A Most Unusual Passage
Copyright© 2026 by J&J
Chapter 51
I listened to what he said for a moment, but I couldn’t get my brain to accept it; not until I had played it back to myself. Then I felt it all the way to my gut.
“You can’t be serious, Harold. You can’t expect me to go back. Hell, I might be stuck there for months until you find somebody”
“Marcus, you’re not getting it. Elizabeth signed a contract for one full year. I’d expect you to serve out the entire term.”
“That’s not fair, damn it. It’s you and the board who kicked me out. And now you expect me to just come crawling back...”
“We may have made a mistake in ... discharging you. But I think it’s perfectly fair. After all, you started this whole damn ruckus that could leave me maybe without a principal, come next fall. So it oughta be you making damn sure that doesn’t happen.”
“But, Harold...”
“No buts, Marcus; that’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”
I knew arguing with that dammed old mule was wasting my breath. He had what he wanted, and he wasn’t budging.
“I’ll have to talk to Martha about this.”
“You do that. I’ll call tomorrow at 9:00AM at the Manigaults. If you agree to the deal, you can just hand the phone to Elizabeth, and it’ll be up to you whether you tell her your part in all this.”
I was still in shock and didn’t argue. “Can you make that 9:30 our time, Barney? Her folks said they’re going to an alumni something or other, and they’ll be gone by then.”
“Sure thing, Marcus,” he chuckled. “Anything you want. Good night.”
I stared at the silent receiver. Anything I want? What a crock of shit! It was their grand idea to boot me as principal; now, just when I was getting into this retirement thing—and liking it—they want me back. God damn it, I thought; why is it so damn important that Elizabeth gets to choose her future when I could lose control of mine?
“Ah, Marcus, you cussed fool,” I muttered. “You know the difference. What’s one damn year in the life of a used up old crank like me, compared to a young woman in her prime, making a decision that would change her life forever. That year counts about as much as a fart in a whirlwind, as far as I’m concerned.”
I smiled to myself. Here I go, raising hell and tarnation about being forced back into the same job I raised bloody hell about losing. I knew what I was going to do, but dang it all, I was all ready to start writing my history.
Martha was waiting for me, anxiety etched onto her sweet face. She wasn’t gonna like this much. I even thought about not telling her about the catch in the deal. But hell, Martha always could read me like an open book. It wasn’t even worth trying.
“Marcus,’ she said. “It’s written all over your face. Turned us down, didn’t he?”
“Nope, she’s got her ten days. She can walk away, free and clear.”
“There’s something else then; what is it?”
“Old Barney is hedging his bet, that’s what. There is a condition.”
“What condition?” she asked anxiously.
“If Elizabeth isn’t the principal next year, then I am.”
Martha looked stricken. I reached out to steady her. For a time she just stared with her hands covering her mouth. “No! It can’t be. That’s not fair,” she cried in a wounded voice.
“It is as far as Barney is concerned. I’m the one asking him to risk losing a principal, so I can cover the bet for him. It’s not negotiable; we can take it or leave it.”
Martha collapsed into a chair like a deflated balloon. “What did you tell him?”
“That I needed to talk to you. He’s going to call the house tomorrow morning. If we put Elizabeth on, it means we took the deal.”
She shook her head in resignation. “No, Marcus, I would never ask that of you; I couldn’t ask it, ever.”
“No, you wouldn’t ask. You’ve never asked for any sacrifice from me. It’s always you doing the sacrificing. So you’re right; you could never ask me to agree to this. But you can’t stop me from doing it either. I’m going to accept.”
“No, Marcus, you can’t.”
“Of course I can. I’d only be doing what, at least until a couple of months ago, I was planning to do anyway. What’s one more year to me?”
“But your plans! The book you were going to write.”
“My plans will keep; the history will just be a little more historic.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I want Elizabeth to have a choice; yeah, that’s part of it. Mostly it’s because you asked me to get her that chance, and you ask for so little. This is something I can give you.”
“Marcus ... no...”
“Shhh, not another word. It’s not your call anymore.”
We rehashed this conversation several more times during the night, but my mind was made up. I knew it was the right thing to do. Martha was still in turmoil, thanking me one minute and arguing me out of it the next. Finally, she cuddled up like a child and cried herself to sleep. Whether she was crying out of relief for Elizabeth’s sake or remorse for mine, I’m not sure even she knew for certain. Perhaps it was both.
