Chapter 19

THE CREW WATCHED breathlessly Saturday afternoon as the Crusaders took on the Knights. The four from Bartley chose to make the three-hour drive, in order to cheer for Brenda and Ardith. The Knights were always a big threat to the Crusaders and fought back from a ten-point deficit in the first quarter to take the lead 50-51 in the third quarter. Payton dropped in six of six free throws in the fourth quarter but fouled out before the end. Trailing by three points with just four seconds on the clock, Laura threw the ball inbounds to Eve. Eve started a drive to the left and then passed the ball back to Laura in the right corner. Laura launched the three-pointer and beat the buzzer to tie the game at 68.

Brenda and Grace both came off the bench again in the overtime period and tipped the tables on the Knights with seven out of the ten points the Crusaders scored in the five-minute period. The Knights scored only five points in the period and Eve put the game away with a three-pointer from the right elbow. Dennis and his girlfriends were among the loudest fans of the Crusaders in the stands and rushed to hug their girlfriends.

Grace’s four points in the overtime period came despite playing the entire period with four fouls.

“Grace plays like Amy does,” Dennis said as they waited for Brenda and Ardith to return to the court after the game.

“Except she makes her shots,” Amy said. “I can’t believe how fast she is coming down the court after she steals the ball.”

“There were a few of those that I thought she’d dunk. She could have hit those two missed layups if she’d gone a little higher,” Natalie said.

“That’s okay. I can’t believe short little Brenda came up with the rebound under the basket after that block and put it up and in. And we’re going to bring our own Deviline to Salter next year. She’ll learn everything Grace has to teach her. Then when we’re sophomores, there will be no stopping the rhythm.”

“This team is just so good, I’m glad we’ll get to play with them next year. Here they come,” Natalie said.

The two women came up into the stands where the crew were pretending to watch the men’s game. It was Amy and Natalie’s turn to sit on either side of Ardith and Dennis and Lana bracketed Brenda as they all sat through the game. Then the two women had to catch up with the rest of the team for their bus ride back to Salter. The four younger friends loaded in Dennis’s car and headed back to Bartley.

Two hours after they got back, Ardith and Brenda came into Dennis’s house and were quickly fed and hugged.

“I’m not going to give you a number, Ardith,” Dot said. “But you are always welcome here. Tom and I don’t want any questionable behavior that could get us all in trouble, but you are always welcome to come and hang out with the rest of the family.”

“Thank you so much, Dot. I won’t be staying long or spending the night, but I do love seeing my boyfriend and girlfriends.”

“Just remember the rules. No means no. Never without protection. And never in front of the children. Or parents. Or strangers,” Dot said. They laughed a little but took her seriously. “I need to check on Peg real quick. She’s very excited about her music for tomorrow and I can still hear her singing.”

Dot left the room and the group quickly gathered for deep kisses with Ardith, then she left.

Sunday morning the five surviving girlfriends and boyfriend went to church to hear Peg sing. It was a very unusual service, even by Lutheran standards. The bulk of the service was a cantata from the sixteenth century in Latin called Epiphaniam Domino canamus. Between sections of the cantata, the preacher read a scripture or commented on the lyrics. The translation from Latin to English was printed in the church bulletin so people could follow along and understand what was being sung.

Peg carried two of the arias as solos and her voice blended beautifully with the choir on the chorales. The music lent itself well to meditation rather than exhortation. Everyone left the church feeling somehow refreshed.

“When did Peg start singing such difficult music?” Lana asked as the five left the sanctuary.

“I’ve been asking that for a year now,” Dennis said. “Mrs. Thompson says she bears all the marks of being a savant, but she’s never heard of a Down Syndrome savant. All I know is that as long as Peg feels she is singing for Jesus, she can sing just about anything.”

“Dennis, could I have a word with you? With all five of you, if possible,” Janet Mills asked on the front steps. Pat Fisher was nearby, and watching closely. Janet, the cheer leading and softball coach, got along well with Dennis and his girlfriends.

“Sure, Coach. What’s up?”

“Um ... Maybe we could go back inside. It’s a private conversation,” she said.

The crew came to attention quickly and followed the coach back into the church which had emptied out. Janet took them to the basement where there were tables and chairs set up and motioned them to sit down. They noticed that Coach Fisher followed them down.

“You’ve got us worried, Coach,” Dennis said. “Is there a problem?”

“Possibly. Coach Neil asked me to talk to you all because we come here to church and ... well, we get along better than you do with Pat,” Janet said. Pat shrugged and stayed silent. “It could all blow over, but Coach wanted you all to be aware that someone has suggested that there is inappropriate behavior going on with the girls’ basketball team.”

“I don’t even enter the locker room anymore unless I’m called in or am giving a pep talk at halftime. And Josie Kelly is always there with me,” Dennis said.

“That’s not the concern this year,” Janet said. “It was all so under the radar the past two years that no one is bringing that up at all. The allegations seem a bit far-fetched to me. Neil believes this is all tied in with the general investigation around the players being extorted last year and possibly with the whole mishmash involving AgCentral and Warner Affiliated Farms. Warner is just trying to throw as much suspicion on Bartley as they can. Anyway, the allegation is that a coach is sleeping with members of the basketball team. It could be that they are jumping on Ardith’s rapid exit from the program, but Neil is suspicious that they are targeting you. They’ve cited a law regarding school personnel in sexual relationships with students. You, Dennis, with these young women.”

