1 Law 4 All. Billy Angel

looked him in the eyes experiencing a moment of clarity. With her brightest, biggest smile, she nodded slowly. “Yes.”

      At that moment in time at the tender age of nine, another politician was born. Her dad recognized it and so did she. The Giardina political tradition had just been extended another generation.

      Chapter 5 Chop Sticks

      “Up for Chinese tonight?” Mac asked Jimmy.

      “Sure but we’ll have to get back before our study session. I asked Carol and Juan over to review cases with us for tomorrow’s test.”

      “What time are they coming over?”

      “About eight.”

      “Ok, let’s go now and we’ll be back in plenty of time.” Mac sprung to his feet. They left their apartment and began walking.

      Anxious anticipation powered Mac’s stride. “Slow down, big fellow. The only thing we have waiting for us when we get back are two nerds and cases up the wazoo.”

      “Let’s go to King Lings.” Mac pointed with his head towards the Chinese restaurant and didn’t slow down.

      Jimmy reflected on Mac’s story from the other night and understood Mac’s rush. Wild as the fake BJ story was, Jimmy understood Mac’s itch to find his Eurasian damsel in distress. For fun he started to out-stride him. He joked as he passed him. “First one there gets the Eurasian dream girl!”

      Mac knew this was a wild goose chase, but fantasies were his only outlet at this time in his life. Law school monopolized every waking minute. It compromised his eating and sleeping habits until he started rooming with Jimmy. Jimmy’s carefree spirit complimented his serious nature. Leaving the apartment for dinner and chasing some fantasy girl tonight was his way of taking a break. Jimmy was among for the adventure.

      Mac decided to change the subject. "Did you hear some Democrat Senator called the Republicans, an E. coli club."

      "That's nothing new," Jimmy claimed. "I remember Frank Colacurcio and his buddies sitting outside his deli and talking politics. They voted for Democrats because they could be bribed with less money than the Republicans."

      "I don't know anything about that," Mac responded. "But I do know that they have been accusing Republicans of starving babies for years."

      "Funny isn't it. Democrats support Obamacare's death panels for the elderly and publically funded abortions. Who really is the E coli club?"

      Mac opened the door to King Lings Restaurant. Jimmy walked pass the register counter with its ‘seat yourself’ sign. They found a table half way down the aisle against the wall.

      The waitress dropped off two glasses of water and a couple of plastic covered, sticky menus. As she walked away, Mac noticed a chopstick in her hair. Jimmy took note of Mac focusing on the waitress’s hair and said. “That’s what long-haired Asian girls do. They roll it up into a bun and push a chopstick through.”

      Mac memorized that little tidbit of information. Then he started imaging the chopstick in his mystery girl's hair. He took this thought one step further. He removed the chopstick from her hair and watched it unroll down most of her back. He sighed and looked down at the menu.

      Throughout the meal, he made mental notes of the restaurant. From the wooden chopsticks to the plastic plates to the paper napkins, nothing seemed to connect to his Eurasian mystery girl. Even the servers were more Chinese looking than Eurasian. He observed that the Chinese have more rounded faces than other Asian cultures.

      After gobbling down the orange chicken, house noodles and fried rice, they sat back. Mac took in a lungful of air. He acted disappointed. “Let’s get out of here.”

      Jimmy smiled. “Don’t take it too hard. You really didn’t expect to see your mystery girl here, did you?” Mac just gave him a half-grin.

      On their way out Mac stopped at the counter by the entrance. He looked for a toothpick. He froze while looking into the display case window. Right behind the takeout fortune cookies was a box of chopsticks. They were tan colored and plastic with King Ling written in red on the handle.

      Jimmy noticed what Mac had seen. “Just because you see her chopstick, doesn’t mean she was here. She may have picked it up on the street or in a second hand store down on Market.”

      They left the restaurant. Jimmy kept chattering about the odds of ever seeing Mac's mystery girl again. No matter what Jimmy said, Mac held out hope.

      Chapter 6 Study Session

      Mac and Jimmy's second floor flat overlooked the two and half acre Father Alfred E. Boeddeker Park in the Tenderloin district. Father Boeddeker was a Franciscan priest who served the poor and hungry in the neighborhood years before. He established the nearby St. Anthony Dining room where Mac occasionally volunteered to serve dinners.

      When Mac and Jimmy opened the door to their flat, Carol and Juan were sitting on the couch studying. Carol knew the outside key was hidden on top of the door molding. They let themselves into the apartment and the fridge. There were several empty beer bottles on the end table next to the couch.

      "Why do you get bottled beer?" Juan quizzed Mac.

      "I was expecting your first question to be about Gross vs. the Medina Corporation." Mac answered.

      "It's something about tasting the cans." Jimmy offered. "Actually, I'm becoming a believer."

      Carol and Juan went back to their reading. They apparently wanted to finish something important.

      Juan Oneca was a handsome, proud Puerto Rican. The dark complexion on his five foot ten inch tall frame made him stand out in crowds. His looks aside, Juan embraced the intelligential route as a youngster. Most of the kids in his neighborhood perused sports or drugs or both. Juan chose books. He learned early in his education that being number one in his class opened the scholarship money doors. Even so, he would owe nearly four hundred thousand dollars to various lending institutions after graduating from law school.

      Juan competed for the top spot in his class throughout his schooling. Law school was no different. He felt like he had to study 24/7. Even in these study sessions, he would reread everything while the others took breaks. In general, he acted as if he was commanding his mind to memorize everything.

      Life’s reality for Juan rested with the desire to help his family. His mother and six brothers lived in poverty in Puerto Rico. He was their hope for a better life. He regularly sent them whatever money he could spare.

      Carol Finley was a perpetual motion, self-starter that keeps life in perspective. Orphaned at eight years old, she begged, borrowed or stole most of what she could to get through elementary school.

      During her teens, Carol, grew into her big-boned frame to end up five foot, nine inches tall. That's when she met Father White, a priest at Saint Rita's Catholic Church.

      Father White recognized her talent for learning. He found a donor who scholarshipped her education through St. Mary's Catholic High School.

      She financed her college and law school education through federal and private student loans. Upon graduation from law school, she will have accumulated close to a half a million dollars in debt.

      She respected Juan’s relentless chase for academic excellence. Juan respected Carol’s tough-minded spirit. Together they made a good sounding board for studying with Mac and Jimmy.

      Carol looked in Juan’s direction. “What's the relevance of Brown vs. the Board of Education?”

      Jimmy and Mac took seats opposite Juan and Carol. They looked at each other and smiled. Jimmy popped off, “We’ve arrived just in time to save you guys.”

      Earlier at dinner, they had just discussed this and related cases over Chinese noodles. Jimmy did a little drum roll motion with his hands and pointed squarely at Mac as if a spotlight suddenly shined on him.

      Mac accommodated