Team Manager 1: SWISH!
Chapter 10
PRACTICE WEDNESDAY was brutal. Everyone was off in their scrimmage and Dennis blew the whistle for dozens of fouls. Ardith had talked to him about helping her clean up their game and to tighten up on fouls. He didn’t think anyone on the team had avoided having at least one foul called on her. They all scowled at him as they headed toward the locker room for showers.
Dennis went to put the practice balls in the equipment cage and discovered the new delivery of towels had arrived. He checked the shipment and was pleased to find the extra towels he’d ordered for the girls. He quickly counted out ten towels and rushed to the locker room. He knocked and pushed the door open a crack.
“Ladies! I have an extra towel for everyone today. Come and…” His message was cut-off when a weight hit him from behind.
“Caught you, you fucking pervert!” Carol yelled as she slammed into him and pushed him through the door and onto the floor. He fell face first on the stack of towels he was carrying. “Look, everyone. Look who I caught trying to peek through the door to spy on us!” There were a couple surprised squeals. Two girls hastily pulled T-shirts on and a third pulled her panties back up.
“I didn’t…”
“Shut up, you four-eyed creeper. What makes you think you can creep around staring at the girls? Especially after that crap you pulled on the court this afternoon.”
“Hey, Carol! Shut up,” Roberta yelled. “He was delivering towels. Coach told us he’d be watching more carefully for fouls. He wasn’t trying to spy on us.” She stood there in her sports bra and shorts with her hands on her hips. Dennis hid his face back in the towels.
“Sure, you come to his defense because he’s your little pet. He called eight fouls on me. How many did you get? One? Two? And then when I get to the locker room, he’s standing with the door open looking in.” She turned and gave Dennis a kick in the side. He covered his head with his hands and curled into a ball to protect his stomach. He’d had enough experience doing this last year that the reaction was instant.
Natalie grabbed Carol and spun her around before a second kick could land. She slammed the older girl against the lockers.
“You know as well as everyone else that you can’t see into the locker room from the door unless it’s open all the way. He just told us he had extra towels and I was headed over to pick them up. Thanks for smashing the door into my head.” Natalie growled. In fact, a bump was growing on her forehead.
“Aw, your little boyfriend got caught. You don’t know what a pervert he is. I’ve always known he’d try to peek inside. He did the same thing to the boys last year. He even got down on his knees to give them all blowjobs. Then he turned around and complained that three of them were picking on him. He got the season terminated, three suspended or expelled, and a coach fired. Now he thinks he can get away with anything, the little shit. We should cut his dick off and let him suck on that!” Carol was raging so much that spittle was coming out of her mouth. She gave Natalie a shove and Nat fell over a bench. She nearly cracked her head on the next row of lockers, but little Amy was standing there and took her weight fully as she fell.
“That’s enough, Carol,” Brenda said as Roberta and Daniella moved in to grab her arms. “It’s clear you can’t abide by the rules. Eight fouls? It should have been twice that. He should have thrown you out of the game.”
“Sometimes the game gets rough,” Carol said. “You have to go with it.”
“Not on our team,” Brenda continued. She turned and gave a hand to Natalie to help the taller but younger girl to her feet. “And you don’t respect your team captains. You were drunk on your ass at the Halloween party. You don’t deserve to be on our team.”
“You’re going to throw me off the team because a shrimp-sized pervert on a power trip got caught?” Carol ranted.
“No, because you can’t play nice,” Natalie said. “You know the coach said no bullying on our team and that’s all you do. You shoved Rosie on her ass twice this afternoon. Diane has a bruise forming on her forearm where you hacked her. And now you’re verbally and physically attacking Dennis. Get out! You don’t belong here.”
“You’d sacrifice the team to report me for bullying? You are really a bunch of cunts.”
“You are the one sacrificing the team,” Natalie continued. “And yes, I’d report you in an instant whether it meant the team or not. You aren’t fit to play with us.”
“Give me my shit from my locker. Who wants to be on a team that’s going to lose every game anyway?” She turned to her locker when Roberta and Daniella let her go and grabbed her things without bothering to change clothes. She headed toward the door and gave Dennis one more kick on the way out.
