Chapter 30 #2
“I . . .” I looked at the dean. “No offense, you’re the last person I would ask to lie for me, if I ever needed anyone to lie for me. Which, for the record, I never have.”
Dean Cole’s smile was a wide one and possibly genuine. “It was a joke. And a test, I admit.” His gaze flicked to Dante’s, and I wondered who the test was for.
“How can I help you? I assume you want advice?”
I shifted in my seat. “My brother told me his bully had been bothering him.” I cleared my throat. “He didn’t want to tell me, because, as I said, I’ve had words with Brock before.” I saw the dean didn’t need an elaboration on what ‘words’ meant. “And Tate, my brother, was worried I’d maybe visit.”
The dean didn’t look at all surprised that Tate had made this assumption.
“He didn’t,” Dante cut in. “Just so you remember that.”
The dean gave him a flat stare and returned his attention to me.
“Long story short, Dean Cole, Tate took matters into his own hands.”
“He stood up to his bully?” The dean looked impressed. “Well, that’s a good thing.”
“He broke his arm.”
The dean pursed his lips. “Oh. I’m sorry to hear that. Is your brother okay?”
“No. Tate broke the bully’s arm.” I saw the surprise.
“Yeah, I had the same reaction. He decided to stand up to him, to stop me from going down there, and from what I can tell, Brock didn’t react well, so Tate threw the first punch.
” I quickly looked the dean over. “Tate’s pretty much the same size as you, sir. Brock’s more or less like me.”
“I see.”
“Tate,” Dante stepped in easily, “is smart, and while we don’t know if he did it on purpose, he said he’d read a tutorial on how to break an arm.”
“A clean break,” I added, wincing when I realized that sounded even more intentional. “I believe he told the administration that when they questioned him.”
“Because Brock? Right?” he asked, and I nodded. “Because Brock reported him for the attack?” Dean Cole surmised. “Of course, so typical.” He looked between us. “I’m still struggling to understand why you’re here.”
“He’s suspended for a week, and it’ll go on his academic record.”
The dean nodded. “Yes, it would.”
I leaned forward. “He did it for me, sir. He knew I’d come down. I need to ask his school to drop it. And I don’t know how.”
“You’re not the parent,” the dean said coolly. “While I appreciate your concern for your brother, he’s only seventeen and still a minor. This is for his parents to fix.”
I held his stare. “That won’t work for me. My dad will tell him it’s not a big deal, and my mom will probably try to talk him into coming home and moving to a school nearer them.”
“And is either of those options so bad?” The dean was calm and casual. “College far from home isn’t always a good thing for some people. Parental supervision is sometimes needed over and above the legal age of adulthood.”
We both pretended we didn’t hear Dante’s snort.
The dean was no help to me. I still didn’t know why Dante brought me here.
“Okay.” I sat back in my seat.
“What’s worse?” Dante asked. “The suspension or the mark against him?”
The dean shrugged. “The record, of course. If he goes on to do a master’s or anything else, it will be there.”
Dante nodded. “Then we would appreciate it if you told us how to ask for that to be lifted. What buzzwords do we need to make sure we include in our talk with the school?”
“There are no buzzwords, Dante. It’s an administrative decision. Tate, from what I hear, told them what happened and said he read a tutorial,” he asked, and I nodded. “Noah is right. It looks intentional, even if it wasn’t. It looks like he planned to attack his attacker and cause harm.”
“So there’s nothing?” I asked, and I fought down the bubble of frustration. “I should have gone sooner,” I muttered as I looked out the window and fumed internally.
“Then that’s just plain assault,” the dean said, his tone cold.
“They haven’t involved the authorities, or else your brother would be telling you he was being charged.
I think from what you’ve said, they have looked at the case as a whole, considered the history, and perhaps this academic probation will be as severe as it gets. ”
I hadn’t thought of that.
“I didn’t think of the police,” I murmured.
“We handle so much on campus,” the dean said with a placid smile. “I think students forget they’re not always in a bubble of safety.”
“So there’s nothing to do?” Dante asked, and the way he said it made me look at him.
“What do you want from me, Dante? I am not the dean of Tate’s school.”
“But you could call him. Them. No?”
“And say what? A student of yours I’ve never met stood up to his bully, and now he’s getting a light punishment, and his brother isn’t happy?” The dean’s tone was slightly mocking.
“Sounds good to me.”
I stared at Dante with wide eyes. “Dante,” I murmured.
“The world doesn’t work like that, Spence. I’m sorry, Noah, there’s nothing I can do for you. I think you just need to accept that your brother got off lightly, given the severity of his actions. A broken arm is quite serious.”
I nodded and pushed myself to my feet. “Sir.”
Dante was still in his chair; his gaze locked on the dean. “Could you call?” He didn’t blink. “Is it something that deans do?”
Dean Cole gave him a hard stare. “I’m not in the practice of meddling in how other institutions run their operations.”
“But could you call them?”
“No.”
“Dean Cole, thank you for your time,” I said, speaking over whatever Dante was going to say. “I never looked at the bigger picture, you’re right, they could have done worse. Thank you for your time.” I tapped Dante’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”
Dante sat for a moment longer and then pushed off the chair. “Thank you for your time.”
We saw ourselves out, and when we were outside, I rounded on my friend. “What the fuck was that?”
Dante shrugged. “He was the only one I knew you’d listen to.”
“What?” I gaped at him. “You knew he wouldn’t call?”
He put on his sunglasses, then took them off to polish them on his shirt. “Guessed it.” He saw my look. “C’mon Noah, you were never going to listen to me, Dust, or anyone else. So I took you to an academic professional who would tell you bluntly and from a position of authority.”
He started walking back to campus.
“So what was all the eyeballing and challenging?” I asked him.
Dante grinned. “He pissed me off with the comment about asking for his blessing, and then the smartass remark about ‘parental supervision is still needed.’ Cock.”
I pulled his arm to make him stop. “Wait a minute, you took me there, to the dean’s house, on a Sunday, so I wouldn’t go to Texas and possibly make things worse, and then you just pissed off the dean because he pissed you off?”
Dante put his sunglasses on and grinned at me. “Pretty much.” He tapped my arm lightly with his fist. “You’re welcome.”
“Why do you think I should thank you?” I asked him in bewilderment.
“Because I solved the problem. You see the reasoning now and know Tate’s school actually did him a favor. Plus, Brock will see how lightly Tate got off and know he’s getting no sympathy.” He resumed walking. “Now, let’s go fix this social media mess you created.”
He was right. I hadn’t thought past the anger. I’d been ready to fly to Texas and kick someone’s door in, when Tate had actually gotten off light.
I wasn’t sure I liked the way he handled that. Wasn’t sure whether to thank him or punch him, but Dante hadn’t given him a speech. He’d found a better way to get through to me. He wouldn’t say that out loud.
I followed him back to the dorm, thinking one thing only. There was no way I was stopping the social media posts; I didn’t give a fuck how clever he thought he was.