Invisible man - Ralph Ellison [38]
Just inside the building I got another shock. As we approached a mirror Dr. Bledsoe stopped and composed his angry face like a sculptor, making it a bland mask, leaving only the sparkle of his eyes to betray the emotion that I had seen only a moment before. He looked steadily at himself for a moment; then we moved quietly down the silent hall and up the stairs.
A co-ed sat at a graceful table stacked with magazines. Before a great window stood a large aquarium containing colored stones and a small replica of a feudal castle surrounded by goldfish that seemed to remain motionless despite the fluttering of their lacy fins, a momentary motionful suspension of time.
"Is Mr. Norton in his room?" he said to the girl.
"Yessir, Dr. Bledsoe, sir," she said. "He said to tell you to come in when you got here."
Pausing at the door I heard him clear his throat, then rap softly upon the panel with his fist.
"Mr. Norton?" he said, his lips already a smile. And at the answer I followed him inside.
It was a large light room. Mr. Norton sat in a huge wing chair with his jacket off. A change of clothing lay on the cool bedspread. Above a spacious fireplace an oil portrait of the Founder looked down at me remotely, benign, sad, and in that hot instant, profoundly disillusioned. Then a veil seemed to fall.
"I've been worried about you, sir," Dr. Bledsoe said. "We expected you at the afternoon session . . ."
Now it's beginning, I thought. Now --
And suddenly he rushed forward. "Mr. Norton, your head!" he cried, a strange grandmotherly concern in his voice. "What happened, sir?"
"It's nothing." Mr. Norton's face was immobile. "A mere scratch."
Dr. Bledsoe whirled around, his face outraged. "Get the doctor over here," he said. "Why didn't you tell me that Mr. Norton had been injured?"
"I've already taken care of that, sir," I said softly, seeing him whirl back.
"Mr. Norton, Mister Norton! I'm so sorry," he crooned. "I thought I had sent you a boy who was careful, a sensible young man! Why we've never had an accident before. Never, not in seventy-five years. I assure you, sir, that he shall be disciplined, severely disciplined!"
"But there was no automobile accident," Mr. Norton said kindly, "nor was the boy responsible. You may send him away, we won't need him now."
My eyes suddenly filled. I felt a wave of gratitude at his words.
"Don't be kind, sir," Dr. Bledsoe said. "You can't be soft with these people. We mustn't pamper them. An accident to a guest of this college while he is in the charge of a student is without question the student's fault. That's one of our strictest rules!" Then to me: "Return to your dormitory and remain there until further notice!"
"But it was out of my control, sir," I said, "just as Mr. Norton said . . ."
"I'll explain, young man," Mr. Norton said with a half-smile. "Everything will be explained."
"Thank you, sir," I said, seeing Dr. Bledsoe looking at me with no change of expression.
"On second thought," he said, "I want you to be in chapel this evening, understand me, sir?"
"Yes, sir."
I opened the door with a cold hand, bumping into the girl who had been at the table when we went inside.
"I'm sorry," she said. "Looks like you have old Bucket-head kind of mad."
I said nothing as she walked beside me expectantly. A red sun cast its light upon the campus as I started for my dormitory.
"Will you take a message to my boy friend for me?" she said.
"Who is he?" I said, trying hard to conceal my tension and fear.
"Jack Maston," she said.
"Okay, he's in the room next to mine."
"That's swell," she said with a big smile. "The dean put me on duty so I missed him this afternoon. Just tell him that I said the grass is green . . ."
"What?"
"The grass is green. It's our secret code, he'll understand."
"The grass is green," I said.
"That's it. Thank you, lover," she said.
I felt like cursing as I watched her hurrying back into the building, hearing her flat-heeled shoes crunching the graveled walk. Here she was playing with some silly secret code at the very minute my fate for the resf of my life was being decided. The grass was green and they'd meet and she'd be sent home pregnant, but even so, in less disgrace than I . . . If only I knew what they were saying about me . . . Suddenly I had an idea and ran after her, into the building and up the stairs.