"When is the board going to meet, or didn't they decide yet?"
"Boden said he'd try to set it up for tomorrow evening."
He raised his head to catch her eye. "I'll be tied up then for sure, but I'll be free tonight."
She felt her body blush warmly. It was as close to an open invitation as Ben ever extended to her, except for that first time. She wondered at her willingness to answer his beck and call. Right now, she merely smiled and glanced at the large clock hanging over the door. "I'd better be getting home, Ben." Then, unable to resist, she peeked furtively at the PA system and whispered, "See you in a little while."
Troop grinned and raised a tired hand in recognition as she left the room. Amazing, he thought, Lin was like a thousand other women. Yet, for almost three years, she had so completely matched his moods and enthusiasms that he could desire no more.
+++++
Warm Springs, 1967
Organization gatherings left him unstirred and he had found the spring teachers' picnic no exception. The educators sat around criticizing students, probably as doctors grumbled about their patients and Army non-coms bitched about their officers and their men.
He preferred the careless camaraderie of the teacher-coaches who made little pretext of giving a damn about their classes and put their teams above about anything else. Not that Troop endorsed their values but he found their lack of pretention refreshing and their "To-hell-with-it" attitude more entertaining than the pseudo-intellectuality of much of the teaching profession. A group of the coaches and a few younger teachers were tossing the inevitable football, but Troop stayed away lest he be trapped into sweating over a game in which his interest had long been reduced.
He saw Linda O'Day leave a conversation and stroll toward the bank of Sherman's Creek. After a moment's consideration, he rose, placed his empty bottle in one of the wooden cases and reaching to the very bottom of an ice and water filled tub, captured a cooler bottle that unsurprisingly contained an un-cola. He shrugged, not caring, and popped the cap with one of many church keys hung on the rough bark of a moldering oak.
He joined Lin where she leaned against a maple trunk and, proffering her the drink, slid down to sit against her tree. She accepted the bottle, drank deeply, and handed it back with thanks.
He looked up at her, appreciating the length of tanned thigh vanishing into slightly abbreviated shorts. He found her blond pixie cut exciting, and thought she must spend considerable time under an ultraviolet lamp to keep such a good tan through a Pennsylvania winter.
She felt his gaze and enjoyed it. She reached down and twirled a provocative finger in his hair.
He grinned at her and without apparent calculation said, "You're a beautiful woman, Lin."
Startled and unsure of whether she was being complimented or propositioned, she found escape in hedging. "Is that any way to talk to a fellow educator, Ben?" She suspected her voice sounded emotion choked but he seemed not to notice.
Keeping the tree between herself and the picnic she ran her fingers more fiercely through Ben's hair and then left her hand clutching a lock and gently fingering it,
Troop felt her passion and shared it. Since his acceptance at Newport he had lived with a monk's celibacy, and although aware of Linda O'Day's interest, he had deliberately withheld reciprocal attentions.
That Lin's husband traveled a lot he knew. What relationship they could develop without endangering her marriage and both their teaching positions was a moot question. At the moment Troop didn't care. Suppressed hunger rose and he again looked up at her, bringing his face close to her thigh.
"I'm not addressing a fellow educator, Lin. I'm talking to a sexy looking woman."
She broke away. "Ben, be careful. The whole faculty will see us."
He exhaled fully, regaining composure. "We'll have to watch that." He grinned, and rising, seethed to tower over her, desire plain in his face.
She felt overpowered by his hunger, and after long months of fruitless speculation, luxuriated in it.
"We could drive up along the creek," She hazarded, realizing the suggestion's inadequacy.
Troop firmed her acceptance. "Let's go to my apartment. No one will see us use the alley door. Let me go first and I'll leave the door open. Just walk in." He did not wait for confirmation but turned and strode away.
She watched his muscular figure cross the picnic ground and saw him wave to a group of football players. She held his forgotten bottle to her cheek, enjoying its coolness against flushed skin.
Waiting a few moments, she strolled casually to a group of teachers and found them watching Ben's car pull away. John Luther led the criticism.
