When Bryce approached the classroom where his Medieval England class met, he found Dr. Dickinson waiting for him. Calling him aside for a moment, the Professor said, “We held a meeting of the officers of the Faculty Senate this past hour. Based on what you told me, we have asked the Administration to revise their actions with respect to the students who have been suspended, and to authorize a comprehensive investigation of the attacks on Peter Boyington and Joshua Young. They won’t, of course, but we’ve prepared the stage for further action.”
“Thank you, Professor. It’s always good to know one has allies,” Bryce grinned.
As he entered the classroom, he texted Annette Rimbault the information that the Faculty Senate was calling for changes in the disciplinary decisions reached on Wednesday, and for additional investigations into the attacks on the two students. He figured she could work that into her article for a great conclusion.
In class, Dr. Dickinson was lecturing on the conquest of Wales under King Edward I. This seemed out of place, as they had not finished with the Scottish wars, but then those wars lasted into the next reign, and were in the long run unsuccessful. Dr. Dickinson reviewed the situation when Edward came to the throne in 1272, and noted the successes of the native Welsh chieftains in maintaining their independence, and even pushing back the gains made earlier by Anglo-Norman lords. The leader of the Welsh at the time was Llywelyn ap Gruffydd (1223-82), who managed to get a large part of the area under his control by the time Edward succeeded his father. He adopted the title Prince of Wales. He had, however, accepted the overlordship of Henry III, even though that was largely meaningless at the time. Edward set out to make it meaningful, and when Llywelyn refused to renew his homage, this set off a series of campaigns between 1277 and 1283 which resulted in the conquest of the land by the English. A contributing factor to hostilities might have been Llywelyn’s plan to marry a daughter of Simon de Montfort, the feudal lord who had led the opposition to the crown during the reign of Henry III. During the struggles, Edward never lacked for support among the Welsh. It seems that they resented any effort to impose order on them, whether by native princes or English kings. Dr. Dickinson noted that this seemed to be a characteristic of the Celtic peoples from prehistoric times onward, and certainly contributed to the frequent failures of the native Irish over the centuries. They spent more energy quarreling with each other than fighting the common enemy. Even Llywelyn’s brother Dafydd joined with Edward at one point. The base of Llywelyn’s power was in northwest Wales, called Gwynedd. He died during these wars, and so is called Llywelyn the Last. To hold down the lands he conquered, King Edward had a series of strong castles built, the best known of which is Carnarvon. The English conquest involved imposing English law on the Welsh, and settling Englishmen in Wales, practices also followed in Ireland with consequences in Northern Ireland still. In 1301 the royal holdings in northern Wales were bestowed on the eldest son of King Edward, with the title Prince of Wales, which then became the usual title and endowment of the heir to the English throne.
Having completed his lecture, Dr. Dickinson departed. This left most of the class wondering what was up, as he almost always ended with a citation from 1066 and All That. About a third of the class, including Bryce, had purchased their own copies of this work by this time, no doubt causing a blip on the book’s sales charts. Amid much murmuring, various students consulted their copies, only to discover that Messrs. Sellar and Yeatman had inexplicably failed to even mention the conquest of Wales in their treatment of the reign of Edward I.
“Well,” Chris Robles concluded, “I guess the conquest of Wales is simply not memorable.”
“One thing is obvious,” Roland Lyle added, tongue firmly in cheek, “there is a distinct shortage of vowels in Wales. I’m certain that contributed to the defeat of the native forces.”
“The Welsh are supposed to be great singers,” a student named Bruce Ferguson noted. “How can you sing with so few vowels?”
The class dispersed among many murmurings.
After class, Bryce made his way back to University Hospital. By this time, he knew the way very well. As he walked along, he pondered whether he should share with Josh and Peter his theory that it was Josh the homophobes had been wanting to attack all along, and Peter was a mistake. In a dim light, mistaking them was by no means impossible. The two were very similar in general build. They were about the same height, and a little on the lanky side, and both had brown hair, although Josh’s was worn longer than Peter’s. Come to think of it, they kind of walked alike, in something like a lope. It was not stretching it too far to assume the attackers got the two mixed up, but what were they doing out at that time of night anyway? Josh already felt bad about the others who got hurt during the demonstration on Wednesday. Would this only make him feel worse? And Peter seemed to actually be enjoying being in the limelight, so to speak, after being so obscure up to this point. Bryce decided to play it by ear.
