Read Online London Calling by Edward Bloor - Free Book Online Page B

and looked around. He pointed at his son and said tightly, “Let’s go.”
    Father Thomas, in the doorway, told him gently, “You can, of course, appeal this decision.”
    “Yeah? To who?”
    “To the board of directors.”
    Mr. Manetti pointed back inside the office. “To him and his buddies?”
    “No. Mr. Livingstone is only one member of a five-member board. They are all independent members, I assure you. They will give you a fair hearing.”
    Mr. Manetti put one hand on his son’s shoulder and stood motionless. He sounded more embarrassed than angry when he finally said, “All right. I’ll think about that.” Then he led his son out the door.
    Father Thomas pointed to Pinak and me. “You two can come back in now. The matter is settled.”
    We took the same seats we had recently vacated. None of the adults looked particularly happy about what had just happened. Father Thomas summarized for us. “The students’ statements, and the eyewitness account by Father Leonard, and common sense all lay the blame in one place—on the boy who actually threw the rock that caused the damage. The final result of this investigation, then, is that young Mr. Manetti has been expelled from All Souls Preparatory School. I suggest we all leave this unfortunate incident behind us now and move on. Are we agreed?”
    Pinak whispered something to his father. Dr. Chander spoke up. “Before I agree, I would like to ask you about the discrepancies between Pinak’s statement and the Lowery boy’s statement.”
    “Yes, Doctor?”
    “How did you reconcile these two different views of the same incident?”
    “Well, they did disagree on the events leading up to the incident, but they did
not
disagree on the incident itself, that is, the rock-throwing that damaged the pedestal. I guess I am inclined to let the boys disagree on the peripheral facts as long as they agree on the basic facts.”
    Pinak whispered to his father again, and Dr. Chander asked, “Wouldn’t someone who lied about the peripheral facts also lie about the basic facts?”
    “Yes, Doctor, that is an excellent point. That’s why I am thankful that we have these other statements to go on.” He picked up the blue file for emphasis. This caused an envelope to slip out of it and fall at Mom’s feet. We both stared at the handwriting on the envelope. It was Mom’s, just as she had addressed it on the last day of school.
    Mom picked it up and examined it closely. She asked, “Why is this envelope still sealed?”
    Father Thomas reached over and took it back, assuring her, “Because I remembered Martin’s verbal statement so clearly. This written version was just a formality. A backup, if you will.”
    Pinak looked at me and slowly raised his eyebrows.
    Dr. Chander took Pinak’s arm, stood up, and led him toward the door. He told Father Thomas pointedly, “My son and I must be going now. I rearranged
my
schedule for this meeting, Father. Unlike some others. I agree that you should punish the boy who threw the stone. Perhaps not so severely? But I would also look into punishing the boys who lied to you, whoever they are. Good day.”
    Father Thomas took a step toward the door with them; he answered grimly, “Good day, Doctor. Thank you.” Then he turned back to us. “Perhaps the punishment today was so severe because the implications of this vandalism were so severe.”
    No one disagreed, so he continued. “The Heroes’ Walk is the biggest construction project at All Souls since the Lowery Library went up twenty years ago. As such, it has implications beyond a mere construction project. We all hope that the dedication of the statue of General Lowery will be part of a larger, national tribute to our distinguished alumnus.”
    He broke off and looked directly at Margaret. “We have received word that a major encyclopedia is about to include General Lowery in its new entries. Let us hope that this inspires other reference books to do the same. And I am delighted