Chapter 29: Operation Prom

Thursday May 5

People were supposed to start arriving today. I’d gotten a text from Ridge, from USC, which said that he and Bill were done with their finals and would be at Bill’s house tonight. John Phillips, from Kentucky, called to say he was driving over today. It looked like we would have a football get-together. Emma Stoned and Maria Dowe were on the same flight with Ridge and Bill.

Ben Cowley and Zak Verwood had been booked on a flight from LA that would get to Chicago around 1:00 tomorrow afternoon. Ryan Barlow was coming from New York, and his flight landed at 1:25. Fritz or Paul would go up in the SUV and pick them up.

I was throwing pitches to Cassidy while Coach Herndon, Coach Haskins and Moose stood back and made smart comments. They tried to say they were analyzing my technique, but comments about Cassidy having a better arm made me wonder.

“Even I could hit that weak stuff,” came a call from the peanut gallery.

I turned around and saw a smiling Ridge Townsend with Bill and Maria. I hugged my two USC friends and then gave Maria a kiss. I didn’t look around for Emma Stoned; I knew she’d gone to my farm to settle in.

“You just get in?” I asked.

“We talked your driver into coming to see you. Tracy called me on the ride down and said we’re all going to dinner tonight. Bill tells me that he has to get some pizza fix,” Ridge said.

“Monical’s,” Cassidy supplied.

“I figured we could do that tonight,” Bill said.

He was as bad as I was about Monical’s.

I got Ridge in the batter’s box and threw him some pitches he could hit. Bill and Maria wanted to have turns, so I grooved them some fastballs at three-quarter speed. Maria surprised us with her skills. She admitted that she played softball at her high school.

I let them have their fun, and then Cassidy told me to get serious. Ridge was a very good all-around athlete and had played baseball in high school. I got him in the box and began throwing him actual pitches. It didn’t help that Bill gave him shit about not being able to touch my stuff. Heck, if I hadn’t picked up a bat for over two years, I wouldn’t have done any better.

Moose was happy and sent me home so I could go out with my California friends.

When I arrived home, there was a pickup truck in our driveway. I went to the kitchen and found John Phillips, my quarterback friend from Kentucky, talking to Peggy and my boys. Duke was making a pest of himself since he thought John should be his new best friend and rub his ears.

“I need to go change and then we’re going out for dinner,” I said.

“Well, hello to you too,” John teased.

“Whatever. Want to hang out here, or go up to my apartment?” I asked.

John and Duke followed me to my place. While I got ready, he looked at my wall of pictures.

“How many All-American teams did you make?” John called out.

I’d noticed that Caryn, or someone else, had put my football awards in a display frame. It also held my picture and State Champion patches for the last two years. I would bet that I’d see one for baseball shortly.

I walked out and John spoke before I could answer him.

“Coach told me about all the awards. I guess I didn’t really put it together to realize what you’ve accomplished,” he said.

“It’s sort of embarrassing at times,” I said.

“I call bullshit. I know how hard you work. You actually motivated me to do my rehab.”

“I heard you won the starting job in spring ball.”

Blowing your Achilles was never good. John had missed the season to rehab. His sister was proud of him and had sent me his press clippings.

John just smiled. We went downstairs, and Fritz was waiting for us.

“How big a deal are you to have your own driver?” John asked on the ride to Monical’s.

“It’s the price of fame. I’ve had a couple of incidents. Fritz is more than just my driver, he’s in charge of my security and has become a friend,” I said.

Fritz rolled his eyes at that, but it was true. Heck, the guy taught me to surf.

“I saw when those guys tried to attack you in LA. That had to be scary. I’m just glad that at Kentucky, basketball is king, and it’s those guys that get swarmed, not me,” John said.

“It’s my turn to call bullshit. Nancy complains all the time about the girls that flirt with you,” I reminded him.

