Chapter 58: Bright Week

April 15, 1985, McKinley, Ohio

"How are you feeling, Petrovich?" Clarissa asked when she came to my door on Monday morning after I'd run and prayed.

"Fine. I slept like a log last night! What did Abby think?"

"She was pretty awestruck by the service and had a good time at the party. Everyone else seemed to have a great time, too."

"I think Clark made some new friends," I chuckled.

"He spent like three hours with the old men smoking and drinking!"

"So did Gene. Did Jocelyn have to pour him into bed?"

"Pretty much! Fortunately, a number of our friends don't drink much, so everyone had a sober ride back to campus. I don't remember, but how long do you have now until you fast again?"

"It's 'Party until Pentecost'!" I chuckled. "It's really only until Ascension if you follow the strictest rules, but Bishop ARKADY grants general «ekonomia» until Pentecost. And he's granted complete «ekonomia» from fasting for our trip to Europe. In fact, according to Father Nicholas, it was a command!"

"He wants you to have plenty of energy to satisfy your pussy cat!" Clarissa teased.

"He's celibate!" I protested.

"Which means exactly zero about him knowing what will happen on your honeymoon!"

"True," I chuckled.

We left my room and joined most of the gang to head to the cafeteria for breakfast.

"Mike," Melody said. "The Student Life committee approved your request to hold a service on Thursdays."

"Cool!" I replied. "Any concerns?"

"No. Basically, if they let the Bible Church have a Bible study here, they can't really deny anyone else, and given it's a State university, they can't censor speech based on content."

"And the Gay and Lesbian Student Alliance?" Robby sneered. "What about that?"

"It'll be renewed at the next meeting," Melody said. "As I explained, one of the members used a procedural maneuver to prevent a vote. They can't win in the end. All they did was delay approval of the renewal for a month, and it wouldn't be active until the Fall anyway. And it'll be funded from our activity fees like every other student group."

"And the protestors who showed up?" he asked disgustedly.

"Honestly? Fuck them! I know we have the votes. And speaking of votes, they're going to need a new Student Delegate next year, so if you're interested, you should apply. Obviously, those of you graduating next month can't do it, but Robby, Lee, Jocelyn, Lara, Dona, Sarah, Gene, or the rest of you could serve."

"There isn't an election?" Gene asked.

"No. This isn't Student Government. I had to stand for election for that spot. The Student Life Committee is appointed by the Chancellor."

"Go for it, Lee," Robby said.

"I think you should, Lee," Sophia added.

"How much work is it?" he asked.

"One meeting a month, and you just need to read the documents before the meeting. Mostly, it's approving new clubs, closing old ones, and proposing discipline for violations of the rules. And there has only been one of those, and it was dealt with a letter of reprimand."

"What did they do?"

"Failed to turn in their financial reports three months in a row. It was just laziness; there wasn't any funny business."

"Let me think about it, but I'll probably apply."

"You need two recommendations from faculty, but you're an honors student, so I'm sure that's a piece of cake."

"And you know Doctor Blahnik," I said. "Talk to her; she'll likely recommend you."

"I hate to think about what happens if she ever leaves," Jeannette said. "She's the most pro-student member of the faculty!"

"We hope Milena stays here," I said. "She's following in her mother's footsteps."

"We're all going to be gone in three years," Sarah said. "It's somebody else's problem at that point!"

"That's a really bad way to look at it," Melody declared. "We want to leave the school in better shape than we found it and ensure students who come here in the future are treated respectfully and as adults."

"Speaking of that, is that stupid dean coming back?" Dona asked.

I shook my head, "Not according to Chancellor Evans. The only openings for next Fall are for a professor in the history department and for a lecturer in the math department. Well, given Father Jacobs is being reassigned, there is also a need for a Latin professor and for someone to teach World Religions. There are no administrative positions open."

"That's the same thing I heard in the Student Government meeting last week," Melody confirmed. "Rumor has it that she has a position at a college in San Diego for next Fall."

