Jim just erased one of those programs. The remaining programs are just sitting in the machine and will probably start running the next time you turn the computer on, but without the whole set of programs, the computer will lock up and quit working. With what Jim did to the computer, the easiest thing for them to do will be to erase everything on the computer disk and reprogram it as if it was new."
"Why did you let him do it?"
"He needed a break, a release. Besides, I owed him one. He did tell us where he was Tuesday night."
* * * *
Kawalski gave the deputies the list of names. He left for home still fuming about the disrespect given him. Nobody had treated him the way the deputies and Makinen had since his first year in college. The rage simmered through the night. He planned his moves for tomorrow and savored the thoughts of what he would force Lori Waithe to do during tomorrow's follow-up review meeting in order to get her tenure. He packed in his briefcase duct tape, sex lubricant, an assortment of drugs, and a Polaroid camera. He had great plans for his meeting after classes with Lori. He knew that there were no meetings scheduled after school hours this Friday and that the janitors would be gone after six o'clock from the wing of the school he planned on bringing her to.
He squirmed uncomfortably in his car seat while driving to school Friday morning. His penis had hardened as he thought about his torturing of the girl. The irritation of the sensitive skin against the fabric of the pant leg and the thoughts of a possible stain caused the squirming.
Kawalski started the morning by visiting every teacher in his or her room. In double talk he'd spent the night rehearsing, he told them he wanted Makinen out and anyone who didn't help him get rid of Makinen would have their lives become a living hell. His years of intimidation and torture had honed his phrasing to an art form. What he didn't realize was that except for the few he was already blackmailing, his intimidation strengthened the resolve to oppose. An impromptu faculty meeting formed of its own accord at noon. A union rep from the State was called and plans were made to force him and Shermon
Kawalski's next stops were to the support staff. Here he met with greater success. All but one of the janitors buckled under his intimidation. When he was finished, he felt he had in place enough slander to easily justify Makinen's dismissal. His power assured, he went next to a personal attack on Makinen. He wanted Makinen to feel pain.
It was noon. Kawalski left the building. He walked down the street toward downtown. Halfway to the business district, he turned down an alley. He worked his way back toward the school building. Only a block and a half from the school behind the Lutheran church next to a dumpster, he found them, Pike Borland and his two strong-arm flunkies, John Whitefeather and Arne Johanson.
Pike was the slick 'pretty boy' who, in some high school classes, becomes the permanent class president. He personally introduced a dozen girls to sex and passed on ten of them to John and Arne before they could pull their panties up after he was done with them. He was never the best athlete but, somehow, always was mentioned first at the pep fests. He always arranged to make the final decision on the prom theme or the homecoming float. He took the credit for everything that worked and accepted none of the blame. If anyone had a problem with that, John and Arne were always there to change their minds.
Every day at lunch, the three boys would meet behind the Lutheran church. Smoke a little pot. Drink a little beer. On occasion, an eighth or ninth grade girl would be with them to be introduced to the joys of drugs and sex. The old Lutheran preacher never knew the hasp holding the padlock on the gardening shed was broken, let alone that under the shelf in back of the shed was a stash of drugs, booze, and a couple of blankets for a quickie.
Kawalski had followed the boys to their hideout a year and a half ago. Instead of busting them, he used them for information and a source of income. They were more than willing to buy their liquor and pills from him ... at a reasonable mark up, of course.
"Pike, got enough of everything?" The nod in return was enough. "How about anything for me?" Again a shake of the head was the response. "You know, it is too bad someone doesn't take care of Makinen. The way he laid his hands on poor Jenny ... and getting away with it! All that will ever happen to him is getting laid off for a day or two.
"Now, boys, you should head back to school soon. You don't want to be late for your next class ... Do you? It would be better not to go back at all if you are late." Kawalski left.
The boys knew that Kawalski was hinting at something when he mentioned not being late for classes. On that cue, the boys went into the shed. They found a case of beer and a bottle of whisky that they hadn't put there. Party time went through their minds. Arne left to get some girls. John went for his car. Within five minutes, the boys and two girls were driving out of town to a fire trail ten miles north of town. By the time John pulled the car off the highway and into the State Forest, one of the girls had a can of beer in her hands and Pike pounding between her legs. The other girl was pushing Arne's hands away from her breasts with one hand while pulling on a can of beer with the other. She would belch out between gulps of beer, "You don't get anything till I'm drunk."
Pike sat by the bonfire John had made, sipping beer. He could hear John and Arne with the girls, back by the car. He liked his life, girls, booze and money. He knew that after high school he would have to clean up his act. He knew that as long as he was careful and only pimped and sold drugs in school he would be safe. He was under age, protected by Kawalski. Besides, no one thought anything bad could be happening in their nice quiet rural school. He wanted the five to ten grand he knew he would make off the students in the area schools before he graduated. He would have Arne set up something for Makinen to satisfy Kawalski. What he needed now was another beer.
Lori Waithe waited as long as she could after the buses left with the students before going to her scheduled meeting with Kawalski. It had been an open secret that he would try to get her to sleep with him. At the noon meeting, the two women teachers who had been hired since he became principal confessed that he had blackmailed them with tenure to get them to have sex.
She had, with the help of the other teachers, developed a plan. She would enter his office with two voice-activated tape recorders. One would be hidden in her handbag and the other would be in her jacket pocket. At least one of the recorders should record Kawalski's blackmail. The faculty would then use the recordings to force the removal of Kawalski and Shermon. To protect her during the meeting, two teachers had volunteered to wait outside his office for her, Bonnie Franklin and Mike Garrison.
Lori knocked on Kawalski's office door. She opened it after hearing a muffled 'come in.'
She started the conversation, "You asked me to come in for a follow up on my evaluation for tenure?"
"Yes, yes. Sit down. I have just a couple of things to finish up." Kawalski pretended to file some paperwork. He took his time. He knew that forcing people to wait was intimidating. It immediately set the rules on who was in charge. His next step was even more intimidating. After putting a file in the cabinet across the room, he walked back to his desk. Instead of sitting in his chair, he sat on the edge of his desk. His huge bulk towered over Lori.
"Now, during our last meeting, I listed some problems I felt you had with discipline and communication. I know there hasn't been time for you to develop any changes in your teaching style yet. What I want to talk to you about today is 'Why should we give you more time to develop your teaching skills?' You have been here a year already. Why should I give you more time to learn how to teach? What makes it worthwhile for the school to continue paying your salary while you learn, and not just hire someone else?" At the same time Kawalski said those words, he shifted his position on the desk. His foot now rubbed the outside of Lori's thigh. He slowly drew his foot back and forth across her thigh.