Author: FarJourney Caribbean

    Perhaps realizing his newcomer status would not immediately win him friends in all quarters, Phil Quickenbush set about racking up support. He introduced a newsletter for staffers. It appeared in teachers' boxes on Friday afternoon, printed on orange bond paper. Teachers getting ready to punch out and leave the Bronx for the weekend were accosted by rows of flaming leaflets in their boxes. They pulled them out, they walked away reading, sometimes pausing in mid-stride to absorb some piece of alarming news.
   Headlined "From The Desk Of The Chapter Leader", the newsletter began, Dear Fellow Staff Members, then after presenting innocuous union news it tore off in a direction that even the cantankerous Steve Kite could not have dreamed up:

       The list of reported incidents occurring in and around John Wayne Cotter
        H.S. is as follows:
            Monday, November 15:
            English Teacher receives puncture wound from unknown assailant
            while passing between homeroom and Period 3.
            Tuesday, November 16:
            Car belonging to Business Teacher is stolen.
            (13th attempt, 1st success)
            Wednesday, November 17:
            2 students wounded by knife-wielding students. Students who
            threatened Math teacher (see last week's newsletter) again
            stalks the teacher.
            Thursday, November 19:
            4 students given Desk summonses for setting fire to mailbox
            at the corner of the school.
            Friday, November 19:
            School Aide and Security guard wounded during melee in Student
            Cafe. Six students arrested as a result of the melee.
      A warning to Administrators: Issac Newton, in his Third Law of Motion, stated
      that whenever one body exerts a force, the second always exerts on the first
      a force which is equal in magnitude, opposite in direction, and has the same
      line of action. (University Physics, 5th Edition)

   For Bilicki this was really too much. "Typical right-wing, scaremongering tactics," he
whispered harshly whenever he came across someone diligently reading the newsletter. "Does anyone know what he plans to do about all this?"
    No one knew. Everyone seemed too alarmed to ask.
    Many confessed they were astonished to learn what was going on. Hitherto, teachers who worked, say, in the east wing of the building had no way of knowing that incidents "like this" happened in the west wing – or in the basement, or outside the building – so regulated were their movements, so fearfully constricted their habits.
    Bilicki was among the few stubbornly unimpressed. This was nothing but crass, vile politicking. A piece of fraudulence. The man describes a situation in colors of terror and despair, then he offers, not solutions, but himself as savior. A scam as plain as daylight.
    "But, Brendan, you can't argue with the facts, les petits faits vrais," Mrs. Rojas (Foreign Languages) said to him pleasantly. "These terrible things are happening. Maybe not in your neck of the woods. But that doesn't make it less frightening."
    Quickenbush was seen, next, consulting with the principal, stepping into the office of the principal. He offered proposals to the principal. At faculty meetings the principal made a point of thanking Mr. Quickenbush for providing useful information. She promised to work closely with Quickenbush and the Union to find solutions to the problems at John Wayne Cotter H.S. She praised the staff for their professionalism "in the line of fire".
    "These guys," Bilicki shook his head. "What a piece of Japanese theatre."
  (from "Ah Mikhail, O Fidel!" a novel by N.D.Williams, 2001)

