Nothing but the Truth

by Avi

  DR. DOANE: Why are you so interested?

  MR. DUVAL: I sense there’s something more here. I’m not even sure what. I confess that interests me. I sure would appreciate your cooperation.

  DR. DOANE: I would have to ask her.

  MR. DUVAL: I understand. But I am prepared to fly East right away.

  DR. DOANE: Give me your number again.

  MR. DUVAL: Sure thing.

  8:16 A.M.

  Conversations between Philip Malloy and Students in the Hallway on the Way to First Class

  TODD BECKER: Hey, Philip, what’s happening, man?

  PHILIP MALLOY: Nothing.

  TODD BECKER: You going to have a press conference?

  PHILIP MALLOY: Get off!

  JOSEPH CRIPPENS: Look out! Here comes Uncle Sam! That’s what Mr. Lunser called him.

  AMY DEVER: What’s it like to be famous?

  SUSAN FOWLER: Newspapers and all …

  PHILIP MALLOY: Come on. I have to get to class.

  JOSEPH CRIPPENS: Let the big man go.

  JASON MARKS: Hey, Philip? How come you went after Narwin? Todd Becker said it’s because you were failing English! That true?

  PHILIP MALLOY: I have a class!

  JOSEPH CRIPPENS: Let Uncle Sam go.

  Letter Sent to Philip Malloy

  Dear Philip,

  We support your defense of America. Keep on singing. We all join in.

  ROLANDO MERCHAUD

  Red Oak, Iowa

  Letter Sent to Philip Malloy

  Dear Philip,

  We, Miss Harbor’s 4th grade class at the Robert Fulton School, like to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” too. You can come to our school.

  MS. HARBOR’S 4TH GRADE CLASS

  Robert Fulton School

  Brooklyn, New York

  Telegram Delivered to Philip Malloy

  TO: PHILIP MALLOY

  American Legion Post #16 of Newport, Rhode Island, salutes you for your defense of American values. Fight the good fight. Thumbs-up!

  9:20 A.M.

  Conversation between Dr. Albert Seymour and Ted Griffen, Candidate, Harrison School Board

  DR. SEYMOUR: Mr. Griffen. Nice to meet you. Come right in.

  MR. GRIFFEN: Thank you. Thank you very much.

  DR. SEYMOUR: Get you some coffee?

  MR. GRIFFEN: No, thanks.

  DR. SEYMOUR: Looks like we’re finally getting some decent weather.

  MR. GRIFFEN: Absolutely.

  DR. SEYMOUR: Look, Mr. Griffen—

  MR. GRIFFEN: Call me Ted.

  DR. SEYMOUR: Fine. Ted. I’m Al. Now, aside from wanting to get to meet you, Ted … I’ve heard you speak—couple of times—was very interested in what you had to say—I thought it would be a good idea—generally—to meet you, and sort of, talk things over.

  MR. GRIFFEN: Al, I appreciate that.

  DR. SEYMOUR: Now—what we’ve got here—well, the media—they never pay attention to us unless something bad—

  MR. GRIFFEN: Right. I never trust anything that’s in print.

  DR. SEYMOUR: Exactly. The bottom line. But we’ve got these elections coming up—budget.

  MR. GRIFFEN: And the board.

  DR. SEYMOUR: Exactly. I have a policy—I strongly believe in this—that I’m prepared to work with anyone who’s on that board—the people’s voice, that sort of thing. And we all want that same thing.

  MR. GRIFFEN: Educating the kids.

  DR. SEYMOUR: Exactly. We share that. But the budget thing—

  MR. GRIFFEN: Have to keep costs down.

  DR. SEYMOUR: Absolutely. But, Ted, I’ll be frank with you. All this publicity—negative publicity—isn’t—won’t—do us any good.

  MR. GRIFFEN: I understand.

  DR. SEYMOUR: And, you understand, that first budget was tight—and this second one—to the bone. Get any closer and we’re scooping marrow. And I understand—no one wants to pay a cent more. But without that budget, education is in big trouble here in Harrison.

  MR. GRIFFEN: People want to hold the line on taxes.

  DR. SEYMOUR: I sympathize. I pay taxes too. But—again to be frank—there’s been a real misunderstanding regarding this national anthem thing. It doesn’t help.

  MR. GRIFFEN: Very disturbing.

  DR. SEYMOUR: Exactly. It is. Let me share some of the facts with you.

