JOHN AND ROSE
Chapter Twenty-Eight
October 3, 1928
Mississippi
"Nadia!" John and Rose threw their
free arms around her, Jane squirming and fussing at the sudden movement.
"You’re here! I was worried that you
wouldn’t get here in time."
"Nadia, what exactly is going on?"
John asked, leading them away from the crowd.
"It’s like I said in my letter—the
school is threatening to expel me for being black. I told them that I’m Arab,
and technically a part of the Caucasian race, but they wouldn’t listen. I
haven’t been allowed to go to class for two days."
John sighed angrily. "Of all the stupid,
idiotic reasons to expel someone, this has to be the worst. I would understand
if you were caught cheating, or committed a crime, but to expel you because you
have olive skin is pure stupidity. They should be proud to have someone of your
intelligence here, since you could have gone anywhere you wanted. You have the
intelligence and the money to attend any college you want, and they’re upset
that you’re going to this one. It doesn’t make sense."
"Racial prejudice never does," Rose
interjected dryly, "especially when it’s a member of your family who is
suffering."
"Well, we’ll just have to see what we
can do about that. I can’t change society, but I’ll do my best to keep you
here, Nadia—if that’s what you want."
"It is. I like this university, in spite
of their attitude towards me, and not everyone is that bad. I’ve made some
friends here, and most people didn’t pay any particular attention to my skin
color before this scandal. You know how popular a suntan is, and there’s quite
a number of white people who are natural dark anyway. It’s only because my
roommate got jealous and made a fuss that all of this happened. She did leave
the school, by the way, but I don’t think it’s any great loss. She was rude,
unfriendly, and bitter towards everyone, not just me. Her opinion might have
counted for more, and caused me more trouble more quickly, if she wasn’t so
disliked to begin with. She was known for spreading nasty rumors about
people."
"But the dean still listened to
her?"
"People in this town are quite firm
about keeping the races separated. Some people are even afraid that the color
of darker skinned people will rub off on them, which is patently ridiculous,
but you can’t expect much sense out of such people. It’s mostly the poor white
trash who think that, since other people are better educated, and the more
well-off ones often have black servants. But you can’t expect the white trash
to change, because they’ve spent so much time marrying their own relatives that
they’ve turned stupid."
"Nadia!" Rose looked at her
sharply. "Now you’re sounding as bad as those who are against you. You
can’t judge a person by their skin color, or their social status, or even who
their relatives are. Your father came from London’s East End, where the people
are as bad off as the poor people here, and sometimes worse. It didn’t stop him
from getting to where he is today, though. You need to judge a person by who
they are, not by what they look like or what they have. Prejudice works both
ways."
Nadia stared at her, having never considered
that. She supposed that Rose was right, but it was hard to accept those who
didn’t accept you.
John changed the subject. "We need to
find a place to stay," he told Nadia. "Is there a hotel or a boarding
house in this town?"
"There’s both, but the hotel is pretty
run down. There’s a good boarding house near the university, though. One of my
friends lived there before she moved into the dormitory. They might have space.
It isn’t that far from here, so we can walk over there without too much
trouble. Can I carry Jane?"
"Sure." Rose handed the wiggling
baby to her older sister. Jane began to wail, not remembering Nadia, but soon
calmed as her sister put her on her shoulder and patted her back soothingly.
Nadia was good with children, and Rose thought that she would make an excellent
teacher.
John handed Rose her bags and set out behind
his daughter, linking arms with his wife. Nadia turned to make sure they were
following, then headed down the street in the direction of the boarding house
and the university.
*****
As soon as John and Rose had rented a room
and were settled, they went over to the university to talk to the dean. Nadia
went with them, to introduce them and explain the situation further.
As soon as they were seated in the office,
Nadia told them again what had happened going into more detail, while the dean
tapped his pencil impatiently. He hadn’t wanted to see them without an
appointment, but his secretary was a fan of Rose’s and was so impressed by
meeting her in person that she hadn’t turned them down when Rose had requested
to see the dean immediately.
When Nadia had finished telling her side of
the story, the dean dismissed her and turned to John and Rose. His was face was
sympathetic but firm.
"Mr. and Mrs. Calvert, I understand that
you want your daughter to remain at this university, but there are certain
standards that must be upheld. We cannot allow racial mixing here. Can I assume
that she is adopted, since she bears no resemblance to either of you?"
"She is adopted," John replied, his
English accent becoming more pronounced as he grew more annoyed, "but she
is not ‘colored’, as you say. Her parents were Arab."
"And how did she come to be in your
care?"
"Her father died when she was very
young, and her mother died in the sinking of the Titanic. I, too, am a Titanic
survivor, and I took her in."
"And how do you know what her race
is?"
"Her mother befriended my late wife,
Miriam, who also went down with the ship. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Anders
financial empire?"
