Chapter 16

DENNIS CAUTIOUSLY LOOKED around to see if someone was waiting to ambush him, using the senior as bait. He didn’t see anyone and approached a little closer.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Humiliated beyond my endurance, lonely, still having cravings for drugs I don’t even know the names of. Yeah, I’m fine,” she said.

“There’s hope now, Carol. You’re free.”

“Why?” She turned and started slowly to stand. “Why did you bother saving me? I did terrible things to you. I hit and kicked you. I spread stories about you. I hated you. Why did you save me?”

“I don’t know. Did I do the wrong thing? It’s kind of an impulse to see someone in need and help them. I never thought about anything you’d done or said or felt. I just saw that you needed help,” Dennis said. His girlfriends had asked him much the same question after it was over and he had no better explanation to give them. They seemed satisfied.

Carol shivered. “I guess I came to say I’m sorry.”

“Thank you. Um ... I usually have a little snack when I get home from school. Would you like to come in for a hot drink and a cookie?” he asked. She looked at him curiously and then up at his house.

“Thanks. I ... I don’t think I’ve eaten today.” She stumbled as they mounted the stairs to his porch and he automatically put a hand out to steady her. She leaned against him as they walked into the house.

“Mom? Can I get Carol a snack? I don’t think she’s eaten anything today,” he called. Dot emerged from the kitchen as Peg pelted down the hall toward him. Both stopped short.

“Uh. Carol? Certainly. It’s a little early, but the stew I made for dinner is hot. Let me get a bowl. Dennis, bring her to the kitchen table.” Dot went back to the kitchen and immediately began getting dinner on the table. Dennis pulled out a chair for Carol and she shivered again as she sat down. He quickly pulled his jacket off and put it around her shoulders. She hugged herself into the warm garment.

“Are you a girlfriend?” Peg asked.

“Um ... No. I’m just a ... someone who knows your brother,” Carol stumbled. “He’s helping me ... again.”

“Oh. Okay. The girlfriends are my sisters. Maybe you can be a sister, too.” Peg happily took her place at the table as Dot set bowls of a thick stew on the table with a plate of bread.

Carol tasted the stew and looked up at them. She took another bite and looked around again. They could see tears running from her eyes, but she was silent and everyone began to eat. Little was said at the dinner table, but the quiet tears continued to flow. After the meal, she helped gather and wash the dishes. They went into the living room and Carol handed Dennis’s jacket back to him as she walked to the door. She stopped and stared at the floor where Will had died and at the door where Perkins was shot and killed.

“I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “I’m sorry for what I did to you. I’m sorry about your father. I’m sorry I didn’t kill Tom somehow when he was pimping me out to all his friends and giving me drugs so I wouldn’t resist or remember. I’m sorry I have such a worthless life and that you still saved me. I’m just sorry.”

“Carol, why don’t I walk you home. Or I can call and a friend will give us a ride. Do you need anything else?” Dennis asked. His mother jumped up.

“I can drive you home, Carol. We’ve all made mistakes in our lives. We can only forgive each other and carry on,” she said.

“I ... can walk home,” Carol said straightening her posture. “Thank you for your kindness and for dinner. Thank you for saving me, Dennis. I don’t understand why you are all so kind to someone who was so mean to you. I know I can never make it up to you. I’ll try to be a better person.”

“If you need something, please let me know,” Dennis said as she opened the door. “I’ll help if I can.”

“Maybe sometimes you could say ‘Hi’ to me at school. I don’t think I have any friends there anymore.”

“Come sit with us at lunch. You’ll find out different.”

She smiled and turned away. Dennis watched her as she walked down the street toward her own house.

“That poor girl,” Dot said.

“Do you think she’ll be okay, Mom?”

“I think so. Eventually. I’ll get Lily to check on her mother with me. We’ll see if they need anything. I’m once again very proud of you, son. Very proud.” She hugged Dennis and went back to her chair. Peg brought a game and they played until story time.

