Chapter 9: Rules Infraction

June 25, 1983, McKinley, Ohio

I awoke to someone pounding on my door and calling my name. A quick glance at the clock showed it was 2:50am. I quickly got out of bed, pulled on shorts and a T-shirt, and went to the door. I opened it to see a girl in a robe.

"What's up?"

"Cecilia said to come get you. One of the girls is really sick!"

"Did someone call for an ambulance?" I asked.

"I don't know."

"Call right now. Use my phone. Where are they?"

"243!"

I hurried down the hall into the girls' side of the floor, then turned down the short hallway to cross to the far side of the building. A left turn and a few steps later, I gently pushed my way through three girls who were standing outside the door to the room. A blonde girl was lying on the floor on her side, with Cecilia sitting next to her.

"What happened?" I asked.

"We were just talking, and suddenly she like had a seizure or something," a brunette standing in the corner of the room said.

I got down on my knees and checked for a pulse and breathing, and sighed in relief when I felt a rapid pulse and shallow breaths.

"I had the girl you sent to my room call an ambulance," I said, then thought back to the First Aid course I'd taken in High School. "Somebody get me two pillows and a blanket, please."

The brunette went to get them and brought them to me, and I had Cecilia help me move the girl to her back, put the pillows under her feet, and covered her with a blanket.

"Why did you do that?" the brunette asked. "I thought the pillows were for under her head?"

"Elevating her feet helps blood flow to the brain and combats shock," I said. "We don't know what's wrong, but it can't hurt unless there's a head injury, which there doesn't appear to be. She's breathing, and her heart is beating, so she doesn't need CPR. What were you guys doing?"

"Just sitting and talking," she said.

A quick glance around the room revealed a couple of red plastic cups in the wire trash can.

"Were you guys drinking?" I asked.

"That's against the rules!" her roommate said.

"Forget the rules," I ordered but then leaned down to smell the girl's breath.

I smelled alcohol, but I also smelled something that was like the nail polish remover that Liz used. I wracked my brain for something I'd read or been taught in First Aid class. It took a minute, but then I remembered.

"Does she have diabetes?" I asked.

"I don't know. Why?"

"Because her breath smells like nail polish remover and alcohol. Cecilia, check her room for hypodermics and vials of insulin."

"Are you sure I should?"

"JUST DO IT!" I commanded.

She got up and went into the bedroom. I heard a commotion in the hall, and a uniformed McKinley police officer came into the room.

"What's the trouble?" he asked.

"I'm an RA," I said. "I was called because she passed out. She's breathing and has a pulse, so I elevated her feet. We called an ambulance. I think she might have diabetes."

Cecilia came back out of the bedroom with a Ziploc bag with hypodermics and a small plastic case with vials.

"It says it's insulin," Cecilia reported.

"Officer, I think she's in some sort of diabetic shock, and she might have been drinking."

He took out his radio and spoke to his dispatcher. I heard the report that the ambulance was only about a minute away, though it ended up taking about five minutes before the ambulance crew was in the room. I repeated what I knew, and Cecilia provided the girl's name — Jillian Warner — and the ambulance crew quickly checked her, got an IV started, then put her onto the gurney and whisked her away.

"I need statements," the officer said. "Who found her?"

"I was with her," her roommate said.

"I'll speak to you first, then. You two," he looked at Cecilia and me, "wait outside. I'll speak to you shortly."

We went into the hall, and Cecilia asked the other girls to go back to their rooms. All of them left, and I leaned against the wall to wait.

"You're going to be a doctor, right?" she asked.

"Eventually."

"How did you know that stuff?"

"First Aid class in High School. Plus, I've read a lot. I don't get any real medical training until a couple of years into medical school."

"You can diagnose diabetes by smelling someone's breath?"

I shook my head, "No, but you can tell their blood sugar is really high because their breath smells like nail polish remover or fruit. It was one of the things in our First Aid book. The solution is insulin, but I'm not qualified to administer it, and she was unconscious, so I couldn't ask her. I'm not sure why she passed out, but it could have been a combination of not taking insulin and drinking."

"How did you know?"

"Just a guess. I saw some of those red plastic cups in the trash. What year is Jillian?"

"Junior, I think. I could check on the floor roster."

"I think I'd just wait here. If the police officer needs more information, he can get it from the school or her parents. It seems as if her roommate wasn't aware Jillian was on insulin."

"I have no idea. And you know we don't get health information on our rosters."

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to blame you. And if they were drinking in their room, with the door closed, you couldn't know."

"Cecilia?" the police officer called out.

She went into the room, and Jillian's roommate came into the hallway.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Margaret, but everyone calls me Peggy."

"Were you guys drinking?"

"Yes. But I honestly didn't know she was diabetic!"

"What year are you?"

"I'll be a Senior in the Fall. I turned twenty-one back in May."

"OK. So just a rules violation for you. How old is Jillian?"

"Today was her twentieth birthday."

"What were you drinking?"

"Rum and Coke."

"Just the two of you?"

