Chapter 20: Aftermath

At camp on Wednesday, Drew was seeing a fair amount of improvement in her advanced campers, even though a number of them had been grumbling about the number of times that she insisted the moves had to be repeated, over and over.

“Listen up.” she told them at one point. “You need to develop the muscle memory for those moves, so your body can do them automatically, no thought involved. Your body needs to react to a defender’s moves, ‘cause if you have to think about what to do, you’ve already lost the ball. You’ve gotta get to the point where your feet know exactly where that ball is without your having to see it with your eyes. Is that clear? That’s why all the reps. Okay, here’s the next drill. Fifteen minutes and then it’s time for our wind sprints.”

They all groaned as Drew smiled inwardly. These guys are shaping up nicely, she thought, as she showed them the next drill.

When Friday morning came, Drew and Connor were glad for the break. They had had an intensive week, not to mention Tuesday’s excitement. Both Drew and Connor had ramped up the intensity of their camper training, and since they worked right alongside of the kids, they were getting the benefit of the intense activity too. But their bodies needed rest now, so when the Ritters had suggested that they pay a visit to Pine View, the two teens agreed. To Jennifer’s total delight and glee.

The two of them felt that they weren’t ready yet, as Connor put it, to “shed threads,” but Drew told Jennifer that she felt that she needed more “exposure therapy” time to get her to the point where she could do her own “personal exposure,” as she put it.

They spent the day in various activities and then, when the entire family returned to their cabin just before 5 p.m. to get ready for dinner, Frantz checked his phone for messages.

“Hey, kids,” he called. “Text from Jay. A lot of activity happened today, fallout from Tuesday’s affair. Jay said to call his cell anytime when we get this message.”

It was Friday afternoon at the OSA offices. Gerberin was surprised when two state police officers entered his office and one announced that he was under arrest for being an accomplice to an attempted kidnapping and began to recite the Miranda warning, when an attorney from the OSA legal branch ran in.

“What are you doing, officers? The director wasn’t involved in anything like a kidnapping!”

One of the troopers responded, “Sir, we have a warrant issued by the Glen Burnie District Court at the request of the district attorney of Anne Arundel County, who provided sufficient evidence to the court that this detainee was involved in a felony. Now please don’t interfere; I’m sure you know what will happen if you do.”

They led Gerberin out to transport him to the Glen Burnie courthouse for arraignment.

When the Ritters called Jay back, he told them of the arrest warrant and that the OSA official had been arraigned and released under his own recognizance at the request of the prosecuting attorney, who requested that bail be waived, despite the nature of the charge.

“It’s likely that Gerberin wouldn’t get convicted in a jury trial,” Jay told them. “Because even though he ordered the contact with Drew and Connor, he didn’t order that they be detained. And even though he told that local agent to lie to the police, he didn’t lie to them. Here’s how things developed. First, the county DA certainly recalls very clearly what happened at Pine View last year involving employees from the same enforcer organization; she’s been involved in the attempted kidnapping prosecution of those four individuals, and when I told her of this current incident, she was livid.

“The police had impounded that SUV, and after a search warrant was obtained, the police and an assistant DA found a directive, from Gerberin, giving those agents instructions to, quote, contact and question, unquote, and names Connor and Drew with their address, about their activities and all contacts they have had since their arrival in Maryland...”

The listeners were outraged and expressed that.

“Sure, it is outrageous. They have no legal right to do that and that’s why Gerberin was arrested and charged. But he didn’t order that the teens be detained, just contacted. The decision to detain was the agents’ idea and they’re being charged, based on that video Connor sent—by the way, the DA needs the physical device, Connor—I told you not to use it after you sent that video to me and you didn’t, right?”

“Nope. It’s back in its packaging box.”

“Good. I’ll tell you where to bring it, and the Taser too. The DA has gotten warrants for those enforcers for attempted kidnapping. And endangering, given that stupid driving move cutting you off. She’s also been consulting with various legal people and someone on the state court of appeals staff—that’s the top court in Maryland—about getting a restraining order or injunction against any Program enforcer activity in the entire state. She’s totally fed up with these dangerous activities—including using Tasers against teenagers, come on, is that not detestable? Anyway, that’s the summary of today’s events.”

“Thanks, Jay. Is there anything we need to do—and are we in any trouble for injuring those jerks?” Connor asked.

