His Side

Wade

The next week I start to notice some odd signs from Debbie, like her getting home late form classes, without telling me or asking me for a ride, getting rides from her male classmates and giving me extra sass. Nancy and I go to a local school, Shady Lane, to talk about different signs they should report to an adult. Unfortunately, the Principal, Roger Wade, doesn't seem to want to help, telling us we can't say things like Deviant, Pyromania, Tortue, or Mutilation. After we speak with the class, a teacher talks to us about an issue she has with the Principal's punishment style. He tickles their feet and gives them after, of course, Nancy and I think this is worth looking into and so do some of the parents, even Debbie does. Sadly, Nancy has to head back to Maine for a cousin's wedding. I'm not all upset that she is going, but that I'm not going with her. I don't seem to want to be apart from her, if I don't have to be, so the thought of being away from her and working without her for two weeks worries me. Before she leaves Nancy and I go to talk to Brudos and he seems almost civil. He even helps us fix our tape recorder, using Nancy's hair tie. I understand why she wears her hair up, but it looks so good down.

We hire a new guy, Gregg Smith, shortly after Nancy leaves on her vacation, so I take him to talk to Roger. "The students certainly don't complain. They enjoy the contact."

"Yes, but as you said to me when I was here before, it might be best for parents to determine..."

"We are a community. And I want the children to know that. In the five years that I've been here, their test scores have gone up almost 30 percent. And it's not because I'm a strict disciplinarian, or I pile on the homework, or I cut recess. It is because I apply a personal touch. These children matter to me."

"That is quite clear."

"We have special games, sports, art projects, teamwork activities. I am teaching happiness."

"With all that, why the need to tickle?"

"All right, let me give you an example. We had this child, six years old, who said he sprained his ankle playing kickball and didn't want to go to class. The nurse calls me down because his ankle is not swollen, but he's still claiming that it hurts. Now... I don't want to call him a liar. So, I wiggle his big toe. 'Does it hurt when this little piggy goes to market? How about when this little piggy stays home?' He smiles. He says that it tickles. So I tickle his feet. The next thing I know, he's laughing. He's happy, he goes back to class."

"Did you also give him a nickel?"

"I'm sure I did. So the next time he goes to the store, he can get himself... what can you get for a nickel these days?"

"Piece of bubble gum?" Gregg shrugs, not taking this as seriously as he should.

"Exactly," Roger nods, "Agent Ford, you're blowing this out of proportion."

Gregg and I head out of Roger's office, I sigh, not exactly pleased with Gregg, "We need to work on your interview technique."

"Sorry," Gregg nods, "was I supposed to be hard on him?"

"You shouldn't team up. Did you think that 'piggy goes to market' stuff was weird?"

"Oh, my kids love Piggy goes to the Market."

"Yeah, your kids love it from you."

"A tickle's a tickle."

"Maybe that's all it is, but... if there is a sexual angle, Roger would no doubt be good at hiding it. When Kemper went in for his last psychiatric evaluation, he had a 15-year-old girl's head in the trunk of his car. It gave him a thrill to persuade the committee successfully that he was over his psychological problems, knowing that he had a trophy outside."

"Isn't that kind of extreme?"

"You get the idea." We talk to a handful of teachers, some of them think it's alright what he's doing. Others think it is wrong and should stop. Apparently, when parents go to Roger he brushes them off and some teachers don't want him to know that they are talking about him. We even talked to some students' parents about this, the parents all agree they don't like it. On the way back to the bureau I shake my head, "That's the third set of parents who don't like it."

"I guess they should have a say." Gregg shrugs.

"I think they should."

"But is there anything going on? Is Roger dangerous? Everyone seems to agree the children don't mind."

"What about when one does? Brudos kept his urges in check until something triggered him. After that, everything escalated. What if a kid decides to resist Roger?"

"I read the Brudos files. He had a history of offenses."

"It's a leap, but there is a correlation. I don't think Roger can help himself any more than Brudos could stop killing. In fact, giving them money might encourage them to go to his office for punishment."

"Why don't we ask him to stop?"

"People have."

"Let's tell him then. We're the fucking FBI."

I have to say I agree with Gregg and I think about what Nancy would do. Nancy would do anything to make sure those kids are safe, so that's what I'm going to do. I turn the car around and head back to the school. When we walk into the office, Roger is talking to the office secretary, "it's her first year and I think she's having some trouble managing her student."

"Mr. Wade, can we talk?" I place my hands on the tall counter.

Roger puts up a finger, "and, um, let's make a note I've signed off on the lesson plan..."

"In private?" I take a deep breath. Roger walks over to us, "After speaking with parents and teachers, we're advising you to stop touching the children."

"Advising me?"

"It's a trivial activity. Simply stopping will satisfy everyone."

"It is not trivial. Don't make me sound like some stranger in a raincoat."

"We're here at the request of the superintendent."

"Really? The superintendent of the schools sent the FBI to advise me to stop tickling children? I have been a principal for 15 years. There hasn't been a shadow on my record until now. How dare you. How dare you accuse me of being inappropriate with my own students."

"We're not accusing you. Some people are uncomfortable."

"You are! You are uncomfortable, Agent Ford. Why is that?"

"When I was here for Career Day, you asked me to edit my speech. You were worried how it would affect the teachers and students. So I did. I heard your concerns, I followed your advice. I am advising you to hear the concerns of your teachers and your school board..."

"You didn't know what the hell you were doing that day. You still don't. 'Deviant.' 'Torture.' 'Mutilation.' That is your world, and it has made you paranoid. That is not my school." Roger walks away from us.

I take a deep breath, calling out to him. "Mr. Wade. I am telling you this for your own good."

Roger turns around from his office doorway, "We all have to choose between trust and fear. If you ever do have children, I hope that you'll think long and hard about how you want to raise them."