Dead Poets Society (9 page)

“I’ll pass it along,” Neil said as he walked over to Todd.

Later that night, Todd, Neil, Cameron, Pitts, and Meeks sat around a fire in the cave, warming their hands. A thick fog had moved in, and the trees swayed noisily from the gusty wind.

“It’s spooky out tonight,” Meeks said with a shiver, moving closer to the fire. “Where’s Knox?”

“Getting ready for that party,” Pitts chuckled.

“What about Charlie? He’s the one who insisted on this meeting,” Cameron said.

The others shrugged. Neil opened the meeting: “‘I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately … to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life …’” Neil stopped short as he listened to a rustle in the woods. They all heard something, and it sure wasn’t the wind. Funny, it sounded like a bunch of girls giggling.

“I can’t see a thing,” a girl’s voice echoed into the cave.

“It’s just over here,” the boys heard Charlie say.

The fire glowed brightly on the faces of the boys surrounding it as Charlie and two older girls came giggling into the cave.

“Hey, guys,” Charlie said, holding his arm around the shoulder of a pretty blond, “meet Gloria and …” He hesitated and looked at Gloria’s friend, a plain girl, with dark hair and green eyes.

“Tina,” she said awkwardly, taking a drink from a can of beer.

“Tina and Gloria,” Charlie said happily, “this is the pledge class of the Dead Poets Society.”

“It’s such a strange name!” Gloria laughed. “Won’t you tell us what it means?”

“I told you, it’s a secret,” Charlie said.

“Isn’t he precious?” Gloria oozed as she hugged Charlie affectionately. The boys looked flabbergasted at these wild, exotic creatures who had entered their cave. They were obviously older, probably around twenty or so, and the boys all wondered the same thing—where had Charlie picked them up?

“Guys,” Charlie said, pulling Gloria close to him as the other boys’ eyes opened even wider, “I have an announcement. In keeping with the spirit of passionate experimentation of the Dead Poets, I’m giving up the name Charles Dalton. From now on, call me ‘Nuwanda.’”

The girls giggled; the boys groaned. “You mean I can’t call you Charlie anymore, honey?” Gloria asked, putting her arms around his neck. “What’s ‘Numama’ mean, sugar?”

“It’s Nuwanda, and I made it up,” Charlie said.

“I’m cold,” Gloria said as she squeezed closer to Charlie.

“Let’s get some more twigs for the fire,” Meeks said.

Charlie shot Meeks a look as he and the other boys left the cave. Charlie walked to one wall, scraped off some mud and wiped it on his face like an Indian brave. He gave Gloria a sexy stare and followed the boys off into the forest to gather some firewood. Tina and Gloria whispered and giggled.

As the society pledges were tramping through the woods, Knox Overstreet bicycled off campus to the Danburry residence. He parked his bike in the bushes on the side of the house, took off his overcoat, and stuffed it in his saddlebag. He straightened his tie, leapt up the steps to the front door, and knocked. Loud music blared from the house, but no one answered the door. He knocked again, then turned the knob and walked in.

Knox found a wild fraternity party in progress. He saw one couple making out on the entrance hall couch. Other couples were on chairs, couches, stairs, or on the floor, oblivious to anyone else around them. Knox stood in the entrance hall, unsure what to do. Just then he spotted Chris, walking out of the kitchen, her hair an uncombed mess.

“Chris!” he called.

“Oh, hi,” she said casually. “I’m glad you made it. Did you bring anybody?”

“No,” Knox said.

“Ginny Danburry’s here. Look for her,” Chris said as she started to walk away.

“But, Chris …” Knox shouted over the blasting music.

“I gotta find Chet,” she called back. “Make yourself at home.”

Knox’s shoulders slumped as Chris walked briskly away. He climbed over couples sprawled on the floor and dejectedly looked around for Ginny Danburry.
Some party,
he thought.

Out near the cave at Welton the boys stumbled in darkness, feeling the ground for twigs and logs.

“Charlie …” Neil hissed.

“It’s Nuwanda.”

“Nuwanda,” Neil said patiently. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, unless you object to having girls here,” Charlie said.

