Dr. Kim Luu, who was once a respectable and upstanding professional in his community, has now found himself amongst the down and out, the homeless, the drunkards, the bag ladies who cart bundles of their belongings down narrow allies and across busy streets.
Dr. Luu thinks back on his days as a practicing surgeon. Gone are the days of the office suites that he once had; gone are the days of the executive parties and gatherings, gone are the days of his once long-standing medical career. Now bankrupt, broke and homeless, he tries to think back on how it all happened, but the harder Dr. Luu tries, the more he draws a complete blank. Stricken with the problem of sever alcoholism, Dr. Luu, who once wore thousand –dollar suits, drove expensive cars, and ate at some of the most elegant fine dining restaurants, now survives on secondhand clothes and eats from soup kitchens and shelters. His transportation now is the city transportation system. Dr. Luu goes to a labor service to get work, after work, he goes to the local liquor store to get himself a drink. There is not much that 40 dollars a day will get you, but Dr. Luu will buy some food; he has signed up for general assistance, but in his own way—he can only use this for his alcohol problem. He recalls having a better life at one time, but where did that life go? Dr. Luu rummages through his pockets and pulls out a rumpled business card. This card reads “Marvin Hammerman, Attorney at Law.” Dr. Luu, in his intoxicated state, attempts to call Hammerman as he staggers down a dark narrow alley. Dr. Kim Luu is never seen or heard from again.
It is Monday morning, and Marvin Hammerman, am maverick prosecuting attorney, is getting dressed to go to trial. As Hammerman arrives at the courthouse, he is greeted by an old friend Choa Ming Luu the mother of Dr. Kim Luu. “Chao Ming, it’s so good to see you again, how long has it been? Six years maybe, what brings you here today?”
“Mr. Hammerman, I must talk to you about my son, Kim Luu.”
“Yes. I remember Kim Luu; isn’t he a top surgeon at the Henderson Medical Center00yes, or at least he was—“
“Mr. Hammerman, Kim Luu left his job one day has never seen again—it’s just like he walked away from everything, I’m so afraid something has happened to him, I didn’t know who else to turn too—“
“I have to be in court very shortly, but my associate, Ms. Jackson, will accommodate you while I’m in court, and we will work on finding your son. Now please don’t, we’ll find him—“
Next month: Part II, The Search
