Junior Year Box Set

During my run in the morning, I told Rachel that she might not want to run with me while this was going on because I’d been warned that the press might start to show up and make her uncomfortable. I told her that she should talk to her parents and get their permission, if she decided to continue. In fact, my mom insisted on it. I had to agree that Rachel was too young to have to face the scrutiny it would bring. She was a day away from running in her first sectional, and she didn’t need the added pressure.

When I got to school, there was a TV truck there, and several reporters waiting on the sidewalk at the front of the school. Both Frank and Ms. Dixon had instructed me to just walk past them without comment. I wasn’t happy when they bunched up to try to prevent my entry into the school. I continued to walk towards the school, and someone shoved a camera in my face and almost hit me. They were all shouting rapid-fire questions when a young woman stepped in front of me.

“Are you David Dawson?” she asked.

I stopped because it was a strange question. I nodded.

“May I see some ID?”

The woman was holding a manila envelope. I took a deep breath, pulled out my wallet, and showed her my driver’s license.

“Mr. Dawson, you’ve been served,” she said, handing me the envelope.

I was almost to the doors when I saw Billy and a young man in a suit waiting at the front door.

“Officer, do your duty.”

Billy had a pained expression on his face.

“David, you were just served an Order of Protection, or restraining order. It orders you to stay at least 100 yards or 300 feet away from Pam Bell, her home, job, school, and car. I’m sorry, but you’re not allowed to be at school while this in place. At this time, I must ask you to leave school grounds,” Billy said.

“And you are?” I asked the smirking suit.

“Thomas Fox. I represent Pam Bell.”

I looked at him more closely. My first impression of him was that he was utterly forgettable. You would never pick him out of a lineup. Mr. Fox was short, maybe five-eight, and if he were a girl, you’d say petite. I expected that he relished taking down a jock. I never imagined a lawyer showing up to make sure a restraining order was enforced. This seemed too personal unless Cal was really that angry and wanted to rattle me.

“I don’t think this will work out quite how you want it to,” I said as I walked away.

I could envision what would happen when the town found out that I wasn’t allowed to attend classes or play football. It might really get ugly if we lost in the state playoffs because a cheerleader’s dad and lawyer prevented the star quarterback from playing on a trumped-up charge.

Up to this point, I had been calm about what was happening. My mom wasn’t the only one who had a temper; I just customarily controlled it better. I’d blamed this all on Cal, but at some point, Pam had to take some responsibility. I sent her a one-word text.

‘Why?’

◊◊◊

I drove to Rigby, Thompson and Associates because they had arranged with Ms. Dixon’s firm, Dixon and Dixon, to rent them space while she was in town. When I arrived, she and Frank Ingram, my PR agent, were talking over a cup of coffee.

“Good morning,” I said.

“I thought you were in school this morning,” Ms. Dixon said.

I handed her the envelope, and she read it. Then she passed it to Frank to read.

“Well, that’s a bit of dirty pool. It claims that your friend fears for her safety. We’ll need to get into court and get this revoked. I’ll make some calls and learn some information about the judge that granted it. It appears he simply rubber-stamped the Order of Protection. Based on what they filed, I think they realize their rape charge won’t stand up,” Ms. Dixon said.

“Why’s that?” Frank asked.

“There’s a different order for sexual assault called a ‘sexual assault civil no contact’ order. It would have been harder to get past the judge because it’s a more serious matter. They would have had to give him more information. With what they did, he probably decided to be cautious and grant it. I would doubt they would fight me to get it removed. If they did, they would have to reveal information they plan to use in their civil suit,” Ms. Dixon said.

“Civil suit? Who said anything about a civil suit?” I asked.

“Why else would they be doing this? Yes, it will give them some satisfaction to tarnish your good name, but ultimately they’ll be looking for a payoff. The only way to do that is to get you to either voluntarily write them a check, or to sue you.”

“And how would they ever get me to write them a check?” I asked.

“What would you pay right now to make this to go away?” Frank asked.

“I see your point. I would have worked with Pam, until this morning. Being served, and then having the police waiting for me with a pack of reporters dogging me, was a complete setup.”

“They were trying to embarrass you and make you more willing to bow to their demands. I’ll start making some calls, and we’ll get the order removed so you can get back into class tomorrow,” Ms. Dixon said.