Cathy pulled on a robe and rushed to answer her front door before the broken chime could make its god-awful clanking, grinding noise again. It sounded like a cowbell whose clapper scraped and rubbed after striking—worse than fingernails on a chalk board. God she hated that sound. Doug had promised to fix it weeks ago—something else he'd neglected lately. She made a mental note to take care of the fucking thing herself.
She figured her driver, one of the university's athletes, had arrived a little early. Probably some six foot bull dyke volleyball player wearing a cheap witch's costume or worse, a knuckle dragging animal from the football team dressed as Frankenstein. Whomever or whatever, they'd just have to wait for her to finish dressing and she, in turn, would have to tolerate another few minutes of being ogled by a fucking mouth breathing, leering jock.
It was good to have a chauffeur for the faculty's annual Halloween Party and, in several respects, it was good of the Monogram Club to volunteer their services, but she knew that it was nothing more than a public relations move by the Athletic Department, those resource robbing bastards. She hated the whole athletic fraternity—athletes, coaches, administrators, cheerleaders, all—every last one of them. Universities should be about academics and the stars should be professors, not a bunch of spoiled kids playing fucking games. Still, she accepted the ride—it was her night to howl—so fuck it.
She opened the door to find a big pirate standing there staring solemnly back at her. His heeled boots and huge hat made him appear gigantic. His size was a little intimidating, frightening even, but he was no knuckle dragger, she could tell. There was an intelligent twinkle in his uncovered eye and his costume was no off-the-shelf rental. Cathy knew authentic pirate when she saw it. She had fantasized about pirates since childhood.
"Oh, my! Are you my driver or am I about to be shanghaied?" she said.
"Arrr, I'm driving you tonight, wench," the muscular young pirate growled, then laughed and said, "Happy Halloween, Dr. Blake."
She felt her face and chest flush and her pulse quicken. She unconsciously gathered her robe at the neck with one hand, pulling it more tightly closed.
"Oh, my, but you truly do look like a real pirate—you're perfect. I mean your costume is perfect. I mean you look like something straight out of a movie." Irritated for losing her composure, and worse, letting him see it, she took on a more formal air to compensate. Pulling the door wide, she stepped to the side. "Please, come in. I'm afraid I'm not quite ready. You'll have to wait."
"No problem, Dr. Blake. Take your time."
She ushered him past the breakfast nook into the den and motioned for him to have a seat. "I'm afraid you have the advantage on me, I don't recognize you. Do I know you?"
He casually sat on the sofa and replied, "I'm Tommy Dunn, Dr. Blake."
"Why, Tommy. Uh, I wasn't expecting you. I mean, I didn't recognize you, not in the costume and all. I don't quite know what to say. Is this the Athletic Department's idea of a joke?"
"They didn't assign me, ma'am, I asked for you."
"You asked for me? Why in hell would you do that? I thought you hated me."
He looked straight into her eyes. "No, I don't hate you Professor, I never did. That's why I asked for you, I was hoping to get the chance to explain everything to you, let you know how I feel."
"Well, you could've done that a couple of months ago. You sure as hell took your own sweet time."
"My lawyers told me not to, Professor, although I wanted to, I really did. They told me not to talk to anybody until we reached settlement."
"What? They settled on fucking Halloween and you just had to rush right over? Is that it, Tommy?"
"No, Professor. I'm dropping the suit, but it's not public yet. I was afraid you wouldn't talk to me and so I put it off. When they asked me to chauffer for the Halloween Party, I decided it would be a good opportunity, so here I am. I was mad at the administration, not you, Professor, and that's the truth. I'd like for us to be friends, I really would."
With an affected smile, she said, "Oh, isn't that just so terribly generous of you."
"It got kinda ugly, I know, Professor, but I really would like to explain some things to you. I never tried to hurt you, I really didn't. I think there are things you don't know and I really would like to explain. Can't we talk for just a minute? Bury the hatchet, so to speak, or maybe I should say the cutlass." He grimaced at his feeble joke.
