Chapter 32

THE SECOND HALF was going strong. It was still nip and tuck, but the Angelines had expanded their lead to eight points by the start of the last period. Temple came back strong in the fourth quarter, closing the gap to four, but a long pass downcourt to Daniella gave her the opening she needed. She took one step and dunked the ball for the second time this season and first time in a regular game. The Bartley fans were going wild but there was little sound from the Temple side when Dennis stood in his enthusiasm and yelled.

“Way to go, Danny! Woohoo!”

The ref’s whistle blew and she headed toward the Bartley bench holding out a hand to point to Dennis.

“Technical foul. Interference from the Bartley bench. Two shots. Clear the court. Temple, send in your shooter.” There were boos from the Bartley stands the cheerleaders were unable to quiet. They were joined by some booing in the Temple stands. The Temple team was in a huddle and finally their biggest player stepped into the foul circle. The ref handed her the ball.

Number 15 bounced the ball twice and set herself for the shot. It went wide of the rim and bounced down the court. She didn’t move from the foul line, but waited patiently for the ref to chase the ball down and bring it to her. It was obvious the next time. She didn’t bounce the ball or take an appropriate shooting stance. She two-handed the ball hard against the backboard and watched it sail all the way to the other end of the court. Both the Temple and Bartley fans cheered as she walked off the court. The ref ultimately chased the ball down with only the umpire on the court watching.

The ref blew her whistle and held the ball outside the opposite sideline. Both the Angelines and the Divas were in a team huddle. Ardith stepped away from the huddle and sat on the bench. The whistle blew again. “Teams, take the court. Divas’ ball at the sideline.” The Angelines all stood and toed up to the sideline. As if they were taking a cue from their opponents, the twelve members of the Divas also stood at the sideline. Natalie stepped out.

“The Angelines refuse to take the court until the referee has apologized to our team manager.” Both the ref and the umpire blew their whistles.

“Technical foul, unsportsmanlike conduct. Number 12 is out of the game. Temple, send your shooter to the line.” The crowd was seriously booing the ref now on both sides of the court. No one moved from the Temple line. “Temple! Send a shooter to the line!” The ref boomed. Number 15 stepped up from where her team stood.

“The Temple Divas refuse to take the court until the referee has apologized to the Bartley team manager!” she shouted.

The ref blew on her whistle as if it were her lifeline as the fans erupted in cheers for the Temple girls. The ref walked to the scorers’ bench and grabbed the microphone.

“This game is hereby canceled for unsportsmanlike conduct on the part of both the teams and the fans. Let the record show that both teams forfeited as did not show.” This time the boos were accompanied by wadded paper being thrown at the ref. Unless the fans took off their shoes, that was all they had to throw as the ref and the umpire left the gym. The Angelines pulled Dennis from the bench and surrounded him in a hug as he openly wept.

“You sacrificed our perfect season!” he cried.

“How soon they forget,” Brenda said. “We lost the first game. There was no perfect season to sacrifice.”

“We’re not bowing down to a dyke with a hard-on for men,” Natalie declared.

The huddle opened to see the Divas standing around them. The two teams came together crying and thanking each other. Each of the Divas also took a turn at hugging Dennis, including the six-foot-three center, Number 15. She pressed Dennis’s face right into her boobs.

“You guys are great,” she said. “You showed the very best of team spirit and we all hope we grow up to be like you.”

“Um ... I think I got snot on your tit,” Dennis muttered. The girls all laughed and she handed him her towel.

“Well, you put it there. Wipe it off.” Dennis delicately wiped the snot from her breast. “Ooh. Take your time and do a really thorough job, okay?” Both teams laughed and headed for the locker rooms together. The Angelines pulled Dennis into the locker room with them. The cheerleaders were already there, pulling their clothes off. All except Lana, the shy freshman. She’d stepped around the corner into the next aisle.

“Oh, Team Manager, wipe off my boob, please?” Daniella called, hauling Dennis’s hand to her tit. “Take your time, baby.”

“Team Manager, my boob needs to be cleaned, too,” Natalie said. When she dragged his hand away from Daniella, he discovered she’d already lost her jersey and only had her sports bra on.

“Me, too. Me, too,” Brenda said pulling his hand from Natalie onto her fully bare breast. “I’m sure I have something on my tit.”

“I don’t,” Amy said. “Please hug me and put your snot on my breast.”