Nancy was John’s girlfriend. I’d invited her on a vacation at Range Ranch, and she was in the middle of the troubles between Devin and me. He’d tried to steal her. She showed the both of us up: she went back to Kentucky and ended up dating John. All I knew was the boy was in trouble. She’d keep him on his toes.

“She knows I would never stray,” John said.

When we arrived at Monical’s, there were a few photographers out. I stopped and introduced them to John. While we were doing that, Ridge and Bill came up and joined us. Having Ridge and John here reminded me that I’d made some good friends attending football camps.

We went in and found their dates were there. I introduced John to Cassidy. Bill already knew Gina, and Ridge had already met Pam. Emma and Maria saw me.

“Your dates aren’t here yet. Jim is picking up Johan. They should be here soon.”

“What’s with the name ‘Johan’?” Emma asked.

“It’s a family name. I think you’ll have a good time with him. He’s one of the nicest guys I know,” I assured her.

I guided everyone back to the banquet room. I didn’t want to get distracted with people in the restaurant. I wanted everyone to get to know each other.

Jim and Johan showed up and were introduced to their dates. What was funny was that Johan treated Emma just like a regular girl, and they got along great. Jim was the nervous one. If anything, I thought it would be the other way around. I’d never seen Johan with a girl before and had assumed he’d be a little unsettled.

Tracy showed up and acted as my date and mother hen to the group. I sat back and had a good time while Tracy made sure everything went smoothly. When she and I worked together, we did make a good team. I made sure the guys didn’t talk too much football. Overall, it was a success.

Friday May 6

When I went to breakfast, Megan pointed at the newspaper. I found a photo of the four of us from last night and another picture of Emma. The article said we were meeting pre-prom to get to know each other. Someone in our group must have let the cat out of the bag. It went on to talk about who else was coming today.

I had a feeling either Frank or Adrienne was the source of the information.

When I was done reading, Megan handed me Coby because he wanted his breakfast. She knew I liked to do this in the morning and, if he wasn’t too fussy and could wait, she made it a point to let me do it. Little David was wide awake, chattering. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought he was a girl.

“I want to thank you again for helping us out during finals. Peggy’s looking like she’s catching up on her sleep.”

“They’re a handful, but I’ve enjoyed taking care of them,” she said, and then smiled. “Did you see the pictures of the boys and Pam?”

Pam had been going a little crazy on Instagram and Facebook. I guess I didn’t have much room to talk. I felt a little guilty when I had to admit that I hadn’t looked in a few days. I pulled my phone out and went to her Instagram first. My eyes got big when I saw the pictures.

Pam and Peggy had taken the boys to Pam’s and they were all in the pool. What about gave me a heart attack was seeing Little David and Coby with their heads sticking out of inner tube-like flotation devices. Coby didn’t look too sure about this, but Little David was older and he looked happy. Pam and I had talked about her desire to teach Coby to swim early. I just hadn’t realized how soon she wanted to start introducing him to water. At this rate, he might be able to swim before he could walk.

Peggy came in the back door with Duke. They’d gone running this morning.

“Slug,” she called me, and then gave me a kiss before she went upstairs.

Duke ignored me and followed her upstairs to get his morning loving from my parents. I just shook my head because he was such a creature of habit. God forbid you messed up his routine.

Fritz dropped me off at school along with Halle, who’d ridden with him today. I never really understood why she was able to drive herself to school and I wasn’t.

Still, every once in a while, she caught a ride with Fritz.

Tracy had waited for me. Before we could say hello, Alan came storming up.

“Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!” he seethed.

“Well, good morning to you too,” I said.

“I didn’t think you’d actually do it. You gave my date away to that big oaf, Johan.”

“You make it sound like I owe you something,” I said, with an edge to my voice.

Tracy reached over and smacked him in the forehead like Tami used to do.

Smack

“Ow!”

“You fuck... !” he managed before Tracy punched him in the nose. Alan wasn’t afraid to hit a girl. Tami had had to be saved a time or two. I was on the fence as to whether Tracy could take him because she was no shrinking violet. Alan’s face went dark as he found his nose was bleeding.

