Chapter Forty-Three

Previously on Boston Public: Scott solicited opinions about his readiness to be principal as compared to Marla's; Jamal hugged Harry; Harry learned that Jamal bought his college essay, and yelled at him; Harry got Williams College to agree to still consider Jamal, and told Jamal this was the last time he's putting himself out there for him.

The mean streets of Boston by night. Sirens. Pizza. And whatnot.

Jamal and his brother are buying beers in a convenience store. We can tell that Jamal's brother is an unsavory type, because, whereas Jamal is wearing a dorky striped shirt and a dorky gray hooded sweatshirt, his brother is in all black and has one of those, like, black bandanna/hairnet things on. Anyway, he ribs Jamal for being so responsible about drinking, and Jamal counters that he got into college because he's so responsible, which reveals to us that, despite all his antics earlier this year, he was accepted to Williams. They approach the counter, where Ahmad proudly announces, "This here's my brother. He's going to Williams College, where he's gonna get his B.A., his Ph.D, and his XYZ, ain't that right?" I think that's aiming a little high. The XYZ is an extremely advanced degree; not everyone is cut out for the long struggle required to earn it. Anyway, the clerk asks if, amongst all these other acronyms, Jamal has an ID. Ahmad says he's buying the beer. So the clerk asks for an ID from Ahmad. Ahmad then freaks out and starts yelling about racism and harassment. Various white and Asian customers look up fearfully from elsewhere in the store. Ahmad really loses it when he shows an ID, but the clerk demands one with a picture. Ahmad pulls out a gun. Jamal tries to calm him down, but Ahmad's not hearing it. When the clerk reaches under the counter for something (a gun? a panic button?) Ahmad shoots him. He grabs Jamal, and they run out of the store together.

As a subtle song on the soundtrack croons, "Trouble againthere was trouble againtrouble againthere was trouble again" Harry strolls into school, down the stairs, and into the Dungeon. Jamal is sitting on one of the desks, and tells Harry that he's in some trouble: "But you gotta promise: this is confidential." Harry says homey don't play that anymore, but Jamal tells him anyway, without eliciting a promise of confidentiality. "I think my brother killed somebody last night. We were buying beer. The guy pushed him for an ID. Ahmad starts getting angry. Suddenly he's got a gun. And he shoots him. He just shoots him. I think he's dead." Harry's all, "Kidding?" Kidding. He just stares silently.

Delineation Alley. Dick Teachie and Marla are striding along together. He's showing her his cool little Palm Pilot device, with which he can email, and thus "avoid talking to parents all together." Suddenly, he falls down, because somebody has punched him in the mouth. "Carrie!" says Marla, naming for us the person who has just punched Danny in the mouth. Carrie looms over her victim: "You are such a bastard. Be thankful that's all you get." Dick Teachie looks up from the floor, stunned.

"Blake hated God?" asks Marilyn incredulously. We're in her Saying Nonsensical Things About Literature class, which is very popular on this show, andlook, it's Brooke Harper! She blathers on a bit about Blake and hating God, but then this girl Rachel starts heaving in the background. Marilyn asks if she wants to go to the nurse, but Rachel insists that she's fine.

Back in the Dungeon, Harry is insisting that Jamal go to the police. "He's my brother! And, if the guy died, he'll get life!" Harry says that he knows Jamal's brother, because he taught him, and "he's a piece of crap." Hey, isn't this only Harry's second year in the Dungeon? So, unless Ahmad was at Winslow last year, which he wasn't, when did Harry teach him? Just asking. Harry wants Jamal to worry about his own future, but Jamal doesn't want to do so at the expense of his brother's. Harry explains that, between the witnesses, the video cameras, and so on, he and his brother are going to get caught anyway, and the only way to have things go well for him is to go to the police right now. Jamal says he needs some space to think, and storms out.

Vice-office. Scott is meeting with Carrie "The Fist" Jenkins and threatening to suspend her for punching Dick Teachie, but he's also curious about why she did so, seemingly out of the blue, and thinks she might want a chance to be heard. "Oh, because you're Mister Sensitivity, right? Don't think that just because we gave you Teacher Of The Year award, we like you. You're still a Nazi. We just thought you might be a nicer Nazi if we gave you a prize." In what is in fact a nice moment, but also totally ancillary to the story, and a transparent attempt on the part of David Kelley to get in his two cents on some of the rhetoric being tossed around in the European (and, indeed, American) press these days, he has Scott say the following: "Ms. Jenkins, I'm Jewish, did you know that? Do you know what the word Nazi means to a Jew? Can you possibly comprehend the magnitude of the insult, for a Jew to be called a Nazi?" Carrie is mortified, and apologizes, and explains what she did, handing over a letter Dick Teachie sent to her parents. "Saying I'm too fat." Scott looks at the letter and closes his eyes, which probably makes the letter harder to read.

