Chapter 1
“Still in law school?”
“Yes, Dad. Still there.”
“Not getting all hippy dippy with the rock and roll?”
“No, Dad, I’m not.” William smiled at his dad. “Not a lot of that going on. I don’t know if you remember, but I’m at Harvard.”
“Yeah, OK.” Harold smiled at his son. “There’s a lot of that going on at my school.”
William bit his lip and waited. His dad, Harold Carr, was the principal of Trumbo High. William opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottled water. Dad was putting dishes in the sink.
“Yeah yeah. Girls in short skirts, guys with long hair. It’s crazy. But, anyway, you should come to our faculty meeting. There’s a few people I want you to meet. One of our new staff is younger than you.”
“Really?” William thought, how hard could teaching be? He’d breezed through high school.
“His name is Jeffrey Nolan, he’s really smart. You’d like him.”
“Uh huh. He’ll be here at Trumbo and I’ll be back at Harvard. I already have friends at Harvard.”
“Sure, I believe you, I do. But you can never have too many friends. I think this guy is going places.”
“And his first place is Trumbo High?”
“Yeah, I know, he’s young. He doesn’t even have a degree.”
“And that’s a good thing… Dad, are you okay?”
“Just meet the guy, smart ass. What could it hurt?”
William was only 24, so how old could this guy be? But, his dad was odd that way. He liked to take chances on people. It usually worked out.
William met Jeffrey Nolan at the Trumbo High faculty meeting after party that fall in ’73. It was about 9:00 PM. There was a mediocre pop band playing Celebrate on stage.
William leaned in to Nolan’s ear. “So, this your dream job?”
Nolan smiled, looked at William like he was crazy. “Of course not. Eventually, I’m gonna make some real dough on Wall Street. That’s where the action is. I do, however, like some of the sights here at Trumbo.” He held his drink and nodded at the history teacher, Miss Trova, as she walked by, her short black skirt hugging her curvaceous hips. She smiled and looked away.
“I see.”
“Oh not Trova. She’s a little old for my taste.” He nodded at William as if William was agreeing.
William nodded back even though he didn’t get it. What was she, like 25? However, as he thought about it, it made sense. Jeffrey was only 21. Of course he might not want an older woman. Jeffrey seemed like an OK looking guy. William could imagine him doing alright.
“So William. How about you, what do you want in life?”
“I’d be happy to be an actual lawyer one day.”
“I mean, what do you really want? What is your dream lawyer job?”
“Attorney General,” said William with little hesitation.
“You mean like for the President?” Jeffrey chuckled.
“Yes. I’d probably go for State AG first.”
“Wow, you dream big,” said Jeffrey.
“I do, don’t I?” William smiled.
“So, my friend the Attorney General. If I ever get in trouble…”
“Not quite. This is a job where I do what’s right for the country.” William got serious and talked about the job of Attorney General. As he spoke, you could practically hear the flag flapping in the background. After rambling on about justice, truth, and the constitution, William said, “I want to be the best Attorney General ever. I know it sounds corny.”
“No, no. I get ya. Sounds great. Sounds like something to shoot for.”
William barely gave another thought to Jeffrey for the next few years.
In the early eighties, William had been lead counsel for Barnes and Barnes. His biggest case was the infamous Fish Heads case.
In 1985, he took a job working for Ted Mantle, a South Carolina House member.
William was in his office on a slow Wednesday when his phone rang.
“Hey Bill, what’s happening? Long time no see.”
William didn’t recognize the voice. “Who is this? Sorry. Is this Mike?”
“No, Bill, it’s Jeff Nolan. Remember me at Trumbo?”
William didn’t say anything. He was mystified. His father’s high school?
“Yeah, I was the young teacher, remember?”
Now it began coming back to William. Oh yeah, he remembered this guy. A few years after being hired, he’d been accused of inappropriate behavior with one of his female students. He also remembered one of his lewd remarks at the faculty meeting, so he wasn’t exactly surprised when the talk began.
“I’m calling because I thought maybe you’d wanna come with us to the Island of Guadalupe. It’s really beautiful and you’ll have a great time. Plus, I need some legal help and you’ll get paid.” Jeffrey continued, “We can spend three days in this tropical paradise. Whaddya think?”
All of this sounded very expensive. Jeff must have done well for himself. He remembered him saying he wanted to work on Wall Street.
“Yeah, we’ll fly in my private jet. I promise, I’ll make it fun. You’ll hardly feel like you’re working. You can bring your wife.”
“I’m not married.”
“Better yet. I have the hottest flight attendants. Whatever you want. They’ll attend to your every need. Coffee, tea, or me.”
“That’s a book.”
“It is. But, it can also be real life.”
The next few years were possibly the happiest of William’s life. He’d made numerous trips on Jeffrey’s jet and in the process had met many impressive people. More importantly, he’d gotten laid more than he had in his entire life. He knew it was probably all a set up but he didn’t care. The women were young and beautiful and willing. William did OK in his life but nothing like this. He never thought there might be a catch. He assumed it was all for the free legal help.
