"THE CONFERENCE" "The sudden onset ofwinter has led to catastrophic conditions on the roads in some parts ofnorthern and eastern Germany." "The cold front is moving south, its fringes have already reached the Kassel area and..." "Cornelia?" "Can I stay at your place tonight, if the weather gets worse?" "They've predicted snowdrifts for the Taunus region." "Yes, of course." "I hope we won't take so long." "is Steffen with the kids?" " Yes, yes." "Tizia's mother sent us this fax." "She's threatening us with her press connections if we don't decide in her favor." "See you in a minute." "She must be mad." "Marlies?" "Marlies?" "Cornelia, hello." "Hello." "We're upstairs in the library." "I just saw Leysen in the schoolyard." "Did he come to see you?" "I'll be with you in a minute." "Marlies?" "I don't know when I'm coming." "Perhaps tomorrow." "It's Saturday tomorrow, surely you'll be at home!" "I have to go." "Anything the matter?" " Nothing." "But something's wrong." "Would you prefer to go home?" "Steffen's having an affair." "With our colleague Herrero." "How did you find out?" "He left his cell phone in the car." " You answered it?" "Yes." "I'll get you round!" "It's damn cold in here." "The heating isn't working." "If he's interested in the apartment, he can call me..." "Knowing my colleagues, it won't be before eight." "A decision needs to be made today." "Thanks for doing this for me." "Yes." "Will we see each other later?" "Well, you have a key." "Okay." "Bye." "Hello." " Hello, my dear colleague." "HÖLDERLlN COLLEGE" "The Met Service's storm warning is in effect until tomorrow morning." "We can ewpect a heavy snowfall..." "Obviously quite a lot's coming our way." "You live somewhere out there?" "I live in Mörfelden, Mr. Stern." "And, as most people probably know, I'm a member of the local council." "For the Conservative Party." "Hello." "No heating in here?" " Mr. Zimballa's working on it." "Great." "Well, Pirsich, how's your novel coming along?" "Getting there." " Getting there." "So it's a developing novel." " You could put it like that." "Yes." "So we'll have to rename this place soon, eh?" "The Rolf C. Pirsich College." "What do you think?" "What do you say, Pirsich?" " Hello." "Hello." "Where's the TV set gone?" " Why?" "Do we need it?" "Could be." "I have a video of the rehearsal." "With both of them on it?" " Yes." "And what good is that?" "I don't want you to talk about this to anyone." "Okay?" "Not even to Stern." " Hello." " Hello." "Upstairs?" " Upstairs. - ln that case..." "What makes you think I'd talk to Stern about it?" "No idea how close you still are." "There's Mr. Branzger." " l thought he was off sick." "He is." "But he wanted to come anyway." "Good evening." " Good evening." "Hello." " Good evening, ladies." "Mr. Branzger will be here shortly." "He's just getting out of the taxi." "Yes." "Then I have time for a cigarette." "Are you coming?" " Yes." "Will they play at all?" " They've got undersoil heating." "Hello." "We'll switch it off in a minute." " We're just waiting for Mr. Branzger." "Could you take the minutes, Mr. Pirsich?" "As usual." "...Torsten Frings will play a lot more aggressively than in Bosnia..." "Hello, Mr. Branzger." "Mr. Zimballa?" "I just have to tell them the heating is working again." "Mr. Zimballa, is there a mattress in the basement?" "Or a blanket?" "Or something like that?" " Mattress?" "Oh, you mean because of the incident." "No." "Well, I'd have to go and have a look." "But first I have to inform the principal." "It'll get warm again soon." "In about half an hour." "Mr. Branzger." " Sir." "Good evening." " Good evening." "Are you sure you won't overtax yourself?" "Or else I wouldn't have come, would I?" "Then let's get started." "Mr. Pirsich will be taking the minutes." "Let me summarize the reason for our conference once again." "It's about the pupil Viktor Leysen, whom you all have dealings with." "Over 18." "After an evening rehearsal of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", he allegedly raped 17-year-old Tizia Jentsch from class 11 b" "in the basement of our school." "The very same night," "Tizia made insinuations to her younger sister Jule." "Their mother was at a congress." "And Jule later told her mother everything." "Dr. Jentsch came to see me..." " Excuse me..." " Yes?" "Why is that of any concern to us?" "If Dr. Jentsch believes Leysen raped her daughter, she should go to the police." "She threatened to do so, but will refrain from reporting it if we deal with the matter internally." "Always saving face, right?" "Rape is rape." "No point in trying to cover anything up." " Nobody's trying to cover anything up." "It's more complicated." " She went down there with him voluntarily." "No court will find that was rape." "Damn." "You read that in Focus magazine, right, Mr. Graf?" "May I go on?" "Dr. Jentsch, who is very active in public life, came to see me with a letter two days after the incident." "The letter states what she got out of Tizia:" "she clearly describes the rape." "PLEASE CALL ME!" "I then asked Mrs. Kahle-Zenk to join us." "Dr. Jentsch agreed to this." "Why don't you tell us, Marlies?" " Tizia's mother made it perfectly clear that she wants us to expel Leysen from this school." "Otherwise she'll press charges." " But it's a lost cause." "She's pressuring us." "As if we'd nothing better to do." "So you believe Leysen isn't a rapist?" "I simply said we're not responsible." "We're not talking about just anyone." "He's been a problem for us ever since he started here." "For you, perhaps." " Sure, you get along with him just fine." "What are you getting at?" "Please!" "Let me recap:" "Dr. Jentsch insists Leysen should be expelled." "The parents' representatives support her view." "Of which she is the chairperson." " l know you don't like her, but that's beside the point." "We shouldn't start any new sideshows here." "So we won't talk about Klaffki?" "We've done plenty of that in the past." " Unfortunately." "And Leysen is still attending this school." "A fine mess." "Dear Holger is accusing his colleagues of being partly responsible for the rape of Tizia Jentsch." " Rubbish!" "Are you alright?" "Does someone have a cup?" " Yes, here you are!" "That's mine." " l'll go and get one." "In that case, I'm going out for a smoke." "Who said we're adjourning?" "Sorry." " Are you sure you're alright?" "Yes." "Ms. Kressnitz!" "Let's continue." "That'll do you good, Mr. Branzger." "Pai Mu Tan." "The tea of life." "With white tips." " She blends it herself." " Thanks." "After Dr. Jentsch came to see us, I spoke to the boy." "His liaison teacher, Mr. Stern, and Mrs. Kahle-Zenk were there too." "He's not a boy anymore." "He denied the accusations and explained that theyjust... at most, they... messed around, by