Cynthia had seen Farnham’s temper quite recently. She had survived. “So now you’re pretending to protect me?” she asked.
“I do want to protect you.”
“But you can’t. Something has already got me.”
Both were silent.
“It’s because I love you,” he said.
She knew, she knew.
“This is not ‘The Miller’s Tale,’” she said. “You are not an old cuckold. I am not a young flirt. One foolish young woman dumped you a long time ago. Don’t hold her mistake against all of us.”
“I do trust you,” he said.
“Then let me breathe.”
The evening had almost ended well. But outside, alone and in the cold, he realized that he’d forgotten where he’d parked the car.
SCENE 12
Nathan Somerville was about the nicest guy Thomas had ever met. You’re supposed to be nice if you’re the senior councilman, but Thomas figured Nathan would just be nice anyway. As the councilman on Upper Stringfellow, he was responsible for running Thomas’s dorm. He was hardly ever irritable, even in the morning. If you walked into the bathroom and caught him putting in his contacts or shaving, he would make some joke or give you some greeting that sounded like he was really glad to see you. It was good, sort of like having your dad or a big brother there. He was one of the few seniors who would actually be friendly to the underclassmen and not beat on them for entertainment, and he was always willing to help you out if you were having trouble with algebra or Spanish.
Thomas knocked on the door and figured that with the worst possible luck, Nathan wouldn’t be in, but his roommate, Ned Wood, would be. There was nothing really wrong with Ned Wood; he was just always hitting you in the arm or calling you some obscene name. He could actually be pretty funny at times. But the voice that said “Come in” was Nathan’s voice, and when Thomas entered the room, he saw Nathan was the only one there.
“Boatin’ Shoes,” said Nathan. “I bet I know why you’re here.”
Thomas nearly lost his dinner. It was too late. The councilmen already knew. He was going to be tried for an honor violation and dismissed before his sixteenth birthday.
“How’d you find out?” Thomas said.
“Farnham told me.”
Mr. Farnham knows too?
Nathan pulled loose his tie and stepped out of his loafers. His hair was blond and on the short side, just over his ears, and he blinked a little more frequently than usual because of his contact lenses. Everybody kidded him about it, but he just smiled it away. He was always smiling, it seemed, except for now, when he looked at Thomas, read his expression, and told him to sit down.
“What’s the matter?” said Nathan. “Aren’t you here to talk to me about taking a part in the play?”
Instant relief.
“No,” said Thomas. “I’m here to turn myself in.”
He told Nathan how he had walked in on Staines, what had been said, and how he had panicked.
Nathan listened without interrupting. Then he blinked his eyes and looked Thomas square in the face and said, “You screwed up.”
“I know.”
“You should have talked to Carella right away.”
“I know.”
“You shouldn’t have let so much time pass,” said Nathan.
Thomas knew all of it. “I just wanted to tell you,” he said. “Greg, my roommate, is the one that advised me to come.”
“Greg’s a good friend,” said Nathan.
“Yeah,” said Thomas. It was true. “Yeah, he is.”
Then Nathan said it was a complicated issue, with both the drug rule and the honor system involved. The honor council did not handle drug cases, which went to the disciplinarian and the headmaster.
“It’s going to be trouble for Staines,” said Nathan.
“What about for me?”
“Maybe,” said Nathan. “The good part is that you’ve turned yourself in.”
Nathan would talk to Mr. Grayson, the disciplinarian, and then to Dr. Lane. “Lane’s leaving campus tomorrow for a few days,” he said, “but the councilmen can go ahead and investigate the honor part at the regular meeting this Sunday night.”
That was bad news. “You mean I have to wait until Sunday to find out what happens?”
“You’ll have to testify. It’ll be your word against his, if he decides to deny it. Are you ready to go through with that?”
Hell no. “Yes,” said Thomas. He squirmed. “But it’s going to be so damn hard to do.”
Nathan agreed. “You’ll be nervous at first,” he said. “Just tell the truth.”
Thomas asked him what penalty to expect.
Nathan could not predict. “But,” he said, “it seems to me that you haven’t violated the honor system as much as you’ve endorsed it.”
“Do you think I’ll get the boot?”
Nathan was certain he would not. “Whatever happens, you’ll still be here,” he said. He urged Thomas not to say anything to Staines or anybody else about this conversation with him. He wanted to see if Staines would confess on his own. “If he comes to you and says he’s changed his mind about keeping quiet, then encourage him,” said Nathan. “That would help him.”
Thomas said he’d already tried that once.
“You maybe ought to clear things up with Mr. Carella,” said Nathan. “I’ll talk to him, too. We don’t want him to think of you as dishonorable.”
Thomas said he would talk to Carella after class tomorrow.
Nathan said that was okay. “Now get out of here, Boatin’ Shoes,” he said. “I got studying to do and so do you.”
Now that his conscience was clear, Thomas felt a million times better, except that he hated the idea of spending the next four days living next door to Staines in limbo. Four days was such a long time. So much could happen.
And so much did.
SCENE 13
Carol Scott was in a staring contest with Eldridge Lane. It was 10:00 P.M. on Wednesday, December 1, and she had never felt so tired in her life.
Eldridge Lane blinked first.
“I will say it one more time,” he said. “It was a false alarm. There was nothing sinister about it.”
“It was
