Chapter 43

STUDENTS BEGAN to return to the afternoon workouts on Monday. But it was a short session as the Angelines traveled to the Blue Devils Girls’ Invitational. They were about to prove Coach Dearborn’s assertion that it only took one or two players not performing to tank a team’s score. Both Jaydyn and Janice were missing on Monday. While everyone else ran well, the Angelines finished sixth of eight in the meet.

What was more important to Dennis was that Rae was back on the bus with them. On the way home after the meet, she dragged Dennis to the back of the bus and collapsed against him crying. His girlfriends created a wall around them as he comforted her.

“Hey. What is it, Rae? We missed you last week. What’s going on?” Dennis asked as he petted her hair.

“My so-called boyfriend was one of the Bulldogs beaten up last week.”

“I’m sorry. I still don’t know what all happened.”

“Don’t be sorry for that fucker! I let him finger my pussy! I was going to go all the way with him on our next date! Instead, my little brother found him fucking his real girlfriend and beat the shit out of him,” Rae said.

“Holy shit! Is that what this was all about?”

“Yeah. It’s why Janice and Jaydyn aren’t with us today. They had to give a deposition with their parents and lawyers. Si Goodman is still in jail. He got to both of their boyfriends and put them in the hospital. He kept screaming, ‘This is for Donnie, motherfucker.’ I can’t believe we were all being used like that. Sharon hasn’t seen her boyfriend since her brother was beaten up. What a fucking mess!” Rae had been holding it together all day and broke down sobbing. Lana slipped over the seat to her other side and held her friend with Dennis.

“I don’t get it. Why would the Bulldogs want to hurt any of our girls?” Dennis muttered.

“They were holding us against the boys’ teams,” Rae sputtered. “The basketball team and the track team were all losing because we had boyfriends who were Bulldogs and, of course, none of us would listen to them warning us away. Our boyfriends had told our brothers and teammates they’d keep us safe as long as the Wolverines kept losing. If they didn’t lose, they’d make sure we were pregnant and dumped, gang raped, and left for dead. Our brothers! And our sisters’ boyfriends. They were all losing the games to protect us!”

Tuesday, there was a lot of speculation still going on in school about the big brawl between Wolverines and Bulldogs. There was quiet speculation about the cause and a lot of people looked at Dennis strangely. That afternoon—even without the boys’ sport teams—there was a record number of people at the afternoon workout. Rae’s little brother had returned to school Monday, slightly banged up, but not seriously injured. He was the chief source of information for the others, regarding what had happened Saturday night. He’d credited Dennis’s conditioning sessions for keeping them prepared to defend themselves.

Dennis wasn’t sure he wanted the reputation of getting people in condition to fight, but there were girls in his classes and on his team who could probably take down most of the boys who showed up for the afternoon session. Dennis worked them hard for a full hour, figuring that if they were just showing up to make a statement, most would be gone the next day. A couple of the guys ended the workout by throwing up.

A lot of the Tuesday and Wednesday practice sessions was strategizing how to handle the State Qualifier meet on Thursday. Ardith wanted to be fair to all her runners and jumpers, but also wanted to win as many events as possible to get the most girls qualified. Only first and second place runners would advance to the State Championships at Drake the next week.

The workout was a little smaller on Wednesday than Tuesday, but some of the boys involved in the ruckus Saturday night were back in school and came to the sessions. Some had black eyes or walked with a slight limp, but all seemed fiercely proud of what they had done. In a way, Dennis was, too.

“It’s two hours over to Traynor for the qualifiers,” Ardith told the team as they boarded the bus. “That’s why we’re going so early today. I want to give you all time to relax and unwind—get the kinks out of your muscles. We have a good chance of moving forward today. Dennis and I have gone over all our stats and have talked to each of you. We set up individuals to compete the full range of events. We had to simply say ‘no way’ to long jump, shuttle hurdles, and the sprint relay. We just aren’t a big enough team with enough depth in all our races to go beyond that. Remember, you’re competing today for a chance to compete next Thursday.”

They all settled down. Some slept on the bus. Dennis was kept busy giving massages and taping girls who needed it. Once at the host school, they all did a lot of walking.

Twelve schools were competing in the region. Each school could enter two girls per event. The top two finishers would advance to the State Championships. In addition to the top two in each of the eight regions, the eight top non-qualifiers in the state would also be invited to compete. It wasn’t at all impossible for all top four runners in an event from one region to post faster times than the first place runner from a different region. This rule meant girls that might otherwise be eliminated would be able to compete.

The events went exactly as Ardith and Dennis planned. Jaydyn got first in the 100 and 200. Daniella got second in the 400 and 800. Janice placed second in the 1500. Natalie placed second in the 100 hurdles. Four individuals had qualified in six out of eight individual running events. No Angelines qualified in the field events. Lana’s season best would not have beaten the 5’3” jump of the second place high jumper. First place had an inch more in her spring. Corinne and Rita fell behind the best in the district in shot put and discus, but all three girls scored team points.