Dennis was under a lot of pressure before the meet Tuesday evening. Coach Andy wanted to experience his taping ability. That wasn’t unexpected. Coach Graves had wanted the same thing in basketball season. But it meant that half a dozen basketball girls stepped out in front of the team to lead warmups, like they’d done it a dozen times before. As soon as he’d finished taping up the coach, Andy called Leah over and had him tape her. He was impressed that he did some lymphatic massage before he taped her. Dennis was thankful this was a two-team meet and that he had more time to get to where he was needed. Both Tori and Lana wanted tape before their events, so he was kept especially busy.

Of course, he’d talked to the girlfriends at lunch and told them all about what happened the night before. The girls all started arguing about who was supposed to take him home the night before. He’d barely gotten them calmed down before he had to get to his next class. He’d never seen them so edgy with each other and wondered if they were all starting their period.

It showed even more when they reached the track. They lost the medley relay to a much lower rated team. The Masonville Hornets had simply run away from them. It was after that race that Tori asked for tape. There were no preliminary heats for any of the races, so the meet was over in less than two hours. The boys’ team had beaten their rivals, but the girls simply couldn’t put it together to win more than a couple of events. Corrine managed a third place finish and she was exceptionally proud of her white ribbon. Her throw had been a couple of inches shy of thirty feet.

After the meet, Coach Andy called a meeting of all the Wolverines and Angelines in the gym before they could hit the showers.

“We’ve got a big meet with three other schools in Edison Saturday,” he began. “It’s an important meet for two reasons. First, as we’ve all learned from Coach Graves, every game is a championship game. We’re going up against those schools and I expect a victory in every event.” Cheers met his words, even though the girls were a little restrained after their loss. “The second reason is that this will be the meet at which we finalize who is competing with whom at the Drake Relays next week. We coaches need to post the entries on Tuesday, a week from today, for the Thursday meet. I’m sorry to say not all of you will be competing. But I expect you all to be dressed and on the field to help support your team. The relays are your last big opportunity to get a decent seed at the State Qualifying Tournament in four weeks. I want a hard workout tomorrow. We’ll go a little lighter on Thursday and Friday so you’re rested and ready to do your best on Saturday. Men, who are we?”

“Wolverines!” shouted the boys.

“Women, who are we?”

“Angelines!” they responded loudly enough to compete with the noise of the boys.

“Hit the showers!”

Roberta and Daniella were waiting for Dennis when he finished getting towels out to the loading dock. He looked around, but didn’t see Natalie.

“It’s just us tonight,” Roberta said. “We’re not spending the whole night, but we’d really appreciate some tender loving care for an hour or so.”

“Sure,” Dennis said, putting an arm around each of the girls. That sandwiched the top of his head at about shoulder height. “What’s got you bothered?” he asked.

“Same as most of the girls today,” Daniella said. “The blood is rushing out of our heads and pooling between our legs.” Dennis shuddered a little at the thought of tender loving care while they were in their cycle.

“Don’t worry. You don’t need to touch it,” Roberta said. “But if you could just rub our tummies ... I feel so crampy.” Neither girl had done well in her event today. For that matter, it seemed like all the girls were off. Dennis finally began to understand what had happened to the team today.

“You know I’ll be happy to hold you and rub your tummies for you,” he said. “Do you need anything else?”

“You could knock us out,” Daniella suggested.

When they got home, Dennis greeted his mother and sister and then took the girls to his room.

“Mom, they’ve got menstrual cramps and want their tummies rubbed. Is there anything else we can do?” he whispered.

“I don’t know what it is this month, but everyone seems to be having unusually hard periods from what I’ve heard. As long as you’re not naked, I’ll bring you something.”

“I don’t think anyone wants to get naked, Mom.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure of that.”

The girls didn’t get undressed, but unfastened their pants and pulled their shirts up so Dennis could get to their tummies. He brought a bottle of massage oil his mother had handed him and made sure the oil was warmed up in his hands before touching them.