In the morning she tried one last time to persuade me to back out, but her heart wasn’t in it. I think she realized it was right. At breakfast, we tried to act normally, but we were counting the minutes until Henry and Amanda left for their alumni event, and we could talk to Elizabeth alone. Oddly enough, I couldn’t help thinking that Elizabeth was waiting too. Henry was in no hurry to get going; I believe he would have happily skipped the whole thing. It was almost 9:30 by the time they left.
After seeing them off, the three of us returned to the kitchen for another cup of coffee. It was as if everyone was waiting for someone else to break the ice.
Finally, Elizabeth took a deep breath and announced, “Hey, I’d like to have a talk with you two about something that’s been worrying me. OK?”
“Of course, honey,” Martha replied. “We can talk about anything you’d like.”
Elizabeth cleared her throat. “The last couple of days I’ve noticed a little tension between us and between the two of you.”
At that moment, the phone rang. I exchanged a quick glance with Martha, and she nodded. “I’ll get it,” I said; “I’m expecting a call.”
“Hello, the Manigault residence.”
A familiar voice on the other end replied, “Why hello, Marcus, do I need to speak to Elizabeth?”
I hated him for the confidence in his voice. He already knew the answer, but I held out the receiver. “Elizabeth, it’s for you.”
I hated the interruption at this moment, and I almost asked Marcus to take a message, but he was already holding the phone out to me.
“Hello.”
“Elizabeth, hello, this is Harold Barney. I hate to disturb you on vacation, but I thought this was important.”
“Yes, Mr. Barney, is everything all right?”
“Oh sure, except that I can’t get you to call me ‘Harold.’ Anyway, I just had a very enlightening chat with an old friend of yours, Everett Miller.”
“Everett?” I practically spat out the name. “And what lies about me is he spreading this time?”
“Not any; he’s singing your praises. You see, Everett finally caught his wife in the sack with ... well not to mention any names, with somebody else’s husband, anyway. He threw her ass out, and she hasn’t been seen in Otis since. Now Everett is running around like Scrooge after the ghosts, trying to make amends with everyone.”
“Sorry to miss that; sounds like fun.”
“Well, your name did come up. Everett has admitted to deliberately deceiving and misleading you to get you to come to Otis.”
“That’s water under the dam; it’s too late to worry about that now.”
“Not necessarily. The board feels responsible, since he was acting in our name. We very much want you to be our principal, but not if you were deceived into making a decision you wouldn’t have made otherwise. We feel you should have the opportunity to reevaluate your options. Starting today, we’re giving you a ten-day period to reconsider. At the end, I hope you will want to make Otis your home. If not, we’ll release you from your contract without prejudice.”
I couldn’t quite figure out what he was saying; the words were just a jumble. “I’m not ... I just ... ah ... I don’t understand what you mean.”
“It’s simple. You have from now until ... let’s see ... I get July 3rd ... to decide if you really want to be our principal, only this time without anyone trying to deceive you. You know us now, for better or worse. Then you call me by the third, and tell me yes or no.”
“You don’t have to do this, Mr. Bar ... uh ... Harold. I was going to honor my contract.”
“Let’s just say it’s something we want to do. If we’re going to be working together for years to come, and I hope we will be, we need to get off on a good faith basis.”
“I don’t know what to say; I’m just overwhelmed.”
“Don’t say anything now; just tell me, yes, you’ll think about it.”
“Yes. Yes, I’ll think about it.”
“And Elizabeth, I know it’s not much, but we’ll pay two thousand more than our original offer. Just so you’ll know how much we really do want you.”
“Ah ... thanks ... I didn’t expect any of this. I’m not sure what to say.”
“My advice is to just enjoy the rest of your vacation; we can talk after you get back, if you want. Goodbye, Elizabeth; give my regards to Marcus and Martha.”
I sat back down at the breakfast table without saying a word. Martha and Marcus also didn’t speak. My mind was whirling, but I was sure of one thing: Barney knew about the offer from Edisto Hall. The ten-day period; the effort to raise my salary, inadequate as it was; the timing; it couldn’t be coincidence. Someone had tipped him off. But why let me off the hook and make it easy, unless someone else was being my advocate? Who could that be but Martha and Marcus? But they didn’t know about the offer. Who then? Dad? I couldn’t picture him calling Harold Barney, if he even knew who Harold was.
