Ollie Begins to Drain the Swamp

“The Old man called, out of the blue and wants to meet you again.  Says he has something to share you need to know.”

“Ollie?  The wild haired cane-wielding son of a bitch?  Last time we met was at the Dubliner bar where he kindly requested that I meet him there because he wanted to enjoy his Guinness. You know, I enjoyed that visit.  It was good to get out of that stuffy white house, but the secret service did not enjoy the impromptu street closing and bringing in the snipers.  But it was good practice for them. Three idiots have tried to kill me but they’ve all failed.”

“Right”, said the Chief of Staff.  “But this time he wants an oval office sit down and he wants to bring someone.”

“Who?”

“Some kid.  Some kid from the inner city of Chicago.”

“Oh, and he said his only rule was no photographs. This is not a photo -op.”

“Interesting that he brings rules to my office! I wanted to clean up Chicago but their mayor you know…  Well, my schedule is so damn full, you know, just met with President Xi and his massive entourage and now I’m traveling around trying to shore up these candidates for the mid-terms, and those Iran Mullahs are a pain in the a—”

“You have a twenty-minute slot at 5, right after you meet with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of War.”

“Book him in.  He’s the most interesting man over 80 I’ve ever met, and hell, I think we can all learn from him at 103, even though all I know is that he was rejected for the Medal of Honor because he disobeyed orders, somewhere secret, to save a downed pilot and he told me I am the only one who no knows it. So, I will say no more out of respect.”

                                                      1700 hours.  The Oval Office. Washington DC

Ollie and Jerome are escorted into the oval office by the secret service and are given seats in front of POTUS who was pouring himself a diet coke on ice.  The Chief of staff sat off to the side and POTUS dismissed everyone else from the meeting, and they made Ollie’s shadow man stay out in the hallway by the secret service.

“Hello Ollie.  How have you been?  Haven’t seen you since January when you asked me for a job and I gave it to you.  And who is this nice young man you brought with you?  We found out he’s from Chicago and in high school and you are working with him?”

Ollie introduced Jerome to the President, they shook hands, and Jerome showed a bright smile, but his hand trembled a bit.  “Nice to meet you sir.  This is quite an honor.”

“Yeah, you told me you wanted me to save the children of America, instill patriotism, a strong work ethic, and honor God the Almighty and a few other things.  Oh yeah…you wanted me to bring our children back to the bright light we call the United States of America.  Then, Ollie stared at certain spot on the upper right corner of the wooden desk, smiled and said, “Glad to see it’s still there Don.”

“What”

“The crucifix I secretly pinned onto the desk without your predecessor knowing it during a meeting with him.  Didn’t go too well.  Then he tripped and almost hit the floor but I grabbed him and prevented his fall. He had me arrested for beating up some secret service agents who wouldn’t let me bring my cross necklace in the oval office.”

“I wasn’t aware of either event, and none of this surprises me, but I’m glad the crucifix pin is still there, Ollie.”

“You will need it.”

“Ollie, I just spent some time with president Xi here and I think we did well.  Accomplished some things but most would not be made public.  But you know he said something interesting at the end, and I want to talk to you about it a little later.  But first, tell me about Jerome and why you brought him to me.”

“Jerome is a senior in High School now.  He was lost but now he has found his way.  In fact, he went from being what they call a hood, to the number one student in Chicago, if not the state with the highest SAT scores in the state of Illinois and valedictorian of his class.”

“Impressive Jerome.”  The president smiled at him and Jerome smiled back but seemed embarrassed and looked down a little.

Ollie continued: “Jerome is going to help me fix the educational system of the United States and bring our young people to the bright light you told me about.  Don, I would like you to make him an honorary board member on the President’s Council on Educational Reform.”

“Ollie, if he’s as good as you say, consider it done. Now I have another meeting in a few minutes, so I’m going to have my people escort Jerome out and I want to speak to Ollie privately.”

With everyone out of the room, Don poured himself another diet coke and asked Ollie if he would like one.

“No thanks Don, it’s not my preferred drink.”

“I know, we don’t serve Guinness here.  But here’s what I want to say.  President Xi said to me privately, that the CCP has a specific interest in a man they say is maybe in his early 100’s, may have a war injury and was known in China as the American Ghost Warrior.  Something about him working with Chiang Kai Shek and the migration to Taiwan and General Chennault. I know that history and that Chiang and the Nationalists tried to stop Mao but failed, and that is the CCP of today. They were very interested in whether he was still alive. I never give information to them about our citizens. Do you know anything about this?”

Ollie looked straight at the president, showed no emotion, but his cane dropped to the floor, which never happens.   He picked it up and said, “Actually we called it Formosa back then.  But no, I don’t know anything about this old ghost warrior guy but he sounds interesting.  Strange that the president of China has an interest in some old dude.”

“You ever served in China, Ollie?”

“I’ve served this country in many places Don, and yes, China was one of them.  But, listen, I appreciate your time and I’ll keep my eye out for this old guy because there can’t be too many around.  And, I think I’m going to be bringing another guest next time, in my quest to help you and this country in the best way possible. I think you’ll like him.  And by the way, be careful with the Chinese.”

“We are. Take care Ollie.”

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