September 20
Jeanne shifted her way through the row and into the aisle, then walked carefully up to the stage. She eyed Mr. Walsh as she approached, trying to figure out his motives; however, her heart was racing from embarassment and potential shame, and that threw off her perceptions. She had to concentrate on her footsteps, so as not to stumble.
As she came closer, Mr. Walsh reached into his shirt pocket and removed a piece of newspaper. He unfolded it and handed it to her, sitting back down on the stage. “Miss LaFayette, please read the headline aloud to the class.”
She glanced over the newspaper clipping before beginning. It was from that morning’s Tribune-Review, and looked like it had been torn from the rest of the newspaper in an awful hurry. “City Councilman Flay Arrested On Corruption Charges,” she said. “Deacon’s dad is in trouble?”
Mr. Walsh nodded. “Specifically, for bribing and coercing school boards,” he said. “It must run in the family.” The students laughed, and Jeanne got a little chuckle out of it. “In any event, he doesn’t have the ability to fire us anymore. Which means he can’t force us to protect his son anymore.”
“So that means we can go nuts on him, right?” shouted a boy in the second row– Ian, Jeanne noted; there was obviously no honor among bullies. It took him all of two minutes to turn on his friend.
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