Both Berly and Maggie had initiated a chain reaction of support for Billy in the Chess Club. And they were not alone. The entire school showed their concern for Clay and frequently inquired about his condition. Because Mike had addressed the student body (and because he was the most vocal of the group), he had become the unelected spokesperson on this issue. Besides, Mike had stopped by to visit Clay every day since the accident.
About a week and a half went by and Clay was mending quickly. The day had finally come when he got his discharge from the hospital. The word excited could be used to describe how the gang felt about him coming home - - but so could the word nervous. What would they all talk about? How could they keep things from getting awkward?
“Why could the elephant NOT get in his car?”
Rather than a long universal moan from the others, Maggie was the one to answer Eugene. “So, this is the Chess Club, a quiet respite for the supposed intellectual elite.” She looked around the room; the use of the term ‘intellectual elite’ may be questionable, but she continued to pursue her thought just the same. “ …and you ask why an elephant is unable to get into a car? Who let you in here anyway?”
Eugene pressed the issue of his unanswered question. “Come on, guys. This is a good one. Why could the elephant NOT get in his car?” He proudly looked around for an answer.
A sneaky grin suddenly appeared on Joey’s face. “Eugene, each day you come in here and treat everyone with another joke. But let’s do something different today. Let’s make this fun. I propose that, if you tell us the answer, you will owe everyone in this room a dollar.”
Suddenly, the students were all showing great interest in what was happening. It would seem that not all interesting plays were being done on the chess board.
This was a first. Eugene’s eye squinted as if he were weighing something in his mind. “A dollar, huh? Is that a dollar to be divided up evenly between all of you?”
Joey victoriously sat back in his chair. “No. I’m talking about one dollar for each of us. So you do the math. Is this joke worth five dollars? When Berly gets here, that would make it six. It’s seven, if you count Mr. H.” Joey waved over at an amused Mr. Harris sitting at his desk. The teacher waved back cheerfully.
Eugene looked disappointed, but everyone else in the room was delighted. In fact, Maggie chuckled while Joey and Alejandro high-fived each other. Eugene’s eyes shifted back and forth as he looked around from person to person. “What sort of sorcery is this?”
Berly entered the room. She instantly began talking as she put down her stuff and took a seat across from Quotes. “Sorry I’m late everyone. I had to find out how Rodney is doing.”
“LONG LIVE RODNEY.”
“He had his wisdom teeth taken out today. But his mom says he is doing well.”
Billy began to laugh. “Wow! Incredible. You all go through so much trouble to maintain this fiction that Rodney is a real person.”
Maggie rolled her eyes. “Oh, this again. For a second there, I thought that you were going to spare us this conversation. I suppose some things in life are just too difficult to avoid: death, taxes, Eugene’s terrible jokes, and you ragging us over Rodney’s absence.”
Billy seemed ready to climb on his soapbox for the forty-third time. “We are already in the second quarter of school and I still have not seen so much as a hair from your precious club president. This Rodney, if he is real, has never shown up to Chess Club this year and each time he has some lame excuse - - which you all instantly believe. You people are both ridiculous and sad.”
Joey did not even look up from the chessboard. “Nonsense. Rodney has been here.”
“Not to Chess Club, he hasn’t. At least, not since I’ve been here.”
Joey continued, “I see him every day. He never misses school.” He looked around the room and then back to the game in an apologetic shrug. “ …well, other than days like today.”
“Yeah. How convenient. What kind of president never attends the meetings?”
Maggie, who is not one for trivial talk, spoke up. “I think we all know where this conversation is going. Billy wants to do something to promote the club.” She turned to Billy with a we-are-not-amused tilt in her neck. “We have had this conversation before.”
Alejandro moved his queen up. “And we will no doubt have it again.”
Now Billy got defensive in his tone. “No, no! That’s not why I brought it up.” This remark brought a hush for a few seconds as they all waited for something new to be said. “But since you mentioned it …” (Moans came from all corners of the room.) “ …isn’t that something that we should seriously consider?”