“Run away,” Pam said behind him.

snapsnapsnap

Alan was smart enough to know that sound meant that Pam had her stun gun out. He headed for the school. I ran and caught him at the door. I knew if I didn’t, he’d head straight to the office and tattle.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I asked.

“Fuck you, David. Tracy hit me and you’re not going to protect her.”

I couldn’t help myself ... I laughed at him.

“Fuck you,” he said and jerked his arm out of my grip.

“You dumbass. I’m trying to protect you, not her,” I said.

“I don’t need your protection!”

“Alan, you’re your own worst enemy. Do you know what’ll happen when you go and tell on Tracy?”

“She’ll get suspended.”

“During finals,” I said, and gave him a look. “Do you know what’ll happen when you get a girl suspended for beating you up?”

He stiffened when I said ‘girl.’

“I don’t care,” he retorted.

I wasn’t convinced.

“Everything that’s happened to you has been your own fault. You know my mom, yet you decided to defy her. Even I’m not that stupid,” I said.

“Bullshit,” Alan shot back.

He had me there, but if she had warned me like she did Alan, I would think very hard before doing what he did with the boom box at the baseball game. He knew she’d jerk him out of the stands in front of the whole school without even thinking twice. As a result of his actions, I’d been hit five times in a single game by opposing pitchers. That was a personal best I never wanted to repeat.

Tami was right. Without Jeff here, Alan had no one to tell him he was being an idiot. Jeff had curbed his stupid ideas and kept him from being a dick, most of the time.

“You know what? Do what you want. I’ve had enough of your remarks and bad behavior.”

Inside, I cringed. Did I just say ‘bad behavior’? I sounded like my mom.

“And I’ve had enough of you being Mr. Perfect. No one can live up to your expectations.”

He knew how to push my buttons. I went from mad to a white-hot rage in a flash.

“Is that what you think this is about? If so, it makes not being your friend even easier. We used to be best friends, but I’ve had enough. You’re on your own. I’ve protected you and your smart mouth for the last time. Don’t be surprised if you end up with your head in a toilet by the end of the day. You’ve pissed off a lot more people than just me this year,” I seethed.

I could tell Alan finally understood that he’d gone too far. I pushed the school doors open and stormed past him.

The morning had been about reviews for finals. When it was time for lunch, I went to put my books in my locker. Alan glared at me. I was startled when Yuri seemed to come out of nowhere and pinned Alan to the wall. My first instinct was to stop him, but then I remembered this morning.

“Word is you’re no longer protected. I wanted to let you know that the next time you call me a Russian thug, I’ll kick your ass.”

He let Alan go and walked off. It sounded like people had heard about our dustup this morning and Alan looked a little shaky. That was when Wolf shoved him into the wall.

“Keep your smart comments to yourself,” Wolf warned.

I hadn’t understood what a dick he’d been. It looked like he was being put on notice by a few of the guys he’d mouthed off to. I felt bad that I’d protected him if this was what he’d been up to.

Tracy pointed to the seat next to hers. We hadn’t talked this morning, so I assumed she wanted to update me on ‘Operation Prom,’ as I was now calling it.

“I talked to Caryn. Everyone is on their way. Adrienne and Frank will be here in a little bit,” Tracy announced.

“Why are they going to be here?” I asked.

“To organize the interviews. I have them set up to be done before we go out to dinner,” Tracy said.

“I’m almost afraid to ask. What interviews?”

Tracy just rolled her eyes like I had no clue. What I knew was this was just supposed to be fun. I hadn’t planned a big media event. Actually, I was sick of big media events. I guess for Frank and Adrienne’s sake, it was better that Tracy had taken this and run with it. She was having fun, so I just shut up and let her do her thing. Caryn would step in if Tracy needed help. Sometimes it was better that I didn’t know everything.

“Who’s my date?” I asked, to change the subject.

“Tonight, your date is Tami.”

