Student Teacher

Chapter 6

Three months later:

“Miss Posner, if you insist that there’s nothing unethical going on between you and the Grayson boy, then I’ll believe you. However, you have to be aware of the implications and the consequences both to you and to this school if anything should come out at a later date. Richard is fifteen years old, I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that he’s a minor in this state and if we should come to it, you’d be looking at possible statutory rape.” The principal held up her hand to stop the protest—“And you’d be looking at both jail time from a criminal conviction and a presumed enormous civil suit since you’d also be dealing with Bruce Wayne and all of his legal resources; he’s very protective of the boy.”

“I refuse to apologize for something which never happened, Ms Thacker. I never, in any way, did anything whatsoever to suggest I was inappropriately interested in that child. I never touched him; I’ll admit that he’s a favorite student of mine, but it’s a purely professional, student/teacher relationship. Every teacher in this school agrees that he’s exceptional; he’s intelligent, curious and a remarkably hard worker. Plus he’s overcome a tremendously difficult personal situation to get where he is now.” She stood, ready to walk out the door. “In addition to all of that, I understand that you have no one who will say they’ve witnessed anything improper. I intend to fight this witch-hunt as far as I have to and you can tell that to the school board. I’ve done nothing wrong and if you think I’m just going to quietly resign, I suggest that you rethink the situation.”

“Miss Posner, the fact that I’m compelled to have this conversation with you should act as a warning should anything untoward be going on.”

“You’re fishing, Ms Thacker, and I won’t be part of a witch hunt.”

“Miss Posner, I’d hardly characterize a few questions as a ‘witch hunt’…”

“Everything you’ve brought up is innuendo and speculation, based on nothing other than malicious gossip and I won’t be harassed into admitting something which never happened.”

“I don’t deal in gossip and speculation where my staff is concerned, Miss Posner.”

“Has anyone spoken to Dick? He’ll verify that nothing happened; just talk to him and stop this absurdity.”

The principal sat back in her chair, the desk a barrier between the two women. “Yes, I’ve spoken to him and I can only suggest that you consider your future choices very carefully. Now I believe that you have a class in a few minutes so I’ll let you go, but don’t think this is the end of the matter.”

 

* * *
 

“Master Bruce, there was a call from the young master’s school this afternoon. It didn’t sound like anything worth disturbing you about but I would suggest that you return the call from the principal when you have a moment.”

“Has Dick done something? Is he in some kind of trouble?”

“The lady declined to discuss the particulars with me, though she did stress that he was perfectly fine and had done nothing to warrant any punishment. Ms Thacker merely said there was something she wished to discuss with you at your convenience. I placed her number on your desk.”

Bruce knew better. No principal called any parent unless something was going on or, in his case, they wanted a large donation for something or other. The odds were that there was some kind of a problem she was simply unwilling to discuss with someone who wasn’t listed as a guardian. He looked at the message; there were two numbers written, her office and her home number.

Her home number; that meant this was serious.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Ms Thacker? Bruce Wayne here, I understand you called?”

“Yes, thank you for returning my call, Mr. Wayne. There’s something I’d like to discuss with you but I’d prefer not to do so over the phone. I was hoping that we might be able to meet tomorrow, if that would be convenient for you.”

“May I ask what this is concerning? Has Dick done something, is he in some kind of trouble?”

“…I understand your concern, but honestly, I’d really rather not get into this over the phone. I know it’s after eight in the evening, but if you’d like, if you’re available, would you be free now?”

Now? Christ, what was this about? “That would be fine, I can come to you if that would be easier.”

The arrangements quickly made, her address and directions memorized, Bruce took the new Jag and was at the woman’s home in less than twenty minutes. She opened the door as he walked up. “Thank you for being so prompt, Mr. Wayne. I know how these sort of calls can send chills down a parent’s spine.”

They went into a comfortably furnished living room, a coffeepot, cups and a plate of cookies in place. “Please, be seated.” He nodded out of simple good manners as she gestured towards the refreshments.

“Now, what’s this about, Ms Thacker?”

She paused, sighed and added some sugar to her coffee, obviously stalling. “There have been some rumors concerning Dick and one of his teachers, that they’re becoming ‘involved’.”

“‘Involved?’ What precisely are we talking about here? Dick’s only fifteen years old, for God’s sake.” He was also Robin, leader of the Teen Titans, a veteran working pedophile vice cases with more street savvy that any three kids put together. Involved with one of his teachers? Jesus. “Is there any proof or are we just talking about rumors and gossip? And who is this teacher he’s supposed to be seeing?” Bruce put a mental lid on himself; getting emotional wouldn’t accomplish anything; Batman had made a career with that belief in mind.

“There’s no actual proof, no; at least none that I’ve seen. However, evidently there’s quite a bit of circumstantial evidence and I spoke with the teacher in question this afternoon—she denied any improper behavior.”

“But you clearly seem to think that where there’s smoke there’s fire, or I wouldn’t be here.”

She nodded. “I’m afraid so and I didn’t think you’d want to wait until some kind of a crisis happened before I spoke with you.”

“Of course, thank you. Now what do you think’s going on and why?”


 

* * *
 

“Hey Grayson—word is that you got lucky with Miss Tightass Posner. Easy A, dude.”