Suddenly the silence became deafening. Why weren’t Martha and Marcus bombarding me with questions? I had just gotten a totally unexpected call from the head of the school board, and they had no questions...
Obviously, the call was not unexpected to them, and the content was already known ... the realization struck me like a blow to the chest. I had to catch my breath. Then, carefully keeping my voice under control, I turned to Martha.
“How did you know?”
“It was an accident. I happened to be napping on the sofa beneath the open window, when you were on the porch telling your dad. When I woke up, I was going to shout out the window to let you know I was there, but before I could, I’d already heard enough to know what was going on.”
“And what made you decide to go straight to Barney without talking to me first?”
“I didn’t want to give you a chance to say no.” The way she said it, so matter-of-factly, infuriated me.
“You didn’t want to give me a chance to say no? Who gave you the fucking right to decide whether or not I should have the chance to say no?
Martha looked me straight in the eye; she didn’t back down, and she didn’t flinch. “No one gave me any right. I acted on what I thought was the right thing to do, as your friend and as someone who loves you.”
“And the condition of being my friend means you’ll always do my thinking for me?”
“Of course not. This was a special case. You are refusing to take responsibility for making a decision that will affect the rest of your life. I just took away your excuse for doing that. Now you have to make a decision.”
I shook my head; tears were starting to well up in my eyes. “Didn’t you understand that I never wanted to make this decision? That I couldn’t make this decision?”
“What the hell do you mean you ‘couldn’t make this decision’? Of course, you can. It may not be pleasant, but you are fully capable of making up your own mind and taking charge of your own life.”
Now the tears came, washing away my anger and replacing it with self-pity. “No, you just don’t understand ... I thought you, at least, would understand. Don’t you see you’ve ruined everything?”
Martha shook her head in puzzlement.
“Yes, you have ruined everything,” I sobbed. “Of course, I can make the right decision. Now I have no choice but to make the right decision. And the right decision will probably ruin my life.”
I just lost it. I put my face in my hands and cried. Martha tried to put a comforting arm around me, but I shrugged it off, and she looked wounded and bewildered.
“If I’ve done something so terrible, please explain it to me,” she cried. “What do you mean the right decision will ruin your life?”
It was several long minutes before I could pull myself together enough to answer her. “Don’t you get it? There’s no real choice to be made here, except for the one between my brain and my heart. Let’s be honest; the job at Edisto Hall pays more, has better benefits, better housing, better funding, more students, more prestige and is much closer to my family and friends. Otis has what? Two people, who I thought were my friends, and Roger. And that’s a problem, isn’t it? A man I’ve known just a few weeks, but my heart keeps telling me is the one great love of my life. So Otis has the man who may be my soul mate, and Edisto Hall has everything else.
“There is no choice at all for a sane person. You don’t throw away that kind of career over a possible love affair. And yet, my heart was so sure; I really wanted, despite everything, really, truly wanted to go back and find out what Roger and I had. So I was glad I had no choice; I rejoiced because it was the only way I could possibly choose what my heart wanted me to do anyway.
“But that’s all over now, and you ruined it. I know you had the best intentions, but you ruined it. Now I have to make a choice, and the only choice I can possibly make is the one I don’t want to.”
Martha was obviously about to reassure me, but I was in no mood to listen. Right now, she was the last person on earth I wanted to talk to.
“Please don’t; don’t say another word. I need to be by myself for a while, and I need to talk to Roger, and I need to go see Janice Grant.”
I ran out of the room and locked myself in Daddy’s study. Just like I had always done when I was upset, and Dad wasn’t there, I curled up in his big leather chair and enveloped myself in the comforting scents of leather and old pipe smoke and Daddy.
I did not want to call Roger, but I had no choice. In such a small town, it was just a matter of time until he heard it from someone else, and that was unacceptable. I found him at home and briefly told him the situation. I could tell he was affected by the news, but as men are prone to do in such situations, he went into problem-solving mode and became very clinical. He asked me a lot of questions about Edisto Hall and the job.
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