Bryce
The Second Semester
Chapter 29 - The Crisis
Monday inevitably arrived, and with it the end of spring break and the resumption of classes. Bryce reverted to his pre-break schedule, rising about six o’clock and making his way to the Fitness Center by the time it opened at 6:30, while Damon slept on. This morning he was looking forward to seeing Curtis, partly to ask how his break went and boast about the great time he and Damon had on Puerto Rico, but mainly to find out whether there had been any development on the Dwyer/Blaine front. After all, the conversation Bryce overheard before the break indicated they planned to have something with which to threaten Curtis by the time break was over. Bryce was feeling pretty good about himself, showing off his Puertorican tan as he greeted the student worker at the entrance, and then began working out. He had not been at it for long before Curtis dutifully appeared, offering a helping hand.
“Looking good,” Curtis complimented him.
“Feeling good, too,” Bryce replied. “Damon and I had a great time.”
“Did you do anything more than laze about in the sun?” Curtis asked, then, before Bryce could reply, quickly amended his question. “I mean outside the bedroom, of course.”
Bryce laughed. “The beaches and the bedroom were both well utilized, I assure you. But, yes, we did find time for a few additional activities. We visited the Old Town of San Juan and had a couple of great meals there. We went on a day-long adventure into the rain forest, riding horses, nearly killing ourselves on mountain bikes, and having a great time on a hike. The hotel where we stayed was interesting, too. But, I have to admit, beaches and bed covers most of the time.”
“Sounds ideal,” Curtis said with more than a hint of envy.
“So, what did you and Maddy do?” Bryce asked.
“We went back home, to begin with. Seems my mom and Maddy had a thousand and one things to discuss connected to the wedding. I had no idea there was so much to say,” Curtis reported with a doleful expression.
Remembering his experiences the previous day with the pregnant Kathy, Bryce remarked, “Females seem to find things to talk about that never occur to males. Don’t know why that is. I wonder if they find us equally mystifying.”
“I think we’re pretty straightforward,” Curtis stoutly stood up for his gender.
“Anything more?” Bryce asked.
“Well, yeah. We did get away for a while. Maddy and I escaped to the mountains, where my Uncle Seth has a hunting cabin in the woods on a lake. We spent three days in glorious isolation,” Curtis reported.
Bryce laughed. “And did you actually make use of the woods and the lake, or did you spend all your time in bed?”
“Kind of like you and Damon, I’m guessing. We did put in some time swimming, but mountain lakes are pretty cold in March. A little time fishing. And we did some hiking, like you two. But yes, we spent a good deal of time inside. I’ll say no more,” Curtis said, drawing a veil of discretion over his activities which only added to their allure in the imagination of his hearers. He had obviously practiced this, perhaps on his family or on some fraternity brothers the previous evening.
Bryce laughed, and knocked knuckles with his friend. “On a serious note ...,” he began.
“Oh, what we did over break was serious, I assure you,” Curtis insisted.
“Okay, Dufus. On another serious note, then, have you heard anything from our friends Cory and Harry?”
“Oh, that kind of serious. You are definitely a party pooper. But, no, thank goodness, not a word. Knock on wood.” At that, Curtis knocked on Bryce’s head, leading to a brief tussle between the friends.
For the remainder of their time at the gym, they worked out, helping each other, then enjoyed the hot tub and the sauna. By the time they left, Bryce was feeling energized, but at the same time concerned about what the dissidents were planning. Could they be so lucky that the dissidents decided to ditch any nastiness? Probably not. They’d just have to be alert for whatever came up.
After waking Damon and having breakfast, Bryce turned up for his class in French literature. Considering his confrontation with Marc the previous evening, if that’s what it was, he did not know what to expect on this front either. Bryce noted that one of the authors they would be studying was Paul Claudel (1868-1955), who rejected the slick materialism of his earlier teen years, undergoing a serious conversion experience at Christmas while he was eighteen. Although he pursued a career as a diplomat, he is known today as the writer of poetry and plays of striking emotional impact, reflecting quite often his deep faith. He was horrified at the idea of a random or purely mechanical universe, a revulsion reflected in all his work. His poetic techniques and his dramatic demands were innovative, but his message was traditional. His plays explored themes of love, connecting human love to the love of God in passionate scenes which left audiences breathless. His strong Catholicism left him less than desolate at the collapse of the anticlerical Third Republic in 1940, for which he has been excoriated by his critics. That attitude ignored his strong denunciation of Naziism as early as 1930, and his rapid disillusion with the Vichy Regime. Surely Marc would not be attracted to such a writer. Rather, he would agree with those who heaped abuse upon him.
