Ashbury College - Ashburian Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

Page 15 text:

Mr. Harris dropped his son off at the school. They had said nothing to each other all the way. Jim thought that quite unusual, like many things about Jules lately. No, I ' m sorry, Mr. Harris. We haven ' t seen Jules all day was the reply of the principal. The form teacher said he had been looking pale lately and looked sick . Well, thanks anyway, Mike. Now if you hear anything call me right away! Sure, Jim, I will; I hope you find your boy. Mr. Harris hung up the phone — he had an anxious look on his face. Mary, his wife, stood behind him and sensed that the call proved negative. Where could Jules be? It ' s already 7:30 and he ' s still not home, she said. Oh, he ' ll be alright, he ' s probably just with a friend lied Mr. Harris. Jim was very worried about Jules. He had instructed Jules always to phone home to tell his parents where he was. Jules seemed always to do that, yet tonight he had forgotten or was unable to. It was now 12 midnight and Jim Harris could hear the wail of a police siren approaching. He knew where its destination was — it was his house. Mr. Harris had called the police 15 minutes ago and informed them about the disappearance of Jules. Jim opened the front door as the patrol car pulled up. Two plain- clothesmen quickly got out and ascended the few steps to the front door. Mr. Harris let them in. My name is Constable Peters and my partner is Constable Kingsley. We ' d like to ask you a few questions in connection with your son ' s disappearance . Mr. Harris listened to the patented lines and with a shaky hand directed the two to sit down in the living room. Mr. Harris had his top shirt button open and his tie dangling sloppily. The three of them had talked for ten minutes when Mrs. Harris entered the room. She had just awakened from a nap. She walked sleepy-eyed over to her husband and whispered in his ear Have they found Jules? Jim replied, No, they haven ' t but we ' re arranging a search for him. Don ' t worry darling, we ' ll find him.

Page 14 text:

Dammit Jules, look at this report card. How many times have your mother and I had to talk to you about your marks. You just don ' t seem to care about anything, do you Jules? Your room is covered with these crazy posters and, as usual, it ' s messy. All you do is listen to that stupid loud music! Jules was still staring up at the ceiling when his father finally ordered him to look at him. Jules ' head slowly turned towards his father and he said Yeah, what d ' ya want? Mr. Harris cursed at his son and told him that he was impossible to handle and that he was selfish and so on. Jules looked at his father, not listening. Finally his father ' s long oration ended and he left the room. Then Jules resumed staring at the ceiling, silently. Jim Harris shut off his alarm clock and rubbed his eyes. The clock- face showed 7:30 — time to get up and go to work. Beside him lay the slow breathing body of his wife Mary, deep in sleep. He cast a loving glance toward her and heaved himself out of bed. In his mind he surveyed the day he had planned. First he must dress, then eat breakfast. Then he would drop Jules off at his High School, and then on to the office. Jim Harris intensely disliked taking his son to school. Jules always asked him why he couldn ' t have a car. Jim always said it was because Jules was not responsible enough to own a car. This was partly true, yet the real reason was that he couldn ' t afford it. He thought Jules sensed that too. Mr. Harris came back to the present and dressed quickly. As usual, Jules had neglected to respond to the urgent call of his alarm clock and lay asleep when his father came into the room. Jim awoke Jules and told him that he had a mere fifteen minutes to be dressed and breakfasted. Mr. Harris left the room and descended to the kitchen where he began preparing his usual breakfast — a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee. Jules dressed in his favorite clothes. He put on his tattered, bell- bottomed blue jeans, a white T-shirt with the words ' Cape Cod ' printed on it and his scruffy half-wellingtons. Jules grabbed his official school jacket and went down the stairs to the kitchen. Jules had much better clothes but he liked these best. When Jules entered the kitchen his father was just finishing his coffee. Come on Jules, we ' ve only a few minutes left — hurry! were his father ' s words. Jules grabbed a glass of frozen orange juice and swallowed it with one gulp. He had his books under his arm although he had not done his homework. Jules followed behind his father to the car. 10

Page 16 text:

The three men began talking again and she drifted out of the room silently. You say he hasn ' t a car, eh? Constable Peters asked. No, he doesn ' t. I don ' t think him responsible enough to drive one came the answer of Mr. Harris. Constable Kingsley was busily ticking off things on a printed piece of paper as the other two talked. Do you know whether he has a girl friend? asked Constable Peters. Jules . . . Ha! No one likes him. No, of course he doesn ' t have a girl friend. At least not one that I know of. retorted Jim Harris. Oh, I see . . . Well, do you know whether he has been experimenting with drugs? Mr. Harris was struck with this question. He sat there looking at Constable Peters silently, then he said, Ah, well, I ' m not sure. Well, I never thought about it! No, I really don ' t know. Constable Peters looked sternly at Mr. Harris and said to Constable Kingsley, O.K. let ' s go, we ' ve got all the information we need. The two men shook hands with Mr. Harris and said they were sure they would find Jules; they would work on it. Then Constable Peters stopped suddenly and said to Mr. Harris, By the way, Jules hasn ' t been at school for the last few days. Also he does have a girlfriend. She ' s missing too. I ' m afraid this is going to be bad news for you. I ' m afraid she has been experimenting with drugs frequently! Mr. Harris stood in the doorway dumbfounded as the two men got in their patrol car. He couldn ' t believe that his Jules could do such a thing. He tried to reassure himself over and over yet he always failed. The patrol car drove off and Mr. Harris closed the door. He found Mary asleep when he went into their room. He decided not to disturb her and went downstairs again. He sat in the living room by the phone and waited. He feared the worst. Could Jules do it? He asked himself the question again and again. The hours passed and he fell asleep — his hand on the phone. Jules lay in the arms of his girlfriend, Carol. The room they were in was smoke filled and wreathed in the smell of incense and other miscellaneous odours. Music was blaring from the small record player in the corner. The record was stuck and repeated the same bars over and over again. 12