  MR. GRIFFEN: That’s all I’m looking for.

  DR. SEYMOUR: I appreciate that. What the media has done is confuse certain things—

  MR. GRIFFEN: Something is confused.

  DR. SEYMOUR: Exactly. First, though, let me tell you so you’re quite clear, we have no rule against singing the national anthem. Never have had. Never will. Not as long as I’m superintendent.

  MR. GRIFFEN: But the boy was suspended.

  DR. SEYMOUR: Just getting to that. What I suspect here—we’ve got—a personal problem.

  MR. GRIFFEN: The boy? He seems—

  DR. SEYMOUR: Now, Ted, I’m speaking in confidence.

  MR. GRIFFEN: Sure.

  DR. SEYMOUR: Then we understand. Ted, it’s not the boy. It’s the teacher.

  MR. GRIFFEN: This Narwin gal?

  DR. SEYMOUR: Exactly.

  MR. GRIFFEN: Well, I thought … What kind—between you and me—what kind of a problem?

  DR. SEYMOUR: Okay. Let me quote from a letter she wrote—this was to her principal—just a few weeks ago—I can’t give you a copy, you understand—privacy and all—

  MR. GRIFFEN: I understand.

  DR. SEYMOUR: But I can read a part of it to you—so you can understand what I’m up against.

  MR. GRIFFEN: Sure. Go on.

  DR. SEYMOUR: She says—this Narwin woman—yes, here—now, I’m quoting her. “The truth is … I feel that sometimes”—get this—“I am a little out of touch with contemporary teaching, and, just as important, the students who come before me.” In other words, she’s been around, what can I say, since history began.

  MR. GRIFFEN: Oh boy…. You’ve got a problem there. Tenure.

  DR. SEYMOUR: Exactly. The question is, what are you and I going to do about it?

  12:30 P.M.

  Lunchroom Conversation between Philip Malloy and Todd Becker

  TODD BECKER: You don’t have to sit alone, you know.

  PHILIP MALLOY: I’m okay.

  TODD BECKER: Can I sit?

  PHILIP MALLOY: Suit yourself.

  TODD BECKER: What’s happening?

  PHILIP MALLOY: Nothing.

  TODD BECKER: That true you’re going to be on TV?

  PHILIP MALLOY: Who told you that?

  TODD BECKER: Susan Vogle.

  PHILIP MALLOY: No way.

  TODD BECKER: But you’re famous, right? All that newspaper stuff.

  PHILIP MALLOY: What you come over here for? Just to tease me?

  TODD BECKER: Just trying to be friendly.

  PHILIP MALLOY: Yeah. Sure. Stuff it.

  TODD BECKER: Suit yourself.

  12:35 P.M.

  Faculty Lunchroom Conversation between Margaret Narwin and Mr. Benison

  MR. BENISON: You okay, Peg?

  MISS NARWIN: Bit of a headache.

  MR. BENISON: I saw those telegrams.

  MISS NARWIN: It’s awful.

  MR. BENISON: Yeah, well, it’s a crazy world. Who’s that guy who said everybody will be famous for a few minutes?

  MISS NARWIN: Andy Warhol. I really can’t stand this.

  MR. BENISON: I know. Lot of people upset. That’s for sure.

  MISS NARWIN: What do you mean?

  MR. BENISON: I must have had ten calls last night saying—neighbors, a couple of family people—asking, is it true? I told them look, it wasn’t anything like that. That you didn’t mean it to happen that way.

  MISS NARWIN: What did you say I meant?

  MR. BENISON: You know, some personal thing, happens all the time….

  MISS NARWIN: That’s not what it was! The boy was being rude!

  MR. BENISON: Okay, Peg
, I know that, but no one expected, you know, all this…. What people are saying, we’ll never get our budget.

  MISS NARWIN: I really don’t want to talk about it anymore.

  MR. BENISON: Now wait a minute. Peg … don’t go off….

  1:30 P.M.

  Conversation between Philip Malloy and Margaret Narwin

  PHILIP MALLOY: Miss Narwin?

  MISS NARWIN: Philip? What are you doing here? What do you want?

  PHILIP MALLOY: My class.

  MISS NARWIN: You’re … you’re not in this section anymore. You were switched.

  PHILIP MALLOY: I was?

  MISS NARWIN: You’re in Mr. Keegan’s class.

  PHILIP MALLOY: But—

  MISS NARWIN: What?