When he arrived on the fourth floor of the hospital, he found Damon already there in Peter’s room.
“Hi, Peter. How’re you doing today?” Bryce greeted the invalid.
“Bored,” Peter replied. “I really appreciate you and Damon visiting so often. I think you’ve been here more than anyone except my mom. They had me up in rehab this morning. I think I could get around with the help of some crutches if they would let me. Dr. Gianelli says I’m mending faster than he anticipated.”
“That’s certainly good news,” Bryce commented.
“I was just asking Peter whether he’s thought of any additional details about the attack. Something that could help identify the attackers,” Damon said. “We might think we know who they are, but we have no proof.”
“And I haven’t,” Peter volunteered. “I’ve gone over it and over it. With nothing much to do except watch the boob tube, I’ve had plenty of time to think about it. I’ve replayed the scene like a stuck record, from the time I left Derek’s place to the time I passed out from the pain after that goon jumped on my leg. It’s only about half a mile from point A to point B, so not much happened. I saw one guy before the attack, and he was going in a different direction. You know, that stretch along Cypress Street where the trees are real close overhead? It gets real dark, even with the street lights. I wonder why they didn’t get me there, instead of after I reached campus. Then they could have done a thorough job on me and not been interrupted. Of course, I’m glad they didn’t. I might have lain there until morning, and been a lot worse off than I am.”
“You did tell the cops about the other person you saw, didn’t you?” Bryce asked.
“Oh, sure,” Peter replied, “right off. But it was just another guy, about a block ahead of me. He was coming out of that dark stretch about the time I started down there, and I think he must have gone off to the east. Anyway, when I came out of the green tunnel, I didn’t see him any more. Of course, I was thinking about Derek, and not about some figure in the shadows.”
“You’re sure that was not one of the guys who attacked you?” Damon persisted.
“Pretty sure. Like I said, he was about a block ahead of me, and I think I told you guys that the attackers came up behind me. I wasn’t even consciously aware of them, but I know I heard footsteps behind me for about a block before the attack. So, unless he ducked into hiding after leaving that dark spot and then joined his buddies after I passed by, it could not have been the same person,” Peter decided.
“I sure wish we could get something definite on Campbell and the Lomaxes,” Damon said. “After all this, I really want to see them spend time in jail, with no more appeals and lawyer tricks.”
“Coming from the pre-law major, that’s quite an admission,” Bryce teased his partner.
“I wanted to go into law in order to help people, but the people I had in mind were people like me, and like Vanessa, not spoiled brats and bullies like Mack and Bick,” Damon complained.
About that time, Mrs. Boyington appeared. She had become less concerned over the past few days, and so had been convinced by Peter to go back to her hotel room and rest after lunch. But she could not make herself stay away for very long. They spoke for some time about the anticipated arrival of Mr. Boyington, Peter’s father, later that evening. He had been in touch by telephone, but had been unable to leave his job during the week. Thus far, nothing had been said to him about Peter’s sexual orientation, and both he and his mother was uneasy about how that would be received.
After a few more comments about Mr. Boyington, Bryce and Damon departed. They stopped in to see Josh Young before leaving the hospital. When Bryce asked how he was, he received the same answer he got earlier from Peter.
“Bored. I even had a buddy bring me all my class texts, and spent time going over the ones I like least, but it didn’t help much. I will be so glad to get out of here,” Josh replied.
“Something else you and Peter have in common,” Damon noted. “When will you be released?”
“Later today!” Josh exclaimed with obvious satisfaction. “They’re going to run some additional tests to make sure my brain is working okay, but I should be out of here in a couple of hours.”
“If your brain working okay is the criterion, then you’ll be here forever,” Bryce teased.
Josh felt well enough to give him a disgusted look. “Just wait until the next meeting, and we’ll see whose brain is working,” he threatened.
After exchanging a few more friendly insults, Bryce and Damon departed to get something to eat before going over to the SAT house. They and most of the other brothers would be there before the party officially began to give the place a final check, just to make sure everything was where it should be for the party.
Later that evening, Bryce sat at the door, checking identifications and collecting fees. He had been there for about an hour and a half before anything interesting happened. Then, about 8:30, four guys turned up who were not welcome. Bryce immediately recognized Mack Campbell and Bick Lomax before they got anywhere near the door, and it did not take much ingenuity to deduce that the other two were Buck Lomax and Ed Cuttlesworth. He signaled Kurt to be prepared, just in case things turned nasty.
Mack was first in line, and presented his student ID and a twenty dollar bill.
