Charles Newman The Newman Resident (epub)

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.”Richard didn’t say anything.“It’s not a good idea,” Hunter said.“The sabbatical.It’s just not healthy for the resident to be taken out of the environment he’s grown up in.Too disruptive.”“You didn’t seem to mind taking him out of the environment he grew up in when you enrolled him.”“That’s my point, Richard.We enroll them early so we don’t have to waste time retraining them.”“I have the right to take him out on the sabbatical.”“Look, let’s not talk policy, let’s talk Christopher.”“Yeah, tell me about him.It’s tough to know someone you never see.”“Richard, if I had the slightest doubt about the Newman Home, you know I wouldn’t have my own son enrolled there.”Richard looked over at the paused image on the screen.All the children were frozen in their laughter, in their delight.All looking up at the teacher and the two puppets, a giraffe and a zebra.The children—their sweet, innocent, clean faces, paralyzed in pleasure as they watched two animals talking to each other.What did a giraffe have to say to a zebra, anyway?What did Richard have to say to Hunter?“.but I’m part of something big,” Hunter continued, “really important.And so are you.These kids are from the smartest parents.”Richard noticed something he’d never seen before.Something stuck out of one of the pockets on Christopher’s shirt.He looked harder, trying to make out what it was.It looked a little shiny.He zoomed in.“It’s a pen,” Richard said.“What?”“A pen.I’ve got a video of Christopher on the computer.He has a pen in his pocket.No one else has one.”“So he has a pen.”“Maybe he draws with that pen.” Richard pointed to the screen.“Or maybe he writes.Maybe he does something with it without having any official approval.”“Or maybe he just left a pen in his pocket.”“Maybe there’s a rule that you can’t have a pen in your pocket,” Richard said, “and he’s breaking the rule.Wouldn’t that be great, Hunter!”“Breaking rules really doesn’t lead to much success in life.”“It could.Happy little clones.Look at them.”“I’m on the phone.I can’t see them.”“That’s the point.You don’t even have to look at them, Hunter.They always look the same.”“They look like students at the finest private school in the world.What’s the problem? How could you possibly find anything wrong with a picture of happy children? Just admit it: there’s nothing wrong with Newman, you just miss your son.”“I do miss him,” Richard said, “but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing wrong with Newman.”“You know what the studies show.Public schools failed a long time ago.”“If that’s true, it’s because we made them fail.”“It’s taken government and business working as a team to save our children.”“Let’s see, government mandates without funding.Vouchers.Privatization.They weren’t trying to save our schools or our children.They were trying to create a new profit center.No child left behind? All the kids were left behind.”“Always the cynical lawyer.”“Newman tuition is the highest in the world, I bet,” Richard said.“And there’s all that fundraising.Makes you wonder if Newman isn’t really about all the money.”“It’s about the best education in the world.Worth every penny.”“I never went to a boarding school.I lived with those people.what do you call them?.oh yes, parents.Parents who loved me, who wanted what was best for me, who wanted to be with me.”“Newman parents love their children, too.That’s why they enrolled them.They wanted what’s best for their kids—the best education possible.”“Don’t give me that spiel,” Richard said, sitting up taller.“Those parents sent their kids to boot camp because they were too busy with their beloved careers to mess around with nuisances that had to be clothed, fed, and held.They have enough money to make their kids one less thing to worry about before staying late at the office or going out for dinner and a play.”“Or writing their novel?”Silence.“I didn’t enroll Christopher so I could write my novel.”“Nobody held a gun to your head to get Christopher into Newman, Richard.You signed your name just like Carol did.”Richard slammed down the receiver.Hunter was an idiot.There was no way Richard agreed to let his son enroll in Newman so he could write.If someone told him he could have his son back if he gave up ever writing another word, he’d drop his pen and grab his son in a second.The pen in Christopher’s pocket now stood out in the picture.How could Richard have missed it before? He cherished the possibility, however slight, that his son had the same connection to writing that he did.He smiled.Maybe writing would be the key to bringing them together.CHAPTER NINEThe secretary at Weatherford and Williams tried to stop him, insisting his wife was in an important meeting, but Richard walked past her.He finally had a plan for getting Christopher home and he didn’t want anything to slow him down.He knew himself well enough to know he had to keep his momentum before he talked himself out of his plan.He opened Carol’s office door without knocking, knowing he’d jump into the middle of whatever was happening.She was leaning against her desk, speaking with two attorneys who looked new to the firm, judging by the way they took notes on everything she was saying.Richard grabbed her hand and told her he was starving—they had to get something to eat together or he’d die.She complained, saying she couldn’t leave, but she went with him.She usually liked to call the shots, but he knew she sometimes liked it when he’d step up and lead the way, almost leaving her in the dark.For a little while, at least.He was still holding her hand as they came out onto the sidewalk.Traffic was heavy, as always, and the street was noisy.Nameless people crowded the sidewalk.Richard walked quickly, and Carol had difficulty keeping up.They walked two or three blocks without saying a word.Whenever they passed a restaurant, Richard didn’t even slow down.Finally, Carol let go of his hand and stopped.“Richard, it’s almost four o’clock.I grabbed a sandwich a long time ago.”“Then let’s call it dinner.”“It’s too early for dinner.”“For crying out loud, woman, live on the edge!”“Where exactly are we going?”“For the first time in your life, you’re not going to know exactly anything.”He started walking down the sidewalk, leaving her standing.He turned at the corner and looked back at her.She was smiling, but stopped when she saw he was watching her.“I hope we’re not going to eat vegetarian hot dogs again,” she shouted after him.“I hate green hot dogs.”She caught up with him just as he was about to turn a corner.Richard paused for a second, as though out of respect or reverence, as he looked at the massive building straight ahead.The gigantic lions kept watch over one of the few places in the city where a person could find books that weren’t just on screens.“We’re going to eat dinner at the library?” Carol asked.Richard nodded and almost ran toward the library.He knew what he was doing, but he had no idea how to do it.How was she ever going to go along with this? Carol again tried to catch up, and finally got to him when he paused at the top of the steps.The two entered the library and headed straight for the huge reading room [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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