She shook her head, "Six of us; the three girls you saw in the hallway plus Cecilia."

"Uh-oh."

"What?"

"She'll be fired. Immediately. The administration won't be able to look the other way or just slap her wrists because the police were here."

"Shit! Shit! Shit!"

"Yeah," I agreed. "That about sums it up. But because Jillian passed out, there was no way to avoid it. We had to call an ambulance."

"So we'll get a new RA?"

"I have no idea. I'm sure Dean Anderson will let us know."

About ten minutes later, I was called in to talk to the officer. When I walked past Cecilia, she looked very upset, and I was sure I knew why. The officer asked for my full name, birth date, and room number, then asked me what happened.

"One of the girls came and knocked on my door and told me Jillian was sick. I had that girl call for the ambulance, then came down here to help. I checked her pulse and breathing and realized she might be in shock of some kind, so I had her roommate get me pillows and a blanket. I elevated her feet and covered her.

"I saw a few red plastic cups in the trash can and asked if she'd been drinking but didn't get an answer. I smelled both alcohol and something like nail polish remover. I remembered from First Aid class that might mean she was diabetic and had high blood sugar. First Aid class said insulin, but she was unconscious, so I couldn't ask her and I have no idea of the correct dose, so that wasn't possible. I had Cecilia check her room for insulin and hypodermics, and she found them just as you came in."

"Did you know they were drinking?"

"I only suspected because of the cups I saw when I came into the room. I was sleeping in my room at the time. The girl who came to my door can verify that."

"Sorry, I wasn't saying you were here. What I was asking was whether or not you were aware of their drinking?"

I shook my head, "No. I pretty much only socialize with one girl on this entire floor, and I was out on a date with my girlfriend from back home tonight."

"Where's home?"

"West Monroe, in Harding County."

"Do you know who else was in the room?"

"Not from first-hand knowledge. Peggy told me the girls who were in the hallway had been in here, along with Cecilia."

"Do you know their names?"

I shook my head, "No. I know all the guys because I made sure to go around to every room to introduce myself; the girls have their own RA, so I didn't do that on this side of the floor."

"OK. Anything else you can tell me?"

"Not that I can think of."

"You can go. A detective may call you to follow up."

I nodded and left the room. I said 'good night' to Cecilia and Peggy, who were standing in the hallway, then went back to my room and crawled into bed to get about an hour and a half's worth of sleep before I had to be up for breakfast with Liz and her friends.

When my alarm rang at 6:15am, I got out of bed, did my morning prayers, showered, then dressed for the day. I was downstairs at 6:45am, and the girls arrived about five minutes later, and we headed immediately for the diner.

"What did you guys want to do today?" I asked.

"We talked about going to the zoo in Columbus," Liz said. "What do you think?"

"So long as I'm back in time for Vespers, that's fine with me."

"You could sneak me into your room," Mindy teased. "And the other three could go to the zoo."

"After last night? No chance."

"What happened?"

"A girl got sick. Most likely, her diabetes acted up, but she and some other girls, including the girls' RA, were drinking at the time. Some of them were under twenty-one, and drinking is strictly against the rules no matter what, so the RA is going to be fired for sure."

"Bummer."

"So I can't take ANY risks, even if I could figure out a way to get you into the dorm."

"You HAVE to come visit!" Mindy demanded.

"Somebody is VERY horny," Emmy teased.

"OH, SHUT UP!" Mindy ordered.

The girls laughed, but I held in my laughter because I didn't want to upset Mindy, even though I had decided to simply let our relationship, such as it was, wither on the vine.

"The next few weeks are pretty busy," I replied.

"Are you coming home for the Fourth?"

"No. I'm staying here, and a friend is coming to visit."

Mindy frowned, but there was simply no way I was going to give up any time with Clarissa.

"Mikey," Liz asked, "do you think it would be OK if we came here for fireworks?"

"I don't see why not, so long as Mom says it's OK."

"Cool!"

We walked into the diner and sat in a corner booth, which gave us a bit more room, with Maggie on my left, Mindy on my right, Liz next to Maggie, and Emmy next to Mindy. The waitress poured coffee for all of us and took our orders. The service was quick, as there was almost nobody else in the restaurant, and less than thirty minutes later, we walked back to the campus to get into my mom's car for the drive to Columbus.

June 25, 1983, Columbus, Ohio

We arrived at the zoo and looked over the map to decide what animals to see, and in what order. The girls decided on the 'Big Cats' first, and as we started walking toward their area, Maggie moved next to me, where she stayed for the next hour as we moved from the cats to the elephants to the giraffes to the zebras.

We stopped to get drinks and looked at the map to decide where to go next. While Emmy, Mindy, and Liz debated, Maggie asked if we could talk. I checked with Liz, who simply laughed and nodded. Maggie and I walked towards the gorilla exhibit, where we could see Colo, a twenty-seven-year-old western gorilla, who was the first to ever be born in captivity.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I just wanted to spend some time with you and talk," Maggie said.

"About?"

"Anything, really."

