Volume 2: Knocking on Heaven's Door Chapter 40 Summer Arrangements
Otilia Farrell looked directly at Dennis, who was sitting opposite her and smiling expectantly at her, and spoke in a somewhat helpless tone:
"Dennis, I don't ."
"Come on, Mr. Farrell, I've always wanted to go to college. I want to be a rock singer, so I want to know which school can..." Dennis said calmly under Farrell's direct gaze.
But before he could finish, Pam poked her head out from the corridor outside: "Dennis, we agreed that in ten minutes I will ask Teacher Farrell to give me some advice on college entrance exams. Teacher, which university do you think I should go to in order to become a train driver…"
"Shut up, Pam! Don't ruin my pursuit of knowledge! Do n't make me hate you a second time!" Dennis said without turning his head, and then continued to look at Ottilia Farrell with a serious expression.
Otilia Farrell gently stroked her forehead with her hand, and after a moment of silence, she said to Dennis, "First of all, Dennis, I think rock singers should at least be able to compose. With a D in reading, you may have trouble even reading lyrics, not to mention composing them. Secondly, Pam Marvell, I would like to advise you to change your career in the future, as taking off your glasses is equivalent to going blind, for your own sake and for the sake of other American citizens who need to take the train."
She could understand the fundamental reason why many boys now came to her for advice on college, because she was very beautiful and gentle, and the age gap between her and them was not too big, so these adolescent boys liked to come and chat with her.
Ottilia was a little excited about this because she was not a formal teaching teacher, but only an administrative teacher in the school. The fact that students whom she rarely met remembered her forever was a kind of affirmation for her from a side perspective.
So when these older boys expressed their desire to go to college in order to get close to her and hoped that Ottilia could give them advice, she was very happy. She thought that she could rely on her charm to influence these students who had no intention of continuing their studies to become diligent and eventually get admitted to college.
But she soon found out that it was just her own beautiful fantasy. These guys didn't come for the college entrance examination, nor did they want to be reformed. They just wanted to sit in front of her for a while and chat with her happily. They could talk about any topic except studying.
And the typical characters among these boys are these two guys, Dennis Herbers and Pam Marvel.
When Dennis met her for the first time, he said seriously that he was planning to be admitted to Princeton University. Ottilia felt that this boy's dream coincided perfectly with her own. She knew a lot about Princeton University. After all, she had done a lot of homework in order to be admitted to Princeton, and she just happened to tell Dennis about those experiences.
Then Pam Marvell, who was waiting in line behind Dennis to receive guidance, told him the truth when she asked him which university to go to to study to be a chef. Dennis learned from Tommy Hawke that he regretted not being admitted to Princeton, so he used this reason to gain some favor.
Ottilia also learned about the grades of these boys. Frankly speaking, 90% of them had not even completed the required high school credits, let alone going to college. It was doubtful whether they could get a high school diploma.
No wonder Mr. Williams had specially introduced Tommy Hawke to her on the day she first arrived. Now it seemed that, at least this year, he was the only student at Lincoln High School who really needed college recruitment guidance.
Ottilia was very happy when she thought of Tommy Hawke. The AP test results of that big boy came out not long ago. He scored 5 out of 5 in five subjects and 4 in one subject. For Lincoln High School, which ranks more than 7,000 out of more than 20,000 high schools in the United States, this result is indeed very excellent.
Noticing the beautiful teacher's mouth curled up suddenly, Dennis crossed his arms and said, "Ms. Farrell? Are you thinking about Tommy again? To be honest, I've discovered a pattern. When it comes to college recruitment, only Tommy can make you smile. Is it because he is the only student who needs your help in planning college?"
"Yes." Otilia did not deny it and said to Dennis seriously, "Tommy works very hard. Dennis, I am very grateful that you and Pam insist on chatting with me every day with various excuses, but based on your grades, I can't give you any college guidance. So, learn from Tommy and study hard. One day, when you hold excellent transcripts in your hands instead of Playboy posters, when you don't need to make up college majors but confidently talk about future plans, I will definitely do my best to help you."
"Because Tommy got the results of the test he took in Boston before? Miss Farrell?" Pam poked her head outside and asked seriously.
Otilia nodded, "Yes, Pam, the AP exam."
"I understand, Ms. Farrell, I will come back with excellent grades." Pam said affirmatively.
Otilia responded by giving him an encouraging smile: "That's right, Pam, I believe you can do it."
"Dennis, don't waste time. Let's find Tommy first and ask him to help take the test two more times. Come back after getting the results." Pam then called to Dennis who refused to leave.
Otilia looked down in despair and exhaled, "Pam, that's cheating."
"That's right. Tommy probably doesn't have time to help us with the exam now. That guy was forcibly taken to a small bar by his father and Tony to watch a football game. I heard from Tony that if he makes them lose money again, his father will give Tommy to the hospital for free and let the hospital use Tommy to study AIDS." Dennis also spoke up.
