Chapter 36

THE GIRLS MADE a lovely brunch casserole with shredded hash browns, sausage crumbles, pico de gallo, eggs, and cheese. Peg was hesitant to try it, but once convinced, she was enthusiastic. There wasn’t much in the way of food that she didn’t like.

Dot sat sipping her coffee and looking at the kids at the table. She supposed she should be more concerned about the girls who stayed over with her son. When this started, there had been so many things going on that she’d been easily overwhelmed. Getting the basketball team started, and adjusting to Dennis’s new schedule had been quickly followed by those awful boys attacking him on the street and the sheriff doing absolutely nothing about it. She was thankful Ardith Graves was where she could respond to Dennis.

Then it just kept getting worse. The party Dennis had gone to—his first party invitation ever—and she caught him holding hands with Number One. The little girl Amy—Number Two—showing up in the middle of the night and saying her brother planned to rape her. Seeing the dark complected girl across the street—Number Three—stopping to kiss Dennis on the cheek before she skipped home. And the senior cheerleader—now a basketball player—showing up with Number Two and announcing that she was Number Four. With Will being gone so much with his new job driving a snowplow, Dot had felt overwhelmed with the kids—girls—who flooded into her home and seemed to take everything over. They’d never had visitors before. She was just so thankful Dennis had friends that she let it get out of control. She no longer even blinked when one or two wanted to sleep over with her son.

She supposed she should put her foot down, but there was the whole drug raid and Will killing the Smith boy and ending up in a coma himself. She needed to visit him in the hospital each day and the girlfriends had come through once again. They cooked and cleaned and played with Peg. Peg was floating on a cloud with so many new ‘sisters.’ Dot didn’t want to upset her, especially with her father not coming home. Even when he was on the bottle, Will had been a kind and loving father, quick to defend his children and always willing to give them a hug.

Well, if she was ever going to do anything to regain control, it wasn’t going to be today. Mr. Dietz said she could pick up her car and give him back the loaner any time after eleven. It had been so kind of him to arrange pickup of the car from the detailers. And to loan her a car while hers was impounded. Then she needed to go straight to Des Moines to see Will. She tried to tell him about all the things that were going on and entertain him with stories of Dennis and his girlfriends or the basketball games. But it seemed she never had more than an hour of idle chitchat to entertain him with. He just lay there unconscious and unresponsive until she began to cry and rush out of the hospital. But he was her husband and she would find a way to be with him every day.

She kissed each of the kids—the girlfriends, too—and straightened her back to go pick up the car from Mr. Dietz.

Ardith texted all the players Sunday afternoon and caught Diane and Judith at Dennis’s house. Dennis was carefully pressing and hanging the game uniforms. He’d managed to slip the very frilly pair of pink panties into his drawer, wondering who they belonged to.

“We’re playing at seven Wednesday evening,” Diane said. “We’re officially ranked in the State, so we get home court advantage against the Putnam Tigresses. It will be nice to have one more game at home this season.”

“Venues for regional finals have already been set and all the state tournament will be played in Des Moines,” Dennis said. “It’s also cool that they have the female version of their mascot and don’t just go by Tigers.”

They had light practices on Monday and Tuesday. During tournament days, teams were not allowed on the court before the official half-hour warmup period. Putnam had to travel over an hour to play at Bartley, so Ardith opened the Jr. High gym for them to stretch and work the kinks out. Dennis made sure they were welcome and had practice balls, then headed to the locker room. Lana had already started on Daniella’s outstretched leg and the two were laughing. There was plenty of time for Lana and Dennis to do all the taping. Dennis sat immediately and Roberta propped her foot up in front of him.

“You know, with all you do for us, you’re really more of a trainer than a team manager,” Roberta said. “Zoe and Ava are coming to the game tonight and we talked all afternoon about the duties and responsibilities of our boyfriend. They want to meet you.”

“Zoe and Ava?”

“Our older twin sisters,” Roberta said. “They got the girls’ names. You might have noticed that Roberta and Daniella were expected to be boys.”

“Nobody would make that mistake, just looking at you,” Dennis sighed, looking up at Roberta’s bare breasts.