I then remembered that we were having lunch on Sunday with everyone going to Chicago for the summer.

“And for Prom?” I prodded.

“I don’t know. Adrienne says she has it handled. She said if you got all whiny, to tell you to trust her.”

I growled at Tracy.

Cassidy touched my hand. I practiced my one-raised-eyebrow look.

“Be good. For once just let us handle it.”

The Alpha Male wanted to raise his head. He didn’t like not being in control. At the same time, I’d begun to trust people like Tracy and Wolf to be in charge of things. Uncle John had pointed out that if I didn’t learn to delegate, I could only accomplish so much. Once I learned to do that, the sky was the limit. That didn’t mean I didn’t want to know who my date was.

“Just tell me,” I said, making sure to sound like a whiny teenager.

“Oh, dear God! You’re such a ‘stupid boy’ sometimes. We’re not ruining the surprise,” Tracy groaned.

I just smirked at her. Cassidy found a pressure point in my armpit that almost brought me to tears. That earned her a glare, but she just batted her eyes as if she were an angel. Evil angel would be a better description.

I came home and saw Tami’s car in the driveway. Fritz told me he would pick me back up in an hour, so I went up to my apartment and found Tami studying.

“What’s up, stranger?” I asked.

“Not much. Just studying. When do we have to leave?”

“We have an hour. Do you need to get ready?” I asked.

She stuck her tongue out at me.

“I suppose I don’t look good enough to be your date.”

I wasn’t touching that one.

“I just wanted to know if I should go first since you take forever to get ready.”

That wasn’t true. Tami was too much of a tomboy to take a long time on makeup and hair. She did get up and head to my bedroom.

“I better go first. You might take forever,” she pointed out.

“Looking this good doesn’t just happen. You have to work at it,” I said while making a goofy model pose.

“I’ve missed you,” she said as she came back and gave me a hug.

I’d missed her too.

We went to the Henderson, a landmark hotel, for the interviews. The Henderson had one of the best restaurants in our town; I’d taken Beth there for a Thanksgiving date my freshman year. Frank and Adrienne found me when Tami and I entered the lobby.

“You both look nice,” Adrienne said.

When I’d come out of my shower, I’d seen that Tami planned to wear a dress, so I’d bypassed my jeans idea. Now I was glad I had.

“What’s this about interviews?” I asked.

“This is a PR gold mine,” Frank said a little too excitedly.

“Better than stealing the Millennium Falcon?” I asked.

“No, not even close,” Frank admitted.

At least he didn’t try to lie to me.

“David, this gives your friends in the business a boost of exposure. With you, Halle, Zak and Emma here, it helps promote your movie coming out. I was able to get a number of clients to donate dresses, so there is that angle,” Adrienne added to Frank’s excitement.

“So, this is good for you?” I teased.

“Of course it is.”

“Who’s my date?” I asked, to change the topic.

“There was a problem with that...” Adrienne sputtered.

I turned to Tami.

“Want to go to Prom with me?” I asked.

“David, I don’t even have a dress,” Tami complained.

“You didn’t let me finish,” Adrienne said. “I’ll have someone here tomorrow. I just have to confirm they finished their shoot early.”

I wasn’t reassured in the least.

“We can leave early and hit the mall,” I suggested to Tami.

“Like they’re going to have anything left,” Tami complained. “Let Adrienne find you a date.”

That whole ‘not in control’ issue was starting to come to the forefront. Tami read me like a book.

“If she doesn’t find you a date, I’ll go. I have a dress at home that would work,” she said.

“I don’t want you to feel like you’re a backup plan or something,” I said, worried how this looked.

They all laughed at me. It was too late to pull that one off. I just gave up and followed Frank.

I was surprised when Frank pulled me into a small conference room. He shut the door and motioned for me to sit down in one of the chairs, then sat down next to me.

“I have an update for you on our contingency planning for Operation CP,” he said.

I gave him a look.

