“Like our waitress, only lighter.”
He had noticed her. He wasn’t dead yet. “Lighter in weight or in color?”
“She’s white.”
“Rate the looks of this white girl on a scale from one to ten.”
“That’s politically incorrect.”
“Don’t make jokes, Mark. This is serious.”
“She’s an eight, easily. She might be a nine, dressed up, especially later in the day.”
That wasn’t good. The story of a beautiful girl was more likely to be believed than that of Raggedy Ann. Or was it? Perhaps the plain girls got more sympathy. “Tell me what happened between you two.”
“Up until last week I had just answered questions for her in the lab. Of course I do that for everybody. But last week she came to my office.”
“Lil, you didn’t tell us you were going to have dinner with Mark.” I looked up at Tess and Wesley, who had just come into the dining room together. Tess had an eye for younger men. I didn’t blame her; I do too. Since they both knew Mark, handshaking and air-kissing went on for several seconds.
“So why are you keeping Mark all to yourself?” Tess persisted.
I love Tess dearly, but sometimes she can be awfully nosy. “We’re talking about family matters,” I said, hoping she would go away.
“Are there wedding bells in the future?” Meaning between Mark and Sandra. I said, “I’ll tell you all about it later.” Tess looked miffed, but at least Wesley could take a hint. He guided her to another table.
“Where were we?” I asked, turning back to Mark. “Oh, yes, you were telling me about the time the white girl went to your office.”
Mark collected himself. “She came in just as my office hours were ending.”
“What was she wearing?”
“Uh…jeans. And a sweater, I think. And a jacket. It’s still winter.” He paused.
“Okay, go on. I won’t interrupt again.”
“She came in and closed the door. I told her my office hours were over. She said she just had a quick question. I said I kept my door open when I had visitors.”
“Especially female visitors.”
“One of the tenured professors told me to do that. But she ignored the hint and sat down.”
I remembered I wasn’t going to interrupt, so I kept quiet as Mark took a breath.
After a few seconds Mark continued. “She did ask a question, but nothing very earth-shaking. In fact, I don’t even remember what it was. Then she stood up and I thought she was going to leave. I was sitting in front of my computer, but I got up to see her out the door. She went to the door and turned around. I was a couple of steps from her. She came toward me and…” Mark faltered, then continued, “She kissed me hard-on the mouth.” Mark stopped, unable to continue.
“What did you do?”
“I pushed her away-gently-and said something stupid like, “I’ve already got a girlfriend.”
“That wasn’t stupid.”
“When I pushed her my hand may have brushed against her breast. Anyway, she stood looking at me, and with a straight face she said, ‘Now you know how I feel about you.’ Then she turned around, opened the door and went out, closing it behind her.”
“Did you try to follow her?”
“No. In fact, I didn’t move for about five minutes. I had that horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, the one you get when you’re sure something terrible is about to happen. Unfortunately, I was right.”
I had the same feeling. I asked Mark a few more questions about the incident to try to find out whether he had forgotten any details, but apparently he hadn’t. What now? I said, “Have you told Sandra about this?”
Mark shook his head, looking miserable. “I’m afraid she won’t understand.”
With reason. Sandra had shown annoyance with Mark’s flirting in the past. No telling how she would respond to this. Still, she had to be told. I said, “What’s your current status at Crescent Heights?” You haven’t been suspended yet, have you?”
“As of right now I’m still teaching. In fact, I have two classes to teach tomorrow. The eight o’clock and a one o’clock.”
We needed a plan. I knew some lawyers, but I didn’t see what a lawyer could accomplish in the short run. And apparently, we didn’t have a chance of getting the policy declared unconstitutional. What could we do immediately? “Take me with you, tomorrow,” I said. “I want to sit in on your class. And look around the campus. And maybe talk to some people.”
Mark hesitated. “I leave here at 6:30.”
“I’m an early riser. You can pick me up and jump on the Interstate.”
“What about King?”
King was my part-husky dog. I had named her after the lead-dog of Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, the Mountie on the old-time radio show, in spite of the fact that she was female. I usually walked a mile with her in the morning. “I’ll take her for a short walk and leave her outside with food and water. The cold doesn’t bother her. I’ll ask Tess to take her for a walk later. King likes Tess because Tess gives her cookies.”
Mark acquiesced. He knew I wasn’t completely useless, as I had proven before. But I wanted to make sure he was going to do the right thing. I said, “Now you go home and explain the situation to Sandra.” Mark had been living in Sandra’s condo for a while, with Sandra and her two-year-old son, Winston. “And, hopefully, everything will work out.”
Mark smiled, wanly. “But first, can I have some dessert? I saw on the menu they have do-it-yourself sundaes tonight.”
Chapter 2
I waited for Mark in the parking area near my apartment, shivering in the cold and wishing spring would spring. He still hadn’t arrived five minutes after our agreed-upon time. That wasn’t like Mark. I waited a few more minutes, wondering whether I should call Sandra’s condo from my cell phone. Maybe he had forgotten me.
Then his old Toyota appeared around the curve of the rim road, easily recognizable in contrast to the newer cars of the residents who still drove. As soon as I got into the car I could tell that his outlook hadn’t improved since last night. If anything, he looked and sounded more depressed as he greeted me with a weak hello.
As we drove away I tried to think of something to say to cheer him up. Finally, I said, “We’ll lick this thing. Don’t let it get to you.”
Mark looked straight ahead at the road and said, “Sandy kicked me out.”
The first thoughts that came into my head were words that you can’t say about your granddaughter. Sometimes she seemed to have her head on backwards. With an effort I got myself under control and said, “She shouldn’t have done that.”
“I can understand why she did it.”
Maybe Mark was too understanding. But I didn’t have to be. I would have a talk with Sandra. But for right now he needed a place to stay until this could be resolved. He had buddies at UNC who would undoubtedly put him up on a temporary basis, but I didn’t want him separated from our family. He was too good a catch to let him get away, even if Sandra didn’t realize it.
My son, Albert, Sandra’s father, had plenty of room on his farm a few miles from here, but of course he couldn’t show favoritism toward Mark, even though I knew he liked him. Rules like that didn’t apply to me, though. I said, “You can stay with me and sleep on my spare bed.”
Mark protested, but his heart wasn’t in it. I’m sure he saw the wisdom of keeping in contact with the family. I emphasized that and the convenience of my location, between Sandra’s condo and Albert’s farm. He had to agree with me. I glanced at the back seat of the car. It was filled with his personal belongings.
