William Gaddis: A Folic Of His Own

— Mrs Lutz? Hi. I'm Lenny.

— You're what?

— Lenny Wu? I'm a new associate at Swyne & Dour Mrs Lutz. Mister Peyton had to go out of town and he entrusted me to bring this out to you because it was the top of his agenda when I called you, remember? Can I come in?

— Well, come in yes, come in I didn't, yes come in please! leading him through to take off his coat and sit down snapping open the brass mounts of a briskly new monogramed attache case in calf. — Can I get you something? some tea or…

— No. No thank you Mrs Lutz I trust I'm not disturbing you, I had a little difficulty finding the place but…

— No that's all right please! I appreciate your coming all the way out here to bring the…

— It's my privilege I assure you Mrs Lutz. Mister Peyton asked me to convey his deepest apologies for not coming himself. He was deeply attached to your husband both as a colleague and friend as I'm sure you know, and the loss is a terrible blow to the entire firm, both that of a brilliant legal mind and to its enduring reputation for probity and adhering to the highest standards of…

— I'm quite aware of the firm's image thank you, now…

— I'm sure you are Mrs Lutz! In the light of that, it occurred to Mister Peyton on the occasion of cleaning out your husband's desk that you might like to keep his papers which comprise a sort of memorial to his service and to his prominent place in the profession. I'm sure you have your own wonderful memories of your marriage to such a brilliant legal mind but we thought…

— Please. I was not married to a legal mind though I must say it often seemed like it, I was married to a man. Now if you don't terribly mind I'd like to get down to…

— I'm sorry Mrs Lutz! I didn't mean to, to intrude I was only expressing my admiration for his, for your husband's brilliant handling of some of the firm's leading courtroom victories, this one in particular that I, I do hope you understand? as he seemed to seek refuge from her dulled gaze burrowing in the sheaf of papers — that I'm sure you'll want to keep, this one in particular it's really enough in itself to immortalize him in the annals of First Amendment law for the life of the, the case he'd just brought to its triumphant conclusion when he, at his demise I'm sure you're familiar with it, what the press has labeled the Pop and Glow case?

— My God yes, but please don't…

— No I'm sure I have it here, just their vulgar shorthand for bringing a landmark case in the hundreds of millions down to the harried level of the general public who delight in trivializing anything they cannot understand, treating another landmark case striking at the heart of our constitutional rights cited here in his brief somewhere I'm sure I, when his citation of Carson v. Here's Johnny Portable Toilets is treated as a comical diversion like they've attached this Pop and Glow label to Episcopal Church of America v. Pepsico confronting the exclusionary clause in the First Amendment breaching the wall between church and, I know you'll want to read it Mrs Lutz it's brilliant unless of course, unless perhaps you've read it already?

— My God no, but…

— Yes I'll find it here, just give me a moment? as he riffled through the sheafs of paper and began to pile them on the floor at his feet — alleging that in devising the trade name Pepsi-Cola the defendants had deliberately contrived an obvious and infringing anagram of Episcopal hoping to profit from some subliminal confusion in the minds of the consumer public, thus enhancing the value of their worldwide bottling franchises and their marketing skills by exploiting the plaintiffs historical success in proselytizing its spiritual wares honed down through the centuries thereby defaming the venerable image of the church in attributing to it mercenary motives indistinguishable from the promotional campaigns for a soft drink which, you see I know his brief practically by heart it's the most skillfully…

— I see yes, but really…

— Oh just a moment, here's something I was told to call your special attention to? waving a fresh handful of papers at her, — the complaint by this woman and her insurance company's attorneys against your husband's estate regarding an automobile accident in which he allegedly left the scene after causing…

— Please just, just put it down somewhere and…

— I know you're familiar with it Mrs Lutz, I only meant to say that the services of the firm are of course at your dispos…

— Please! Will you get on with the…

— Of course yes I'm sorry, as I say I'll find it in a moment, it's the most skillfully argued brief I've encountered since we read Cardozo's opinion in Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad last year in law school there where your husband summarizes the defendant's allegation portraying the suit by the church as a gesture born of desperation to keep its head above water with its dwindling coffers and membership welcoming homosexual priests and ordaining women to attract the same worldwide constituency of brand name loyalists who, which clearly lay the groundwork for the final resolution of the case, there's hardly an argument he failed to, I can't have left it behind I was reading it again just before I left the office but if, I can send it to you can't I? as the pile at his feet mounted. — The striking parallel he draws with the fierce marketing innovation for the New Coke forced to go back to Classic Coke, even to citing regional thorns like R C Cola with the Roman Catholic campaign to recover its faithful from the alienation brought on by the desperate effort of the Second Vatican Council lowering its standards to reach out to the multitude by doing the mass in local jargon like allowing the orthodox to make a meal kosher by holding a telephone over it with a rabbi's voice at the other end, you see I was brought up Catholic Mrs Lutz and this touches a special chord in my oh, just a moment yes, quite off the subject but this is important, I think you may have heard mention of it? bringing him to his feet flourishing the intimidating document — regarding the infringement suit against your husb, your brother I mean being brought by the Eugene O'Neill estate for alleged…

— I have heard mention of it yes and I don't want to again! Will you please simply…

— I didn't mean to distract you Mrs Lutz I'm sorry, I was told to bring it out here for his immediate attention if you could be so good as to place it in his hands? commencing to pace the room as though loath to chance placing it in hers, — since he is named as codefendant in this suit being brought by the same estate against our client springing from the original case our client successfully defended against him notwithstanding, our firm wishes to offer its services as a courtesy in what promises to be a rather prolonged course of litigation of sufficient importance to all concerned for it to be handled by one of our senior partners should he, unless that is to say he has already retained counsel elsewhere? his rapid pacing before her now verging on prancing as he stopped abruptly with — I, excuse me Mrs Lutz I, is there a bathroom I might use? bringing her to her feet as abruptly to hurry him down the hall and make her own way hastily on to the kitchen where she clung to the edge of the sink for a moment before she reached up for the bottle and a glass to drink it straight down, getting her breath with a long swallow of water before she returned her unsteady composure to confront his full recovery seated back in the chair gesturing an empty hand, — I put it there on the sideboard Mrs Lutz. I only wished to add the note of deep regret felt throughout the firm that your husband could not be with us to see the fortunate outcome of his major role in breaking the deadlock leading to an amicable settlement between the parties. Everyone from the senior partners down agrees that his unsparing efforts laid the groundwork for the firm to proceed with the complex terms of the merger being negotiated between their marketing and evangelical arms but as I said earlier, this inclination of the press to turn momentous events into comical diversions pandering to the jaded tastes of their readers, anything you may read about a plan to use the soft drink in the communion service is purely a…