“Oh, he’s looked at me.”
“I mean—has anyone, anyone kind of in charge, touched you?”
“He’s my first pervert, if that’s what you mean.” She put her sunglasses back on. “So how do I get my stuff off dorm? I’m out of here.”
“We are going to sort this out. There’s still six weeks until graduation.”
“I’m in at Sweet Briar.” Her mother’s alma mater. We’d never sent a kid there.
“They’ll look at your final grades.”
“There’s a building named after my grandmother,” she said, abruptly getting out of the car and slamming the door. She sat on the hood with her father.
I walked to the front of the car.
“So, you get what you needed?” Dick asked.
“I appreciate Louisa’s effort.”
“How do I get my things? I don’t want to talk to anyone,” she said.
“You don’t need your stuff, baby. You’ll be back as soon as he’s gone. And if he’s not—I’ll be back. With my attorney. And we know people at the Post.”
“I don’t want it in the paper, Daddy!”
“Don’t worry, baby. We’re dealing with a reasonable person here, aren’t we Hazel?”
The bell rang.
“Let’s go, Daddy. They’re changing classes.” The girl jumped off the hood and into the car.
“So? What’s the plan?” he demanded.
Never show a vicious dog you’re afraid.
“There’s a procedure we must follow, for everyone’s best interest, especially your daughter’s.”
“I’m not interested in procedure. I’m more of an action guy.”
“No one wants to prolong this. In the meantime, I’ll make sure Louisa gets her assignments to work on at home.”
“She’s in no shape to do busy work. And she’s not going to be home long. Or I’ll be back. With reinforcements, if that’s necessary.”
Kids were crossing campus now. Louisa had huddled down so that only the top of her hat was visible. He got in his Mercedes and roared out of the parking lot. I hoped he’d hit every speed bump. Hit hard enough to damage the car, not the child.
“So,” said Sally. “I’ve been watching from up here. Enlighten me.”
“She says Jacques assaulted her. Kissed her, touched her. After class Friday.”
“Jacques? No way.”
“I need to talk to him. As soon as possible. Check his schedule.”
Jacques came in, slender and graceful in a suit and brilliant red silk ascot. Most of my teachers wear corduroy and denim.
“Hazel?”
“I hate to say this, Jacques, but—Louisa Wilson says you assaulted her after class on Friday.”
“Mon dieu, non!”
“I—I have to ask. Were you alone with her at all? Did anything, anything at all, happen?”
“Everyone had left,” he said. “I’d handed back the quizzes in class. She’d gotten a D again. I was sitting on my desk, going over my lesson plan for Monday.” He sighed. “She came back into the room. I didn’t even hear her until she was right in front of me.”
“And then?”
“She—she looked like she’d been crying. Pauvre petite, I thought. She asked if she could re-take the quiz. No one re-takes my quizzes, it’s just the policy. I told her not to worry, there was time to improve.”
He stopped. His eyes focused on a distant point behind me, as though he was looking through the wall of my office back to Friday’s classroom.
“And then?”
“I felt sorry for her. I touched her shoulder. Just consolation, you know? Like this,” he said, and reached out. His fingers were light and glancing. I caught a whiff of palm oil. “And I said to her, Ne t’inquiète pas.”
“And then?” My Geiger counter for trouble was ticking.
“Please, I resign.”
“Jacques—I trust you—but for the girl’s sake, and yours, I must know every detail. I’m sorry.”
He looked at me now. “She kissed my hand,” he said. “I pushed her away. She left. And that’s all. I swear.”
“Why didn’t you tell me, Jacques?”
“I was ashamed. I—I thought perhaps it was my fault.”
I almost groaned. “Things happen, Jacques. But you should have told me.”
“Yes. Angelique said so. Hazel, I resign.”
“No. I want you here. But—this is difficult. Her father—her father is angry. And she, she’s a very troubled girl.”
“Please, I resign.”
“No. Now, back to class. Don’t speak of this to anyone. I’ll keep you informed.”
“I tell Angelique everything,” he said.
“No one else.”
He strode out of my office, tall and dignified.
I poured a cup of coffee. Touch the Future! Teach! my mug said. Maybe I’d have a new batch of mugs made. Teach! But don’t Touch!
“So?” asked Sally.
I told her.
“I believe him, Sally. But—I’m sorry for her, and I’m frightened. It’s a mess.”
“That poor, sad child is a mess,” said Sally. “You’re right, to believe him.”
“He should never have touched her. And he should have told me.”
“Yes. But he did. And he didn’t tell you. You can see why.” She looked at me with that asymmetrical gaze, one eye green and one blue.
“I have to call Abel now. He’s going to want a meeting of the Trustees Committee tonight. Could you check the calendar and see if the library’s available?”
“It’s not,” she said. “The P.A. has it.”
Of course, I’d forgotten
