Nightmare Academy (13 page)

“Was it really yours?” Easley asked.

“Of course it was mine!”

“So you paid for it, or someone gave it to you?”

Now the girl shrank a bit. “No. I found it.”

“Oh-hooo!” the group reacted. Gotcha.

Easley held up a hand. “Well now, come on, let's not get into
either/or
here, as if
either
Charlene
or
Melinda is right. Maybe
both
Charlene
and
Melinda are right. Maybe the real problem is private possessions. Charlene believes that all the world is community property and everybody owns it, right?”

Charlene gave her gum a few thoughtful chomps, and then flipped some purple hair out of her eyes. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

“But it looks like Melinda agrees with you—at least she did when she, uh,
found
the Walkman, didn't you, Melinda?”

Melinda got a little flustered and looked at the ground as she replied, “I don't know. I just wanted it, that's all.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” said Ramon.

She turned on him. “Yeah, so how would you like it if somebody ripped off
your
stuff?”

“Oooohh,” the group reacted, mocking her anger.

Easley tossed both girls a coin and then held up a hand to calm things down. “Okay, now Melinda's asked Ramon the big question: How would I like it? Well, that's up to each of us, isn't it? If I'm being selfish with things, then sure, I'm going to get upset if someone else needs what I want to keep for myself. Melinda, did it ever occur to you that perhaps you're being too selfish with things? Do you think it's fair for you to have a Walkman when somebody else doesn't?”

“Yeah, Melinda,” piped up some others, “what about that?”

“You could look at it this way: You're actually sharing; you just don't know it. I think that's the whole point here: If nobody owns anything, then how can anyone steal it?”

“'Imagine no possessions. I wonder if you can,'” a girl with long, braided hair sang, and got a laugh. Easley tossed her a coin.

Melinda looked around the group, still angry and suspicious. “Well if that's the way you want to say it, then whoever's sharing my Walkman, I'd like it if you'd share it back again.”

“All right,” said Mr. Easley. “See? Both Melinda and Charlene are right.”

“Do I get another dollar?”

Easley tossed Melinda another “dollar,” then applauded as the kids laughed and cheered.

Elijah chuckled and muttered to himself, “Either/or.”

Easley heard him. “What was that, Jerry?”

Elijah was on the spot. He could feel every eye on him. “Oh, nothing. That was just an either/or, that's all.”

“What was?”

Elijah wasn't the kind to shrink from a direct question. “Well, you're trying to tell us that
both
Melinda
and
Charlene are right, but that was never the case. All you did was argue with Melinda to get her to change her mind, so that means,
either
she saw stealing as sharing
or
she was selfish. It wasn't a both/and; it was an either/or.”

Now a few “oh-hos” arose toward Mr. Easley, and Elijah even heard a fellow say, “He's got you there.”

By now, Elisha's mental stew was about to boil over, so she jumped in. “And I'm not even sure she's changed her mind.”

Melinda just looked at the coin in her hand and said, “Yeah. I guess so,” although her eyes were still the resentful eyes of someone who'd been ripped off.

Elisha was on a roll. “I don't think she should change her mind. Sure, it's good to share, and we shouldn't be selfish, but calling stealing sharing doesn't make it sharing, it's still stealing, and stealing is wrong, and if Melinda stole that Walkman, she was ripping somebody off, and whoever took her Walkman without her permission was ripping
her
off.”

There were some hoots and disagreements—"Hey, welcome to the real world,” “Preach it!” But there were some firm agreements as well—"Hey, a ripoff's a ripoff,” “I wouldn't want somebody stealing my stuff"—and even some applause.

Easley just smiled. “Sally, you're new here, so it'll take some time for you to catch up. I think all of us have been raised with certain ideas of right and wrong, but now we can build our own world right here, and create a new truth.”

Elisha looked at him strangely. “A new truth? Like what?”

He smiled, pleased at the thought. “Whatever we agree on. You see, Right and Wrong are what we choose to make them.”

Elijah piped up—he couldn't help it. “Is that statement you just made right or wrong?”

Easley didn't appear to appreciate the question. “It depends on what the group thinks.” Easley looked around at the group. “How about it? Do we agree?”

“Sure,” they replied. “Yeah.” “Whatever.” “Sounds good.”

He tossed them some more coins.

“So now it's what the group thinks?” Elijah asked. “What if the group decided you're wrong? Would you still be right?”

“Well, I can still have any truth I want in my own mind,” Easley admitted.

“So you can have it both ways at the same time.”

“Exactly! Both/and!”

Elijah looked at Elisha. “Then stealing really is wrong!” Then he looked at Melinda. “And you really
were
ripped off!”

The group began laughing, mostly at Easley's frustrated look.

“No, no, not really!” Easley argued. “Not if the group doesn't think so!”

“No? Not really?” Elijah furrowed his brow, working up his answer. “So
either
stealing is wrong and Melinda got ripped off,
or
the group is right and she's just sharing.”

Easley countered,
"Both
Melinda
and
the group are right.”

“That's madness!” said Elisha. “You can't have it both ways!”

“Sure you can. Both/and,” said Easley with a shrug and a smile.

“But if I'm hearing you
right,
you're saying Jerry should
either
believe what you're saying,
or
he's
wrong"

“He can believe whatever he wants.”

“Then why are you trying to get me to see things your way?” Elijah asked.

Some in the group laughed. Some moaned. Some were sick of the whole discussion. “Let's talk about something else!”

