Chapter 9

Like a man on a mission, William marched into the office of the Director of Student Housing. The sign on the door identified the occupant as Mary Dove, but he didn’t give any thought to the name other than to remember it. On entering her office, he was surprised to discover that the director was a woman of Native American ancestry. It was obvious by her features and by the decorations in the room. Hand carved artwork, weavings, and paintings hung on the walls. Framed on the wall was the cover of a national magazine with his picture on it.

While William was surprised, Mary Dove was absolutely shocked to see him walk into her office. Excited, she said, “You’re him! You’re Talks With Animals!”

“Yes, I am,” said William wondering if he was going to get that same reaction from every Native American he met. He glanced at the magazine cover and wondered how many Native Americans had copies of it hanging on their walls. As far as he was concerned, one was too many.

“My cousin was there with you,” she exclaimed.

“Who is your cousin?” asked William. He noticed there was a poster on the wall that told how the Lenape became known as the Delaware. He’d heard the story at the Native American College and recalling the story brought smile to his face.

“Sam Iron Bear,” she replied with pride. The fact that a member of her family had participated in such an important event for her people was a source of considerable pride.

It took William a second to remember the man. He had been one of the men who had been injured in the explosion. He said, “He broke a couple of ribs.”

“That’s what he says, but he didn’t have any broken ribs when he came home.”

Nodding his agreement, he said, “My mother healed all those who were injured. It took her a couple of days to get to everyone.”

Mary Dove looked at William wondering how his mother had managed to heal broken bones over the course of a couple days. It took her a moment to decide that it didn’t matter. If he said she did it, then she did it. That was all the proof that she needed. She couldn’t get over the fact that he was actually sitting in her office. She asked, “What can I do for you?”

“You can take care of a housing problem for me,” William answered. He knew that the problem would get resolved, but he hoped that it would be for the right reason.

“What problem?”

“A young lady is having significant problems with her roommate.”

Mary Dove frowned at his statement. She had that complaint at least three times a day, particularly from Freshman learning to live with others for the first time. “That’s a common complaint and we can’t move students around because they have problems with their roommates. I’m really sorry, but there is nothing I can do for you.”

Taking a seat, William said, “The young lady is fifteen years old. Today, she caught her roommate having sex on her bed. While I am not concerned about the sex, the roommate’s actions have put her at risk to disease. It is also a direct attack on her innocence.

“People need a space that is theirs, but the roommate violates her space with great regularity. It is a very subtle form of abuse.

“Her roommate has destroyed clothes belonging to this young lady. It increases the cost that must be born by the young woman. It increases the pressures under which she must live and study. It can impact her grades. That is harm.

“Now, I believe that we must protect the weak from the strong. A fifteen-year-old woman in a room with a nineteen or twenty year old woman is at a significant disadvantage. We must act to protect her. I will not buy the argument that she must learn how to handle people like that at some time. Demanding that the weak get tougher without support is a fallacious stance that does great harm,” William said.

“I am aware that you are also a graduate of the Druid College,” said Mary Dove recognizing the philosophy that he was using as the basis for his argument. She also had to admit that a very unbalanced dynamic was at work against the young woman.

“So you know why I say we have to act,” said William.

She turned to her computer and started looking up the rooms available. After a few minutes, she said, “I’ve got one private dorm, but it is a lot more expensive than a shared dorm room. There are a couple of two person rooms, but I’m not sure those would be any better for her. A bipolar woman who stopped taking her medicine occupies one of them. A man occupies another room.”

“Put her in the private dorm room. I’ll pay the difference,” William said knowing that he could afford to have an entire dorm facility built for her. He was willing to pay whatever was required.

Mary Dove looked at the screen. She wanted to help William, but she was unwilling to violate the law. She said, “You say that she’s fifteen.”

“Yes.”

“I have to get her parent’s permission to move her,” said Mary Dove. She wondered if the money given by William could affect the financial support being received by the girl. She asked, “What’s her name?”

“Lucille Desi Wilkins,” answered William wondering how many fifteen-year-old students there were on the campus. It took him a few seconds to realize that Mary probably knew very few of the students by name. That was particularly true for students who were not a problem.

Mary’s fingers flew across the keyboard as she brought up contact information. It took her a minute to find the necessary contact data. She looked up at William and saw that she was there on a scholarship. The scholarship did not cover room, board, or books. She asked, “Are you sure that you want to do this?”

“Yes,” answered William.

“I’ll have to tell them where the money is coming from.”

The idea of telling her parents that their daughter’s boyfriend was willing to pay to get their daughter into a private room wasn’t exactly how he wanted to start his relationship with Lucy. He asked, “Where do her parents live?”