   The next problem was to find a temporary replacement for Steve Kite. A candidate was quick to step forward – from the shadows, as it were – in the person of Phil Quickenbush. Little was known about him except what he was only too willing to reveal: he'd recently returned from Japan after a two-year teaching stint in a Japanese high school; he was working on a book based on his experiences there; he was currently assigned to the Business department, and in his opinion Steve Kite had been "railroaded". He was quite willing to take over Steve's responsibilities, and when the time came he would consider running for Steve's office.
    Most people were too distracted to question his credentials. One or two veterans viewed him with suspicion (what had he done to merit selection for that teaching post in Japan?) But since no one else was prepared to fill the breach, it seemed a harmless move to let him take over.
    Only Bilicki was alarmed. Phil Who? Just the look of the man – smooth-shaven, dressed for Wall Street, you would think, in white shirt and tie; the rimless glasses, the way he hovered in the teachers' cafeteria, hands in pocket, listening in on conversations; and when he did say something it was usually to highlight some "illogical" assertion, or make a correction, bolstered with facts and statistics; all of which put a damper on the anecdotal excitement teachers  preferred while they ate lunch. Who did he think he was? Where did he think he was?
     He loved working at at John Wayne Cotter H.S., he told everyone, but the situation in the hallways, you had to admit, was fast approaching anarchy. There should be police officers stationed in the building with powers of arrest. It was the only way to take back our classrooms from the hallway hoodlums. The public school system was moving away from the core values that made America strong, that offered strong leadership to the world. He ought to know; he'd just come back from Japan; the Japanese were moving miles and miles ahead of us.
    Bit by bit an already inflamed Bilicki became infuriated. He felt tempted to break his self-imposed silence, to expose this upstart, this clever windbag, with his soft rounded shoulders, and his neat appearance, as if neatness and business methods were all a school needed to save itself. Just back from a high school gig in Japan, now here at a troubled school in the Bronx - where would he go next?
    To raise these questions Bilicki risked giving the impression that, twice beaten and rejected as a candidate, he had turned into a bitter, boorish man, stooping now to character denigration.
        (from "Ah Mikhail O Fidel!", a novel by N.D.Williams, 2001)

   Admirers and detractors of Steve Kite could not allow his removal to pass without comment.
  "They're right to remove him. That kind of remark is unprofessional. You don't go around telling kids they smell, I don't care who you are. That kind of behavior is unacceptable," said Mrs. Haliburton, known for her heavenly high perfumes.
   "He didn't say that. It never happened. These kids make things up about teachers all the time. This is ridiculous…you mean, what he's alleged to have said… really ridiculous, what's going on," said Peggy Marmalad (Special Education), known for her tight-fitting clothes.
   "Well I don't know what all the fuss is about. Most of these kids get out of bed, jump into clothes and come to school. I mean, it's cold in the morning. Of course, they're going to smell a little…bedsweaty…I mean, what's the big deal about somebody's morning B.O.?" Tameka Brisbane (Student Council)
   "Let me tell you, this whole thing is being orchestrated by certain individuals in this school who are always ready to play the race card, you know what I mean? It's always the white teachers who are insensitive and racist, always the black students who are the victims." Jim Lightbody, to the carpool, too tired to respond that day, and quite willing to let him speak his mind.
   Brendan Bilicki made no comment. It was noticed that he kept himself apart from the gossip and speculation clusters. Like a cat curled up in a corner licking its fur, he was content to sit in the department lounge, his head buried in The Times. Approached one day in the library by the librarian and asked what he thought of the whole thing, he heaved a faintly triumphant sigh. "It's a case of the chickens come home to roost," he said, rustling his pages. He was prepared to leave it at that.
              (from "Ah Mikhail, O Fidel!", a novel by N.D.Williams, 2001)

     Steve Kite was re-elected as Chapter Chair but this time around his term of office was shortlived. His trademark loose way with words got him into trouble with students, and Bilicki watched his demise with tightlipped satisfaction, his heart cheering wildly as the guillotine started its fall.
   The story, as told in a student complaint, was that Steve Kite had grievously insulted them; had insulted two students to be precise, then with a wave of his hand had corralled the entire class into the insult.
   Allegedly he accused the students of coming to class unwashed and smelling to high heaven. "Why don't you people simply have a bath when you get up in the morning?" The words "you people" linked with the implications of smell, and tossed off in a fit of 1st period irritability, raised howls of classroom laughter; but the words got back to some parents sending them into howls of outrage.
   What's this teacher's name? The fuck he think he is?
   A delegation of parents, mainly angry mothers, charging racism, came in to see the principal the very next day. They threatened to picket the school. They milled around in the lobby, arguing with the security guards; and refusing to leave the building until they'd received an apology from the offending teacher. Mrs. Haliburton appeared and managed to restore calm in the lobby. The principal came out and invited the group into his office.
   A stunned Steve Kite, unused to backpedaling, could only throw his hands up in dismay. He tried to put a blase face on the matter, carrying on as if nothing would come of it. Stopped in the hallway and asked what it was all about, his stock response was, "A piece of crock." People had blown things entirely out of proportion, he insisted. Of course, he wasn't going to apologize, there was nothing to apologize for.
   The days passed, it seemed nothing would come of it. Steve Kite conducted classes, though the offended students stayed away.
   Then one day he was gone. Word came back that the matter was being "investigated". In the meantime rules of procedure required his "removal" from the classroom.
       (from "Ah Mikhail, O Fidel!", a novel by N.D.Williams, 2001)