Brenda rushed to Dennis and knelt beside him. He was crying.
“Hey. It’s okay, Team Manager. We’re here. She won’t come back. Hush, hush now. Lean on me.” Dennis allowed himself to be pulled up to sit, cradled in Brenda’s arms against her chest.
“I didn’t,” he cried. “They made me suck them off. I didn’t want to. I never spied on them in the locker room. I wouldn’t spy on you. I was just bringing towels.”
“We know,” Brenda continued to rock and comfort him. “We believe you.”
“What’s going on in here,” Ardith demanded as she slammed through the door. “Carol just left saying she couldn’t stand it anymore. What is Dennis doing in here?”
“Carol shoved Dennis through the door when he brought us towels. Then she kicked him. We told her she couldn’t behave like that and be on our team,” Natalie said, standing up straight to face her coach. “You said no bullying, Coach. Even if you disband the team now, we’re not going to stand by and watch someone being bullied.”
“Dennis, is that what happened?” Ardith demanded. He nodded, still cradled against Brenda’s chest, which he belatedly realized was clad only in her sports bra. With the last of his snivels his awareness sent signals to the rest of his body. He glanced up. Most of the girls were standing in their shorts and bras. A couple were in panties and bra. Amy had only panties on. He quickly closed his eyes and turned toward Brenda, which only accented the problem in his shorts.
“We promise that’s what happened, Coach,” Diane said. “When Natalie confronted her, Carol shoved her over a bench. Roberta and Daniella had to hold her arms to keep her from kicking Dennis again.”
“Is the decision to kick Carol off the team unanimous?” Ardith asked. She looked around the room and all the girls raised their hands. “Dennis?” she asked. He looked up and straightened up, regretfully pulled away from Brenda.
“Please don’t disband my team, Coach,” he said. “They didn’t do anything wrong. I’ll quit and there won’t be any problems any longer.”
“No!” Leanne shouted. “If Dennis is off the team, so am I.”
“Me, too,” chorused around the room as all the girls stood facing their coach.
“Dennis,” Coach said, “if you don’t want the team disbanded, you’ll have to continue as Team Manager. Now get yourselves cleaned up and get out of here.” Ardith turned and stormed back out of the locker room. She’d need to write a report to the coaches and the principal. She supposed she needed to visit the Enders again.
Brenda reached over and pulled Dennis to her again. “You see, I told you it would be okay,” she said.
“Um… Brenda? You’re just in your bra. I need to get out of here.”
“Now you’ve seen most of us in our bras,” Rosie said. “There’s nothing here to hide. Amy doesn’t even have her bra on.” Dennis looked up and Amy quickly covered her nipples with her arm. She really didn’t have anything else to cover.
“But you should get out of here,” Brenda said. “If not, we’ll all be naked soon enough. I’ll take you home tonight. Natalie? You’ll ride with me? I have room for Rosie and Leanne since you live practically next door to him.” They nodded and Dennis put the towels on the bench as he stood to leave.
“Thank you all,” he said. Just before he turned to leave, Amy dropped her arm and he saw the two puffy nipples on her otherwise flat chest. He rushed out of the room.
Dennis appreciated the ride home but didn’t expect Brenda to park and come in with him, or that Natalie, Leanne, and Rosie would follow. Natalie had held his hand in the back seat of Brenda’s car all the way home.
“Mom, I’m home,” Dennis called. “I have some friends with me.” Peg came running to greet him and stopped short when she saw the other girls.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
“I’m Dennis’s girlfriend,” Natalie boldly stated. “And these are some of our teammates. We play basketball.”
“Swish!” Peg said, mimicking a basketball shot.
“Girlfriend?” Dot said as she came into the room. “Since when do you have a girlfriend?”
“Um…” Dennis started.
“Sorry, Mrs. Enders. I didn’t mean to blurt that out without even asking Dennis. We’re just really good friends and teammates,” Natalie said, blushing. Dennis reached over and took her hand.
