Killing Kirshner (A Psychological Suspense Thriller) (4 page)

“We’ll just start studying in my dorm room,” Amanda said with her big smile.

“Yeah, that is a great idea,” Abrams quickly responded. The idea of getting into Amanda’s dorm room thrilled Abrams.

“We’ll get all his brother’s old exams and he’ll never know we meet in my room. It’s the best of both worlds,” she said.

“Sounds like a plan, Amanda,” Will noted.

Sean was not happy with the arrangement. For some reason, he felt wary of Todd. He was not even sure why; it was just a gut feeling with him. Sean had always relied on his gut feelings – it had kept him out of trouble his entire life.

His father had been in prison for most of Sean’s life, and his mother would often leave him at his grandmother’s. His grandmother was a very strong woman with a very big heart and loved Sean more than any other person in the world. Sean knew that he had only one person to thank for making it to law school – his grandmother.

Practically unavoidable in the neighborhood he grew up in, Sean got into trouble with the law at a very young age. Gangs were rampant in his neighborhood and he was only 10 when he was approached for the first time by a gang. Luckily, his grandmother witnessed Sean hanging out with the gang members, and she moved him to a suburb in Greensboro, North Carolina. She did not want to make the same mistakes she had made with Sean’s mother. His grandmother constantly pushed Sean to be a good man and follow what Jesus had taught. She forced Sean to church every Sunday and even made him volunteer at the church – the Gospel Light Baptist Church. Even though Sean had no interest in religion, he would mind his grandmother and never missed any Sundays.

When his grandmother passed in 1999, Sean was alone. He got a part-time job and put himself through community college and then on to the University of North Carolina. He often struggled in school due to the amount of hours he was working to help pay for his education, but he eventually graduated. He had made a promise to his grandmother a long time ago that he would make her proud. Nothing would make her prouder than seeing her grandson become a lawyer. And here he was in his second week of law school. He was on his way to becoming the man his grandmother had always hoped he would become. There was only one major obstacle in the way of Sean achieving his goal – Professor Isaiah Kirshner.

C
hapter 14

Professor Ferguson strutted back and forth in the front of the classroom. She was certainly one of the most attractive professors at Miami University and was often the subject of conversation among the male students. This made her lectures on Property a lot more interesting, especially when she would wear a low-cut top and a tight skirt.

Jack was in love, as he watched Professor Ferguson’s every move and wrote down every word that came out of her beautiful mouth. He would smile every time she looked up in his direction and would fantasize about her as she discussed the various tenancy of property ownership.

Will was also impressed with her looks, but he could not stop thinking about his next class. He knew every time he would see Professor Ferguson’s pretty face that it was only a few hours away from seeing Kirshner. His heart began to race at the thought of facing this man again. Despite the amount of time his study group had spent together the night before, Will still felt uncomfortable with the material. It was not a matter of memory or intelligence – it was a matter of his confidence.

Will had never been a very confident person, and Kirshner’s criticism of him in class last week really stuck with him. He would often think to himself, “Maybe he is right. Maybe my parents are wasting their money.”

Will did his best to focus on Ferguson’s lecture of the different ways to own property. After all, his study group went through all of them the night before. Ferguson waited for a volunteer to explain the difference between a joint tenancy and a tenancy in common. Amanda and Todd quickly raised their hands, and Will decided he would volunteer too. He threw his hand up in the air, and Ferguson immediately called on Will.

“Finally, someone other than Ms. Martin and Mr. Garner,” Professor Ferguson noted.

“A joint tenancy is a type of concurrent estate in which the joint owners have a right of survivorship, meaning that if one owner dies that owner’s interest in the property will automatically pass to the remaining owner or owners. On the death of one of the tenants, the whole of the property passes to remaining tenants. The deceased tenant’s property interest cannot be inherited by his heirs, which means it avoids going through probate. Under this type of ownership, the last owner living takes all. This type of estate is most common with married people,” Will said succinctly.

“Perfect, and how about tenancy in common?” Ferguson asked.