"How are you doing?" I asked.

"Confused."

"About your faith?"

"About just about everything, really," Maggie replied. "I mean, if you're right, then everything I've been taught is wrong, and that's kind of frightening. I tried to talk to our youth pastor about some of the stuff, and after we talked, he went to the pastor who forbade me from talking to you."

"Which ought to tell you everything you need to know," I replied gently. "A faith that can't stand up to challenge isn't worth much."

"I know, but he made the point that the devil can quote Scripture!"

I laughed softly, "Which isn't even in the Bible! That's Shakespeare! Father Herman, back in Rutherford, told us that comes from The Merchant of Venice. I think the closest I could come in the Bible would be the story about Jesus and Satan having a debate, where Satan tells Jesus to turn the stones into bread. Jesus replies 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'"

"Do you know what's really funny? My pastor told me your church doesn't use the Bible!"

"I keep hearing that from Protestants, and I don't get it! We use more Scripture in an individual service than you guys do in a month of Sundays! Angie said Roman Catholics don't use as much as we do, but even they use more than you guys do, if I understand it correctly. Doesn't your pastor preach for like an hour on a single short passage?"

"Usually, yes."

"And how much Scripture did you hear in the services you came to?"

"A lot. It didn't match what he said at all."

"That should tell you everything you need to know about who to believe," I replied. "Anyway, what did you tell your parents? I assume they know your pastor forbade you seeing me."

"Yes. I just told them that I was spending the day with Liz and the girls and that we might go to the zoo. None of the girls will say anything to my parents about you being here."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I have no idea," she sighed. "Things I want seem out of reach, and I don't know what to do about it."

"What do you want?"

Maggie laughed softly, "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes."

"To be your girlfriend. But it's like every possible obstacle is in my way! We each will only marry someone who would go to our own church, you're thirty-five miles away, and you have girls you're interested in. I guess church is the biggest thing separating us."

"Yes, I think that's right."

"So what do I do?"

I shrugged, "I really can't answer that question for you."

"Do you like me?"

"Yes, of course. But we'd have to get to know each other a lot better and figure out if we're compatible before we could be boyfriend and girlfriend."

Maggie frowned, "You mean have sex."

"NO!" I said firmly. "I most certainly do not mean that! If you believe it's meant only for marriage, then stick to your belief! I won't try to change your mind. What I meant was talking and getting to know each other. I guess the question you have to ask yourself is what you really believe."

"How can I learn more? I'm not saying I'll change my mind, but is there something I can read?"

"It's not the best way to learn, but yes. I think a book called The Orthodox Way, written by an English bishop named KALLISTOS Ware. It's probably the best place for you to start. He has another book, The Orthodox Church, but I think the first one is the best choice for you. I'm just concerned about what will happen if your parents find out you're reading it."

"They don't snoop in my room. Where can I get the book?"

"Most bookstores don't carry it. Our church bookstore has a copy, so I can get it and send it to Liz. Well, unless you want to come to Vespers tonight."

"I don't think the other girls would want to do that. Your sister hates going to church."

"OK. I'll get it tonight, then on Monday, I'll mail it to Liz."

"Thanks."

We checked out the gorilla exhibit, then walked in the direction of the aviary, where the other girls had been headed. I was truly curious about what Maggie was going to do. She and Becky had similar backgrounds, but to me, it seemed much more likely that Becky could bridge the gap, but even that was far from a sure thing. All I could do was continue to see Tasha and see what might develop with Becky or Maggie.

Of course, I'd be at the Cathedral in the morning, and perhaps I'd meet a college-age girl who might be eligible. Angie was coming to church with me, and that might deflect some attention from the other girls, but I could truthfully say we weren't dating and had never dated. That said, if the end result of all of this was marrying Tasha, I wasn't exactly 'settling' by any stretch of any imagination.

June 26, 1983, Columbus, Ohio

On Sunday morning, Angie and I headed to Dormition of the Mother of God Cathedral in Columbus, which was Vladyka ARKADY's Cathedral.

"How often will this happen?" Angie asked.

"Probably on great feasts where I can be at the Cathedral. He didn't ask me for Ascension because he knew I had to work that day, even though Mr. Sokolov let me take two hours off so you and I could go to church. There's a chance he'd ask me to join him in another parish if the subdeacon from the Cathedral can't travel with him for some reason."

"Because he doesn't drive?"

"That's a big part of it, but also so he has someone who knows the hierarchical liturgy. Most acolytes only serve a handful of hierarchical liturgies during their entire time as acolytes. I think I did maybe four over the course of eight years. Before I forget, when are you heading home?"

"My mom is picking me up Friday at noon. I'll be back on Tuesday. You aren't going home at all, right?"

"Right. Clarissa will be here, and honestly, I really don't want to go back to West Monroe before Thanksgiving, if I can help it."

"You don't want to see your parents?"

"I do, but I just don't need the hassles from my dad."

Or, I thought, from Mindy, Janey, or Tasha's dad.

"You haven't heard anything from Jocelyn?"