Chapter 8: Scholar

Tuesday, January 7, 2019

The rest of the semester was a bitch, a stone-cold cast-iron bitch. I don’t know what I had been expecting, but it was just unrelenting work. Maybe it was because I had taken a lot of time on the two consulting jobs or maybe it was because of the time taken up with Tolley’s book project. More likely it was because I didn’t know what the hell I was doing trying to get a doctorate in history. I mean, I knew there was a lot of reading that was going to be involved. After all, history is a bunch of reading history books. Still, the pace was ridiculous. I was reading the equivalent of a history book a week, and then giving a critique on each book, as well as preparing a major term paper at the end of the class. Then multiply by two! Add in some preparation time for my eventual dissertation.

It was too much. I felt I was barely keeping my head above water. I would just get a chapter started when the kids would race through, or Boxie needed to be walked, or Kelly would ask me to do something. Thursdays were a good day, in that I spent dawn to dusk in Athens. If I wasn’t in class, I could work in the library. Then I could work there as long as I wanted at the end of the day, then drive home late. If I timed it right, Riley and Seamus would be in bed, and I could study some more.

Midway through the semester, Kelly waited until the kids were in bed and then came to me in my corner of the living room. “Grim, are you alright?”

I looked over at her. “Don’t I look alright?”

“Grim.”

I tossed my highlighter on the coffee table I was using as a desk and stretched, working out the kinks. “I don’t know, babe. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

“Grim, I’m not worried, not really, but something’s wrong.”

I wasn’t going to get back to work until she finished, so I put a piece of scrap paper into the book I was reading and set it aside. “What’s wrong?”

“Grim, you’re getting short with the kids. You chewed on Seamus and yelled at Riley. She’s in her room crying now.”

“Kelly, they kept interrupting me. I can’t work with them on me every five minutes,” I protested. “I have to study and...”

“Stop it, Grim. They’re little children. It’s bad enough when you snip at me, but they don’t understand.”

“Kelly...”

“This is their home, too, Grim,” she told me.

I sighed. I couldn’t hide in the basement since we didn’t have a basement; we were too close to Lake Matucket and the water table was too high; a basement would have turned into a swimming pool. We had added on to the living room, but we had kept it open rather than wall it off. I didn’t know what to do.

“Maybe I should work over at the library,” I said. Maybe that was a way out of the interruptions.

Kelly looked at me skeptically. “When does the library open and when does it close?”

I shrugged and grabbed my laptop. I googled the library and learned the hours were nine in the morning to six at night. That wasn’t early enough or late enough for my purposes. Then I looked at her and added, “It doesn’t really matter. The library is closed until March for rebuilding. It looks like the roof is shot and needs repair.”

My wife looked at me curiously and asked, “So what are they doing about the library?”

“They’ve set up a couple of satellite libraries at the Higgins Performing Arts Centre and an annex over at M-Triple-C. That’s just for dropping off or picking up books. Maybe I can hang out at Matucket State’s library.”

“Well, you need to do something. And you need to go kiss your daughter and tell her you’re not mad at her. And you need to do it now!” She pointed towards the hallway.

I stood up and stretched again, and then leaned down and kissed her. I went down the hallway and knocked on Riley’s door and let myself in. Riley was in bed but still awake and she rolled over to look at me. Boxie was lying on the bed with her. I went over to her and shooed him aside and bent down and hugged her. She started crying again, but I just said I was sorry and rubbed her back. She settled down and a few minutes later had fallen asleep. I tucked her in and scratched Boxie behind the ears; he left the bedroom with me and went over to the back door to be let out. When he came back in, he went back to Riley’s room.

The next day I went over to Matucket State to use the library. The library opened at seven and stayed open until midnight. That was more than sufficient time to study. Additionally, the third floor was designated as private study areas and had both study carrels and small glass-walled rooms that could be signed for. Kelly had registered both our vehicles in case she needed to borrow my car, and I still had my student ID card from when I had gotten my bachelors. I could park without getting towed and then sign into a private study room. Just as good, I could leave my crap in the study room and sign out to go to lunch without having to pack up. I think I got more work done that day than I had the previous week. I didn’t even answer my phone. I simply texted Kelly a few times to let her know my schedule and when I would be coming home.

