Chapter 16 -- Ticket Abuse

Ya got trouble! (Oh, ya got trouble!)
Ya got lots and lots 'a trouble!
That game with the fifteen numbered balls
Is the devil's tool! (Devil's tool!)
Oh yes, we've got trouble, trouble!
(Oh yes, we've got trouble here, we've got big, big trouble)
With a "T"! (With a capital T!)
That rhymes with P! (That rhymes with P)
That stands for pool! (That stands for pool!)

--Ya Got Trouble (Robert Preston / Music Man)

About a week after Kristen's birthday party, I was in the lunchroom. Kristen, Patty, and I were sitting at our usual table.

"Where's Sherry?" asked Patty.

I looked around and didn't see Sherry. "I don't know," I answered. "She was in History during first period. Maybe she's with a teacher. Funny, she didn't mention anything to me."

The subject of Sherry was dropped as Kristen and Patty started chatting about various colognes. Kristen wanted to do an outing to an upscale department store where Patty could try various scents to find one that was positively Patty's own.

Of course, I had little interest in the conversation, except for the fact that I thought whatever perfume Kristen used was probably the nicest one in the world. Nobody will ever get me to admit anything else!

I excused myself from the girls, and went to the boys' room.

As I pushed the door in to the bathroom, I heard a guy's voice saying something loudly as I opened the door. As a result, I was quiet as I entered, trying to place the voice.

The voice belonged to Tim Hawking, a sophomore who was in the high honors track. Everybody figured him to be a cinch for valedictorian of my grade--he was bookish since Kindergarten. I was amused at how unlike Tim was to somebody like Camille; they were both the smartest kids in their respective classes.

"You know, you really suck at this!" Tim complained.

I don't know why I continued to be quiet, but the boys' room was empty, which was normal for the middle of class. There was nobody at the urinals, and it was very unusual for boys to make conversation between stalls. I couldn't see Tim or whoever it was he was chewing out. Additionally, it seemed so out of character for him; he was usually at the receiving end of such hazing from the bigger students.

It took a few moments before I saw that one of the toilet stalls was occupied, confirming my suspicions that Tim was in one of them. I saw a pair of jeans crumbled at the base of a pair of a guy's legs. I also saw somebody kneeling between his legs--a pair of silky legs that looked like a dancer's legs. The fact that I could make out a short white skirt that came down just below where the barrier panel to the toilet was made me realize that the kneeling legs most definitely didn't belong to a male.

There was a girl kneeling between Tim's legs as he was sitting on the toilet!

I wasn't really interested in Tim's love life--we hung out in different circles. Still, the act seemed so blatant--totally unlike the Tim that I knew. His prior complaint sounded even more out of place to me.

I was still silent when I heard the tell-tale sounds of sucking and grunting that indicated the oral activity that was obviously taking place. I shrugged, and I decided to make myself scarce. I wasn't against having a quickie at school, but I figured that my activities with Kristen were a bit more discreet. Hall monitors occasionally came into the toilets to make sure there wasn't any smoking of tobacco or other substances happening; I thought Tim's lack of discretion would eventually get him caught. I mentally shrugged at the idea. I would have thought Tim to be much smarter than that.

As I tiptoed quietly out the door, I heard Tim once again loudly say, "You are the fucking worst whore that I've ever met!"

Well, it wasn't a big stretch to say that I was quite unimpressed with Tim's bedroom manner, even if he was actually in the boys' room. Calling your girlfriend a "whore," especially in a public place, was not a way to keep a girlfriend. I wondered what kind of girl would take this sort of abuse from a guy.

I walked upstairs to the other boys' room, and was finally able to relieve myself.

Back in the lunchroom, Patty and Kristen were talking about swimwear, which was a strange subject being that it was still winter here in the Midwest.

Sherry walked into the cafeteria about five minutes before the bell sounded indicating the end of lunch. I looked over to her, and her eyes met mine. Immediately, however, Sherry looked away from me.

What was bugging Sherry? Neither Patty nor Kristen seemed to notice Sherry enter the lunchroom, so I excused myself again and walked over to where Sherry was.

"What's the matter, Sherry?" I asked. "Teacher problems?"

"Um... nothing... well..." Sherry paused, trying to find the right words to say. "Can I ask you... for... I need help with some homework."

This was a totally different Sherry I was talking to. Ever since Camille talked Sherry into being a cheerleader, Sherry became more outgoing. Being one of the few sophomores on the varsity cheerleading squad made her part of the "in group" at school.