mutual consent." "Whatever that means." "He admitted having sex with her." "Apparently she wanted it too." "Right?" "He didn't put it that way, but that's what he meant." "We have a statement from this pupil." "We have another statement from a female pupil who wishes to remain anonymous, but who said to Marlies..." "Where is she?" " She's getting a cup." "Good." "Then we'll wait." "It's not about you being undecided." "I don't even know if I still want to." "Tell the kids I'm not coming." "Because of the weather." "I have to go." "I didn't want to interrupt." "is it getting any warmer?" "No, not really." "Could you tell Mr. Branzger... I've had another look in the basement." "There's no mattress." "Nor any blanket." "He wanted to know." "Yes." "Marlies." "What did the female pupil who wishes to remain anonymous tell you?" "So what's down there?" " Nothing." "...she is, as is Tizia, in my advanced math class and claims Leysen had boasted about the rape, in this bar the sixth grade often go to." "Leysen works there part-time as a barkeeper." "And he's pretty good." "His mojitos are really good." "You drink mojitos with the pupils?" " ls that against the regulations?" "No." " Am I disqualified now on grounds of bias, or what?" "Marlies, please." " She goes there, too." "After rehearsals." "Sometimes..." " Just a minute!" "I won't put up with this!" "Does that have to go in the minutes?" "Marlies, what exactly did Leysen say in this bar?" "The bar is called Value." "Just for the minutes." "I wrote it down." ""Leysen was a real bigmouth:" "'l finally really gave it to Tizia."'" "Whatever that means." "For you that's perfectly normal language, right, Mr. Stern?" " Heide!" "Small sips, Mr. Branzger." "Tizia and her mother won't report it." "Understandable, in the girl's position." "But that does not discharge us of our duty to take disciplinary action when the school regulations are violated." "The school regulations are violated?" " That's the term." "So the question is whether we recommend that Viktor Leysen be expelled or not." "The school board will follow our recommendation, but you know what that'll mean for the boy." "We should have done that after the incident with Klaffki." "Klaffki had already ruined his life before Leysen came along." "Don't you understand?" "Are you telling me to be quiet?" " Mr. Stubenrauch!" "Mr. Stern!" "In the incident involving Mr. Klaffki we took regulatory action." "And before that we had already expressed our disapproval in writing." "Because of Ms. Pflaum." "The one and only Ms. Pflaum!" "This pupil will have great difficulty finding a new school." "He can probably forget about getting his high school diploma." "Not to mention the stigmatization that will result from this allegation." "It'll get around quickly, we needn't delude ourselves about that." "And we don't know how he'll cope with that." "Don't forget the Erfurt massacre." "A poor comparison, Mr. Pirsich!" "Leysen doesn't have that capacity." "And raping a fellow pupil?" "Does Leysen not have the capacity for that either?" "What am I doing here if you've decided he's innocent?" "To prevent just that." "Come on, you guys!" "As if he'd walk in here with a pump gun and shoot us all down." "He's not that kind of guy." "We saw him earlier in his car." " Yes." "Probably in his mother's Jaguar XJ6." "Has he been suspended?" "He's been excused from classes until we've made a decision." "I thought he came to see you." "I saw him coming down the admin corridor." "He greeted me politely." "He did come to see me." " And what did he want?" "He wanted to tell me he was innocent." "What a cheek!" " What did you say to him?" "I told him to leave my office." "I didn't want to mention it here, because I thought it'd be unfair towards Tizia." "But we must not forget the consequences of his being expelled." "You're forgetting the consequences it'll have for the school if he stays." "Please read the fax from Dr. Jentsch." " Yes..." "She's pressurizing us by threatening to go public with it." "It's not going to get us anywhere if I read it out to you." "All I can say is be careful!" "She has really good connections, all the way to Berlin." "She represented like-minded people in the PlSA Commission." "She's a fanatic." "Revolting!" "You finding a committed doctor and protector of youth revolting says it all." "Put that in the minutes." " No." "Read the fax." "Then we can talk about the issue." "But that's what we've been doing." "No!" "Nobody's talking about whether or not the rape actually took place." "That's all that matters." " We'll get to that later." "There are other important issues." "Exactly!" "Whether we, as a school, can afford to keep Leysen." "Whether we want to, that's the point." "Your dialectics are stifling, Mr. Branzger." ""Dear..." " Zimballa says there is no mattress..." "'Crime scene: school' is the title of the new Spiegel series." "As a recognized specialist on aggression research, I was asked for my expert opinion." "I find it very difficult not to report the dreadful incident that happened at your school." "I hope, also in Tizia's interest, that I can count on your taking decisive action to prevent us having to face any further consequences." "Yours sincerely..."" "The boy's father is also threatening us." "He'll bring us before the administrative court if his son gets expelled." " l think he's a lawyer in the States..." "God only knows how he found out." " From his son." "How else?" "No, they don't have any contact." "He lives with his mother." " You're very well informed." "Yes, about all my pupils." "Never mind." "We should decide on this unanimously." "That way we'll be able to cope better with the pressure when it hits us." "Very sensible." "Cornelia, come on." "Decisions are made on a majority basis here." "What do you think this is?" " Totalitarianism." "It's called faction discipline, my dear fellow." "Nothing to do with totalitarianism." " Perhaps in your party." "Let's just vote." "Who's for unanimity?" "Then you can forget about the match." "I'm for unanimity, too." "Recount." "Four for, four against." "What about you, Sophie?" "I abstain. I don't care either way." "No, actually I do care." "I can't just vote on someone's future like that." "How should I know what really happened?" " True. lt's his word against hers." "But if there's anyone who knows, surely it must be you?" "Me?" "Why me?" " You're rehearsing this play with them." "So you get to know the pupils better than we do in our dry old lessons." "Well, well!" "I know your lessons are different." "But we have to come to a decision, Ms. Kressnitz." "And your indecision isn't helping us." "Then I'm for a unanimous decision." "Right, I'm going out for a smoke." " Five minutes." "Who's got the key for the staff