Alejandro simply shook his head. His slight Latino accent shown through. “I told you earlier that I have a foolproof plan. The next time we run that signup booth, I can get new students in line. I can even get older students in line. Easily! But nobody will listen to me.”
Maggie turned her head sharply toward Alejandro. “What are you going to do? Steal a bunch of orange cones and reroute traffic so everyone has to come through our Chess Club meeting?”
With an ample supply of self-confidence, Gregory Chastain adjusted his tie as he made his way down the hall toward Mr. Harris’ classroom. He projected success with his fancy duds and a sharp haircut. For a guy his age, he was looking mighty dapper. The cat’s meow.
As he turned the final corner that led to the English hall, he was startled by a peculiar sight. The Chess Club members were lined up and leaving the room in a single file line. One of the boys was standing by the door, handing each of the others a dollar as they walked by. And each time someone took a dollar, this young man said, “Because his keys were in the trunk.” “Because his keys were in the trunk.” This made no sense to Mr. Chastain, but he shrugged it off. Finally, the last kid walked by grabbing a dollar, and again the one by the door said, “Because his keys were in the trunk.”
As strange, interesting, and possibly entertaining as this sight might have been to Mr. Chastain, it paled in comparison to Billy’s interest when he saw Chloe’s father on the approach once more. Yikes! What could he possibly want this time? he asked himself.
As soon as the kid passing out the bills exited, Mr. Chastain impatiently took a step inside the room. He gave a straightening tug to his silk tie. “Mr. Harris? May I have another moment of your time?” He was not exactly smiling.
William looked up at the sound of Gregory’s voice. This sudden encounter was not expected, but the teacher greeted his guest as warmly as he could. “Mr. Chastain. Of course.” He removed his reading glasses, placed them on his desk, and got to his feet. “But I can only spare a couple of minutes. I was just about to take my son and his friends over to Clay Peck’s house for a brief visit.” William gestured to an empty seat and they both sat down, William back at his desk. “Clay is the boy who had that bad accident and lost his legs. We’ve been good friends with him and his family since the boys were small. Chloe might have said something to you about it.”
Gregory was focused on his singular purpose for coming and felt that he did not have the time nor the inclination to make polite chit-chat over the details of a student’s misfortune. But he did not want to appear totally insensitive. “Uh, no. She never mentioned a word about that. Lost his legs?” His face cringed a little. “That’s rough.” His face returned to normal with no expression. He gave a slight pull to his jacket and it was back to business. “Mr. Harris, I do not want to come across as being pushy, but I’m going to be out of town this coming weekend and I was wondering if you have had the opportunity to reconsider my offer.”
William was rather surprised. He had thought that he had been perfectly clear on the matter during their initial visit. Nonetheless, he did not let his surprise appear on his face. But the question did get him thinking. Why is his doing this? Trying to bribe a teacher over his daughter’s grades? This makes no sense? What is he up to exactly?
He shook his head slightly. “No. Mr. Chastain, I don’t play those kinds of games. Your daughter is going to have to show some effort in my class in order to make the grade. And since our last conversation, I’m afraid that she has shown no sign of improvement. In fact, to be perfectly honest, her attitude actually seems to have gotten a bit worse these last few weeks.”
Gregory looked down at the edge of William’s desk and released a long sigh. “I see.” A couple of seconds later, he reached into his inside breast pocket and pulled out a small pad of paper and a pen and began to write something. As he wrote, he said, “Mr. Harris, I don’t know how much you know about me, but I have earned a reputation for being a shrewd businessman and generally an impatient person. If I want something, I find a way to make it happen. I always get what I want. Nothing stands in my way. But, I may make a rare exception this time and sweeten the pot just a little bit. How does this suit you?” He held out the pad for William to see what he wrote.
