Twelve Angry Librarians

“What is it you want, Gavin?” I knew I sounded irritable, but at the moment I didn’t care whether anyone overheard us.

“You never did respond to my e-mail.” Gavin blinked at me, his eyes eerily magnified by his lenses. “You aren’t qualified to keep the job permanently. You don’t have any publications to your credit that I could find. Your background is public libraries. You’re simply not a worthy candidate.”

“Unlike you?” I invested those two words with every ounce of sarcasm I could muster, but I had forgotten how oblivious Gavin was to such responses.

“Most assuredly.” He began to recite the positions he had held and tick them off on his fingers. I waited until he was nearly done before I interrupted.

“Do you seriously think a school like Athena College is going to be impressed with your pathetic record of moving from one job to another every three years? It’s painfully obvious to anyone with even a quarter of a brain that you weren’t fit for the positions you managed to wangle yourself into somehow.” I paused for a breath. “You’re either grossly incompetent or impossible to get along with, or perhaps both, and I’ll be skating on ice in the underworld before you get anywhere near the job.”

Even a man as obtuse as Gavin couldn’t help but understand me. I had obviously managed to penetrate the fog of self-importance that clung to him. He scowled, took one step back, and swung at me.

I had anticipated him, though, and easily stepped away. He came at me again, and once more I moved out of reach. The third time he tried to hit me, I’d had enough. My temper took over, and I decked him with a swift right to the jaw.

SIX

Luckily for both of us, I hadn’t hit Gavin as hard as I could have. He landed on his rear, his glasses askew but still on his head. I stood looking down at him, watching lest he try to come after me again.

As the moments passed and he stayed sitting on the floor, my temper began to cool. I started to feel sorry for him. I had spoken harshly and provocatively, and I realized belatedly I had baited him, hoping he would attack. Well, my temper had won that round.

“Sorry, Gavin, I shouldn’t have done that.” I extended a hand to help him up.

Instead of taking the proffered hand, he scooted away from me, still on his rear, until he was several feet back from where I stood. I shrugged and watched while he slowly got to his feet, after first having straightened his glasses.

“Oh, Gavin, you poor thing.” A woman rushed up to Gavin and clutched his arm. “Are you all right? I saw the whole thing.”

Gavin rubbed his jaw and glared balefully at me. “I’m okay, Maxine.” He brushed her arm away. “I’m glad you saw this unprovoked attack on me. You can be my witness when I bring charges for assault against this ape.”

“But you tried to hit him first.” The woman, who looked to be about forty-five, hovered anxiously around Gavin. She made no further attempt to touch him, however. “That’s not going to look good, and you know what Dr. Elmwood told you the last time you tried to hit someone.”

Interesting, I thought. How many other incidents like this had Gavin been involved in recently?

“Yeah, yeah. Elmwood is an ass,” Gavin said. “I can’t help it if I try to defend myself against Neanderthals all the time. I’m getting so freaking tired of these threats and attacks, I don’t know what I’m going to do.” He took a couple of steps toward me. “You can rest assured, Charlie, I’ll be taking this up with the president of Athena and with the local authorities. Maxine is my witness.”

He strode away with the rather dowdily dressed Maxine right behind him.

I didn’t bother calling after him with a response. There was no point.

After a moment I became uneasily aware that a number of people nearby stood watching me. One of them, a bald, tall, muscular young man who sported double earrings in each ear as well as heavily tattooed forearms, came up to me.

He extended a hand. “Bob Coben, Mr. Harris. I am happy to shake your hand. I work with Dr. Fong, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to do exactly what you just did. I’ll be happy to serve as a witness for you, that he swung at you three times before you retaliated. Plus I’ll be happy to tell whoever it is what a complete and utter jerk he is.”

I shook his hand. He had a firm grip, and I tried not to wince. “Thank you, Mr. Coben. I appreciate that. I provoked him, however, so it really was my fault.”

Coben shrugged. “I didn’t hear what you said to him, but frankly, it doesn’t take much to provoke him. He’s always convinced everyone is out to get him, and he lashes out all the time. He’s lucky he’s still employed. Actually, the word going around on campus is that he’s gone as soon as the semester’s over. Our president loathes him, just like everyone else who’s ever spent more than five minutes with him.”

Another person approached while Bob was talking. A woman of average height, she sported dark, curly locks and a warm smile. She extended her hand.