Dead Poets Society

him,“
Meeks shook his head.
    “You told him about
this meeting?” Charlie asked.
    “Twice,” Meeks said.
    “That’s it. Great!”
Charlie threw up his hands. He went to the window and looked out across the
lawn toward the administration building. He turned and faced his friends.
“That’s it, guys, we re all fried.”
    “What do you mean?”
Pitts asked.
    “Cameron’s a fink!
He’s in Nolan’s office right now, finking!”
    “About what?” Pitts
asked.
    “The club, Pitts.
Think about it.” Pitts and the others looked bewildered. “They need a
scapegoat,” Charlie said. “Schools go under because of things like this.”
    The boys sat in the
trunk room and stared at each other. Soon they heard the sound of a door
opening down the hall. Knox went to the door and looked out to see Cameron
entering the hallway. Knox stepped out and motioned for Cameron to hurry up.
    “Cameron!” he
whispered loudly. Cameron looked at Knox. He hesitated, then walked down the
hall and entered the trunk room. The rest of the group stared at him.
    “What’s going on,
guys?” Cameron asked innocently.
    “You finked, didn’t
you, Cameron?” Charlie said, grabbing his shirt collar.
    Cameron pulled away.
“To hell with you, dumbo,
    I don’t know what
you’re talking about!”
    “You just told Nolan
everything about the club is what I’m talking about,” Charlie shouted.
    “In case you hadn’t
heard, Dalton, there’s something called an honor code at this school. If a
teacher asks you something, you tell the truth or you’re expelled.”
    Charlie moved toward
Cameron again. “Why you...”
    Meeks and Knox
pulled Charlie off. “Charlie...” Knox said.
    “He’s a rat! He’s in
it up to his eyes so he ratted to save himself!” Charlie shouted.
    “Don’t touch him,
Charlie,” Knox warned. “You do and you’re out.”
    “I’m out anyway,”
Charlie said, pushing back.
    “He’s right, there.
And if you’re smart, every one of you will do exactly what I did and cooperate.
They’re not after us. We’re the victims. Us and Neil.”
    “What does that
mean?” Charlie asked. “Who are they after?”
    “Why, Mr. Keating,
of course. The ‘Captain’ himself. You didn’t really think he could avoid
responsibility, did you?”
    “Mr. Keating?
Responsible for Neil? Is that what they’re saying?” Charlie pulled himself free
of Meeks and Knox.
    “Who else do you
think, dumbo?” Cameron said. “The administration? Mr. Perry? Keating put us up
to all this, didn’t he? If it wasn’t for him, Neil would be cozied up in his
room right now, studying his chemistry and dreaming of being called doctor. “
    “That’s not true!”
Todd cried. “Mr. Keating didn’t tell Neil what to do. Neil loved acting.“
    “Believe what you
want,” Cameron shrugged. “But I say let Keating fry. Why ruin our lives?“
    “You bastard!”
Charlie bolted across the room and struck Cameron in the jaw. Cameron fell to
the floor, and Charlie straddled him.
    “Charlie!” Knox
groaned.
    Cameron looked up
and grinned as he rubbed his cheek. “You just signed your expulsion papers,
Nuwanda,” he laughed. He covered his bleeding nose. Charlie turned and walked
out. The others followed him.
    Cameron lay alone on
the floor. He shouted after them, “If you guys are smart, you’ll do exactly
what I did! They know everything anyway. You can’t save Keating, but you can
save yourselves!”

Chapter 15

     
     
    In the room, Neil’s
bed stood stripped and his desk empty. Todd sat at the window, looking across
the campus at the administration building. As he watched, he saw Meeks escorted
out of the building and toward the dorm by Dr. Hager.
    Todd peeked out of
the door of the room. Meeks and Hager entered the hallway, and Hager waited
while Meeks walked silently back to his room.
    He passed Todd
without even looking at him, and Todd saw the tears streaming down his face.
Meeks slammed his door shut behind him.
    “Knox Overstreet,”
Dr. Hager called, as he waited impatiently at the end of the hall.
    Knox came out of his
room and joined Hager. They walked out the door and back across the campus.
    Todd waited a few
minutes, then walked acrossthe hall to Meeks’s room. He
knocked. “Meeks, it’s Todd,” he called.
    “Go away,” Meeks
said, his voice hoarse and throaty. “I have to study.”
    Todd paused,
realizing what had happened. “What happened to Nuwanda?” Todd asked Meeks
through the closed