Team Manager COACH!
Chapter 43
STUDENTS BEGAN to return to the afternoon workouts on Monday. But it was a short session as the Angelines traveled to the Blue Devils Girls’ Invitational. They were about to prove Coach Dearborn’s assertion that it only took one or two players not performing to tank a team’s score. Both Jaydyn and Janice were missing on Monday. While everyone else ran well, the Angelines finished sixth of eight in the meet.
What was more important to Dennis was that Rae was back on the bus with them. On the way home after the meet, she dragged Dennis to the back of the bus and collapsed against him crying. His girlfriends created a wall around them as he comforted her.
“Hey. What is it, Rae? We missed you last week. What’s going on?” Dennis asked as he petted her hair.
“My so-called boyfriend was one of the Bulldogs beaten up last week.”
“I’m sorry. I still don’t know what all happened.”
“Don’t be sorry for that fucker! I let him finger my pussy! I was going to go all the way with him on our next date! Instead, my little brother found him fucking his real girlfriend and beat the shit out of him,” Rae said.
“Holy shit! Is that what this was all about?”
“Yeah. It’s why Janice and Jaydyn aren’t with us today. They had to give a deposition with their parents and lawyers. Si Goodwin is still in jail. He got to both of their boyfriends and put them in the hospital. He kept screaming, ‘This is for Donnie, motherfucker.’ I can’t believe we were all being used like that. Sharon hasn’t seen her boyfriend since her brother was beaten up. What a fucking mess!” Rae had been holding it together all day and broke down sobbing. Lana slipped over the seat to her other side and held her friend with Dennis.
“I don’t get it. Why would the Bulldogs want to hurt any of our girls?” Dennis muttered.
“They were holding us against the boys’ teams,” Rae sputtered. “The basketball team and the track team were all losing because we had boyfriends who were Bulldogs and, of course, none of us would listen to them warning us away. Our boyfriends had told our brothers and teammates they’d keep us safe as long as the Wolverines kept losing. If they didn’t lose, they’d make sure we were pregnant and dumped, gang raped, and left for dead. Our brothers! And our sisters’ boyfriends. They were all losing the games to protect us!”
Tuesday, there was a lot of speculation still going on in school about the big brawl between Wolverines and Bulldogs. There was quiet speculation about the cause and a lot of people looked at Dennis strangely. That afternoon—even without the boys’ sport teams—there was a record number of people at the afternoon workout. Rae’s little brother had returned to school Monday, slightly banged up, but not seriously injured. He was the chief source of information for the others, regarding what had happened Saturday night. He’d credited Dennis’s conditioning sessions for keeping them prepared to defend themselves.
Dennis wasn’t sure he wanted the reputation of getting people in condition to fight, but there were girls in his classes and on his team who could probably take down most of the boys who showed up for the afternoon session. Dennis worked them hard for a full hour, figuring that if they were just showing up to make a statement, most would be gone the next day. A couple of the guys ended the workout by throwing up.
A lot of the Tuesday and Wednesday practice sessions was strategizing how to handle the State Qualifier meet on Thursday. Ardith wanted to be fair to all her runners and jumpers, but also wanted to win as many events as possible to get the most girls qualified. Only first and second place runners would advance to the State Championships at Drake the next week.
The workout was a little smaller on Wednesday than Tuesday, but some of the boys involved in the ruckus Saturday night were back in school and came to the sessions. Some had black eyes or walked with a slight limp, but all seemed fiercely proud of what they had done. In a way, Dennis was, too.
“It’s two hours over to Traynor for the qualifiers,” Ardith told the team as they boarded the bus. “That’s why we’re going so early today. I want to give you all time to relax and unwind—get the kinks out of your muscles. We have a good chance of moving forward today. Dennis and I have gone over all our stats and have talked to each of you. We set up individuals to compete the full range of events. We had to simply say ‘no way’ to long jump, shuttle hurdles, and the sprint relay. We just aren’t a big enough team with enough depth in all our races to go beyond that. Remember, you’re competing today for a chance to compete next Thursday.”
They all settled down. Some slept on the bus. Dennis was kept busy giving massages and taping girls who needed it. Once at the host school, they all did a lot of walking.
Twelve schools were competing in the region. Each school could enter two girls per event. The top two finishers would advance to the State Championships. In addition to the top two in each of the eight regions, the eight top non-qualifiers in the state would also be invited to compete. It wasn’t at all impossible for all top four runners in an event from one region to post faster times than the first place runner from a different region. This rule meant girls that might otherwise be eliminated would be able to compete.
The events went exactly as Ardith and Dennis planned. Jaydyn got first in the 100 and 200. Daniella got second in the 400 and 800. Janice placed second in the 1500. Natalie placed second in the 100 hurdles. Four individuals had qualified in six out of eight individual running events. No Angelines qualified in the field events. Lana’s season best would not have beaten the 5'3" jump of the second place high jumper. First place had an inch more in her spring. Corinne and Rita fell behind the best in the district in shot put and discus, but all three girls scored team points.
