Secret Father
“Jones, the residence hall director, a man I had never met but whose name was on the previous fall's welcome letter that I found in my desk. The student did not know the private number, nor if there was one. He said he'd find out, and once again the phone dropped into the oceanic limbo of sounds—harsh laughter, throbbing music, a shout. At last a rough voice grunted its hello, a brusque impatience that made me realize both that this was Mr. Jones and that he had just been woken from sleep.
"I am the father of one of your students, Mr. Jones, and I am looking for him." "Who is that?" "Michael Montgomery." At once the stark silence of his nonreply registered in the knob at the base of my spine. I knew somehow to take his hesitation as the main revelation.
"Michael Montgomery," I repeated, only now with the inflection of demand.
"And you are?" "Paul Montgomery. His father. I am calling you from Frankfurt." "Michael is a five-day boarder, Mr. Montgomery. It is Mister, isn't it?" Most Wiesb...aden fathers would have been addressed by rank, and I sensed Jones's relief to be up against another mere civilian.MoreLess
"I am the father of one of your students, Mr. Jones, and I am looking for him." "Who is that?" "Michael Montgomery." At once the stark silence of his nonreply registered in the knob at the base of my spine. I knew somehow to take his hesitation as the main revelation.
"Michael Montgomery," I repeated, only now with the inflection of demand.
"And you are?" "Paul Montgomery. His father. I am calling you from Frankfurt." "Michael is a five-day boarder, Mr. Montgomery. It is Mister, isn't it?" Most Wiesb...aden fathers would have been addressed by rank, and I sensed Jones's relief to be up against another mere civilian.MoreLess
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