Chapter Seven
Mr. Bohannon
Durant pulled Mr. Bohannon out of the hallway and back into his office. "Mr. Bohannon my good sir, it is no secret that you have become a favorite amongst the students of-"
"I've become what?" Bohannon interrupted.
"My good man. You have risen, quite quickly, to the top. You've won their approval and now it's time to win the championship." Durant continued.
"Sir, I'm gonna need a little more of an explanation."
"That you would. The state basketball championship is almost upon us and Hellion Wells finds itself without a coach. Rev. Cole resigned his position this morning. But as fate would have it, I've already decided on who should succeed him." Durant said with a knowing glance.
"Sir-"
"Please. Call me Thomas." Durant interrupted.
"Mr. Durant. I don't know the first thing about coaching. I'm afraid you've picked the wrong man for the job." Bohannon said matter-of-factly.
"Tell me Bohannon. A sturdy and strong minded man like yourself has surely played basketball a few time."
"A little," Bohannon nodded.
"And you've definitely built the necessary report with your students to effectively lead them in the right direction." Durant mused.
"A classroom and a court are two different things, Sir."
"Nonsense!" Durant stated.
Mr. Bohannon was about to protest, but Durant cut him short once again. "And of course the additional work would be accompanied by additional pay."
"How much we talkin'?" Bohannon asked somewhat interested.
"A fair amount. We can discuss details later. Just say the word. Are you the man for the job?" Durant turned to face him squarely.
Bohannon looked down at his hands for a moment, then back up at Durant. "I could give it a shot." He said with a doubtful smile.
Durant stood up and stuck out a hand, "I knew, from the moment I met you, that you were a man of many skills."
"We'll see about that." Bohannon said as he shook his hand.
Durant had set up a meeting with Bohannon and Rev. Cole to discuss the transition later in the week. Bohannon was walking back to his classroom when he realized he never got the chance to ask Durant what he had come to talk to him about in the first place. Bohannon shook his head and turned around, knocking straight into Mr. Gunderson who had been walking right behind him. "Sorry about that." Mr. Bohannon said while recovering his footing.
"Not a problem." Mr. Gunderson said in his heavy Scandinavian accent. "It take a while to get accustomed to this school. No?"
"Yeah." Bohannon chuckled.
"You'll make it no doubt. Popular Mr. Bohannon. Mhmm." Mr. Gunderson said with a hint of spite, then continued walking down the hallway towards his room with awkward stiffness.
Not wanting to forget again, Bohannon walked quickly back to Durant's office to ask him whether or not it was absolutely necessary for him to chaperone the upcoming field trip he'd been told about.