The relays were where the Angelines showed their real team strengths. Ardith sacrificed the short relays with girls who were admittedly weaker runners. Instead, the Angelines ran and won the 4x400, 4x800, and distance medley. The unifying factor in those three relays was Roberta running the anchor position. She hadn’t run any individual events and her legs were fresh for the relays. When it was all tallied up, eight Angelines had qualified for the State Championships in a total of nine events. It was a very good day, even though the team placed third—again.
They would be one of the smallest teams at State who could feasibly compete for team points in nine events.
Daniella and Roberta were officially out of school and claimed Dennis for a private party on Saturday, the night before graduation. There was something desperate or perhaps manic about their lovemaking in the hotel room the girls had booked. They didn’t want any other girls interrupting their antics. By the time they dressed for commencement, Dennis was limp and exhausted. Both girls were walking a little gingerly. Not all of the cause for their tenderness was inflicted by Dennis as they got plenty of attention from each other as well.
Unlike the low-key graduation party for Brenda at Dennis’s house the previous year, the Armors threw a huge party after graduation that was attended both by the crew and by a lot of their classmates. Eva and Zoe were home for the event and had a rather smug look on their faces. Even Donna Perkins from DMACC joined the party.
Conditioning during the week continued to be well-attended, and the boys were mostly back in school. They’d been charged with simple assault since no weapons had been used and both sides admitted to aggravating the other. Si Goodwin was at home on bail, charged with assault and battery. The guys he targeted were still in the hospital. It was unclear, however, if any of the boys would be allowed to play sports at Bartley again. The baseball team started practice without them. Coach Torvalds had agreed to replace Coach Byers as coach of the team. The girls who weren’t competing in the State Championship were joined by enough others to start softball practice with Coach Janet.
Track practice focused on the nine events the girls would run at the championships starting Thursday. The entire team and remaining cheerleaders were traveling with the competitors and they were assured there would be fans cheering for them. Unlike the Drake Relays, the championships would be strictly divided by class.
“This is a very aggressive summer schedule,” Ms. Duval said when she met with Dennis. “And it gives you no break to wind down after classes here are out next week.”
“I think this will best help me fulfill my goals,” Dennis said. “I don’t know yet what I’ll be able to do for college, though I’m getting apps out this summer to some of my top choices. I have an, uh… advisor at DMACC who will help me finish.”
“Brenda Grant can’t be considered an advisor,” Ms. Duval laughed.
“No ma’am. Coach Dearborn has kind of taken me under his wing.”
“Oh! That’s different. You still need to have a couple of classes here at the high school so you can remain active as an athlete,” Ms. Duval said. “We can fulfill both the statistics and biology classes on the Career Advantage program. Especially since you need Biology to graduate. Those two classes can be scheduled for the last two periods of the day. Mr. Griffith has spoken highly of your performance in Calculus. He’ll be the teacher for statistics. Ms. Braxton will teach biology. At the end of spring term, that will leave you fourteen credits short of your AA in Exercise Science and Kinesiology, and three credits short of your Fitness Specialist Certification. I’ll do some checking to see what we can cover in winter semester here at the high school. You’re doing a fine job, Dennis.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
It was only time. He’d be busy this summer. He’d be taking thirteen hours of classes online over the summer and still planned to work for Randy—at least part time. He needed to be earning a little cash over the summer, and working for Randy meant he’d see Lana almost every day.
The first race up for the team at the State Championships on Thursday was the 200-meter preliminaries at 10:30. There were three heats and the top eight would advance to the final on Saturday. Jaydyn ran well and had the fastest time. She’d have lane five for the final.
The 4x800 relay followed the 200-meter dash. This was a timed final with eight teams in each heat. Amy led the first leg, staying pretty even with her competitors, Janice opened up a lead in the second leg. Judith maintained the distance and Roberta brought it home in a team best 9:56. Even though they won their heat, it was only good enough for fourth place among them all.
Then Jaydyn was back at the line for the 100-meter dash preliminaries. She made the finals, but was unhappy with the race. She knew she could run it faster than the 12.76 seconds she’d posted. There was no one on the track Jaydyn competed with more than with herself.
The 400-meter dash was a timed final and Daniella’s time was thirteenth of twenty-four runners.
That was it for day one of the State Championships. The team got back to Bartley in time to shower, change, and go home.
Friday morning, the girls were up early to get to Drake in time for the 9:00 distance medley. This was, once again, a timed final. Daniella, Jaydyn, Natalie, and Roberta led their heat by three seconds, but the time was half a second slower than the winning time posted by the Thunderbirds. They settled for second place.