Back in Marilyn's class on Pretending To Discuss Poetry, the students are filing out at the bell. Marilyn stops Nauseous Rachel as she passes by. "Are you really feeling okay?" Marilyn notes that Rachel's had this so-called "stomach flu" for three days now, and has been losing her hair, too, and now is wearing a wig, though the infirmary has no record of her being sick. Marilyn thinks, basically, that Rachel has cancer. Rachel's all, "I don't have cancer. Can I go?"

In the private environs of the hallway, Harry is discussing Jamal's situation with Ronnie. He tries to get her to talk to him because, as a lawyer, she can convince him that all is not lost. She is reluctant, but at his insistence that Jamal was not involved, merely present, she agrees. Their conversation is cut short when the bell rings and the halls fill with hundreds of people, making it less private. Scott walks by them, and we follow him on his search for Dick Teachie. On the way, he passes Jeremy Peters, who says hello, and then disappears. Interesting. Did Jeremy and Brooke each have one more episode to finish out their contracts, so they each got one line? Anyway, Scott finds Teachie and asks him about the fat letter. He admits to sending it. "Why?" "Why? 'Cause she's fat." Scott demands that Dick Teachie come to his office as soon as he has the chance. Meanwhile, Marilyn is discussing the Rachel situation with Steven, who backs up Rachel's point that it's really none of the school's business whether she has cancer or not. Marilyn's concern is that the girl isn't getting treatment, and, even though Steven wisely points out that hair loss would in fact be the result of treatment, Marilyn continues to push. So Steven agrees to let her call the parents. Just then, Irish Cop appears. Yay! Oh, but as usual, he comes bearing bad news, in the form of composite sketches of Jamal and Ahmad, who are suspects in a liquor-store shooting. Steven looks at the sketches and either doesn't recognize them or pretends not to, but he holds onto them and agrees to pass them around. He asks Detective Danby if the clerk survived. "Nah, he didn't."

Later, The Exposition Fairy is chatting with Marla about the sketches, of which there now seem to be hundreds of copies. "They think it's one of our kids?" "Not necessarily; they're going to all the schools." Harry approaches, and Marla asks him if he thinks that one of the drawings looks not unlike Jamal. Harry's all, "Jamal just got into Williams yesterday. I doubt he'd go out and celebrate by shooting a guy." Harvey approaches, and Marla asks if he recognizes the people in the drawings. "Could be my grandchildren."

Vice-office. Dick Teachie is explaining himself -- as far as he's concerned, it's a public health issue. He sent letters to the homes of eight kids, "but if you asked me, it affects a third of the school." Scott points out that nobody did ask him. Teachie counters that more and more schools are doing this, so it isn't just him. "At this school, it is just you." Wow, Scott's all about the snappy comebacks today. Steven gives Teachie chance to explain his thinking, but his entire explanation, basically, is that kids are too fat, so they're going to grow up to be fat adults, and die young. "The junk food diet increases in the summer. That's why I sent these letters, to remind parents to get involved during the summer months." Steven tells Teachie that that's not his place, but Teachie compares this to vision problems, or hearing problems, which are grounds for notifying parents despite being less dangerous than obesity. He even brings up the fact that Steven told Marilyn to contact Rachel's parents because of health concerns about her. "Ms. Souter checked with me first." "Oooh. So this is a power thing?" I'm sorry, is he an idiot? Has he never had a boss before? Why is this a revolutionary idea, that he not only should do the right thing, say, but that he should also consult with his superiors before taking action? This is not a strange request Steven is making, but Dick Teachie acts all indignant about it anyway. When he leaves, Steven tells Scott to delay the investigation into Carrie punching Danny until the year is over, thereby letting her get away with it: "He had it coming."

