There was a scan of the document printed on the front page as well. Though the name of the pharmacy was redacted, as was Mindy’s date of birth, social security number, and medical record number, it was quite plain to see that the information being reported was there in writing. The large word “HOLD” was plainly visible next to the name of the prescription.
Mindy’s agent, Georgette, had been contacted prior to the story for Mindy’s response. Georgette’s quote was an angry tirade about the unethical lack of medical privacy in the name of popular entertainment and her assurance that Mindy would be demanding an investigation into the blatant breach of her personal medical information and that a lawsuit would be filed against the pharmacy chain and whoever was found responsible for leaking the information. She also stated that Mindy did not put a hold on her birth control pills, but had simply switched pharmacies back in April because she knew she would be out of town. When asked why the records did not reflect this (the entry should have read NLAP, for ‘no longer active patient’ had this been the case) Georgette simply threw it back on the pharmacy, stating ‘you expect me to explain why a pharmacy that cannot even protect private records mislabels the status of a patient? Your guess is as good as mine’.
Nevertheless, Condom-Gate took on a whole new dimension as the story and the scan of the records was shared on every television station, in every celebrity gossip show, on the pages of every celebrity gossip rag. The implication of the information was quite clear, especially in light of Greg Oldfellow’s allegation that Mindy had told him she was on the pill and had provided him with the condom: Mindy had, with premeditation and malice aforethought, deliberately put herself in a position where Greg would get her pregnant. As to what her reasons for this were, nobody knew, but speculation was wide and without boundaries.
As for Emily Strough, she paid dearly for what she did. An investigation was immediately launched into the breach of privacy and it did not take long to home in on her. The investigators knew, after all, which one of their pharmacies Mindy picked up her pills from. A quick look at the computer logs showed that Emily had logged in the day before the story broke and had accessed Mindy Snow’s record without any reason to do so. They also saw that she had printed several documents from the printer and then used the copy machine under her login shortly after accessing the computer data. When confronted with this information, she confessed.
She was summarily fired from her job. The Los Angeles County District attorney’s office immediately opened an investigation into whether or not criminal charges were warranted. She was blackballed from ever again working in a position where she had access to any kind of confidential files. She would, eventually, end up living on welfare and buying her groceries with food stamps.
All in all, however, she considered the price she paid to be worth it.
The amniocentesis exam showed that Mindy Snow was carrying a male fetus with no detectible genetic disorders. DNA from the exam was submitted to Determine Labs Incorporated, a national lab that specialized in legal DNA paternity testing. The following day, Greg Oldfellow arrived at one of their offices and submitted a cheek swab. Five days later, it was official. The fetus in Mindy Snow’s uterus was a combination of DNA between the mother and Greg Oldfellow.
Greg gave his own quote in the article announcing the findings.
“As I said on several previous occasions, I will take financial responsibility for this child as required by the law. I will not, however, have any further relationship than that, as this child was conceived by fraud and deceit. I hope he has a happy life, though I am forced to doubt it.”
Mindy offered no quote of her own. Ever since the breaking of the story about her putting the hold on her birth control pills, she had been in seclusion. Georgette announced on her behalf that ‘in light of the media circus surrounding Mindy, she will not be attending the Academy Awards ceremony in person. I, instead, will stand in in her place.’
The Awards took place on March 25th at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. It was a good night for Mel Gibson and Nicholas Cage and Susan Sarandon. But Us and Them did not win a single award in any category.
Hollywood insiders blamed this snubbing on the Mindy Snow pregnancy scandal.
Chapter 26: Smooth Operator
San Juan Capistrano, California
April 2, 1996
The limousine dropped Matt Tisdale off in front of his house just past two o’clock that afternoon. He stepped out, his battered briefcase in hand, without waiting for Brian, the driver, to open the door for him. He handed Brian a fifty-dollar bill, told him to go get his weenie wet, and then trudged slowly up to the front door. He had been home from the United States portion of the tour for three days now—the last date had been in Buffalo, New York—and he had just returned from his first trip outside his home since then. He was still tired and still a little wasted despite having slept for thirty-nine of the last seventy-two hours. He really wanted a little snort of the white powder right now, but, unfortunately, he still had one more meeting on this day—although this one was at least in his own home—and his rule about imbibing under such circumstances still held.
The house was its usual spotless self when he entered, but none of the servants were currently in residence. Kim was there, however. She was in the living room watching an old episode of Star Trek the Next Generation on television and sipping from a glass of white wine. Her blonde hair was down, and she was wearing a crop top and a pair of loose-fitting cotton shorts that showed a lot of her sexy legs.
“Hey, Mattie,” she greeted as he came into the room and set the briefcase down.
“Hey,” he returned, eyeing her glass of wine. He did not normally drink the shit, but maybe one glass wouldn’t hurt? He had not had any alcohol since about nine o’clock the previous night and he was starting to feel just a little jittery.
“How’s the taxes?” she asked, turning the volume down on the set.
The meeting Matt had just returned from had been with Andrew Hopple II of Hopple and Hopple Accounting. They had gone over Matt’s federal and state tax filings that Hopple had prepared and Matt had signed them.
“Looking good,” he told her. “I pulled in almost eighteen mil last year when you add up all the album royalties, tour revenue, endorsements, and all the merchandising. My best year so far.”
“Not bad,” she said appreciatively. “How much did you pay in taxes?”
“One point five mil,” he said sourly. “Ain’t that some shit?”
This got her attention. “One point five million dollars? Is that all?”
“Yeah, between federal and state, one point five mil. What do you mean ‘is that all?’ That’s an assload.”
“That’s nothing compared to your income,” she said. “I paid half that much in taxes and I only pulled in about three million in income last year.”
“That’s because you got those fucking Jew accountants doing your books for you,” he said. “Their asses are so tight you couldn’t put a fuckin’ Q-tip with lube on it up there. My guy is a fuckin’ sleazeball—and that’s a bold fuckin’ statement coming from someone like me—but he’s pretty good with figuring out loopholes for me. The big one is that I can claim I don’t live in the US because I got a house in Mexico. That means I’m not subject to US taxation on my royalties since the point I bought the house. Also, my boat and everything associated with it is registered in Mexico. I don’t have to pay luxury tax or any of that other bullshit on it.”
Her face scowled a bit. “Are you sure about that?” she asked. “That doesn’t sound legal to me.”
“Hey,” he said with a shrug, “Hopalong Ass-sleaze has been filing my taxes this way for a few years now. So far, everything’s gone through like shit from a goose.”