Natalie had only half an hour to switch gears to the 100-meter hurdles preliminary. Her 17:52 was not enough to move to the finals. Then the team had a long time to wait before the 4x400 preliminary. Once again, the girls led the heat all the way around the track. Daniella, Jaydyn, Tori, and Roberta qualified for the final on Saturday.
They were even later getting back to school on Friday. There was a little fooling around in the locker room before people headed home, but they all realized they needed a good night’s sleep before the final races the next day.
Saturday dawned bright and clear. Daniella, Jaydyn, Tori, and Roberta were the only ones dressed to race in the finals on Saturday. It would be a heavy day for Jaydyn, starting with the 100-meter final at 10:45. The rest of the team, the cheerleaders, and nearly a hundred Bartley fans cheered for her as she blitzed across the line in 12:58, a full step ahead of her nearest opponent.
An hour later, she repeated her win in the 200-meter final with a pack-leading 25.68 seconds. It was turning into a very good day for the Angelines—or at least for one of them.
The last race of the meet was the 4x400 final. The girls lined up in lane five for the start. Four minutes later, Roberta came across the finish line in third place. The Kingsmen had four amazing runners and completed the relay in under four minutes.
“Well, I don’t think we got third place this time,” Natalie laughed.
“Don’t be too sure,” Dennis said, pointing at the score display next to the track. It finally lit up with Bartley in fourth place. Still, not bad for having only eight girls qualifying for the state championship in only nine events. The winning Thunderbirds had run a total of twenty girls and competed in nearly every event.
The team was met back in Bartley with cheers from the boosters and another pizza party. It was officially the end of the school year.
Almost. They had two days of school left, even though all finals had been completed, commencement was over, and no one wanted to be there. Both the softball team and the baseball team had games after school. On Tuesday, the principal dismissed anyone who wanted to join the workouts in the gym at 10:30. During the workout, Dennis and the cheerleaders paraded the fourth place State Champion Angelines in front of the school as they cheered.
Classes for first summer term started that day at DMACC as well. Dennis was taking three online classes—Health, Nutrition, and First Aid—during the first summer term. He was sure he could handle the course load if he could get the reading done. He’d just decided to start the first course Tuesday afternoon when he got a text from Debbie.
*Can you come to dinner? No school tomorrow.*
That wasn’t exactly true for Dennis. He was starting work for Randy the next morning and would be studying in the evening. But it seemed he hadn’t spent much quality time with Debbie lately and it was a small thing she was asking. He certainly wouldn’t be spending the night.
*Sure. What time?*
*Ruth says 6.*
So that answered one question he’d thought of. Her parents would be there. It wasn’t just the two of them.
It wasn’t that unusual for Dennis to have a meal with a girlfriend and her parents. He’d often been at the Armors’ house, sometimes with Dot and Peg. Gransy had him over a couple of times with Amy and Brenda. Of course, he was always welcome at the McDonalds’ or the Browns’. He’d even had dinner once in White Center with Diane and Judith and was invited across the street to dinner with Leanne’s family. They were just nice social occasions that served for everyone to get to know their daughters’ boyfriend.
*CU then.*
He still managed to get the first chapter of his health text read.
“It’s been another busy year for you, Dennis,” Lon said as they sat at the table for Ruth’s pork loin simmered in garlic and pimento.
“It’s hard to believe how much has happened,” Dennis agreed. “It all seemed to rush past.”
“How is your website doing?” Ruth asked. “I admit I’ve been working through the shorter workouts. That seems to be about all I can handle so far.”
“I can do them all,” Debbie bragged. “We’re still working out at school nearly every day.”
“Olivia says we’re getting a hundred or more video downloads a day,” Dennis said. “As to the live workouts, I’m working on a plan with the coaches to hold open workouts on the baseball field or softball field starting next week. Season already started yesterday, but there was some question about when they’d have time for workouts with the twenty-game schedule in six weeks. It looks like another busy summer.”
“How are you funding the website?” Lon asked. Dennis was beginning to think there was a direction to all the questions. He was cautious.
“There’s not really much to fund,” he replied. “I paid for the site and hosting. I have a video camera and we borrow one. Everything else is free.”
“You aren’t taking a salary? Or paying any of your partners?” Lon asked in amazement.
“Everybody is volunteering.”
“I told you, Dad. Are we going to have a whole cross-examination of my boyfriend and how he earns money? We aren’t engaged, you know,” Debbie said. She rolled her eyes in a gesture Dennis had learned to recognize from his many girlfriends.
“No, no,” Lon asked. “I didn’t mean to make it sound like the inquisition. I can’t help myself. I get into marketing mode and I have to dig out everything. Maybe I can offer you some help, Dennis. I think you’ve got a valuable commodity there and it seems a shame that you aren’t earning an income from it.”
