A Proud Mother Speaks To The Room In General

By Jim Parks

Moving in a flurry of activity, getting the old couple
seated, flitting about for extra napkins, a bottle of pepper
sauce, more silverware, she takes her place at the table,
turned obliquely to address the room in general.

The dull hubub of the cafeteria swells and ebbs as she talks
steadily in an amplified voice, her head thrown back at a
slight angle, projecting from the diaphram. Her tanned skin
glows, the carefully styled hair glossy, the jewelry
glinting.

Oh, yes, she has gone to Dallas.

She answers her mother's questions with exaggerated calm and
patience.

It's an exciting new job. She's working for S____, F______.
Yes, it's an electronic discovery firm with offices in Los
Angeles, Dallas, Washington, D.C., New York and London.
They scan electronic files - computerized records - For
what?

For evidence.

Evidence.

Yes, anything that can be used as evidence in a trial.

Most of the people who work there are retired from the CIA
or the FBI.

She sounds so proud of that. Her husband speaks in the same
affected, high strung voice.

Questioned by a stranger who said he could not help
overhearing, she admits she has no idea if the computer
scans are a result of a court order on a discovery motion,
or not.

Her expression is blank.

I don't know about all that legal stuff, she says.