She stops her spinning and looks at her reflection in a mirror she has stuck to her computer monitor. “Okay, well I suppose … No, you’re right, I deserve it! … After my event tomorrow? Dinner at 7? … Great, I can’t wait!”
Whoever her flirt is on the other end, finally closes out the call and Joanna just sits for a moment with a satisfying grin on her face. Her face then turns serious as if she just remembered something, and she sits up, grabs a pen and starts writing some things down.
It’s all quiet until she hears a creak in the floor, coming from the hallway outside of her office. She quickly turns to the door, “Hello?” There is no answer.
“Daniel, is that you?” She waits another half a minute and with nothing more, she turns back to her work.
There’s another creak coming from the hallway, “Hello? Is someone there?” Nothing.
She decides to wrap it up and grabs her briefcase up off the floor and puts her extra flyers inside of it, along with her notes and a few other things. She grabs her cell phone and turns off her monitor.
She reaches behind her door and takes her jacket from the hook and is ready to leave, when the lights go out.
Chapter Four: The Night Crew
Fox News:
Safe spaces may become empty spaces at the University of Missouri, where officials acknowledged an expected sharp decline in enrollment next fall is due at least in part to protests that rocked the campus last fall.
*****
“Evening Professor.” It is a low voice and not one that Joanna recognizes.
“Who’s there?” Joanna strains to get a peek at who is on the other side of the door but she doesn’t move an inch before a second man grabs her shoulders.
“Just stay calm Professor,” he says, “let me get your bag for you.” The man slowly slides her bag from her shoulders and off her arm. Her umbrella drops to the floor.
“What is this? Is this a joke?”
“This is most definitely not a joke!” The first man snaps, “Let’s get going!”
“I’m not going anywhere!” Joanna tries to stand firm.
But that is not a choice Joanna Butler can make. She is soon blindfolded and her hands are tied behind her back. The two men waste no time and swiftly escort her out of her office.
The halls are fairly dark now. The building does have lighting that flips on at night but it is minimal and dim. She can’t see a thing through her blindfold but the two men can easily make their way.
She is led downstairs and to her surprise, outside. It’s raining and she is getting soaked and slipping under the strong arms of the men dragging her along the way. She’s lost all sense of direction. They pick up the pace and end up walking up a set of stairs. After just a moment, the door opens.
“Hello again Warden. Let us in and shut that door!” the first man says.
“Sure thing Sarge,” the man says, and he steps aside.
They all get inside and the large door slams behind them. Joanna knows now they are in a lecture hall.
“Ah, this room is nice,” Sarge says, “Yea, I bet there is a lot of learning going on in here, eh Professor?”
“If we are in the lecture hall, then of course,” Joanna replies, “there are classes here every day!”
“Good!” Says Sarge, “Then you should be right at home!” He yanks her arm and starts to lead her down the stairs. She stumbles a few times as he forces her down to the front of the auditorium. The second man follows.
Joanna is known for keeping her cool and remaining unaffected in stressful times, but this time is different, and she knows it. “I’m just not sure I understand any of this, what do you guys want?”
Without warning, Sarge throws her down onto a chair. It’s an old wooden high-backed chair, and her body slams down hard. “Of course you don’t understand lady!” Get the duct tape Captain,” he tells the second man, “but that’s okay, we’re gonna fix you up good. Today, YOU are the student!”
Captain speaks up for the first time, “You’re a professor! But today, you are ours and all the shit you sit and think about while you’re in your important and educated life is no more!” He unties her hands and immediately grabs the collar of her shirt and rips it apart, “What is this, silk?” he asks. It is, and it comes apart easy.
Sarge grabs her watch and her shoes, “Wow, these look expensive.”
They toss the items to the side. They set her arms in her lap and wrap the duct tape around the chair and over her stomach, securing her in place with her arms in front of her.
Joanna hears shuffling and the men walking around but can’t tell what they are doing, “Please, just tell me what you want? What is it?” Neither respond but then suddenly one of them grabs her by the shoulders. She can feel he has knelt down in front of her.
“Okay Professor, I’m going to take your blindfold off now,” Sarge puts his hands to her eyes, “and don’t start screaming or anything because if you do, it won’t be pretty.”
Joanna is breathing deep and hard now, almost hyperventilating. Sarge slowly loosens and then removes the blindfold. The lights in the auditorium are low, except for the spotlight focused on the small group on the floor. She blinks her way back into vision.
The two men are large, very large. Not overweight, but big, burley and clearly very strong. They are wearing all black and have big rugged boots on. They are wearing black hats and have black paint around their eyes. The main part of their faces are covered with bandanas that look like the American flag. To Joanna, these men are completely overwhelming. What could these two beasts possibly want with me?
“I, I…” Joanna wants to try to reason with them but can’t get anything out. Both men are standing tall in front of her, hovering like angry parents with their hands crossed over their chest.
“Shut up! You are in class this time,” Sarge tells her.
“Let me explain.” Captain begins, “the education you’ve been providing, shall we say…isn’t quite the quality we’d expect for the dollars you cost.”