"What did Tommy do?" Ottilia frowned slightly and asked curiously, "Shouldn't he be reading the book I gave him now and come to talk to me about his summer plans in the afternoon?"
"Obviously his family has other plans for him."
…
The small bar has no formal name. Anyway, ever since Tommy Hawke can remember, this bar has been called the small bar. Although the name means small, it is actually not small. It has two floors. The downstairs is the bar and the hall, and the second floor is a semi-covered booth.
But there are never many people in the booths. Regardless of their wealth, the customers who come here to consume are more accustomed to hanging out in the lobby.
It was one o'clock in the afternoon. Although there was an air conditioner not far away, it didn't seem to have any effect on Tony. He stared at the TV screen and wiped the sweat that kept oozing out: "Italy! Italy!"
A dozen or so drinkers in the bar as well as the bartender and owner Keith were all staring at the TV like Tony, which was broadcasting the last match of the first group of the 1982 World Cup, Italy vs. Cameroon.
"I've advised you." Ruby said while holding up a beer and watching the game, "We are Italians. There's nothing wrong with loving our country, but if you place a bet, it's best to be realistic. If you place a bet with me, it's not too late to regret it now, but you chose to listen to Tommy and call those regular companies in Las Vegas to place a bet."
At this time, Colin Hawke was sitting side by side at the bar with Officer Lenny Cotton, who happened to be out on patrol. He clutched his and stared at the TV without blinking.
Tommy Hawke was surrounded in a corner of a table by Maureen, Wilson, Green and Hull, strong men who only followed their father's orders. There was no possibility of escape.
Whenever Tommy made the slightest movement, eight pairs of murderous eyes would stare at him.
"You'd better sit down, kid. We just sat here and watched two boring football games, and we've already lost money for dozens or hundreds of beers!" Wilson said to Tommy Hawke with a unfriendly expression.
"Mr. Wilson, I told you not to be too impulsive. It's better to wait until the finals to bet and earn some pocket money! It was you and my father who insisted..."
"Son, I have to give you an explanation. It's been an hour, and I don't see any chance of Italy winning." Colin Hawke rubbed his face and turned to look at Tommy: "You said that Italy, this lousy team, would win, and then we believed you three times, but in the end we didn't win once."
"Wow!" Before Colin Hawke could finish his words, everyone around him suddenly cheered excitedly!
Colin turned his head and watched on TV. In the 60th minute of the game, Italian striker Francesco Graziani scored a goal and Italy led Cameroon 1:0!
With this goal, the atmosphere in the whole bar became a little lighter.
"The guy who shot the goal just now saved you, son." Colin breathed a sigh of relief and said to Tommy.
Then he raised his beer, stood up and shouted, "This round is on me!"
There was a warm response from the crowd in the bar, and the bartender and barmaid immediately got busy serving beer to the guests.
"I told you Italy would win." Tommy wiped the sweat off his forehead and said with relief.
As soon as he opened his mouth, Cameroon striker Mbida Gregoire scored a goal on TV, completing the counterattack against Italy!
"Jenny, let them pay for it themselves," Colin Hawke changed his words immediately.
Two goals in one minute made the score between the two teams 1:1, and it remained so until the end of the game.
"Tommy, I'm sorry." Wilson stared at the score for a long time, suddenly turned his ferocious face and said to Tommy Hawke.
Tommy looked at Wilson blankly, not knowing why the other party was apologizing.
"Because after the last incident, I doubted you and suspected that you were not Colin's child, because I thought that guy couldn't give birth to a smart child, but now I believe you are his son, grown from the tadpole in his body, because you are no different from your bastard father! Every time you show up, our situation becomes worse!" Wilson said, "Just because I believed you that Italy would be the champion, I lost the hundred dollars that I wanted to use to replace the truck tire. Now I have no choice but to go to Rogers' house and steal the tire."
"Everyone, at least we didn't lose, right? Italy didn't lose, we just tied again. The game is over, can I leave now? I have to go to school today to discuss some university issues with my teacher." Tommy stood up carefully under the gaze of everyone.
Colin Hawke nodded and said, "Of course, son, go ahead. I'm in a bad mood now and don't want to talk. Also, remember not to mention supporting the Italian team to everyone again."
"Why? Did you lose a lot?" Tommy looked at his father and asked tentatively.
Colin Hawke drank a sip of beer depressedly: "I didn't touch my savings, I only lost fifty dollars, but I'm not sad about losing money, but because the check for fifty dollars was sent to me by the sperm donation company. What makes me sad is that there are billions of tadpoles as smart as you, but the other party only paid me fifty dollars. You should have been admitted to college earlier, maybe then I can sell the tadpoles for a high price because I gave birth to a college son."