“Well, of course not,” Pitts said, bumping into Neil. “Sorry. It’s just that … you should have warned us.”

“I thought I’d be spontaneous,” Charlie whispered. “I mean, that’s the point of this whole thing, isn’t it?”

“Where’d you find them?” Neil asked.

“They were walking along the fence past the soccer field. Said they were curious about the school so I invited them to the meeting,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Do they go to Henley Hall?” Cameron asked.

“I don’t think they’re in school,” Charlie said.

“They’re townies?!” Cameron nearly choked.

“Sshh, Cameron, what’s the matter with you?” Charlie said. “You act like they’re your mother or something. You afraid of them?”

“Hell, no. I’m not afraid of them! It’s just, if we get caught with them, we’re dead.”

“Say, boys, what’s going on out there?” Gloria called from the cave.

“Just gathering wood,” Charlie called back. “We’re on our way.” Turning to Cameron, Charlie whispered, “You just keep your mouth shut, jerk-off, and there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Watch out who you call a jerk-off, Dalton!”

“Oh, calm down, Cameron,” Neil said.

“It’s Nuwanda,” Charlie snapped back as he headed into the cave. The others followed. Cameron seethed with anger. He watched the boys enter the cave, waited for a minute, then followed.

They threw their twigs and a log they’d found on the fire, and sat around the growing flames. “Wonder how Knox is making out.” Pitts laughed.

“Poor guy,” Neil sighed. “He’s probably in for a big disappointment.”

It was a disappointed Knox who wandered through the huge Danburry house and ended up in the butler’s pantry. Several kids stood talking while one couple was kissing passionately. Knox tried not to look as the boy’s hands kept moving up the girl’s skirt, and she kept pushing them away. Knox spotted Ginny Danburry, and they exchanged embarrassed smiles.

“You Mutt Sanders’s brother?” a huge line-backer-type guy asked Knox as he mixed a drink.

“No.” Knox shook his head.

“Bubba!” the linebacker called to another huge, drunk jock who leaned against the refrigerator. “This guy look like Mutt Sanders?”

“You his brother?” Bubba asked.

“No relation,” Knox said. “Never heard of him. Sorry.”

“Say, Steve,” Bubba said to the linebacker, “where’s your manners? Here’s Mutt’s brother, and you don’t offer him a drink? Want some bourbon?”

“Actually I don’t …” Steve didn’t even hear Knox. He pushed a glass into Knox’s hand and filled it with bourbon, adding a tiny splash of coke.

Bubba clicked glasses with Knox. “To Mutt,” he said.

“To Mutt,” Steve, the linebacker, echoed. “To … Mutt,” Knox agreed. Bubba and Steve drained their glasses in one swallow. Knox followed their lead and burst into a coughing fit. Steve poured everyone more bourbon. Knox felt as if his whole chest was on fire.

“So what’s Mutt been up to?” Bubba asked.

“Actually,” Knox said, still coughing, “I don’t really … know Mutt.”

“To Mighty Mutt,” Bubba said, holding up his glass.

“To Mighty Mutt,” Steve echoed.

“Mighty … Mutt,” Knox coughed as they drained their glasses again. Knox continued to cough, and the linebacker knocked him on the back.

“Take it easy there, bud,” he laughed.

“Well, I’d better find Patsy,” Bubba hiccupped as he slapped Knox on the back. “Say hello to Mutt for me.”

“Will do,” Knox said. He turned to see Ginny smile at him as she wandered out of the pantry.

“Gimme your glass, bud,” Steve called, pouring Knox more bourbon. Knox felt his head begin to swim.

The fire blazed inside the cave. The boys and Gloria and Tina sat closely around the woodpile, mesmerized by the dancing flames. The candle on the head of the “cave god” sputtered.

“I heard you guys were weird, but not this weird,” Tina said as she looked at the pitted statue. She pulled out a pint of whiskey and offered some to Neil. He took it and sipped, trying to act as if it were natural to take a swig. He handed it back to Tina.

“Go ahead, pass it around,” she said. The fire and the warmth of the whiskey gave her plain face a pretty, flushed glow.

