Image by Jo_Johnston from Pixabay
Col. H.F. Lee, while preparing for his move to the Veteran's Lodge and other significant life change, marveled and did not marvel at some things that were happening to him.
No. 1: somehow, the Big Loft Police Department had not managed to let him go after going on and on and on about budgetary needs that were supposed to wipe him, the Blue Ridge Precinct, and Special Investigations out. He was still a police captain, into September 2020, and all his officers, though on furlough schedule at the trailers that were their office, were still coming to work.
But then again:
“The new state conservator looked at what parts of the department the public in Big Loft actually has confidence in now,” he explained to his astonished men. “I could not say this to you last month, but only a fool fires his best officers, and, gentlemen, you're it.”
No. 2: Getting hoisted up and going through “For Lee's the jolly good fellow!” as a Special Forces officer with lethal reflexes never got old … his men never knew the danger they were in, and their captain made sure they would never even guess, although being physically manhandled like that set his nerves on edge.
No. 3: Even in his first true peacetime job, not everyone was going to think he was the jolly good fellow, and the people who worked in and around the Lofton Trust were the people least likely to deeply understand his fearsome military and police reputation, while they experienced his angelically mild manners on calls and whenever he went into the office. Therefore, his own ironic acronym for Lee, “Lightning-Ever-Expected,” sometimes came to the fore, when trustees who had been there longer and were deeply suspicious of change took out after the newest trustee.
“Col. Lee, did you authorize this?”
A trustee who had been out sick had just read the minutes, seen the change that had taken place, and had noted who had put said item on the agenda – that was Col. Lee.
“No, Mr. Crutcher, I did not authorize it. A full board vote was taken, and I believe the vote was unanimous with the understanding that you and Mssrs. Davis, Semmes, and Foster were absent.”
“And you thought you were so slick, sneaking that up there just then!”
“Actually, Mr. Crutcher, Mr. Foster was going to put it on the agenda, but was in a car accident the day before and called me from the hospital. I presented his argument on his behalf, and you'll find that I credited him and provided footnotes – see page 5 of the minutes, paragraph 2.”
“Foster doesn't have the smooth tongue that you have – you got this pushed through, Colonel!”
“No, there was no need to push it. There was a unanimous vote of the board at quorum, just as there was on page 6, paragraph 8, where your initiative was also funded.”
Mr. Crutcher jumped and then opened up his binder and then was astonished.
“You put in a word for that too!” he said.
“It is an excellent idea,” the colonel said. “Remember, Mr. Crutcher: just because our uncles didn't get along in 1862 doesn't mean we have to fight. They lost their initiatives. We don't have to, and we're on the same team.”
Mr. Crutcher jumped slightly, and then sighed.
“So you do know why I have my hackles up, just a little – Robert E. Lee destroyed my uncle, and you look and move just like him – so calm, so commanding, so much running everything!”
“I'm just a trustee here, and the newest one,” Col. Lee said. “I am a semi-retired military commander, and as Col. Crutcher your uncle might have told you, it is probably better for everyone that a Lee stay calm and not do anything out of anger.”
“Fair enough, Col. Lee. I'm sorry – it's just a lot of pressure right now. A lot of people depend on me getting things to the table for the Lofton Trust, and – well – thank you for seeing the value and doing right by my initiative, too, in my absence.”
“Mr. Crutcher, our families have got to bury the hatchet at some point. Why not now?”
The colonel extended his hand, and Mr. Crutcher smiled and reached back.
But then again …
“It's like leaving Lil' Robert Ludlow in a room with any group of his siblings excluding Andrew and Eleanor, the two oldest,” he said to his wife Maggie. “It doesn't matter that he's the youngest one and therefore the newest who knows the least. If you can't get a good grip on him and the situation, he will be running the group before long.”
“Lil' Robert could actually run some adults,” Mrs. Maggie Lee said, “and think about it: he's got us moving back down there!”
“But that's what I'm saying,” the colonel said. “The Lofton Trust is generally well run, but it has been for so long it doesn't require active personalities to run it. That board is highly ethical, competent, but somewhat sedate, so, because I am relatively young and have the habit of active command, of course power is going to accrue to me just like Lil' Robert is so dynamic that it takes at least Andrew to balance him out, and Eleanor to just absorb and diffuse enough of his energy so he can just be a cuddly five-year-old.”
“Sometimes Amanda can, too,” Mrs. Lee said.
“This is true, but Amanda is a unique case … she can put me to sleep, and there are only three people in all the world who can just deal with my insomnia like that.”
“Yeah, little Cousin Amanda's snugglecouragement and general cuddle power is unmatched,” Mrs. Lee said. “Isn't the board having a open house soon – and aren't you taking her?”
“Take Your Cousin Who Is a Lofton Trustee Looking for a Place to Happen to Work Day, yes, ma'am,” Col. Lee said. “We need people who are focused on the needs of the whole county to get ready to serve, and Amanda Green 'Keep 'Em Safe' Ludlow is the ideal candidate in her age class!”
“Already!” Mrs. Lee said. “Just seven, and already!”