"I heard out east or Chicago," I said. "Obviously, the rumor mills need to talk to each other!"

Everyone laughed at that.

Later that day, after our last class, Clarissa and I were sitting in my room when Jocelyn came by to let me know her surgery had been scheduled for June 3rd. She had just finished telling me when we heard a serious commotion in the hallway.

"What's that?" I asked.

Jocelyn took a step back and looked down the hallway.

"Vickie and Will are having another lovers' spat."

"Those two should just break up," Clarissa said. "They've been fighting for a week!"

"I missed that," I said.

"You've been in church, Petrovich!"

"I suppose I should go talk to them," I said.

I got up from the couch and went out into the hallway with Jocelyn and Clarissa following me. I'd taken only three steps down the hallway when Vickie slapped Will across the face, and to my shock, he punched her hard, knocking her down. My walk turned to a sprint, and I positioned myself between them.

"Will, back off," I growled.

"She hit me first!" he protested.

"I don't care if she hit you first, second, and third!" I declared emphatically. "Hitting a woman is NOT acceptable!"

"Yeah, asshole!" Vickie screeched.

"Vickie, come with us," Clarissa said.

They helped her up, and I took Will's arm and gently moved him down the hall towards his room.

"You need to cool off," I said quietly. "And figure out what you're going to say to Dean Anderson."

"You're going to turn me in?!" he gasped.

"I have to report it," I replied.

He wrested his arm away from me, and my reflexes kicked in and I was able to easily block the roundhouse punch he threw.

"Don't," I commanded. "You're just going to make it worse."

Pete and Jason were coming down the hall and had seen the thrown punch. Pete grabbed Will from behind and pinned his arms to his side.

"Mike, Jason, and I have this," Pete said. "Go call the Dean."

I turned and went to find Clarissa and Jocelyn and discovered they'd taken Vickie into my room because she was bleeding from a cut under her eye, which I was sure was going to have a heck of a shiner very soon.

"Where's Will?" Jocelyn asked.

"Pete and Jason have him in custody. I need to call Dean Anderson and Campus Security."

"Don't!" Vickie protested. "He'll be expelled!"

"Mike, do it," Clarissa said firmly. "Vickie, we saw it happen. Mike HAS to report it."

"It was just a dumb fight," she said, sounding panicked.

I really didn't have any choice, given there were a few other people in the hallway who had seen the punch and heard the argument. I picked up the phone and dialed Dean Anderson's office. Vickie screamed at me to stop, but I didn't have any choice. Dean Anderson's secretary put me right through to her, and I explained what had happened. She told me to call Campus Security, who would call the McKinley Police, and she said she'd be right over. I hung up and did as she instructed, and five minutes later, Dean Anderson and a Campus Police Officer were in my room.

"Where's the assailant?" Officer Brown asked.

"A couple of the guys took him back to his room. They should be in 811."

"Bill, wait for the McKinley PD, please," Dean Anderson said.

He nodded and went into the hallway. A couple of minutes later, two uniformed officers, one male and one female, stepped off the elevator. They conferred with Dean Anderson and Officer Brown, and then the female officer asked to use my room to talk to Vickie while the two men went down the hall. I agreed, and Clarissa, Jocelyn, and I stepped out into the hall, followed by Dean Anderson. We moved to the common area and sat down.

"What happened, exactly?" Dean Anderson asked.

"Clarissa and I were in my room, and Jocelyn was in the doorway when we heard a commotion. I asked Jocelyn what was going on and she said Will and Vickie were having another lovers' spat. You know I haven't been around much the past week because of church, so I didn't know they were having relationship problems. Anyway, I went out into the hall to talk to them and I saw Vickie slap Will across the face, and in return, he punched her in the face, and you saw the results."

"Then what?"

"I hurried and stood between him and where she was on the floor and told him it was inappropriate to hit a woman and asked him to go to his room. He resisted, so I grabbed his arm and started moving him down the hall. He broke loose, and Jason and Pete, who were coming down the hall, grabbed him and took him to his room."