      This second time around Bilicki's campaign approach was more subtle, less charged with extraneous incident and cries of "corruption". He left leaflets in teachers' mailboxes asking voters to consider the "new direction" he would take the Union – out into the community. He would heal the breach between the out-of-borough teaching staff and the community they served. He included words like "integrity" and "accountability" and he made character a small but important issue. Stouthearted, he made no secret of his determination to win.
   For his part Steve Kite gave his challenger the polite brush-off. As he quipped to colleagues, sounding like a Senator from Arizona, "My record will speak for itself."
   Apparently it did. Teachers felt comfortable with Steve. They had dealt with him all these years. He was there when they needed the Union, and there when they didn't need the Union.
   Mr. Ghansam, for instance, was unequivocal in his praise for Steve Kite. It was Steve who stood by him, who fought for him when he received the first "Unsatisfactory" rating from his supervisor. Steve explained the grievance procedure and after he'd raised the matter with the assistant principal, Ghansam's rating – he suspected it had something to do with his accent and his resident alien status – improved to "Marginally Satisfactory". "Now I have no problem. Now all my ratings…Satisfactory…Satisfactory…Satisfactory."
   In dealing with the supervisors Steve Kite came across as a scrappy fighter. He was a short man with a preference for suspenders and bowties, who combed his hair with a part to the right; his mottled face looked as if his wife had scratched and punched him too often (this was the joke exchanged with the secretaries who gave him fond, puzzled smiles). His piercing voice, his deliberate clear phrasing, rang out at meetings in the auditorium like steel striking stone, serving notice to the administration that he was monitoring their every move.
   Bilicki on the other hand was considered an idealist, a man stuck in 1960s rebelliousness. A good listener, mind you, and a fairly decent fellow at heart, but you couldn't hear him sharpening knives to do battle for teachers.
   What really endeared Steve Kite to his supporters was the tone of offensiveness in his  conversation. He said things that, from the mouth of anyone else, might have sounded obnoxious. He had nicknames for some supervisors – " that old fossil", "fucking Nazi",  "horse-faced bitch" – and he offered crude opinions about their personal lives that left everyone mildly horrified, yet relieved someone had the nerve to speak that way about the bosses.
          (from "Ah Mikhail. O Fidel!", a novel by N.D.Williams, 2001)