“A tenancy in common is much different. The owners in a tenancy in common each own separate and distinct shares of the property. Tenants in common have no right of survivorship, meaning that if one owner dies, that owner’s interest in the property will pass by inheritance to that owner’s devisees or heirs, either by will or by intestate succession,” Will answered.

“Great job, Mr. James, you’re going to have to volunteer more often,” Ferguson said with a big smile.

Jack was jealous that Professor Ferguson was so impressed with Will, but glad Will got the answer right. Sean gave Will a thumbs up and Amanda smiled from ear to ear. Todd did not look at Will; he just leaned back in his chair and realized he may have more competition then he originally had thought.

Chapter 15

Professor Kirshner scanned the room for his first victim of the day. Jack slumped down in his seat feeling the dead eyes of the professor gazing his way. He said a quick
Hail Mary
and hoped for the best.

“Mr. James, what do you say we start with you once again,” Kirshner said with an evil smirk.

Even though Jack felt bad for Will, he was relieved it was not him; his praying worked. Amanda sighed knowing that Will had been a nervous wreck all week since the last time he faced Kirshner, and even Abrams felt bad for poor Will James.

“The class is waiting, Mr. James. Please brief the first case,” Kirshner said angrily.

Will did his best to get through the case. The odd thing about Kirshner was the way he waited for students to finish briefing the entire case, and then insult them on how wrong they were. Most professors would stop students when they started to say something that was incorrect, but Kirshner loved to keep handing his students the rope so they could slowly hang themselves.

Will’s voice cracked and stuttered as he finished his interpretation of the case. “My God, son, you sound like a pubescent boy. Dah, dah, dah … At least sound like you know what you are talking about. That sometimes fools some of the morons in the world; I don’t even think Mr. Jackson believed you,” Kirshner shouted.

Sean clinched his fist and dreamed what it would be like to bash Kirshner’s face in. Kirshner stared into Sean’s eyes as if he could read his mind. Will looked down at Sean wondering when the staring contest would be over and Kirshner would get back to him.

“Please, somebody else tell me what the damn case was about,” Kirshner shouted with his hands raised in the air.

“Ms. Martin, brief it, and do it right,” he yelled.

Amanda had barely spoken when Kirshner shouted, “Can I ask you a question, Ms. Martin? Are you and Mr. James related somehow?”

“No,” she said hesitantly.

“Oh, I thought maybe stupidity ran in your family.” Amanda sat still with her mouth wide open, and her eyes squinted. “Mr. Garner, please save us from the torturous attempts by Mr. James and Ms. Martin,” Kirshner directed.

Todd rambled off the facts of the case and the issues of law. Kirshner, for the first time, appeared to be satisfied with the answer. Not because he told Todd he did a good job, but because he did not insult him.

“Mr. Jackson, what is your take on the dissent opinion?” Kirshner fired.

Sean quickly answered the question and hoped for the best. “Mr. Jackson, when you were in grade school, did the bus pick you up right in front of your home? And was this bus much smaller than the other buses at the school? I think they call it the short bus.” The class laughed.

“Let’s work on the back row. Ms. Ehrenzweig, do you agree with Judge Stevenson’s opinion on this case?” Kirshner said.

The study group was relieved for the time being. Although he had hit three of their members, it appeared Kirshner was finally concentrating on other parts of the class.

Will sat in his chair trying to hide his shaking hands; he felt sick to his stomach and did not know how much longer he had before he threw up. He looked at the clock that sat above the podium and saw there was still 35 minutes left. He knew he was not going to make it. He suddenly got up and shuffled along the row, pushing on the chairs, trying to make his way to the exit.

Kirshner interrupted Ms. Ehrenzweig’s brief. “If this class is too much for you, Mr. James, you might want to think about dropping out now. I haven’t even begun to test you,” he yelled as Will ran out the door. Kirshner chuckled to himself with delight. He broke his first student of the semester, and it hadn’t even been a month.

Will ran down the hallway and slammed into the bathroom door running to the toilet bowl. He got there just in time and threw up the breakfast he had eaten a few hours earlier. The sweat poured down the side of his face as he waited for the next wave to hit him. His eyes began to water and he felt the room spinning. He could not hold on any longer. His eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped to the floor with his head lying in his own vomit.