Right now, I saw none of the confidence that Sherry lately showed. "What's up, Sherry?"

"Please may I come over to your place and Kristen's tonight? I need to ask you guys something."

"Of course, Sherry. Do you want me to ask Kris... ?"

"Please!" Sherry begged, interrupting me. "Ask her later. I'll see you in English and you can let me know if I can't come over, but it's very, very important!"

Without waiting for an answer, Sherry ran out the lunchroom door. I watched her leave, completely mystified about Sherry's behavior.

I looked back at the table where Kristen and Patty were, and they were both looking at me. The bell rang, and the two girls walked over to me.

"What did you say to Sherry to make her run away like that?" Kristen asked me.

"I didn't. She asked if she could visit us tonight and that it's very important. I said that I'd first clear it with you, Kris..."

"Of course, she can come over," Kristen said.

"I figured that. I told her that I was going to ask you and she ran away. I'm not sure what's bothering her, but it seems to really be upsetting her."

Patty burned her gaze into me for a moment and then her look softened. "I'm pretty sure she's over her infatuation phase, Jim. Maybe she's having problems at home?"

Kristen suggested, "Maybe her cousin Dale?"

I sighed and shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"It better not be Dale!" Kristen said with a menacing coldness to her voice.

"Will you see Sherry later?" Patty asked, turning away from Kristen.

"We have English for last period."

"If she still seems upset, find me after class," Patty offered. "I can drive her home, if necessary. I'll try to find out what's bothering her."

"Thanks, Patty," I said, feeling much better. If anybody could read another person's emotions, it was Patty.

Patty turned back to Kristen and said, "We'll find out the problem, Kris. I'll see you when class is over."

Kristen nodded, her eyes still flashing their anger, obviously thinking about Dale.

The two of us watched the red head leave the lunchroom.

"I need to get to gym," I told Kristen.

"Yeah," Kristen said, anger still in her voice.

Gym was uneventful, and I put thoughts of Sherry behind me during the class. I attended French class afterward, and thought a bit about Sherry, but figured that either Patty or I would get to the bottom of things by the end of the day.

As I was leaving French, my seventh period class, I found Camille waiting for me at the door to my classroom.

"Jim!" Camille said. "I need to speak with you."

"Sure, Cammy," I said. "I'm heading to English..."

"You're going to have to skip it, Jim. It's very important."

This was a day of mysteries and "very important" things.

I sighed. Camille was a real friend, however, and I could never turn her request down.

"Let me find Sherry and tell her that I'm not..."

"No, Jim," Camille said. "This is important, and I'm pretty sure it concerns her."

Now I was really interested. Maybe Camille could explain Sherry's weird behavior.

Camille and I went toward the band room. It was one room that I had access to, and I knew that it was empty after seventh period, which is when the orchestra rehearsed. Mr. Ryan, the orchestra leader, might still be there, but he never had any problem with me coming and going at any time.

I passed Amy Grant on my way into the band room. She gave me a shy smile as I passed her.

The band room, as it turned out, was empty, and Mr. Ryan was just leaving the room. He smiled at me and didn't say anything about me using the room with Camille.

I turned to Camille. "What's up..."

"Jim, something terrible has happened... is happening right now!" Camille looked frantic.

"Tell me what it is."

"Do you know Tim Hawking?" Camille asked.

What a coincidence! I had walked in on Tim getting a blow job in the boys' room earlier and now Camille just mentioned him.

All of a sudden, I realized where I saw those athletic legs and the short white skirt. Sherry was the girl in the bathroom with Tim!

Camille must have seen the expression on my face. My blood ran cold as I realized that Sherry was the person who Tim referred to as a whore and how her oral talents sucked.

"Tim Hawking and Sherry Jordan," I said.

"Tim Hawking and almost half of the entire fucking cheerleading squad," Camille said.

"What?" I nearly shouted. Tim was not the kind of person who would attract the amorous attentions of most of the cheerleaders. Well, neither was I, although most of the cheerleaders were quite friendly to me after Kristen's Halloween party, Sherry's initiation, and Kristen's birthday party.

"Well, with what I've heard of his attitude, he won't be with many of the cheerleaders for long," I said.

"You were there with him! I saw you come out of the boys' room!" Camille said.

"I walked in and heard he was doing something in the bathroom. I discreetly left as soon as I noticed. I didn't realize he was with Sherry until just now."

