Killing Kirshner (A Psychological Suspense Thriller)

by Mason Black

  “Morning, everybody, how was your first week?” Professor Wilson asked.

  The class mumbled and sighed as a whole. “Oh boy, that doesn’t sound very good. Let me guess – Kirshner. Don’t sweat it. I survived. Of course, I blocked most of that year out.” The class laughed.

  “Just hang in there. He’s just trying to weed some of you out. Don’t you guys let him win. And if you need to talk, you know my office hours. Feel free to stop by,” Wilson said.

  “Alright, enough of Professor Kirshner, let’s get back into Torts.”

  “Negligence is a lawyer’s best friend. Can anyone tell me the four elements of Negligence?”

  Amanda quickly raised her hand high in the air. Just to the left of Amanda, another student raised their hand even higher.

  “Okay, Todd, give me the four elements,” Professor Wilson said.

  “First the plaintiff must have a duty, then there must be a breach of that duty, the breach must have caused harm, and there must be some kind of damage,” Todd said.

  “Nicely done, Todd. The case of Donoghue v. Stevenson is a great illustration of the law of negligence. Mrs. Donoghue was given ginger beer by her friend, who bought it from a shop, supplied by Mr. Stevenson in Scotland. Mr. Stevenson did not know Mrs. Donoghue, but the ginger beer he made had a decomposed snail in it, which made Mrs. Donoghue ill. There was no relationship of contract, as signified by payment, between the person injured and the shopkeeper, as the friend had made the payment, and so no legal cause of action in contract was possible. Nor was there a contract or ‘privity’ with the manufacturer, Mr. David Stevenson. More importantly, there was no case before about manufacturers harming people through opaque bottles. Lord MacMillan said that we should recognize this new category of tort because it was analogous to previous cases about people hurting each other. Lord Atkin interpreted the biblical passages to ‘love thy neighbor’ as the legal requirement to ‘not harm thy neighbor.’ Reasonably foreseeable harm must be compensated. This is the first principle of negligence.”

  Will enjoyed Professor Wilson’s relaxed lecture on negligence, but he could not stop thinking that Professor Kirshner’s class was less than 24 hours away.

  Chapter 12

  Todd Garner never received less than an “A” in any subject, played varsity in three different sports, and was on a full scholarship to Miami University. Todd never really had to struggle in school to get good grades, but for the first time in his life, he was not confident about getting an “A.”

  He had heard many stories from his brother, who attended Miami University several years earlier, about Kirshner’s Criminal Law class. The rumor was that he only handed out one “A” per semester, which would give Todd a one in thirty chance of getting one. He was not comfortable with these odds.

  Todd spent much of his time in class sizing up his competition for that “A.” He was focused on one particular threat for him – Amanda Martin. She had a similar obsession to be the best but he could not let her succeed – that “A” was his and he would do whatever it took to keep it.

  Following along the lines of Machiavelli’s principles, Todd decided he needed to keep his friends close and his enemies closer. When he realized that Amanda had already formed a study group, he knew it would be difficult to penetrate, but he would stop at nothing until he was a part of it.

  Later that night, the study group sat in a conference room in the library discussing the case assignments for Property and Criminal Law. Amanda was relaxed, with her feet up on the table and her Criminal Law textbook resting on her lap. Sean was leaning onto the table taking notes. Jack sat on the floor sipping a Coke and eating Cheetos while Abrams sat looking at Amanda’s long legs. Will was pacing back and forth in the small conference room briefing the first case for the group; they would interrupt each other trying to make sure they covered all the issues in the case. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Will yanked the door open to find Todd Garner.

  “Hey, guys, do you have a pen I could borrow? Mine just ran out,” Todd said.

  “Sure, here you go,” Sean handed Todd a pen.

  “Thanks. You guys studying Criminal Law?” Todd asked.

  “Yeah, we’re getting ready for tomorrow,” Will said.

  “Me too. Lucky, my brother had Kirshner a few years ago and he saved all his notes. You guys want a copy of them?” Todd said.