Bryce responded, “Sorry, Mack, but you and your buddies are not welcome at this Sigma Alpha Tau party.”
“And just why is that, Cocksucker,” Mack sneered.
“Because of things just like that. You’re always creating problems and causing others to be uncomfortable. You guys have been at the last couple of SAT parties, and caused a disturbance at every one with your hate language and bullying attitudes,” Bryce informed them.
“If we pay our money, we get in, just like everyone else,” Bick insisted.
“No, sorry. The officers met and decided that none of you are to be admitted because of your past record,” Bryce retorted.
At that, Mack, who was the largest of the four, grabbed the table behind which Bryce was seated, and raised it over his head, roaring homophobic insults. He then turned and tossed it out into the yard. By the time he turned back, however, Kurt Bordenkircher and three other hefty members of SAT were between him and Bryce. Despite the fact that, for once, the odds were even, motivated by his anger Mack attacked Kurt, who was in the lead. There ensued a brief but violent clash, carried out mostly on the front lawn of the fraternity house. The conflict was brief because after only a few minutes two vehicles of the Campus Security, each with two officers, arrived on the scene. Bryce was pleased to see John Zoeller among them.
Party-goers had poured out of the house when the fighting began, and surrounded the invaders, preventing them from disappearing. It did not take long before the security people had the entire story. They looked very pleased at having all four of the unwelcome intruders in custody.
The city police had been called. A patrol car with flashing red lights pulled up behind one of the campus security cars, and an officer emerged. After hearing the story, and learning that he had two Lomaxes and a Cuttlesworth to deal with, the officer grinned. Evidently, those families were no more popular with the city police than with campus security.
On the testimony of Bryce and others, Mack, Bick, Buck, and Ed were charged with assault, destruction of property, and causing a public disturbance. The property destroyed was the table, which had been mangled beyond use during the fighting in the yard. There were multiple charges of assault, one for each of the SAT brothers hit by any of the four.
It was agreed that the campus officers would assist the city patrolman in transporting the hoodlums to the city jail. He definitely did not want the four of them in his car at once.
“They’ll be out by morning,” the patrolman predicted. “Their daddies will be down at headquarters screaming their heads off about police brutality. Ed Cuttlesworth is law partner with Judge Minghetti, so he’ll get a writ ordering them released pending trial, and the trial will keep getting put off. You guys will have graduated and be grandfathers before anything happens. Seen it before. But at least we’ll put them in with some nice folks in the cells for a while.”
On that discouraging note, the city policeman and the campus security officers departed with the four troublemakers in three vehicles.
Damon appeared with his hands full of money. “See how honest SAT guys and their guests are. This was scattered all across the yard,” he said as he deposited two hands full of bills in the lap of Treasurer Keith Hamilton.
“Don’t know what you can do about these,” John Luke Lansing said as he handed over another fist full of torn bills. “I guess they were victims of the melee.”
“I think the bank will work with me to determine what we can salvage from that.” Keith gratefully accepted the cash.
“Oddest assignment I’ve had so far during my pledge experiences, and with Damon as my mentor that’s saying something,” John Luke said, as he ducked the arm Damon sent out in his direction.
Everyone returned to the party. A different table was found, and a different brother was now sitting behind it, as guests continued to arrive, perhaps even drawn to the house because of the disturbances. Bryce and Damon were able to enjoy the rest of the party. It was only after the confrontation, while engaging in conversation with Derek Jensen, who, as a pledge was working behind the bar, that Bryce learned that this was the first anyone had seen of Buck Lomax since Wednesday. He had not been in the English class he shared with Derek.
A couple of hours later, Bryce’s phone went off. He looked at the screen and saw that his caller was John Zoeller, so he ducked into a corner and answered.
“Winslow?”
“Yes, it’s me, Officer Zoeller,” Bryce identified himself.
“Can you come outside for a few minutes?”
“Sure. Be right out.”
Bryce excused himself to the guys he had been talking to, and made his way outside. He noticed a campus patrol car parked across the street and down a little, so he made his way in that direction. As he approached the driver’s window, it rolled down, and John Zoeller said, “Get in the passenger side.”
Bryce got in.
