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Alex bends down and strokes him. “You can’t follow me to school.”

He heads back and unlocks the door. The cat follows him in. Alex slips quickly out and locks him in.

“You’d better not shit on my carpet.”

Alex is late for his first class, for students who have trouble in reading. They’ll flunk out without help. A shortage of space forces him to hold sessions in the private study rooms in the library. Alex’s division reserved the rooms, bought locks and keys. The reference librarian issues the keys.

They make him stand in line. He’s ten more minutes late. His students will probably leave. Alex hands his faculty I.D. to the librarian who reads the bar code with a laser. The key-tag has one, too. It sets off the alarm at the door if someone tries to walk off with it.

“I’m sorry, Sir. I can’t let you check out the key.”

Alex is stunned. “Why not?”

“There’s a hold on your record.” He hands his I.D. back.

Whenever someone owes money to the University, or hasn’t completed certain registration documentation, a hold is placed on the person’s computer record. Holds must be cleared in order to check out books from the library, enroll in classes, apply for graduation, and receive scholarships, grants and loans. Although Alex is faculty, he is also a graduate student, so holds are serious busi-ness for him. His paychecks are considered finan-cial aid.

“I haven’t checked out a book for months. What’s the hold for?”

The librarian taps keys.