Junior Year Box Set

“I need your help,” I started when they let me in. “One of my friends from Wesleyan went to a fraternity party and is missing. They think she’s been taken to a room by one of the fraternity members and they can’t get upstairs to look.”

We ran downstairs and to the parking garage. Coach Hope opened the trunk of his car and pulled out two metal batons which were about two feet long with leather grips. He handed one to Cassidy.

“Don’t I get one?” I asked.

“No. You can really hurt someone without proper training. Cassidy will only use the appropriate amount of force,” Coach Hope explained.

Cassidy reached into their bag, pulled out some industrial-strength-looking zip-ties, and handed them to me.

“In case we have to tie them up,” she said, as if this was something she and her dad did all the time.

I decided to just put them in my pocket. I would have to reevaluate little Cassidy some other time.

We got into the car and drove to the fraternity house. It looked like a run-down version of the frat in Animal House. Waiting for us out front were the Wesleyan girls and all my teammates. When I got out of the car, Lisa ran up to me.

“They have Missy! You have to help me get her back,” she said, worried for her twin.

“The three of us are going in. You stay here, is that understood?” Coach told the guys. “If the situation gets out of hand, call the police.”

I followed Cassidy and her dad into the house. There was a serious party going on. Everyone seemed like they were having a good time. We saw the stairs across the party.

“Make a hole!” Coach barked.

When a Marine, even one that’s retired, tells you to move, you move, no matter how drunk you are. There are just some things that you don’t mess with. When we got to the foot of the stairs, one of the fraternity brothers stepped in front of Coach Hope.

“Fraternity members only allowed upstairs,” he said.

I thought Cassidy was dangerous. It happened so fast I wasn’t sure what I witnessed. All of a sudden the kid was on his knees with his arms behind him. Coach Hope looked at me, and I pulled out a zip-tie and tied it around his wrists. I got down in his face so he could hear me as I pulled out my iPhone and found a picture of Missy.

“Do you know where this girl is?” I asked.

“Screw you! You don’t know who you’re messing with,” he blustered.

Cassidy made one of her martial-arts moves where she finds a pressure point. Believe me, it hurts. After he had stopped twitching, the frat brother looked more cooperative.

“I can let her loose, with him backing her up. They’ll go door-to-door and cause mayhem. I’m sure you’ll be really popular when we tell them you could have stopped it. Now, where is she?” I asked.

“Last door on the left,” he said. As Cassidy and Coach Hope shot up the stairs, he added, “This isn’t over!”

I just shook my head and turned to see Lisa and Tami run up the stairs. Shit! Technically, Coach Hope didn’t tell them they couldn’t come with us, but now I had to worry about protecting them too.

By the time I caught up, it was all over. Missy was either very drunk or drugged. I was glad that Tami was there to check her over. Missy had lost only her shirt, so no permanent damage had been done. One frat boy was face down on the floor and not moving. At first, I thought they’d hurt him, but then I recognized the armbar Cassidy sometimes put on me. I brought out another zip-tie, and Cassidy secured him.

Lisa and Tami helped dress Missy, who was now crying.

“He wouldn’t stop!” she told us.

I took one look at Coach Hope and stepped between him and the guy on the floor.

“Don’t. Cassidy or I could get away with it because we’re minors. You’d be in a world of hurt if you did something stupid,” I said.

His lips got tight. I expect I would react the same way if I had a teenage daughter. Hell, if they left me alone with him, I would have seriously hurt him. He had gone after one of my girls. Deep down, the main reason I hadn’t gone out tonight was I couldn’t stand the thought of watching them get drunk and then hit on by college guys. I would have ended up in a fight. Instead, I ‘enjoyed’ an evening with everyone’s parents.

It was no surprise when the police showed up. I let Coach Hope handle it. For once I was in no mood to deal with the police. Lisa and Tami went to the hospital with Missy to get her checked out. I had to give the police a brief statement and then slipped out when they were busy talking to some other people. I needed to get some sleep before tomorrow’s workouts.

As I lay in my bed contemplating what had happened, I vowed that there would not be a repeat of this weekend. Tami and her friends could arrange their own trips!

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Chapter 11 – The Worst Day Since Yesterday Sunday September 13

After our workouts, Wolf, Jim, and I were offered scholarships. For Ty and Tim, they wanted to see what they did this year. I could see myself playing college ball for Michigan State.