The difference was substantial, but William remained unmoved. Even if the Harris’ did not have their own fortune, he would not have taken this bribe. He and Diane had their integrity. But honestly, it was all William could do to keep from laughing. He knew that this was a lot of money; but considering how much money the Harris’ were already worth, the idea seemed funny – like trying to send the Statue of Liberty in the mail using only one stamp. But the Harris’ secret money was still a secret and he had absolutely no intentions of sharing that information with anyone - - least of all Gregory Chastain, who seemed to place a lot of his misguided faith in his combustible earthly riches.
The teacher chose to answer wisely. Rather than wanting to look like the rich boy with ethics, William decided to play more the poor boy with ethics. “I’ll admit that that is a very generous offer, but I’m afraid I cannot accept it. You’re asking me to compromise my integrity as a teacher and that will simply not happen if I have anything to say about it. If I were interested in your money – and I’m not – a guy could eventually get fired over something like that.” The mood in the room was way too tense for William’s comfort level, so he tried to lighten it with a short chuckle. “ …and I am certainly not wanting to get fired.”
“Perhaps you don’t realize just how secretive I can be. In cases like this, I promise that no one would ever have to know.”
With direct eye contact, William replied with stern authority. “You would know. I would know. And most importantly, God would know. So you keep your money and I’ll keep my job.” That was clearly his final answer. He knew that conversationally speaking, that was the equivalent of showing Gregory Chastain to the door and slamming it shut on his backside. Naturally, this was something that he was not used to doing, but then again he was not accustomed to being put in this awkward position either.
Gregory was not surprised by his reply. He half expected it. He was really hoping that this meeting would be over soon; but now it was just going to take him a little longer. It was time to play his other card. “I was afraid that would be your answer.” He stood back up, walked around his chair, and stood behind it. He was prepared for this moment and he already had it cooking in his mind. “If you’ll pardon my asking, just how long have you been teaching here – here in Pecan Falls?”
This was a different direction. William did some instant math in his head and answered him without missing a beat. “Uh, here? Fifteen years. I have been teaching for twenty-two total.”
Gregory’s voice took on a rather sinister tone as he spoke. “Fifteen years. Hmmm. I respect your sense of ethics and I applaud you for your integrity. But I think it only fair to warn you. A few very influential members of the school board are old golfing buddies of mine. We go way back. And they listen to what I have to say.”
William was about to respond, but Gregory held up a quick hand and cut him off before he had a chance to speak a word.
“I’m not a monster, Mr. Harris. And I’m certainly not talking about getting you fired; I’m not like that. But this is the time to set your ethics aside for a moment. Because rather than being fired, your contract for the next school year may simply not be renewed. I don’t know how important that would be to you, but in today’s economy, it is something to consider.” He shifted his weight from one side to the other. “You’re a family man, aren’t you?”
A chord was just struck. William’s eyebrows arched up toward the center and his countenance was altered. His previous eye contact was abandoned as he turned his gaze to a picture frame that sat on his desk. The photo was of Diane, Billy, and himself and was taken down at the falls. His voice was softened and cautious. “Yes, sir. My wife and I have a son. We always wanted to have more children but …” He gave a tender sigh. “ …but it didn’t work out that way. It wasn’t anyone’s fault – just not meant to be. We had even thought about adopting some kids, but we have a … well, it’s a unique situation.”
Gregory looked around at William’s desk and the room that they were in. “Well, it seems to me that for the sake of you and your family, you can’t really afford to lose this job. That would put them in a bad way.” He started making his intentions toward the door. “For everyone’s good, think about what I have just said.” Before exiting the room, he stopped in the doorway and turned around. “William Harris. Hmmmm. William Harris. That name doesn’t really flow, does it?”
William shrugged. “I suppose not. I’m quite used to it. My friends just call me Bill.”
“I hope to hear from you soon, … William Harris.” He left the room. For a while, his egotistical footsteps could easily be heard as he disappeared down the hall.