"What has that got to do with
anything?"
"Miriam was a member of the Anders
family, and her mother, after inheriting everything following her husband’s
death, hired me. I quickly rose in prominence there, and am now president of
the Cedar Rapids branch."
"And you expect me to allow your
daughter to remain at this university because of your position."
"It did cross my mind. She belongs to a
powerful family, sir. It might not be in your best interest to cross us."
"Anders has no presence in this town.
You have no power here, Mr. Calvert."
"That could change."
Rose looked from one man to the other,
keeping her face carefully expressionless as she saw a side of her husband that
she had never seen before. This man had no compunction about using his power to
protect the interests of his daughter.
The dean had been listening, thinking about
John’s veiled threat. Finally, he smiled.
"That may be, Mr. Calvert, but it takes
time to establish a business in a new town, and by that time your daughter
would have long since left this university."
"It wouldn’t take that long, considering
what I have already observed about this town. The people here are poor. A new
factory, with all the jobs it would provide, would be welcomed."
"And how would that affect this
university?"
"If we were to offer to bring a branch
of the company to this town, get people interested and hopeful, and then
withdraw that offer because of your refusal to allow my daughter to be educated
here—it would look very bad for this university, and for you. From the letters
Nadia has sent me, this university is strapped for money. You have little
enough to begin with. How would it affect the university, I wonder, if people
were angry enough to refuse to support it?"
The other man looked at him calculatingly.
"You’re bluffing."
"No." John sat back, crossing his
arms casually. "I’m not."
The dean was beginning to sweat. He had heard
of the Anders empire and knew how powerful it was, and now that he thought
about it, he realized that he had heard of John Calvert as well. Mr. Calvert
did indeed wield a great deal of power, and he had chosen this moment to exert
it.
Still, he wasn’t ready to concede defeat.
"You’d really do that to this town? Give people hope, and then take it
away?"
"I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my
family." John’s face was implacable. He knew that his words were shocking
to Rose, but he had thought out very carefully beforehand what he might do and
say, and this man had fallen right into his hands. He knew about tyrants—he
could be one, when he chose—and he knew how to handle them. He hadn’t been a
businessman for thirteen years without learning a few of the more unsavory
tricks.
"Well." The dean folded his hands,
thinking of how to concede without losing face. He suspected that John Calvert
would do exactly as he had threatened, and that his own position would be on
the line if it happened. But after the amount of attention he had given to
Nadia’s case, to simply back down might also destroy his standing. He had to
find a way to allow the girl to stay without alienating the people around him,
and making himself look foolish. "She’s Arab, you say?"
John nodded slowly, never taking his eyes
from the man. He was close to winning, but the dean was no fool. The slightest
concession might take away Nadia’s chances.
"I have been told that the Arabs are
scientifically classified as Caucasians. I suppose, under the circumstances…"
He trailed off, another idea occurring to him. "You, Mr. Calvert, speak
with an English accent. Are you British?"
"I was, but I became an American years
ago."
"I have also been given to understand
that even in England, there are some individuals that are…of dark complexion.
Is this true?"
"Yes, it is."
"And since you are British, it would
make perfect sense that you had adopted a British child, would it not?"
"What are you getting at?"
"Mr. Calvert, the standards of this town
are quite clear. Even an Arab student may not be accepted. But if she were
British…"
"And that’s what you plan to tell
everyone, when you announce that she will be allowed to stay. You will tell
them that it was a mistake, that she is not ‘colored’, but is instead one of
the darker-complected individuals from England, as confirmed by her
father." He leaned forward, looking the dean in the eye. "I’ll accept
that."
The dean nodded, a sly smile crossing his
face. "Now, Mr. Calvert, about the idea of building a factory here…the town’s
council would be open to the idea, I’m sure. You might want to put the idea
forward…as a precaution, you understand. It may take years for an idea to be
implemented, or discarded, as the case may be."
"Of course." John smiled back
tightly. He had anticipated this, and had been planning to put the idea forward
from the moment he had made the threat. The dean was no fool, and a threat with
nothing to back it up would be ineffective.
"Perhaps you might even find this town
to be a viable place to build a factory. Certainly, there is no shortage of
labor here."
"I’ll consider it." John felt a
grudging respect for the man, in spite of his dislike for him. He had
understood what John was doing and turned the tables on him. The dean was not a
man to be underestimated, despite John’s greater power, and he would have to be
on his guard against him.
"We have that settled, then." The
man nodded, satisfied with the outcome of the meeting. "You will, of
course, inform your daughter of what we have decided. I wouldn’t want her
spreading a story conflicting with the official one."
"Certainly. You don’t have to worry
about your school’s reputation, sir. Nadia is no fool, and she knows when to
keep her mouth shut. You have nothing to be concerned about."
That said, John stood, helping Rose to her
feet, and walked out of the office, not looking back.