C
hapter 16

Once Kirshner’s class was over, Amanda grabbed Will’s backpack and shoved his books in it, and she, Jack, Abrams, and Sean ran out of the classroom searching for him. Amanda figured that Will must be in the bathroom. Jack and Abrams entered the men’s bathroom, but Will was nowhere in sight. Jack was about to leave when Abrams saw Will’s foot move under the stall. They both ran over and found Will passed out, lying in his own vomit.

“Holy shit! Get some paper towels and wet them,” Jack said.

Abrams ran over to the sink and saturated some towels, as Jack picked Will’s head up and tried to wake him. Will did not respond. He wiped the vomit from the side of Will’s face and they pulled him out of the stall and leaned him against a wall.

“Do you think we should call 911?” Abrams asked.

“I don’t know. He’s breathing. I just think he passed out. Get Sean and Amanda,” Jack said.

Abrams ran out and got Sean and Amanda from the hallway. Amanda felt strange about going into the men’s bathroom, but she wanted to check if Will was okay. Will was waking as the three entered.

“Ah, shit. What the hell happened?” Will asked with slurred speech.

“I think you passed out, dude,” Jack quickly said.

“Are you okay, Will?” Amanda asked.

“I think so, I just lost it in there. I don’t even remember coming into the bathroom. Did I puke in the classroom?”

“No, you made it to the bathroom. No one saw you,” Abrams said.

“Sean, go bring my car around so we can get Will back to the dorm,” Jack said.

Sean ran out of the bathroom and looked in the parking lot for Jack’s car. As he was searching, he saw Professor Kirshner getting into his Audi A8. Kirshner looked up as Sean was walking past the faculty parking lot. Sean gave him a dirty look, but Kirshner did not appear to even know who Sean was.

Sean pulled Jack’s car around near the bathrooms. He helped Jack get Will up and they all walked along the hallway doing their best to hide Will from the other students. They did not want to embarrass Will since it was pretty obvious that he had just ran out of class and vomited all over himself. They were almost to the car when they ran into Todd.

“Wow, is he going to be okay?” Todd asked smugly.

“He’s fine, now go fuck off,” Sean said.

Todd backed down and walked in the other direction. He was not about to get into an altercation with Sean.

They propped Will in the passenger seat, and all got into Jack’s Escalade. Jack flew down the road to Dawson Hall. They got Will up to his room and lay him in bed. Will pulled the sheets over his head in complete embarrassment.

“Why don’t you guys take off and I’ll stay with him,” Amanda said.

“Alright, let’s go to my room, guys,” Sean said.

As they walked out of the room, Abrams watched as Amanda pulled a chair up to Will’s bed.

C
hapter 17

Amanda held Will’s hand and did her best to comfort him; she could not imagine how embarrassed he was. She decided he could probably use a glass of water and went into the kitchen to get him one. As she poured the water, she noticed a stack of papers next to the refrigerator. She gazed over them and quickly realized they were all about Professor Kirshner.

“Will, what are you doing?” she asked as she entered the room. “Why do you have all that research on Kirshner?’

“I don’t know. I thought that if I could somehow figure this guy out, I can get through his class.” Will sipped the water.

“Oh, Will, you’re probably the smartest guy in the class. He’s just bustin’ your chops. He’s trying to break you, and you can’t let him. You are too good for that,” Amanda encouraged.

“I noticed you said the smartest ‘guy’,” Will said, smiling for the first time.

“Of course, ya’all know I’m the smartest girl,” Amanda smiled back.

“I just don’t know if I can go into class again. I ran out of there like such a wuss. How do I show my face again?”

“You have to go back; you cannot let that jerk win, Will. I won’t let you quit. You know the material as well as I do. He’s just like a bully, and like my mama always said, you have to stand up to a bully. You can never back down from a bully.”

“You’re right. I know what you’re saying, but when I get to class I can’t think straight. I just lose it, as you saw today,” Will said, pulling the covers back over his head. Amanda flipped through the material that Will had researched on Kirshner.