"Oh what the hell, let's talk, but I need a drink first. How about you, or is it allowed?"
"No it isn't allowed, but what can they do, ground me? I'll have whatever you're having."
"Sit tight. I'll be right back," she said and went to the kitchen.
She returned a couple of minutes later with drinks. "It's rum and Diet Coke," she said, sitting beside him on the sofa.
"Rum for the pirate, huh? Thanks."
"So talk," she said.
"Okay, Professor. Look, I know you don't like athletes I can understand why you don't. I don't like a lot of 'em myself. They think they're owed something just because they can play a friggin' game and expect the world to kiss their ass. For what it's worth, I never did think that, Professor, not ever."
"Oh really?" Her voice dripped sarcasm.
"That's right, Professor, believe it or not." He leaned towards her slightly, took a sip of his drink, looked her straight in the eyes and said in his most sincere tone, "Look, I come from a working class family—good people, great people, but poor. After high school, I played professional baseball for four years to get some immediate money to help my family and I hoped to make it big, but it didn't work out. So, I went to my backup plan—football and college. I accepted the football scholarship I had been offered in high school. Football was now going to be the ticket to a better life for me and my family. Football was more than a game to me, Professor, but I never thought it made me anything special."
"Okay, okay, I get it, Tommy, and to be honest, I figured you were just another spoiled brat the Athletic Department was coddling, so score one for you, but honestly, what has it got to do with me?"
"Bear with me a minute. I like music, Professor, although I have a tin ear, and I appreciate it more after taking your class, I really do. I appreciate how good you are at teaching it, too, and I'm not just saying that—I really mean it. I enjoyed your class, Professor, I really did. I looked forward to it every day. You made the technical stuff interesting and I learned things about music that I'll never forget. I listen to the classics now and I understand more about popular music. I'm sorry that I didn't do better in your class, I hate it, I really do, but that's water over the dam—nothing I can do about it now."
"Do you really mean that, Tommy, the thing about appreciating music more, now."
"Yes, I mean it, Professor. I sure do mean it. I get a lot more enjoyment out of music now and I listen to better music than I used to. I like Mozart now, Professor, really like him."
"I'm glad to hear that, Tommy. At least some good came from all this."
"Look, Professor, this year was my fifth and final year of eligibility, I was held out my freshman year, redshirted, to give me another year to develop, get back into football condition. This was to have been my year in the sun. We were gonna be really good this year and the pros were gonna be watching. I would have been in the spotlight. I would probably have signed for a lot of money. The Athletic Department was going to promote me to the press as
Tommy Gun Dunn
. No telling what that could have led to down the road—maybe toy sales and stuff."
"I didn't realize they thought that far ahead—marketing and all."
"Oh, they do, Professor. It's big business for everybody. Look, when I flunked and became ineligible, I was devastated. All my dreams went flying out the window. Overnight, the pros suddenly lost interest. I was unproven and even my intelligence was suspect. My value dropped to almost nothing. I wasn't gonna be able to set my mom and dad up and I wanted to help them so bad—make their final years comfortable. It just all crashed at once and I was devastated."
"I'm sorry about that, Tommy, about your parents, I truly am, but I couldn't just hand out unearned grades, I just couldn't. I have to live with myself and, besides, I have a reputation to maintain. I have a good reputation. I really do. I'm becoming respected throughout the whole academic community. I've even received some national attention."
"I know that, Professor, and I'm wishing the best for you. Look, I wouldn't want you to give me a grade I didn't deserve. That's why, I never blamed you. I even asked my lawyers to take it easy on you at the deposition."
"Apparently they didn't get the memo, Tommy."
"I'm sorry about that, Professor, I really am." He took another sip of his drink. "Look, here's the deal. All I needed to remain eligible was an arts credit, and the team's academic advisors suggested I take
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