Karyn got
Frank installed in the shower in his room as soon as she could. No
sooner did she hear him turn on the water, than Karyn was on the
phone to the Maelstrom Estates. She had to identify herself as Frank
Maelstrom's fiance, to obtain license to speak to the family
patriarch, but Karyn would not be denied, until she was certain that
Frank would not force her to make his explanations for him.
Within ten
minutes, Karyn had brought Mr. Maelstrom up to speed about the events
of the evening. Frank had given no explanation as to why there had
been so much Cocain, and he didn't seem to make much difference
between 'possession with intent,' and a traffic citation.
“The bond
was $50,000, so I deposited $5,000 with the bail bondsman,” Karyn
denoted. “May I make an appointment for Frank with a barrister?”
Mr.
Maelstrom gave Karyn one of several numbers, and took his leave of
her. By the time Karyn left Frank's apartment, twenty minutes later,
Frank was irrevocably committed to admitting that there had been a
problem, if only to a close circle of advisers. She would not let
Frank hold HER responsible for his misfortunes.
At 11:00 AM
the next day, Frank was in the offices of Derrick and Strauss. He
duly explained that he had been picking up some Ecstasy pills, and an
ounce of weed, for a friend, but that he was shocked to discover such
a large baggy of Coke in the locker, when staff finally opened it
with the key he had been given.
Did the
friend have a name?
Frank
believed wholeheartedly that he had been set up. “Tyne. Tyne
Bitters,” he attested.
Would she
testify?
No way in
hell. Tyne would probably deny even knowing Frank, so there was
obviously no way to prove it.
The
interviewer had very little trouble in resolving that “I don't see
a crime here. It was not your locker, and you were not in possession
of the key that opened it.”
By
implication, if the person who gave Frank the key incriminated Frank,
then Frank “giving” the key to the staff, incriminated the staff.
Whereas, if the key from Tyne incriminated Tyne, then she was
ultimately responsible for any crime that might possibly have
developed, with regard to the offending locker. Frank was a victim,
not a perpetrator, of a crime.
Frank left
the conference chastened. For the first time in his life, his
boundless cockiness did not deceive him into believing he was
indestructible. The jail cell had been too concrete. “If I was
immortal,” Frank reasoned, “then I would have just flown out of
the cell, and woken up in my own bed, and it all would have been a
bad dream,” he concluded.
While Frank
was prepared to acknowledge his ultimate mortality, he was the
maddest man alive, at Tyne Bitters.
Frank went
straight to the cafeteria, for a late lunch. To his surprise, the
student body had reversed its social polarity toward him. The male
half of the student body did not acknowledge him; the female half
variously avoided and disparaged him. The staff slow served him, and
everyone seemed busy doing something else.
It was four
days, before Frank even managed to run in to Tyne. “You Narc!”
Frank accused, with typical deportment.
“I'm sorry,
you have the advantage of me. I'm Tyne Bitters.” Tyne looked him
straight in the eye, and held out her hand.
“You
insignificant footnote!” Frank continued, ignoring the proffered
hand. “How are YOU gonna Dee Kay ME?”
“Dee Kay?”
Tyne repeated, a question in her voice.
“Don't
Know?” Frank growled.
“I have a
life, if you don't mind. Don't threaten me. If you persist, in
unwanted advances, I'll be forced to call the authorities,” Tyne
warned him.
“You
deceitful twat! You set me up!” Frank ranted. “You led me
straight into a TRAP!” Frank delivered every sentence like a
battering ram. “I am gonna make a project out of giving you back
all the hell you've given me, with compound interest, starting
yesterday!”
Before Tyne
could offer a breath of argument, Frank turned on his heel and left.
God, he thought. The NERVE of some people.
Franks'
building frustration was not wholly social. He was a sexual being,
and men have needs. Frank used drugs and alcohol to take advantage of
the opposite sex, and his first thought was to secure these from an
alternate source. By contrast, Karyn wanted Frank to take advantage
of the opposite sex using some other mechanism.
Karyn's
agenda was fated to enjoy a period of heightened opportunity. The bar
served Frank freely, and with perfect civility, but they saw to it
that he ended up drunk before he saw any return on his social
advances. Despair and escapism drove Frank on a three day, two
thousand dollar bender. He woke up hung over and broke, in an hourly
motel room at the local truck stop.