     When word swept around the building that Brendan Bilicki was thinking of making a second run for the Chapter Chair position the overwhelming response was, first, to gasp or snigger; then to wonder, what was wrong with him? Hadn't he learnt anything from the first attempt?
  After all when you stopped to think about it, working at John Wayne Cotter H.S. was everyone's mortgage-paying job. For some, the younger ones just starting out, teaching still had something to do with always wanting to be a teacher. A few had drifted into the profession like vessels with broken rudders; but as the years went by many invariably found other compensatory activities, second jobs – as adjunct college faculty, or running a little business. A little moonlighting after school hours, everyone understood, helped pay the bills, with enough left for a car upgrade or a European summer vacation.
  So what was it with Bilicki? He'd achieved the dubious honor of veteran teacher. He should be looking forward to getting out of the system, to happy retirement.
  Mrs. Haliburton had her own theory. As she explained to Noreen, once you've put in as many years as Bilicki had, retirement begins to look like a form of death. It came to you bearing an envelope with details of your pension rights; it offered quick dispatch to nonentity land.
  New York teachers were only human. They, too, wanted to be remembered, to leave a mark somewhere, the way the kids carved their names on the old school desk. "This company doesn't send you off with a gold watch," Mrs. Haliburton observed, and she and Noreen had a good laugh over that.
  Still, after losing the first time he ran for office Bilicki was expected to fade back into the woodwork; continue his shenanigans if he had to, but leave the Union business in the capable hands of the incumbent, Steve Kite, who had held the post for many years.
         (from "Ah Mikhail, O Fidel!" a novel by N.D.Williams, 2001)

         "You would not believe what happened to me today," Lightbody announced to the carpool. "I got a visit from the new morals police chief, you know her?…Burton?"
     "Haliburton."
     "There you go. Well, she knocks on my door, this is five minutes before the bell, the lesson's over, I'm bubbling in my attendance sheets and the kids are doing what they usually do, throwing paper balls, goofing off…anyway…she knocks on my door and walks in, and she's looking none too pleased with what she sees…and I say to her, Yes, can I help you? …and she asks me if I know a Mrs. Drummond, who is a crossing guard, she's at the corner of Myrtle and 105th…"
     "I thought you parked at the gas station," Meier said.
     "Well, I used to but it's beginning to add up, how much I'm paying this guy. I figured if they're going to get to my car, they can hit it there just as easily, then with the snow and everything…anyway she asks me if I knew this Mrs. Drummond, and I said, I know who she is, I've never spoken to her, and she says one of the kids complained to her I had made offensive remarks about this lady."
     Everyone threw quick glances at Lightbody, listening for the slightest ripple of guilt and trouble in his voice.
     "I said, Madam, I've hardly exchanged two words with this lady. Truth be told, I did once, when she flagged me down. She came up to my car, knocked on the window with her knuckles, and told me she's going to report me the next time I ignore her and cross the zebra lines. And I said, Madam, what are you talking about? Apparently, the day before, I'd passed in front instead of waiting for the kids to cross the zebra…I mean, I didn't even see the woman signaling, and in any case I was running late that morning… anyway this Haliburton lady says she'd received a complaint that I'd referred to the Drummond lady as a dog." 
     "You did what? Called the crossing guard a dog?" Brebnor said.
     "I did no such thing. Actually, that's what the kids call her, the bulldog. I'd asked the class if anyone knew who the crossing guard was, and someone, I think it might have been Ramos, said, You mean the bulldog? and I said, That's the one. Any of you come across this woman?"
     No one had. Everyone seemed amused.
     "I had no idea at the time the woman's name was Drummond, the crossing guard I mean, so when this Haliburton lady tells me I'd insulted this Mrs. Drummond I tried to lighten up the situation by asking her…I mean, the thought just popped into my head… I asked her if she'd ever heard of Bulldog Drummond, you know, the detective in those novels? I said, Did you ever read those Bulldog Drummond books when you were a kid?"
    The carpool thought they knew where Lightbody was going with the story and erupted in laughter.
     "She didn't know who I was talking about. She said she'd read many authors but she hadn't heard of any Bulldog Drummond, and in any case she didn't think it appropriate for me to characterize – now listen to this – it was inappropriate for someone like me to characterize anyone, and certainly not this Mrs. Drummond, who lived in the community, whose job was just as important as any teacher's job… to characterize her as some sort of animal. So I started to explain, Madam, I did no such thing, and she just walked off."
     For awhile they drove in silence. Then Brebnor, returning to Lightbody's attempt to lighten up the situation, muttered the words 'Bulldog Drumond'; unleasing a fresh outburst of laughter.
               (from "Ah Mikhail, O Fidel!", a novel by N.D.Williams, 2001)