Chapter 9

MONDAY AT LUNCH the cheerleaders joined the crew, laughing about what they’d seen at the state cheerleading championships. Dennis arrived just in time to hear the story.

“She got to the top of their pyramid and then the whole thing just kind of crumbled. Nobody fell forward or was hurt, but it just collapsed downward. The poor girl on the bottom was crying, but it was more from disappointment than from hurt. And their coach was really nice and hugged each of the girls. She said, ‘Next time. Don’t worry!’ And they got in line and bowed like they’d just won,” Rae said.

“Not like that other coach who screamed at her cheerleaders non-stop. Wow! What a bitch!” Donna said.

“So, how’d our team do?” Dennis asked.

“Oh, we won,” Sara laughed. “But they disqualified us.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, we entered in the timeout division because it’s the only one that allows regular cheers with more than one male except the mixed class co-ed division. It was a one-minute cheer routine, and we did our halftime routine with the basketballs. Everybody loved it and cheered like crazy. But it turned out that someone challenged the cheer and after they looked up the rules, they discovered basketballs aren’t an allowed prop. You’re supposed to be limited to things like poms and megaphones,” Sara explained.

“That’s cruel!” Natalie said. “You guys handle the basketballs as well as we do.”

“Well, maybe not as well as the Angelines, but certainly as well as the Wolverines,” Fred laughed. “You’ve got your work cut out with them, Dennis.”

“Well, I think we’ll get them in shape,” Dennis answered.

After the first full out practice, Dennis was not so sure.

“Someone should do an anthropological study of our district and figure out what social, environmental, and biological conditions exist that make our females so athletic and coordinated and our males so clumsy and unathletic. They work hard! They’re strong! Why can’t they bounce a ball with one hand?” Dennis moaned in the coaches’ office after practice later in the week.

“I don’t think they can blame it on you,” Andy said. “We’ve got some promising seventh and eighth graders, though.”

“I’ve gotta see if I can find some drills they can do, just so they have some positive reinforcement,” Dennis said. “Sometime last year, Brenda called it BBS: Bartley Boys Syndrome. We had that breakthrough last season where they were on an actual winning streak and were confident in their abilities. Then that darned Bulldog thing just destroyed them again. There has to be a way to get through to them.”

“If you come up with it, let me know,” Neil said. “I see the same thing you do. It’s having been told for all their lives that we go to support our team even though they’re terrible and never win a game. And they’ve set out to prove it.”

“Count your victories where you have them, Dennis. The Angelines are going all the way this year. This could be the strongest team in any sport that Bartley has ever fielded,” Ardith said. “Keep those younger girls focused and it’s a winning tradition that will last for years.”

“I wish I was a better coach,” Renée said. “I’m always afraid I’ll teach them something wrong. I’ve only coached basketball as part of gym class.”

“And I’m no help,” Pat said. “Though that coaches’ clinic a couple of weeks ago gave me a better understanding.”

“How are the wrestlers shaping up, Lyle?” Neil asked.

“I don’t have any history with the team, but I can see hints of what you are saying. We’ve got six girls and eight guys on the team. When they are matched evenly by weight, I can almost bet on the girls beating the boys. I think, though, that part of what is happening there is the boys are still being polite,” Lyle said. “They haven’t figured out yet that there is a difference between wrestling and groping. If they touch a girl’s breast during a grapple, they jump back and apologize, usually beginning to show a hardon. The girls just capitalize on it and pin them.”

“Are there usually that many girls on wrestling teams?” Pat asked.

“No. I think if there were that many on all the teams, the sport would split in boys’ and girls’ divisions, like the other sports. One girl left the team when we had the parent-athlete meeting with coaches and the principal. They had to sign a statement that they’d been informed about the potential for intimate contact during a match and we had a couple of students demonstrate the various likely holds. She was pretty busty and said she felt that would put her at a disadvantage because she had two such convenient handholds. There was nothing about the potential contact that bothered her, but about the disadvantage she felt.”

“Thoms is a great team manager for wrestling,” Grant said. “And Pat, I appreciate you doing double duty and monitoring locker room safety. We really need a female to monitor the practice, as well. I think that when we guys tell the guys something, they don’t always get the message. Like the difference between wrestling and groping. I think a woman would get the point across better.”

“Does it have to be a teacher?” Dennis asked.

“No. We could have a volunteer, but not a student,” Neil said.

“I might have an idea about someone.”

“Say, how’s your girlfriend doing for DMACC this season?” Andy asked.

“Great!” Dennis responded. “It’s still early. They won the first game and lost the second but came back last night to win the third. Brenda is leading the team in scoring and assists.”

“That’s unusual,” Neil said.