As the sound grew more faint, William sat motionless at his desk, staring at the framed family photo. He reached over and picked it up. He peered into his son’s face. His focus ultimately rested onto the smiling eyes of his wife. He smiled back at the picture in response. Becoming a teacher was never about the money; it was all about the students. He had a wonderful time teaching. And these were good kids. But in the end, he knew that he had made the only decision possible. He returned the photo to its place on the desk and rose from his seat.
After a few seconds, Billy popped up from behind one of the desks close to the other door. “Well, that was nuts! You would think that a guy like that would be cool, but no. Not this guy. What are you going to do?”
William looked up and glared at him. “Were you back there again? You need to stop eavesdropping on conversations that aren’t yours. Someday, you’re going to get caught and another party may decide that they don’t like it. Your mother and I have spent way too much money on those pretty teeth of yours just to see some strong guy come along and knock them out of your mouth.”
Dismissing his dad’s warning, Billy asked, “Well? Aren’t you worried about what he said?”
“Of course not.” He spoke while straightening the items on his desk.
Billy showed signs of surprise. “Was he being for real about his golfing buddies? And getting you out of here?”
“Probably. But I seriously doubt that he has that much clout with the school board. They wouldn’t let it go that far. Since he has a daughter, he might say that I acted inappropriately toward her or some sort of ridiculous, made-up story. It would be a classic case of he said/she said. These things are such a long ordeal and everyone gets damaged in the process. And then once that was cleared up, the school might be scared that I would take legal action of my own or something – which I don’t ever see myself doing. But the odds of that ever happening are so remote. And even then, I can’t see Mrs. Dunbar going along with it. It might be interesting to see Chastain try though. But even if he did, what difference does it make?”
“‘What difference does it make’? What do you mean? I would think that it would make a ton of difference!”
William stood up from his desk, placed both hands on it, and leaned in toward Billy. “I simply mean that I don’t belong to him.” He began to pick up a few books and laid them in his briefcase as he spoke. “The Bible says, ‘For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant. Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.’” [I Corinthians 7:22-23] He then closed his briefcase and picked it up by the handle.
Billy had absolutely no idea what all that meant. When his dad began to quote the Bible, he more or less stopped listening closely. “What does all that stuff mean?”
“It means that people can do all kinds of bad things to me, but I belong to God. Well, let them try. Their plans will either fail miserably or these people will have to pay the price one day for how they treated one of God’s children. But from where I am standing, it is God Who will take care of me and will provide for all our needs.”
“Whatever.” This is where they differed. Billy was a believer in God and all that. But there was his dad’s way of looking at any situation and there was a more realistic approach. Billy left the room with his nerd dad, ready to give up on any hope of his father ever getting it together. They were on their way to pick up the other boys and visit Clay anyway.
At times, Billy seriously doubted if his dad really understood what was going on around him. Having all that money laying around and not spending it was weird enough. But now he virtually had his job threatened and what did he do about it? Nothing. He just stood there quoting Bible verses and acting all happy. What a hopeless nerd! In a way, Billy understood the whole God-is-in-control thing - - he had certainly heard the speech often enough. He also understood that his dad really does not rely on this lousy job either. I mean really. He grades papers, dissects sentences, and talks about Pride and Prejudice in the dinky little town of Pecan Falls. How exciting is that? Quite a boring little life they’ve made for themselves.
Billy could not help but imagine doing things a little differently. He would have punched Mr. Chastain in his glass jaw and sent him running home through that window. Then he would sell that ugly old house and get a place far away from Pecan Falls - - and one with a spanking new dryer. Anything would be cooler than this.
Billy wondered if you could get dads mixed up in a hospital the way some urban legends claim about babies. That’s it. Maybe he had a real dad somewhere else in the world. Maybe there was a super cool dad who was stuck in a total nerd family and that maybe they should switch back. No chance of that happening. Billy was definitely his father’s son. They woefully looked too much alike - - right down to their infuriating cowlicks.
Sitting over on the passenger’s side of the truck, William’s mind was somewhere else. Why would Gregory Chastain be doing all of this? What was his agenda?