When Marc appeared in the classroom, he ignored Bryce, sitting across the room. Bryce considered that, then decided that if that’s what Marc wanted, it was okay with him. So far, Marc had been nothing but a distraction and a problem as far as Bryce was concerned. He considered that the man was probably hurting in some way, based on his angry lashing out at Bryce and the Church, but there did not seem to be anything Bryce could do about that. Although things might change, for the present having him sit across the room seemed like a good way of handling their differences.
The day progressed much as usual, ending with another class in which Marc sat as far from Bryce as he could. This was the course in Georgian England, in which Professor Dickinson lectured on international affairs and the rise of William Pitt the Elder (1708-1778), later Earl of Chatham. By the end of class, Pitt was not yet Prime Minister, so Bryce decided he could wait for analysis. He had a message on his phone from Curtis which required immediate attention.
The message Bryce found when he checked his phone, which, of course, had been turned off during class, said, “Armageddon! Call me!” Bryce immediately put in a call to Curtis.
“I got the threat we’ve been expecting,” Curtis reported. “I need to meet with you and a few other supporters, but not at the house. Can we use your room?”
“Sure,” Bryce assured his friend. “What time?”
“How about seven? There are a couple of guys I still need to contact.”
“What’s the story?” Bryce asked.
“It involves you and Damon. A pastiche video. But I’ll explain more when we meet. Right now, I’ve got a lot to do contacting supporters. Your place at seven.” Curtis was in his efficiency mode, so Bryce accepted his assessment of the danger, and went back to the dorm to inform Damon of developments. For the rest of the afternoon, despite efforts to focus on studies, the two were restless, wondering what Curtis had received that involved them, and speculating uselessly about possibilities. After dinner, they returned to the dorm and prepared for the arrival of guests. There was no sense in attempting to study, as neither of them could concentrate. Seven o’clock came as a deliverance from uncertainty.
Curtis actually showed up a little before seven. He looked over the layout, with the common bedroom shared by Bryce and Damon on the other side of the bathroom, and the room originally assigned Bryce now a study or lounge. Curtis was especially interested in the wide screen TV attached to Bryce’s desktop computer. That, he commented, would come in very handy.
Over a period of about fifteen minutes, several other members of Sigma Alpha Tau arrived at the room. These were DuBois Kennedy, Tom Blankenship, Keith Hamilton, Jack Datillo, and Terry Hoffman in order of appearance. When Tom Blankenship arrived, Bryce understood the necessity of a meeting at someplace other than the fraternity house. Tom had to be neutral in any election, and he did not want to compromise his position until he knew the whole story. Bryce had drinks available, but the seriousness of the situation was reflected in the fact that no one took him up on his offer.
Once everyone was there, Curtis addressed the group. “This afternoon the bomb which we have been anticipating fell. When I checked in after my one o’clock class, I found on my computer a message which I’ll share with you. It’s kind of embarrassing, but I want all of you to know just what the situation is that we have to deal with. I downloaded the message and the attachment to this thumb drive, which I’ll play for you on Bryce’s wide screen so you get the full impact of the filth.”
So saying, Curtis plugged his thumb drive into Bryce computer, and fired it up. The first item was an e-mail message. It was short and to the point: “This attachment will be sent to all the brothers, to the University administration, and to alumni if you do not withdraw as a candidate for president of SAT.” There was no attribution.
Curtis then clicked on the attachment, which was a video with sound. He sat back, and allowed his friends to witness it firsthand.
The video showed Curtis’ room at the fraternity house, except that it had been altered to make it look much larger than it actually was. The mere survey of the room elicited a couple of comments about Curtis’ luxurious accommodations and his sloppy housekeeping. Then it got serious. A couple entered the room, and began to make out. They were in costume, which placed the events at the Mardi Gras party on February 12th. At first, no one seemed to know who they were, until Jack recalled a non-member and his date at the party who went upstairs unusually early. The video showed them making out, then showed masked and costumed figures identified as Curtis and Maddy entering the room.
“This makes it look like those other guys are still there,” Curtis said, “but I assure you when Maddy and I got there the room was empty. The video also conveniently ignores the fact that I locked the door once we were inside.”
Curtis and Maddy began making out, shedding their costumes. The video made it seem that they were making out on one bed while the other couple was doing their thing on another bed in the same room. In other words, they seemed to be taking part in a group sex incident. Curtis turned scarlet, but made no comment as the video showed him and Maddy getting extremely personal. They were shown stripping naked, then engaging in some pretty torrid sex. Switching back and forth, it was still implied that the other couple were doing the same thing at the same time.