"Well, there he goes. Too good for us, maybe?"
"Oh come on, John. Lots of people have left; don't be like that," a woman said, turning to follow Luther's gaze. "Really, John, you're getting a thing about Ben Troop."
"Well, he makes me nervous. I've told you before, he's a loner and I've never known a loner who wasn't darn peculiar. Anyway, he's dangerous."
"John, really!"
"Well, he is! Oh, it isn't just what he did to Mr. Roberts—although that was bad enough" he hastily interjected. "Troop is just a violent person."
"John's right," Another woman broke in. "I don't think Ben's dangerous, but he is a loner. Nobody knows anything about him. He never talks about himself except to tell something funny that happened off in the Army somewhere. Why, when school's out, he just disappears somewhere."
A man lounging to one side and not really part of the group joined in. "He's mysterious all right. Of course his whole record is on file in the office, and he was written up in detail by the local paper like all teachers are. He was raised in Newport, he bought a building, rents half, and lives upstairs. Yeah, real mysterious!"
"Joke if you want to, Sammy, but you tell me where he spends his free time. He doesn't belong to any clubs and he isn't ever in church." Miffed at Sam's ridiculing, she challenged his knowledge.
Unperturbed, Sammy grinned, "Well, I don't know where he goes. Spends time in Share's restaurant and he heads to the city Sunday mornings. Say, that's what bugs you people, isn't it? He doesn't go to church and sit up front where you can all check him off your list, so you're mad."
Getting under their skins, he gleefully added, "I'll bet he keeps a girl or two down in Harrisburg and slips away to visit them in the darkness of the night!" he ended, chuckling to himself.
Luther regained control of the conversation. "Well, he's an odd one anyway and my advice is to stay clear of him."
A man interjected, not quite humorously, "You're recommending, John, that we do not associate with one of our own teachers?" Flustered by the grim tone, Luther defended himself. "All I'm suggesting is to be careful. He's a violent person, and I've told Boden that, too."
He would have liked to have pulled the words back. Informal bitching was one thing. A complaint registered with the superintendent was another. John Luther had not meant to expose himself, but Troop always upset him.
The teacher called Sammy got up, dusting himself off, looking oddly at Luther. "Maybe you're a little dangerous yourself, Luther," and walked away.
An uncomfortable silence fell over the gathering, further infuriating John Luther, but he feared to press his argument.
He saw Linda O'Day turn and move away. Someone began another subject and tensions eased.
+++++
She opened the windows of her car, letting the accumulated heat clear, and drove from the parking lot, letting her short hair blow in the fresh breeze. Aware that eyes could be watching, she returned to Newport the long way. She drove through Duncannon and up old Route 22 to the Newport Bridge. She crossed and parked across from the gas station. Striving to appear casual, she wandered into the square, window shopping her way. Passing Troop's parking spot, she walked swiftly but openly up the alley and without pause opened Ben's door and entered.
The door at the head of the stairs was ajar, and closing the alley door beh
ind her she started toward it, her heart beginning to again beat rapidly.
He appeared in the lighter opening, clad in a white and blue terrycloth robe. He extended a hand toward her and she became uncomfortably aware of her own overheated and windblown appearance. Fragrant after shave struck her senses as their hands met and she felt sweaty and soiled.
Smiling, Ben took her hand. "You'll want to wash up." He pointed out robe and towels and left her.
He sat before his window looking out onto the square. Even the walls of Newport heard and saw. A few risks added spice, but carelessness or arrogant willfulness would demand instant termination of the adventure.
Ben Troop had never married. His female relationships had been casual or intense as the situation required. Not given to personal introspection, he rarely questioned his lack of permanent commitment. When he did survey his circumstances, he found them of his own choosing and not due to lack of opportunity. Generally he ascribed his non-interest in marriage as simply the circumstances of a career soldier's nomadic life. When his unattached situation was questioned (as it often was), he usually resorted to clichés of "Too busy," "Haven't found the right girl," or an abused "Nobody wants me." Some of his closer acquaintances claimed that Ben Troop just couldn't be bothered having a female underfoot all the time. They may have been closest to the mark.
