“Answer some questions for me yes or no,” I said, still not sure what to tell him. “Was your accuser present in class this morning?”

“Yes.”

“Was she sitting in the top row?”

“Yes.”

“Was she wearing…? Never mind. All the girls were wearing the same damn thing.”

Mark actually laughed.

“What will you do if you get suspended or fired?”

“Go back to bartending. I made good money as a bartender.”

Bad question. I tried another one. “What do you know about Club Cavalier?”

Mark took his eyes off the road to look at me. “Where did you hear about Club Cavalier?”

“I heard some people talking about it. What kind of a place is it?”

“It’s a local topless bar. A hangout for students, among others.”

“And girls dance there?”

Mark looked at me again. “Why the sudden interest in topless bars?”

“Have you ever been there?”

“Lillian! What kind of a question is that?”

“An unfair one, but, nevertheless, humor me and answer it.”

“No, I’ve never been there. I won’t try to make you believe that I’ve never been to a topless bar, but I figured that a brand new instructor should conduct himself in an impeccable manner. A lot of good that did me,” he added, bitterly.

“Well, if you get fired you can always tend bar there,” I said, trying to cheer him up.

“Yeah, wouldn’t that be the ultimate irony? But you still haven’t told me what you did all day.”

“Oh, I hung out,” I said, using a student expression I had overheard. “Walked around, played some chess. Nothing very exciting. Oh, I did have a nice meeting with Patricia Estavez.”

“I’ll bet. Tell me about it.”

Chapter 4

“The meeting will come to order,” I joked, striking my coffee cup with my spoon in lieu of banging a gavel. It was Saturday, the day after my visit to Crescent Heights College with Mark.