“Definitely not what the school says it is…What the school promised!” Sarge adds in a loud and angry voice.
“That’s okay Sarge, keep your cool,” Captain says. “It’s gonna be cool, right Professor?” He is still standing over Joanna. She still can’t speak but she nods. She is cold. She looks down and her tears drops to her arms. She is topless aside from her bra, and she is trembling.
“Okay good then. Let’s get this started!” Captain claps his hands together and slaps Sarge on the back.
Chapter Five: Class Begins
The Washington Times:
Berkeley protesters form human chain to stop white students from getting to class
*****
Sarge pulls a satchel from the backpack and sets it down on the speaker’s podium. Captain pulls the backpack inn front of the white board and Joanna watches him as he digs through it.
Joanna can’t stand it. She’s sitting there, tied to chair in a lecture hall where she has given many great speeches and taught many great classes. She is too confused to think through this and can no longer stay calm. Panic sets in and she lets out a roar.
“Ahhh, let me out of here! What do you want? Let me go!” She starts violently trying to throw her chair and rip her arms out of the tape, “Please! Let me go! I haven’t done anything!”
Sarge instantly grabs the chair and holds it firm to the floor and then without hesitation, raises his hand and slams it across her face.
“Now, why did you have to go and do that?” he says, “I thought professors like you were smart!” he pauses, “But then again, that's why were here, isn't it?”
“That's right!” Captain adds, “It’s no secret anymore Professor. We know your ignorance and stupidity is right up there with the best of them!”
Sarge lets go of her and steps back over to the podium. He pulls out a pen and a pad of paper, “So, here’s what we're going to do smart lady, it's time for you to have a lesson! We talk. You lis
ten.” He puts the pen in one of her hands and the pad of paper in the other, “You might just want to take notes.” He flashes her a sarcastic smile.
Out of nowhere, there’s a flash and it catches Joanna by surprise. “Great shot! You look great,” says Captain as he puts his camera back into the backpack.
Joanna is stunned. She is lightheaded from her outburst and breaks down. She can’t control her tears and her body is buzzing, and feels numb. Sarge has just pulled out some papers. She sucks up her breath in an attempt to calm down. The tears keep filling up her eyes but she tries to focus.
“Okay now, let’s begin,” he holds a picture of a baby wrapped in a blue blanket up to her face, and he asks her, “what do you see here?” Joanna is just staring at him, makeup washing down her face.
“Speak up when spoken to Professor!” Captain yells at her.
She can’t stop sniffling but gets out an answer, “Yes, Okay.”
“All right then, let's try this again,” Sarge holds up his picture one more time, “what is this a picture of?”
“It is a baby,” she says.
“That's right,” Sarge tells her. He hands the picture to Captain who slams it up onto the whiteboard and tapes it there.
Sarge breaks out another picture and this time it’s of a boy around six, “Can you tell me what this is?” He waits for a minute but she says nothing, “Come on now, it’s not that hard…give it to me in detail.”
“It…it’s a boy…at Christmas,” She is so confused she is choking on her words, “Please, just tell me, what is this? What does any of this have to do with me?”
“Stop your whining bitch!” Sarge yells, “Man, is that a requirement at this school?” he asks, looking to Captain as he hands him the picture. Captain tapes it up on the whiteboard next to the baby picture.
“Why do you do the things you do Professor?” Sarge is violently waving his hands in the air as if questioning her sanity.
“I don’t know!” Joanna yells out, “I mean, I don’t know what you are talking about!”
“Would you hurt a child?” Sarge asks her.
“Of course…I, I would never…” Joanna lowers her head, tears still flowing. She drops her pen and immediately looks up to see if another punishment is coming for the error.
“You know,” Captain breaks in, “I don’t think she’s taking this class seriously. She’s still in her head!”
“I think you’re right,” says Sarge, setting his papers down on the podium.
Captain walks up to Joanna and kneels down. He’s looking her up and down. Her nylons are ripped from walking in the rain and her knee is bleeding a bit from scraping it on the sidewalk. He starts tapping his fingers on it. Joanna cringes under her skin with every tap. He reaches up to her hair and wipes her bangs from her face, “Well, here’s a problem Sarge, she can’t see!” he observes.
Sarge walks over, “Well isn’t that a shame, let me get that for you.” He rips a long piece of duct tape and tugs her hair back. He tapes her hair up and away from her face, wrapping it around from her forehead to the back of her neck.
“And what are these?” Captain asks, inspecting her earrings, “Are those diamonds?” She just tilts her head away from him. She is wearing drop earrings with diamonds hanging down. He starts rubbing her ear lobes and inspecting them, “Really nice! You get those with your high-end smart-teacher salary?” She refuses to look at him. She is terrified and her body is jerking with fear as his fingers fun over her ears.
He then grabs hold of each earring and without warning rips them both out of her ears at the same time. Joanna screams and starts jumping up and down in her chair.
Captain is still looking at her, “Hurts, doesn’t it?” He laughs a bit and runs his hand over her face and his fingertips over her chest. Blood is dripping down onto her shoulders.
“You’ve handed out enough pain Professor,” Sarge points out, “stop your crying!”
