Chapter 59: How Wayne Upsets the Apple Cart.

Bert led me over to the student union building. While I found a table where we could talk without being overheard, Bert went to get us each a coffee and a sweet roll.

"Okay, what's the story, Bert?"

"Let me start by saying, I'm not allowed to discuss any particular student with you. Because of privacy laws, I'm not permitted to discuss an adult student even with his or her parents. It doesn't matter that they're paying the tuition. So you have to realize this conversation has never taken place. If anyone ever asks, you and I shared a cup of coffee and shared a pleasant social conversation, that's all we did."

"Right, I've got it, we never talked about any students today or any other time. Now, what can you NOT tell me?"

"I DIDN'T tell you I tracked down the report the company sent in when they terminated Wayne. After reading it, I can tell you that if the report had gotten to the correct person, where it was supposed to have gone when it first came in, I'm fairly certain Wayne would have been called to come in for a discussion right away. I don't think he would have been allowed to return to school."

"Was the report that bad?"

"It was and it was very explicit, not only about the event that triggered his dismissal from the internship but about the problems they had with him before that. Did you know he held up the other interns when it came to getting their security clearance paperwork done? There was also a section in the report about him being disrespectful in general and expecting things to be done for him, that he was above doing the things he considered menial."

"I knew a little about it but I didn't know it was in the report."

"After I read the report Friday, I talked with Wayne's advisor to let him know there was a problem coming his way. He didn't sound very surprised. He told me Wayne had been an issue since his second year but nothing to this level. Something about Wayne coming from money back east and feeling he was entitled to things simply because he wanted them. That situation has been getting worse as time has progressed."

"And no one did anything about it?"

"Not much could be done. He gave me access to Wayne's file on the computer. I looked through it Friday. Somewhere towards the end of his freshman year his attitude changed. His advisor brought him in and talked with him about it but Wayne maintained there was nothing wrong with him here or at home."

"Was that it?"

"No, the advisor made a report to the Dean's office, just as he was supposed to. From what I understand, the computer file is a little vague. The Dean's office was in contact with Wayne's uncle; the information about the response that's in the file doesn't make sense, at least not to me."

"What was there?"

"According to what I read, Wayne wanted a car, a Lamborghini, and he was refused. He was offered something else, not nearly as luxurious or fast but a good sports car, better than anything I've seen currently on campus. The refusal came from his aunt; she's his connection to the family and its money. I think it incredible that he went off the rails just because of that."

"You said his aunt refused him? That might explain why he's been reacting negatively to women, but why has it escalated to the point that he's so hateful and why is he focused on Kay?"

"It's been nearly two and a half years since he was first refused. Before this last semester break, he went home every break and returned without a car of any kind each time. It's in the record too, that each time he came back his attitude had gotten worse. I can only suppose that he asked each time and was refused each time."

"Who pays his tuition?"

"The family's accountants send a check three working days before the beginning of each semester. This semester's fees have already been paid."

"If that's the case, can he be forced out?"

"In this situation, yes, because there's a specific reason. He's disruptive and upsetting to his classes. It's been reported by the instructors for every class he shares with Kay. It's one-sided, too. He's the source of the disruption and Kay has made every reasonable attempt to avoid him and the problems he's causing."

"Alright, let's set that aside for now. How long are things going to be allowed to continue as they are?"

"It's not my call or that of Wayne's advisor but my guess is there'll be a resolution either today or tomorrow, most probably tomorrow. As of now, Wayne is barred from all classes until he meets with the Dean. Hopefully Wayne went to see his advisor and that's what he'll tell Wayne. I can't see Wayne being too happy when he gets the news."

"What's Kay supposed to do?"

"She's supposed to go to class, just as she's been doing. She should avoid Wayne in class and everywhere else. Keeping those guys around her should be sufficient until things are resolved."

"We had all three of them out to the house this weekend for a little party to thank them for their help. I knew Steve from last year, he'd been out several times working on a project with Kay. Ryan and Linc I only met once, at Kay's birthday party last spring. All three of them said they'd keep an eye on Kay for me."

"That should keep the lid on things until Wayne sees the Dean."

"Is there any chance Wayne will be allowed to stay in class?"

"There's always a chance but I highly doubt it'll happen. In one respect the school is very much like the company. The Dean is afraid of harassment lawsuits. It used to be that schools were entities unto themselves and could turn a blind eye to a complaint or two, but not anymore. Congressional investigations into campus security measures and what schools are doing to protect students, particularly coeds, on campus have brought things out into the open. No school wants to be accused of ignoring a problem that's been brought to their attention and chance being sued."

"You knew all this before this morning, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did but I wanted to see it for myself. That's why I came to the class. I didn't know you were going to be there, too."

"Kay and I came up with this yesterday. I wanted to give her all the support I could and this seemed like a good way to do it."

"I've got to get back to my office. Are you going to stay on campus?"

"No, I've got work to do at home. I'll be back to pick up Kay when she's ready to go home. Thanks for all the information and your help. Can you give me a call when there's something to know?"

