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IV. The Test. We will take a group test at the end of class. I passed this test. Before I could start working at the university, and before they decided it would be better for both parties if we went our separate ways, and before I took the only other teaching job I could find—I passed this test. Everyone will pass.

V. The Video. Before we take the test, we watch the video. Sometimes I lay in whatever motel bed I’m sleeping in that night and see how much of the video I can recite from memory. The video reminds me of Anna, and when it’s over, it’s like I’m waking from a dream that shouldn’t have to end.

We’re in act three now. An older man is about to get harassed in a manner you might not know constitutes harassment. The older man sits in a team meeting with four of his younger co-workers, and he says that he’d like take the lead on communications for this project. His co-workers say, “Burt, shouldn’t someone who’s more computer savvy be in charge of communications?” He responds, “I’ve been working communications at this company for almost thirty years.” They say, “Burt, was the computer even invented when you started working?”

I laugh out loud. Danny looks up. This is not good. I cough and hope that through the act of coughing, my previous laughter will be changed into a cough in the minds of my students. I look at Penny. She isn’t looking at me.

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