a moment. “And an artist. My art is the theater. That is the context I was speaking in.”
“Kris was in your class, then?”
“In my English class and she was involved in drama after school.”
“Did you work closely with her?”
LeMond nodded. “I did. I was trying to produce a one-act play that I wrote. She was going to star in it.”
“Before she ran away?”
“No,” he said. “Before Principal Jenkins became involved.”
“What does that mean?”
LeMond sighed. “What type of work do you do, Mr. Kopriva?”
“None,” I said. “I’m retired .”
He raised an eyebrow questioningly, but when I didn’t offer any further explanation, he shrugged it away. “Well, you are awar e of the term ‘office politics,’ are you not?”
“Of course.”
“Well, that is what I’m referring to. School politics.”
“I still don’t understand what—“
“Essentially,” LeMond said, “ Marie Byrnes carped at Jenkins long enough and hard enough that he probably got tired of listening, so he came down here to my office and told me that we would not be producing my play. We would produce a play that had more parts instead of just the one. He said it was so that more students could participate in acting roles.” He gave a disgusted snort. “As if there wasn’t enough lighting and set and costume design to keep everyone busy.”
“So he cancelled your play?”
“Exactly. Even though it is my year to produce and direct and with that comes the privilege of selecting the work to be produced.”
“How’d Kris take that?”
LeMond shrugged. “I didn’t notice.”
You didn’t notice? I thought with surprise, but then I realized that he had probably been too intent on how the decision affected him to notice the fallout it caused with anyone else.
“I suppose it must have upset her,” he offered. “She quit drama shortly after the cancellation.”
“Before that happened, had she seemed upset about anything?”
“No.”
“Mention any problems?”
He shook his head.
“Does she have a boyfriend?”
LeMond’s eyebrows raised in surprise, then he smiled and shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“Girls like Kris spend most of their time brushing aside clumsy attempts to court them by high school boys.”
“How about college boys?”
He shrugged. “I doubt it. At least nothing steady.”
“Again, why not?”
“She spent a lot of time rehearsing,” LeMond said. “I don’t think there was a lot of time for dating. Not for her.”
“Do you have any idea why she might’ve run away from home?”
“You mean do I think there were problems at home, don’t you?”
I half-shrugged, half-nodded.
LeMond considered. “I don’t think so,” he said finally. “I got the impression that both her mother and father were rather simple people, but not cruel. I just don’t think they understood her.”
“Understood what?”
“What you saw in that picture of her,” LeMond said. “What I saw her do on the stage. What every boy and every girl in this school saw.”
“Which is?”
But LeMond only smiled at me and shook his head. “I don’t know where she’d go, Mr. Kopriva, though I very much doubt she’d go to the homes of those girls she called friends. I don’t even know if she’d stay in River City, which after all, is a very small place in this world.”
And the world is an ugly place, I thought, remembering Marie Byrnes’s words.
“I hope she comes back soon,” LeMond said, “And safely. She is missed.”
16
I spoke with three more teachers, but didn’t learn anything new. After that, Bill was plenty happy to walk me out to the parking lot. That happiness evaporated when I asked him to call a cab for me. He had to wait with me for it to arrive. We stood in silence for five minutes before I tried to rebuild some of the bridges between us.
“You’re head of security here, right, Bill?”
“Yup,” he grunted.
“Probably have a
“Kris was in your class, then?”
“In my English class and she was involved in drama after school.”
“Did you work closely with her?”
LeMond nodded. “I did. I was trying to produce a one-act play that I wrote. She was going to star in it.”
“Before she ran away?”
“No,” he said. “Before Principal Jenkins became involved.”
“What does that mean?”
LeMond sighed. “What type of work do you do, Mr. Kopriva?”
“None,” I said. “I’m retired .”
He raised an eyebrow questioningly, but when I didn’t offer any further explanation, he shrugged it away. “Well, you are awar e of the term ‘office politics,’ are you not?”
“Of course.”
“Well, that is what I’m referring to. School politics.”
“I still don’t understand what—“
“Essentially,” LeMond said, “ Marie Byrnes carped at Jenkins long enough and hard enough that he probably got tired of listening, so he came down here to my office and told me that we would not be producing my play. We would produce a play that had more parts instead of just the one. He said it was so that more students could participate in acting roles.” He gave a disgusted snort. “As if there wasn’t enough lighting and set and costume design to keep everyone busy.”
“So he cancelled your play?”
“Exactly. Even though it is my year to produce and direct and with that comes the privilege of selecting the work to be produced.”
“How’d Kris take that?”
LeMond shrugged. “I didn’t notice.”
You didn’t notice? I thought with surprise, but then I realized that he had probably been too intent on how the decision affected him to notice the fallout it caused with anyone else.
“I suppose it must have upset her,” he offered. “She quit drama shortly after the cancellation.”
“Before that happened, had she seemed upset about anything?”
“No.”
“Mention any problems?”
He shook his head.
“Does she have a boyfriend?”
LeMond’s eyebrows raised in surprise, then he smiled and shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“Girls like Kris spend most of their time brushing aside clumsy attempts to court them by high school boys.”
“How about college boys?”
He shrugged. “I doubt it. At least nothing steady.”
“Again, why not?”
“She spent a lot of time rehearsing,” LeMond said. “I don’t think there was a lot of time for dating. Not for her.”
“Do you have any idea why she might’ve run away from home?”
“You mean do I think there were problems at home, don’t you?”
I half-shrugged, half-nodded.
LeMond considered. “I don’t think so,” he said finally. “I got the impression that both her mother and father were rather simple people, but not cruel. I just don’t think they understood her.”
“Understood what?”
“What you saw in that picture of her,” LeMond said. “What I saw her do on the stage. What every boy and every girl in this school saw.”
“Which is?”
But LeMond only smiled at me and shook his head. “I don’t know where she’d go, Mr. Kopriva, though I very much doubt she’d go to the homes of those girls she called friends. I don’t even know if she’d stay in River City, which after all, is a very small place in this world.”
And the world is an ugly place, I thought, remembering Marie Byrnes’s words.
“I hope she comes back soon,” LeMond said, “And safely. She is missed.”
16
I spoke with three more teachers, but didn’t learn anything new. After that, Bill was plenty happy to walk me out to the parking lot. That happiness evaporated when I asked him to call a cab for me. He had to wait with me for it to arrive. We stood in silence for five minutes before I tried to rebuild some of the bridges between us.
“You’re head of security here, right, Bill?”
“Yup,” he grunted.
“Probably have a
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