The Three of Us

124. The Balance of Power Shifting

Mr. Harmon Andrews was not happy to find that his wife had changed her outlook on Anne.

"I can't help but think we didn't try hard enough to discredit that girl's story," he muttered.

"We did try," Mrs. Andrews said tightly. "But Billy admitted what he did, with the Cuthberts' sitting right here in this room!"

"We could have said he confessed to it under duress," Mr. Andrews argued. "It shouldn't have counted. If we'd been firm about it- and if we'd done more to make people understand that the girl's story shouldn't have been taken seriously-"

"Harmon," Mrs. Andrews tried to say, but Mr. Andrews kept going:

"Who knows how many boys she's been with! Billy didn't have to be involved-"

"Harmon," Mrs. Andrews interrupted, louder this time. Then she shook her head, and with her voice, unsteady, she explained: "You haven't seen the baby but from far away. ...If you saw him any closer, you'd know...there is just no denying Billy is the father of that baby."

There was a quiet moment as Harmon stared at her.

"It's true," she told him. She finally rubbed her temples as if she felt a headache coming on. "Anyone who sees him will know it in a heartbeat! And I'm not interested in saving face anymore; she's had a bad thing happen to her, and it's our son who caused it. We ought to be doing more for her."

"More for her?" Mr. Andrews asked in surprise. "We paid the rent. We paid the doctor. We paid the hospital. We paid for that thing she needed to feed it. Not to mention the godawful settlement you gave her, which I will never understand!"

"It was my money, Harmon," Mrs. Andrews said, her tone harsh. "That was money left to me by my father and you've no right to interfere in how I used it. And frankly I'm not sure it was enough."

"That's why you gave it-

"Him," Mrs. Andrews said icily. "Not it, him."

"Him, then," Mr. Andrews threw out offhandedly. "That's why you gave him something that you should have been saving for our grandchild."

"He is our grandchild!" Mrs. Andrews snapped. "Whether you like it or not, he is! And I'll never have a moment of peace, knowing he's out there and not being allowed to see him! But that's what's been done to us, Harmon! By our own son! Billy put our first grandchild into the world and he did it in such a way that we'll be cut off from his life forever!"

Mr. Andrews asked, "What on earth do you want to do with them now?"

"Whatever they'll let me," she said simply.

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"The algebra tests came back," Gilbert said to Anne as they all sat down at the table that afternoon.

"You got the highest score, didn't you?" Anne asked cheerfully. She was always going to be unhappy that she couldn't continue with school, but she was proud when Gilbert did well. Her love for him was making it possible to be more cheerful about his success than bitter about not having her own.

But Gilbert shook his head. "I didn't, actually. I lost. Someone else scored two points higher than me."

Anne was shocked. Instantly the classroom flashed across her mind, trying to imagine which of them could have beat Gilbert for the high score. "Who was it?" she asked.

"You," Gilbert said with a mysterious smile.

"Me?" Anne looked back and forth from Gilbert to Miss Stacy. "But I don't count."

"You certainly do count," Miss Stacy told her, still smiling.

"...I don't understand," Anne said, shaking her head. "You mean I did better than Gilbert, but that doesn't mean I scored the highest in the class...I'm not in the class."

Gilbert and Miss Stacy looked at each other.

"You sort of are, in a way," Gilbert said with a smile, looking to Miss Stacy to explain. "Miss Stacy had a thing or two to tell the school board."

Miss Stacy shook her head at Gilbert, silently telling him not to say such things. She explained, "I felt it was ungenerous of the school board not to make any special consideration for your circumstances. Particularly when your circumstances happened through no fault of your own. I simply asked them to reconsider."

"And they said they wouldn't," Anne said flatly.

"They said they would not allow you to attend," Miss Stacy said slowly. "The exact word they used was attend." She smiled conspiratorially. "And I said, 'what about if she doesn't attend? We...went back and forth a bit...but the school board eventually agreed to a compromise of sorts."

Gilbert watched Anne, caught between two thoughts- one, that Anne's hopes wouldn't go up, thinking she could go back to school, and two, that this idea would make her feel better and not worse.

"But how did you..."

Miss Stacy went on: "I asked them a question: What is their main concern- did they believe that an unwed mother should not learn, or did they believe that an unwed mother should not be alongside the other children? They had to admit it was the latter. And to that I responded, then she ought to be granted the same chance to learn, without being alongside them. ...After all, suppose a student is chronically ill and becomes too frail to attend school- is a teacher not allowed to take the student on as a home study, so they may continue to learn? It should be no different for you! They agreed to consider you a home study student."

Anne was slow to reply, not sure how happy to let herself be. "So...when I do school work, it...it counts?"

"I am allowed to list you as enrolled. You will do the same work as those in class, and I will record your grades in my gradebook right alongside theirs. If there is some sort of contest regarding grades- the highest math score, for example- you will be in the running as well, as long as the contest does not require class participation. You may do exams at the end, the same as everyone else. You will be issued a certificate as well."

Anne was just staring at her.

Miss Stacy looked a bit sad to say, "You still cannot attend class, and they've forbidden me from having you at school functions- no field trips, no picnics and the like. You will graduate, but you won't be allowed to attend graduation. I'll bring your certificate to you personally." Miss Stacy did not tell her that a letter was being sent to parents informing them that Anne would be counted among test score placement but promising them that she would not interact with their children during school hours.

Gilbert spoke up quickly, "We'll have a party for you. That will be better than a graduation. Miss Stacy can give you your certificate at your party."

Miss Stacy looked kindly at him, knowing how much he wanted Anne to be happy.

Anne finally found her voice, and her words tumbled out: "But...but I will graduate- I'll really be counted as graduating from school? Officially? On paper?" 

Miss Stacy nodded, beaming.

Anne threw her arms around her.