Set up your podcast app to start downloading.
Previously on “A Footnote to Plato”…
This is the end of the beginning! But what was ending or beginning? No one seemed to know.
Chapter 4, The Maintenance Committee takes place in the aftermath of the ruined Plato class. During a Maintenance Committee meeting which has gathered to discuss the trashing of a dorm, Dr. Fischelson gets a call from the college president saying his sabbatical has been denied. Meanwhile Sarah tries to befriend Julian, who presses her to divulge what she saw Alexandra doing at the Halloween party.
In Chapter 5, The Stain Dr. Fischelson is again forced to attend a surprise meeting with the Committee on Faculty where he finds out the complaint has turned into a formal sexual harassment investigation.
Excerpt from Chapter 7
In a flash, Isaac saw himself from the public’s perspective—the story in the student newspaper, the photographs. The author would undoubtedly be some freshman who knew more than he about his situation.
As he stood up, the dining hall darkened in his peripheral vision and then brightened all at once. Someone wearing what appeared to be part of a wolf costume was cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting from a crowded area just below the stage, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Isaac announced. “Thank you.” In truth he was quite lightheaded, but knowing Zeb was standing by to catch him should he fall gave him confidence.
When it became clear to everyone the stubborn old man would not be going to the emergency room, no matter what anyone said, and Zeb would make sure he got home safely, people murmured and began to scatter. The noise level rose slowly, a gradually-building whir.
Moments later Isaac found himself sitting outside in the smoking patio’s rusty folding chair watching his breath come out in silver clouds. A shiny BMW pulled up in the darkness, and Zeb popped out to guide him over to the passenger’s side. As Isaac faltered towards the car, a streak of light caught his eye. He tried to ignore it, but then came another one, again in his peripheral vision. He stopped and looked up.
“The Geminid meteor shower reaches its peak tonight,” Zeb said, looking up too.
“What a relief,” Isaac replied. “I thought the stars were in my head.” Then, without even trying, he spotted Draco for the first time. He’d never been able to see that constellation, at least not in its entirety.
“That’s Draco,” Zeb said, pointing up. He squatted to shorten himself a bit so that he could look up through Isaac’s line of vision. “It’s circumpolar. Meaning it’ll be visible every clear night for the rest of your life. Unless you move to someplace like South Africa.”
Isaac opened his eyes. The car was moving. Fast. The engine roared, tires crunched through gravel. He didn’t remember getting in the car or buckling his seatbelt, but there he was, neatly packaged. He’d fallen asleep so quickly he had no recollection of falling asleep. It was well past his bedtime. He felt something on the seat and pulled it out from under him. It was a little Ziplock bag filled with some substance he would rather not know about, so he tossed it into the darkness of the floorboard.
Zeb drove with one hand on the steering wheel. He chattered nervously, “Draco used to contain the pole star, but that was like thousands of years ago. The earth doesn’t really stay put on its axis, you know. It’s pulled in two directions by the sun and moon, so it shifts eventually. In other words, the north star now won’t be the north star later.”
Isaac closed his eyes again—not the best time to speak of wobbling worlds. But then he remembered what he wanted to find out at The Last Supper, “Say, Zeb . . .”
The dim glow of the dashboard illuminated Zeb’s profile. “Yeah?”
Isaac considered telling him about the investigation, then and there, to hell with confidentiality, but then changed his mind and kept quiet. His knee did some talking, but he refused to listen. He looked out the passenger’s side window at nothing.
A minute or two went by. Then, out of the blue, Zeb asked, “What are you gonna do about your sabbatical? You’re not gonna let them take it away from you, are you?”
Still staring out the window, Isaac let out a sigh. “I’m guessing you heard Rory through the phone? During the Maintenance Committee meeting?”
“Sorry,” Zeb replied. “Kind of hard not to.”
Damn Rory, Isaac thought, and damn his vocal cords.
“Have you figured out what you’re gonna do? Maybe submit a new proposal?” Zeb said.
“I have no idea.” Originally Isaac had planned on sticking around to keep an eye on the investigation, but that didn’t seem like a good idea anymore.
Actually, the Winston College handbook said: The college must create a safe environment for the victim—which meant he had to be removed from campus, one way or another, during the investigation. Keeping an eye on things wasn’t even an option.
What were his options, then? Did he have any? It just seemed like everything was getting so out of control that he was beginning to think the problem was his age. Could it be that simple? That he was too old to stay on top of things? If that were true, maybe he did have an option—quit. If he retired now, before the scandal went public, he might manage to leave with some dignity.
