She was dressed in a style similar to Mark’s accuser, wearing jeans and a sweater, but no jacket. I couldn’t help comparing them. They were about the same height, but her hair was an indeterminate brown color, her eyes and face normal but unremarkable, her body slightly chunkier than the other. Small differences, perhaps, but huge in the way the world would treat her.
“Professor,” she said again, somewhat out of breath. “I wanted to talk to you.” She gulped some air and continued, “When I poked my head in Priscilla’s office to tell her about her next appointment I heard you mention Dr. Pappas.”
She hesitated and I figured I’d better not say anything.
After a few seconds she continued, “I’m taking a class from Dr. Pappas.”
She hesitated again so I said, “How do you like him?”
“He’s great. He’s the best.”
I didn’t know whether she referred to his teaching style or his looks so I waited.
“I think he has been unjustly accused.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because he’s too nice a guy. I talked to him in his office and he was a perfect gentleman. He didn’t come on to me.”
No surprise there, but I didn’t see how this would help Mark. I said, “Perhaps you could be a character witness for him.”
She laughed, shortly, and said, “I don’t think they allow character witnesses. But I was wondering if you know Dr. Pappas.”
My guard immediately went up. I said, “I think I’ll make it a point to meet him.”
“If you do meet him could you pass on a message? Just don’t tell him I gave it to you.”
“What’s the message?”
“Tell him that he should go to the Club Cavalier and look for the Shooting Star.”
“Why should he do that?”
“He might find out something that would help him.”
“Why don’t you tell him yourself?”
She looked nervous. “I can’t get involved. Please, would you do it?”
“You could send him an anonymous note.”
“Notes can be traced. Please.”
She wouldn’t be satisfied until I promised. “If I talk to him I’ll tell him.”
“Thank you. Remember: the Shooting Star at Club Cavalier.” She turned to go.
“Wait,” I said. “What’s your name?”
She raced back toward the Administration Building without answering. I couldn’t catch her; I could follow her into the building, but I decided I’d better not risk running into Patricia Estavez or Mark’s accuser again.
Mark’s accuser. This girl must know her name. She had announced her to Ms. Estavez and she had chatted with her. Again I was tempted to go back into the building. But if I nosed around too much it could only hurt Mark. I restrained my impulse for the second time.
As I strolled among the students I thought about what she had told me-that she had heard me mention Dr. Pappas. I tried to reconstruct the sequence of events and was positive that I hadn’t mentioned Mark until after she had passed on her message and left the office. That meant she had been listening outside the door.
I pondered what to tell Mark about my activities as we drove back to Chapel Hill late that afternoon. I hadn’t seen him since the morning class. He had been tied up with office hours and other appointments. He had also started a research project and had been busy at lunch.
After leaving the Administration Building I had strolled around the campus for a while, nostalgically remembering my days in academia and wondering whether I still had the stamina to teach. I didn’t see any more demonstrations against Mark, for which I was thankful.
When I became tired of walking I repaired to the library and found a book on chess to while away the time. I had started to carry a miniature chess set in my purse because it bugged me that Wesley played a better game than I did. I used my set to work through some problems in the book.
I ate lunch in a cafeteria full of laughing and shouting students and remembered that one of the reasons I had retired was to gain some peace and quiet. I did one more thing: I found a telephone book and looked up the address of Club Cavalier.
“I hoped you weren’t bored out of your mind all day,” Mark said, interrupting my reverie.
Some of his normal good spirits seemed to have returned. I envied him because he never stayed depressed for very long.
“Answer some questions for me yes or no,” I said, still not sure what to tell him. “Was your accuser present in class this morning?”
“Yes.”
“Was she sitting in the top row?”
“Yes.”
“Was she wearing…? Never mind. All the girls were wearing the same damn thing.”
Mark actually laughed.
“What will you do if you get suspended or fired?”
“Go back to bartending. I made good money as a bartender.”
Bad question. I tried another one. “What do you know about Club Cavalier?”
Mark took his eyes off the road to look at me. “Where did you hear about Club Cavalier?”
“I heard some people talking about it. What kind of a place is it?”
“It’s a local topless bar. A hangout for students, among others.”
“And girls dance there?”
Mark looked at me again. “Why the sudden interest in topless bars?”
“Have you ever been there?”
“Lillian! What kind of a question is that?”
“An unfair one, but, nevertheless, humor me and answer it.”
“No, I’ve never been there. I won’t try to make you believe that I’ve never been to a topless bar, but I figured that a brand new instructor should conduct himself in an impeccable manner. A lot of good that did me,” he added, bitterly.
“Well, if you get fired you can always tend bar there,” I said, trying to cheer him up.
“Yeah, wouldn’t that be the ultimate irony? But you still haven’t told me what you did all day.”
“Oh, I hung out,” I said, using a student expression I had overheard. “Walked around, played some chess. Nothing very exciting. Oh, I did have a nice meeting with Patricia Estavez.”
“I’ll bet. Tell me about it.”
Chapter 4
“The meeting will come to order,” I joked, striking my coffee cup with my spoon in lieu of banging a gavel. It was Saturday, the day after my visit to Crescent Heights College with Mark.
I was holding the meeting in my apartment at Silver Acres and the participants included Mark, Tess and Wesley. We sat at my small dining table, drinking coffee and eating carrot and celery sticks. Wesley’s health kick since his wife had died included an improved diet as well as exercise. Tess and I often ate dinner with him in the main dining room so we were influenced by his diet. Thus the veggies instead of gooey rolls or cookies.
King circled the room, placing her nose on one lap after another, begging to be scratched behind her ears. I should have chained her outside, but these people were all her friends and she enjoyed the attention.
I quickly outlined Mark’s predicament to Tess and Wesley. Then I had Mark tell about the meeting that had occurred between him and his accuser in his office. He told it the same way he had told it to me, almost word for word. Tess exclaimed, “I don’t believe it,” from time to time and Wesley got a very concerned look on his face.
After Tess and Wesley had been filled in on the facts, I said, “Our purpose here is to help Mark come up with a plan of action. We discussed getting him an attorney, but he can’t have an attorney present at his hearing and he can’t face or cross-examine his accuser so there doesn’t seem to be much point to him having one.”
“When is your hearing?” Wesley asked Mark.
“The exact date hasn’t been set yet,” Mark said, “but probably sometime next week. I gather that there is a separate hearing first for my accuser.”
“And who is present at these hearings?”
“A panel of about five people. One of them is Patricia Estavez, who Lillian met yesterday.”