Respect Ch. 02

"Mr. Spencer," the President continued, "the Order of the Aztec Eagle is the highest award Mexico gives to a non-citizen. You are a brave man Mr. Spencer, and I have enormous respect for you."

"I'm truly honored," I said, fumbling for words. "I'm not only honored but terribly humbled. I just did what I thought anyone would do. I really don't feel like I earned this."

"No, you most definitely did," the President insisted. "It is the very least we can do. You deserve much, much more. Perhaps when the drug war is won, we will have a true celebration for the heroes in this struggle. But, sadly, now I must be on my way. As you can imagine, I have many responsibilities and very limited time."

As quickly as the President had arrived, he was gone. Cassie and the kids were very impressed when I showed them the medal and explained that the President had personally presented it to me.

One of the first things that happened at Cassie's old firm was that Ted was fired. Well, fired isn't exactly the right word. Using a provision in the Partnership agreement, he was bought out for much less than his share of the Partnership was worth. Ted threatened to fight the dismissal, but once his disgraceful behavior became public knowledge, he decided to leave quietly. Somehow, a video of him cowering in the helicopter surfaced on the internet. There was also a clip of him hiding behind the pool chairs.

I suspect that either Peter or Billy were the ones who posted the videos, but I haven't had a chance to talk to them since then.

One other thing I learned about Ted Walker concerned his wife. Her arrival hadn't been delayed. Ted had simply told her that he had to work that first day. Yeah, he was working to get into my wife's pants. However, when everything came out, Ted's wife filed for divorce. Apparently, she had hired a private investigator who uncovered several of his affairs. Add that to his disgraceful behavior, and she wanted no part of him. Last I heard, Ted had moved to California. That's a perfect place for him; it's a state filled with liars, cheats, and losers. Ted fits in all three categories.

Maria's three-part documentary was broadcast to rave reviews and a huge audience. The publicity from the attack on the Fantasia Hotel certainly didn't hurt. Maria won an Emmy for the series, and Peter won a Pulitzer Prize for his film work of the cartel attack.

In case you're wondering, yes, Maria does call me from time to time. Most of the time, she just wants to talk. Occasionally, Maria has a writing assignment for me. She also has a new boyfriend who owns a string of tuxedo stores and is big into charity. She met him at one of his charity events. I saw a picture of him, and he is a decent looking guy, nothing special though. But from the way Maria talks, I can tell she's totally in love with him. I hope it works out for both of them.

The good news that I hadn't told Cassie when she was contemplating dumping me was that I had found a literary agent. He liked all three of my books. Yes, I've written a third, and it's that one he was especially taken with. This is a book that continues Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. It's entitled A Christmas Tale Completed -- The Redemption of Jacob Marley.(1) My agent thinks it is the best Christmas story in a hundred years. Who am I to disagree with him? I just hope he can convince a publisher of that.

After the soccer game, Cassie started pulling away from her old firm and began building a practice out of our new home. Even when her firm offered her a Junior Partnership, Cassie turned them down.

Our new home was an old farmhouse that had a den and a sitting room on the first floor. It also had a large living room, dining room, eat-in kitchen, and bathroom. There were four bedrooms and two bathrooms on the second floor. We converted the den and sitting room into offices. Cassie took the sitting room because it was close to the front door, and there was enough space in the hallway outside it to accommodate a desk and several chairs. I took the den in the back of the house, where it was quiet.

I continue to take assignments whenever they're offered. I made a considerable amount of money writing articles about the attack. I have also agreed to write a book about my experience and have already received a significant advance.

A funny thing about Cassie's accounting practice is that when she's swamped, I pitch in and help. I always liked working with numbers; I just hated the office politics. With Cassie's private practice, there are no politics. And my compensation for helping is paid to me in the bedroom. It doesn't get any better than that.

We still have our minor ups and downs. We had a scare with Cassie when they found a lump on one of her breasts. Fortunately, it turned out to be benign. Kevin had a serious car accident shortly after getting his license. Again, fortunately, he only suffered a broken wrist and cuts on his face and neck. He recovered fully and is now an extremely cautious driver. Sally is in college now, and not surprisingly, she is an accounting major. She also has a serious boyfriend. He seems really nice and fits into our family great. But it's too early to tell if he's the one.

It's going to sound really crazy, but when I look back on that day in Mexico City, I am somewhat thankful for what the cartels tried to do. Obviously, not the part where they killed all those people, but I do have two reasons for feeling this way. My first reason has to do with the consequences after the attack on President Sanchez. The Mexican and the American government have been working together and mounting a ferocious attack on the drug cartels. They have put a real dent in the cartels' ability to move drugs and hide their money. But the second reason, and to me, the most important, is that it saved my marriage. I was able to get back the love and respect of my wife.

1. "A Christmas Tale Completed -- The Redemption of Jacob Marley" is a real book by Tom Boyhan. It is a marvelous continuation of the story told in "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.