“You might need to appear at their trial, but perhaps a deposition will be the only necessary step. And their injuries were sustained while committing a criminal act; you were legally defending yourselves. Not to frighten you, but it’s possible that one or both may try to bring a civil suit for their injuries, but if that happens, it could get dismissed easily. Oh, tell me—everyone is completely mystified about how they were injured. The perps claim that you moved so fast that they never saw who hit them. And Connor, you took a Taser shot with no effect.”

Connor chuckled, “That was all Drew. She has an amazing athleticism which includes throwing lacrosse balls really fast and hitting tiny targets with great accuracy. ‘Nuf said?”

Jay laughed and answered, “Enough. And the Taser?”

“Well, either the device didn’t work so well or my riding leathers and thick sweatshirt under it stopped most of its effect. I did get a jolt, like a punch in the chest, but otherwise it didn’t affect me.”

“Ah. Okay. Listen, to keep it simple, if you’re asked, just say that you reacted to being Tasered by punching them out and with the jolt you got, you don’t recall much. That will stop any further questions, like about the use of a thrown weapon.”

“Got it; many thanks, Jay.”

The others gave their thanks too and they disconnected. Frantz turned to Drew.

“First stones and now lacrosse balls?” he chuckled.

Drew blushed. “I never wanna be defenseless, you know? Besides, when I’m with Connor, we can play defense zones. I can stay back and handle the artillery and he can be the close-in shock troops.”

The others laughed at hearing that.

Later, Jennifer was talking about the incident. “Hey, remember that I told you that if you keep doing things against Program officials, you’d catch up to Emma’s record? I’d say you’re closing in on it now, wouldn’t you?”

Drew snorted, “Please. She can keep it, for all I care. Just let those cretins stay away and I’ll be happy to let them be.”

“How’d you get so good at throwing stuff, anyway?” Jennifer asked.

“Just stones and balls. Haven’t tried larger things, like kitchen sinks or automobiles. Hey, I’m not Supergirl, y’know. How to get good? Easy. It’s all just practicing till you’re competent. So what’s up for tomorrow?”

Jennifer picked up the resort’s events flyer. “Usual weekend activities, like water volleyball from 10:30 to noon and the other sports like tennis and pickleball are popular. There’s a DJ playing music on the pool deck. Then there’s a potluck dinner and a live band concert with dancing in the evening. The bands they bring in are dope. I remember this one; they played here last year.”

“Sounds nice, a quiet day. I think I’ll look for kids coming for the Glen Burnie discount; see if any are first-timers,” Drew said.

Then Connor came in with Timmy.

“Hey, sweetie, where were you guys?” Drew asked.

“I found out that they have a little gym here,” Connor answered. “One of those combo functional trainers that has a bench press and squat rack. Set of dumbbells, elliptical trainer, treadmill, and stair-stepper. Timmy asked about how I got ripped, so I showed him the exercise routines that I began with, and he promised that he’d keep it up. Right, Timmy?”

“Oh sure. I want to look like you, Connor. I see all the girls looking at you all the time.”

Connor chuckled at that. “So you wanna be a chick magnet? That’s fine. Looks help, for sure. But way better is to be a good person, respect everyone, be polite. When you talk to girls, let them clue you into what they think is important. Don’t spill the tea about them and don’t try to impress them either; makes you look like a jerk. And building muscles takes dedication and patience, so you need to stick with it. Got that?”

“Yeah, Connor, thanks!”

He ran off somewhere.

The following morning, after breakfast, Drew decided to camp out on the pool deck and watch for any newcomers. As she thought, I figure that any kid—kids—who look shy or uncomfortable are probably noobs. But first, Drew wanted to take a further step in her personal “exposure therapy” plan. After a quick stop at the cabin, she returned to the pool. Connor had found several kids who were members of the school’s swimming team, so he was off somewhere picking their brains about the swimming rules and what happens at the team tryout.

Jennifer had been off with Sam and Abi; Sam had found a willing person to be a sounding board for ideas Sam had gotten for some of her blog posts.

Then a small group of teens arrived with two sets of parents and they all looked uneasy as they came into the pool area. The girls were wearing swimsuits and the boys and adults were dressed in shorts and tops. The kids all looked young.

Drew, thinking as she walked over to them, I’m gonna be such a hypocrite; look at me, talking about nudism, and came up to them.

“Hey there, you all here for the Glen Burnie High special?” she asked.