All the girls filed by making up ridiculous requests for things to be removed from their breasts as Dennis rubbed them and they headed for the shower. By the time he was halfway through the team, they were all naked and he was laughing hard enough to get more tears.

Then Susan, Linda, and Rachel were in front of him, also naked.

“Um ... You can rub our boobs, too,” Susan said, a little uncertainly. Dennis looked at the offered tits and backed up a step.

“Thank you all very much,” he said. “You really supported our team out there. You don’t need to offer me anything. That’s something I only do for my Angelines. I don’t know what it might mean to you.”

“Do you know how quick we’d be stretched out and fucked if we made that offer to the varsity?” Linda said. “You’re really different.”

“I respect my team,” he answered.

“Your loss,” Rachel said as she turned and headed for the shower. Dennis watched their bare asses as they disappeared and shook his head. He got his scissors out of his kit and prepared to take the wet tape off his three players. He looked up and Lana was standing beside him.

“Your girls really love you, don’t they?” she whispered. “I wasn’t sure you’d be respectful if I did what they told me to. They made me do awful things to become a cheerleader. I really hate them.”

“Quit cheer,” Dennis said. “Brenda did. She was fed up with their hazing and the attitude of the team.”

“I just always wanted to be a cheerleader and thought it would be so cool. But I didn’t want to be a slut,” she cried. Dennis held out his arms and she collapsed onto his lap where he held her while she cried on his shoulder. The girls had begun to come out of the shower before she moved and they gave them room.

“I got snot on your shoulder,” Lana whimpered. Dennis handed her a towel.

“You put it there. You wipe it off,” he laughed. Lana started laughing and wiped his shoulder, standing up beside him again.

“Thank you for understanding,” she said.

Diane had her panties on and was struggling to tuck her tits into a regular bra when she sat in front of Dennis and raised her foot.

“Sorry, I didn’t think about the tape before we got in the shower,” she said.

“It’s okay. We can still get it off. You’ll just want to go home and wash your feet again.”

Diane looked up at Lana and smiled. “Isn’t our team manager the best? He always has a shoulder for us to cry on when we need it. And no matter what you saw today or what you think Dennis touched, it was our choice, nothing he made us do.”

“I wish I played basketball instead of cheering,” Lana said. She went to collect her gear and it was obvious she was getting the cold shoulder from her teammates. Brenda sat down in front of him. She had a short skirt on and no bra. When she lifted her foot, Dennis could clearly see she’d forgotten her underpants.

“I’m worried about her, Brenda,” he whispered. “I don’t like the cheerleaders very much. I know you used to be one, but they really put her through the wringer to join the team. I don’t know what they made her do.”

“I think I do. I told Ms. Sanders about what they were doing and she poo-pooed it. Worse is that the boys might take it out on her, too. They tried to corner me when I quit,” Brenda said.

“This needs to be reported,” Dennis said firmly. “I really don’t care if we have cheerleaders at another one of our games. I lived through that kind of treatment. We need to help Lana.”

“I love you, Dennis. I’ll try to get her aside and see what we can do. Accusing them of anything means nothing if they all clam up or speak against her. You know what that was like.”

“Yeah. It ends with people getting shot.”

The ride home that night was a long and quiet one.

It was late when they got back to the school. Parents picked up kids from both the fan bus and team bus. Brenda pulled Dennis to her car to take him home.

“Isn’t anyone else coming with us?” he asked.

“One of the things that’s happening with the success of the team is that more parents are watching us more closely. It’s going to be harder to get bed partners for you,” Brenda said.

“I really shouldn’t need babysitting anymore,” Dennis chuckled. “The danger has passed. I have my family, too. Not that I won’t miss having you all with me. That’s been really nice, you know.”

“Don’t I know, though. If I had my way, I’d just move out of my house and come live with you. But, can I stay with you tonight?” she asked.

“I’d love that, Brenda. Amy is the only one who’s ever stayed with me without another girl. Mom might insist we spend the night on the couch. I think she believes somehow that we’ll do less in the living room.”

They pulled into the driveway and Brenda grabbed her overnight bag to bring in with her while Dennis collected the bag of laundry. Inside, the television was the only light on and they could see Dot sitting in her chair watching. Dennis went in to give her a kiss goodnight.

“Oh, you’re home. Was it a good game?”

“Yes, Mom. Brenda’s with me tonight.”

“Oh, that’s nice. Hello Number Four.”