The next step involved some manipulation of the scenes, so it looked as though the two males had switched partners, each engaging in sex with the other’s date. For the most part, it looked very convincing, and would undoubtedly deceive anyone not looking for a fraud. The person having sex with Maddy certainly seemed to be the unknown guest at the party, and likewise Curtis seemed to be enjoying the favors of the other female
But it got worse. Bryce and Damon were shown entering the room, laughing and kissing. They too were initially in costume, but in only a brief while they were stripped and making out, while in the background Curtis and a female could be seen continuing to engage in sex. Damon objected to showing this scene, but Bryce told him they had to know the worst, and the others in the room were their friends. Just about the time he made this statement, the scene on the screen shifted. Curtis got up and walked away from the bed where his female companion lay. In the next shot, he was making out with Damon. At least, it looked like it. Curtis walked towards the camera, then there was a shot from behind showing some male, presumably Curtis, kissing Damon. The male kissed down Damon’s body until he was kneeling, then took Damon’s cock into his mouth and proceeded to give him a blow job. The next scene showed Damon reaching climax and shooting his semen into the face of his partner, although the partner remained visible only from behind.
From nowhere, a new naked male figure appeared, who might have been Keith Hamilton, although he was seen only in the background and not clearly. Up close, one saw only his lower torso. This person ejaculated into the face of a female, who was presumably Maddy. The next scene showed both Curtis and Maddy using towels to wipe their faces. At that, the video ended.
“As you know, my room was available during the Mardi Gras party,” Curtis said to a somber group of supporters. The video had been erotic, but the seriousness of the situation dampened any prurient excitement. “Evidently from the angles of these shots there were at least two cameras hidden in there. I think I can identify the locations, but, of course, nothing is there now. This video merges at least four visits to my room during that party.”
Tom Blankenship said, “Curtis, no one who knows you will believe this video. Unfortunately, it is those who do not know you that we need to be concerned about. It took a good deal of courage on your part, and on the part of Bryce and Damon and Keith as well, to show us this sleaze.”
“It wasn’t courage,” Damon insisted. “I’d never seen this before just now.”
“Me neither,” Keith chimed in.
“Sorry,” Curtis said. “I guess I was so focused on my own problems that I didn’t really consider you guys. Really, guys, I’m sorry.”
“We understand your situation, Curtis. We want to counter this as much as you, though. While you’re smeared more than we are, it still does us no good to have us depicted as taking part in a group sex orgy,” Bryce proclaimed.
“I guess that last guy was me, as I did make use of Curtis’ room during that party,” Keith stated. “But I had a date. I didn’t see her anywhere.”
“Kind of hard to tell exactly why you were included, Keith, except to just make it more of a group thing, I guess,” Curtis said. “And maybe to get back at you for that put down you delivered to Dwyer at the last business meeting.”
“It seems obvious that Damon and Bryce were included for a couple of reasons,” Tom said. “Whoever put this together obviously thought that including gay sex and interracial sex made it about as depraved as possible.”
“Whoever put it together? Do you have any doubt about who’s behind this?” asked Jack.
“No,” Tom replied. “I’m as certain as possible that it’s Dwyer and Blaine. Well, Harry is not capable of actually producing this video, but he’s the intended beneficiary if Curtis withdraws from candidacy for the presidency. But can we actually prove this was done by them?”
“Look at this,” Curtis said, switching back to the original e-mail message. “Look at the heading. It says the e-mail is from someone identified as ‘Anonymous,’ and the address is one of those free carriers where you can sign on with any kind of fake name and get access to e-mail. How can we possibly trace that back to Harry or Cory? I know their e-mail addresses. I checked this afternoon. It’s not the campus address of either, of course, and it’s not Cory’s private address, as I’ve received e-mail from that address as well, and checked.”
“It looks pretty hopeless,” Terry lamented.
“What can we do if we can’t prove Cory or Harry sent it?” DuBois asked. “And what can we do about this video? Can we prove it’s a fake?”
“Those are two really important questions,” Tom said. “Does anyone know how to find out whether a video had been altered? One thing is pretty easy, I guess. Curtis’ room is not nearly as large as indicated on the video, and there are no two beds, like shown there.”
“Yeah, but someone could just say the orgy took place somewhere else,” Curtis said with some despair.
“Wait a minute,” Bryce cautioned. “Don’t give up yet. Curtis, do you remember that geek who works out at the gym? Hunter something.”
“Uh, sort of. Why?” Curtis answered.
“I happened to overhear him a little while ago tell some other guys he was able to trace e-mails to their source. The other guy was getting hostile messages from his girl’s ex-boyfriend, and Hunter said he could trace them. Maybe he could also trace this message,” Bryce encouraged his friend.
“Maybe,” Curtis cautiously responded. “I don’t want to show this video to anyone outside this room, though. I showed it to Maddy, because I don’t keep secrets from her, but no one else. It was embarrassing enough just with you guys, and I know I can trust all of you.”
“That might not be necessary, as all we’d be asking Hunter to do would be deal with the e-mail, not the attachment,” Bryce stated.
“Yeah, that might work,” Curtis agreed.
“But that doesn’t deal with the other matter. How do you prove this video is a mix of three or four events without showing it to someone who can prove it was pasted together?” Damon pointed out.