“Though you might want an update,” Zoeller said. “We took all four of those troublemakers downtown and booked them. Then they were escorted to their quarters for the night. Seems somebody there at the city jail has a sense of humor. One of the Lomax boys was put in a cell with two guys who were there because their incompetent court appointed lawyer, Cuttlesworth, got them a worse deal than they deserved for an armed robbery at one of the Lomax properties. They’re waiting for transportation to the state pen. The other was put in with a guy who has been harassed by Terry Lomax over a $25 discrepancy in his bills for the past three years. Seems the guy was renting from Lomax, and was so disgusted with the lack of response to maintenance requests that he deducted that amount from his bill, and he took him to court. It was Judge Minghetti’s court, and he appointed his law partner, Ed Cuttlesworth, to represent the guy. Naturally, Cuttlesworth failed to get him off. Then, the Cuttlesworth boy was put in a cell with a couple of vagrants who are homeless because his daddy decided to sell the place where they were dossing to Lomax so he could tear down the flop house where they were living in order to throw up a cheap discount store. Campbell is not from here, so he had no local buddies to spend the night with. He was put in with four drunks who smelled like they haven’t seen a shower in the past three months at least. Of course, as was only polite, each of the boys was introduced to his cell mates by name before the door was closed on him.
“Just as we expected, Ed Cuttlesworth was down at the station before me and the other campus guys left. He was waving around some kind of writ signed by Judge Minghetti, but it just so happens that the sergeant who had the keys to the cells just went on break, and purely by accident took the keys with him. In fact, it might take quite a while to locate him. Just thought you might want to know.”
Bryce was grinning from ear to ear. “Nice to know our public defenders have a sense of humor. Thanks for the update.”
“I wish there was some way we could get those troublemakers off campus permanently,” Zoeller said. “When they get back, they’ll be worse than ever. Oh, by the way, you and I never talked this evening.”
“I understand. I really appreciate it,” Bryce assured him.
That, of course, did not mean Bryce could not share the news. He immediately spotted Kurt Bordenkircher as he re-entered the fraternity house, and, without mentioning his source, told him what he had just learned. Kurt was sporting a couple of scrapes from the earlier battle, including bruised knuckles. He chuckled at what Bryce had to tell him, and was even more appreciative when Bryce offered to buy him a beer at Pat’s whenever he wanted. Kurt said he would pass on the information to the other guys on his sergeant-at-arms staff who had been involved.
Then Bryce discovered his pledge, Roland Lyle, at the table where some food was laid out. It was necessary to restock frequently during these parties, and it looked like Roland had just completed doing so. Bryce approached.
“Doing a good job there, Pledge,” he greeted Roland.
Roland turned and, seeing Bryce, grinned. “Keeping busy, Sir. And, man, am I ever looking forward to next semester when I can enjoy the parties.”
Bryce smiled. “Anticipation adds to the enjoyment, they say.”
“Then I should have a great next semester,” Roland responded.
“As you’re local, you might appreciate some news I was just given,” Bryce said, not being able to keep such delicious morsels to himself. He proceeded to relate to Roland most of what John Zoeller had told him.
Roland grinned broadly. “My uncle on my mom’s side is a lawyer, too. He says Cuttlesworth is a total screw-up, so what you say about his clients being in jail fits. I really hope they show the Lomax brothers just how much they appreciate the family services. Ed Cuttlesworth is Terry Lomax’s brother-in-law, you know. And Uncle Mark has no respect for Judge Minghetti at all. He says he take bribes. But he’s the only one my uncle is down on. Most of our local judges are pretty honest and capable men and women. Don’t judge all of Clifton from these few bad apples.”
“Oh, I’m not. On the whole, I’ve had very positive experiences with the locals, including some scallywag who wants to join my fraternity,” Bryce replied.
“No! What impertinence!” Roland clowned.
At that point, Bob Balducci happened by. “Table needs replenishing, Lyle,” he announced.
Roland looked. “Damn! Just about everything I laid out not ten minutes ago is gone. Back to work. Sir!”
“Remember, anticipation,” Bryce teased him, as Roland made his way back to the kitchen.
Only after this exchange did Bryce locate Damon. He was in another room, and talking to a black student not known to Bryce, so he hesitated to interrupt. However, when Damon saw Bryce, he motioned for him to join them, saying, “Here’s Bryce. He’s the guy who was at the door when those apes tried to get in. Bryce, this is Denny Burgess. Denny had the terrible misfortune to join a different fraternity, the one Mike and Dave are in. But other than that he’s not such a bad guy. He’s in my PoliSci class.”
Bryce shook hands with Denny. “I hope you’re enjoying that class more than Damon. He breaks out in a cold sweat whenever he talks about it.”
