Junior Year Box Set

“So, are you saying that what you said in court isn’t true?” Mr. Fox asked.

Ms. Dixon just ignored the cheap shot.

“I’d be surprised if Mr. Fox is authorized to negotiate anything without the Bells present. I would like to schedule a meeting tomorrow under the following conditions. David would like to get this resolved. He is willing to work with you to do so. Miss Bell must be present, and he needs to be able to confirm her wishes are being met. If the child is proven to be his, David will provide reasonable support. He may even provide support before testing is done, under certain circumstances. However, he will only do so if he is allowed either joint or superior custody. The last part is not negotiable,” Ms. Dixon said.

“First of all, we couldn’t possibly meet tomorrow without knowing and verifying all of David’s earnings and assets. I also need to check my schedule to see when we might possibly do this. I would suspect a week from Monday might be doable,” Mr. Fox said as he checked his calendar. “How does one o’clock work?”

“We will do it at one o’clock tomorrow, or we’ll just wait until the baby’s born, and you can try and pin it on David then,” Ms. Dixon said.

Every head in the room snapped around at that. Ms. Dixon had warned us she might do something like this, so Mom and I just sat there coolly as we stared at Mr. Fox. He looked at Mr. Rigby and Mr. Thompson for help.

“I think we can get Cal and Pam here to move this along. We would hate to see this drag out,” Mr. Rigby said.

“Yes, one o’clock tomorrow works,” Mr. Fox said.

When we left the room, I was seething. My opinion of Don Rigby and Roy Thompson had just taken a major hit. All they cared about was covering their butts.

◊◊◊

When I finally walked back into Lincoln High, I got a message to go see Coach Hope before going to class. I found him in his office.

“Hey, Coach, you wanted to see me?” I asked.

“Shut the door and sit down,” he said.

I did as directed and waited for him to tell me what was on his mind.

“Two points to discuss: the first is, don’t ever get into a mess like this week again. I think there must have been fifty calls a day from recruiters worried you’d suddenly started to hit women. When it was suggested that you hit Cassidy, I did have a good laugh,” he said, and then got serious. “If it had been true, you would have been in a world of hurt. I made certain to assure everyone it would work its way out, and you would be found to be the nice guy I know you are.”

“Thanks, Coach.”

“The second is I have to bench you for tonight’s game. No practice, no play.”

I sat there and the week finally got to me. This had to be a cruel joke. If it hadn’t been for the thought of being able to play tonight, the frustration would have gotten to me. I needed an outlet. I needed to be able to hit someone and not be thrown into jail.

“To hell with it, I quit,” I said and got up to leave.

“What did you just say?” Coach asked.

“I said I quit. I didn’t bring any of this shit onto myself. I followed the rules and did what I was told. What do I get? I’m punished. It would be one thing if I didn’t know the plays or hadn’t put the time in. I’ve done everything I can to help this team. ‘No practice, no play.’ That’s just asinine. It’s as stupid as the ‘no tolerance for fighting’ rule. I could walk down the hall, someone punches me, and I’m thrown out of school. No practice, no play. Explain that one to the team tonight,” I said.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Coach asked as I started toward the door.

“I might as well skip school and go get drunk. What difference does it make? The punishment’s the same.”

Of course, I didn’t leave school to get drunk. I did have a mom who would track me down.

I did see Pam towards the end of the day. She was in the hall, talking to Tracy. I walked straight up to her as everyone suddenly got quiet. Tracy saw the expression on my face and stepped in front of me.

“David, don’t do something stupid,” she said.

As much as I wanted to say what was on my mind, it would only hurt me in the end. I spun around and walked the other direction. When I got halfway down the hall, everyone started talking at once. Usually, when I get mad, I blow up and then it’s over.

At the end of school, I was at my locker, getting ready to go home. I’d given my word to Brook that I would take her to the dance. Then there was Mona’s party. I honestly wanted to bail on both of them but knew I wouldn’t. That’s when Cassidy Hope found me.

“My dad wants to talk to you,” Cassidy said.

“Well, I don’t want to talk to him.”

“I didn’t want to have to do this,” she said, then she took me to my knees.

Dang, that hurt. Cassidy might have just told me she’d kick my butt if I didn’t talk to her dad, instead of doing it.

“You ready to talk?” she asked and giggled.

“I think I can take you,” I challenged.

“Daddy said I couldn’t hurt you,” Cassidy said.

“What do you call this?” I complained.

“You’re not hurt, you’re just feeling sorry for yourself. Now if I did this …” she started.