Simon Said by Sarah Shaber Read Free Book Online Page B

just from participating in the seminar and completing a paper. But I gave Bs to others whose papers were much more thoughtful. If I'd given him a B, I would have had to raise three others to As, and they just weren't that quality."
"Listen, damn it," Andrus said. "I read his paper and I thought it was a B effort." "But you weren't teaching the course," Marcus Clegg said quietly. "Simon was. He gave the grades, not you. We must support his decisions."
     
"Not if he's incompetent, we shouldn't."
     
A stunned silence fell over the table. Jesus God, thought Simon, so this is what this is all about. He felt dampness begin to collect under his armpits and around his groin. Marcus exploded. "Of all the ignorant, insensitive things you have ever said and done, Alex, this is the worst. You—"
     
"Hold it!" Jones said. "Alex, you owe us an explanation. Right now."
     
"Ask Professor Shaw if he isn't taking medication for emotional problems," Andrus said.
     
"This is reprehensible," Marcus said.
     
"It's okay, Marcus," Simon said. Perspiration began to trickle down his back and sides, pooling in the crevices of his body. His head began to pound.
     
"It's true that I've been treated for clinical depression recently," Simon said. "You all know that my wife left me, and the last few months have been very difficult." "If I thought Simon couldn't do his job, I would have suggested that he take a leave of absence," Jones said.
    "Most normal people, Alex, of which I am sure you are not one, have some down times in their lives when they aren't as productive as others," Marcus Clegg said. "If Simon had broken his leg, we would give him time to heal from that. Emotional illness is no different."
    Let's just hang out a sign, Simon thought. Let's get the cable access channel for an hour. Maybe CNN would pick it up and tell the world, right between the invasion of the week and the disease of the month.
"If I thought I wasn't fit to teach, I wouldn't teach," Simon said. "Bobby Hinton's paper is a C paper."
    "I think we should all read it and see if we agree," Andrus said.
"Out of the question," Vera Thayer said. "We don't check behind senior faculty."
    "Goddamn it!" Andrus shouted. "Let's just all stand behind our famous Pulitzer Prize winner! Never mind that he can hardly make it into the office in the morning. Never mind that my protege's career is ruined!"
"You're excused, right now, Alex. Don't show your face in this building until you are prepared to apologize," Jones said.
     
"I'll appeal this to the dean. Don't think I won't!" Andrus said as he stalked out of the room.
     
"If you've ever needed a reason not to renew his contract, you've got it now," Marcus Clegg said to Jones. "The man has navel lint where his brain should be."
     
"I don't have cause to cancel his contract. You know that," Jones said. "Can't we squelch the appeal somehow?" asked Thayer. "This could be embarrassing to the whole department."
     
Simon knew now why Thayer had defended him. She was a tough grader, and she didn't want this case to set a precedent.
    Everyone avoided looking at Simon, who was fighting to subject his nervous system to manual control. His clothing was damp, his stomach hurt, and a migraine aura appeared in the left corner of his field of vision. To his surprise, his voice sounded fairly normal when he spoke.
    "If you want my resignation, you have it," Simon said. Hell, he'd always really wanted to teach high school. Maybe junior college. Anything would be better than having his personal problems spread all over the campus.
"If you resign, I'll resign, too," said Clegg.
    "Don't you dare!" snapped Jones. "I'm not accepting any resignations from anybody. I refuse to lose my faculty to some stupid, jealous departmental bickering. Is that understood? We'll deal with this." He didn't leave any time for a response before he went on.
    "We can't stop him from appealing to the dean if he really wants to," Jones said. "But I'll talk to Alex and do my