Karyn's
first dose of social consequence came indirectly. Without the vinegar
of her father's rebuke, Karyn might easily have taken it to prove the
superiority of her gambit. Frank's creative writing study partner,
Cardiff, ran in to Karyn in the hall.
“Have you
seen Tyne around?” Cardiff asked. “Frank was trying to get in
touch with her.”
Karyn might
have been forgiven for thinking Frank was looking for Bitumen's
nemesis, but something made her ask herself if Frank was that
transparent. She was coming to the conclusion that the jocular
simpleton was an act, and that Frank used pratfalls as an excuse to
offend his enemies.
True, Frank
was not the most astute, in assigning his allegiances, but when Frank
selected a target, it reliably fell.
Karyn
thought quickly. “Can I give Tyne a message for him, if I see her?”
she asked.
“Just that
he's looking to buy.”
“Thanks,
I'll be sure and tell her,” Karyn lied. So it's drugs, she thought.
What else don't I know about Frank?
As she went
on with her day, Karyn attributed the casual acceptance of her bona
fides, by the likes of Cardiff, to her roll in the hay with Terrell.
However,
Karyn did not regard this resource as indispensable. She lost no time
putting word out to the rumor mill, that Tyne was a snitch on the
(plagiarized) term paper network. She reasoned that this news would
turn Bitumen and her adherents on Tyne, and hamper the drug trade for
a time. And maybe term paper plagiarism, too? If it did, it was
gravy.
Karyn
followed this with a competing rumor, intended for Tyne's camp, in
the person of a misdirected Frank. Her story to him went, that
Bitumen was trying to introduce pharmaceutical grade Californian weed
on campus. Karyn intended Frank to set the competing camps at each
others' throats.
Instead,
Frank unexpectedly went straight to Bitumen. When he showed up on the
promenade, claiming privileged information, Bitumen knew that she was
not guilty, and the lie was a complete failure. However, Karyn lost
less than she might have. Bitumen saw no reason to deny outright, to
Frank, that she was selling marijuana. She wanted to know if Frank
knew anything else.
“I'll have
to check and see if anybody's heard anything about that,” Bitumen
strung Frank along. “I don't really know you. By the way, where did
you hear about it?”
“Everybody
knows,” Frank asserted. To his mind, if Karyn knew about such a
development, it was a poorly kept secret indeed, and he was mad that
he was the last to know. On balance, the fact that Karyn was his
source could equally account for the rumor being spurious. Maybe
Karyn had been misled, or drawn a fallacious inference.
Despite the
fact that she did not sell drugs, Bitumen found this comment
unsettling. Rumor could ruin a reputation. Taking into account the
fact that Frank had never bought drugs from her, she followed up with
yet another question. “Who do you usually buy from?”
“Tyne
Bitters,” Frank responded. “But I'm looking to switch. She's...”
“I'm sure
I can get in touch,” Bitumen interrupted. She didn't want Frank to
know that she valued the information. If Bitumen found classwork to
be boring, the prospect of intrigue implied by a drug user exposing
himself to her, offered entertainment value of surpassing potential.
Despite
Karyn's misfire on the story about Bitumen, her purposes were
abundantly satisfied when the two rumors collided. Bitumen asked a
friend if she knew anything about Tyne selling drugs, and was shocked
to hear that Tyne was intent on sabotaging the term paper
distribution network. The effect was incendiary.
Mothers and
Fathers were told that Tyne Bitters was selling drugs. Peers and
confidants were told that Tyne was a rat, bent on ruining term papers
for everybody. The school polarized overnight.
Meanwhile,
Karyn would only be questioned by Frank if he admitted his drug
connection, and then, when he did, Karyn could name Cardiff as her
source.