Camille shook her head, as if I wasn't getting it. "You don't understand, Jim!"

"Huh? What don't I understand?"

"Tim Hawking has tickets!"

I felt the blood drain from my face as Camille uttered those words to me.

I steadied my breath. "What do you know about Tim and the tickets?" I asked.

Camille spat out. "That mother fucker gave one to me!"

"Oh, no..."

"No, Jim," Camille said. "I mean, he looked so confident when he gave it to me. I looked at it for a second, not believing it, when I realized that if I didn't pretend to react, he'd know that there's something special about me."

"You went along with it?"

"He just asked for a blow job. He told me to go into the bathroom and blow him. I've done worse before."

"And you did?" I asked, looking at Camille's outfit. Although I now knew that it was Sherry with Tim during lunch, it seemed to be an automatic response.

"He tried to make me go into boys' room, but since he wasn't specific when he asked me, I told him that I'd only do it in the girls' locker room," Camille explained. "He almost gave me another ticket, but decided that he wouldn't mind visiting there after all. I chose that room because I knew the coaches don't have class during second period. Anyway, I did him, and he wasn't very nice about it. He has a mouth on him. I would be damned if I gave him anything good, though, which is probably why he complained so much."

I shook my head.

"Fuck him!" Camille spat again. "Anyway, he tells me that he heard that I should be better, and that I'm a prissy cunt. He then gives me another fucking ticket, and tells me to practice improving my oral skills every night, to learn how to deep throat, and to be ready for him on Saturday."

"Saturday?" I asked, confused.

"My cousin Jackie is throwing a party, and he must have found out from one of the cheerleaders. I was going to invite you and Kristen, and then this asshole comes up and makes me blow him during second period. I was steaming mad when I got to the lunch room during the next period, when Maria told me to tell Jackie that she invited Tim Hawking."

"Oh, fuck! Maria, too?"

Camille nodded. "I went looking for you during fourth period. I saw Kristen and Patty, but you were nowhere to be seen. Then I saw you come out of the boys' room. I was about to run after you when I saw Sherry leave, closely followed by Tim! I hid so that Tim didn't see me, but I was floored--I thought you and Tim were in cahoots, trying to bang the entire cheerleading squad. I was about to figure a way that I could slice the dicks off of the two of you when I realized that you knew that the tickets don't work on me."

I winced at Camille's description of her concept of vengeance. Camille and Lynette were both quite protective of their squads.

"I didn't have any idea about Tim, except that I heard him with somebody when I was in the boys' room. He was quite rude and it embarrassed me. I left before he knew I was in there--it was uncomfortable for me to be there. I didn't realize he was with Sherry until just now."

"How the fuck did he get your tickets?" Camille asked.

My eyes shot open--Camille was right! I fumbled for my attach case, and opened it. I looked for and found my tickets. "They're here," I said. "Did the tickets that Tim give you disappear?"

"Um, no," Camille said. "They only disappear when they're used. He didn't use his..."

Camille opened her purse and pulled out two tickets. I looked at the numbers. "196 and 197."

I looked at my roll. I knew that I didn't use nearly two hundred of them. I saw that the first one was 38.

"He didn't get them from my roll," I said.

"There are two rolls of tickets?" Camille asked, suddenly horrified.

"I don't know," I said.

For all I knew, there could be hundreds of them. I didn't want to consider that right now in front of Camille, who felt herself a victim of them. Even two rolls were bad enough.

Suddenly, something else fell into place. "Wait. Did you say that Tim asked you to practice giving head?"

Camille's eyes darkened as I reminded her.

I didn't need her to answer, but added, "Every night?"

Camille nodded, still fuming.

"Oh, my god. Sherry!"

"What, Jim?" Camille asked, confused.

"Sherry asked to come over to Kristen's apartment. It looked as if she was ashamed..."

"Oh, fuck, Jim. This ain't funny at all. He's going to destroy the girls' lives!"

I nodded sadly. How do you fight somebody who has tickets?

"Where does Tim have his tickets?" I asked.

"He pulled the ones he gave me out of his jacket pocket."

"He probably keeps them handy in case an emergency comes up," I said, mostly to myself. I followed the thought and realized that it meant that I couldn't give a ticket to, say, one of the bigger students, and have him knock Tim unconscious. If Tim managed to give the guy a ticket first, he could find out that I was the person who set him up.

"I've got to think this through, Cammy!" I said.

I calmed myself down, and considered my options.

