Chapter 9
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8 am
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The alarm officially woke me and Michelle up. The wedding was scheduled for noon, in our apartment, but guests would be arriving in about an hour. Michelle and I had decided to have a small intimate wedding at home, and save our money for other matters. We both agreed that the point of a wedding is the day after, and the day after that, and so forth. We had enough time for a quick breakfast and showers. Bill and his husband Danny were the first to arrive. Bill helped me get set up and we talked about president Duric's speech the previous night.
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Joe: You see the president's speech last night?
Bill: A little bit. Some of the newspapers are mocking him for it.
Joe: Do you think he knows that you and I aren't actually related by blood to the original Friday an Gannon?
Bill: Still, maybe it is fate that we'd be partners. Besides the original Friday and Gannon were good cops.
Joe: They were dedicated, honest, not racist. Ofcourse they also hated hippies, beatnicks, and believed that people on welfare all just wanted to be paid not to work.
Bill: They also smoked tobacco but felt marijuanna was public enemy number one. They also lamented that homosexuality was being more tolerated, I doubt they woud have accepted my marriage to Danny, or your wedding to Michelle today. I know that they weren't perfect, but a part of me wishes I could have learned from them. I wish they could have seen the day when the president would be optimistic about wiping out all crime.
Joe: Maybe I'm just too cynical, but I somehow doubt that all crime will be abolished within 100 years.
Bill: Maybe, but it could inspire others. Let's say that Duric is overshooting, maybe by the quadricentennial, the number of murders in this country per year is in single digits. Not as good as Duric hoped for, but better than today.
Joe: I'm still too cynical about that. Still, time was people thought that terrorism would never go extinct.
Bill: They said the same thing about slavery once.
Joe: Yeah. I saw this episode of the "Twilight Zone" a while ago. It involved a dystopian future where a young woman is on trial for shoplifting. The dystopian part was that this society had the death penalty for this offense.
Bill: I had some reservations when president Duric abolished the death penalty, but I don't want it for shoplifting.
Joe: Suppossedly crime had been almost completely abolished. They talked about having one or two murders a year in this country, having the number of rapes in double digits, as the "bad old days." Such actions were used to finally end crime.
Bill: I think I saw part of that episode. It was implied that the prosecutor was running for president, used this to get votes. In my opinion such actions would likely lead to more crime. Shop owners would hesitate to turn a teenager in if they thought they'd be executed.
Joe: Yeah. Did Rachel have the baby yet?
Bill: Any day now. The doctor ordered bed rest. Not how I hoped to become a grandfather, but I am kind of looking forward to it. Also nervous about Cedar going to Maldivia. But they have to live their own life.
Joe: Yeah. Didn't your mother used to say that parenting only gets easier when you're dead?
Bill: And even then you might worry a little. After all these years I finally understand what she meant.
Joe: Me too. I like to think I'm a good mother, which means I'll always be worried. But at least I'll have Michelle to worry with me.
Bill: It looks like my prophecy is coming true.
Joe: What prophecy?
Bill: The one that said "Officers Friday and Gannon are retiring. Their work is done."
Joe: I still think we're a long way from that.
Bill: Maybe, but we can hope can't we.