“There’s a lot more evidence elsewhere, boyfriend,” Roberta whispered as she leaned forward. “As you very well know. When can we come and be with you again? Or should I say be with you and come?”

“Um ... I ... Ask Natalie.”

“Good answer!” she giggled. “Natalie! It’s your turn to flirt with our boyfriend!” Natalie replaced her sister on the bench and raised a foot for Dennis to start working on. She hadn’t changed to game panties yet and was wearing a very thin piece of fabric, stretched tightly across her pussy.

“Oh, wow, Nat. How am I supposed to focus on your ankles?” Dennis said. His eyes hadn’t even moved up to her bare breasts yet.

“Do a good job. I might have you wait to take the tape off until we get to your house tonight,” Nat said.

“My house?”

“Unless you don’t want the twins and me to keep you company tonight.”

“Better say ‘okay,’ Manager,” Daniella said as she stood from Lana’s station and leaned over to give Dennis a quick kiss on his ear. He shivered as gooseflesh rose on his arms.

“Okay,” he squeaked.

“Do you guys go home after the game and have sex?” Lana gasped. “All four of you?” Judith sat on the bench in front of her classmate.

“Not yet,” Natalie sighed. “But soon.”

“So far the best any of us have managed with Dennis is oral,” Judith said. “But one day we’ll get that far. I’m not rushing it. Like you, I’m only fifteen and as much fun as I think it will be, my body’s still going through so many changes I don’t trust it to behave when I have sex.”

“You’ve grown this year, haven’t you?” Lana said, looking up at Judith’s breasts. Judith hefted one in her hand.

“Yeah. It’s completely thrown my balance off. I’m nothing like my sister. Yet. I hope I’m not as stacked as she is. I want to be able to run without losing my balance and falling on my face,” Judith laughed.

“Hey! That wasn’t Diane’s fault,” Dennis reprimanded her. “It was just bad luck. I like her breasts and yours, too.”

“I know, boyfriend. It’s part of why we like to show them to you. And stuff. Let me tell you, Lana, I got really self-conscious when they started growing. I know you were, too, last year. But Dennis is really good for your ego. He just thinks all of us on the team are beautiful.”

“You are,” he said.

“See?”

“I don’t know,” Lana said. “I just can’t imagine myself getting naked in front of a boy—willingly. I really didn’t want to do it last fall. I’d be happy if no boy ever saw my breasts again. At least I was blindfolded and never had to see them.”

“That’s really crap,” Natalie said. “I can’t believe Sanders allowed any of that to go on. They need to be reported.”

“It’s too late now,” Lana said. “Just look at what happens to women who report being raped or assaulted. They end up being called liars and humiliated. And if they wait to report it’s even worse.” Dennis reached out and touched Lana’s hand. She looked over at him. He just nodded.

“Don’t let anyone try to talk you into something you don’t want to do,” he said. “Even any of us.”

“Lana, I’m sorry,” Judith said. “I didn’t mean to sound like I was trying to get you to join the rest of us showoffs. Sometimes we get too enthused.”

“I don’t mind that you all show off,” Lana laughed. “Even I enjoy seeing your nice tits. I’m just not ready for any of that stuff yet.”

“It’s not even a necessary development in life,” Natalie said as Dennis finished her tape, taking one last long look up between her legs. “I don’t think we’re particularly good examples to follow. I don’t even understand how we get away with what we do. If I were my mother, I’d have Daniella, Roberta, and me under lock and key.”

The victory over Putnam was disappointing. The 35-point continuous clock went into effect before the end of the second quarter. The Angelines had started off with their typical run and gun strategy but discovered the Tigresses simply couldn’t keep up with them. The score was already 42-5. The locker room was somber. None of the girls felt like celebrating such a lopsided game. Ardith came into the locker room as they were all slumped on the benches.

“Are they conceding?” Brenda asked, hoping not to have to play the second half.

“No such luck,” Ardith said. “I just talked to the Putnam coach. He says their year has been pretty poor and they considered it a fluke that they managed to beat Cavalier in the first game. A lot of his players are graduating this year and really want to finish the game, no matter how bad it gets. He says they are still going to go out and play their hardest and—get this—the team has asked that we not hold back. They consider it an honor to have gotten to play you girls.”