"Sure, we'll NOT talk about any specific student again." He smiled.

"Hopefully there'll be a resolution today."

"I'll talk to you later." He left.

I went home to get some work done. It wasn't a long drive but it gave me a little time to think about the situation. I was fairly certain that Todd would never be a problem for us again, once he went to trial. I expected him to be sent away for a long time. In a way he had done us a favor when he took a swing at the officers trying to get him to leave the campus way back when. I knew the courts took that very seriously and I had no doubt he'd be convicted on those charges in addition to the rape charges. Truthfully, I was surprised he was able to post bond and get out of jail.

To the best of my knowledge, Todd didn't know where Kay and I lived. It wouldn't be hard for him to find it out but I didn't think even he was stupid enough to try something with us. Wayne, on the other hand, was a different issue. Todd was stupid but he was acting with reason, even if it was faulty. Wayne was acting irrationally, beyond reason, there was nothing that Kay had done to him or that affected him. I was worried though, he did know where we lived, and he had been here for Kay's party. I thought him unbalanced enough to be dangerous.

If he was asked to leave school there was no telling how he would react. I was going to have to make a couple of phone calls once I got home. One to my alarm company to let them know there was a potential problem above and beyond the normal. Another call would be to Bert; I had a thought I wanted to run by him.

At home the phone call to the alarm company didn't get the response I was looking for. Without having a specific threat to tell them about, there wasn't anything they would do or could recommend. We hadn't been threatened directly by Wayne. The threat he represented was inferred. They reluctantly agreed to put our house on the list for increased monitoring but didn't see a reason to increase the patrols that swung by after hours and nothing I said would change the supervisor's mind on that. I was frustrated but there wasn't anything to be done until Wayne did something overtly threatening.

I called Bert.

"Well, it's been a long time since I've spoken with you, Rob. How've you been? How was your summer?"

"Yuck, yuck, yuck. I thought I was calling an institution of higher learning, not the local comedy club."

"Did something come up since we parted this morning? I know nothing here has changed, or I would have heard about it and called you."

"Nothing has changed that I know of either but I was thinking about Wayne as I drove home. I don't think he's stable, do you?"

"I'm not sure. What I've heard and what I saw this morning could mean he's unstable but it doesn't prove that he is. What are you thinking?"

"You told me this morning that Wayne is going to have to meet with the Dean and the head of his program. I assume his advisor will be there as well."

"He'll be in that meeting and I will be, too. Why?"

"I know the school has a resident psychologist. It might be a good idea to have him and a couple of security people present for the meeting as well. I don't think Wayne is stable and from what you've said there is at least a question about his stability in your mind. There's no telling how Wayne will respond if he's asked to leave school. He may explode on the spot and need to be restrained but if he doesn't blow up right then and there, having a psychologist present to give a professional opinion doesn't cost the school anything and can provide a warning for the future."

"Do you really think that's a possibility, Rob?"

"Yeah, I do. He blew up at the company just because he thought Kay was going to beat him out of the internship he wanted. He's the one who most probably slashed her tires because of his anger. If he's told he cannot continue in school, his reaction may be just as bad or even worse. He's been stewing about things in general since before his sophomore year and specifically about Kay since this summer. I think he's unstable and beyond that, potentially dangerous."

"I hadn't thought about the situation in those terms. I don't think anyone has. I'll call over to admin and talk with the Dean's assistant. I'll pass along your suggestions but I know the Dean won't like the idea of having to have security people in the room."

"Will he like his office getting trashed or someone getting hurt?"

"The last thing the school administration wants is for anyone to get hurt, including Wayne."

"I'm concerned about Wayne enough that I've called my security alarm company to let them know that I consider Wayne a potential threat."

"What are they going to do?"

"Unfortunately, nothing, I didn't have an actual threat I could tell them about."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I'll let you know what happens when the meeting with the Dean is over. It'll probably happen shortly after lunch either today or tomorrow."

"Thanks, Bert, I have to be back on campus this afternoon to pick up Kay. We can talk then if you've got anything."

"We'll talk this afternoon, maybe, but now let me go, so I can call the Dean's office."

I had about four hours before I had to go back for Kay and I had about eight hours of work to get done. I got started.

Kay's turn:

I'm so glad that Rob came to class with me this morning. I wish both he and Bert had sat with me but they thought it better to sit where they could see the whole lecture hall. They saw what happened when Wayne came into the room. I think they could have seen it sitting next to me and I would have felt better but maybe they were right. Where they were they could see how the whole class reacted. At least I have Linc and Ryan sitting with me. I don't trust Wayne and I feel threatened whenever he's around me.

Darren came in right after Rob and Bert left. Wayne was still glaring at me and Darren had to step around Wayne. Wayne acted as if there was no one else in the room besides me and him; he completely ignored Darren and everyone else. Darren set his notes down on the lectern and then stepped in front of Wayne blocking his view of me. It broke Wayne's concentration and he shook his head the way a dog does.