“Thank you. I just haven’t considered that past the important aspects of using it for my resume and activity list on college applications. We’re only juniors… Well, I guess as of today, we’re seniors, aren’t we?”
“It seems so strange to say that. We’re seniors!” Debbie joined him.
“To seniors!” Ruth said, holding up her water glass for a toast. They all joined by touching their glasses.
“Speaking of college, what are your plans? Have a favorite picked out?” Lon asked. Dennis saw Debbie roll her eyes again.
“I’ve got a list, but I haven’t sent any applications out. I’d like to stay within a hundred miles so I can be close to my sister. It’s kind of important.”
“You should meet Peg,” Debbie said, trying to move the conversation on. “She has the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard. She sings in church on Sundays. Dennis always reads to her before bed at night. Oh, dear! Who’s going to read to her tonight?”
“Oh. I figured I’d probably be home in time to read to her, but if not, Mom will step in. Peg knows I’m with one of her sisters.”
“Sisters?” Ruth asked.
“Peg considers all us girlfriends as sisters,” Debbie laughed. “She’s so sweet.”
“How old is your little sister, Dennis?”
“Um… Twenty.”
“Oh.” There was definitely a question hanging in the air.
“Peg has Down Syndrome and is mentally around the age of eight or nine. This year we all discovered that she memorizes music from the radio and can sing it back in her beautiful voice. I mean, I always knew she had a nice voice, but I didn’t know she could memorize music and words, and even sing with the choir,” Dennis said.
“Oh, my. Is that the angel voice at Trinity I’ve heard about?” Ruth asked. “I had no idea she was related. We’ve been trying to book her for entertainment at an Eastern Star meeting. Maybe you can help us.”
“Um… Peg only sings in church. It’s important to her. She sings for Jesus,” Dennis said.
“Do you have a very religious family, Dennis?” Lon asked.
“Not really. Mom and Peg started going to church regularly after Dad died. That’s when she discovered Peg could sing all the hymns. I go—in fact, many of our crew go—to hear her sing on Sunday.”
“Hmm. I’ll tell the program director it’s a no-go,” Ruth said. “Maybe someday that will change. You’ll let me know, won’t you?”
“Sure, ma’am.”
“Your girls certainly made a fine showing at the State Championships,” Lon said. “I came for the last three events on Saturday. That young girl—Jaydyn? My! She is fast.”
“And only a freshman. I hope she just keeps getting better,” Dennis agreed.
“What happened to the boys? They did fine for a first year team in football. Started out strong in basketball. But then it all fell apart and no one made the state qualifiers in track,” Lon said. Dennis glanced at Debbie. She wasn’t rolling her eyes. She bit her lip and shrugged a little.
“I guess word isn’t really out yet. I don’t think anyone wants it spread around,” Dennis said.
“Don’t tell me we’ve had a drug scandal at Bartley,” Ruth said. “Or should I say another?”
“No, ma’am. The uh… guys were kind of blackmailed into losing, I guess you’d say. There’s an open investigation. Another school managed to get several guys to date the younger girls on our teams and sisters of the guys or their girlfriends. The team was told that if they wanted to see their sisters remain happy and carefree that they needed to lose every game and meet. If they didn’t, the so-called boyfriends would make sure the girls all ended up hurt and pregnant—maybe addicted.”
“My God! We need to do something!” Lon exclaimed.
“We did. Or the team did. They all built themselves up in my workout sessions and went out to beat the crap out of the other school’s athletes. Several have been charged with misdemeanor assault. On both teams. I understand that most of the guys who play baseball weren’t involved, so they were able to field a full team for the games yesterday and today. They lost yesterday, but won this afternoon.”
“AgCentral has made a substantial investment in Bartley High School,” Lon said. “We should have been notified the minute something was suspected. I’ll need to go have a talk with Coach Byers.”
“He quit,” Dennis said. “Unless you know who had the means to convince an entire school team to get dates with and hold hostage our younger girls, I don’t think anything you have to say would make a bit of difference. Tom—I mean Sheriff Moran—is heading up the investigation, but he hasn’t been able to turn up any motivation for the action. There’s always been a rivalry between our schools, but nothing on this scale.” Dennis didn’t mention that he’d tried to find a connection between AgCentral and the situation.
“It’s the kind of thing I’d expect between big companies trying to ruin the reputation of another company, but I would never suspect it at a high school level,” Lon said. “It makes us look very bad. We provide a lot of funding and support for athletics at Bartley High School and the boys’ teams fall apart with a scandal. And a fight? I’ll need to get a meeting together tomorrow morning and see if we can identify any potential conflicts.”
The concept of one company trying to ruin another’s reputation hadn’t occurred to Dennis before.
Could a competitor in the agriculture industry have set it all up to ruin AgCentral?
Comments
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