After a few moments, I realized that I had three advantages over Tim. First, I possessed my own roll of tickets, and Tim may not know about them. Second, I knew that Camille seemed to be immune to their effects--even Tim's, thank goodness. Third, Kristen and Patty knew about the tickets. Now, even if Tim managed to find his tickets the same time that I did--and this was unlikely, or we probably would have heard of his antics sooner--Camille probably had the most experience with the tickets, even if only on the receiving end.

I pointed this out to Camille, who had already reached the same conclusions. We talked about possible situations, but didn't come up with anything concrete. Camille had an interesting suggestion which might work on alleviating Sherry's orders, however.

In addition, Camille agreed that Kristen could be a good ally. We needed to come up with a foolproof plan by Saturday afternoon.

"Oh, Jim?" Camille said right before the class bell rang.

"Yes?"

"I know that I've thanked you for showing maturity with those tickets," Camille said, giving me a friendly kiss. "Now I better warn you: Kristen might be on Tim's list of targets. She is the richest girl in school, probably in the county!"

Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck!

Kristen was at her Camaro when I ran out of school. "Kristen, quick, we need to get to the apartment fast!"

Kristen didn't ask me why, but she got into the car and before I even my seat belt was fastened, she was peeling rubber out of the parking lot.

"Where's the fire, Jim?" Kristen asked.

"Tim Hawking," I said.

"Tim who?"

I looked at Kristen. There was nothing on her face that told me that she was playing dumb.

"Tim Hawking. He's the high honors nerd in tenth grade."

"I might have heard of him, but his name doesn't really ring a bell," Kristen said.

"Kristen, do you trust me?" I asked, seriously.

"Of course, Jim."

"I've been told of an emergency. It involves Camille, Sherry, and probably all the cheerleaders."

"You've been invited to Jackie Lombardi's orgy!" Kristen smiled.

"Orgy?" I asked, shocked.

Kristen laughed. "Her party. Camille asked me about it before homeroom. We're free on Saturday. Camille was going to ask you about it sometime today."

I sighed.

Kristen pulled through the security gate and into our driveway.

I didn't feel good until I looked back and saw the gate close.

Once we were parked, I pulled a ticket from my attach case and said, "Here, have a ticket."

"You have one wish," Kristen intoned.

"Kristen, I want you to be aware of me making this request. I want you to honestly answer the next two questions."

"Your wish is my command," Kristen said. "What the fuck is this?" Kristen demanded.

I knew that I would be sorry no matter how Kristen answered this next question. "Do you know Tim Hawking and have you received a lucky ticket from anybody other than me?"

"No, and yes, and what is this shit?"

"Whoa there! No and yes?"

Kristen looked at me, confused. She nodded, but didn't seem to understand.

I gave Kristen another ticket.

"You have one wish."

"I want you aware of me making this request, also. I want you to tell me exactly who, other than me, has given you a lucky ticket."

"Debbie Lombardi gave me some a few years back and has given me a ticket to make me forget what she asked. The only thing that I can tell you is that none of her wishes other than the one to forget are still in effect, although she has about twenty thousand dollars of my money."

Kristen shook her head. "What the fuck was that all about? Debbie Lombardi has tickets?" After a few seconds, Kristen shouted, "TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS! I got in all sorts of trouble for that!"

"It's a long story, Kris," I said. "I'm sorry if it sounds as if I don't trust you, but I needed to do this," I said, truly sorry. "Tim Hawking is a tenth grader and he's using Lucky Tickets to have sex with the cheerleaders. I figured that you might be a possible target due to your wealth."

"I have no idea who the fuck..." Kristen paused, her eyes opening wide. "You said Debbie Lombardi has tickets. Now there's somebody else in school who also has tickets?"

"Debbie had tickets," I said, emphasizing the fact that it was past tense. "At least, she did according to Camille," I added.

"How does Camille know?" Kristen asked.

Oh, fuck. I never told Kristen about Camille.

I decided to skirt that question, and instead told Kristen about the boys' room during third period, and what Camille told me about second period.

Kristen's eyes narrowed at me as I told my story. I could see her getting angrier and angrier as I continued.

Finally, when I was finished, Kristen simply shook her head. "You are lying to me, Jim."

Before I could answer, Kristen stormed out of the car and went upstairs into our apartment.

I sat quietly for a few moments before getting out of the car.

I tried the door that led into the back of the garage. It wasn't locked. That was a good sign. I may own the deed to the apartment, but I lived there with Kristen's good graces.