Twenty-Four
HELEN TAKES TIME ON our drive to campus to remind me that the fact that she needs me to drive her in no way means that I am off suspension.
“Quite the opposite, actually, Tom,” she insists. “The fact that you are suspended may be a good thing, since it frees you up to chauffeur me around.”
“And it's my pleasure,” I agree, anxious to remain on her good side. “But I am curious. Why didn’t you ask Nate?”
She pauses and says quietly, “I didn’t want him with me today.”
“Oh?” I ask. “Has he also done something to get in trouble with you?”
“No, Tom, he hasn’t done anything wrong. In fact, he’s extremely eager to please and does everything I say as soon as I say it.”
“Then why is he out and I’m in?”
She doesn’t say anything for a minute and I sense that she is wrestling with wh
