THE NEW MAN
by
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Cookie tried to reach the Duquesnes at their business headquarters in
In his Honda Accord, he roamed the darkened back country, finding the private road into the estate. He surveyed the multi-leveled contemporary house of stone, wood, and glass – impressive, and so different from the provinciality of the Fardelot manor. Yet, for him, both settings shared a sense of isolation, of loneliness. He thought about his affair with Jessica, how it was filling her void, how it would run its course. He’d just enjoy the ride.
Snapping his mind back to the difficult task before him, he approached the front door and waited a long time before it was opened by a pleasant-faced, uniformed housekeeper.
“I’d like to see Mr. and Mrs. Duquesne. I’m here representing the school system.”
“Calling at this time is most unusual.” She had an English accent.
“And school people, except Mindy, use the service entry around the side.
If you wait there, I’ll see if they’re available, but I doubt it.”
“Hold on. I’m Dr. Cooke, the Assistant Superintendent of Schools, and I will not use the service entry.”
“Wait here then.” She closed the door.
The late March wind was chilling, and Cookie was glad he wore his parka.
The door reopened. “They will not see you. They said you should contact only their attorneys.”
As she was closing the door again, Cookie put his hand against it.
“Please tell them this. They must see me if they love their son and want to save him from more pain.”
Anguish crossed the housekeeper’s face. “Very well.”
Soon the door opened again, this time by a man with sharp features wearing a green silk robe. “I’m John Duquesne. Who are you and why are you here?”
“My name is Cooke and I want to talk to you about Stephen.”
“My message was to contact our attorneys. I assume that’s clear.”
“I care more about your son than your attorneys do.”
“Do you know Stephen?”
“No.”
“You’re wasting my time.”
“And you’re wasting mine,” Cookie said. “You’re also wasting a chance to save your son and yourselves considerable grief.”
“Are you threatening us?”
“No. I’m trying to help you.”
“You’ve come to make a deal?”
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About the Book
The New Man offers colorful characters manipulating each other and the process for choosing a new superintendent of schools in an affluent eastern suburb. The action includes a student with a gun, controversy over a female rock group calling themselves “The Fallopians,” conflict over the octopus of special education, and charges by powerful parents that a teacher abused their child. The climax provides a surprising choice of candidate in the search for – the new man.
About the Author
Charles Rudolph’s novel, The New Man, germinated in the loam of his thirty- two years’ experience both as teacher and principal in American public schools. Another novel, Slow Moon, Rising, emerged from his teaching at a