  “Heck, yeah,” Amanda said. “That would be awesome.”

  “Okay, I’ll be right back with five copies,” Todd said.

  “Why did you say yes to that?” Abrams asked.

  “Why? What are you talking about?” Amanda said.

  “He obviously wants into our group, and I don’t like the little prick,” Abrams said, grinning.

  “Yeah, that was my take too,” Will said.

  “If he asks, we will just tell him we want to keep it to five people. That’s all,” Jack said.

  “Fine,” Amanda said angrily.

  A few minutes later, Todd returned with five copies of his brother’s Criminal Law notes. As Abrams had guessed, Todd hinted at wanting to join the group. Jack sighed heavily and Amanda pulled her legs off the table and sat up.

  “Sorry, dude, we decided to keep it to just the five of us,” Abrams said.

  “Oh, okay. I understand. It was just that I have a lot of stuff from my brother, including old exams,” Todd mumbled.

  “Wait,” Amanda yelled. “Can’t we have just one more person? Please!” Amanda begged.

  “I guess those old exams could really help; fine with me,” Will said, seeing Amanda really wanted what Todd had to offer.

  “Sure,” Jack added, just wanting to get back to studying.

  “Alright, that’s the majority. You’re in. Grab a chair,” Amanda said to Todd.

  Todd’s plan had worked. He was in the group and closer to his biggest competition.

  Chapter 13

  “Are you crazy, letting that creep in?” Sean said.

  “We don’t have to tell him every time we’re studying,” Amanda suggested.

  “Like he’s not going to see us gathered at the library,” Jack said.

  “We’ll just start studying in my dorm room,” Amanda said with her big smile.

  “Yeah, that is a great idea,” Abrams quickly responded. The idea of getting into Amanda’s dorm room thrilled Abrams.

  “We’ll get all his brother’s old exams and he’ll never know we meet in my room. It’s the best of both worlds,” she said.

  “Sounds like a plan, Amanda,” Will noted.

  Sean was not happy with the arrangement. For some reason, he felt wary of Todd. He was not even sure why; it was just a gut feeling with him. Sean had always relied on his gut feelings – it had kept him out of trouble his entire life.

  His father had been in prison for most of Sean’s life, and his mother would often leave him at his grandmother’s. His grandmother was a very strong woman with a very big heart and loved Sean more than any other person in the world. Sean knew that he had only one person to thank for making it to law school – his grandmother.

  Practically unavoidable in the neighborhood he grew up in, Sean got into trouble with the law at a very young age. Gangs were rampant in his neighborhood and he was only 10 when he was approached for the first time by a gang. Luckily, his grandmother witnessed Sean hanging out with the gang members, and she moved him to a suburb in Greensboro, North Carolina. She did not want to make the same mistakes she had made with Sean’s mother. His grandmother constantly pushed Sean to be a good man and follow what Jesus had taught. She forced Sean to church every Sunday and even made him volunteer at the church – the Gospel Light Baptist Church. Even though Sean had no interest in religion, he would mind his grandmother and never missed any Sundays.

  When his grandmother passed in 1999, Sean was alone. He got a part-time job and put himself through community college and then on to the University of North Carolina. He often struggled in school due to the amount of hours he was
working to help pay for his education, but he eventually graduated. He had made a promise to his grandmother a long time ago that he would make her proud. Nothing would make her prouder than seeing her grandson become a lawyer. And here he was in his second week of law school. He was on his way to becoming the man his grandmother had always hoped he would become. There was only one major obstacle in the way of Sean achieving his goal – Professor Isaiah Kirshner.

  Chapter 14

  Professor Ferguson strutted back and forth in the front of the classroom. She was certainly one of the most attractive professors at Miami University and was often the subject of conversation among the male students. This made her lectures on Property a lot more interesting, especially when she would wear a low-cut top and a tight skirt.

  Jack was in love, as he watched Professor Ferguson’s every move and wrote down every word that came out of her beautiful mouth. He would smile every time she looked up in his direction and would fantasize about her as she discussed the various tenancy of property ownership.