“I don’t suppose any of us has that skill?” Curtis asked hopefully. But he was greeted with negative responses all round.
“Is there anyone in the fraternity who can do this kind of work?” Tom asked.
“There’s Casey Sondheimer, but he’s not exactly a friend,” Curtis replied.
“No, we can’t trust Casey. He votes with Cory as often as not, and I’ve heard him use some pretty homophobic language from time to time,” Tom stated.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” Bryce demanded. “All this problem is because Curtis came out in support of Damon and me last semester. If it hadn’t been for us, he would not be having this problem.”
“Don’t go off the deep end,” Curtis cautioned. “Cory was never a friend of mine.”
“Anyway, what Curtis did, and what the majority of the brothers did, in accepting you and Damon is just a matter of what’s right. It’s just like when I was accepted, or any other black brother was accepted before me,” DuBois insisted. “If we allow prejudice to rule in any category, it affects all of us.”
“Hear, hear!” Jack and Terry agreed.
“Okay. We’ll fight the good fight. We’ll overcome prejudice and bigotry, and get Curtis elected. That’s a good platform, but how are we going to do it?” Bryce asked.
“What about this Hunter guy? Can we trust him at all?” Tom asked.
Bryce grabbed his copy of the campus directory. “It says here Hunter Matthews is a junior, and a major in Information Technology. What’s that?”
“It’s a fairly new program,” Tom explained. “The Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science were pressured by the Administration to come up with this joint major in an effort to tone down the competition between them for students interested in computer applications.”
“Not really very popular with either, I’ll bet,” Terry said.
“No. The Computer Science people are the theory folks, and look on the Engineering people as something like garage mechanics, and the engineers think the CS people are all out in la la land without a single practical idea, but the Administration insisted,” Tom said. “That was about three years ago. You say this Hunter character is a junior, so he must be one of the first majors in that program. But that’s neither here nor there. Can we trust him?” Tom insisted.
“Don’t know,” Curtis responded. “He’s not very friendly. Keeps pretty much to himself. I only see him at the gym now-a-days, and even there he’s pretty much a loner.”
“Well, we’re desperate, so I suggest you make it a point to sound him out,” Tom said. “But it seems to me there’s a potential legal issue as well. Those in the video were filmed without their permission, I assume. Not only that, but they are being depicted in a false and defamatory manner. Can they sue, or gain any other kind of legal redress?” Tom was pre-law, and thought of such possibilities.
“We’d need to prove the video came from Cory even to know who to sue,” Jack pointed out.
After a few moments of unhelpful discussion, Bryce volunteered, “My dad’s a lawyer. As I’m in the video, he might be willing to take on whoever produced it, once we can show who that is. I’m not real anxious to have him see this film, but if it comes down to an either/or situation, I think he’ll come through. He’s not all that pleased to have a gay son, but he has a pretty high standard of justice.”
“We won’t ask you to bring your father into play unless we need to,” Curtis insisted. “I know you had a pretty rough time coming out to him last semester. But thanks. Even the threat of legal action may be useful in the future.”
“Hey, I just thought of something,” Keith announced. “What about Barczak?”
“Huh? What about him?” Curtis asked.
“Well, isn’t he in some kind of Computer Science program? Maybe he can help about the editing job. He’s SAT, and he’s been a pretty regular supporter,” Keith replied.
“Justin’s in Computer Science? I though he was in some PE program,” Terry said.
Keith gave a disgusted sigh. “Just because he’s captain of our house soccer team does not mean he has no brains. Since I have no interest in contact sports, when I talk to Justin we talk about other things. He is definitely in some kind of computer related major, and he knows a great deal more than I do. He’d be safer than this Hunter fellow you guys were talking about, at least for the sensitive stuff.”
“You’re absolutely right on both counts. We do tend to categorize people, and that’s a failing. And Justin would be safer than an unknown,” Tom said. Turning to Curtis, he suggested, “Why not contact Justin as soon as possible. It’s not too late tonight,” he added, looking at his wristwatch. “At least see whether you can catch him before the meeting tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that right away,” Curtis agreed, checking out Barczak’s number in the directory. “But what do we do about the meeting tomorrow?”
“Nothing,” Tom decided. “We do nothing until we’ve checked out the possibilities of proving that video is a fake, and that it came from Cory. If they’re expecting you to announce your withdrawal tomorrow evening, they’re going to be very disappointed.”
“Okay, I agree,” Curtis concurred. “Guys, I appreciate your support, but until we know more, like Tom says, keep all this strictly confidential.”
There were murmurs of agreement all round. Damon was heard to add, “and even after.” With that, and some idea of how to proceed from here, the conclave broke up. Even so, the next day, and especially the fraternity meeting the next evening, should be interesting.