WHO'S KIMMIE?

Wanda Chu, she had called the new student, Henry Jennings, out of his sophomore math class - introduction to calculus. She had news about his father, which bode well for Henry's stay at St. Edwards. Maybe he was going to land there after all!

Standing there in the quiet of the hallway - students concentrating in class, behind the now closed door - she said to Henry, "turns out that something came up for your dad. He won't be coming up."

"That's probably a good thing, Ms. Chu," Henry replied, "but it's kind of typical. Honestly, I thought that when I came up here on my own, that they'd not notice I was gone." He then told her that if his dad actually had made the trip, there was 100% chance that the two of them would be driving back to Falls Church, and he'd have to re-enrol at Fall Church High School - for the 1985-'86 year.

He said with a tinge of sarcasm, "in the last week I've learned more calculus than I would have in two years back home! They want to pull me out of that!"

Chu got a little animated and put her hand on his shoulder. "The Tuitions and Billing Officer, Mr. Sato, has some good news. About half of your bursaries and scholarships have come through. But the big one," Chu smiled, "was what Coach Bowman dug up. It's from a fund for the development of New Hampshire hockey players."

Henry looked quizzical, "but I'm not from New Hampshire!"

She beamed even brighter, "you are now!" She explained that her next call was to Henry's home, which she confessed she had never had much luck with. She'd talked once to Mrs. Jennings at home, Mr. Jennings once at his work. "Your folks, they should be relieved - their part of the bill for this year will be a fraction of full tuition. We'll deal with next year when it comes." She knew that St. Edwards could not guarantee the same level of support for him next year, there were too many other 'non-elite' families which needed the funding.

Chu took her hand off of Henry's shoulder when she saw how pleased he looked. She knew what he was thinking, because he'd said it repeatedly since his arrival two weeks ago. 'It's nice to have people on my side,' had been his refrain - she began to pair that phrase with the look on his face which always accompanied it.

He said he had to get back to class. He said that the teacher was going over 'double differentiation - second derivatives', about which Wanda Chu thought, 'whatever that is!'

Henry had his hand on the door-handle when Chu asked, "I thought your sister's name was 'Paige'?"

He said, "It is."

"I talked with your mom last week, and I heard her mentioning to your dad someone named, 'Kimmie'. I thought maybe that Kimmie was another sister."

What Chu didn't say was that Elizabeth Jennings, Henry's mom, had been yelling at her husband about this woman/girl. 'Kimmie' was the Paige-aged daughter of Isaac Breland, head of the CIA's Soviet Division. Disguised as 'Jim', Philip had been running her, resisting the need to sleep with her.

All Henry said was, "it's probably someone to do with their work, down at the travel agency. I once heard them talking about 'Kimmie' in loud voices. They didn't realize that their voices carried through the air ducts of the house…"

NEW ENGLAND CHRISTMAS 1985

"Hey, Wanda," David Sato said, clearing the snow from his windshield, as well as back window. Wanda Chu was two spaces down, she doing much the same. Sato continued, "you have a good holiday, we'll see you in the New Year. I hope Santa is good to you."

Instead of returning an appropriate seasonal greeting, she replied, "I'm worried that Henry Jennings won't be back."

Sato stopped clearing snow and turned to her, "well, from my chair, Mr. Jennings seemed happy. I showed him the funding structure for Henry for this year. He's a business guy, he 'gets' it. I didn't pull punches about next September, though. Nothing is ever guaranteed."

She, too, stopped cleaning her car from snow. "I may have told a lie, David."

"Ha!" he gaffawed, "Wanda Chu 'may' have told a lie! Dear, if you ever lied your face would fall off. It's why the kids love you as their advisor. I mean, they see you doing battle with me! The tuition-ogre!" He perceived that she was not tracking his witticisms. So he asked, "ok, what's this big fib that Ms. Chu told?"

At that, she reached into her car and pulled out a small brown package. She said, "Henry Jennings, he gave this to me for safe keeping."

"A Christmas present? Could'a had better wrapping paper!"

"No, definitely not a present," she replied.

"So what is it?"

Instead of answering, she put it back into her car and prepared to get in. "Never mind, it's nothing."

Yesterday, an hour before Mr. Philip Jennings left with his son for Falls Church, Wanda Chu, academic advisor to St Edwards, had had him in her office. She was explaining the impact Henry had been making - academically; but also in the dorm and particularly on the ice.

She'd said to Mr. Jennings, half joking, "we've done our best to make Henry's attendance here possible. Quite honestly, Mr. Jennings, if he was ever to be pulled from the student body, Coach Bowman would burn down the school. He's made an impact on the ice as a newbie that the coach has not seen in a while."

All Philip Jennings had committed to was having Henry at St. Edwards until end of term, Spring 1986.

Then Mr. Jennings had asked something strange. "I'm missing a little brown package," he asked. "I thought I'd left it at the motel back in Manchester, but it's not there. Where would I look here?" He said it was 'reading material' that his wife had given him, and that he'd 'catch hell' if he didn't return it. Out of all the times when conformist Wanda Chu had gone all contrary, she wondered, 'why this time?'

The lie? If it was what Mr. Jennings was talking about, it was three feet in front of him, in her lower desk drawer.

Completely out of character she found herself saying, "the receptionist outside keeps a small 'lost and found', maybe ask her. Otherwise, Henry's real strength is his work ethic. He told me once that he may not be the smartest math-guy in the school, but he was never going to be outworked in math by anyone else. He's a credit to you, as a parent, Mr. Jennings."

Philip Jennings, he let the compliment go by uncommented upon. As if it had not mattered. An hour later, both Jennings were on the road back to Falls Church.

