The Specials

Originally written March 13, 2007

My people would approach me with the idea that I should be teacher once again. As an American attorney, I outranked nearly everyone on the legal experience depth charts. Over time this delusion of training an army became a possibility, and the possibility grew into something more, something aspiring.

A special member of the law school community from its inauguration, I have had a hand in its direction from the very beginning. The face of minority recruitment, this gweilo volunteered at every public engagement, every information fair, every time the school needed me, I would rise to the occasion and impress upon them the importance of my role within the school.

They would come to trust me, believe that I could do no wrong. Anytime the school had to depend on me coming through for them, I would shine in the spotlight of public admiration. In time I gained the confidence of the faculty, and they would confide in me the internal politics that I knew how to manipulate so very well. I began to turn them against those I believed were not in the best interests of the school. Everyone took notice of my new role in the administration; no longer a student, now a policy maker.

It has always been a message to you rudy. Remember those days of the bleached orange hair, the plaid pants and attitude to go with them. Remember back when the world was against you and you fought for no other reason than your Irish temper getting the best of you. Hail to the crimson towers of the north. There is a fight left in you, and tonight, so bright, you felt her calling you back home once again.

I came to Hong Kong looking for an adventure. I had to prove I could handle the most impossible situation, to find that point which I do fail, and to move on from there. But I have found no release for this self destruction. I am still at the top of my game. Once I thought I would earn my degree, find a job and move on from this life that I created. At what point did longshot kick the bucket.

The legacy I leave as the first westerner to graduate from this school. The legacy of creating the student government, the social clubs, the secret society, of bringing together the diverse groups within the school, of being the warm center they all crowd around. I have taken our plan out of the basement and brought her to a whole new level. Once I thought this day would come where I would call in my favors with the faculty, to stay here, if even for a moment. Now I understand the meaning of it all. I teach this lesson as the most important law there is, that you stand up for those that cannot stand up for themselves.

There is a woman that came up to me on my first night at the law school, and without her friendship, none of this would have been possible. Tonight she needs the kind of assistance that we know I’m good at, the kind where we burn the village to save the village. The only way this ends is me turning the students and faculty against the second in command of the law school.

I can’t live without the drama. But I won’t live a moment watching on from the sidelines either. I am the best at what I do, and what I do is worth it.