The relays were where the Angelines showed their real team strengths. Ardith sacrificed the short relays with girls who were admittedly weaker runners. Instead, the Angelines ran and won the 4x400, 4x800, and distance medley. The unifying factor in those three relays was Roberta running the anchor position. She hadn’t run any individual events and her legs were fresh for the relays. When it was all tallied up, eight Angelines had qualified for the State Championships in a total of nine events. It was a very good day, even though the team placed third—again.

They would be one of the smallest teams at State who could feasibly compete for team points in nine events.

Daniella and Roberta were officially out of school and claimed Dennis for a private party on Saturday, the night before graduation. There was something desperate or perhaps manic about their lovemaking in the hotel room the girls had booked. They didn’t want any other girls interrupting their antics. By the time they dressed for commencement, Dennis was limp and exhausted. Both girls were walking a little gingerly. Not all of the cause for their tenderness was inflicted by Dennis as they got plenty of attention from each other as well.

Unlike the low-key graduation party for Brenda at Dennis’s house the previous year, the Armors threw a huge party after graduation that was attended both by the crew and by a lot of their classmates. Eva and Zoe were home for the event and had a rather smug look on their faces. Even Donna Perkins from DMACC joined the party.

Conditioning during the week continued to be well-attended, and the boys were mostly back in school. They’d been charged with simple assault since no weapons had been used and both sides admitted to aggravating the other. Si Goodwin was at home on bail, charged with assault and battery. The guys he targeted were still in the hospital. It was unclear, however, if any of the boys would be allowed to play sports at Bartley again. The baseball team started practice without them. Coach Torvalds had agreed to replace Coach Byers as coach of the team. The girls who weren’t competing in the State Championship were joined by enough others to start softball practice with Coach Janet.

Track practice focused on the nine events the girls would run at the championships starting Thursday. The entire team and remaining cheerleaders were traveling with the competitors and they were assured there would be fans cheering for them. Unlike the Drake Relays, the championships would be strictly divided by class.

“This is a very aggressive summer schedule,” Ms. Duval said when she met with Dennis. “And it gives you no break to wind down after classes here are out next week.”

“I think this will best help me fulfill my goals,” Dennis said. “I don’t know yet what I’ll be able to do for college, though I’m getting apps out this summer to some of my top choices. I have an, uh ... advisor at DMACC who will help me finish.”

“Brenda Grant can’t be considered an advisor,” Ms. Duval laughed.

“No ma’am. Coach Dearborn has kind of taken me under his wing.”

“Oh! That’s different. You still need to have a couple of classes here at the high school so you can remain active as an athlete,” Ms. Duval said. “We can fulfill both the statistics and biology classes on the Career Advantage program. Especially since you need Biology to graduate. Those two classes can be scheduled for the last two periods of the day. Mr. Griffith has spoken highly of your performance in Calculus. He’ll be the teacher for statistics. Ms. Braxton will teach biology. At the end of spring term, that will leave you fourteen credits short of your AA in Exercise Science and Kinesiology, and three credits short of your Fitness Specialist Certification. I’ll do some checking to see what we can cover in winter semester here at the high school. You’re doing a fine job, Dennis.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

It was only time. He’d be busy this summer. He’d be taking thirteen hours of classes online over the summer and still planned to work for Randy—at least part time. He needed to be earning a little cash over the summer, and working for Randy meant he’d see Lana almost every day.

The first race up for the team at the State Championships on Thursday was the 200-meter preliminaries at 10:30. There were three heats and the top eight would advance to the final on Saturday. Jaydyn ran well and had the fastest time. She’d have lane five for the final.

The 4x800 relay followed the 200-meter dash. This was a timed final with eight teams in each heat. Amy led the first leg, staying pretty even with her competitors, Janice opened up a lead in the second leg. Judith maintained the distance and Roberta brought it home in a team best 9:56. Even though they won their heat, it was only good enough for fourth place among them all.

Then Jaydyn was back at the line for the 100-meter dash preliminaries. She made the finals, but was unhappy with the race. She knew she could run it faster than the 12.76 seconds she’d posted. There was no one on the track Jaydyn competed with more than with herself.

The 400-meter dash was a timed final and Daniella’s time was thirteenth of twenty-four runners.

That was it for day one of the State Championships. The team got back to Bartley in time to shower, change, and go home.

Friday morning, the girls were up early to get to Drake in time for the 9:00 distance medley. This was, once again, a timed final. Daniella, Jaydyn, Natalie, and Roberta led their heat by three seconds, but the time was half a second slower than the winning time posted by the Thunderbirds. They settled for second place.