Kristen was talking on the phone. “How soon can you get to Lafayette? Really? What’s his name?”
I shrugged at Lynette.
Kristen turned her attention from the phone to the two of us. “I’ll be downstairs in a few minutes, Lynette.”
Lynette shrugged back at me as we were summarily dismissed by Kristen.
On the way downstairs, I told Lynette what little I knew about the conversation I had with June and Kristen’s taking charge immediately afterward.
“Lafayette? Kristen’s going to Purdue!” Lynette said.
I was a bit surprised, and hadn’t made that connection.
Almost as soon as we got to Lynette’s car, Kristen stormed out of the building. “Why aren’t you two in the car already? Come on, you guys!”
“What’s going on?” I demanded.
“Just get in the car! Lynette, we need to stop at June’s first.”
The three of us got into Lynette’s vehicle, and I sat in the back. “I’m driving you guys to Purdue?” Lynette asked once we were out the security gate.
“No,” Kristen said. “From June’s, we stop at the air field outside town.”
“Your uncle Jerry?” I asked.
“Yeah, he was already at the hangar and was just going to go for a joy ride. He said he’d be happy to take us to Indiana.”
“What are we going to do at Purdue?” I asked.
“Set some things straight,” Kristen said, her eyes flashing her anger.
I had never been to Purdue University before. I knew they had a nationally ranked football team, and I had been proud when Archy had been accepted on their team. He wasn’t a starter, but June said that his coach told him that he had great potential.
The only person in our entourage that seemed to know what she was doing was Kristen. From the air field in West Lafayette, she arranged for a cab to take us to the campus. When told how long it would take for a cab to arrive, Kristen hung up and called a limo company that had an advertisement at the hangar. The limo arrived about five minutes later.
“Are you familiar with Purdue?” Kristen asked the driver.
“Yeah,” the driver said.
“Take me to the administration building.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Kristen didn’t explain what she was about to do. I’ve seen her headstrong before, but there was a determination in her right now that was unusual. June, Lynette, and I looked at each other, not totally understanding what was happening.
Once at the administration building, Kristen told Lynette to stay with the limo and check us into the University Inn, which was nearby. Kristen already had reservations for a suite of rooms and a friend of Kristen’s would pick Lynette up from there and bring her to us.
I was surprised, but we all followed Kristen’s lead, and June and I followed Kristen as she started walking toward a red brick building.
A man that was standing nearby noticed Kristen and said, “Excuse me, are you Miss Kristen Swift?”
“I am,” Kristen said, looking at the man warily.
“Mike Shapiro sent me to find you,” the man replied. “My name is Willard Keesan, and his law offices contacted me. I’m with the financial aid department.”
Kristen smiled and offered her hand. “These are my companions, Jim Crittenhouse and June Rodgers.”
“Kris, Mike told you that you didn’t need to make this trip. We’ve already been contacted and your demands are already being worked on.”
Kristen seemed surprised. “Really?”
“Your father has influence, Miss Swift.”
“What demands?” I asked.
“We’ve arranged for the cancellation of Archy Jonas’ scholarship,” Willard said.
“Canceled?” June cried. She looked at the three of us, horrified.
“I’m covering his tuition, housing, and living expenses by underwriting a guaranteed student loan,” Kristen explained.
“He’ll have to forgo some things,” Willard said. He looked around nervously.
“His perks,” Kristen said, matter-of-factly.
“May I take the three of you to my office? I think we should not be having this discussion out here.”
“How far?” Kristen said, a bit suspicious and eying the building she had been ready to enter.
“A few blocks from here,” Willard promised. “It’s really taken care of.”
Kristen looked at June and me. June was still a bit shocked at what was happening so quickly in front of her. I looked at Willard and nodded slightly to Kristen.
“Thank you, Mr. Keesan,” Kristen said. “Your office.”
Willard Keesan’s office was close enough to walk, actually.
Once inside the office, we were led into a conference room.
“Miss Swift, as Mike told you, you didn’t really need to come. We work these sort of things every day.”
“Do your every day things include charges of fraud, malfeasance, and offering enticements outside the bounds of the NCAA rules?” Kristen asked.
Willard blanched. “There is no fraud or malfeasance involved, Ms. Swift.”
Kristen had fire in her eyes. “A freshman’s coach has told him that he could lose his scholarship if he doesn’t sign up for make-work classes. He came to this respected university to get an education. In return, he will offer his athletic skill to your Boilermakers. You are now denying him the education that you promised him.”
“I think the student misinterpreted his coach.”
“Shall we get Archy Jonas and the coach in question right here?”
Willard decided to change the subject. He reached into his briefcase and pulled out some papers. “On his application, Mr. Jonas has indicated a desire to eventually enter our School of Veterinary Medicine.”
Kristen looked at June, who simply nodded.
“That’s correct,” Kristen said.
“I’m sure our counselors will be able to help Mr. Jonas to arrange a schedule that is appropriate for the discipline that he has expressed an interest in. He doesn’t have to declare a major…”
“What perks was he offered?” Kristen asked, interrupting the man.
“The university officially has a policy that forbids the offering of gifts to members of our sports program.”
I was confused. I thought that Willard had said that Archy would have to forgo his perks.
“Mike told me how the game is played. If it’s not the university, it’s the alumni committee or somebody else. I don’t fucking care who offered something to Archy. I’m more interested in what he was offered.”
Mr. Keesan looked ashen.
We were interrupted by a secretary. “Mr. Keesan, Daniel Swift is on the phone asking if his daughter has arrived.”
Before Willard could answer, Kristen took charge. “Forward Daddy’s call to this room. I’ll talk to him.”
The secretary was surprised, and looked at Mr. Keesan, who simply shrugged.
As I said, this was the side of Kristen that I didn’t get to witness very often: “take charge and ambush” or “overwhelm and conquer.” There was a side of her that was ruthless when confronting a situation that she didn’t like.
The phone buzzed a few moments later and Kristen casually picked up the phone. “Daddy? Thank you… yes. I’m talking about that right now. I’ll call you if I need you. I love you, too. You’re sweet!”
Kristen turned to the lawyer that had lost charge of the situation. “Mr. Keesan, I’m not interested in trying to trick you into admitting knowledge of any offers that were made unofficially to Archy Jonas. I’m here basically for his benefit. I will talk with Archy later on, and if he wants to continue playing football despite the fact that he is no longer bound to a scholarship, he will. June has told me that he had always wanted to play for the Boilermakers.”