The bottle went around the circle. Each of them tried to pretend he liked the bitter taste. Unlike most of the others, Todd managed to keep from coughing as he swallowed the whiskey down.

“Yeah!” Gloria said, impressed by Todd’s drinking. “Don’t you guys miss having girls here?” she asked.

“Miss it?” Charlie said. “It drives us crazy! That’s part of what this club is about. In fact, I’d like to announce that I’ve published an article in the school paper, in the name of the Dead Poets Society, demanding girls be admitted to Welton, so we can all stop beating off.”

“You what?” Neil shouted, standing up. “How did you do that?”

“I’m one of the proofers,” Charlie boasted. “I slipped the article in.”

“Oh God,” Pitts moaned. “It’s over now!”

“Why?” Charlie asked. “Nobody knows who we are.”

“Don’t you think they’ll figure out who did it?” Cameron shouted. “Don’t you know they’ll come to you and demand to know what the Dead Poets Society is? Charlie, you had no right to do something like that!”

“It’s Nuwanda, Cameron.”

“That’s right,” Gloria cooed, putting her arm around Charlie. “It’s Nuwanda.”

“Are we just playing around out here or do we mean what we say? If all we do is come and read a bunch of poems to each other, what the hell are we doing?” Charlie demanded.

“You still shouldn’t have done it,” Neil said, pacing around the cave. “You don’t speak for the club.”

“Hey, would you stop worrying about your precious little necks,” Charlie said. “If they catch me, I’ll tell them I made it up. All your asses are safe. Look, Gloria and Tina didn’t come here to listen to us argue. Are we gonna have a meeting or what?”

“Yeah. How do we know if we want to join if you don’t have a meeting?”

Neil raised his eyebrows questioningly at Charlie. “Join?” he asked.

Charlie ignored him and turned to Tina. “‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate—’”

Tina melted into warm goo. “Oh, that’s so sweet!” she cried, and threw her arms around Charlie. The other boys tried to appear disinterested, as if they weren’t really jealous.

“I wrote that for you,” Charlie told Tina.

Her eyes popped in delight. “You did?!”

“I’ll write one for you, too, Gloria,” he said quickly, noticing her face turn red with envy. He closed his eyes. “‘She walks in beauty, like the night …’”

Charlie opened his eyes after the first few words and stood up from the fire. Trying to cover up his forgetfulness, he walked across the cave. “‘She walks in beauty, like the night,’” he repeated. He turned his back, opened a book, and read quickly to himself, while Gloria watched expectantly. He closed it, put the book down, and turned back to Gloria. “‘Of cloudless climes and starry skies;/ And all that’s best of dark and bright/Meet in her aspect and her eyes.’”

Gloria squealed with delight. “Isn’t he wonderful?”

The other boys sat ashen-faced and seething with jealousy over Charlie’s escapades. Gloria squeezed Charlie tight.

At that same moment, Knox Overstreet was experiencing some jealousy of his own as he stumbled through the crowded Danburry house. “Boy, were those guys right,” he mumbled to himself as he thought of Chris and Chet and remembered his friends’ warning not to get his hopes too high over Chris.

The house was dark, illuminated only by the moonlight streaming through the windows. Music by the Drifters played loudly. Couples were intertwined everywhere, making out.

Drink in hand, Knox tripped over a couple on the floor, tipsy from the innumerable bourbons without coke that he had downed with Bubba and Steve.

“Hey!” an angry voice shouted. “Watch where you’re going! What’d ya have, too much to drink, buddy?”

“Sorry,” Knox whispered, as he fell onto the sofa. He leaned back, clutching his half-full glass, and took a long swig of the bitter bourbon. It seemed to burn less now as it slid down his throat.

He looked around, loosening up from the effect of the booze. To his left was a tangled couple that sounded like a giant panting beast. To his right was another pair who seemed to have sunk right into the sofa. Knox wanted to stand up, but he realized that the couple he had tripped over was now rolled against his shins, pinning him in place. He looked around and almost giggled.
Oh well, I may as well make himself comfortable,
he said to himself. The bodies surrounding him were too busy to notice him anyway.