The Dungeon. Jamal is angry that Harry has brought Ronnie into the fold. Harry invokes the Tyronn-Anderson-getting-killed story to explain why he doesn't stick to that whole "keeping his word" thing anymore. Ronnie says, "The police are going to solve this. Your brother will be going to jail. This is just about saving you. As it stands now, you could be facing felony murder charges." Jamal doesn't see how that's possible, since he didn't do anything, but Ronnie says that if he doesn't go forward himself, he'll definitely be in for a long term in prison. Ronnie asks if he knew his brother was packing, and if he or his brother was the one who drove the car away, and asserts that, if the witnesses verify his answers, that could turn out to be a good thing. Harry shows Jamal the police sketch, and tells him that Marla already recognized him from it. Jamal says, "I gotta talk to him first." Huh? "He's my brother!" "What's he gonna say? 'Gee, you're right, turn me in'?" Jamal insists on talking to his brother first, so Ronnie tells him to tell his brother that his only chance of ever getting out of prison is to go to the police right now. Also, she says that if he's not back in an hour, they're going to call the police. When Jamal is gone, Ronnie tells Harry they should call the police right away, but Harry's all, "Let's give him the hour." I guess Harry would rather get stabbed three times than betray Jamal. That's a figure of speech.

Lauren's room. She's assigning a paper to her class, and they're annoyed about it, including Brooke, who thus gets a couple more lines. Rachel's here too, and is still heaving, only this time she throws up. Lauren and Brooke are mystified, it seems, by what they see on the floor. "What is that?" says China Jesusita Shavers. I still can't get over her name.

Dick Teachie's classroom. He's explaining to Carrie that he didn't intend for her to see the letter, and that he just wanted to alert them to something. "I see my parents every day, Mr. Hansen. I live with my parents. I don't think you needed to write a letter telling them I was fat." Carrie says she gets that reminder all day long from the other kids, and didn't need one from him. "You want to help me, Mr. Hansen? Tell me what to do. Instead of telling me I'm fat, tell me what to do." Dick Teachie doesn't say anything. Eat less? Exercise more?

Teacher's lounge. Lauren and Marilyn are discussing the Rachel situation. Turns out, what she vomited was a giant hairball. Harvey, listening in on the conversation as per usual, says, "She eats her hair." He had her as a student the year before, and observed her eating her own hair. "She pulls it out strand by strand." But he didn't tell anyone, because "a teacher has to pick his battles. We say don't drink, don't do drugs, don't smoke. Then you want to add don't eat your hair? They start to tune you out." Lauren tells Marilyn that Rachel went to the infirmary, but "she's fine now." Marilyn doesn't look so sure. Probably, in her youth, she used to eat her hair or something, and only a caring teacher got her to stop. I'm guessing.

Dungeon stairwell. Ronnie and Harry are waiting for Jamal to return, although it's been an hour and Ronnie is ready to call the cops. Harry is lamenting the fall of a kid so deserving of success: "He should have made it. He did make it." Just then, Jamal returns. "Man, he just begged me. I'm sorry, Mr. Senate, I know I let you down again" Harry interrupts to correct him that he's letting himself down. Ronnie tells him that she's calling the police: "Given that, it makes sense for you to do it first." Jamal says he knows that makes sense, but he can't turn in his own brother. "There are certain things a person can't do. Do what you gotta do. I understand." Jamal says he's going back to work. Harry is incredulous. "What should I do? Run?" He leaves. Harry asks Ronnie for a phone. Harry calls 411, and asks for the Boston Police Department.

The hallway. Dick Teachie flags down Marla and asks her if she's still the faculty sponsor of the "Fat Girls" club. He explains his letter-sending fiasco (in great detail, even though we KNOW ALL ABOUT IT), which seems to horrify Marla, and then he asks her if membership in the club is full, because Carrie might want to join it. Marla just stares at him.