The group looked over at her and a woman replied, “We are; our kids and their friends are starting in the high school in the fall and they—and we parents—are very concerned about the Program and the bad stories we’ve heard about it.”

Drew smiled. “Well, that’s what the special day rate is for. I’m Drew, and a rep for the Project to Oppose the Program. Hey kids, gather ‘round,” she called in her “coach” voice and the kids immediately obeyed.

One of the men laughed and asked Drew, “That was good—can you teach that?”

“Sure. Just start coaching kids in a team sport and learning the command voice comes easy,” she told him, grinning. “Okay, future high-schoolers, listen up. You’re here ‘cause you want to avoid the nastiness that you heard about in the Program and believe me, I’ve seen the Program running and there certainly is nastiness. There are eight of you here. We figure that two or three of you will get picked to be naked this coming school year. About thirty percent of the freshmen class will be picked this year, we calculated.

“Do you all know what we’re gonna do with the Project? To overwhelm the school with non-Program nude kids?”

They all reluctantly agreed that they knew.

“So how do you feel about doing that?” Drew asked.

“Scared,” one girl ventured.

“Uncomfortable,” a boy declared.

Drew chuckled, “And that’s because boys won’t ever admit to being scared, right?”

The people in the group laughed and the boy shrugged.

“Okay, if you saw the little flyers we’ve been using for recruiting ... have you?”

They all nodded.

“That’s great. Here’s the scoop. Those flyers say that if we get a large bunch of kids—we hope it’s a majority of the school—in the Project, then we overwhelm everything that the Program coordinator can try. The nasty posing and groping are gone, the class demos are gone, attacks in the showers and locker rooms—all stop. But if many kids don’t join in or back out of helping the cause, then the Program will make every one of you experience just how bad it can be. Now, there are parts, I’m told, that aren’t bad, but in general, if someone can get raped in the Program, and rapes are indeed happening, believe me, then the whole thing is bad.

“So now you guys are here and you’re nervous. Hey, it’s totally normal to have some anxiety about being nude in mixed company for the first time. Stripping and being around people you don’t know can be a scary experience, but consider what you’ll feel like when you’re forced to strip in school and have to face all the clothed kids and have them groping you. Your experience today will help stop that from happening. If there are more nude kids in school than clothed ones, you’ll be just like the majority; nobody’ll even notice you.

“Okay, but you’re thinking, ‘I’m here right now and can I actually do it and get nude?’ I think that the biggest concerns for noobs come from two issues, first, how most people were raised—you’re not supposed to let others see you naked, and second, your personal body image. Hey, both of those can be tough to overcome; I know that for sure. For the first one, you just need to tell yourself, convince yourself, that you can do it so that you can survive being in school for the Program. Because all your friends will be helping you and you’re helping them.

“Dealing with the second issue, body image, can be helped in a huge way when you’re here at the resort and you see that other people around you will accept you for who you are—not what you look like. Nobody will stare at you, humiliate you, or belittle you here. When you see that, you’ll soon see that any self-consciousness you may have will go away. And having that feeling and the knowledge of a strong self-image will empower you when you’re in school too—you’re in charge! You’re the boss, and nobody will be able to humiliate you ‘cause you know that you’re in charge.

“You should try to get nude soon and enjoy the pool—see, there’s a bunch of teens arriving now, so just join them and get acquainted. They’ll accept you right away, no cap. And all my nudist friends rave about how awesome it is to swim and lay out while nude. And they say that feeling the breezes on your bare skin is so soothing too. Now’s when your resistance to that naked Program starts. And you’ll all make it work, joining all of the other naked kids in school. Instead of being humiliated by being naked all alone, everyone around you’ll be naked—just like here at the resort—so no one will stand out and stand alone. And let your other ninth-grade friends know that they should join the Project like you guys are doing here.

“Okay, I’ll be around the resort today; if you have any questions, I can try to answer them, or we have other upperclassmen around here today who are also organizers who can answer what I don’t know. So have fun and enjoy the resort!”

Drew waved at the vacant loungers and the pool, then waved at the group, and returned to her own chair. The kids in the group looked at each other uncertainly and then began undressing slowly and in a few minutes, several nude kids began heading for the pool—but a couple of nearby adults stopped them and pointed to the showers at the side of the bathhouse. Soon, all the kids were showering there and then they trooped over to the pool to join the others there.