A May-September Wedding (10 page)

"No, but I
thought we'd buried it years ago. That's why I was so upset
tonight. When I went down the get the french fries, he cornered me
in the laundry room with a sprig of mistletoe and drunkenly
informed me that I still owed him a kiss. I refused him this time,
too. You see, I told Harry about all this the first time I saw
David again, just after we moved in across from you. I kind of
panicked when he showed up at your house and Harry asked why. Later
on, he told David what would happen if he threatened me again.
David was scared of Harry."

"Do you want
me to do something about it?"

"I'm not sure.
He said that I should stay away from you or he'd tell you what kind
of a slut I am."

Cal could feel
his temper rising. "I won't say anything unless you ask me to or he
brings it up. But I wish he was ten and I could put him over my
knee. I thought we'd brought him up better than that. Brenda would
be so disappointed if she'd known."

"I know. I
never told her because after Harry talked to David, David behaved
himself." She reached over and took Cal's hand. "Cal, I want you to
know something. Despite my wild streak and my reputation, the next
man I sleep with will be my second."

Cal looked
into her blue eyes to see conviction and honesty and said, "Phyl,
even if you had been that kind of wild in grade ten, you are now a
beautiful mature woman who has her head on straight. I was wilder
than that in high school until Brenda turned my life around, so I
have a pretty big beam in my own eye." Then he smiled tenderly.
"For what it's worth, who ever number two is will be a very lucky
man."

The room
seemed to get smaller as she gazed into his concerned eyes. She
calmly released his hand and drained her now lukewarm coffee.
Working smoothly together, partners without really noticing it,
they got the stray dishes cleaned up and all the rooms tidy before
wishing each other Merry Christmas with a peck on the cheek and
retiring to their separate beds.

Cal had to
work not to be toweringly angry with David. He knew that it was
going to take a huge effort not to pick up the phone when he woke
up and tear a strip off his son. But he promised Phyl he'd let it
slide until either she or David brought it up. But how dare he
threaten his friend like that.

He'd almost
told her about the swath he'd cut through the female population of
Lisgar Collegiate, something he wasn't proud of because there were
women in town who still wouldn't speak to him. It was Brenda who'd
saved him from that when she'd torn a strip off him for dumping one
of her friends in a particularly callous way. He hadn't thought of
Brenda as attractive until she'd gotten righteously angry with
him.

She made him
attend church with her as penance and to this day he still didn't
know how she had done it. But for some reason he'd needed Brenda's
good opinion. He thanked God that Brenda was there to point him in
the right direction when he'd finally recognized he needed to
change – that he needed Jesus in his life.

Now, if he
could only release his anger at David so he could sleep.

"I don't know
what to do, Phyl." They were chatting in her kitchen after supper
while the kids tackled their homework.

"What do you
want to do?"

"I wish I
knew."

"So tell me
the problem."

Cal ran a hand
through his hair. "They did a small reorganization at work and put
this really focused go-getter to head up the selection committee to
decide which of the shipyards is going to get the resupply ship
contract." Cal got up to get a ginger ale out of the fridge.

"We're working
on the evaluation grid together and, in my opinion, he's putting
too much weight on the price. Actually, I'm the only retired Navy
man on the committee. The rest are all ambitious yes men." He took
a drink and sat down. Phyl put on her listening face and Cal
continued.

"I don't have
a problem with any of the shipbuilders. All of them are
subcontracting some of the major modules to shipbuilders in other
countries, but the one that's coming in with the lowest bid is
using a shipyard in Korea to build the crew spaces. The problem
that I've pointed out is that using that shipyard needs on site
inspectors to be there for the full period of the construction or
there will be quality problems. The other three bidders are using
builders in India, Taiwan and Korea but they've factored in the
higher inspection costs. I don't know if the low bidder would get
the contract otherwise."

Phyl asked,
"I'm still not sure I understand the problem."

"Oh, the
lowest cost bid is going to do all of the inspection at the end and
ask for rework as needed. I've pointed out to my new boss that the
last two projects that were done that way ended up more than a year
late and costing almost double the initial bid."

Phyl thought
about that for a bit. "Isn't that penny wise and pound
foolish?"

"That's what
I've been trying to tell Paul, but he doesn't care much. I think
his bonus is tied to getting things done quickly and the only way
to do that is to not ask too many questions of the bidders." Cal
finished his ginger ale. "Apparently I ask too many questions."

Phyl asked,
"What if you go over his head?"

Cal said,
ruefully, "All of the people who would believe me are either
retired or have moved to other departments. The Deputy and the
Minister are both pretty new to the portfolio. This is one of the
highest profile contracts in years."

"The papers
would have a field day if the new government, which ran on fiscal
responsibility, was found out later to have ignored your advice and
it ended up costing millions more." Phyl tapped her fingers on the
table. "I mean they just got everything sort of cleaned up after
the sponsorship scandal."

"Anyway, my
dilemma is whether I go over Paul's head or not. If I do, I may as
well retire because they won't trust me with anything either fun or
important again."

"What would
you do if you retired?"

"Oh, I've got
a few projects I'd like to do. And I'm sure that someone would hire
me as a consultant if I got too bored."

"What
projects?"

"Father Gary's
asked if I would take one of the warden positions. I've wanted to
for a couple of years, but I worked too much overtime or did too
much travel. One of Brenda's literacy groups bought an old house in
Mechanicsville near the Odawa Native Friendship Centre that needs
extensive repairs. I thought I could help them locate some good
contractors to do the work that the volunteers can't manage. And
I'm sure that I'll have things around the house to keep me
busy."