“They live in Harmony. It’s a little town halfway between here and Pittsburgh.”

Coming to the decision that he needed to speak with her parents, William got out his cell phone and called Ken. When the man answered, William asked him to bring the Hugger and come get him from the school. He told him that they were going to drive to Harmony that evening.

Looking up at Mary Dove, William said, “I would appreciate it if you would wait to make that call until tomorrow morning. We’re going to see her parents.”

“We?” she asked wondering if he was including her in the trip.

“Lucy and I,” said William.

“Okay,” said Mary Dove. She took a moment to jot down information about Lucy so that she could easily call up the account the next day.

“I had better break the news to Lucy,” said William standing. He glanced at the magazine cover with his picture on it and frowned.

“See you tomorrow,” said Mary Dove. She couldn’t wait to get on the telephone and tell her family that she had met Talks With Animals.

William stepped out of the director’s office and threaded his way to the front office. Looking pensive, Lucy was waiting for him expecting to hear that he was in trouble. She’d been terrified when he had just walked past the receptionist’s desk. Not knowing what to do, she had taken a seat to wait for him to get kicked out. Worried, she asked, “What happened?”

“Well, we found a solution but we need to meet with your parents,” said William.

The news that her parents would have to be involved concerned her. She didn’t want them to have to drive all the way from Harmony, but she was really tired of her roommate’s abuse. Of course, her father would probably require her to leave the school. Licking her lips, she said, “They could maybe come here this weekend.”

“Oh, no. We’ll drive down there tonight,” William said not wanting her to stay in that room any more time than necessary.

“Tonight? Drive?”

“I have a driver and he’ll take us down there. We should arrive in time for dinner. I did ask you out for dinner, didn’t I?” asked William with a grin.

“Yes.”

“So we’ll have dinner in Harmony with your parents.”

“Okay,” she said wondering if that was such a good idea.

William led her away to where Ken would pick them up. As they walked, he asked her questions about her parents. It wasn’t a cross- examination with the intent of learning how to manipulate them, but a consequence of a real interest in learning more about them. When she started telling stories about her time at home, he knew that she was becoming less concerned about having dinner with them.

When they reached the place where the car was to pick them up, he asked, “Do you need to use my cell phone?”

“What for?”

“To let your parents know that we’re coming,” answered William.

“Oh, yeah,” she said, once again becoming nervous about seeing her parents. She frowned and said, “I didn’t expect my first date with a boy to be spent with my parents.”

Handing her the telephone, William laughed at her comment. He said, “Just consider them as Chaperones.”

“Chaperones? Does anyone do that anymore?” she asked.

“The rumor is that when my little brother gets old enough to date, there is almost zero chances of him ever being alone with a girl,” William said with a laugh. Ever since Eddie had been born, people had been talking about the need to lock up the girls. The closer to dating age that Eddie got, the more the town worried. “The whole town is working to keep that from happening.”

“Oh come on.”

Pointing to the phone, he said, “You’re just trying to put off making the call to your parents.”

Looking down at the phone in her hand, she realized that he was right. She dialed the number for her mother. William listened to her side of the conversation. “Hello, mom.”

“I’m fine.”

“Really. I’m fine.”

“The reason I’m calling is that I’m coming to visit you tonight.”

“No. I’m fine.”

“Really. I’m fine,” she said. Looking at William, she rolled her eyes.

“A boy is taking me,” she said with a noticeable hesitation when she said ‘boy.’

“He’s my age.”

“No. He’s not driving.”

“He has a driver.”

“I’m fine.”

“Really, I’m fine.”

William grinned when she blushed and then turned her back to him. She said, “Maybe.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Really, I’m not.” She turned back to faced William and mouthed, ‘she thinks I’m pregnant.’

It was tempting to tell her that they could make that a possibility, but he refrained. He heard her say, “I’m not pregnant!”

“He wants to take us out to dinner.”

“I’m pretty sure that he can afford it,” she said as she winked at him.

The Hugger pulled up to the curb and came to a stop. William pointed to it and, in a soft voice, said, “Lucy, my car is here.”

Looking at the Hugger, Lucy said, “Wow, you’ve got a Hugger. My dad wants one of those so much.”

Opening the door, William let her in the back seat. Once she was in place, he said, “Don’t forget you’re still on the phone.”

“Oh, yeah.”

He walked around the Hugger and got in the other side after throwing his book bag into the rear of the Hugger. Looking over at the unexpected passenger, Ken said, “I guess we’re not training tonight.”