet everybody. I went to pick her up for dinner and she didn’t answer the door or the phone. Her roommate happened to come home and let me in. We found her in the bathroom dead. She’d slit both her wrists.” Skip started to sob and Evan pulled him into an embrace and let him cry. “I couldn’t concentrate in class and I really couldn’t work on the cadavers. Faulkner reamed me out and said he was calling Dad about my grades. I can’t go back Evan, I can’t.”
Evan could well imagine the conversation between their old med school instructor and Ross. The man considered James O’Brien to be the finest doctor to ever graduate from Johns Hopkins and Ross had been his personal protégé. He’d gone head to head a few times with Evan, but still considered himself to be responsible for the successes he’d had professionally too. He would have expected James’ grandson to be the student the rest of his family had been.
“No, I can’t see you going back, not right now anyway.”
Skip pulled away and looked at Evan and said, “How do I tell Dad?”
“In all the years I’ve known you Skip, I’ve heard your father tell you he loves you and that he’s proud of you, but I’ve never heard him say he wanted you to be a doctor.”
“He was so happy when I was accepted at Hopkins.”
“Of course he was. He thought that was what you wanted. Half the people who start med school don’t finish Skip. You really do have to have a calling for the profession because it’s too hard to get there if you don’t. Better to stop now than later.”
“O’Briens don’t quit.”
Evan shook his head. “I’ve never heard that come out of your father’s mouth either. Sometimes I think there’s a reason you find yourself up against a big roadblock. It’s because you need to turn around and change course.”
“So what do I do now?”
“If you were paying attention to the conversation before we left then you know John and Kel need some help with the campaign. They need someone to handle the press and they need a pilot. You can fill both those slots.”
“I could.” Evan had taught Skip to fly a plane years before.
“So, I suggest you go tell John you want to take a break from school and help them out and I’m going to call Ross. If they need to leave for the debate before I get done, go ahead. I’ll catch up with you at the Marriott. And one more thing, have you talked to anyone about this? Specifically the suicide?”
“No.”
“From now on, when something really bad happens to you don’t try to handle it on your own. You don’t have to. You have a big family that loves you. If for some reason you can’t talk to one of them, then call me. I could have been here in less than an hour.”
“I know, Evan. I just didn’t know how to talk to anyone about it. Thanks for listening.” Skip hugged him again.
“Go talk to John.”
Evan needed a few minutes before he called Ross, because the conversation with Skip had been just a little too close to home. He had
just given Skip advice he hadn’t heeded himself. There were things he never talked about, even to Ross, and seldom to Mary Katherine that still haunted him. Things tied to Baltimore and Johns Hopkins. He faulted Mary Katherine for holding on too tightly to the hurts of the past, but he had ghosts in his closet too that refused to go away, no matter how hard he had tried make them vanish. He’d learned more about faith and prayer than he had ever considered possible since the tragic events that had ended his Olympic career and changed his life forever. “God,” he whispered, “help Skip right now. And maybe me too.”
His phone rang and he saw Ross’s name on caller id. “Hey Ross.”
“I just had an interesting conversation with Faulkner.”
“I’m sure you did.” Evan said.
“Sounds like you’ve already saved me the trouble of asking you to ask Skip what’s going on. Faulkner said-and I quote- “Duncan seems totally disinterested in anything related to his studies.’ What did Skip tell you?”
“Is Molly there? Can you put this on speaker so I can talk to both of you?”
“Sure. Hold on. Okay we’re both here.”
Evan took a deep breath and hoped this went well. “How often do you talk to Skip?”
Molly said, “He usually calls me a couple times a week and talks to Ross once a week.”
“When was the last time you talked to him?”
“Actually I’ve just gotten his voice mail for the last three weeks. Maybe more. He’s sent me a few texts, but that’s it.”
“When a kid that usually calls his parents three times a week suddenly doesn’t call for almost a month that should be a red flag, Molly. I’m not being judgmental here, and I haven’t talked to him in at least that long either. But the truth is, we should all have realized something was wrong and we didn’t.”
“Evan, what’s going on?” Ross’s voice sounded anxious.
“Skip had become fairly serious about a girl he was dating. Serious enough he was going to bring her to meet you. He went to pick her up for a date and found her dead. She’d committed suicide.”
“Oh Skip,” Molly said softly.
“For his grades to be that low, he had to have been doing pretty much nothing long before this happened. He doesn’t want to be in medical school Ross.”
“So why couldn’t he just say that?”
“He thinks you’ll be crushed. He has this idea you’ve always wanted him to follow in yours and James’ footsteps.”
“Only if that’s what he wants to do. I don’t want you to take this wrong way Evan. but it hurts me that he’d tell you this and not me.”
“I understand and I’m not offended, Ross. All I can say is that for some reason he doesn’t think he can talk to you and maybe you can take this opportunity to change that. I do know he loves you and doesn’t want you to be disappointed in him.”
“What is he planning to do,” Molly asked. “Did he mention that?”
“John and Kel need some help with the campaign. Skip can take a leave of absence instead of just dropping out and if he doesn’t go back, he just doesn’t. That lets him be with family and away from Hopkins and he’ll be too busy to think about what’s happened and that’s what he needs right now.”
“Is he with you right now?” Molly asked.
“I imagine they’ve all gone to the debate. I’m heading there myself. He probably needs a little time before he talks about this again. Call him after that.” They talked for several more minutes about how to handle the situation with Skip.
