Taste of Secrets

Chapter Thirteen

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(Tuesday afternoon)  

I sat in Ethics class, my notebook sitting in front of me. Our Ethics professor  walked into the classroom. He cleared his throat, setting his satchel on the table. "All right," He sighed, "Settle down." I looked at a couple across the classroom. The girl had dark brown hair with bronze highlights while the boy had bleached hair. "This is your tutorial group for Ethics and Politics," our teacher said, "My name is Professor Cameron Foley, but uh....you can call me Professor Foley." He turned around to look at the class, holding his maroon colored mug in one hand. I looked down at my phone, rolling my eyes at the texts Daniel had sent me. 

Daniel: How's class?

Me: Danny, I can't talk

Daniel: So?

Me: So, I need to pay attention. 

"Uh....." Professor Foley trailed, "Housekeeping! Office houses are 3:00 to 3:45 every Thursday unless following a holiday. Then, It's the Tuesday preceding the next scheduled lecture, provided that lecture doesn't fall on an even-number day." He walked forward and took a sip of his coffee. "In which case," he added, "office hours are 4:00 to 4:45 on Wednesdays." I rested my chin on my hand and looked to my right. I saw a girl playing on her phone, leaning up against the window. I furrowed my eyebrows, but then got back to work. "There are no extensions on assignments," he said. A student on the other side of the room perked up once Foley tapped the table. "Good morning," Foley said, "How was the sleep?" The class chuckled. 

"What was I talking about in the lecture?" he asked, "Seriously, folks. I was on autopilot yesterday." The class remained quiet. "You discussed the two branches of political ethics," I said, "Process and Policy." 

"Okay, sounds like something I'd do," Professor Foley said, "Good answer Ms..."

"Stone," I answered, "My Mother is the councilor for the school." 

"Good to know," he said, "So, who can define them?" He looked around the room, waiting for the students to answer. The boy with the bleached hair raised his hand. "Um," the student cleared his throat, "Ethics of process is the idea that a leader or a party may have to do wrong in order to achieve right, and ethics of policy are the moral questions that arise from a leader of party's propositions, mainly around contentious issues like healthcare." 

His girlfriend looked at him, proud. "I'm Jack by the way," he said. "I didn't ask," Foley retorted, "Continue." Professor Foley took out a pill bottle out of his back, he grabbed a couple and swallowed them. "Like healthcare, taxation and the death penalty," Jack continued. Foley sighed, "Now we know you read the textbook." The classmates chuckled from the teachers comment. "So," Foley said, "what do you think?"

"About what?" Jack's girlfriend asked, resting her chin on her hand. "Let's just stab at the deep end here, okay?" Foley said as he walked back to the front of the class. "Should your government have the right to assassinate an enemy leader?" our teacher questioned. "I guess it depends on the leader," I said, sitting up in my chair. 

"Ouch," Foley said. 

"Hey, some leaders deserve it," Jack said, backing me up. He looked at me and nodded his head. Something about him seemed oddly familiar. "Maybe to your standards," said Foley, "but maybe by their standards? Their leader's are awesome. Is there even such a thing as good and evil, or.... is it all just perception?"

I glanced at the window again, noticing the girl still stood there. "Remember, when Truman dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, we were all thrilled," Foley said, "Japanese, however. I doubt they were thinking, 'You know what? We had that coming.' " Another round of stinging pain came from my temples. I reached my hand up, massaging my forehead. I looked up and saw Jack struggling as well.