“It’s pertinent to jack shit apart from whatever scam you’ve got running, man,” Hurst said loud enough to get people's attention.
Once he made sure we had enough people around us, he added, “Now, I’m going to personally get statements from the students and their parents about the class. I’ll make sure to be thorough, don’t you mind.” Then, he said quickly as Kirkwood opened his mouth, “No, you’ve had your say, now we’re having ours, so shut up.”
“You can’t talk to me like that—”
“Just did,” he threw back. “Now, where was I?”
“You’re getting thorough statements from the students and their parents,” someone shouted. “I’ve got two kids who went to those classes and said they learned something big to take away with them. Never mentioned condoning rape or anything like that, so I’ll start by giving you mine now.”
“Me, too,” another voice called out. “My kid read the book and said it taught him about society today, too, and that we need to focus on what’s important. I’ve been trying to tell him that for years, so I’m happy he finally got the damn message.”
“Well, this seems like a good place to start,” Hurst mused, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. “And I’m also going to get a lawyer to look at your threats toward the body and final resting place of Lawrence Heath, ‘cos that shit’s just messed up.”
“You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, and your language is disgusting,” Kirkwood sneered. “Did you even go to school?”
“Yeah, it was back in the day when they had to chip away at stone to write it all down, but he went,” Cole snickered, ignoring the glares from both men. “Looks like he came away with more than you did, though.”
“And finally,” Hurst said, taking a step closer to Kirkwood. “I’m going to run for mayor. For years the people have been running this town, doing the work you wouldn’t do unless it benefited your family. I’m sick and tired of doing your job for you, so I’m going to run for the position. And I will beat you.”
“Well shit,” Cole muttered, his voice only just audible over the cheers and noise coming from our spectators and his body shaking with laughter. “I don’t think he meant to say that, but I’m glad he did.”
“You can try, but it won’t happen,” Kirkwood tried to fire back confidently, but his body language screamed he was far from it.
Then, giving us a scathing glare, he left his cart with items in it and walked away, leaving me staring at Hurst in shock.
Moving over to join Cole and me, Hurst patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, that bullshit is just that—bullshit. My daughter-in-law is on the PTA, and when they were discussing your lecture on the book, they sent out a questionnaire to parents whose kids had been in the classes. All but two of the parents said they appreciated the comparison and the use of an old piece of satirical literature.”
“And the two missing ones?”
“They came in themselves to discuss it and concluded that they wanted to establish a classical literature after school club.”
“So where did he get the complaints from?” Cole asked, looking through the groceries Kirkwood had left behind. “Oo, what do you think he uses this for?” he held up a bottle of lube to show the stragglers from the crowd who all wrinkled their noses at it.
Glaring at his grandson, Hurst shook his head. “I dunno where we went wrong with this one.”
I don’t know if I’d say they went wrong, but he was definitely unique.
“Could have used this when Louis went through the wall,” Cole said, throwing it in the air and catching it again. “Squeeze some on his arm, and pop, it would have been easy getting him back out again instead of calling the Fire Department.”
I couldn’t help it, I had to ask. Who wouldn’t? “Why was he in the wall?”
“Father of the year here decided to put mattresses on the stairs and make a slide. His kid went down faster than he expected, and his arm went through the drywall and got stuck.”
“It’s online,” someone shouted out. “Piersville Fire Department also released footage of them cutting him out. I think the moment he goes through the wall is a gif on social media, too.”
“It is,” Cole confirmed. “He’s really proud of it.”
How could I go from feeling suffocated to feeling uplifted?
What had just happened to me was something every teacher was scared about. Added onto that was what he’d threatened to do to Pops? I’d covered my bases and explained in a lengthy letter to the parents why I was bringing in a piece of literature with that title. They’d had the option to either not allow it or for their kid to attend a study period in the library.
“Don’t worry about it, Bexley. The PTA is very thorough with things, and you gave parents enough time to read through what you sent out and to look up the book and what it was about. No one reported any issues back to Colette, and she set up a special meeting online after the class just in case,” Hurst said as he picked up some spaghetti and threw it into his cart, almost like nothing had happened. “And Lawrence is just fine where he is. If someone tried to exhume him, I’d let my bull loose on them, and then I’d let my grandsons loose on them.”
“Could they do that, though? What if a kid was affected by the book and class like he was saying?”
“The answer to the first is no, and the answer to second is that I’m going to press him for copies of the complaints. I’ll also get Colette to speak to the principal to see if he’s had any complaints, and…” he trailed off, wincing at whatever had occurred to him. “Ah, hell. I’m going to have to tell Lindee