At that, back in the parking lot with her engine on, warming the interior, she rolled down her window for one last salutation to David Sato.

"Have a good Christmas, David. I really do appreciate your efforts for the students, I really do. I even think there's a better than even chance we'll see Henry Jennings back in January! If nothing else, we'll both have Coach Bowman sending us flowers."

AUGUST 1986 - ST EDWARDS STAFF FINALIZING 1986-'87 STUDENT BODY

"Okay," academic advisor Wanda Chu said to Tuitions and Billings Officer, David Sato, "I think we've built ourselves a student body! We'll hand this off to the Headmaster, and the dorm assignments can begin."

Sato pushed himself back from the table and quipped, "we've even regularized your pet projects, Wanda."

"For pete's sake, David, don't call them that!" she said sharply.

"Okay, okay, okay," he replied putting his hands up in a defensive position. "I meant it as a compliment. You've moved mountains to get our 'non-elite' families seen to….."

She bristled, "I also wish you'd cut it out about that! St. Edwards is not an elitist school…."

".… and the reason it isn't," he completed her thought, "is because of the work you do to accommodate our, shall we call them, 'under funded' families."

"You're still mad about Henry Jennings, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not," Sato countered. "Jennings has secured bursaries and scholarships, he's earned them. He worked with the Gardners over the summer, to cover the shortfall. Made a butt-load of money from what I heard… Mrs. Gardner has found another kid to dote over, but none of that is forever….."

"What do you mean?" Chu asked.

"Well, we're not socialists here - you'd have to move to Russia for that. The Regents have approved tuition increases for next year, 1987-'88, and those bursaries and scholarships supporting Jennings, their sunset has officially arrived, with others at the trough."

Chu said, "wow, are you ever a Debbie-downer! Let's deal with that when it comes. Can we finish up with this year?"

"I'm just saying," said Sato. "Sooner or later the numbers, they catch up to you. Numbers, they don't lie!"

CHRISTMAS 1987 ST. EDWARDS

"Damn," Henry thought, "not tonight! Why does dad have to call at the most awkward of times?" The last call days' ago that Philip had made to his son, was to be open about the failing business, Dupont Circle Travel - the capitalist economic engine which was both failing, as well as endangering Henry's final year in New Hampshire, 1988-'89 his graduation year.

Both Chris's dad as well as the Gardners said they did not want to step on family toes. But Mr Gardner said that as an emergency measure, he'd co-sign for an educational loan if need be, for 1988-'89 at St. Edwards. He'd told Henry, "I don't want to interfere, but it sounds like you need someone in your corner. I don't worry about your ability to pay it off, I have a feeling that barring the US adopting the Ruble as it's currency, you'll have anything paid off well before you're 30…"

But back to December 1987….. "Jennings!" Henry heard his name yelled from down the hall. "You're jamming up the phone!" So he closed his textbook and made his reluctant journey. He knew it would be his dad - this was his third year in residence, and neither Paige nor his mother had ever called. Not once.

Henry: Hello?

Philip: Hey, Henry…

Henry: Hi dad, what's up?

Philip: Not much. - pause - Me, your mom and Paige, we all had dinner. - pause - We were talking about you and thought we would call.

Henry heard himself feeling grateful that he'd 'made the cut' in conversation between the three others in his family.

Henry (chuckling): Where are you?

Philip: At a payphone in the city. - pause - You know how proud we all are of you, don't you…..?

Henry (somewhat sarcastically): Yeah, sure.

Philip: ….. and how much we love you.

Henry: Uh, have you been drinking tonight, dad?

Philip (stung by the insinuation): Uh, I had a little wine with dinner, so yeah, maybe I'm a little…..

Now fleeing, and after two decades in the United States, this was the hardest it had been for Philip to maintain 'cover'. He began to think he wasn't going to hold out much longer, what with Henry on the phone - maybe for the last time. As a dad, with every word, he was blowing it - betraying his own flesh and blood.

Philip: - long silence - I just want you to be yourself, okay? Because… - pause - You're great.

Henry (now sure his dad had had too much wine): Okay. - chuckled - I'll be myself, dad. Um, you should probably let mom drive you home.

Philip: Yeah, I will. Look, she wants to say hi.

Henry had long since tuned out anything his mother had wanted to say. Despite Paige's hatred for their mom, Paige had been her 'pal' for the last few years. Go figure. Paige had somehow made the cut with Elizabeth Mary Jennings. That had been something that had both enraged as well as perplexed and amused him - the times he could calm down enough to think about it.

All Elizabeth had wanted to know was what Henry was doing - right now. Not how he was, but what he was doing. Henry thought, 'that's pure mom. The old mom.' Henry lied, he told her he was just hanging out. She had asked if that was with friends. He thought, 'of course with friends, who else?'

Elizabeth: What your father said, I feel the same.

Jeez, Henry thought, 'mom' and 'feelings'. There's a new one. Note to self, they weren't her feelings, they were dad's.

Henry: I know, mom.

Then the stumper, something that Henry had never heard, not ever - from her. From his mother. It was a word seldom used in the home as it was. It caught him both off guard, and with nothing - not really - to say.

Elizabeth: I love you, Henry.

Henry (fresh from the 'l'-word from his mom's very lips, he lied): Ah, look, I gotta go.

Then Henry heard the strangest thing….. he heard Paige say at a distance from their phone, "I can't." Then his dad spoke, and Henry reminded them that he was in the middle of a ping-pong tournament, which he was not.

Henry: Look, dad, I'll see you next week. - Henry hung up and ran back down the hall, hoping against hope that they'd leave him at St. Edwards for Christmas -

(to be continued…..)