Chapter 6: The House Fire

A very nasty surprise was waiting for the coach and her student when they pulled up the street leading to the Rogers’ address. It turned out Eveline no longer had a home. The house was burnt to the ground and there were police barricades placed around the periphery of the property.

Well, at least Eveline now knew why the sirens were going non-stop the previous night...

Coach Strickland didn’t say anything. She was glad her student wasn’t at home to be involved in the disaster, but she figured that Eveline would have to decide for herself what she wanted to do, and more importantly, where she wanted to go.

Two unpleasant-looking cops approached to chase the women off the property. The first thing they asked was why Eveline was naked, to which the coach responded with the truth. Eveline and Coach Strickland found out that the house was not just destroyed by a simple fire, but that a suspected meth lab had exploded and set off a propane tank and some nearby gas canisters. It was a very ugly event, one that caused panic among the intoxicated party-goers and sent 38 people to the hospital with multiple fractures and severe burns. Eveline’s brother was also in the hospital, but was under arrest, along with his girlfriend and various other members of his gang.

When the cops realized Eveline was the main culprit’s sister, they started questioning her. When she admitted she knew about the meth lab, their questions became more aggressive and totally terrified her. Coach Strickland intervened:

“Excuse me, Officer, is my student being charged with any crime?”

“Not yet, ma’am. Right now we just want to talk to her.”

“Not yet. I see. Very well, Officer. Before she says anything more, I’m gonna have to insist she have a lawyer present.”

“She’s not under arrest, so no need for a lawyer ma’am.”

“ ... and I’d like to keep it that way, her not being under arrest. So I’m afraid there is a need for a lawyer. Fifth amendment, you know.”

“You need to stop it, ma’am. Now. You’re impeding an investigation.”

“No, I am not, Officer. I’m not impeding anything. You can ask her whatever you want, after I call my attorney.”

The police and the teacher exchanged some additional unpleasantness and veiled threats, but it was obvious Coach Strickland was not going to budge on her insistence that Eveline not say anything more without her lawyer being present. The cops didn’t have any grounds to arrest Eveline, and with Strickland present, they couldn’t intimidate her. Finally they jotted down some information in a notepad and dismissed the two women.

Eveline was shaking as the cops walked off. To get her to move, Coach Strickland suggested they step inside the wrecked house to see if anything remained of her belongings. They found nothing. Eveline was totally destitute.

“I ... what am I gonna do, ma’am?”

The coach put her hands on the student’s shoulders.

“Do you know anyone you can stay with?”

“Not really.”

“Well then, at this point you have two choices. I can drop you off at a homeless shelter, or we can go back to my place.”

“I ... I mean ... you wouldn’t mind ... Coach ... after... ?

“Well, if you stay with me, there will be a rule. Just one rule, but it’s an important one. If I tell you to do something, you will do it the first time I tell you. No questions or arguing. If I have to repeat something, you’re going over my lap.”

Eveline opened her mouth to speak, but Coach Strickland cut her off.

“Stop right there. Maybe you’re already eighteen, but to me that doesn’t mean anything. What matters to me is that you haven’t completed the eleventh grade yet, even though at your age, you should have already graduated. So, you flunked last year and got held back, didn’t you?”

“I ... yeah ... I did.”

“ ... and you obviously can’t handle yourself in life. An example is what just happened with those two cops. If you had paid any attention in civics class, you would’ve known you didn’t have to talk to those guys. I shouldn’t have had step in to save your ass. But ... you didn’t know any better, did you?”

“I guess not.”

“Yeah, I guess not. So you understand my house rule, young lady?”

“Yes, ma’am. I do what you say, the first time.”

“And if you don’t?”

“I ... I mean ... you’ll put me over your lap.”

“Good. And another thing. Stop putting your hands in front of you all the time. That irritates me. You have a lovely body and you shouldn’t mind showing off. You’ll be old and nasty-looking soon enough, and no one will want to look at you. So keep your hands at your sides.”

Reluctantly Eveline did as she was told and uncovered herself.

“Alright, nothing more to do around here. Let’s head back.”

Coach Strickland wanted to go back to the house and finish up with the yard, but she remembered that she had not yet done her shopping for the following week. Her favorite market specialized in natural foods and organic fruits and was located in a downtown area. Fortunately it was on the way back to her house, but unfortunately all the nearby parking was full, given that it was mid-day Saturday and the busiest time for shopping. She had to park in a public garage several blocks from the store.

Eveline reluctantly got out of the car. The coach handed her two empty baskets (the store did not give out bags). The student took a deep breath. Surely the coach didn’t think she was going to walk several blocks in a downtown area and go shopping completely naked.

Noting Eveline’s reluctance to move, the coach gave her a sharp slap on the bottom.

“Come on, young lady. We have a lot to do today and I want the shopping taken care of before we head back.”

Eveline took a deep breath as she followed her coach onto the open street. There were hundreds of people wandering about, and it seemed they all wanted to stare at her. Fortunately there were only a few whistles and honks, but it was obvious that most of the passers-by were enjoying the view. It took all of Eveline’s willpower to avoid dropping the baskets and covering herself.

She had no problem entering the store. The only clothing restriction was that customers had to wear shoes, which was the one item Eveline had on. They spent well over an hour in the market. The coach was very picky about what items she wanted to buy as she carefully examined each and every piece of food. Eveline noted that a lot of other customers, especially men, also spent an inordinate amount of time in the produce section, carefully considering what they wanted to purchase. When they finally went through the checkout line, Coach Strickland commented:

“Since I’m buying food for both of us, the least you can do is carry it.”

So ... the women walked several blocks with Eveline loaded down with two very heavy baskets. The baskets were the least of Eveline’s worries, however. By the time they got back to the car, several thousand lucky pedestrians and drivers had seen her uncovered body.