Hailey rested the back of her head against Grant’s shoulder again and pulled the Grisham novel close to her face as Grant propped his elbow on the arm of the chair and began reading. “Don’t interrupt me again,” Hailey chided playfully. “Someone told me this one has a good ending!”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Class, let’s focus, please!” Mrs. Jordan insisted, clapping her hands to gain the attention of her students. “I know you’re all eager to get on with your Christmas vacation, but we won’t be dismissed ‘til noon!”
“I didn’t like this play, Mrs. Jordan,” Paul whined, instantly quieting the chatter around him. “The ending was a total shocker! Prince Harry sold-out his friend! The whole time I thought he was the good guy!”
“Of course he turned on Falstaff,” Grant responded too harshly. “Did you not expect the ship to sink at the end of Titanic either? You had to know the transformation was coming! It was all part of the plan; Shakespeare made that perfectly clear. Heck, the prince told you he was going to do it, so how does that qualify as shocking?”
“That’s funny,” Hailey scoffed. “If I had been a betting girl, Grant, I would have bet my life that you would be leading the charge for Falstaff’s defense team. I mean he’s a shady guy who tricks you into looking past all of his short-comings because he is such a clever and witty charmer. The irreverent wit…the command of language…if he had been six foot and brooding instead of fat and jolly, Shakespeare would have captured you perfectly.”
“Guess you’re lucky you didn’t bet your life on it then, huh?” Grant shrugged easily.
“You’re right,” Hailey nodded, “because it wasn’t until the end of the play that I figured it all out. I had cast you as the wrong character all along…”
Grant’s head snapped toward Hailey. “If we need to talk later, we can,” he frowned. “This is not about me…I’m not in this play.”
Hailey rolled her eyes.
“I agree with Paul,” Misty blurted. “I didn’t think it was right for Prince Harry to disown his friend.”
“The question is not one of whether or not you agree with it; the question is one of whether or not you were shocked by the outcome,” Grant huffed.
“I guess I shouldn’t have been,” Hailey mumbled under her breath.
“I was very surprised by it!” Paul exclaimed.
“Noted, Mason,” Grant snapped, turning quickly back to Hailey.
“Tell them why Prince Harry did what he did,” Hailey said softly. “I fully expect you to have an explanation.”
“I do, as a matter-of-fact,” Grant nodded.
“I figured you did,” Hailey shrugged, refusing to make eye contact with Grant.
“What is with the attitude this morning?” Grant grumbled, tugging at Hailey’s crossed arms, forcing her to look at him.
“Don’t touch me,” Hailey sighed.
Misty’s eyes registered concern and curiosity.
“She said not to touch her, Cohen,” Paul interjected.
Grant’s eyes never moved from Hailey’s as his hand still rested on her arm. “Shocking that he would pipe up now…just shocking!”
Hailey’s throat burned as she refused to let the tears trying to well up in her eyes embarrass her now.
“Grant, why don’t you see if you can explain the play to the class?” Mrs. Jordan urged.
Grant continued to stare at Hailey for a long moment, irritated by the attitude she had adopted that morning ever since he had informed her that he would be leaving to visit his dad in North Carolina for a few days over the break.
“The teacher is talking to you,” Hailey pointed.
Grant took a deep breath, gathering his composure. “Prince Harry spent a considerable amount of time hanging around Falstaff, fraternizing with his gang,” he began, “which led his father and others to question his readiness to be king. Harry’s relationship with Falstaff was a functional one, however, and one that was all a part of Harry’s ultimate life plan. Prince Harry was content to let his rival, Hotspur, gather all the honor and glory while he fooled around with Falstaff and his merry ban of morons. By doing so, Harry intended to catch his public off-guard when he rejected his former way of life and proved himself to be an honorable heir.”
“So he and Falstaff were never really friends?” Misty asked. “He just used him?”
“He used him, and, when it stopped being convenient, he turned on him and walked away,” Paul nodded.
Grant groaned audibly. “The Falstaffs of the world, no matter how charming or witty, simply cannot be allowed to rule the world. Thus, those of you who are indignant over the rejection of Falstaff are either admitting that you desire to see evil triumph over honor, vice champion virtue, or, more than likely, you are merely proving yourselves to be poor analysts of Falstaff’s character, the values he represents, as well as the role he plays in shaping the overriding theme present throughout this tetralogy. If the prince had not rejected Falstaff, the transformation of Prince Harry into the honorable King Henry V would never have come to fruition.”
“You make it really hard to disagree with you,” Misty smiled.
“Can you just write whatever he just said on my test, Mrs. Jordan?” Billy Wayne asked. “I think we are on the same page about this Harry fella.”
“I don’t get it,” Paul grumbled.
“Well, I get it,” Hailey nodded, and anger flashed in her eyes. She stood and took her books in her arms. “So tell me, Grant,” she frowned as she walked toward the door. She spun back to face him. “Who is it that is going to get left behind when my rebellious Prince Harry finally turns into the King Henry he was meant to be?”
“I feel relatively certain I was not Shakespeare’s inspiration here, Hailey,” Grant said calmly. “I mean the least he could have done was slip a dedication in there…”
“I feel sorry for Falstaff,” Hailey blurted. “I know how he must have felt. I may not be a bad influence or provide any comic relief, but I’ll be the one who bought into the legitimacy of this relationship…the friend who is betrayed and ultimately left behind, so you can chase dreams that are bigger than anything this town or anybody in it has to offer.” Hailey slung the classroom door open.
“Stop,” Grant demanded, sliding quickly from his seat and jogging toward her. “I won’t lie to you; I’ve read these plays before, and, more than once, I have seen some of myself in Prince Harry…off fraternizing with the wrong crowd…giving his honorable dad grief…nobody really knowing what to expect from him, though he had a plan all along. Prince Harry, be it rightly or wrongly, used Falstaff for his own convenience and then abandoned him…but that’s because Falstaff was precisely the sort of person the prince had to distance himself from. I’m writing a whole new play here, Hailey…and in my play there is no Falstaff… there is just a beautiful and spirited, little, country girl whom the protagonist befriends in hopes that she’ll teach him the things he needs to know, so that he’s ready for wherever life is destined to take him.”