“One thing I thought was weird,” Zeb went on, keeping his eyes on the road, “I thought I heard the president say you couldn’t write a book, but why? Everyone writes books. And pushing you to do a field trip, it sounded almost like he was trying—”
“To get rid of me?”
Zeb looked thoughtful. Then he said, “Or maybe get you to take a vacation.”
“Hm.” A part of Isaac suspected Zeb—and therefore probably everyone—knew about the investigation, but he also realized he might be paranoid.
“Well,” Zeb said, “I have an idea for a sabbatical project. You’ve seen TED Talks, right?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, so no.”
“The free online lecture series? Covering politics, science, and other academic subjects? Ideas worth spreading? I can’t believe you haven’t seen TED Talks. You’d love them.”
Out the window, the snow-covered limbs of trees blurred as they sped past. The dark tangle of forest seemed both claustrophobic and infinite.
“Anyway,” Zeb went on, “you know what YouTube is, right?”
“Not really,” Isaac said.
“Hm. Well, I’ll have to show you sometime. It’s just that, if you can’t write a book, why not do a video series instead? And post it online? I know it’s not very Winston, but it’s really not out of the ordinary for university professors to reach out to a wider audience online. And I know you’re not interested in popularizing philosophy, but—
“Wait a minute. Who says I’m not interested in popularizing philosophy?” In fact, for the longest time that was exactly what Isaac had been wanting to do. He just hadn’t been able to figure out how to do it.
“You are?” Zeb was a bit too incredulous. “This is great—”
“Hold your horses.” Isaac couldn’t let himself get too excited. “It sounds like this project is way over my head.”
“Don’t worry about the technical stuff. I can take care of that. All you have to do is lecture. You can do that, can’t you?”
Indeed. On autopilot.
And wouldn’t this online lecture series be a new vehicle for ancient ideas? A wider audience? Popular? He felt a gush of familiar desire, a flood of ambition, the kind that used to course through his veins. But—“I’ll think about it, Zeb. Just not tonight. I’m exhausted.”
Some time passed in silence, but now Isaac was awake, his head full of possibilities and questions. To retire or not to retire? To play it safe and give up his shot at achieving his lifelong ambition—at precisely the moment when it finally comes into focus—or to go out on a limb for once in his life? But how could he keep word of the investigation under wraps when he wasn’t even allowed on campus? On the other hand, what advantage did being on campus give him? If someone blabbed, there was nothing he could do about it. Waiting—that was the problem. Waiting for the investigation to run its course meant putting his reputation on the line, his career. He could wring his hands for months on end or call Rory first thing in the morning to announce his retirement. Maybe he should have retired sooner. Maybe it was already too late.
But dammit, why should he retire when he did nothing wrong!
To stand on principle or to be pragmatic?
Now. He had to decide now.
He closed his eyes again. His mind was cluttered. He needed to get out of the mess between his ears, find some space. No, he needed to go beyond space, he needed to go as far as the imagination would allow and look out from the edge of space itself. If he could transport himself there, what would he see?
Darkness.
No, no. Go to the edge of space and look out.
What did he see?
The Piraeus appeared. Not as it really was, not as the port of Athens that he had visited in the seventies, but as it might appear in a dream. He watched, waiting for new possibilities to reveal themselves. The Mediterranean changed perpetually, it sparkled across the horizon, so blue, so clear, so infinite. He could jump in, if he wanted to. He could travel thousands of years into the past, if he wanted to. There was Agatha on the ferry boat, all dressed in white, stepping down the ramp, smiling, waving him in. Thou shalt go…
The text format you’ve been reading is a sample of what’s available to paid subscribers in a separate email called “FOOTNOTES”. Want access? Scroll down for discount button—20 bucks will get you a full year’s subscription. The audiobook (podcast) for this entire novel will continue to be free. Or you can buy my book on Amazon.
FREE SUBSCRIPTION includes:
FULL NOVEL PODCAST. So go ahead and start downloading episodes—you won’t get paywalled in the future.
BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS at the end.
I hope you enjoy it so much you’ll take note of the next book I write and maybe even leave a review for this one once you’re done. You can show your appreciation with a tip or upgrade to a:
PAID SUBSCRIPTION, which includes the above and:
FOOTNOTES: a behind the book look + what I’ve learned.
BONUS CHAPTER (or two or three) that have never seen the light of day.
STORY ARC: my adaptation of the Hero’s Journey for literary fiction.
COMPLETE AUDIOBOOK DOWNLOAD to listen on Spotify, great for road trips.
MY WARMEST THANKS!
Thanks for listening!
—Tina
A Footnote to Plato: Chapters 6 & 7