  PHILIP MALLOY: To get my grade up—I was going to ask for extra work….

  MISS NARWIN: Philip, you are no longer in my class. Didn’t you hear me?

  PHILIP MALLOY: So I could get on the track team and …

  MISS NARWIN: You are not in my class.

  PHILIP MALLOY: But what about the grade?

  MISS NARWIN: Please leave the room. I want you out. Sara, take this note to Dr. Doane….

  PHILIP MALLOY: But …

  MISS NARWIN: You must leave. Go!

  PHILIP MALLOY: I’m leaving.

  MISS NARWIN: Speak to Dr. Doane. Now, please, leave!

  2:50 P.M.

  Conversation between Philip Malloy and Coach Jamison

  COACH JAMISON: Oh, Philip. Didn’t see you there.

  PHILIP MALLOY: Can I talk to you a minute?

  COACH JAMISON: Yeah. Sure. Got a minute.

  PHILIP MALLOY: Remember, you said I should ask Miss Narwin for some extra work….

  COACH JAMISON: Sure.

  PHILIP MALLOY: So I could get my grade up, get on the team.

  COACH JAMISON: Okay.

  PHILIP MALLOY: She won’t let me.

  COACH JAMISON: She won’t let you what?

  PHILIP MALLOY: Do more work.

  COACH JAMISON: Well, look, you did one hell of a number on her….

  PHILIP MALLOY: I mean, I’m not even in her class anymore. She must have kicked me out.

  COACH JAMISON: They put you in another class?

  PHILIP MALLOY: Yeah, but I was trying to get some extra work…. If I could stay in her class I—

  COACH JAMISON: Philip, you want my advice?

  PHILIP MALLOY: I tried—

  COACH JAMISON: I’m always telling you guys—it’s what sports is all about—a rule is a rule—to get along you have to play along. Know what I’m saying?

  PHILIP MALLOY: What about my running with the team?

  COACH JAMISON: Look, Philip, you did a number on Miss Narwin. Didn’t I tell you—right from the start—you were way off base? She’s a good person. You have to be a team player. Haven’t you heard me say that? So you can’t just come around now and start asking me for things. It just doesn’t work that way. Look, Phil, I’ve got a practice. And look, by next year this’ll all be over. I sure hope so.

  3:30 P.M.

  Conversation between Margaret Narwin and Dr. Gertrude Doane

  DR. DOANE: Would you like a cup of coffee?

  MISS NARWIN: My nerves are too tight as it is.

  DR. DOANE: It’s astonishing…. Did I tell you, I had another call from a TV reporter—

  MISS NARWIN: No. Absolutely not.

  DR. DOANE: I don’t blame you.

  MISS NARWIN: You wanted to see me….

  DR. DOANE: Just that some good has come out of all this….

  MISS NARWIN: That would be nice. What is it?

  DR. DOANE: Peg, do you remember you put in an application for funds? Some kind of refresher course, English teaching. I’m not sure what. For the summer.

  MISS NARWIN: Vaguely.

  DR. DOANE: I talked to Al Seymour and—

  MISS NARWIN: Don’t mention him to me. That statement—

  DR. DOANE: As a way of showing his support, he managed to find some money, and you can take that special course….

  MISS NARWIN: Well, that is nice.

  DR. DOANE: We’ll expedite the application.

  MISS NARWIN: I’m very grateful.

  DR. DOANE: There is only one thing….

  MISS NARWIN: The deadline?

  DR. DOANE: No, it’s not that. Peg, knowing how upsetting this all is, the superintendent wants you to take the rest of the term off.

  MISS NARWIN: What?

  DR. DOANE: The rest of the term.

  MISS NARWIN: But …

  DR. DOANE: Well, Al knows, because I told him, how upsetting all this is to you, and … Take the time off, full pay, of course, and then, take that course, and you’ll come back fall term … and, well, things will be fine. It’s very kind of him.

  MISS NARWIN: In other words, he wants me to leave.

  DR. DOANE: No. No. You’ve misunderstood. Truly, Peg. Only as a way of getting out from the pressure. I mean, all these telegrams. Calls. It would be administrative leave. You’ll lose no time on your pension. As I said, full-time. With pay. You could be with your sister…. A sabbatical. You’ve never had one.

  MISS NARWIN: No.

  DR. DOANE: Peg, you have to see it from his, our side….

  MISS NARWIN: Aren’t we on the same side?

  DR. DOANE: That’s not the point.