“‘Counterpunch,’” he said. “We figured it was better than ‘Operation Feminazi.’”

I snorted in amusement.

“We’ve put together several short video clips. Each clip shows the actual questions and answers relating to the four areas we expect them to attack you on: the feminist movement, rape, abuse, and sports. As soon as we know which issues they’re reporting on, the appropriate clips will be immediately emailed to the news outlet, along with some additional material.

“Included in that additional material will be a summary of the videographer’s activities and criminal history, including mug shots. Next will be a video of the comments they made while they were loading up their car to leave. That video makes it crystal clear they plan to heavily edit their footage to make you look as bad as possible.

“The next item in the package will be the stick. Ms. Dixon used their firm’s document drafting system to generate a letter that can be tailored to the particular issues raised by the media with a few simple keystrokes. Once the name and address of the media contact are put in, it takes less than a second for the document to exist, and it can be printed out or attached to an email immediately.

“You’ll like this. The letters say, in polite lawyer-ese: ‘You now have the true facts and know that what the two women created is a lie. If you publish or present their information as though it is true, we will be happy to own a large piece of your outlet,’” Frank said, warming to his task.

He seemed to be in his element; he lived for situations like these. I think he liked the slick system Ms. Dixon’s firm had for creating letters.

“Your lawyers and I have put together a summary document outlining what happened from our perspective and directing anyone who reads it to your website and other social media like Instagram, where we will have all the footage, including the raw footage. That summary will include information that the police have opened an investigation into the two women’s actions, that they bagged the raw footage immediately after the interview was concluded, and that the copy of the raw footage we’re putting on your website was made under police supervision and oversight and using police equipment.

“Once we have the clips the two women are using, we’ll have a team ready to put together tailored responses to what they put out on each issue. It should only take an hour, two at most, to have those available to the media and on your website as well,” Frank explained.

Frank leaned back and took a deep breath. It sounded like they’d been busy.

“Now, as to how we plan to handle the media beyond that. First, we’re going to characterize this as the malicious actions of independent wannabe television journalists who are trying to destroy a teenager in order to further their own personal agendas. We’ll also point out that one of the women picked you for a personal vendetta. This gives the news outlets a chance to make a distinction between independent wannabes and the mainstream media, and that that will reduce any inclination the outlets may have to protect those two women.

“The problem here is the media tends to circle the wagons to protect their own. You were pretty young, so you might not remember what they did to the Oklahoma State coach, Mike Gundy, after his ‘I’m a man’ speech in support of one of his players that a reporter had badmouthed. The press didn’t take the reporter to task for taking comments from an eighteen-year-old athlete out of context. They went after the coach when he stood up to her and told everyone that he was a forty-year-old man, and if they wanted to come after someone, they should come after him. We have to be careful, or they’ll protect these women out of principle. What we’re doing here is showing them a way to distance themselves by saying, ‘it’s not us, it’s them, and we don’t need to protect them.’ Then hopefully the mainstream outlets will throw the two women under the bus,” Frank explained.

The last thing we needed to do was go to war with the press. Without creating some allies, this could go south on us.

“Now, we also talked about offering a carrot. If they report fairly, and especially if they include a link to your website in their reporting so the address is readily available to their viewership, we’ll give them more information down the road. For example, if CBS reports it fairly, we’ll cooperate if they want to do a 60 Minutes report on malicious reporting,” Frank continued.

“Do you think that’ll really work?” I asked.

“Not everything will go according to plan; it never does. You should expect some station will have a sensation-monger who’ll try to capitalize on this and go after you with the ginned-up videos. Ms. Dixon has already drafted a boilerplate defamation lawsuit, though, and will be able to file on Monday anywhere we need to. That’s to send a message, more than anything else,” he said.

I had an errant thought: ‘That which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.’ I hoped it wouldn’t be quite like that.

Frank had finally run down, but then he smiled.

“I want you to know that your mom’s been intimately involved in this. I think she’s better than any field general who ever ran an army.”