He listened to the woman humming in the shower, and anticipating her return, he went to the refrigerator and poured coke onto ice cubes in a tall and chilled glass. Wild escapade, he thought. Cold Coke. He was standing before the window when she came out and he turned, offering her the glass.
Lin had wrapped a towel about her head to keep her hair dry. Bundled in an oversized robe, she appeared to Troop the epitome of the well-scrubbed American girl. She took the glass and gulped thirstily at the coke. Slanting her eyes at him she asked, "No moonlight and a single rose, Ben?"
Smiling, he said, "Wrong time of day—wine or candlelight either—I like my senses clear and candles make my eyes water."
She giggled, standing with her back to him and holding the glass in both hands. She looked into the square, feeling him move to stand close behind her.
+++++
The PA system came on. Ben could hear the tubes warming and in a moment Boden's voice came across, made stringy and coarse by a speaker that was never quite right. "Is Mr. Troop there?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Will you come up to the office for a minute, Mr. Troop?"
''Yes, sir. Be right up." Troop always said "Sir" To Boden, which regularly brought groans from the other teachers. He'd tried to explain that after twenty Army years, saying "Sir" to a superior was as natural as breathing. Someone once asked why he didn't continue to salute as well.
Boden was sitting much as Troop had left him. The papers on his desk had grown some and Troop recognized the Peterson scrawl still rampant among high school students. Statements on the Ruby incident, he thought.
He settled into a chair while Boden fumbled with a cigar for a moment, then gave it up. "Well, I'm making headway, Mr. Troop."
He gestured at the mass of papers, "Looks as though the school board can meet tomorrow evening. The hospital verifies that Tom Ruby's jaw and nose are both broken." He paused and ran a freckled hand through his thinning hair. "It's going to be messy, Ben. Five years ago there'd have been no trouble, but times have changed and just laying a hand on a student can result in court action."
He stopped and looked worried, "Look, Ben, I'm going to do my best on this but it's a touchy situation. I can't direct the board where to stand on it. Some things—sure, and they are happy to be advised, but the town is going to take sides. The Rubys are going to be raising hell. Eberson Ruby called and informed me that he already has a lawyer and that they are going to run you out of town on a rail.” his grin was troubled. "In fact, Ruby said they were going to run me out along with you."
Ben interrupted, "Look, Mr. Boden, I'm not expecting you to go before the board and whitewash the whole thing. You know I wish it had never happened but seeing it has, I expect your support where you think I was right and my actions correct. Where I was wrong, if I was, I don't expect you or anyone to cover for me. You know that, don't you?"
"Sure, I know that, Ben. We'll fight them and I'm planning to win. But it's going to be low class brawling with the Rubys involved and we've got to be ready for it. Which reminds me; I called Chief Morrison and asked him to keep an eye out today and tomorrow and to be present at the board meeting in case the Rubys get rambunctious there."
Troop thought of Lin slipping into his apartment and hoped the chief wasn't too observant. "I'll keep an eye peeled for them too, Mr. Boden, but I doubt it'll come to that, quite yet, anyway. If they took after me, it would weaken their position as aggrieved people, so they'll most likely wait to see how it works out."
"You're probably right, but don't depend on it."
They exchanged a few more words and Ben left the office. He nodded solemnly to the single secretary on duty, then laughingly blew her a kiss from the doorway and walked to the parking lot.
+++++
Like her son Square, Mother Ruby's given name had disappeared into a neverland from which it could be recalled by only a very few. A large-boned woman, she herself could have been born a Ruby. She had the look. It was, of course, more than possible that a generation or two back a wandering Ruby male had become overly familiar with a Shattuck girl and Ruby blood had entered the other line. A great deal of that happened in Rubyland. The shotgun wedding was common and, although howls of rage were heard and threats of horrific violence widely cast, no one was ever very surprised or tragically offended.