"You left out the part where he took a swing at you," Jocelyn said firmly. "And that you blocked his punch, and THAT is why Jason and Pete grabbed him."

"Is that the case, Mike?" Doctor Anderson asked.

"Yes. But he didn't actually hit me, and I never felt threatened."

"Yes, but if he says the guys grabbed him, that's important. Please don't leave out details like that."

"Sorry," I replied. "I figured he was in enough trouble as it was."

"Oh, he is. I'll have an expulsion order drawn up immediately, and we'll get a restraining order to keep him off campus. Well, assuming he can make bail because given the cut and the obvious soon-to-be black eye, he'll be charged with felony battery."

"She might not press charges," Clarissa said. "She panicked when she realized Mike was going to call you. She begged him not to."

Doctor Anderson considered for a moment, "Do you think she might be pregnant?"

"They've been sleeping together," Jocelyn replied. "So it's certainly possible."

"That would explain her behavior for sure," Clarissa added. "I mean, for the past week."

"How so?" Dean Anderson asked.

"She's been out of sorts, and they've had three or four fights, though they were in his or her room, not in the hallway."

"OK," Dean Anderson said. "They're both over eighteen, so it really isn't my business or the university's business, but it would explain what appears to be irrational behavior. They're both good students, right?"

I nodded, "Until today, I would have said they were perfect Rickenbacker 8 material — they studied hard, didn't drink much, didn't smoke, didn't do drugs, and avoided public displays of affection."

"But paired up like pretty much everyone else on the floor!" Dean Anderson said with a smile.

Clarissa, Jocelyn, and I all laughed.

"My girlfriend lives off campus," Clarissa said with a smirk. "And so does Mike's fiancée."

"Hey, nerds need love, too!" I declared with a smile. "We're just circumspect about it!"

"Mike," Dean Anderson said, "you'll need to sign the report once it's written so I can attach it to the expulsion order."

"What about her slapping him?" I asked.

"That's going to depend on everything else that happened. It's unlikely the police will act on that. Now, if she'd clocked him with a frying pan or a baseball bat, then it would be different. But the police and the courts give women serious leeway for a slap across the face. I'm sure you can imagine why."

"I can. Doesn't he have a right to appeal the expulsion?"

"Yes, of course. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, but the Student Handbook is clear and direct about physical violence. There is zero tolerance."

"I wasn't implying he'd win, just that the expulsion order isn't final until the appeal is denied or the appeal period expires."

"That's true, but if he's arrested and charged with a violent crime, the appeal can be automatically denied. And that's been tested in court at another State school."

"Dean Anderson?" the female police officer called out.

The dean got up and walked over to talk to the police officer.

"She's not going to press charges," Jocelyn said, sotto voce. "I can see it in the cop's face."

"What about all the witnesses?" Clarissa asked, her voice equally low.

"I'm not sure. I'm still pre-law, so take this with a grain of salt, but the police could arrest him and charge him based on witness statements. Then, it's up to the prosecutor to decide whether to take it to the Grand Jury for an indictment or not. If she won't testify, they still have all of us who saw it. And we could be forced to go before the Grand Jury and testify, and there is pretty much no way to avoid that. That said, I've only had a couple of classes on criminal justice, so as I said, take it with a grain of salt."

Dean Anderson came back to where we were.

"She's refusing medical care and refusing to press charges. The police want to talk to you three and probably the two guys who took Will to his room."

It took two hours for the five of us to talk to the officers, and in the end, they led Will away in handcuffs over Vickie's protests. Clarissa, Jocelyn, Pete, Jason, Gene, and I went to dinner, and after dinner, I went to Dean Anderson's office to sign the report. She told me Will had been charged with battery and would go before a judge in the morning to set bail. Beyond that, it was up to the County Prosecutor.