“Not really,” Ardith interposed. “I think you’ll see something near that with a couple of our players this year. Both Natalie and Diane are shaping up to be real scoring threats, but they feed the ball to the outside shooters so smoothly they will have a lot of assists.”

“Seeing any other threats on this year’s team?” Grant asked.

“Yes, several. Tori is really developing into an all-round great backcourt player. As is Amy. I see them being a real threat from the three point line. Under the basket, both Rosie and Janice are showing how tenacious they can be. I think Daphne is learning to use her height for rebounds and tip-ins. And we have a couple of freshmen who will be anchoring the team in a year or two.”

“Carrie,” Renée agreed.

“I’ve got to get home and have dinner with Mom and Peg before I start studying again,” Dennis said. “‘Night all.”

The coaches said ‘goodnight’ and watched him leave, but didn’t leave themselves. When Dennis was out of the area, Neil spoke up again.

“I didn’t want to bring this up while Dennis was here because it involves another student and sensitive information. Can we agree to keep this among us here?” There were nods. “I met with the county prosecutor yesterday. None of the things being investigated involve anyone here. It was all before we arrived. Ardith, I guess you were here but strictly as a teacher and not as a coach. Nonetheless, there will probably be spill over in the investigation to the department as a whole. The former JV basketball coach, Dick Rogers, has been indicted for multiple instances of sexual exploitation of a student. That in itself is a class D felony. For those of you who are unaware, Dennis was the team manager under Rogers and reported that he’d been abused by all the members of the JV basketball team. Rogers was fired, the entire basketball season suspended, and three students were expelled. Those three were later killed in related incidents of drug and child trafficking.”

“Good grief! Are you saying that Rogers was involved more than as having permitted it on his team?” Pat asked.

“Two things have come to light in the investigation. First, either Dennis did not report or the school negotiated a non-report that the team had all orally raped him. That came out when the key student in the current investigation admitted it. But that was further backed up by that student and two others testifying that Rogers orally and anally raped them and threatened them with further harm if they did not participate in the acts of the team. And since most of those players were under sixteen and some may have been under fourteen at the time, it may step the charge up to a Class B felony,” Neil said.

“Maybe we should all get our resumes out,” Grant said.

“Well, the history of the school in this case is certainly a detriment, but I’d say that the teachers and coaches who cleaned up the mess are going to have a gold star on their resume. Don’t be too quick to jump ship. Ardith started a vast reform project here at the school when she started the Angelines. Even Coach Byers acted when he became aware of the problems. That action uncovered the affair between our former principal and the cheerleading coach who were complicit in the misbehavior of the cheerleaders. I’m not sure of the details of that one because it is not part of the current investigation, but I know both were fired and Jim disbanded the cheerleading squad immediately.”

“And you say there is more that we don’t want to hear?” Lyle asked.

“Yes. It has to do with this lovely building we are sitting in. And may be part and parcel to the investigation of what went on with the Bulldogs who all claim to have been paid off for their part in the plot, apparently by our benefactor’s competitor. This investigation has allegations of payoffs being made to the building inspectors. So far, no one knows if the payoffs were from AgCentral or from the competitor. Regardless, the building will be undergoing a rigorous inspection next week while the water heating system is replaced. There may be other problems, and the school system is liable for upkeep and repairs. You can bet they will abandon this building before they are forced to make costly repairs to it,” Neil said.

“So, I take it that means we’ll be practicing in the old gym all next week and for as long as is necessary?” Ardith said.

“So far, no. The county building inspector has not indicated that the building has to be closed during inspection. We’re hoping it’s minor. Until we find out, it’s business as usual.”

“Gosh, Neil. Welcome to being the athletic director at Bartley High School,” Andy said.

The crew barely got to wish Brenda luck before her team boarded the bus for a 250-mile trip to Kansas for their Friday night game. On the way back from Kansas, Brenda’s team stopped for a game against the Honeybees. Both games were way too far from Bartley for the crew to go cheer for her. It looked like the first time they’d be able to cheer for her at one of her games would be after Thanksgiving. Amy spent Friday night at Dennis’s house and was joined by Natalie.

“I feel so lonely when Brenda is out of town on these road trips,” Amy moaned. “And I know we’re going to have snow soon and she’ll camp out with a teammate in Boone. I really don’t know what to do with myself. That’s why I come to be with you. I love you guys so much I don’t know what to do with it.”

“You’re doing pretty well with it right now,” Dennis moaned. Amy was astride him and riding his cock as she moaned out her complaints. Natalie stroked her girlfriend and kissed her breasts.

“You know what I mean. What am I going to do when you all go away to college? Don’t leave Lana and me behind!”