As the clan's reigning matriarch, Mother Ruby was first notified of Tom's injuries and subsequent hospitalization. The guarantees of Ruby retribution poured into the weary ear of Nurse Lilley as a far too familiar litany. After explaining only that Tom tried to hit a teacher, who the teacher was, and that Tom was at the Polyclinic, Miss Lilley gratefully hung up the phone.
Mother Ruby spoke into the telephone mouthpiece for some moments before realizing the line was dead. By then her strident screeching had reached old Pap Ruby dozing on the porch of a son's trailer.
Loud voices were common in Rubyland. To outsiders, the continual shrieking bespoke constant, ragged-edged emergencies but a Ruby ear was conditioned to select genuine problems from the routine maledictions cast forth without genuine ire.
Pap was halfway to Eberson's house when Mother Ruby came plunging through the sagging screen door. Pap's first thought was one he had often had but never shared with anyone. It concerned Mother Ruby's upper lip.
Eberson's wife had a mustache that could have been the envy of any young male; it was not merely a gathering of black hairs such as Pap saw on many women, especially some of those Italian women in the city. Pap thought Eberson must have married the ugliest woman in Perry County. What his eldest son had seen in her Pap never understood. She was a good enough woman, he supposed but she sure was hard to look at.
Old Pap had never been close to this particular daughter-in-law. With his own wife's death some years earlier, Eberson's old lady had become maw to the bunch and now Pap hardly recalled any other woman being around except the current Mother Ruby—with her awful mustache. Why in hell Eberson don't make her shave the damned thing, he wondered, and tried to concentrate on what she was screeching about.
"Pap! Goddamn it, Pap, that damn Troop has just about killed my Tom. Pap, we got to tell Eberson right now. By Jesus, Pap, this time I'm going to take a shotgun to that goddamn Troop myself!"
In time Pap Ruby got the story and his own blood began to roil. Nobody beat a Ruby like he was a hog! He stumped into Eberson's house pushing the still babbling woman ahead of him. He shoved her heavily into a chair and shouted her into a sullen silence. "Call Eberson at work. You tell him we'll meet him at that hospital as soon's we can get there." The woman started to blubber and more kindly, Pap said, "Now, don't take on so, Mother. Tom's
bound to be all right an' we'll just get this straightened out in no time a'tall."
He patted her shoulder roughly as she searched for Eberson's work number then stumped out hollering at the various women who had appeared, all wondering aloud what in hell was going on. He gave them important facts, which, as he saw it, were that some goddamned teacher had beat poor Tom into the hospital, breakin' a lot of his headbones doin' it, and that Pap needed a goddamn car that would run as far as the city without fallin' apart on the way.
He found one that looked like it might make it and ordered a woman to make sure there was some gas in it, or to bring money enough to buy some on the way. He chose a couple of the women to go with him and Mother Ruby to see Tom in the hospital. He figured that if a car was going, they might as well load it up.
Pap chose women at random. He'd sort of lost track of which one was whose wife but he figured it didn't matter. They could all pat Tom's pillow and moan and groan about equal anyway.
He got into the right front seat, much as a monarch might enter his coach, and waited with a show of patience until mother came storming from her house, tying a rag under her chin and shouting for everybody to get in.
Pap turned away so he did not have to look at the bristling mustache and ignored the gaggling of three women as they crowded into the back seat. Ruby women tended toward width of beam as they bore babies and ate too much; he supposed the fit was kind of tight back there. No one hinted at sharing the front seat with him. Finally Mother plumped her own great frame into the driver's seat, yelled for the keys, which were handed from the outside to her, and they roared away. Pap thought it too bad he hadn't picked whoever owned the car to go along, but decided it didn't matter much either; it wasn't much of a car.
+++++
When Lin O'Day left Ben sitting alone in the faculty room, she had every intention of hurrying home, resting for a few minutes before bathing and then making a cautious approach to Ben's apartment.
The Didactor Page 7