Chapter 15

After the great win, I got an even better surprise. “Well, hero. For your reward, you get to take your two damsels to the movies tonight,” grinned Jen, as she laid a kiss on my cheek.

I looked at Janie and she nodded shyly and I kissed her on the cheek.

“Eww ... Sweaty,” she giggled and I laughed. Seeing Janie so happy did my heart good.

“We figured that you were at least owed a date with Janie, so I asked my folks and they asked yours and they agreed,” smiled Jen.

“You know, I’m not owed anything by either of you, right?”

Jen rolled her eyes and Janie shook her head. “Of course we don’t owe you anything except the love you’ve given us. You are the perfect boy. Tommy. You understand what I need perfectly. We’re going on this date with you because we want to,” smiled Janie.

I sighed. “I know, I just can’t believe how lucky I am. Two weeks ago, I was nothing. Now I have everything.”

“You’ve never been ‘nothing’ Tommy. Two weeks ago, all Janie had was despair and all I had was worry. We knew that you were special. We’ve known for a long time. We just knew that neither of us were ready to accept you because of our lack of maturity and because of our problems,” said Jen.

I heard a voice from behind me. “Hey, kid, you’re so fucking lucky to have been hitting against Shuster instead of against me.”

I turned around and saw Tyler Berenger. He was a ninth-grader and a known bully. He had pretty much left me and my friends alone last year but I had heard stories about what a jerk he was. Sadly, he was also the big brother of my new friend, Laura, from my English class.

“Well, maybe I’ll see you the next time we play,” I smiled innocently.

“You won’t see me pitch unless you guys are lucky to make the divisional finals. Based on the schedule, the next time we play you guys you’ll be seeing Shuster again.”

I thought how absurd his comment was. His team was already 0-2. He didn’t pitch well in the Beaver’s first game, picking up the loss. Today, as the left-fielder, he was struck out on three pitches by Terry. “Well, we’ll see,” I said trying to be diplomatic.

“So what are doing hanging around such prime eighth grade pussy?”

“We don’t hang out with losers who suck at baseball,” said Jen of all people.

“Bitch!” spat Tyler, as he started for Jen.

I immediately stuck my form in front of her. So did her father.

“So, what do we have here?” Nick asked me, as he glared at Tyler.

“A little punk who can’t hit a lick,” I grinned.

Tyler looked both angry and confused. “What the fuck?”

“Look, you stupid punk. It’s one thing to be messing with my friend Tommy. It’s another to call my daughter a bitch!” menaced Nick, as he took a step towards Tyler.

“I didn’t say anything,” said Tyler as he tried to back away.

Billy came over. He was a year younger than Tyler but about the same size. “Stop being such a clown Tyler. You can’t hit or pitch, so don’t pretend that you can. I can’t wait to tell Laura what a piece of crap her brother is ... but wait ... she already knows and here she comes.”

We all started laughing and Tyler shrank back to his team, as Laura ran over and threw her arms around Billy. “Nice game, lover boy,” she grinned and Billy blushed. She turned to Mr. Bridges. “I’m sorry about Tyler. I always tell my parents that he must have been dropped on his head when he was a baby, but they deny it.”

We continued to talk for a while as I introduced Billy and Laura to my parents, grandparents and other family members. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tyler giving me a ‘Tim Walton-like death glare. When I saw that nobody was looking, I faced him and mouthed the words, “Bring it on.”

Based upon Tyler’s attitude, I figured that sooner or later I’d probably have to fight him. I was really glad when Billy and Laura agreed to go on a double date to dinner and the movies with us tonight. They both understood that Janie, Jen, and I were ‘a thing’ and seemed to accept it. I wanted to enjoy my first date and didn’t want to ruin it with a fight, so I was hoping that Laura’s presence would keep Tyler in check. Well, that was my hope, at least.

I went home with my family. The rain didn’t start until after we got there. Despite that steady rain, I still had to do afternoon chores. Most of the work was in the barn in the milking stalls, but I had to shovel out the manure first, which was nasty work in the rain. I was relieved when my Philly grandparents volunteered to handle the milking part. I went upstairs to shower, get dressed, and work on my homework until it was time to leave.

The movies were in a mall that contained several fast food options, so we would meet Billy and Laura at about five-thirty. My dad drove me to the mall and Nick volunteered to be our chauffeur tonight to drive me and the girls home.

I quickly found my group had gotten there early. After exchanging hugs from all three girls (and quick kisses from my two), I heard Laura begin to vent. Apparently she had been at it for a while.

“My father almost wouldn’t let me come,” she griped, as she turned to me, “Tyler told him that you and Billy were trouble and dad was also upset that I was rooting for the Lions against my brother’s team. My mother told him she had heard good things about your families, so she put her foot down and here I am.”