restroom?" "I want you to give me the children!" "What's the matter?" "She's upset because of Steffen." " Does she know?" "Let me have one too." "If we don't get through this with resolve, it'll never end." "is that your strategy?" "Leysen has to go." "You have no other choice." "It'll be down to me anyway." "So let me handle this, okay?" "I'll see to it that everything ends well." "There won't be a happy ending." "Whatever happens." "And tomorrow we'll build a snowman." "I'm glad you could make it." "It's not getting any warmer." "It's still cold, it doesn't want to get warm." "Look at Netzer." "As if he knows anything about soccer." "He can talk." "He'd look a complete fool today." "Not just because of his hair." "With all the pressing they play these days... I need the TV set after all." " Pardon?" "I want to show a video..." " Then let's do our colleague the favor." "We'll have to readjust everything again." "If it helps to find out the truth." "Where do you want it?" " Back in the cabinet." "No problem." " We have to reconnect the recorder." "Yes." "Sleep well." "What are you doing, Mr. Graf?" "Ms. Kressnitz wants to show a video." "I have a recording of the last rehearsal." "Shortly before it happened, to be exact." "Perhaps it'll help if we watch it." "Yes, okay." "Later." "First I want to ask Mr. Stern, Viktor Leysen's head of year, to tell us about Leysen's school work." "Right... let's have a look at his file." "In the last six months, he cut class 25 times:" "in English, mathematics, biology and PE." "You probably had too many mojitos together the night before." "In Mr. Stubenrauch's politics class he got Es across the board." "Leysen filed an objection to the principal about this grade." "A decision has yet to be made." " Ridiculous." "I'd give anyone who draws all his knowledge about American post'war politics" "from Oliver Stone films an E, that's for sure." "In my history class he got nothing but As." "He would have in German too, if he'd stuck to the topics." "I'll take over from there, okay?" "I've had Leysen in my English class since he returned from America." "He is fluent but speaks with an accent." "You mean the same accent as Bush  Co.?" "Yes, Mr. Stern." "Since then he's refused to speak proper English." "And when I correct his pronunciation, he just smiles at me with disdain." "A definite C." " And then he goes and complains:" "I'm biased against him because of his views." "What views?" " He believes..." "For example, he claims that compared to Israel, the Palestinian Autonomous Territories are clearly totalitarian states." "And he's quite right." " But that's absurd." "You seem to have a problem with totalitarianism." "In my basic math classes he has an E set in stone." "He just turns up often enough to be admitted to the exams." "At least his math is good enough for that." "In my biology class it's a straight D." "He presented an interesting paper on behavioral science:" ""Indian temple monkeys' art of lying"." " Since when do monkeys lie?" "Oh yes, they lie their heads off." "For example, when a female wants to cheat on the alpha male with a young male, she sits up against a stone as if she were scratching her fur." "But in actual fact..." " Not now." "Don't forget the kick-off." "In PE he got a D. He's absent too much." "He thinks soccer is a proletarian sport." "And in swimming he handed in a sick note: athlete's foot." "You think that's funny?" " Yes." "The whole class has started copying him." "The video, please." "And why is that, Mr. Graf?" "I know: because of my lessons." "But I've heard your Latin classes aren't that exciting either." "At Value." " For example." "Right!" "Read this!" "And don't tell me anything about totalitarianism." "Can we cut this short?" "is he sure to be admitted to the diploma exams?" "His absenteeism is within the limit, and his average grade is C+." "He got an A in Ms. Kressnitz' music and literature class." "He's really good." "He participates." "It was on his initiative that a school band was formed." "He plays the guitar." "And, of course, in the theater group." "Whenever pupils want to be excused from certain lessons, they always drop Leysen's name." "Leysen gets time off because he plays in a TVthriller... I saw him on TV recently." "The movie was awful." "But Leysen..." "Not bad at all!" "I saw you on TV, too." " Really?" "In that silly quiz show." " Would you have known the answer?" ""What was the woman's name who led to the band Modern Talking splitting up?"" "Nora." " What?" "The singer always wore a necklace with her name." "That doesn't count as general knowledge." "They tricked me: 8,000 euros!" "Ms. Kressnitz, before we watch the video..." "You know Tizia and Viktor Leysen better from the rehearsals." "Was there anything going on between them?" "But a love affair doesn't rule out rape!" "Leysen and love, you must be kidding!" "You might know all about sex, but..." " Envious, Holger?" "You'd better be quiet, Porno Graf!" "What are you getting at?" " That's what the pupils call him." "Because of the photos in this porn magazine." "It was a lifestyle magazine!" "I see." " "Germany's most attractive teacher"." "Well, he came third." "Naked, from behind." "With a rose on his bottom." "And they call you "Nigger Heide", because all you talk about is Africa." "They call me "Romy"." " Romy?" "Yes, from Roman, my first name." "By the way, Mrs. Kahle-Zenk, they call you KZ, as in "concentration camp"." "Not very original." "There's a reason for that." "For my name, too." "Romy is an allusion to my sexuality, but I see that as a private matter." "In your opinion, was there anything akin to fondness between them?" "Tizia likes him, or liked him, I'm quite sure of that." "Yes, and Vigo..." " Vigo?" "That's what his fellow pupils call him." "Viktor, Vigo..." "As in Vigo from "Othello"!" "Another one of these shady characters." "Iago, my dear fellow, his name was lago, not Vigo!" "Yes, he liked her..." "there were innuendos." "During the rehearsal..." "You can see that on the video." "What makes you ajudge of that?" "Theater has a lot to do with truth." "One can only act love if there is an element of love." "At least at that moment." "Nobody knows less about love than sixth-formers." "And for no other group does it fall into their lap so easily." "But this is not about love." " Of course it's about love." "It's about where love ends and rape starts!" "It's about sex. lt's about whether Tizia consented or not." "Well done!" "I'd never have expected that from you." "It's about disappointment." "Excuse me." "And nothing else." "I see, so Tizia made everything up?" "Because Leysen didn't want her." "Revenge?" " Tizia has no need to do that." "She could have anyone." " including you?" "I'll just quickly read both their written