  Will was also impressed with her looks, but he could not stop thinking about his next class. He knew every time he would see Professor Ferguson’s pretty face that it was only a few hours away from seeing Kirshner. His heart began to race at the thought of facing this man again. Despite the amount of time his study group had spent together the night before, Will still felt uncomfortable with the material. It was not a matter of memory or intelligence – it was a matter of his confidence.

  Will had never been a very confident person, and Kirshner’s criticism of him in class last week really stuck with him. He would often think to himself, “Maybe he is right. Maybe my parents are wasting their money.”

  Will did his best to focus on Ferguson’s lecture of the different ways to own property. After all, his study group went through all of them the night before. Ferguson waited for a volunteer to explain the difference between a joint tenancy and a tenancy in common. Amanda and Todd quickly raised their hands, and Will decided he would volunteer too. He threw his hand up in the air, and Ferguson immediately called on Will.

  “Finally, someone other than Ms. Martin and Mr. Garner,” Professor Ferguson noted.

  “A joint tenancy is a type of concurrent estate in which the joint owners have a right of survivorship, meaning that if one owner dies that owner’s interest in the property will automatically pass to the remaining owner or owners. On the death of one of the tenants, the whole of the property passes to remaining tenants. The deceased tenant’s property interest cannot be inherited by his heirs, which means it avoids going through probate. Under this type of ownership, the last owner living takes all. This type of estate is most common with married people,” Will said succinctly.

  “Perfect, and how about tenancy in common?” Ferguson asked.

  “A tenancy in common is much different. The owners in a tenancy in common each own separate and distinct shares of the property. Tenants in common have no right of survivorship, meaning that if one owner dies, that owner’s interest in the property will pass by inheritance to that owner’s devisees or heirs, either by will or by intestate succession,” Will answered.

  “Great job, Mr. James, you’re going to have to volunteer more often,” Ferguson said with a big smile.

  Jack was jealous that Professor Ferguson was so impressed with Will, but glad Will got the answer right. Sean gave Will a thumbs up and Amanda smiled from ear to ear. Todd did not look at Will; he just leaned back in his chair and realized he may have more competition then he originally had thought.

  Chapter 15

  Professor Kirshner scanned the room for his first victim of the day. Jack slumped down in his seat feeling the dead eyes of the professor gazing his way. He said a quick Hail Mary and hoped for the best.

  “Mr. James, what do you say we start with you once again,” Kirshner said with an evil smirk.

  Even though Jack felt bad for Will, he was relieved it was not him; his praying worked. Amanda sighed knowing that Will had been a nervous wreck all week since the last time he faced Kirshner, and even Abrams felt bad for poor Will James.

  “The class is waiting, Mr. James. Please brief the first case,” Kirshner said angrily.

  Will did his best to get through the case. The odd thing about Kirshner was the way he waited for students to finish briefing the entire case, and then insult them on how wrong they were. Most professors would stop students when they started to say something that was incorrect, but Kirshner loved to keep handing his students the rope so they could slowly hang themselves.

  Will’s voice cracked and stuttered as he finished his interpretation of the case. “My God, son, you sound like a pubescent boy. Dah, dah, dah … At least sound like you know what you are talking about. That sometimes fools some of the morons in the world; I don’t even think Mr. Jackson believed you,” Kirshner shouted.

  Sean clinched his fist and dreamed what it would be like to bash Kirshner’s face in. Kirshner stared into Sean’s eyes as if he could read his mind. Will looked down at Sean wondering when the staring contest would be over and Kirshner would get back to him.

  “Please, somebody else tell me what the damn case was about,” Kirshner shouted with his hands raised in the air.

  “Ms. Martin, brief it, and do it right,” he yelled.

  Amanda had barely spoken when Kirshner shouted, “Can I ask you a question, Ms. Martin? Are you and Mr. James related somehow?”

  “No,” she said hesitantly.