  MISS NARWIN: What is the point?

  DR. DOANE: Peg, Al is deeply worried about our budget.

  6:30 P.M.

  Conversation between Philip Malloy’s Parents

  MR. MALLOY: Hey, where’s Philip?

  MRS. MALLOY: Up in his room.

  MR. MALLOY: These telegrams. Incredible.

  MRS. MALLOY: He’s very upset.

  MR. MALLOY: About the telegrams?

  MRS. MALLOY: Something at school.

  MR. MALLOY: That teacher again?

  MRS. MALLOY: He wouldn’t say. When he came home, I don’t think he even looked at that stack. He doesn’t seem very happy. He wouldn’t talk about it.

  MR. MALLOY: Weird.

  MRS. MALLOY: I almost thought he was going to start crying.

  MR. MALLOY: Crying?

  MRS. MALLOY: Maybe you could talk to him.

  MR. MALLOY: Sure.

  MRS. MALLOY: Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes.

  MR. MALLOY: I’ll talk to him.

  MRS. MALLOY: Hon!

  MR. MALLOY: What?

  MRS. MALLOY: My sister called.

  MR. MALLOY: From Conover?

  MRS. MALLOY: She said Philip could go to school in their district.

  MR. MALLOY: That’s absurd!

  MRS. MALLOY: Maybe it isn’t. Maybe this is too much.

  MR. MALLOY: Susan …

  MRS. MALLOY: Just a thought.

  6:45 P.M.

  Phone Conversation between Margaret Narwin and Her Sister, Anita Wigham

  ANITA WIGHAM: Peg, I am shocked!

  MISS NARWIN: Well, you can imagine how I felt. The dishonesty of it! And from Gertrude of all people. I still find it impossible to believe.

  ANITA WIGHAM: But what are you going to do?

  MISS NARWIN: Anita, I don’t know. I truly don’t know.

  6:50 P.M.

  Conversation between Philip Malloy and His Father

  MR. MALLOY: Philip, I want you to open the door so we can talk.

  PHILIP MALLOY: I don’t want to talk.

  MR. MALLOY: What happened in school?

  PHILIP MALLOY: Nothing.

  MR. MALLOY: Look, dinner will be ready in five minutes.

  PHILIP MALLOY: I’m not hungry.

  MR. MALLOY: Then what are you going to do?

  PHILIP MALLOY: I don’t know.

  8:30 P.M.

  From a Speech Delivered by Ted Griffen to a Meeting of the Harrison Downtown Association

  MR. GRIFFEN: That I can be a forceful, productive member of the board is clear. It was I who made public this sad story regarding a boy who was removed from class merely
because of his desire to express his patriotism. Even though I am not yet a member of the board, I was able to meet with Superintendent Seymour—who has, I assure you, my deepest respect—and discuss in a calm, rational fashion what might be done. When it became clear that the problem was not with school policy itself, but the misguided judgment of a particular teacher—a teacher out of touch with Harrison values—a solution was worked out that is equitable to all—and preserves the good name of our community. The boy is back in class, where he belongs and wants to be. The teacher in question will get a needed refresher course in our values and return to her duties next year better able to teach.

  Our community will support just these kinds of productive compromises. And therefore I urge all of you, on April fifth, to support the school budget proposal set before the voters. It is a thoughtful budget. Let me make this perfectly clear. The budget is fiscally prudent, and I, for one, support it.

  8:50 P.M.

  From the Diary of Philip Malloy

  Things stink. And it’s all so unfair. Nobody takes my side. They all think Narwin’s great. Nobody pays any attention to what she did to me. Coach Jamison won’t let me on the team.

  I hate that school.

  9:30 P.M.

  Phone Conversation between Margaret Narwin and Robert Duval, Reporter

  MISS NARWIN: I really don’t wish to talk about it.

  MR. DUVAL: Ma’am, Miss Narwin, it seems to me, from what I’ve come to understand about you and what happened, that the original story does not make a great deal of sense. For instance, at one point, Dr. Doane—your principal—told me you were one of the district’s best teachers.

  MISS NARWIN: Did she?

  MR. DUVAL: Yes, ma’am. She did.

  MISS NARWIN: I’m not so sure she would still say so.

  MR. DUVAL: What do you mean?

  MISS NARWIN: Mr. Duval … I …

  MR. DUVAL: Miss Narwin, I am truly interested in getting out your story. It’s been awfully one-sided.