“Mom, this is my girlfriend, Natalie Armor. She’s co-captain of the team with Brenda Grant. Rosie Barnes lives two doors down from us and Leanne Vining lives across the street. Um… Brenda wanted to come in to meet you,” Dennis said.
“Hmm. I’m not sure I approve of a girlfriend at this age. Remember, you have to be sixteen before you can date.” She scanned Natalie up and down. She towered eight inches over Dennis. She wondered if he’d ever be that tall. Then she nodded. “Okay, I guess.” Natalie squeezed Dennis’s hand and he squeezed back.
“Mrs. Enders, aside from the surprise announcement, we girls wanted to see you because Dennis got shoved around and bullied after practice today. We want you to know that we threw the player off the team and did our best to protect him. I think he got kicked in the ribs, though. Are you feeling any pain, Dennis?” Brenda asked. He shook his head.
“A bully on the girls’ team? I thought we were through with that. When will it end?” she asked as she sank into a chair. “I’ll have to talk to Ardith about this. She made a promise when the team was formed.”
“Mom, please don’t,” Dennis said. “These are my friends and my teammates. None of them would ever bully anyone. They just stood up against Carol and protected me. Please don’t say anything that could get the team in trouble.”
“Carol Reston?” Dot asked. She shook her head. “That girl is way too old for her age. You’re sure that’s the end of it?”
“We don’t control everything in the school,” Brenda said. “Or outside the school. But Dennis is a member of our team and we won’t let him down.”
Dot nodded and stood up. “Who’d like some cookies and milk?” All four girls joined Dennis and Peg in the kitchen for a ‘store-bought’ cookie and a glass of milk. After Dot assured them that they were welcome any time, the girls left.
A different scene was playing out in Ardith’s office where the other five teammates had gathered.
“Coach, you don’t know everything about what happened last year,” Roberta started.
“Is it necessary to know in order to keep things in order?” Ardith asked.
“Yes,” Roberta continued. “It wasn’t just bullying and hitting Dennis. They made him, um… go down on them. On the whole team. He was forced to give them blowjobs.”
“That’s rape, Coach,” Diane said. “Those guys raped Dennis and only three got any punishment at all. The rest are still playing basketball.”
Ardith put her head in her hands. “I was afraid of that. I don’t know what to do next. If I talk to the coaches, they’ll kick all of them off the team. They might not even have enough left to have a team. And Dennis never mentioned that last year when his parents filed the grievance.”
“Would you admit to being gang raped by a team when it was just your word against all theirs? Can you imagine the shame that would be heaped on you? He’d have to leave school and go somewhere else. Maybe even move,” Danielle said. “I know I wouldn’t have said anything and I’m big enough to fight back.”
“You summed up the problem in one phrase. Even if Dennis decided to tell all, it’s his word against theirs. Funny, our sheriff used the same phrase the night I chased them off. But to know that in addition to bullies, they were rapists, puts us all in danger.”
“My brother is one of them,” Amy said. “And I think he’s planning to rape me with his buddies, too. I’m scared. I think they know I was spying on them to report their drug dealing.”
“Expelling them didn’t help, then,” Ardith whispered.
“Harry and Jerry got their diplomas by completing a couple of online courses,” Amy said. “They were all too happy to not have to go to school anymore. Lee got a car from his parents and enrolled at North Fork. He’s probably doing the same things there.”
“Amy, we need to get you safe. Are you safe at home?”
“I don’t know. Most of the time when I’m home, my parents are there, too. They’re pretty oblivious to what’s going on. I’m only really worried if they catch me alone or if my parents go away and leave Jerry in charge like usual,” Amy admitted.
“You girls have dumped a shitload on me,” Ardith said. “I need to think about what to do and I need to talk to a counselor. I won’t talk to anyone here about any of this, so you don’t need to worry about word getting out. Don’t spread it yourselves. And remember, no one goes alone. Anywhere.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Daniella, Roberta, Diane, Judith, and Amy left the office. Diane offered to take Amy home, since the Armors might not be welcome in their area.
