Perilous Assurance
Chapter IV
"Hello?"
"Mattie, have you heard what's going on?"
"No, Fran, what's wrong?" Mattie leaned forward and set her clipboard and students' papers she was grading down beside her on the sofa.
"The sit-in. It's turned violent."
"Oh no...no. I've got to get over there."
"Mattie, that might not be a good idea. I heard that there are police and reporters everywhere."
"I'll call you later, Fran."
"Then I'm not letting you go alone, Mattie. I'll meet you at the gate." Fran spoke hurriedly. "Jerry's not here right now."
"All right." She hung up the phone and practically lept off the sofa, getting to her closet and pulling out her long black coat. What on earth could have happened? When she'd checked on the fifty or so students the night before, they were sitting peacefully on the steps of the Administration Building with their signs. No singing, no chanting, just quietly sitting. They must have made good their pledge and spent the night, and now it was around ten Saturday morning. She locked the front door and headed to the quad, already hearing the sirens in the distance, and she lowered her head as the strong wind swirled her hair in every direction. Seeing Fran to her left as she neared the iron fence, she paused at the open gate, and waited for her friend to catch up with her. Fran, her head covered with a burgundy wool scarf knotted at her neck, was frantically buttoning the front of her long, tan and burgundy plaid coat as she ran up to her, and Mattie nodded solemnly to her as she approached. They slammed the gate behind them and hurried up the sidewalk, hearing the heart-stopping shrillness of multiple sirens. They were both winded by the time they entered the quad, and they stood between the buildings, horrified at the scene before them.
"Oh my God." Mattie looked around her, aghast at what she saw. To her right, handcuffed students stood in a line, obviously waiting for transport to the precinct. They were guarded by several baton-wielding officers. Others, closer to the Administration Building to her left had dropped to the ground, in passive resistance...as officers roughly attempted to pull their limp bodies off the ground. The students tucked their heads down on their chests and were making no sound, no responses to the police that she could tell. She could see masses of students on the other side of the quad, coming out from their dorms to see what was going on, hanging out around that side of the lawn, their arms folded across their chests as they silently watched their fellow students dragged along the quad by their bent arms, their hands handcuffed behind them.
"Look, Mattie...reporters." Fran pointed to several men in suits and hats, milling around with their cameras, recording the interraction between the students and police, and Mattie saw at least ten of her students at various locations on the quad - either already hand-cuffed or in the process of passive resistance.
"Oh...Fran, there's another one of my students - Matthew." Mattie held her swirling hair down on one side of her face and pointed to him as he lay on the cold ground, his arms up behind him as a policeman handcuffed him. "You realize that all these students will be expelled, don't you?"
"Yes, P.B made that abundantly clear in the memo." Fran frowned at her. "Where are you going?"
"I have to do something." Mattie walked as quickly as she could toward one of the officers guarding the line of students, frustrated that she was limping so badly. Several students turned their heads, their hair blowing in their faces as she approached, but none spoke. "Officer....officer, please." She held out her arm toward the officer and he turned as she approached the line.
"Yes, miss?"
"Is this necessary?" Mattie leaned toward him, trying to look into his eyes, as the icy wind picked up in intensity.
"Yes miss, it is." He seemed slightly annoyed at her intrusion, and turned his head to watch the students.
"Will they all be arrested?"
"Yes." Now he turned back to look at her, and she could see that he was really annoyed.
"Is there something I can do to help?"
"No, there isn't." He looked down at her as she held her hair back from her forehead with one hand and answered her sarcastically. "We've got this under control."
"No, I mean, will they need to have someone vouch for them at the police station?"
"Their parents will be called, and they'll have to come and pick them up and pay their fines." Now, he was obviously agitated at her. "I'm busy, miss, and need to get back to my job."
"All right." She looked over at the line of students and back around toward Fran, who was standing with her arms crossed to keep warm, and stopped cold as she saw him...standing off to the right of her friend, having obviously just lowered his camera. She stared at him for a moment as he watched her, then he let go of the camera, resting it against his chest. His hand dropped to his side, and she could see the dead serious look on his face. She saw Fran turn to follow her gaze, and glance back at him. Why was he here again? What was he up to?
"Professor Shaw."
She heard her name whispered from the line and turned back to see one of her hand-cuffed students nod at her. She walked over to her.
"Janie...are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Professor Shaw." Janie shook her head. "It's worth it. My brother's over there...he's tired of the senseless killing. And I know he's not coming home. I'm doing it for him."
"I understand." Mattie felt tears sting her eyes as she hugged the girl with her free arm. The policeman motioned with his baton in no uncertain terms for her to leave the area, and she nodded. "Take care, Janie."
"I will, Professor Shaw."
Mattie turned around to leave, and saw Fran still standing in front of the gray stone building. She scanned the area quickly, but saw no sign of him. She hurried back to her friend, as leaves flew up around her and they huddled together.
"Mattie, I don't know if you should have gotten involved...."
"Ladies, may I interrupt you?"
They turned their heads simultaneously to see a reporter, notebook in hand. His assistant stood behind him with a large television camera hoisted on his shoulder.
"Is that thing on?" Fran demanded.
"No, not yet." He spoke quickly as her held onto his brown hat with one hand, and they all lowered their heads against a sudden gust of wind. "I'd like to ask you a few questions." He hurried on without giving them a chance to answer. "What are your names and what do you think of the scene before you?"
"No, thank you, we have to leave." Mattie turned abruptly, almost losing her balance, and Fran grabbed her arm, and they walked as fast as they could back between the buildings. They stopped at the black iron bench, out of sight of the reporter, and sat down, huddling together.
"I feel like such a coward." Mattie reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes, as her hair swirled around her and she tried to catch her breath. "I should have done more. Should I have tried to stop them from arresting the students?"
"No. No, Mattie, we'd lose our jobs in a heartbeat if we tried to pull one of those policemen off a student and be arrested as well." Fran lamented. "I've said it before, our hands are tied. There's no telling who else was watching. I'm fearful for your job, now."
"I can't keep seeing this happen to my students though, without wanting to do something." She felt like she would burst out in tears. "I should have done more."
"Again, Mattie. P.B. warned them. Unfortunately, he has every right to have them arrested for disturbing the peace on his private property, or whatever they'll decide to charge them with. By the way, who was that man behind me you were staring at?"
"I just know that his name is Clay." Mattie wiped her eyes. "He was at the last protest too."
"Hmm..mm. We were worried about outsiders at Brooksford."
"I know." Mattie swallowed hard and shook her head. "Fran, it's all so sad." They both turned to look toward the quad as they heard the waning sirens of vehicles leaving the small college and the progressively louder sirens of vehicles entering the campus.