“One of the reasons I’ve always loved you, Evan, is your compassion,” Molly said. “And you always extend that to our children as if they were your own.”
“Yeah, well, they’re as close as I’m ever going to get to having kids,” Evan said “But if Sara decided she needs a tattoo or her belly button pierced or to marry some rock star in Vegas she’s on her own.”
They all laughed and Ross said, “Seriously Evan, thanks.”
“Anytime.”
Tara watched the debate and wondered how anyone couldn’t see Kel as the front runner. He answered the questions easily and didn’t contradict himself the way the others seemed to do. Of all the candidates he was also the only one who didn’t attack his opponents. It did seem, however, that both the moderators and his opponents wanted to attack Kel.
One harped on his architecture degree, another on his family’s wealth. The question of his single status was brought up when one of the moderators asked the question to all the candidates, “What role do you expect your wife to play as First Lady?”
Evan slipped into the debate at that point and asked Tara, “How’s it going?”
She whispered back “He’s obviously the first choice, but they are all doing their best to find something they can criticize him about. Honestly, they all know his wife passed away. Why would they ask a question like that?”
Kel’s answer was “I’m sorry, but I really can’t enlighten you on that question.”
Some people in the audience laughed, but it was obvious John wasn’t amused. The next question focused on how the candidates saw themselves as commander and chief of the armed forces. One of the candidates, a well-known Southern governor, turned his answer into an attack on Kel.
“Everyone knows I served my country in Vietnam and it is the proudest accomplishment of my life. I am glad that unlike. say, Senator O’Brien, I did not have daddy buy my way out of my military obligations.”
When Kel was allowed to offer rebuttal, he spoke calmly but firmly. “I have no idea why Governor Armstrong would suggest that my father paid anyone to keep me out of the army. My father served as an officer in the army for the duration of World War II and at the time I would have been eligible for the draft he had passed away. It’s true I have never had any military service, but neither have most of us on the stage tonight.”
Armstrong took another shot. “I think most people here would rather you just come out and say that you had connections in Washington that kept you from being sent to “Nam.”
Kel’s expression indicated growing anger but he countered calmly, “Which connections, Governor?”
“Did you get Senator Lansing to help you out? Take a little trip to Canada for a while?”
Kel responded. “I can’t tell you how offensive I find those allegations. Senator Lansing also served in World War II and lost a leg and would never have bought anyone’s way out of military service if they had been called up. Contrary to what you have said tonight, not everyone was asked to go to Vietnam and in any case I would have had a medical deferment.”
“Uh, oh,” Evan said. John had leaned forward in his seat and Tara wondered what was coming next, on national television.
“Medical deferment,” the governor said. “For what? Flat feet? Some made up allergy?”
Tara could sense that even the moderators were beginning to get uncomfortable with the way the question had turned into ugly accusations from the governor. The expressions on the faces of the audience showed their disapproval.
“No,” Kel said.
The governor pushed again. “Then what?”
Kel closed his eyes for a second, as if in resignation that he was about to share on national television something he’d kept secret for many years. “Type I diabetes,” he said quietly.
The room was completely silent and one of the moderators announced a commercial break. John sat in stunned disbelief at what had just happened. He turned to Evan. “I hope you’re prepared to answer a lot of questions. I’m going to have to call a press conference on this one.” He looked over at his nephew. “Or rather, Skip is going to.” They were talking in hushed tones as conversations had started up throughout the room.
“I’ve never known why it has to be a big secret,” Skip said.
“Maybe it shouldn’t have been, but now we have to deal with it. No one will hear anything else that’s said.”
The debate resumed and the first question was directed at Kel. “Senator O’Brie
n, do you believe your medical condition affects your ability to effectively serve in office?”
“No, I do not.” Kel said. “And I would appreciate returning to the real issues rather than my personal ones.”
Tara was certain the coverage following would only be discussing one thing. She wanted the debate to end for Kel’s sake. And she very much wanted to talk to him.
It finally came to an end and the candidates left the stage. Tara watched as Kel shook hands with all his opponents, even the Governor and shook hands with members of the audience who came up to greet him. He smiled at everyone and spoke to them all and finally made his way to the back of the room where they were waiting for him.
He said to Tara, “Could I interest you in a walk?”
John said, “Kel, we really need to talk about this.”
“You are already well advised as to my, what was it-medical condition. I’ll meet you in the suite in a little while. But feel free to discuss it all you want.” He turned back to Tara and said, “Well?”
“I’d love to.”
They walked in silence the few blocks back down to the inner harbor. She understood that he didn’t want to talk, but she also couldn’t help but think again how silence with him wasn’t awkward. He took her hand as they crossed the street and didn’t let it go as they continued walking. It was late and the harbor was almost deserted. Kel sat down on a bench facing the water and she sat beside him.
After some time he said, “ Well, I think that went well. I have too much money, an irrelevant degree, no wife, no military experience and a chronic disease. Would you say that about summarizes it?”
“I thought you made the rest of them look like uneducated, uninformed buffoons.” He still held her hand in his and she hoped he wouldn’t pull it away.
He didn’t. “Here’s hoping everyone else was watching from your perspective. I’ve always been afraid the diabetes would hurt me politically. People tend to see illness as a weakness, even if the condition can be controlled.”