Marilyn's room. Marilyn is laying down the law with Rachel, who tries to deny all the evidence, but Marilyn is so insistent that she must repeat dialogue from earlier scenes: "You now wear a wig!" she says for the second time this episode. Then she explains that Rachel has an impulse control disorder called trichotillomania. I'm sure I spelled that wrong, but Sars, it would be awesome if you could turn that into a link to an official website for the disorder, or something. Got it? Good. ["I'm on it, chief." -- Sars] Anyhow, Rachel insists she's just anemic, and just likes the way the wig looks. "Look, in two weeks, I'll be out of your life. Could you just chill for two weeks?" Marilyn says no, I guess because she's been chilling all season with no storylines, and she's only got these two weeks to remind us that she's even on the show. "Hair can cause bowel obstructions, abdominal problems" Wow, bowel obstruction AND abdominal problems? Does it also affect the intestines, damage the digestive system, and cause stomach pain? All those things at ONCE? MADNESS! Anyway, Rachel plays the "none of your business" card, since it's a medical problem, and Marilyn is a teacher. Marilyn says she's going to go to Rachel's parents, in that case, and Rachel's all, "Good luck with that." Her mother is dead, and she never sees her father. "In the meantime, I gotta study for my exams."

Sanctum Stevenorium. Marla is telling Scott and Steven about her latest problem with Dick Teachie vis--vis this whole thing with letters regarding fatness. "I like him a lot. I think he's a good soul. But I also feel he's dangerous, and if you can't reel him in, I think you should consider not bringing him back." Then Marla says, "This letter he sent out to the parents of overweight students, you know about that?" DUDE, WE ALL KNOW ABOUT THAT! Marla then gives a really good explanation for why Danny should be fired, which unfortunately also applies to every other teacher on the show, basically, especially Harvey, Harry, and Ronnie. Essentially, she argues that he doesn't know his limitations, and is always going down paths where he's not equipped: "I'm not saying he should always know the answer, but he should be able to provide some guidance as to the question, and he can't do that. He shoots from the hip, and assumes that if the students are engaged, he's a good teacher. Any one of us can go in there and push buttons, but it doesn't always make you an educator. Sometimes it even makes you irresponsible. It's a gimmick!" Meanwhile, Scott is nodding in the background, which I guess means he doesn't think the idea of Marla being principal is so crazy after all. Steven insists that they've already dealt with him, so she reminds Steven that it was Dick Teachie's advice that led Brooke to buy an Ecstasy testing kit. "I'll say it again: he has good intentions, but he's reckless. Thank you." She leaves. Steven sits. He and Scott look at each other.

The morgue. Jamal is cleaning up a table, and various other morgue guys bring in a body and toss it on the table. Of course, it's the liquor store clerk Ahmad shot, because the chances of that happening are way high. Jamal sits there, stunned, for a few moments. Harry comes in. "You're really unbelievable, you know that? You just go back to work, like nothing happened?" Jamal tells Harry that the body between them is the guy Ahmad shot. Harry relates facts he heard on the radio: "His name was Malcolm Digger. He had a wife, two kids, five grandchildren. I called the police. They're on their way. I told them everything. I also told them that you'd be willing to surrender." Harry urges Jamal to cooperate, and Jamal can't believe that Harry actually gave him up. "You were hoping I would. You're a really special kid to me, you know?" "I do. And again, I'm sorry 'causeI mean, I, I" "Just tell the police everything." Just then, Ronnie appears in the doorway. "I came here because I thought you might give him that advice. Which is exactly wrong. You wait for a lawyer, and you say nothing." Harry objects, because if Jamal goes to trial, college will be out. "College is out. At least for now. Let's just get past that right now. Say nothing." Just then, Irish Cop and his boys come in, cuff Jamal, and take him away.

"Jamal Crenshaw?" Steven asks Ronnie incredulously. He is, of course, mad that Ronnie and Harry sat on the information they had for so long. Also, the witnesses are saying "two black men with a gun," which is going to make it more difficult to sell the idea that Jamal was more or less an innocent bystander.

In the office, The Exposition Fairy reports that there's no sign of Ahmad, and he is probably on the run. Scott comes in, and urges Steven to take "fairly immediate" action against Harry and Ronnie for withholding the information. "For a couple of hours," says Steven, "which they spent trying to convince Jamal to turn himself in." Scott says that they can't make that kind of judgment, since they're teachers, not lawyers, which is ordinarily an observation I'd applaud on this show, but Steven rightly notes that Ronnie IS a lawyer. Scott begins to speak more generally about what Marla was griping about earlier: "The way we let teachers run rampant here. It's reckless and shoddy leadership, and it contributes to the situations we repeatedly find ourselves in." Steven asks Scott to move the discussion into his office.