Phyl nodded.
"Okay. I'm going to tell you what you should do. If you object too
strenuously, then pick a different path." Cal looked puzzled and
Phyl said, "I used to do this with Harry when he was conflicted.
I'd order him to do it one way and he would either do it that way
because that was what his gut was telling him or he'd do the
opposite. Either way, it clarified things pretty quickly for
him."

Cal tilted his
head. "Fine. I'm listening."

Phyl said,
"This isn't an either or question so maybe I should get you a
notepad." She dug in a drawer and pulled out one of Brenda's list
pads and a pen. Cal looked at the notepad and smiled, then looked
intently at Phyl.

"First, you
are going to write up all your objections in a concise report and
sign it as Commander J. Calvin Richardson, retired, along with your
current position title. Second, you put in your retirement papers.
Third, after they are accepted you send your 'minority report' to
your boss, his boss, the Deputy Minister, the Minister and the
Auditor General. Then, fourth and last, we plan your retirement
party."

Cal looked at
the notepad and nodded as he thought about it. Phyl got up to
putter a bit in silence while Cal reviewed what she proposed.

Cal waited for
some doubts to surface, but only said, "I have to add two things to
the list. After I've written up my report I will tell Paul verbally
that I'm retiring and why and let him know that he will get a copy
of the report when I send it. The other thing I have to add is a
couple of additional addressees. I want to send copies to the chair
of the Defence committee in Parliament, the Comptroller General and
the Prime Minister." He gave a relieved smile to Phyl and said,
"Thank you. This clears my mind incredibly."

"And it allows
you to do the right thing so you can start sleeping better." Phyl
brushed Cal's hair back over his forehead.

"Was it that
obvious?"

"Well, your
temper's been shorter and you were starting to get dark circles
under your eyes."

Cal covered
her hand and said, "That's an interesting decision making
technique."

Phyl
reluctantly took back her hand. "Dad used to flip a coin and when
he didn't like the answer he'd do the opposite. But that only works
for either-or situations. I used this one with Harry when he was
asked to set up a false invoicing scheme and splitting the illegal
profits with the company presidents he was dealing with. He went to
his boss and the boss said that he wanted half of Harry's take. I
told him to get as much evidence as he could then quit and go to
the police"

Cal whistled.
"So that's what the problem was. I knew he was incredibly anxious
when he quit that one job but he never said why."

"He refused to
stay on the job to help the police, but they passed it to Revenue
Canada. Their investigators spotted the scheme with a couple of the
other salesmen and put a stop to it." Phyl sat down with a cup of
tea. "So, how many people can we expect at your retirement
party?"

Cal grinned
and they got out a fresh sheet of paper.

"Paul? I need
to see you." Cal cornered his boss in the hall.

Paul looked at
his watch. "I can give you ten minutes now or you can book
something with my EA."

"It shouldn't
take longer than ten minutes."

Cal followed
Paul to his office, then shut the door behind him. Cal took as seat
in the visitor chair and started, "I put in my retirement papers
this morning for the end of next week. My anniversary date is next
Thursday and I'll have my thirty-five years. But I wanted to let
you know why."

Paul looked a
bit surprised. "You never mentioned anything about retirement
before."

"That's
because I was always treated as a valuable member of the team until
you got here. I was recruited specifically for my experience in the
Engineering branch of the Navy and for my experience solving
quality problems with naval architects and shipbuilders. Until the
recent reorganization, when I raised an objection about the quality
of a project I was taken seriously."

Paul's face
started to get red. "We take your objections seriously, Cal."

Cal fixed Paul
with his commander's stare. "If you had taken them seriously you
would have responded to my written questions in writing and given
me good reasons why I was wrong. So, I put my objections to this
procurement process in writing and, if you check your email, I just
sent that report to you with copies to a number of people including
the Minister, the chair of the Defence committee and the Auditor
General. The reason I stress quality products so much is because I
had to attend too many funerals for Sea King pilots and the poor
sailors they were trying to rescue. If the only factor in this
procurement decision is money, then you'll be sending more young
sailors to an early grave and you'll cost the government too much
money in the long run."

Paul stood.
"I'll see you fired for this."

Cal stood,
too. "Try it. I'll be retired before you can get any disciplinary
action through HR although you could send me home with pay for the
next week. I could use the time to plan for my retirement
party."

Paul's eyes
narrowed. "I won't send you home. But you are off this project. The
only thing I want you to do is sit with Latendresse to transfer
your work to him."

"That's fine,
he's got a good head on his shoulders."

"You know,
Richardson, you are such a sanctimonious prick."

"Thank you,
Paul. Coming from you, that's a compliment." Cal put his hand on
the doorknob. "I'll get back to work now. And if you say anything
abusive or negative about me outside these walls, I'll file a
grievance as fast as I can fill one out."

Phyl was
sitting watching Cal preparing the spaghetti and admiring his now
relaxed figure. "So, how did Paul take it?"

"He called me
a sanctimonious prick before he read my report. After he read it,
he called me into his office again at four to let me know what he
thought about my report, my ethics, my parentage, the way my mother
earned her extra income and my probable canine ancestors. Then he
told me to pack my desk and take administrative leave until my
retirement date because he couldn't trust me to keep my mouth shut.
I still have to go back in on Friday morning to give back my
Blackberry and my pass and make sure that all of the final
paperwork is signed off properly. I reminded him of that when he
was standing watching me pack my personal items from my
cubicle."

Phyl's eyes
were sparkling with humour. "Probable canine ancestors?"

"Well, there
are little pitchers in the house."

"They'll
understand. They hear worse at school."

"I know.
That's another reason I want Felicity to go to Redeemer in the
fall."

"I looked up
the fee structure. I can afford to pay for Lydia to go there, too,
and I agree that it would be a better choice than the public high
school if they get accepted."