Ardith was in way over her head. She didn’t want to talk to the other coaches or the administration but she needed to do something. Two of her team members were in immediate danger and the rest could get caught in the backwash. After considering it a while, she closed and locked her door and went to her car. Instead of heading home, she headed into the city. She didn’t want anyone who knew her around when she made the next call.
She dialed the number for her own coach and mentor at Winston University.
“This is Coach Sims,” the woman answered her phone.
“Coach, it’s Ardith Graves.”
“Well, it’s nice to hear from you. No. Don’t tell me you finally have a coaching position,” Sims laughed.
“As a matter of fact, I do. And I’m taking seriously everything you taught me.”
“That’s good. I’m retiring at the end of this season and it’s nice to know my legacy lives on.” The comment was in good humor, much the way Coach Sims had always related to her students and athletes.
“It’s not directly about coaching, but I have a situation I don’t know how to handle properly. I need some counseling,” Ardith explained. Sims focused all her attention on the phone call, waving two of her students out of the office. They shut the door behind them.
“Tell me,” she said.
“Last year, the school experienced a crisis when a student team manager was bullied by the team. When it finally came to light, three boys were expelled and the team schedule shut down for the rest of the season. The coach was fired for allowing the abuse to go on.”
“Sounds like the school was responsive.”
“Yes, as far as they knew. I had an incident this afternoon involving the same team manager, who now manages my girls’ team and is doing an absolutely stellar job. He was hit and kicked by one of the girls and accused of peeping on the girls’ locker room. Before I knew about it, the rest of the team had banded together to protect the manager and kick the offender off our team,” Ardith explained.
“You must have girls on your team who are a lot like you. I never knew you to wait for the coach’s decision before you acted to right a wrong,” Sims said.
“I’m proud of them, but information was revealed during the incident that was never brought up during the hearings and expulsions last winter. I found out today that the team manager had been raped multiple times by the team, not only by the three who were accused of bullying.”
“The whole team?” Sims asked. “Wasn’t anyone willing to come forward?”
“There were a couple who said they’d been threatened if they reported their teammates. But the issue of rape was never brought up. Apparently, the manager was too ashamed to let people know what happened. Like I said, it only came out in the aftermath of the incident today,” Ardith said.
“And if the victim comes forward now, people will disbelieve because he didn’t speak up at the time,” Sims concluded. “There’s no direct testimony of a witness to the event.”
“I believe all the boys on the team participated in the gang rape,” Ardith continued. “And a dozen of them could still be on the team. I haven’t checked to see. So, I believe there is still a danger in school, either to harm my manager or another victim in the school. To complicate matters further, one of my girls is the younger sister of one of the boys expelled and believes she is in danger of being raped by her own brother and his pals.”
“You know what you have to do, Ardith. Finding out a child is in danger in her home requires that you report the situation to Child Protective Services. Your law enforcement should be informed. Do you have city police?”
“No. Our little town is covered by the county sheriff and we believe he may be on the take. I’ve had an encounter with him before and he came to the defense of the boys after I caught them beating and threatening my manager in the street. The sheriff said it was really only his word against the three and that the photos I took were not good enough for evidence.” By the time Ardith had finished explaining, she was exhausted to tears.
“Ardith, even if there is no further evidence, you are bound by law to report to Child Protective Services when you believe a child is being abused or is in imminent danger,” Sims said. “You know that, so let me try to soften the blow. Instead of naming them right away, report that members of your team have been threatened and are in danger. For a while, that disperses the suspicion across all of them. CPS will want more details when they investigate and will probably interview everyone on the team. These things take time. In the meantime, make sure your team never goes anywhere unaccompanied. Including the manager. Do you have any allies at your school?”
“Yes. The athletic director has been extremely supportive. He even recommended my manager to me and has helped negotiate practice times and equipment for us,” Ardith said. “I just didn’t want to drag him into it unless I had to since it could involve a crippling number of his current players.”
“Do as your conscience guides you, Ardith. But remember, your first responsibility, your second responsibility, and your third responsibility are to the safety and protection of your team.”
“Thank you, Coach. I needed reminding. And I needed to talk this out before I started raising a stink. I’ll let you know how things turn out.”
“Do well, Ardith.”
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