6
I was too late.
By the time I got
there, the damage had already been done.
But what could I have done, even if I was on time? The time I could have done anything had long
since passed. I should have never abandoned my father. I should have supported him after the trial,
investigated and questioned Mr. Tate instead.
But I was too busy with my pout.
I was too late.
Artie, Lindsay and
Jan were sitting together in the student lobby near the library, looking rather
defeated. I rushed up to them. "What happened, Artie? Am I too late?"
Artie looked at
me, with some anger, but mostly a melancholic sadness. "Well, look. It's the prodigal son."
"That's not
fair, Artie. I think this all took us by
surprise." admonished Lindsay,
"It's over,
Lance. I'm sorry," sadly intoned
Jan Houser, who even though she lost the Presidency, still retained a seal on
the Council. "It was a called
meeting, by Mark and Mr. Tate, challenging your father's leadership. Everything bad that has happened in the last
year was laid at his doorstep. I think
they would blame him for the Trap itself, if they thought they could get away
with it. Artie argued eloquently for your
father, even persuading a couple of the students that were not aligned with
either the Grani-Knights or us. But in
the end, it was not enough. There were
just too many of them."
Artie looked at me
coldly. "Maybe if we could have had
just one more voice speaking up for him.
You know, someone who was really good with words, like a really clever
soap opera writer."
Lindsay
snapped. "That's ridiculous,
Artie. You don't know any such
thing. I think this goose has been
cooked for awhile."
"How could
they do this?" I questioned.
"Where did they even get the authority? The by-laws hadn't approved yet, have
they?"
"That's the
first thing they did," said Artie.
"They rammed the by-laws through at the beginning of the meeting,
and then proceeded directly to a vote to impeach your father, and then replace
him with Mr. Tate. The students voted
for impeachment, 13 to eight. The
teachers on the council voted narrowly to support your father. But the administrators went by one vote the
other way. I think it was a mistake to
let Mr. Tate have so much influence in the selection of administrators on the
council. We found out Mr. Stein is not
your father's friend. He was the
deciding vote in the administrative block of votes. And now, he's second in charge. What a surprise!"
David Izzner had
just warned me about Stein, a warning that came far too late. "Thirteen,
you said? Aren't there fourteen
Grani-Knights?" I asked.
"Morgan Tigh
voted with us," answered Lindsay.
"I know. She's Mark's
girlfriend. Trust me, that took us back
a bit. Mark seemed a bit taken back, but
overall, he was very happy. Smug,
really."
"Didn't my
Dad fight this?"
"In the
beginning, he raised some objections to parts of the by-laws, but once they
were passed and Mr. Tate began the impeachment proceedings, he didn't really
say anything. After the vote, they handed
him a letter stating that he accepted the verdict of the proceedings, and that
he was no longer Principal effective today.
He signed it without saying a word, moved from the Principal's chair,
and Mr. Tate was selected as the new Principal on a voice vote. Mr. Tate moved to the Principal's seat, said
the next meeting would be a week from today, and we adjourned," said Jan.
"What's going
to happen to him now?" I asked.
"He's going
to be the new Vice Principal in charge of Academics," said Lindsay. "And he's going to teach some, I
think."
I finally sat
down, next to Lindsay, who put her arm around my shoulder. Artie actually backed away from me some, as
if I had cooties. Not only had I
destroyed my relationship with my father, I had also lost my best friend.
Boys aren't
supposed to cry. I know that. But sometimes the tears come anyways.
"I know
you're hurting," Lindsay whispered to me.
"But there's someone who needs you."
I looked at
Lindsay, her face filled with empathy.
"Go to him," she implored.
"Go to him now."
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