Everyone in the room could hear Darren when he spoke, "Please step into the corridor with me, Mister Benton."

Wayne looked at Darren for a moment before responding with a, "What!?!" he said with some heat in his voice.

"Step into the hallway, Mister Benton, I think we need to talk privately for a moment." Darren turned back to the room. "I'll only be a moment folks. Please settle down and get your notebooks ready, we have a significant amount of material to cover today and we're already running behind."

Darren guided Wayne through the door but didn't shut it. We could hear Darren saying something but I couldn't understand what he said; it wasn't loud enough.

We did hear Wayne when he shouted, "I AM NOT DISTURBING THE CLASS!"

Darren made it clear that he was of a different opinion and Wayne's didn't matter. Darren came in the room and shut the door. He walked to the lectern. When he stepped behind it someone started clapping, then someone else joined in and very shortly the whole class was applauding.

Darren looked embarrassed. "Alright, alright, that's enough. We have work to do, let's get to it."

Darren launched into the lecture and didn't waste any time. He kept at it, moving at a good but steady clip, until there were only ten minutes left in the class. "Well, surprise, surprise, we managed to get through today's material even with the delayed start. I'll take questions until the end of the class period."

Someone behind me asked the questions that I think everyone was thinking, "What happened to Wayne? Is he barred from all classes? What's his problem? Is he going to be coming back to class?"

"I meant I'd take questions about the class subject matter. I'm not free to discuss Wayne with any of you, just as I'm not free to discuss any of you with any other student. I will say that I don't think you'll see Wayne in any of your classes today or tomorrow, beyond that I cannot say."

That same voice behind me spoke again, "Why'd you send him to his advisor?"

"I sent him to his advisor because I removed him from this class for more than today. I would send any student to their advisor if I removed them from one of my classes for more than a day. I'll allow any student one bad day and ask them to leave so they don't disturb everyone else in the class. Everyone has a bad day now and again but I can't allow my classes to be disrupted. If I have to remove someone for more than one day, though, I have to send them to their advisor and make a report to the program head."

Someone else asked, "Does ANYONE know what the heck Wayne's problem is?"

Darren stood there and didn't say anything but Linc answered, "Wayne's having some problems and I think they started from his home. He had a melt down at the beginning of the intern program that he, Ryan, Kay and I were in this summer and he was thrown out of the program."

"He was dropped from it?"

"It was more than just being dropped. He was publically read the riot act and thrown out, including being escorted from the premises. He was barred from returning to the company or any of its subsidiaries, permanently."

"You're joking!"

"No, I'm not. He blew up where our supervisor from H.R. could clearly hear him and everything went all serious and formal and legal. Someone was pulled in to watch over us and keep us from talking with each other and then the head of H.R. came in. You would have thought we were in a court room; Wayne had been convicted of something and was being read his sentence."

"That sounds like it was pretty serious."

At this point Ryan spoke, "It was so serious that one of the Assistant Managers told us it only happens about once a year in the whole company, including its subsidiaries. I'm not going to go into the specifics because it wouldn't be right, Wayne's not here to defend himself. Just leave it that the company removed Wayne from the intern program for cause. I'd be surprised if he ever works for an Aerospace Engineering outfit anywhere on the West coast."

"They're black-balling him?"

"I don't think so, but I'm sure the word about what went down will get to all the companies on this coast, maybe beyond."

I looked up and realized Darren and about half the students had left the room while the discussion went on.

"Hey guys, it's lunch time. Are we going to lunch as a group or are you putting me on a diet?" I chuckled and it broke the seriousness of the mood. The four of us drifted off.

Steve said, "I'm meeting my girlfriend for lunch. I'll see you all later." He went his way and the three of us went to the cafeteria.

We sat down at a table in a corner where we could talk without being interrupted or overheard.

"Kay, do you know what's going on?" Ryan asked.

"No, I don't. I suspect Wayne is in big trouble with the school but I don't know what's going on."

Linc asked, "Who was that with Rob this morning, why did they come to class today, why didn't they stay and where did they go?"

"The guy with Rob was Bert Symes, my advisor. They both came to class this morning to see how Wayne is acting and what he's doing to the classes. I guess they left when they thought they'd seen enough. I have no idea where they went after they left. I'm sure I'll hear about it at home tonight."

We talked more while we ate our lunch. We talked about forming a study group, so that we could help each other out. I suggested we ask Steve to join us in the group and the guys agreed. I told them I'd ask Steve.

The afternoon class was completely Wayne free and went better. I don't think anyone missed him, I know I didn't. After the class I grabbed Steve and asked him if he wanted to join our study group and he thought it was a great idea.

When I stepped out of the program building Rob was there waiting for me.

"Hi, Sweetie, how was your afternoon class?"

"It was good. There wasn't any problem in that class and it started much better than the morning class. Did you hear Wayne and Darren after you left?"

"Bert and I heard some of it, the important part, I think. We heard Wayne when he said he wasn't a disturbance and we heard Darren tell him he was before closing the door on Wayne. What happened in the class?"