School

Wednesday, before Ruth left for the campus, she climbed the stairs to the apartment above hers, Mrs. Pronko's. Mrs. Pronko, only a few years older than Ruth, had two small children. There was no Mr. Pronko. "Mrs. Pronko, was there was anything in the morning paper about a rape?"

"No, Ruth," she said, "I didn't see anything like that, not on the front page, anyway."

Wednesday night, Ruth dreamt that she was some kind of feminist nut. She was stalking a guy who had been accused of date rape. Ruth, whoever she was in her dream, caught up with him in the shadows behind the field house. Ruth felt a thrill of satisfaction, as she struck, dropped him with a blow to the head. She used a bronze statue of Athena which "Ruth" had won as some sort of award. She examined it, in the dim light, to see if anything had broken or bent when she heard that THOCK, the sound of bronze meeting bone.

The young man lay unconscious on the ground. She rolled him onto his back and undid his belt, unzipped his fl