Chapter 25 -- Tiffany's Three Demerits
While Kim and her friends were occupied with the first week of their concert tour, Upper Danubia struggled through an ever-deepening political crisis. For the first time since the Second World War, the Duchy faced the prospect of political instability. The conservative government of the Party of the Duchy fell in the Parliament's first no-confidence vote since 1940. The Prime Minister immediately called elections assuming, correctly as it turned out, the deputies of the opposition Greater Danubian Progressive Party were not yet organized enough to win an election outright.
On July 29, the day after the successful concert of "Socrates' Mistresses" in Warsaw, the Duchy held the first out of a series of chaotic national elections. During the campaign the opposition deputies savagely attacked the government's disastrous handling of the previous year's fires in Rika Chorna province, which resonated among dispossessed voters in the entire eastern part of the country. However, the economic program the Greater Danubian Progressive Party put forward was frightening because of the commitments its leaders had made to foreign corporations. Included in the opposition's plans were the immediate abolition of many of the country's oldest institutions and social services, the removal of all legal protection for local businesses, and the immediate removal of most border security. The "Progressives" openly argued for closing Upper Danubia's public transportation system and encouraging the public to buy and import private automobiles. As for the farmland that would be destroyed by the proposed roads, the solution would be to import food from the European Community.
The proposal that most frightened much of the public about the opposition's program, however, was the idea to systematically log Upper Danubia's forests, in order to pay for road building and other large-scale development projects. Several international logging firms already had contracts pending to clear out the forests. All that was needed was a clear victory by the Greater Danubian Progressive Party.
As insane as the massive logging projects may have sounded to the western half of the country, to voters in the eastern half of Upper Danubia logging made perfect sense. Logging would remove the region's fire hazard once and for all, as well as finance the reconstruction of Rika Chorna and other fire-affected provinces. It was a financial quick fix that had its attractions, but any educated person realized the ultimate price would be far greater than any short-term gain for the east.
There was one final part of the opposition's program that struck real fear into the hearts of Danube City's 2,000 criminals: jails. The "Progressives" wanted to bring Upper Danubia's justice system in line with the rest of the world by rounding up all convicted criminals and putting them in jail. The incarceration program would begin with a concentration camp outside Danube City, which would stay in operation until a proper prison could be constructed. Once the prison was built, criminals would move in, be issued prison uniforms, have their collars removed, and spend the rest of their sentences in prison cells. Sure it would be costly and pull the criminals away from their families and jobs, but isn't that the way the rest of the world does it? Besides, a lucrative prison construction contract was waiting for a US corporation paying the campaign contributions of several opposition candidates.
Two nights before the election the Parliament's independent deputies invited Spokesman Vladim Dukov to address a campaign rally. He gave an angry speech to a large crowd, exhorting the public to reject the "insane" proposals of "capitalism in its most savage manifestation". He attacked globalization and the neo-conservative push to turn the world over to corporate interests. As she listed to him speak Kim realized, in spite of his kindness to her and his understanding of US citizens as individuals, Dukov did not like the United States as a society and rejected much of what its government stood for.
"We need to cultivate our land and we need to eat! We need to be safe! We need to walk down our streets in peace and breathe clean air! We do not need to become a nation of automobiles, international logging companies, pollution, and crime! We must not become a nation of people working 60 hours a week to buy imported products we don't need! And we must not sacrifice our identity on the altar of global commerce! I reject that false god, and I urge you to do the same!"
Dukov's speech killed the prospect of an outright victory by the "Progressives" and earned him some real political enemies in the Parliament. The popular vote split three ways, between the "Nobility", the "Progressives", and the unorganized group of dissidents from the two parties. Following the election, the Party of the Duchy formed an unstable coalition with the Duchy's independent deputies to set up a government. The new government would last a total of three weeks before the independents defected in a no-confidence vote and forced yet another election. The nation's Prime Minister later resigned in disgust, leaving Upper Danubia in political crisis with no real leadership.
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Kim returned to the hospital to visit Tiffany on the 29th, the same day of the first round of elections taking place around the country. She entered the hospital grounds right at 9:00, expecting to spend the entire allotted three hours with her client. Kim was not surprised to see Tiffany still in her room, but she was surprised to see that her physical appearance had only slightly improved. Tiffany's intern reminded Kim that her client not only had spent the entire week cleaning out the drugs from her body, but also undergoing treatment for venereal disease and amoebas.
"She's had a rough week, but I think once we discontinue the antibiotics she'll feel much better. She's definitely past any danger of seizures, so I think we'll collar her today after her medical evaluation. Tomorrow we'll fix her teeth, and on Tuesday she'll start the regular exercise regimen with the other patients."
"How's her attitude been?"
"Apprentice, about the attitude...that's not been so good. She earned three demerits on Thursday, which is something I want to discuss with you. Our program includes a system of merits and demerits, which is one of the ways we encourage our patients to cooperate and behave appropriately. We issue merits based on good behavior and cooperation. A demerit results from a refusal to cooperate, or in the case of your client, disrespect and dishonesty. We've had quite a bit of unpleasantness from Tiffany over the last week. Some of that is to be expected, due to her medical condition. However, last Thursday we directed her to spend some time on a treadmill to check her heart and blood circulation. We run a total of three sessions on the treadmill to check a patient's endurance. Tiffany co-operated the first round, but she became rebellious after that. She...I presume it's an American manner of insulting...circled her eyes around when we issued our instructions, and then, in English, she called the doctor a 'cock-sucking fag' and to 'go fuck himself'. We did not understand what the term 'cock-sucking fag' meant, so I tried to look it up. I never figured out what the first word meant. The best I could figure is that it has something to do with sucking on chickens. The second word has two meanings, and I presume she was not calling the doctor a pile of firewood."
Kim sighed. "No. In the US that means only one thing, and it's an insult. A pretty bad one."
"Very well Apprentice. Then that is one demerit. I confronted Tiffany about the gesture with her eyes and her vocabulary, and she flatly denied both. Perhaps the gesture with her eyes was a misinterpretation on my part, but what she said was quite clear, and I am not the only person in the room who heard it. Several other patients witnessed the incident. We issued her a second demerit for lying and a third for the fact the incident took place in front of other patients."
"So...what is a demerit? What does that actually mean?"
"A demerit involves a formal apology and five strokes of the switch."
"And she's got three? That's fifteen strokes?"
"That is correct. Fifteen strokes and three formal apologies. Had she earned any merits, a merit would have canceled demerit. Unfortunately Tiffany did nothing this past week to earn a merit. To be honest, her behavior outside the Thursday incident has not been very cooperative."
Kim shook her head. The intern continued.
"I've discussed this matter with the doctors involved, and perhaps we can...postpone the corporal punishment until next weekend and hope she can earn a merit or two. That wouldn't sit well with the other patients, but perhaps it would motivate your client."
"Very well, Intern. I'll talk to her, and see what's going on."
Kim then returned to Tiffany's room, to find the patient sitting up and a bit restless. She gave Tiffany a sharp look and pointed at the floor. Tiffany sadly got on her knees and touched her forehead to the ground.
"OK, Tiffany, let's remember our protocol...it's 'Good morning Apprentice Lee. I am pleased you have safely returned.'"
Once she repeated the formal greeting, Kim invited Tiffany for a walk across the hospital grounds, to begin conversing with her. At first Kim gave Tiffany an update on her own life and the concert in Warsaw, and then went into detail about what Tiffany's life would be like once her trial was over. Kim wanted to emphasize that Tiffany would indeed have real life after her rehab and trial.