“But we’re all students!” Natalie said. “And we were in a relationship long before Dennis was named as a Student Coach.”

“Neil believes that will be all the defense that is needed, but he wanted you all to know so you could, in his words, ‘lawyer up.’ I want you to know that all the coaches are on your side in this.”

“Including me,” Pat said, breaking her silence for the first time. “Whether I like your lifestyle or not is irrelevant. The whole idea is just a distraction and you should stay focused on winning basketball games. We would all be less if it wasn’t for your leadership.”

“Thanks, Coach. That means a lot to all of us. I guess we should lawyer up and try to get this squashed before it becomes an issue,” Dennis said. “We appreciate the coaches’ vote of confidence.”

“That’s really all we have to say, but I assume you have an unofficial means of communicating with Ardith. The other idea could be a remote possibility as well. Attacks like this could flow over on all of us.”

Sunday afternoon cooking was so deeply ingrained in the crew that even though they had separated themselves from really dating Dennis or the other girls, Rosie and Leanne both came over to Dennis’s house Sunday afternoon to help. Ardith came over as well and had Sunday dinner with everyone. Tom had an increasingly rare Sunday afternoon off, but was slated to go on duty at five.

“None of this has come from the Sheriff’s office,” he said when the kids had related the story to him. Ardith sat in a corner with a hand covering her mouth in horror. She looked like she wanted to run, but Brenda sat with her, holding her hand.

“I’m going to go get Daddy,” Leanne said. “I think Coach’s advice to lawyer up is good.”

“I’d agree,” Tom said. “I don’t think there is anything to the accusations, but you might want to be ready for a defamation suit.”

“I’m going to call my dad, too,” Natalie said. “Maybe we should call Diane and Judith and get her father on alert.”

“We certainly have some of the best lawyers in the area as fathers here, don’t we?” Amy said.

“I wouldn’t make a big deal out of this with anyone outside your dating group,” Dot said. “We’re missing Tori, Diane, and Judith. Is everyone else accounted for?”

“All of us except Judith have kind of broken up,” Rosie said. “Not in a bad way. We just grew out of it. And Tori’s got a new boyfriend.”

“That makes it even more important for her to know,” Dennis said. “I’ll call her myself.”

“Ardith, you’re clean as far as we’re all concerned,” Tom said. “That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared as well.”

“Yes. Maybe I shouldn’t be coming back on weekends. This could look suspicious. And with the tournament in just two weeks, things are going to get crazy,” Ardith said.

“Aw,” Amy complained.

“Don’t worry, Miss Deviline. I’ll come back for as many of your tournament games as I can, but I’ve got another team to get ready now. We’re rising in the numbers, both as a Conference leader and in the D-III top ten. I need to focus on getting them all the way,” Ardith laughed. “And I don’t think I should use the same lawyer as the rest of you. I know one who would love a case like this.”

Dennis talked to Tori, Diane, and Judith at lunch. Tori got a horrified look on her face. She started panting.

“What is it, sweet cheeks?” Natalie asked.

“I told Brandon that we’d all slept together. It was kind of part of full disclosure before we got too serious. He seemed fine with it, but what if he is the one who reported it?” Tori said. “I have to ... I still love you guys and I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me. If he told someone, I’ll break up with him. And then I’ll kill him.”

“Take it easy, hon,” Diane said. “We don’t know where it came from and there’s no reason to jump to conclusions. Mom and Dad are both investigating, along with Natalie’s mom and dad and Leanne’s dad. They’ll let us know if there is anything to worry about.”

“I thought we were through with all this shit when that church got dragged through the mud,” Amy said. “I don’t wish anyone ill, but that preacher and Kristen Conway got exactly what they deserved. And so did her husband.” Bart Conway had gone to trial and was convicted in one of the shortest murder trials the state had ever seen. He was serving a life sentence at the state penitentiary. Of course, appeals were pending.

Everyone headed for the afternoon practice, comforting Tori and making sure she didn’t do anything rash. They worked hard to get ready for Tuesday night’s game.

First, the Crusaders had a make-up game against the Norse Monday night. It was too far for the crew to travel, but they gathered at Amy’s house to watch the stream. It was a hard-played game but the outcome was decided in the first three minutes as Gloria sank four straight three-pointers to put the Crusaders in the lead at 12-2. They never dropped the lead and raced to an 85-49 victory. Everyone on the team got at least five minutes of playing time as the Norse outscored the Crusaders in the last quarter 3-11. Brenda got about two quarters of playing time and scored six points. Only two of the Crusaders came away without scoring.

Then it was time for the Angelines to meet the Hawks on Tuesday night. It was an hour trip to the school and Dennis made sure the girls were well warmed up at the game before they started their shooting drills. In their first eight minutes on the floor, the Angelines captured a 26-6 lead. Dennis followed Ardith’s example from the previous night and kept substituting the lower level players throughout the game. He kept his starters in as needed to maintain the lead, but it was good experience for the girls to play hard. They ended the game at 59-22. The girls dressed and went to the stands to support the boys as the Wolverines captured a solid 77-58 victory.

The real action, however, was taking place back in the Bartley school cafeteria for the monthly school board meeting. Superintendent Jones correctly assessed that the rumor of a teacher/student involvement had circulated and that contributed to the larger than normal attendance. It still wasn’t huge, with twenty-five in the audience.