"I should think so," Mrs. Koda replied. "I really can't even express
how shocked I am by the drawings in that book. Or how surprised I am that
a young man of your scholastic ability could have created them."
With that she flipped open the book and turned to the offending pages.
Spread out across ten sheets were a dozen or more sketches of a man and
woman engaged in various sexual acts. Some of the figures were generic,
but more often than not, the male figure was Michael himself.
Arlene turned past the assorted drawings, stopping at a closeup of a
woman performing fellatio. She could've been mistaken about the other
depictions, but there was no doubt that the likeness in the closeup was her
own.
"These drawings are enough to get you expelled, you know that, don't
you?" She asked Michael.
Michael merely nodded, too stunned at the idea to say anything.
"And that, I think would be a real shame. I'd hate to be the cause of
your loosing your scholarship."
Michael's eyes followed the Teacher across the room, for once his
attention riveted on her words instead of the sway of her ass. She still
had the book in her hands, glancing down at his creations as she spoke.
"But I do have a responsibility as a Teacher in this school to maintain
discipline and order. I just can't let an incident like this go
unacknowledged."
A dozen possible repercussions of his stupidity flashed through
Michael's mind. His parent's reaction if he were expelled, the loss of his
chance to go to Brookfield. In half of them, he saw himself needed those
job skills he jokingly suggested Bob might need.
"It would be different if these were just simple nudes." Arlene
continued. "I could just dismiss them as art with a poor choice of
subject. Yet as hard as I try, I can't classify drawings like these as
anything but pornographic."
"I don't have to worry about getting a job at the McDonald's" Michael
thought as he saw his future flush down a toilet. "My father is simply
going to kill me and be done with it. How is he going to explain to his
friends and business associates that his son got kicked out of school for
drawing porno pictures of one of his Teachers."
"Still, a decision that will have such a strong effect on your future
shouldn't be made in haste." Michael heard Mrs. Koda say, snapping his
attention back to her. "And since if anyone is the offended party in this
matter, it's myself, or am I wrong in concluding that I'm the subject of
these images?"
Michael shook his head no.
"Well then, as the offended party it's up to me to decide what action
should be taken," She concluded. "I've decided to sleep on it over the
weekend and come to a decision by Monday."
With a loud bang, she slammed the book shut.
"You may go." She said. "I'll see you Monday morning."
Michael was on his feet in a flash and headed for the door, his hands
still shaking. He was about to disappear down the hall when Mrs. Koda
called after him with a final question.
"Can I assume that no one else has seen the contents of this book? She
asked.
"No, Ma'am. I mean, Yes, Ma'am. No one ever sees that book but me." He
answered quickly.
"Good, very good!" Arlene said, a smile on her face.
With that, Michael turned and ran down the stairs and out of the
building as fast as he could.
Michael slept very little Friday night and was listless all day
Saturday. He felt like a condemned convict, waiting for the ax to fall.
Better if Mrs. Koda had simply decided yesterday, at least he wouldn't
have to suffer through this terrible waiting. Then he reminded himself
that as long as she hadn't rendered her decision, there was still a chance
he could find a way out of this mess. It had barely been twenty-four hours
and he was already a nervous wreck. What would he be like by Monday
morning?
All afternoon he ran errands, trying to keep his mind off the impending
decision. His Mother had commented on his sudden moodiness, but his father
had told her not to worry about it. The boy probably has a girl on his
mind. Little did his father know how true that was.
Getting home about 6:30, Michael sat down to a late supper with his
family. He wasn't really hungry, but skipping it would cause too many
questions. He wasn't really paying any attention to the table talk until
his Mother remarked that one of his teachers had called today.
"One of my teachers called?" Michael asked as his eyes lit up. "Which
one?"
"Well I didn't take the call, Cindy did." His Mother replied.
"Who called?" He asked his little sister.
"Mrs. Kodak or something like that" She replied, still stuffing her
face with stuffing.
"Koda?" Mike asked.
"Yeh, that was it." The twelve year old said. "She said something about
some book she found in school that belonged to you."
"What exactly did she say?" Michael questioned his sister, his face
turning cold and pale.
"Just that she found some book of yours and that if you wanted to pick
it up you could stop over her house and get it."