Mr. Ghansam (Math), Mr. Meier (Business Education), Mr. Brebnor (Math) and Mr.
Lightbody (Biology), all from Westchester, had formed a carpool. It was originally
Mr. Lightbody's idea. He'd noticed several of his colleagues at the traffic light waiting to
enter the expressway; he followed them one day only to discover they all took the same
exit off the New England Highway.
"Listen, guys, do you know how much we could save on gas…? I've figured it out…we
pick up Ghansam first; then Bob Meier; then Brebnor…it's all on the way. All we need now
are telephone numbers. If anyone's not coming in that day, he contacts the man who's
driving, lets him know so he doesn't have to pass by his house".
Lightbody had the face of a war veteran, creased from experience in remote jungle war
zones; his nose bent, his thin hair flat on his skull. He referred to himself as a widower; he
made the word "widower" sound like a certificate of merit he'd earned after tremendous
personal sacrifice.
Bob Meier was a short wire-spectacled man, balding on the crown of his head. His hobby
and special field of knowledge was the stock market. He had secure investments and was
happy on the drive home when the conversation strayed into talk of falling or rising shares.
He dressed each day like a stockbroker in crisp shirt and tie, all buttoned down for
business, as if setting off for a cubicle on Wall Street.
Mr. Brebnor was a laconic carpooler. He'd get in the car and lapse into silence, staring
out the window, his face set in a grimace of contempt and worry; contempt for his job
and worry about the frequency with which he caught colds. The kids brought the flu virus
into the classroom; kids being kids they sneezed and coughed irresponsibly around his
desk. He took vitamin C supplements, 1000mg shots, every morning with his breakfast
coffee; and still he came down with the flu; and fits of coughing; plus red nose Kleenex
flurries. But this was his job, this was his life: teaching sequential math to virus-laden kids;
fighting student apathy, at the same time fending off the invisible virus onslaught.
Mr. Ghansam was from India.
(from "Ah Mikhail, O Fidel! a novel by N.D.Williams, 2001)
FARJOURNEY CARIBBEAN 