"Charged with battery and has a bail hearing in the morning," I said to Jocelyn, Clarissa, and Gene when I returned to the dorm. "Then it's up to the County Prosecutor."

"Can he come back if they drop the charges?" Gene asked.

"He'd have to challenge the expulsion," I replied, "and the Student Handbook doesn't even require an arrest. There are sufficient witnesses that he'd lose a hearing in front of the disciplinary board."

"What a way to throw away your life," he said. "Just the one charge? Not attempted assault on you or whatever?"

"That would be up to the Prosecutor, I guess," I replied. "They only need the one charge to arrest him."

"And just a month to go," Gene said, shaking his head. "Have you had any trouble in the past?"

"On my watch? One diabetic coma, a pot bust, one couple doing whippets where she passed out, and some minor stuff. I wasn't kidding when I called us all nerds!"

"Speak for yourself!" Jocelyn exclaimed.

"Right, Miss Goody Two-Shoes, who never got in trouble a single day in her life! You're as nerdy as I am!"

"You aren't nerdy!" Gene protested.

Clarissa laughed, "You didn't know Mike when he first got here. Or me. We were both consummate nerds. Seriously, the kids on this floor probably study more than any two other floors put together! And speaking of which, shall we study?"

We all got our books and joined our study groups, making my point.

April 16, 1985, McKinley, Ohio

On Tuesday, it was warm enough, and the golf course was in good enough shape that Viktor and I played nine holes. I was very rusty, but he was patient and offered only the most basic advice, trying his best to make it enjoyable, even though I was slightly frustrated.

"It'll get better, Mike," he said as we walked back to the Clubhouse. "Once you come back from Europe, we'll play a couple of times a week."

"I'll check with my appointment secretary on that," I chuckled.

Viktor laughed, "I promise not to try to make my daughter a 'golf widow'. Remember, this is a very good way to get to know the 'movers and shakers' in the community — doctors, lawyers, businessmen, politicians — and a very good way to relax."

"It's still a bit frustrating," I replied.

"You're just rusty, Mike. As I said, when you play more, you'll get better."

"And I think I can do without politicians!"

He laughed, "A not uncommon sentiment."

We stowed our clubs, changed our shoes, and went into the dining room, where we were seated at our usual table.

"May I ask why your friend Clark calls you 'White Boy'?"

I chuckled, "Because I AM a 'White Boy'! But seriously, he grew up in a rough neighborhood in Cincinnati, and I'm the first white friend he's had in his life. We were roommates for the first two years. He had a pretty bad attitude towards white people because he was harassed by white cops all through his teen years. I even saw it happen here in McKinley."

Viktor frowned, "Our Chief of Police isn't very enlightened. And there's a reason to get to know politicians, even if you don't necessarily like them — to make sure our NEXT Chief of Police isn't a throwback to the 50s. What happened with your friend?"

"The police took the word of a white kid over three black kids about an assault, and then someone later reported Clark, falsely, mind you, for being a drug dealer and a fence. Funny thing, though not funny, is the only kids who've been arrested at Taft over the past four years have all been white. But it seems as if every time something happens, the cops question the black kids."

"I read in the paper this morning there was an arrest for battery."

"On my floor of the dorm. I think the police would call it a 'domestic dispute' if the couple were married. A guy and a girl were having what appeared to be a lovers' quarrel. According to Jocelyn and Clarissa, they'd been having relationship problems for about a week. I was unaware because I'd been at church so much. Anyway, he apparently said something to her, which caused her to slap him. In response, he punched her, hard, in the face."

"And you let him live?" Viktor asked, sounding serious.

"I don't think violence solves anything, one way or the other."

"Spoken like a true clergyman. And while I am sure nothing of the sort would ever happen, you do realize what would occur if you were ever to strike my daughter, right?"

I nodded, "I do, but that's simply never going to happen, so there's nothing to worry about."

"As I said, I'm sure it won't, but I think you might have a slightly different opinion if someone struck your little sister or your daughter."