statements." "Right, the crucial part of Tizia's statement." "He told her to follow him to the basement." "He wanted to rehearse with her there." ""When we got to the basement, there was a mattress." "I was surprised, but Vigo smiled and said: 'Better than on the floor!"'" "Where exactly in the basement was this?" " No idea." "There are lots of dark corners." "There's neither a mattress nor a blanket in the basement." "There's a mattress in the boiler room." " ls there?" "How do you know?" "I had a look." "Okay, so there's one in the boiler room." ""We started rehearsing with the mattress as a wall."" "We get to see this scene later, right?" " Yes, act five, scene one." ""O Wall, O sweet and lovely Wall, Show me thy chink."" "What?" " Don't tell me you didn't encounter Shakespeare in your youth." "I'll be back in a minute." " No, please... ls it urgent?" "May I read to the end?" "It's quite important for our verdict." "Sorry." ""But suddenly he pushed the mattress away, grabbed me, and kissed me." "I played along because I thought that'd be all, but he ripped my trousers, and suddenly his hand was between my legs." "He kissed me, I could hardly breathe, he spread my legs with his knee and then I could feel him and screamed:" "'No!" "' and pulled his hair." "He gasped my name, and I screamed into his hand:" "'Please, Vigo, okay?" "' but he wouldn't stop." "I bit his hand and thought he was raping me." "Then it was all over, he rolled off me and whispered something like 'Shit'."" "Tizia allowed me to read this to you." ""And screamed into his hand..."" "And now Leysen's version." "I'll go straight to the relevant part:" ""Suddenly we started kissing, Tizia grabbed my hair and we made out." "I began undressing her, took her trousers and T-shirt off." "At first she said 'No'." "And then she said, 'Please, Vigo, okay', and started undressing me." "And then we did it." "She bit my hand in the process." "You can still see the bite."" "Yes, come in." "I just wanted to say, it's getting there." "In a quarter of an hour it'll be warm." "Still think it'll be eight?" "Don't know yet, Mr. Zimballa." " You'll call me?" " Yes." "If there's anything you need..." " Pizza would be nice." "Are you going to Carlo's?" " Yes, can do." "But it takes longer." "Then I'll have a Capricciosa." "And a bottle of water." "Capri..." " Pizza with anchovies." "Margherita." "Can we have a quick break?" "If you like." "Anchovi, Margarita..." "Yes, and nothing to drink?" "No." "Salami piccante." "And a beer, non-alcoholic." "Salame piccante." " Salame piccante..." "Quattro Stagione and a Pellegrino." "I want a pizza too!" " Quadro Stazione..." "For us, some pizza bread." " No, I want a Diavolo." "So, no pizza bread." "Mrs. Stubenrauch, the key, please." "Right..." "But sit down!" "Mr. Branzger?" " No, thank you." "And you?" " Margherita." "Margarita." "Coming up." "In about half an hour, perhaps longer." "Oh, Mr. Zimballa?" "Yes?" " There is a mattress in the boiler room." "In the boiler room?" "Who put it there?" " l'm asking you that." "No idea." "You don't think it was rape, do you?" "No." "Excuse me." "Not like that." "You think a girl would make it all up, something that'd humiliate her so much?" "The soul protects its flanks, Mrs. Cordes." "In public, if need be." "Jule!" "Jule!" "Pretty, isn't it?" "Yes." "Shall we go out for a drink later?" "I mean when this is over." "I don't think so." "Hello, yes, it's me..." "Yes... I've never seen you smoke before, Mrs. Kahle-Zenk." "I hope your worldview will survive." "No, I just thought..." " Do you have to rewrite your novel now?" "Are all of us in it?" " There are autobiographical references." "Sure." "Like Thomas Mann." " He was gay, too." "Let's carry on." " Right." "Don't worry, you needn't turn gay to become an important writer." "Good." "So then..." "Did he say when he'd call me?" " The others are waiting." "Thanks for giving him my number." "Now I won't have so much stress tomorrow." "Yes." "Good." "Bye." "Okay." "Did she say "l love you"?" " Why?" "Because you always reply "Okay" to that." ""O night, O night, alack, alack, alack." "I fear my Thisbe's promise is forgot!" "And thou, O Wall, O sweet, O lovely Wall," "That stand'st between her father's ground and mine." "Thou Wall, O Wall, O sweet and lovely Wall," "Show me thy chink to blink through with mine eyne!" "Thanks, courteous Wall." "But what see I?" "No Thisbe do I see." "O wicked Wall through whom I see no bliss!" "Cursed be thy stones for thus deceiving me!" "O Wall, full often hast thou heard my moans," "For parting my fair Pyramus and me!" "My cherry lips have often kissed thy stones, I see a voice." "Now will I to the chink to spy and I can hear my Thisbe's face." "Thisbe?" "My love thou art, my love, I think." "Think what thou wilt, I am thy lover's grace." "Like Limander am I trusty still." "Oh, kiss me through the hole of this vile wall!" "I kiss the wall's hole, not your lips at all." "Wilt thou at Fanny's tomb meet me straightway?"" "Vigo!" ""Tide life, tide death."" "Once more, please." ""Wilt thou at Ninny's tomb meet me straightway?" "Tide life, tide death, I come without delay."" "Come, please do." "Tizia!" "Sorry." ""l come without delay..."" "Now pull yourself together." " l can't..." "Come?" "Doth the fault be mine?" "Switch it off!" "She won't be coming!" "Right, that's all!" "Thank you, Ms. Kressnitz!" "Isn't the scene usually played by two men?" "Tizia and Vigo were set on playing it together." "On our first trip to the Congo, in a small town near Bangui..." "Lokumo..." "Lokomo." " Lokomo." "Right." "...we saw a dance performed by two men." "It was purely about sexuality." "And they were wearing these phallic things, too." "Only one of them!" "The sorcerer!" "I'm very impressed." "I wonder if they were just acting." "It was serious and not serious." "I think it was just serious." " And that's why they laughed?" "In Shakespeare it was just irony, too." ""This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard," says Hippolyta." "Excellent staging, Sophie." "They have to bear it but can hardly manage." "That's why they laughed." " What can't they bear?" "Being in love." "Why does a girl tell her little sister something like that the very same night?" "But doesn't report it to the police." " Because she was raped." "Leysen doesn't need to do that." " Because he's so great, or what?" "He didn't manage to talk her round." "He raped her, because he couldn't talk her round." "What made you agree to it, Ms. Kressnitz?" "You knew they were..." " What do you mean?" "You know exactly what I mean." "It's about violating one's duty of care." "But how was I supposed to know they wanted to go down there?" "Should she have followed them?" " lt's not about the place." "It's about causality." "One