I left the library around eight that night and was home half an hour later. I dropped my gear in the utility room and wandered through to the kitchen, where I found Kelly cleaning up after dinner. She smiled when I came in. “Was today better?”

“It was wonderful! It was like I wasn’t married and didn’t have children and was a bachelor and...”

“Keep it up, wiseass! That can be arranged!” she replied.

I wrapped my arms around her. “It was awful! I spent the entire day lonely, pining away for all of you in my despondent horror.”

“Now you’re really going overboard. Despondent?”

I laughed. “I saw it in a book and decided to use it.”

Kelly groaned and rolled her eyes. “Forget it. Have you eaten?”

“I know what I’d like to eat.” I waggled my eyebrows at her.

“Oh my God, will you behave!” she protested.

I smiled. “I grabbed a sub at the Student Union. I could use a drink, though.”

“Now that sounds more realistic. Finish here in the kitchen and make drinks, and I’ll freshen up and come back.”

“Does freshening up involve changing into something more... interesting?” I asked.

“And if it did?”

“Deal!”

Kelly laughed and went down the hallway. I put away the dishes and made some rum and Cokes. I was cutting up a lime when she returned, freshened. Freshening included a short, sheer robe and a pair of heels. “Is this what you had in mind?” she asked, smiling.

“The only way it would get more interesting would be if there was less.” I replied. I squeezed some lime into the drinks and passed one over to her. “How were the kids? Did they notice I was missing?” I led the way over to the study. A half wall made it a bit more secluded, and I left the lights off in the study, making it a little more intimate.

“Grim! Why do I think you have ulterior motives?” she asked, settling into my lap.

“Ulterior? What do you mean? Is that another one of those fancy words I don’t know yet?”

“Naughty? Wicked? Bad? Do you know what those words mean?”

I sipped my drink and tried to look innocent. I don’t think she bought it, though, especially after I tugged on the belt keeping her robe closed. Kelly gave me a look that said innocence wasn’t on her mind, either. After we finished our drinks, I helped Kelly out of her robe, and she helped me out of my clothes. It was a good thing that the kids were sound sleepers.

For the next couple of weeks, I kept up the schedule with me studying all day long over at the library. Thursdays I still had to spend the entire day in Athens attending colloquia. I also began cutting back on the reading, simply by learning a few tricks. It was simply impossible to keep reading three- to four-hundred pages every week for every class. It was possible to skim each chapter, reading the beginning and end, and getting a sense of what was needed. Combined with a better understanding of the requirements, I managed to keep up with my reading.

I began thinking I might be able to continue this technique in the spring when I got a call that changed it all. The Athens Academy Superintendent called the week before Thanksgiving. “Grim, it’s Rich Dunlop at the academy in Athens. How are you doing?”

Rich had gotten his start in the police business in Savannah and after retiring had worked as an instructor in Forsyth and was now the boss in Athens. I had known him for several years. I had given several guest lectures over the years on Post-Traumatic Stress, Use of Force, and Autism/Mental Health Issues at Forsyth.

“Doing fine, Rich. What’s up?”

“We talked a couple of months ago, and I heard you’ve been talking to some people over in Forsyth. You’re interested in doing some teaching?”

“I’m interested, Rich. Not sure how I’m going to fit it in my schedule, but I’m interested. What’s up? Something open up?” I asked.

“Pretty much. One of my guys had to retire. Pete Durkee, not sure if you remember him, anyway Pete’s not doing well and is going to be out for a while.”

“I know Pete. What’s wrong?”

Rich sighed. “The Big C. He’s been diagnosed with colon cancer and it’s fairly advanced. He’s looking at chemo, radiation, the works.”

“That sucks.”

“It sucks. Anyway, that’s the problem. He’s out of here on a medical leave next week. I can cover for the rest of the year, but we need to fill his slot next year. You up for it?”

“I’m interested, Rich. Can I come and see you next week?”