Chapter Four
“Ms. Williams”,
pause. “Ms. Williams”!
“Yes Mr.
Herne”. I looked up from my student’s papers and then finally into his
appealing blue eyes. “May I do something for you”?
“No”, he
replied in an ungrateful tone as to, why should he be bothered with anything to
do with her. “You have a phone call waiting for you in the Deans office. You
should learn to keep your personal business at home where it belongs. I suppose
you have a cell phone”?
Was that a
question? He knew I had one he called it almost every day complaining about one
thing or another. He acted like he was the Dean instead of being head of the
maintenance department on campus. I made the mistake of letting him connect
with me at a school function over Christmas break. I was just trying to be nice
to the, ugh, well man. He was a creep, paunchy, then the dirt. He was filthy
every time I seen him, and did I say creepy, but his eyes were the bluest of
blue I had ever seen.
“Contacts”, a
female voice said.
“Ahh”! I
screamed, “What, huh, what”?
It was Karen
the Social Science Professor, we were best of friends on campus. “His eyes
their contacts, you knew that didn’t you”?
“What, what
huh, what, yea of course, how-how, how did you know, I mean how do you know”? I
shuddered and stammered.
“You know last
Christmas? Well”! She sings songs.
“Yuck, him”? I
exclaimed in pretend discussed, we laughed. “Ok, I got to know how far”?
“Later you have
an important phone call in the Dean’s secretary’s office”. She pulled me up out
of my desk chair and pushed me down the hall to the golf cart waiting at the
entrance to my building.
“Come on get
in, its long distance”. Karen pushed again.
Long distance no one has long distance
anymore, just pick up a cell phone and push in the number and presto your
connected no charge. Then I thought about my big brother he was ten years older
than me. He never had anything to do with my family he ran off right after high
school. He didn’t even come to our parents funerals. Never called, he never
cared. I had four siblings, one brother from Dads first wife and two sisters
from my mother, making me the middle sister of the three girls. Frank or Frank
junior by name and title never seemed to fit in. After I grew up and matured I
figured he never tried to fit in. At eight he held his mom in his arms after a
car wreck he was with her when she died. I expect Frank never got over it and
my mother was no substitute in his mind. I don’t think that frank and mom
fought any more than most kids do with their parents for that matter, yet he
still left.
Chapter Five
Karen and I
walked into the Deans office and the secretary, announced that the party would
call back in about fifteen minutes. I sat down in one of the chairs normally reserved
for waiting students. The Dean stuck his head out the door, “where you waiting
to see me”?
“No I don’t believe
so; I was waiting on a phone call”. I replied.
“Students don’t
take personal phone calls here unless it is some kind of an emergency, Miss”.
“Yes, I know
that and I have no idea what it’s all about and sir I am not a student”. I smiled
as I returned fire.
He was yanked
from the half opened door and the door was shut by a woman’s arm. “Hum what was
that all about? You think he’s got a student or a faculty member in there
calling the shots”?
“Who cares”, I
replied. From another door the secretary walked through and sat at her desk, I
then realized that it was her arm we saw. “Can you tell me who the phone call
was from”? I asked. She politely smiled and shook her head and said nothing.
She kept looking at me stealing a mournful glance whenever she thought I wouldn’t
see. I was fed up!
“Okay, what’s
up”? I stood up abruptly and walked over to her with purpose. “you know
something Elaine, spill it”, I demanded.
“Okay, you can’t
shoot the messenger, do you agree”?
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