Final

Jamal was nervous as he listened to the commencement address. Of all of the assembled students, he was the one who shouldn't be nervous. Jamal was dressed in black, with a mortar board cap to match his gown. After only three rather than four rigorous years of study, Jamal was graduating. He was graduating as the valedictorian. He was nervous because he had to give a speech right after the commencement address.

As the Senator came to the end of his long winded address, Jamal stood and walked up the steps to the platform to take his place at the podium. He struggled against the bright lights as he searched the crowd for black faces, but could find none. Jamal's mother had objected to him receiving his diploma at the alternative, Black only ceremony. Unlike many of his classmates, he had actually earned his diploma. He'd graduated with a four-point-zero grade point average in spite of his hearing impairment and Asperger's syndrome. Now in his moment of triumph, he couldn't find his mother's face in the crowd.

Jamal knew that he was so nervous because his mom had invited Misses Jones and her husband Jacob to be her guests at his graduation ceremony. Misses Jones had actually accepted the invitation. Even worse, Mister Jones had accompanied her. The situation was all the more embarrassing because Misses Jones would inevitably be introduced to Jasmine.

Jamal frisked himself furtively to confirm that he hadn't lost the jeweler's box. He'd bought the ring last week. Hopefully; Jasmine was his future fiancé. Now that Janine and her husband were here, he was even less confident.

Jamel was overwhelmed by anxiety. Did Jacob Jones suspect or even know the truth? What if Misses Jones and Jasmine talked with each other? What would Jasmine think of him if it was revealed that Misses Jones had tutored Jamal on subjects other than math and science? What would his future fiancé think if she knew that her future husband had lost his virginity to a woman who was literally old enough to be his mother? How would she react if Mister Jones confronted Jamal? Would she break off their engagement?

Fortunately; the need to deliver his address enabled Jamal to momentarily forget his angst. One of the symptoms of his condition was hyper focus. His ability to concentrate to the exclusion of all else had enabled him to excel.

The ceremony seemed to be interminable. Eventually; it was over. Eventually; Jamal finally spotted his mom. She was accompanied by Jasmine, of course. Misses Jones as well as Mister Jones accompanied them as they approached him.

Jamal almost fainted when he noticed the toddler nursing at Janine's breasts. She had her mother's jet black hair. Fortunately; the toddler also had her mother's straight, jet black hair. Jamal relaxed when he realized that the baby also had her mother's alabaster complexion.

Hours later, Jamal nervously followed Jacob Jones as the older man led him out of the restaurant towards the patio. Ostensibly, they were getting some air while the group waited for desert. However; the patio was the perfect, private venue for a discrete murder.

Jacob Jones was a gun nut. Jacob Jones even owned suppressors for some of his guns. A suppressor wouldn't silence a gun shot, but it would muffle and distort a gunshot. Few people would recognize a suppressed gunshot. Even fewer would be able to determine where the sound of the gunshot came from. Jacob Jones could be long gone before people discovered Jamal's carcass bleeding out on the patio.

Jacob Jones reached inside his jacket to retrieve something. Fortunately; rather than retrieving a pistol from a shoulder holster, he extracted an envelope. Jacob spoke. "I was in your shoes many years ago. I took advantage of the opportunity to have sex with another man's wife. Just like you, I rationalized that she was the one who'd seduced me. I was privileged to have sex with that woman all summer."

Jamal focused his attention on the envelope that Mister Jones was holding as the older man continued. "I guess it is karma that my own wife seduced you, just as Misses Robinson seduced me. The irony is that now that I'm a few years older and hopefully a little bit wiser, I understand that perhaps Janine's affair with you isn't the end of the world. You didn't give her some exotic disease that penicillin can't cure. She didn't leave me for you. I wasn't stupid enough to ditch the bitch much less try to burn the bitch. I haven't been sentenced to prison for murder."

"This might seem trite, but your affair with my wife probably saved our marriage. I was complacent and arrogant before her affair. I was to obsessed with chasing the all mighty dollar to understand that my greatest treasure was my wife. The realization that I might have lost my wife motivated me to be more assertive with my bosses. Rather than getting my ass fired, my assertiveness earned me a promotion," Jacob explained. "I no longer have to travel so much."

Jacob Jones continued. "You might have noticed that Janine has a baby. Our youngest daughter was born the June after you went away to university. I confess that I suffered from considerable anxiety when my wife informed me that she was pregnant. Fortunately; she had the courage and the integrity to confess that the baby probably wasn't mine. It is equally fortunate that I had the courage and integrity to confess that I had been aware of her affair. Our confessions compelled us to have many conversations. We had conversations that we should have been having."

"It is even more fortunate that my response to the knowledge was a confusingly ambivalent combination of jealousy, anger, lust and love." Jamal allowed Mister Jones to direct his attention to where the waiters were bringing desert before the older man continued. "It was my unexpected lust that probably saved my marriage. My lust might have even saved our lives. We probably had sex more times during those few months of that summer of lust than we had had in as many years. I also got reckless. I was perhaps intentionally as well as instinctively reckless. Rather than take my wife's life, I made a new life with her."

Jamal was stunned when Mister Jones handed the envelope to him. He opened the envelope to discover a check. The amount of the check was not insubstantial. Mister Jones explained, "In hind sight, I realized that I hadn't paid you nearly enough for building the Great Wall of Jones for me. Hopefully; this will enable you and Jasmine to make a down payment on a starter house somewhere."