  “Oh, I thought maybe stupidity ran in your family.” Amanda sat still with her mouth wide open, and her eyes squinted. “Mr. Garner, please save us from the torturous attempts by Mr. James and Ms. Martin,” Kirshner directed.

  Todd rambled off the facts of the case and the issues of law. Kirshner, for the first time, appeared to be satisfied with the answer. Not because he told Todd he did a good job, but because he did not insult him.

  “Mr. Jackson, what is your take on the dissent opinion?” Kirshner fired.

  Sean quickly answered the question and hoped for the best. “Mr. Jackson, when you were in grade school, did the bus pick you up right in front of your home? And was this bus much smaller than the other buses at the school? I think they call it the short bus.” The class laughed.

  “Let’s work on the back row. Ms. Ehrenzweig, do you agree with Judge Stevenson’s opinion on this case?” Kirshner said.

  The study group was relieved for the time being. Although he had hit three of their members, it appeared Kirshner was finally concentrating on other parts of the class.

  Will sat in his chair trying to hide his shaking hands; he felt sick to his stomach and did not know how much longer he had before he threw up. He looked at the clock that sat above the podium and saw there was still 35 minutes left. He knew he was not going to make it. He suddenly got up and shuffled along the row, pushing on the chairs, trying to make his way to the exit.

  Kirshner interrupted Ms. Ehrenzweig’s brief. “If this class is too much for you, Mr. James, you might want to think about dropping out now. I haven’t even begun to test you,” he yelled as Will ran out the door. Kirshner chuckled to himself with delight. He broke his first student of the semester, and it hadn’t even been a month.

  Will ran down the hallway and slammed into the bathroom door running to the toilet bowl. He got there just in time and threw up the breakfast he had eaten a few hours earlier. The sweat poured down the side of his face as he waited for the next wave to hit him. His eyes began to water and he felt the room spinning. He could not hold on any longer. His eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped to the floor with his head lying in his own vomit.

  Chapter 16

  Once Kirshner’s class was over, Amanda grabbed Will’s backpack and shoved his books in it, and she, Jack, Abrams, and Sean ran out of the classroom searching for him. Amanda figured that Will must be in the bathroom. Jack and Abrams entered the men’s bathroom, but Will was nowhere in sight. Jack was about to leave when Abrams saw Will’s f
oot move under the stall. They both ran over and found Will passed out, lying in his own vomit.

  “Holy shit! Get some paper towels and wet them,” Jack said.

  Abrams ran over to the sink and saturated some towels, as Jack picked Will’s head up and tried to wake him. Will did not respond. He wiped the vomit from the side of Will’s face and they pulled him out of the stall and leaned him against a wall.

  “Do you think we should call 911?” Abrams asked.

  “I don’t know. He’s breathing. I just think he passed out. Get Sean and Amanda,” Jack said.

  Abrams ran out and got Sean and Amanda from the hallway. Amanda felt strange about going into the men’s bathroom, but she wanted to check if Will was okay. Will was waking as the three entered.

  “Ah, shit. What the hell happened?” Will asked with slurred speech.

  “I think you passed out, dude,” Jack quickly said.

  “Are you okay, Will?” Amanda asked.

  “I think so, I just lost it in there. I don’t even remember coming into the bathroom. Did I puke in the classroom?”

  “No, you made it to the bathroom. No one saw you,” Abrams said.

  “Sean, go bring my car around so we can get Will back to the dorm,” Jack said.

  Sean ran out of the bathroom and looked in the parking lot for Jack’s car. As he was searching, he saw Professor Kirshner getting into his Audi A8. Kirshner looked up as Sean was walking past the faculty parking lot. Sean gave him a dirty look, but Kirshner did not appear to even know who Sean was.

  Sean pulled Jack’s car around near the bathrooms. He helped Jack get Will up and they all walked along the hallway doing their best to hide Will from the other students. They did not want to embarrass Will since it was pretty obvious that he had just ran out of class and vomited all over himself. They were almost to the car when they ran into Todd.

  “Wow, is he going to be okay?” Todd asked smugly.

  “He’s fine, now go fuck off,” Sean said.