“Shut up, Colin.” They were in the locker room, changing for gym and Dick and his supposed paramour were the subject of the day.

“So, is she any good?” Michael smirked from the end of the row.

Dick tried to ignore the gossip, but it was pointless. The less he said, the more it looked like he was trying to hide something. And the more he thought about it the more he wanted to know where the talk was really coming from. He and Carolyn hadn’t done anything, not really. Sure she’d showed up at the circus a few months ago and a few people knew he’d helped her and Emily paint their place a while after that but it wasn’t like they were making out in the hallways or anything.

They didn’t go out to movies or dinner, they never took walks or went to any of the local stuff going on like the craft fairs or local parades or any of that. They never spent any time together in school, aside from class time and they never arrived or left together.

Maybe it was just BS gossip, the kind that has a twenty-four hour shelf life and then is forgotten until the next story or victim comes along.

And Jesus, it wasn’t like they were actually doing anything. They weren’t dating, they sure weren’t sleeping together and he’d seen some pictures in her place when they were painting—it looked like she had a boyfriend or something. She was just his teacher.

Okay, sure she did kiss him a couple of times and he couldn’t even pretend that they were just friendly pecks on the cheeks or a big-sisterly kind of thing. He knew she kind of liked him, but in that way? He’d been thinking about it, what was happening and how he felt about, not to mention what he was going to do about it.

But the thing was that he really did kind of like her. He knew that part of it was simply being flattered because she was a teacher and she was pretty hot, but aside from that, he thought she was kind of okay to be around. She listened to him and she thought he was smart. She’d been really impressed by that guest gig he had with Ringling Brothers a few months ago and she’d made a big deal about it to Emily while they were all painting. It felt good to have all that attention. Okay, Robin got a lot of attention and fangirls were always writing him and asking for autographs and sending him their pictures but that was just embarrassing.

This was different, she wasn’t a kid, she was pretty and smart, an adult and she liked him. It was, well, it was cool.

And she’d even kissed him.

 

* * *
 

Batman was sitting at the main computer console in the cave, staring at the monitor while he ran an in-depth background search on Carolyn Gail Posner. So far he’d found out she’d graduated Magna from Columbia University, went to NYU for her Masters with honors and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She’d been brought up in a middle-class home on Long Island as a middle child of three. Her father was a plumber, her mother worked as a clerk in a department store at a local mall. She was homecoming queen her senior year in high school, had a clean driving record, no prior marriages and no police record of any kind.

A little after nine that evening he slipped, unseen, through her open second floor bedroom window. No one was home; there was a party at the roommate’s boyfriend’s place and the two women would be busy there for at least several more hours.

He quickly looked through the photos on the top of the bureau; they were just the usual snaps of parents, siblings and pets. There was a group shot on a beach, the entire family wearing bathing suits; smiling and looking like a fifties perfect family.

Next he looked at the pile of books on her night stand; just the usual library copies of best sellers and an old paperback copy of Red Badge of Courage, one of the books Dick was reading for his English class.

There were a couple of piles of essays or something on her desk, looking like she had been in the middle of grading them when she went out. Shuffling through the pile he found Dick’s paper. It was that term paper he’d been working on for a while, the one about the Teapot Dome Scandal with A/A written in red on the front. A in content, A for grammar and composition. Thumbing through it he read the comments on the last page, “Perfect as usual. Wonderful effort—I’m proud of you!” Batman replaced it in the middle of the pile where he’d taken it.

On the floor next to her desk chair were a few books. Picking one up he saw last year’s yearbook from Brixton Academy and pieces of paper marking pages. He opened the book—Dick’s class picture, Dick sitting in some class laughing at some other kid sitting beside him, Dick in a group shot lounging on the wall outside the main entrance.

Inside the front cover were some pictures that appeared to be downloaded and then printed from a computer—old publicity shots of the Flying Graysons, old newspaper clipping and reviews and finally clippings about the Grayson’s murders and the trial.

Her address book was next to the phone, inside the front cover were several loose pieces of paper with numbers written on them, one of them said ‘DG—555-8427’; Dick's private phone.

Jesus, it was what he’d thought and maybe worse—she was a stalker. He had a few options, he could call the school, Batman could scare the living hell out of her, he could get enough evidence and have Bruce Wayne file a lawsuit against her and the school system, he could…

The note fell out of the back of the address book as he went to put it back where he’d found it. It was, of course, Dick’s handwriting.

Dear Carolyn, I just wanted to thank you again for letting me talk to you the other night—I was pretty wound up and it felt really good to just say what was on my mind. You’ve no idea what it’s like sometimes; I feel like I’m going to explode if I can’t let off some steam and you let me do that. Bruce is great and all—he’s been incredible to me—but sometimes it feels like he wants me to be someone I’m not and that gets hard.

God—sorry—I’m whining and I don’t mean to be.

I just wanted you to really know how much being able to spend time with you has made this year a lot easier.

I know that we’re not doing anything that we shouldn’t be—hardly anything, but I know you’re right that we can’t tell anyone. I know what the laws are and I know how old we both are but you’ve made a difference to me and I want you to know that.

Dick

There was a dried and pressed rose with the note, obviously saved as a keepsake.

Batman stopped; maybe this wasn’t as cut and dried between the two of them as it seemed.

TBC

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