“I don’t know why,” Denny replied. “Damon talks more in class than anyone else, and he got the second highest mark on his mid-term.”
Bryce gave Damon an accusing look. “Have you been putting me on all semester?”
“No, honest. That class freaks me out. I might talk a lot, but I’m just babbling,” Damon defended himself.
“Babbling, hell,” Denny said. “I wish I knew half as much as you spout off in there.”
“How do you know Damon’s grade on the mid-term was the second highest?” Bryce asked.
“Professor Stevens used a multiple choice, fill in the blank type test for mid-term. Then he posted the grades on the bulletin board next to his office door,” Denny informed him.
“Isn’t that some kind of violation of privacy?” Bryce commented.
“Oh, he didn’t post our names. He used our student ID number, and listed them by number, not alphabetically,” Denny said. “I just happen to know Damon’s number because I’ve seen him write it on the papers he turns in. Just nosy, I guess.”
“Damned spy,” Damon mumbled.
“But, hey, I hear you were right in the middle of the mix up with the Lomaxes and Cuttlesworths and others,” Denny changed the subject, addressing Bryce.
“Yeah, I was at the door, checking IDs and collecting money when they showed up. Curtis, our fraternity president, told me earlier that the officers decided not to admit those guys because they caused trouble at every party they’ve been to this semester. That’s what got them started,” Bryce informed him.
”Well, I hope they rot in jail. Those guys have been causing trouble for everyone around them since they were in pre-school, I think. They got me once when I was about nine. All three of them - Bick, Buck, and Eddie - ganged up on me after a game when we beat the socks off those private school kids,” Denny remembered.
“Oh, you’re local?” Bryce asked.
“Yeah. But I went to the public schools. Folk like the Lomaxes and the Cuttlesworths go to Clifton Prep,” Denny replied.
“Now don’t knock Prep.” That came from Roland Lyle, who was carrying a large serving tray with more comestibles towards the table in this room.
“Oh, another Preppie,” Denny teased. “Hi, Roland. I was just telling your brothers about our esteemed Prep graduates.”
“I heard you. And Bryce already told me about Lomax and Cuttlesworth,” Roland replied. “If you make any more negative comments about my alma mater, I’ll tell Malcolm he can charge you double.”
“Oh, no, not that!” Denny shrank back in mock horror.
“Is that by any chance the Malcolm who guards cars at the St. Vincent de Paul soup kitchen?” Bryce asked.
“Not by any chance. The little gouger is my cousin. He keeps trying to charge me double, coming up with the most outrageous reasons.”
“So, you help out at the soup kitchens. Great. We do, too, and it’s all the doing of Damon,” Bryce lauded his partner.
“How so?” Denny asked.
“When I first met Damon, last fall, freshman year, he was already helping out there. Then he got me involved. After a while, we got SAT involved. It kind of grew,” Bryce explained.
Denny explained, “Mike Sandoval made a pitch at one of our meetings not too long ago. I sort of knew the place was there, but never paid much attention. I’m glad we got involved. Even if I do have to put up with my little cousin trying to milk me dry every time I show up.”
“Malcolm’s a real entrepreneur,” Bryce said. “But if he’s your cousin, was that your grandmother, too, that he was telling me about? The one who got evicted by Cuttlesworth?”
“Yeah. Sons of bitches!” Denny said with some heat. “Meemaw was renting a tiny apartment from Ed Cuttlesworth and his brother in a house they sold to Terry Lomax who wanted the site so he could throw up another cheap discount house. They gave her about three days’ notice, and when she wasn’t out they had the workers move all her stuff out on the curb. She just sat there, kind of in shock. Thank goodness for kind neighbors, who took her in and called my mom. She’s at our place now. We offered before, but she wanted her independence. Now she just kind of sits around. I think the experience broke her spirit.”
“Your description reminds me of what I learned earlier this evening. I was told Ed Cuttleworth ... the student who was in the brawl earlier ... was put in a cell with some guys picked up for vagrancy. They were vagrants because the Cuttlesworths had evicted them from their rooming house to make room for a discount store,” Bryce shared some of what John Zoeller told him.
Denny broke out in a great “Yes!” at the top of his voice and pumped his fist in the air. “There really is justice! I hope he enjoys his stay at the public expense for a very long time.”
“That seems unlikely, but at least he’ll get to know some of his father’s former clients first hand,” Bryce grinned.
On the whole, it was an enjoyable party.