Captain throws the earrings to the side with everything else, “You got that right!”
“So,” Sarge says, “where were we? Oh yes. Now do we have your attention? Time to get serious.” He smiles.
Chapter Six: The Mid-term
The Blaze:
The students also said they would like university campuses to have safe spaces from student loans, penalties for underage drinking and penalties for large parties…
*****
Get serious? Joanna is starting to hyperventilate again, “I’ll do whatever you want! What is it that you want?”
Captain giver her back her pen, “No worries Professor, this is just a discussion, not an exam,” he winks at Joanna, “I know you know what I mean.”
She is sweating. Her arms hurt from the tape and her head hurts from the madness. She can feel the warm blood dripping down her shoulders and the pain in her ears is piercing. But then she has a thought. What did he just say? Is her referring to…no, he can’t possibly be!
She just wrote her letter to her students, like she has done many times. His words are eerily familiar and it’s making her nauseous. It takes a minute, but she comes out of her daze and sees that Sarge is holding yet another picture. This time, it is of a boy in his teens and he is holding up an award that says, NEC Second Place Medal. “Now I know you know what this is!”
“N…national econ, economic award,” she spits out. She tries to look away but Sarge is holding the picture in front of her no matter what she does.
“That’s right it is,” Sarge calmly gives the picture to Captain and like the others, it goes onto the whiteboard. Then he just stands in front of Joanna and sighs, “What are we going to do with you?”
“Wh-What?” she asks. She refuses to look at him.
“You just don’t want to be here, do you?” He watches her shake her head no and then slaps her across the face one more time.
He then gets a piece of rope out of his bag. Captain holds her head up and back against the chair and Sarge takes the rope and ties it through the holds in the back of the chair and around her neck, talking to her as he goes, “What I can’t figure out is…HOW does someone like you get to be…someone like you?” He pulls on the rope. Any tighter and he’d be strangling her. She is gasping for air.
“You have all your awards and recognitions, you have your big office and position at a great school!” He secures the rope behind the chair, it’s snug but she has enough room to breath, and then takes a step back, “I guess you just got stupid! Just like you’re making all the kids stupid!”
Joanna can’t help but face the front now. Her eyes are glued to Sarge. He breaks out more pictures.
Chapter Seven: The Final
The Brown Daily Herald:
Schoolwork, advocacy place strain on student activists - Students struggle with mental health, academic pressures as they act on social justice responsibilities.
*****
“It’s time for the big stuff now Professor. You should get it no problem,” he holds up another picture. Joanna recognizes the boy in it immediately. It’s Jeremy Collins, one of her students. Well, former student, as he left the school earlier that year. He was a Junior.
Joanna is taken aback. She can’t take her eyes of the picture. She then scans the pictures on the white board and is suddenly even more terrified than before realizing they are all of Jeremy. This cannot be good! She thinks to herself, but she can’t figure out why.
Sarge’s hands are starting to shake and so is the picture. Sarge hands the picture to Captain.
“You sit here all righteous”, Sarge preaches, “and all-knowing. Do you know these kids? I mean, do you really know them or care at all?”
“Yes,” Joanna says. Her face is red from the last slap and soaked from her tears. The blood from her ears is drying on her shoulders and chest. Through her sobs, she tries to continue, “I, I know Jeremy. I mean, I knew him when he was here. He…h-he is a fine young man.” She takes in a couple of breaths, “Do you know him? He left the school a while back.”
“Oh, he knows him all right,” Captain interjects.
“We pay good money for our kids to go here and what do you do?” Sarge asks, “You take them in and try to make them one of your own. Well they’re not!” He is just standing there, shaking and crazy. “There’s one more Professor.”
Joanna moves her eyes from Sarge to Captain. She is shaking and can’t take much more. She watches as he slowly pulls one more sheet from the bag on the podium and brings it over to Sarge and puts a hand to his friend’s shoulder.
Sarge takes a minute to look at the picture before turning it around for Joanna to see. She can see it’s of the same boy, Jeremy. But he is so skinny? His hair is a mess. He is sitting on the floor somewhere, backed into a corner. He is smiling, kind of. It’s a pathetic smile. The attempted smile of a sick person. Can that be him? What happened? Joanna can’t figure it out. He was a top student but something happened. Over the last year he had problems and became more introverted, but this? This is him now?
“I WANTED my son to go here!” Sarge blurts out. “Saved up for years to get him into this school!” His voice is very loud and full of anger now and Joanna feels it’s only going to get worse. “He never did graduate and never will! Not even your pitiful safe rooms were enough to keep him engaged. Do you get that?”
“I just don’t know,” Joanna is trying to figure out what is happening. She starts coughing and spit is dripping down her face. She feels like she is going to throw up.
“What? You feel sick? THIS is sick!” Sarge shoves the picture closer to her face. “School was too much, or the lack of school as people like YOU made it to be.”
“He was a great student!” Joanna is trying, “I didn’t know what happened when he left, or why he left. He seemed…dis-distracted!”
American Hypocrites: Short Series of Graphic Revenge Page 5