In the sanctum, Steven feels more comfortable raising his voice: "So now this is my fault? You said 'leadership,' meaning me." Scott says, "Also meaning me. An assistant principal is in a position of leadership, however determined you are not to acknowledge that." This reopens a can of worms that is now three episodes old, and Scott dives eagerly into it, reiterating all of Marla's points and then articulating something that, while true, sounds totally ridiculous: "This is the second time Harry Senate has sat by quietly after one of his students has committed a homicide." Steven asks if Scott would just fire Harry and Danny, and Scott says he'd suspend Harry and discipline Danny. "Two of your teachers harbored a fugitive and you want to give them lollipops! Maybe Marla Hendricks should be in charge, she could instill a little order!" Steven tells Scott to get out of his office. Scott's eyes are pretty wide, but he leaves.

In the stairwell, Dick Teachie chases down Carrie, and tells her that he can't tell her what to do, actually, because he doesn't know. "I mean, I could say eat less, exercise more" THANK YOU. "but beyond that, I don't know. Maybe you could tell me what to do. See, I'm not trained in fitness or psychology, my specialty is academics. But I got a lot of kids who have problems that have nothing to do with academics. So, do I just say that it's not my specialty, or do I try to get involved? See, because my experience tells me that getting involved sometimes makes a difference." Carrie shrewdly observes that Teachie isn't really asking her advice on what to do; he's actually defending what he already did. He cops to this, but says that he thinks teachers should help when they can, even if they're not qualified in all areas, rather than looking the other way, but he's sorry for hurting her feelings. Carrie says, "Got it," and walks away. She doesn't look happy. Neither does Marla, who was listening in on the conversation from further up the stairs.

That night. Scott is conducting in his office. Steven comes in, and Scott shuts off the music. Steven has this look on his face like he's going tooh noSTEVEN, DON'T DO IT! "You know, once when I was fourteen" NOOoooooOOOoooooooOOo! Too late, it has begun. "I walked into a convenience store with three buddies. I had a gun. The robbery went off smoothly, nobody got shot. Only problem was, one of my teachers found out about it. Only it didn't turn out to be a problem, because that teacher changed my life. He didn't go to the police. He came straight at me. At fifteen, instead of banging, I was playing football. At sixteen, instead of doing or selling drugs, I was thinking about college." Blah blah blah, he's-got-a-soft-spot-for-teachers-like-Harry-cakes. Scott is moved by this story, clearly, but stands his ground: "There has to be a medium, Steven. Teachers get lost, too." Steven says he doesn't think Harry or Danny is lost. "Yeah, well, you can give them time, or you can give them direction." "But your idea of direction is marching orders!" Scott says when needed, yes, and that he guesses they choose to lead in different ways. "Yeah, I guess we do."

The Dungeon. Harry sits, grading papers. Ronnie comes in. "Beer?" she offers. He turns it down. "Dinner?" Nope. "Sex? Kidding." Good thing she said that, actually, because he might have said yes. Anyway, she tries to convince him to leave with her, but he says he's fallen way behind. Ronnie tries to reassure him that Jamal might come out of this, and wants Harry to leave with her, but he insists that he just wants to be alone. She acquiesces and leaves. Harry sighs. Then he's startled by a voice: "Why'd you turn him in?" It's Ahmad, in the doorway. "He loves you, man. And you gave him up." "I gave you up, because you killed a man." Ahmad promises that if Jamal can't prove his innocence, then he'll go in and confess. Harry points out the flaw in this logic, which is that if Jamal is convicted, a confession from Ahmad can't undo that. "Listen, you need to turn yourself in right now. You say he loves me. He loves you, too, do you know that? He threw away college, he threw away his whole life, just because he didn't want to turn you in." Ahmad asks Harry to tell Jamal that he'll confess if Jamal gets convicted. Is he not listening to Harry? "You're NOT LISTENING TO ME!" says Harry. "If he gets convicted, he goes!" But Ahmad won't relent. Here's a question: if Ahmad is just hanging around Boston, won't he get caught sooner or later anyway? Why does Harry need to convince him of anything? He should just wait for him to leave, and then call the cops. Never the one for patience, though, Harry calls the cops right now, in front of Ahmad. Ahmad tackles him. They wrestle on the desk, and punch each other. Ahmad pulls out a knife. He stabs Harry three times, and bolts. Harry collapses, bleeding, on his desk. The 911 operator asks if anyone is there. Harry does not appear to be there, really.

week -- or, rather, tonight: Harry clings to life as the hunt for Ahmad is on.