Free Bad Son Rising by Julie A. Richman Page A

do.”
    “It really does,” Zac’s smile was wide as he learned about Lily’s escapades. He knew she was extremely headstrong, but he had a new found respect for the uber-serious Yalie’s rebellious side. This was clearly a girl after his own heart.
    “She had taken the semester off from school and gone over to intern at the PT center in Zambia. She had worked it out so that she was able to get school field credits for her work over there since she’s pre-med and it was in a healthcare facility,”
    Berto paused and shook his head. “It appears a young British engineer was passing through on his way to the Congo to head up field ops for a group of water projects and he told Lily what they were doing over there and that they could use someone bright and dedicated like her. The projects are very hands on, building new water systems or repairing old ones for the remote villages, and she thought it sounded interesting.”
    Schooner’s eyes were wide, “How safe is it there?”
    “Not anywhere near safe enough for me to sleep through another night.” Berto’s pride in his willful daughter was overshadowed by real fear for her safety. “And she signed on for a six month TDY,” he took a long draw on his bourbon. “Tour of Duty,” he explained the TDY acronym to Zac, who just nodded.
    “So, did she follow this Brit?” Schooner was fascinated.
    “No, I don’t think so. Though he’s clearly enamored with her. I think it was the hands on work and the ability to bring something really tangible to these villages that was the draw for her. You know Lily, if she thinks she can make an impact, she’s there.”
    This Brit. This engineer. Smitten with Lily. Zac took a sip of his beer, sat back and disappeared into his head. He wanted this man away from her. Jealous feelings were not a familiar or comfortable place for him. It was like a craw in his gut and he felt instant hatred toward this faceless man.
    “I can understand why she went and I’m so proud of her. There’s 70 million people out there who have lost access to water because of a failed source.”
    “And it’s just like Lily to want to fix it,” Schooner cut into his Porterhouse. “She’s really very special, Berto.”
    “So is it new systems that need to be built or existing systems that are in need of repair?” Zac asked, genuinely interested in the infrastructure in these villages.
    “It’s a combination of both,” Berto explained. “In some sub-Saharan areas of Africa, up to 70% of the hand pumps that were installed are no longer in working order.”
    “Which leads to water-borne disease and outrageously high mortality rates, I’m sure.” Zac was quickly creating a picture in his mind of these dire circumstances and could understand why Lily jumped ship and headed to the Congo - he absolutely would have done the same thing. Go Lils! He silently cheered.
    Zac couldn’t help but think of Portia, his baby sister who’d been adopted from Zambia. She had been in an orphanage that luckily had very good living conditions, but for every Portia, there were countless thousands who were not so lucky and that thought affected him profoundly. It suddenly all became very, very personal.
    “So, Dr. Castillo, it sounds like there’s a lot of decisions made on the fly depending on what is discovered out in the field.”
    “Exactly, Zac, this is led up by an engineering team that assesses daily, actually hourly, if the plans are working, and execute based on real-time assessments.” Berto picked up his red wine glass.
    Just nodding, Zac didn’t comment, his wheels were spinning too fast to verbalize a coherent thought.
    Pointing a fork at him, Schooner smiled, “You should be over there.”
    Expecting an argument from his son, just like he’d gotten every time he broached the subject of Zac going to Zambia, Schooner was surprised by the serious look in his son’s eyes and the nod of his head.
    “You are an engineering student,” Berto