Page 29 of I Will Ruin You

“Was that Mrs. Willow?”

“That’s my mother. Who is this?”

“This is Violet Kanin? Andrew Kanin’s mother? He says you and Andrew were talking today?”

Well, well, he thought.

“Yes. Yes, we were.”

“I thought, before I take this any further, I would talk to you, since Andrew brought up something I wasn’t aware of, and I wanted to confirm it with you before I talked to Mr. Boyle or the principal.”

Herb smiled inwardly. “Go ahead.”

“This book Andrew’s been told to read—is it okay if I talk to you about this? Is that appropriate? I didn’t want to bother Mr. Boyle, at least not yet, because he’s been through quite an ordeal and we’re all grateful for what he did.”

“He sure is something, isn’t he?”

“But this book has made Andrew uncomfortable and I’ve started reading parts of it and I really don’t know how anyone could justify putting it on the curriculum. Not only does it deal with very distressing subject matter, but it’s very ungrammatical in places. I suppose the author did that deliberately for some literary effect, but if we’re trying to teach students proper spelling and sentence structure, this certainly doesn’t seem like the way to go about it.”

“I hear you,” Herb said.

“Andrew said you told him he could opt out of studying it. So if I wrote a note to Mr. Boyle and explained our position, that would take care of it?”

“I think it would,” Herb said, and then thought about what he wanted to say next. “Unless you want to take a look at the broader issue.”

“The broader issue?”

“Well, let’s say you don’t want Andrew to read this particular book. What will the next one be? Will it be even more objectionable?”

There was a silence at the other end of the call.

“Hello?” Herb said.

“I hadn’t thought about that.”

“I guess—and you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to—but I guess if it were me, I might talk to some of the other parents and see what they think. And when you’ve formulated your position, as a group, you could decide what to do then. Whether to talk to the teacher in question—I’m speaking generally here, not singling out Mr. Boyle—or whether to take it up with the principal or the school board.”

“I see,” Violet Kanin said.

“Listen, I’m just tossing out ideas here. It really has to be your decision. And if you don’t mind, it’s probably best if we keep this conversation between ourselves. The last thing I would want is to be thought of as interfering.”

“Oh, I totally understand. Thank you so much.”

“Not a problem. Happy to help.”

He ended the call and went back into the living room. His mother looked at him expectantly.

“Well?” she asked coyly. “Who was that?”

“Just somebody.”

“A friend?”

Herb smiled. “Maybe so, Mother. Maybe so.”

Fourteen

Richard