May 26th, 2009
This week’s words: plushy , cotton , woolley , flannel , tweedy , exigency , equanimity , pernicious , fey , satiety , immure, and buss
Wordy, Too
Marcus was a tweedy man. He stood tall and thin, his cheeks gaunt but his eyes sharp and bright under his bespectacled eyes. He had spent the past 30 years as an English Lit instructor at the state’s largest college. The job gave his soul an unparalled sense of satiety that none other came close to. He cottoned well with his students, and possessed an almost fey-like ability to relate to them. They respected and praised his equanimity when disagreements erupted, and his ability to placate those who were upset.
It came as a complete shock to everyone when a young female student named Trina Regent went to the college dean and filed a formal complaint against him, claiming he had forced himself on her. Of course, this was an exigency to the school board, and Marcus was immediately suspended while the investigation ensued.
Marcus remembered Trina well. She was a pretty young girl, vibrant green eyes and fire red hair. She was popular among the men in the school, but she had no interest in them. Trina did seem to be interested in Marcus though. She would put little doodles on some of her paperwork; Innocent enough with hearts and such, but with her and his initials inside. Something you would expect from elementary students, though, not college aged. She often threw him busses, and laid the flannel on thick. She would stay after class often, engaging small talk and offering her assistance. He appreciated the help, and had on occasion found tasks for her to do. At first, her behavior did not bother him, and he figured she just had a small crush, but he did not take it seriously. However, as her advances became more aggressive, he finally had to pull her aside and let her know he felt it highly inappropriate and told her she needed to stop. He also said he thought it better if she no longer stayed after class. She had seemed to handle it fine; as she just nodded and told him she respected that. She no longer offered to stay after. The semester had ended a couple weeks afterwards, and he forgot about it.
Now, he sat at home, unable to step foot on the school grounds, wondering how the hell he didn’t see this coming, and kicking himself for being so gullible and stupid. He sat in his plush library chair, immured in his head, trying to comprehend. It had been nine days since he had been suspended, and he had heard nothing. His thoughts felt woolly and the knowledge of how pernicious the situation was made him nauseous.
He moved to pick up the phone and dial the school’s President, Ms. Laura Vinta, when his doorbell rang. He opened it, to find Laura standing there. Dread filled his stomach. Why would she show up at the door other than to tell him bad news? He glanced behind her, and saw no police though. He moved to let her in, and she stepped inside.
“I take it you have news for me?” he asked, wincing at the quaver in his voice. He felt as though he might vomit from nervousness. He couldn’t remember ever being so afraid of someone’s words.
Then Laura smiled a thin smile at him. “Trina apparently has a history, Marcus.” She said, seating herself in one of his living chairs. “May I have a drink?”
Her question caught him off guard. He looked blankly at her, trying to put the two sentences together, and fit in where his situation stood. He nodded quickly, and poured them both a glass of Cabernet. As he handed it to her, she motioned for him to sit. He did so, vaguely aware of the comedy of her directing him in his own home just as she did others in her office.
“I want to start by letting you know that you are off the hook.” She started, sipping her wine. Relief flooded Marcus, and he felt his body relax as the anxiety slipped from his tensed muscles. He grinned stupidly at her.
“Oh. Thank goodness.” He sighed. “What happened?”
“It appears that Miss Regent has a track record. However, it took some time to uncover, since she has operated under a number of aliases. She enrolls in various institutions across the state, befriends a male instructor or administrator, and then claims sexual harassment. She will come in and try to get the school to settle out of court. It amazes me that this has worked for her in the past. Luckily, there have been some who actually pursued the allegation legally. She always vanished before they could get anywhere with it though. It had raised flags, though, since her MO always was the same. Word had been sent out to institutions that hadn’t yet been hit warning them “ Laura sat back in her chair, visibly relaxing. Marcus realized she must have been under tremendous stress herself.
“But she didn’t just accuse me of harassment, Laura. “ he mentioned.
“Yes- which is one of the reasons we weren’t immediately sure that it was the same person. We contacted the authorities and sent them her school photo, and the allegations. We are lucky they were able to get back to us so quickly. They verified that it was indeed, the same gal. I guess she had gotten confident and thought she could get more from an actual rape accusation. We had her come in to ‘make a deal’, and the police were there to escort her out. “ she scoffed.
Laura leaned forward, her expression becoming even more serious. “ I want you to know that I never believed her for a second, Marcus.” She said to him. “I don’t think any of us did.”
“There will be those who do.” He sighed. “It’s bound to happen. Even with the truth out, there will be repercussions for the school because of it, and I apologize for that. I should have known better than to let her stay after class with her behavior. My instinct failed me this time.” He ran a dry hand across his face.
“You don’t worry about that.” Laura said, standing to go. She shook his hand, and then surprised him by giving him a brisk hug. “I expect you to report back to work first thing tomorrow morning.” She said, grinning.
“Yes, ma’am!” Marcus replied, his own grin beaming across his face.