Chapter 7: Clarrie in real trouble this time

Stephen

Nothing much changed for the next two weeks until on our Thursday morning lecture time, David didn't turn up. Presently the principal came in with a folder. "I'm sorry," he apologised, "Mr. Parkes has the flu and if others are anything to go by it will be a fortnight before he is back. We've other members of staff off with the same bug so we're short handed, but Mr. Parkes has sent in the stuff he'd already prepared for the next two sessions so you can take it with you and work through it in your own time... or you can elect one of your class to go through it with you here." I knew he was referring to me without mentioning my name.

"Scarface." Bob Goodman piped up.

The principal went mad and tore him off a real strip. "If you wish Mr. Faulkes to tutor you, you will treat him with the same respect as every other member of my staff. You will address him properly and heed what he says. If you cannot do that, pick up your stuff and leave but looking at your grades," he consulted a form on the outside of the folder, "You could well do with the extra work." Bob went red in the face and sat down and I was asked if I would mind taking the class. He promised to pop in whenever he could.

"Sock it to them Stevie," Jenny whispered loudly enough for others to hear.

While the computer was firing up and the worksheets passed round, I tried to get some idea of the subject matter. "As you have gathered, I had no idea this was to happen and have no advance warning of the subject matter so this will be a totally unprepared lecture on my part." I started somewhat nervously, "As such I will treat it as we do the revision lessons at home by going through each stage of the worksheet one step at a time..." So we did and by morning break I'd only covered a third of the material but most of the students had begun to participate. I barely got through it all by lunchtime but when the final bell went, Sally got up and thanked me and her words were echoed by most of the class. The principal did come in twice and sat for ten minutes or so each time and appeared satisfied with my handling of the material and the students. I gave two more lectures before David returned and gained a fair amount of respect from the group and certainly more of them were willing to talk with me afterwards and would even sit at a table and eat lunch with me. Or was I being naive and it was Jenny that attracted them?

At the end of January, Clarissa and Jenny were both invited to a Saturday night party in one of the Uni clubhouses. Jenny had a cold so she used that as and excuse and declined but Clarissa went. "I've done my sodding homework so you can't stop me going," she said when she informed me. I didn't have any intention of stopping her although I knew her homework wouldn't rate more than a C+. Still that was better than earlier. She was doing the barest minimum to get by and I wondered just how she would cope when the work became harder and we had to do more in the way of our own studies and research. Her father wasn't overly pleased with her progress and urged me to be stricter with her but I believed that would have the reverse effect and said so. "I can only show her what to do, but there is no way I can force her to do it. Even if I thrash her, it will only close her mind down, not open it up."

The digital clock showed 4:13 when I heard a car on the gravel drive and I guessed it was the taxi bringing Clarrie home, however only a few minutes later the doorbell rang and peeping through the curtains I saw it was a police car not a taxi. "Oh what has she been up to now?" I muttered as I got up and put on my dressing gown. My moving woke Jenny and when I told her why, she got up too.

"I'm sorry to disturb you at this time of night sir, but does a Miss Clarissa Blythe live here?" I told him yes and he went on, "We have her in the car sir. She's a bit under the weather if you get my meaning." The two policemen helped her from the car and she tottered a few steps and had to be held.

"You been on E?" Jenny demanded. Clarissa didn't answer. "Get an ambulance," Jenny ordered the police, "If she's been on Ecstasy and alcohol she could be in trouble. It sure looks like she has and it looks worse than last time." We got her into the warmth of the kitchen and had a washing up bowl handy in case she was sick. Certainly from the pallid colour of her face and the way she was sweating, it looked like it could happen at any moment.

While we waited for the ambulance I asked the police how they came to pick Clarrie up. She'd had the sense to go by taxi so she wouldn't have been driving. "We knew of the party and tend to keep a low profile watch in case of trouble. Miss Blythe came out staggering and arguing with a boy and it just seemed she'd overdone the beer or wine. The boy went back inside and we could see she wasn't going to walk far so we asked her if she was alright but didn't get an answer right away but she looked pretty groggy and eventually she told us where she lived and we brought her here."

"Why don't you get dressed Jenny and go in the ambulance with her. I'll follow in the car," I suggested and she disappeared into her room. By the time she reappeared, the ambulance paramedics had arrived and immediately agreed with Jenny's suspicion of drugs and alcohol and rushed her to hospital. Apparently it was none to soon and she became unconscious for a short while in the ambulance until the paramedic revived her. When I arrived at the hospital, they'd already pumped Clarrie's stomach and given her an injection. Jenny said she'd been sick a number of times but they'd now given her something to make her sleep. At seven o'clock they told us there was little more we could do there and to phone again at midday.

Hardly had we got in the door and the phone rang. It was Howard. The hospital had notified him as her next of kin. I filled him in on what had happened and he seemed to think it was my fault for letting her go to the party but being weary I told him in no uncertain terms that I was only her tutor and not her keeper. That didn't please him either and he angrily told me to make sure I gave her backside a good warming with the tawse but I retorted, "I'll do whatever I think is justified in the circumstances." I cut the phone at the socket and Jenny and I crawled back into bed.

Clarrie was released at lunchtime and we drove her home. She was still very weak and her face an awful pale colour but she could walk. Whether it was medication they'd given her or the after effects of the drug and alcohol combination, she was abnormally tired and we were just undressing her and putting her to bed when Su Lee turned up. We explained the situation and she surprised us by knowing more about the drug problem than we did. "When the drug wears off she'll either be very depressed or mad and angry. The few people I've known have all been depressed and want a lot of physical comforting. She hates your guts Steve so you won't be able to comfort her. Has she shown any tendencies for girl love Jenny?"