“Well, Tyler was certainly a jerk after the game. He went after Jen,” I observed, before adding, “Laura, if he pulls any more crap, I’m going to have to kick his butt. I will not have my ladies hassled.”

My girls just beamed.

“He’s a ninth-grader and he hangs out with some sophomores,” warned Laura.

“I doubt they’ll make any trouble at the mall. Besides, I can take Tyler and from what I hear, Tommy can take the rest,” Billy teased.

We walked to the A&W Restaurant at the other end of the mall and had a great time. The root beer was served in frosty glasses and I had a three-quarter pound cheeseburger (growing boy!) and spicy, curly fries that were delicious. Billy had the same. The girls opted for smaller burgers. We laughed and I got to know both Billy and Laura better. Laura was a cheerleader and was friendly with Janie and Jen, but she seemed to have developed a real respect and affection for me because of what happened in school earlier in the week and because those events had brought her to Billy. I could tell they were getting close.

Billy had almost a hero-worship for me that I found kind of odd. He and I had bonded over the baseball team and the fact that his dad and mine were both lawyers involved in the whole Blanton mess. In the end, like Laura, he seemed to equate my presence to the good things going on in his life (getting him baseball success and a new girlfriend that he really liked).

J Squared were interesting. The normally shy Jennifer seemed to have blossomed into a more confident young woman, while the formerly audacious Janie had become more reserved due to her ordeal. I looked into her lovely blue eyes and swore that I would do everything I could (short of interfering in her treatment) to try to get her to be more like she used to be. I sensed that her confidence was down and I hoped to remind her of what an amazing girl she was.

When we got to the movies, the choices were rather slim. There were four movies that were playing at the theater. Two of them were “rated “R”, so they were out (a remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice, starring Jack Nicholson and The Omen III). We had to choose between the Disney cartoon version of Alice in Wonderland (rated “G”) and a new Sylvester Stallone movie, Night Hawks (rated “PG”). Both those movies were opening today, so it was lucky we got there early.

Billy and I were drooling at going to the new Stallone flick. The film also had Billy Dee Williams who was in the Star Wars sequel, The Empire Strikes Back and the very cute, Bionic Woman, Lindsey Wagner. I guess the ladies decided to take pity on us so we went to the action movie instead of the Disney cartoon.

Of course when we got into the movie, we headed to the back of the theater. Although none of us really ‘made out,’ there was some kissing, touching and cuddling. I sat in between my girls and was easily able to kiss both of them as the three of us engaged in some gentle petting. About halfway through the movie, the girls replaced the empty popcorn bucket (that had been on my lap) with their held hands across my body near my crotch, which made for an interesting predicament for me. It was sweet torture, but I would not have had it any differently (well, at least in public). In the end, we all enjoyed the movie. I especially liked the parts where something exciting happened on the screen and the girls molded their bodies to mine. Billy later told me that those were his favorite parts of the movie too.

When we got out, it was about nine-thirty. Our rides weren’t due until ten. The girls decided they wanted to do a little window shopping. Even with all of the stores closed, we could see the displays through the gate bars and windows

When we arrived at the Gap store, which not far from the main entrance, we saw Tyler waiting there smirking. “Dad’s here. You’re in big trouble.”

“What? My date isn’t over until ten!” complained Laura.

“I caught you making out on that bench over there with Billy’s hand up your sweater.”

“I did no such thing!” complained Billy, before he got cut off by an approaching Mr. Berenger,

“Get to the car, you little tramp!” he growled at Laura and turned to Billy. “And if I see you around my daughter again, you little shit, I’ll kill you!” he growled. I saw Tyler smirk.

“Mr. Berenger...” I started.

“And YOU!” he growled at me, “I’m taking your dates home too. God knows what you did to them!”

“Over my dead body!” I growled at the adult. He had four inches and forty pounds on me.

He moved to me and my girls got in his way.

“We’re not going anywhere with you, you creep!” barked Jen.

“I’ll scream rape unless you leave right now!” growled Janie.

Berenger’s eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed. “I’ll deal with all of your parents later.”

I saw Laura mouth the words, “I’m so sorry,” to us as her father dragged her away.

Tyler Berenger just stood there smirking and looking a little too confident for my taste.

“I’m going to kick your lying ass!” growled Billy.

At that moment, I saw why Tyler looked so cocky. Four kids came around the corner. Two of them I didn’t know. The big one was a little taller than Billy but about his build, if not bigger. The other unknown kid was a bit shorter than Tyler, only a couple inches taller than me at most, but probably outweighed me by about twenty pounds. The other kids were known to me. Jason Martz was the bully I had destroyed last year for picking on Karl. He was another solar plexus shot and he went down crying for his mama. Later he threatened me with a rematch. I told him ‘any time, any place.’ That was over a year ago. Looks like he finally got the odds he needed to grow a spine.