thing led to another." "No Shakespeare, no rape." "Interesting theory." "She didn't want to go any further." " He confused acting with reality." "So you think men are libido-driven and can't switch off once they're turned on." "Has your experience with us been so bad?" "Fortunately, not with you." "is that intended for the public?" " lf you like." " No." "Does one go into the basement to rehearse a play?" " Why not?" "It's warm there." " No, it's loud and it stinks." "You go there if you don't want to be disturbed." "She was gagging for it." "She virtually climbed into this hole in the wall." ""l kiss the wall's hole, not your lips at all."" "Does that turn you on, Mr. Pirsich?" "Pardon?" " Disgusting!" "But it was plain to see!" "They were inches away from doing it!" "Doing what?" " Having it off!" "Listen to Porno Graf talking!" "Kiss my ass!" " Where exactly?" "On the rose you tattooed on it?" "That's enough, Mr. Stubenrauch!" "That's enough!" "Mr. Graf!" "I'll show him the rose to end all this." " Please!" "is there a rose?" " What are you playing at?" "Say that there is no rose." " Yes." "Say it!" " Yes!" "There is no rose!" "Alright." "No rose." "By the way, Leysen took the photo." "Secretly after PE. ln the showers." "He added the rose later and sent the photo to this damn contest." "He told me so himself." "At Value." "Gave me a mojito and told me everything." "I could've hit him there and then, but there's no point in doing that." "All you lose is more respect." "Yes." "Perhaps you were grateful to him and that's why you didn't beat him up." "Grateful for what?" "Well, you were quite proud you came third." "Leo, please!" "Was that really necessary?" "Mr. Stern is accusing Mr. Graf of secretly agreeing to Leysen's actions with regard to being "Germany's most attractive teacher"." "Shall I put that in?" " No!" "There's only one thing that concerns us:" "whether or not the pupil Tizia Jentsch was assaulted." "Whether she went to the basement with him voluntarily is not our concern." "There's always a point where a woman says this is far enough." "Every man should respect that." "Or does anyone here disagree?" "We recently covered the humanists, the legendary martyrs." "Leysen gave a presentation." "He pretended to make a slip of the tongue." "He said: "Orgasm of Rotterdam."" "The class was in hysterics." "He blushed about how successful his cheap joke was." "Leysen bit his tongue and talked about the martyrdom of Erasmus, which consisted of him winding himself out of his entrails." "Until everyone was silent." "And he blanched instead of blushing." "Yes..." "Right..." "And what's that got to do with the rape?" "There are some things you just have to understand." "That's all." "But I don't understand." " Me neither." "Then let me help you." "It was about raping a word." "Erasmus." "Erasmus of Rotterdam." "At the same time respecting what the name stands for." "Exemplifying that violence is a part of love." "Like when he bought Mr. Graf a drink." "And that proves Leysen wouldn't do something like that?" "Rape someone?" "It's just that I don't want to oversimplify things." "You think we're oversimplifying things?" "You know what?" "You're babbling on about violence and love and respect." "Who was being violent when Klaffki was standing by the window?" "Here in the stairwell!" "When Leysen stole his bottle of water?" "Filled with vodka." " Yes, with vodka." "And poured it out in front of the class:" ""l won't attend your lessons until you've sobered up!"" "Then everyone left the room." "Went down to the schoolyard." "And Klaffki shouted down from the window: "Come back up here!"" "But they didn't." "Instead, Leysen shouted:" ""You come down here!"" "And someone shouted:" ""Go ahead, jump!" "Jump!" "Jump!"" "Does that not count as violence, Mr. Branzger?" "Yes, but it's a different form of violence, Mr. Stubenrauch." "You mean these little signs of nastiness we teachers prefer to overlook?" "The unfairness, the spitefulness?" "The humiliation and insults." "Cutting the ground from under your feet with irony." "Stifling someone with ajoke." "Forcing you down to your knees with words." "Destroying someone without touching them." "is that what you mean?" " Yes. lt is." "Indeed, Leysen is a master of that." "I want us to vote." "Who is for Leysen, I mean, that he stays?" "Why are you defending him?" " Because he's my pupil." "Because I don't want to lose my pupil." "Some weeks ago, I was in a second-hand bookstore." "And who did I see in the back of the shop?" "Viktor Leysen." "He was looking for an old edition of "A Midsummer Night's Dream"." "Yes, not Reclam notes, but a nice old edition." ""A gift," he said." "And he added with a smile:" ""For a lady."" "So what?" "What is the poet trying tell us?" "Think carefully." "Who do you think he gave it to?" " Tizia." "Love has always got something to do with violence, I agree, Mr. Branzger." "But let's be honest, it's just a truism." "Excuse me." "Stern." "No, you're not interrupting." "I don't have much time." "Well, I don't think that's excusable." "He's behaving like Lord Pomp." "I don't like it either." " No." " Short break?" "What's up?" "Shall we carry the TV set back?" "Kick-off is in half an hour." "It's getting warmer." "I'll get you another cup of tea." " Thanks." ""lt's piquant to think I am courting you out of mockery." "Vigo."" "Marlies!" "Where have you been?" " At the gas station." "To get cigarettes." "Why don't you go home or to my apartment?" "You think this is of no interest to me?" "Smoking's no use either." " But I feel like it." "But you never smoke." "Do you want them to know what's up?" "I don't care." " l don't believe you." "It's nothing, Cornelia." "Nothing at all." "It's just so cheap and dirty." "The colleagues' lecherous imagination." "Hello?" "Here you are, Mr. Branzger." " Thanks." "Right, I propose we all switch our cell phones off!" "We have a private life too." "You can put that aside once in a while." " l've been doing that for years." "We all chose to do this job." " Leo, please!" "It's easy when you own several apartments." "Why are you still working?" "You don't need to." "I like being a teacher." " Don't make me laugh." "Senior grades coordinator Stern, of all people." "You're still secretly working on your doctorate." "Not secretly, quite openly." "It's about German-lsraeli relations from 1949 until German reunification." "And my pupils probably benefit more from that than your experience of the Third World." "After which you two regularly call in sick and go to recuperate in some luxurious wellness hotel." "What a nerve!" " We had dysentery!" "And we got that in the slums." "You wouldn't have survived there, not a single day, you decadent..." "Why can't we just stick to the point for five