“I'll tell you why!” said Easley, and his usual easy tone grew serious. “Because there's a whole world out there that is plagued by war, starvation, hatred, and bigotry, and some of us feel it just might be worthwhile to help the next generation rise above their petty differences and live in peace and brotherhood. That's what this academy is all about, Jerry and Sally: peace, unity, brotherhood. I believe we can do it. I want all of you to believe it. We've come a long way from the amoeba, folks, and we need to continue the journey as we were meant to do. We need to keep getting better, and then get still better, and then better than that, until we finally get there and we have one, big, peaceful world we can all be proud of.” Then he added in a parental, correcting tone, looking straight at Elijah and Elisha. “And all you two are doing is destroying the very things we're about, bringing division, factions, squabbles over words.”

It was a stirring speech, and Elijah and Elisha could feel the winds of opinion aligning in Easley's favor. Every other boy and girl eyed them, seeing them as Easley did, as objects of shame and scorn.

Easley's voice softened; he sounded like a preacher giving an altar call. “I think you need to examine your hearts, as all of us are doing, every day, and ask yourselves, what do I really want? To win an argument, or win a friend? To stir up strife, or live in peace? To create factions, or knit together a human family?” He addressed the whole group. “I think it's been a good session. We've been challenged and given a lot to think about. That's it for today.”

He started to leave, then paused just long enough to turn and say, “Try sharing something. See how it feels.” Then he headed back across the field.

A silence hung over the group like a cold fog. The kids watched Easley for a long, pondering moment before they could finally meet each other's eyes.

Melinda turned to Charlene. “You can share my Walkman.”

She nodded and said, “So can you.”

Ramon looked through his shirt pocket. “I've got an extra pen if anybody needs it.”

Brett called out, “Anybody who wears size 10, I've got a pair of sneakers I don't need.”

They all rose from the grass, picking up ties, shoes, and blazers, and having quiet, peacemaking conversations as they walked away.

“Okay, you can use the shower first.”

“You can put your books on my side of the floor; it's okay.”

“I don't need those pajamas; you can have them.”

No one said a word to Elijah or Elisha.

Except for big, strong Alex. He made a special trip over to the cottonwood to give Elijah a rap on the head. “Think you're pretty smart, huh?” Then he said to Elisha, “I'd stay clear of this guy if I were you.” He walked away, indulging in one final sneer over his shoulder.

Elisha could see warning signs in her brother's face and hurried over to touch his arm. “Let it go. We don't need any more attention.”

He took a deep breath, calmed himself, and nodded.

Nate and Sarah were busily at work in the back of their van, compiling a database, bit by bit.

A photo of Nelson Farmer, the tall, worried-looking rep from the Bureau for Missing Children, came up on Sarah's computer screen. “Nelson Farmer, Senior Director, been with the Bureau for twelve years.” She tapped in the print command and the printer started printing Farmer's bio and resume. She wagged her head, stumped. “The guy looks totally clean. Maybe he has delusions of power or something, but he's not masquerading. He really does work there.”

Nate sat on the other side, his back to her, tapping at another computer and getting nowhere quick. “The sheriff's offices in Idaho have no record of any lost, wandering kid being found.”

Sarah spun around. “Please say again?”

“I've checked with all the north and north central counties. There is simply no record of anyone finding Alvin Rogers and turning him over to authorities.”

She rolled her chair around to examine the blank report sheet on Nate's computer screen. “In other words, the file has been erased from the records.”

“So no one can go back and find out exactly where Alvin was found.”

“I don't believe this. How powerful are these people, anyway?

They make youth shelters disappear overnight, and now they can hack databases?”

“Well, we both know how easy it is. If these people knew where to look, they could have erased some history, and once the record's gone, it's gone. The first place Alvin shows up as a matter of record is with the Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d'Alene, right before he was transferred to Harborview. So we do have him popping up in Idaho, but that's all.”

There was a loud rap on the passenger door up front, and then it opened.

It was Charlie. “Nate and Sarah!” He clapped, then rubbed his hands together. “We've found somebody!”

They followed Charlie into the dining hall where they met Tyler, an older teen, nineteen to be exact. His life was much more put together since Charlie and Anita had taken him in three years ago. He was now living with an aunt and uncle in Redding, California, and he was planning to start college in the fall.

“Came up here to visit some friends,” he told them, “and Charlie and Anita were two of them.”

Charlie and Anita beamed with pride and joy as they all sat together at their quiet, corner table. Charlie explained, “We were talking about things, you know? How it's going and what are his plans, and then I asked him about this Knight-Moore Academy thing, and—” He immediately handed it off to Tyler. “Tell Nate and Sarah about that lady you met.”

“Her name wasn't Margaret Jones. It was Suzanne Doming, and she met me on the street down in Phoenix.”

“Phoenix!” exclaimed Sarah. “She's been around, if it's the same woman.”

Tyler continued, “She invited me to get on a bus and head out for a summer academy where I could earn some high school credits and meet other kids from all over the country She made it sound great, but I told her no. Something that sounded that good couldn't be on the up and up.”

“Don't suppose you can describe her?” Nate asked.

Tyler thought a moment, then shook his head. “It was three years ago. Don't remember that much. She was kind of a red head, I think. She was young and pretty.”

“How do you even remember her name after so long?”

Tyler reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a wrinkled scrap of paper. “She wrote it on the back of the brochure.” Nate and Sarah thought their hearts would stop as Tyler slid it across the table. “I stuffed it in my backpack and just left it there. When Charlie asked me about it, I remembered seeing something about an academy and we dug it out.”