<em>Butt Ox notices a card laying on the ground, picks it up, and hands it back to Rourke</em>

"Here you go. You dropped your gay card."

Rourke takes his gay card back from Butt_Ox and places it securely in his left inner jacket pocket. He pats it a few times to make sure it's back there.

I can't believe I lost that! Thank you for the help, Mr. Ox. I won't be able to enter Butt_Ox's Bar and Grille without it!

Rourke tips his cap politely to the very important man and continues on his merry way.

Butt Ox clears his throat and does a few more vocal exercises...

"E em backslash E em"

"Ahem...there, much better. Now I can finish my thought. Nice boa you have there, Rourke. You didn't happen to find Tallien in the closet, too, did you? I heard he was in there".

Takes notes on the obviously secret and effective vocal exercises.

I have to say that I am very relieved to be a Boss so when I speak I won't get shut down by Tallien like he did to my friend FlyingMonkey...

I guess the plethora of things I must have learned since I was a Wise Guy seems so natural that I don't feel so different, but I appreciate his comment so I can count my blessings now.

No, I don't believe it was "rambly" at all Kates. You presented your case as well thought out and concise as always. We only differ in our perceptions. As I stated, if one keeps a running tally of discussions, and adds in the drug business, you will see the number of discussions fluctuate as they are for want of a better term "swept away and forgotten". No one remembers these drug conversations for any length of time.

In the compound when we discuss these matters we take minutes of the meetings. You would see entries such as when RonMexico and myself hitched up the mule team and drove through Amish country slinging fat keys to the homies on the block. No easy task considering the Ordnung is a little fuzzy where fifty pounds of cocaine is concerned. You should have seen them raising barns after that though....I was awestruck. Those swinging hammers sounded like tommy guns after a bit of the ol' Peruvian marching powder. On a side note, Mr. Mexico can "gee" and "haw" with the best of 'em and is a purt fair hand with a whip (especially in light of his natural aversion to having anything in his mitts other than a martini or his own penis).

Now, informative as looking back through the minutes can be, should they fall into the wrong hands they contain incriminating evidence and are burned in the fireplace after a couple of days. It doesn't make sense to leave them laying about. Long gone and forgotten with the strike of a match. It is as if these conversations never took place. These "processed meat product" conversations will never add up to anything if any housekeeping goes on at all.

I'm neither trying to support the practice of contributing to these conversations concerning family drug business nor am I condemning it. I'm just suggesting that if it is a criteria to be used when considering a leader's social output a more thorough examination covering a span of some weeks would show the rise and subsequent fall of the amount of overall conversations held. More indicative of the extent to which one contributes to this one area than taking a one time survey and a quick look. If a fair portion of known conversations were to be 'forgotten" one could readily ascertain where they went. Up in smoke, so to speak.

Our city's leaders are under scrutiny all of the time. Their every move and action circumspect. If there is a discussion aimed at any method of determining the attributes or qualifications of these ladies and gentlemen I reckon it should be as fair and impartial as possible. A few spammish comments shouldn't predicate how we perceive them. There are other conversations that take place in private that could be seen as equally unimportant, such as small over a few gimlets in the family bar for instance. If information was shared, if a leader and their family were brought closer together by a few helpful comments, then can it really be seen as uninformative in the end?

Turns slightly to a three-quarter profile to better show off his chiseled chin after noticing Kates grinning at him and giving him the once-over.

Well to begin with, I'm certainly not planning on having children anytime soon. I'm only 25 and I've got a lot on my plate as it is. I barely have time to date- nevermind diapers.

Diapers actually don't add up to much, Kates. An au pair or a pair of au pairs seem to make quick work of them. Or we could outsource the work to some granny from Guatemala if you prefer. I'm sure there are any number of abuelitas that would be more than willing to pin them on a couple of fine super-babies. I only suggest this in the interest of saving all of humanity, mind you. Can you imagine? They could get their Intelligence, good looks, and charisma from your side, and a heaping helping of ornery from mine. You could teach them poise, I could learn them to build an empire out of a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper tubing. The potential is sky high.

Not all men "sweep away" their drug discussions as you do, Judge_Holden. Again, drug discussions are very useful and serve an essential purpose. But I nevertheless would rather have someone at my side with 200 speeches in the streets, bars, and subcrew rooms than someone with 800 speeches in a drug conversation. I think that we essentially agree, but as I couldn't divine a perfect system without assembling a team of researchers, I did the best I could to accurately represent the public discourse of each CL that required thought.

Hearing the Judge speak once again about children, Kates begins to retort- but she can only blush. One would have thought that working in a strip club would have prepared her for situations like this, and it had. But for some inexplicable reason the tongue which had lashed back at so many other men lay dormant beyond her lips, while her emerald green eyes burned with anger and confusion.

The sustained silence between them was not overly long, nor was it the least bit awkward for him. Rather it seemed that they shared a moment of stasis...those around them seemed to fade away and the stars overhead stopped in their geosynchronous trek in the night sky around that big blue marble.

Kates stood there, arms folded, eyes blazing with the fire of a thousand suns, biting her lower lip. Sometimes the best thing you can say is nothing at all. Turning his back to the crowd he extended an index finger towards her before hooking a thumb back at himself and then making an almost imperceptible cradling motion with both hands. Their conversation was long over, and he had found himself on the losing side. All that was forgotten though, as he raised a single finger to his lips to stem the rash of curses he was expecting to come hurtling his way. One last look, a smile, then he tipped his hat to those still gathered and made his way through the crowd in search of the nearest cold beer.

There is a ridiculous amount of leaders and there has been for a while now. Most of them could contribute to discussions every single day and still remain totally anonymous to everyone save for their immediate subordinates. I am on the jaded side however. This is the first time I have ventured into the streets for about a month I think. Motivation, I lack it. Perhaps this is soley my own fault.