minutes, without insulting each other?" "Because we find it hard to talk about, Mrs. Cordes." "It's easier to talk about integral calculus than about lust for intensity." "And Viktor Leysen certainly has that." "And I can sense how he intends to satisfy that." "Let me guess." "With sex?" "No, with passion." "As on the video just now." "Or could you tell us, Mr. Holger Stubenrauch, that you have ever shown such displays of courting in the last 20 years?" "Be it a woman or a man." "Can you?" "I suppose you had to ask me that." "You have to be young for that onslaught of love." "And also to bear it." "Love is always an onslaught, always too much." "Like in that hour down in the basement, which we know nothing about." "We're not talking about a he-goat who attacked a she-goat at an inopportune moment." "But the goat accusation remains." "And that's all there is to it." "The she-goat has a name." "She's called Tizia." "A damn good-looking goat." " l have her in physics." "And she picks things up so quickly it makes the boys extremely nervous." "It's not just her eyes." "Saying yes to Leysen is a no for Tizia." "Everyone should be aware of that." "Exactly." "And that's why we'll vote again." "You won't have changed your mind." "And the rest?" "Who's for Leysen leaving?" "Four!" "What about you, Mr. Pirsich?" "Pardon?" " You have no opinion?" "Let me put it this way:" "you all know what a queen bee is." "It's actually, and quite rightly, called a solitary bee." "Her size, grace and, above all, evident sexual capacity are the reasons why she is in charge of hive-building." "And it has a defensive sting with a poison gland." "Worker bees guard her." "In the event of contact, the males don't get a look-in." "and play a more passive role in communicating orientation." "That means they don't hum, or at most theyjust hum along." "I'll get to the point shortly." "Tizia Jentsch is such a solitary bee, surrounded by a self-generated, as it were, humming wall" "that no one, apart from Viktor Leysen, has ever managed to overcome." "That's why she, let me stress this, later stabbed him in the back." "He seduced her, she hated him for it and now she's pinning it on him?" " That's one way of putting it." "You mean you're on his side?" "I'm certainly not against him from the outset." "As is obviously the case with you, Mrs. Stubenrauch." "Yes?" "This is the book." ""A Midsummer Night's Dream", from the second-hand bookstore." "Viktor gave it to me." "No, I didn't go to bed with him." " Did he want to?" "Lots of men do." " And you?" "What?" " Did you say no?" "I'm sure Leysen didn't just make innuendoes." "That's my business." "We're talking about potential rape, so surely my question is legitimate..." "Nothing happened!" "is that enough?" " No, it isn't." "He woos you, gives you this book and asks:" ""How about a one-night stand?"" "Or what am I meant to think?" " lt's none of your business." "We're not talking about your husband." "Does everyone know?" "Marlies, come on, a five-minute break." " No, I want to know!" "Ms. Kressnitz, did you know your friend Maria Herrero is having an affair with my husband?" "She's your friend, isn't she?" "And you, Mr. Graf?" "I'm not interested in that kind of thing unless I'm involved." "Of course you knew." "You play football with Steffen." "And you gossip about who's screwing who." "And I've known for ages that you're after Ms. Kressnitz." "And you, Mr. Stern, the thing with Cornelia back then." "Everyone knew about that too." "Marlies, let's go outside for a minute." " l'm not sick, Cornelia!" "I want us to set a few things straight." "Everyone watched me making a fool of myself." "And you?" "You talk about the onslaught of love and about disappointment." "And you knew that each of your words is like a dagger in my side." "I didn't know." "And had I known, I couldn't have prevented the pain it has caused you." "We're talking about a pupil's future." "No, we're talking about what love is capable of." "And that someone always falls by the wayside." "That's all!" "And about the others' malicious joy." "Come on, for the minutes:" "assistant principal Kahle-Zenk makes a fool of herself at the conference." "Go on, write it down!" "You're abhorrent, all of you!" "Marlies?" "No!" "I'm sorry." " You idiot!" " l'm sorry." "But her argumentation was based purely on her own personal situation." "I prefer that to someone like you who's always using tactics." "I'm trying to get to the heart of things so we can come to a conclusion." "Come on, you want Leysen kicked out." "Then say so openly." "Stop hiding behind this pseudo-objectivity." "Leysen didn't come here earlier to protest his innocence." "He wouldn't beg for mercy." "No, he doesn't need to." "He's independent." "He's courageous, unlike you, Leo." " Courageous?" "When someone mercilessly exposes the weaknesses of others?" "And gets a kick out of his power?" "You admire that?" "I don't admire him." "You know that." "It was none of his business:" ""Are you on holiday here together?"" "We should've gone to Siberia." " That wouldn't have helped." "Are we all so unfeeling again that we just put up with it?" "This horrid way of snooping about in other people's private lives?" "It's none of his business what I feel for you." "What are you doing here?" "Hey!" "You talk to him." "Perhaps he'll listen to you." "The man is sick." "He should be in bed." "What's the matter?" "Are we going to continue?" "I don't know." "There's a little girl in the building." " Where?" "On the first floor. ln the south wing." "I'll call Zimballa." "Forget it, he's at Carlo's getting the pizza." "Jule?" "It's me." "Ms. Kressnitz." "Jule, where are you?" "Jule, are you there?" "Hello?" "Jule, is that you?" "Jule!" "Why don't you say something?" "What are you doing here?" "It's not my fault." "Does Tizia say it's your fault?" "Come out of there." "Break the whole thing off." "There's no point." "You know we have to reach a decision." "Very well, then we'll vote now." "By a majority!" "Very sensible, Mr. Stern." " Let's continue!" "Where's Ms. Kressnitz?" " We're going to vote now." "She's looking for the girl." " Never mind." "It no longer has to be unanimous." "Who's for the motion?" "We can't do that!" "Not everyone's present!" "A majority is a majority." "Come on, Cornelia!" "One vote's still missing." "And then we'll vote on Leysen's expulsion." "What's this?" ""Danton's Death" and you're Robespierre?" ""The right majority at the right time." Your Socialist Student Union said that." "I was never in the SSU." " But I was!" "What's the matter, Pirsich?" " l don't know..." "Marlies!" "I'm glad you're here." "We're just about to rescind the unanimity requirement so we can vote on Leysen's expulsion by a majority." "Separating would be too easy." "What's the matter with you?" "It's not your fault, Jule." "Where's Tizia?" "At home." "And is your mom there?" " She's in Hamburg." "Now you listen to me." "Run home and tell Tizia I'll be there later." "Okay?" "We will find a way." "Quick, run along." "You'll have to justify that!" "Because I want him to understand." "He must have it out with her." "He did. ln the basement." " You're unbearable, Mr. Graf!" "Good to see someone's finally had the guts to say so!" "Mr. Graf, please sit down!" "Mr. Branzger didn't hit the right note." " No, he didn't!" "You're above all that, huh, Mr. Branzger?" "You think PE teachers have nothing but crap in their heads!" " Mr. Graf, please!" "I've been teaching at this school for five years." "And in these five years you never once asked me a personal question." "Who I am, what I do, what I'm like." "I was less than thin air for you." "Less than that." "How should I know what went on down there?" "Do you know?" "No." "Or you?" "Do you know anything?" "I'm sorry. lt wasn't meant like that." "All I know is how a woman who has been raped must feel, now wishing... the earth would open and swallow her up." "What do you think?" "That he's going to rape us, too?" "He did that long ago with his whole persona." "Never before has a pupil hit on me so hard, with what he said, with what he didn't say, with all his attention, with all his disdain." "Each time he looked past me as if I were just thin air." "With every smile in the corridor, on the street, in the park..." "Then why don't you tell that to the parents' council, Mr. Branzger?" "And Tizia's mother!" "And the media!" "And our pupils, especially the female ones!" "And, above all, Tizia herself!" "You can play Mr. Sensitive with them!" "How is the girl meant to cope if Leysen stays at the school?" "That would imply she made it all up to make herself interesting." "Or is everything not so bad, no reason to make such a fuss?" "And Leysen gets a pat on the back." "Publicly." " Yes." "We are a public institution." "Personal opinions are all well and good, but what about the school's reputation?" "Its good name!" " Just now you were still on his side." "I only showed a certain understanding for him as a biologist." "My scientific opinion." "Your own subject is not all that counts." "You said something very wise earlier." "Leysen took advantage of the situation." "She couldn't cope with him and that hurt her feelings." "You know what that's like, don't you?" "And you." "We've all experienced something like that." "So Tizia came home and said the first thing she thought of." "She was ashamed and disappointed." "I know my decision may not be fair under certain circumstances." "But it's right." "Right for the school and its peace and quiet." "So we now have five votes against Leysen:" "Mr. Graf, Mr. Pirsich, the Stubenrauch duo and me." "Do you still insist on unanimity, Cornelia?" "Leysen not only protested his innocence when he came to see me." "He also said he didn't give a damn about what we decide to do, because he didn't even want to be acquitted by such self-righteous teachers." "I wanted you to know what he thinks about us." "No problem." "Guilty." "Guilty." "Leo?" "Guilty?" "Or why are you hesitating?" "You have a problem convicting someone who despises you so much?" "Mr. Pirsich, put your hand up." "I'm only thinking of the good of our school." "And you, our principal." "Thanks." "Made up your mind yet, Mr. Stern?" "And you, Karsten?" "Are we suddenly weakening a little?" "He should stay." "Anything else would be cowardly." "You can't be serious!" "Do you want us to capitulate to this cynical bastard again?" "He made a colleague commit suicide!" "And a young trainee teacher leave herjob!" "The one and only Pflaum." "It was for the better anyway." "Turning a blind eye generates violence." "That's the wrong way to be considerate." ""ln dubio pro reo." You'd only create anarchy with that!" "Like at the junior high!" " What sort of kids do we want?" "Girls who want to enlighten us with their navels even in wintertime?" "Ones who want to study in New York, but copy their essays from the Internet?" "Bored young men for whom we're nothing but trash?" "Who don't spare us their degenerate language and their redundant music?" "Who put photos of their pierced mugs on the Web by cell phone in class" "Yes?" "Yes?" " Sorry." "I was as quick as I could be." "Here's something to fortify you." "Mr. Graf's got the drinks." "I put your names on the boxes." " Here you are, Mrs. Kahle-Zenk..." "Thanks." "And for our principal..." "Thanks." " ..." "Margarita." "Here you are." "Thanks, Mr. Zimballa." "We're almost done." "Good." " Pirsich..." "Leysen should stay." "What?" "Oh yes?" "So now we've got three votes against Leysen and four in his favor." "We're still waiting for your vote, and Ms. Kressnitz'." " Yes... lf l mayjust interrupt... I've noted it all down." "You can pay in the cafeteria tomorrow." "And..." "The heating is working now." "Yes." "And..." "Enjoy your meal." "Mr. Zimballa..." "Mr. Zimballa, how long has that mattress been lying in the basement?" "The mattress?" "Right, no idea." "In case it gets too warm, you can open a window... lt was very warm down there that evening, too." "Well, you asked about a blanket." "There is no blanket." "I'd know if there was a blanket." "The heating went right up that evening and..." "So you knew those two were in the basement?" "I went and had a look because the heating had gone up so much and I heard something like..." "Go on, tell us, Zimballa." "No need to be embarrassed." "What did you hear?" "It's important." "Screaming?" "Cries for help?" "No." "Music." "What sort of music?" "You know, that kind of... music from the past." "With a real person singing." "Thanks." "What did the person sing?" "Phone me when you're finished, okay?" "Mr. Zimballa, what did you hear?" "What sort of song was it?" "Not one of those noisy songs." " So it was something soft." "Do you think you could sing it to us?" "Please, Mr. Zimballa." "Love hurts!" " Right!" "Thanks, Mr. Zimballa." "Very good!" "Thanks. I'll be on my way then." "By Nazareth, but nobody knows it now." "But it was that song!" "We listened to the song... when we did Woodstock in class." " But they never played there." "Right, but The Who played in Woodstock." "I heard them in Hyde Park, they played support for Rory Gallagher." "I only know the Everly Brothers version." " Joe Cocker also played at Woodstock." "Now he's on TV shows." " Leysen proposed listening to the song." "Love hurts." "How apt." "I'd like to listen to it now." " But everyone knows it, Mr. Branzger." "I haven't heard it for ages." "And you?" "is there any chance of listening to it now?" "The record player is in the bookcase and so is the record." "But it should be in the audio library." "Shall I go and get it?" "I'll come with you." "Did you know about the music?" "If not, why go to the boiler room?" "I suspected as much." "The record player was gone that evening." "And so was the record." "And Leysen told me next day that he'd borrowed the stuff." "That's how he treats school property." "Shall we eat?" " But I've got my pizza." "But it's much too spicy." " We're ready now." "The fourth track on side two." "Love hurts, right?" "Our first trip." "The night in Lokumo, after the performance with the sorcerer..." "Samuel." " He wasn't called Samuel." "He was called Samuel Kibo and while you were lying drunk in bed in the hut next door, he virtually raped me." "Three times..." "Three times." "And each of those three times I didn't want him to... not the way he did." "And it happened because... he was stronger or it was stronger that night... in Lokumo." "I... I didn't tell you the next day and not the day after that and not all the 16 years that followed," "because I was scared of your solidarity." " But I would've understood." "Why don't you understand by not understanding for once?" " But I..." "Shut up, will you!" "He understands everything, everyone:" "blacks, gays, the unemployed, women, children, drug addicts, whores, everyone in the Third World, every comrade, everyone." "But I'm of the same species and did it with a member of the same species," "at night in the hut next door, on the clay floor, just like those two in the basement, with music." "There was a radio with an antenna with reception all the way from London." "Do you understand?" "Yes... but you have to... I don't have to do anything!" "I understand perfectly well how that can happen, and you go crazy, because he's stronger than you and yet you hold onto him somehow." "Don't touch me!" "Why didn't you say anything?" " How can I tell someone who still answers the phone with "Hi, it's me, Holger speaking"?" "Sorry about this... I... I'll take it back and perhaps... we can get back to the point." "After a female colleague here has told us she's been raped." "Yes..." "But we have to conclude this somehow." "Heide, I'm sorry." " l'll help you." "Tell us finally what your opinion is." "I don't know." "What?" "I abstain, too." "But you can't do that!" "Being raped is the most shaming thing." "Any other shame only comes close." "I don't think Tizia has gone through that." "Then I abstain, too." " At least vote in his favor!" "Alright then, I'll vote in his favor." "Did you hear that?" "I want him to stay." "And I'd like to say a few more words about Klaffki." "He was my friend." "We went hiking together." "And when we were together, yes, it was good." "We used to laugh a lot." "And then he threw himself off the Goethe Tower." "Bang." "Because the pupils wore him down." "And yet he would've voted in Leysen's favor, because he was always on the pupils' side when it came to the crunch." "And that's why I'll vote in his favor, too." "You can take that down." "Shall we go?" " l'm leaving." "Heide?" "Heide?" "Are you going to abstain?" "No. ln fact, I want him to stay." "So now it's 6:1 in Leysen's favor." "What about you?" "You can't abstain." "I mean if you're for him, I'm for him, too." "You've got what you wanted, Cornelia." "You too, Mr. Branzger." "Congratulations!" "What I wanted?" "That's not what I wanted!" "It may well have been his aim to stir things up for us." ""Let us forget that time exists and cease to reckon the days of our lives!" "What are centuries compared to the moment when two beings thus divine and approach each other?"" " Hölderlin. "Hyperion"." "He whispered that to you." "Out there on the lake." "Just loud enough for me to hear." "The boy, I mean Leysen, was of the opinion that Leo and I, I mean," "our relationship could only fail." "He told you that?" ""Do you want to go out onto the lake?" "My boat is over there."" "Of course it was his father's boat." " Nobody forced you to get in." ""You've onlyjust ordered?" "No problem!" "Davide will bring everything to the boat." "A bit of antipasti and two bottles of Lugana."" "Special connections with the landlord." " He caught us unawares." "A 19-year-old boy caught us unawares the same way he took Tizia unawares." "Good... so let's put up with him." "Then I'll write it down like that, okay?" "And what about Tizia?" "Perhaps he didn't rape her." "But he hurt her feelings." "A "see you around some time" would have sufficed." "But no school, no court, can condemn that." "What should he have said?" ""lt was nice with you," that's what he should've said." ""lt was very nice with you."" "I'm going to see Tizia now and try to explain it to her mother." "No, I'm going there." "Her mother isn't there anyway." "She's in Hamburg." "But Tizia is." "Nobody's asked me if I'm for or against Viktor Leysen." "But you're for him." " No." "I'm for Tizia." "Because she's at home crying." "She's devastated." "She blames her little sister for telling her mother." "What are you going to say to her?" "That at least one of us understood why she felt she was raped." "No." "Everyone here understands." "Really?" "But you all voted in Leysen's favor." "What will the other pupils think now?" "I'm going to tell her that I like her and that I like Vigo, too." "That I didn't vote for him but would nevertheless be glad if the performance went on." " How's that meant to work?" "Right..." "See you." "I'd like to come with you." " No, you go and see your pupil." "Tell Viktor Leysen that our decision doesn't mean he won." "And tell him he has to stay at the school." "I'll come with you." "It's a bit icy outside." "Very kind of you, Mr. Graf." "Good night." "Good night." "What shall we tell the outside world?" "The pupils, the parents?" ""inner peace can be attained only within the system, not through exclusion"" "is what Gerd would've said." ""School gives Leysen a chance to work on his shortcomings and redefine his own role by talking to people," "especially with regard to the opposite sex." "School itself can thus help to tear down clichés by being a role model in reconciling general aims" "and the subjective desire for recognition." "Through integration, with a new behavioral form... in a climate of openness."" "Something like that." "Bye." "It's stopped snowing." " Even so... come to my place now." "You discuss everything with Steffen tomorrow." "I have winter tires." "Okay, see you on Monday." "Shall I drive you home?" " My car's parked down there." "I've forgotten the name of our hotel at Lake Garda." "Garda..." " l don't want to know anymore." "André Gide wanted to commit suicide there, because of the beautiful view." "But he didn't succeed." "I felt so at ease with you there." "Yes." "I loved you." "Good night." "Good night." "NOVEL" "RECYCLE bin"