Chapter 26

Dan wondered about whether he had any other enemies out there. Here he was stuck in this weird, alternate world he'd been dropped into. And then he remembered the fact of what he still had to do. And that fact was that he still had a further three days and the remainder of Tuesday to go while being Naked In School!

Damn! What ah fuckin' crazy day! What the fuck is next!?

As he stood there he noticed that his left eye must be swelling closed with the beginning of a black eye. That single punch that had been landed on his cheek was turning out to be a real pain. His face was starting to throb with the pain. And he could feel Miguel's tee shirt getting damp as his blood soaked through the several folded over layers of it.

He caught a part of what Janet was speaking about on her cell phone. She seemed to be speaking with her father.

Great! Now the School Board President is gonna think I'm a raving lunatic! Two attacks in one day. Everyone is gonna focus on me.

"No Daddy! Four guys came after Don! He took on three of 'em and the fourth one ran. Don's hurt but two of 'em he took on are unconscious and the third one has a broken arm, a broken knee, and a broken nose! YEAH! That's what I said! No! Don's not hurt too bad! He's got a bleeding wound on his face and a big place with swelling on his leg. He's standing, though."

Oh that girl knows how to describe things!

"What!? No! No, Marty Anderson caught that fourth one! Yeah! Three of 'em are the ones who tried to rape Julie. What? No, I don't think Don touched him. But Marty had to beat him up a little to hold onto him." She listened for a moment and looked at Don.

"Don, who's the one besides the three who tried to rape Julie?"

Dan pointed with Don's free hand. "He said he's the older brother of that guy who attacked Jan on Thursday. I don't know if that's true or not." He shrugged.

Jan was nearby and looked back at him and then down at the guy with the broken limb joints. She leaned over him for a moment and nodded as she seemed to see the resemblance between this guy and the one who'd tried molesting her on Thursday.

Janet was now explaining that point about the last attacker to her father. Apparently, what she was telling him helped to bring their call to a conclusion. "Yeah! OK! Bye, Daddy!"

Dan looked into Janet's eyes as she finished her call. She winked at him! She walked over to him and had a look at his naked leg.

"I called 911 before I called my father. They're sending two ambulances. Oh Don, you've really gotta stop gettin' into these fights!" She looked again and pointed down to the leg. "Does that one hurt much?"

"Only when I move..."

She smiled at him in response to his apparent attempt at humor. She looked closely at the bloody compress he had in his hand. "Is that a shirt?"

"Yeah. Miguel gave me his tee-shirt." He nodded to the guy standing nearby and who was looking down at one of Don's attackers, seemingly standing guard.

Janet turned and walked over to the guy. She leaned into him and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for helping Don!" She was smiling as she caught Miguel by surprise with her kiss. Even under his relatively dark skin the blush that followed Janet's kiss was easily detectable.

Damn! Where's Todd when we need him!?

He looked back to where he'd last seen Cindy's brother and found that he was still holding onto his younger sister. He and Jim and the others now seemed to have calmed down the four girls who'd been about to attack Don's downed foes.

Jan seemed to have talked to each of them in turn. Dan noticed something damp-looking on her right elbow and realized that she'd scraped it when she'd kicked the little piss-ant. He didn't smile upon seeing this. Smiling would have hurt too much at this point.

Jan's a natural-born fighter, I think. Maybe I should train her and Susie. And Cindy, Donna, and Tasha too.

She now turned away from the girls and came back over to Dan just as Janet also returned to Don. The two friends looked him over and he could see that both appeared worried.

"It looks worse than it really is. You've seen it, Jan. All of the blood is just because of that blood thinner. If it wasn't for that then I'd barely be bleedin'."

"Yeah, right!"

He wanted to groan. Jan had actually witnessed the fight, he was sure. She'd seen how he'd been staggered by that single fist to Don's face.

Janet snapped her fingers. "You haven't called your folks, have you!?"

Jan looked shocked for a moment. She shook her head. Janet pulled out her phone and appeared to scroll through a list of contacts before she chose one to call. She dialed and waited a few seconds before her call was answered. "Hello! Mrs. Nichols, are Jan's parents there?"

Dan realized that Janet must have reached Margaret Nichols at the offices of the family business.

"Oh! OK! I'll call them on one of their cell phones. What!? No! No, Jan's OK. But those guys who tried to rape Julie Anderson came after Don. OH NO! He's mostly OK. He's got a bruise on his leg and a black eye with a cut on his cheek. That's all. He's standing here alongside Jan and me while we wait for the EMTs to get here. OK, sure! Here's Jan."

Janet handed over the phone to her friend and Jan had her own conversation with her stepfather's sister-in-law. As he listened to Jan Dan realized that more people had arrived on the baseball diamond. Amongst them were several teachers. He immediately noticed the presence of Mr. Robbins, as he was as equally naked as Don. And alongside the Biology teacher was Mr. Jeffers the English teacher. They each moved from one of the downed attackers to the next, examining their injuries.

As Dan took in this development he began hearing the approaching warbling wail of a set of sirens. He supposed that all sorts of emergency services and responders were headed their way.

He heard another bit of a commotion and looked around to see that Dr. Prescott and Coach Hill had just arrived.

Oh well, here it comes! I'm gonna be outah this school in no time flat.

Janet Mullins followed his gaze and took in the approach of the Principal. She gave her best friend's stepbrother a reassuring smile and strode over to where Dr. Prescott was now beginning to heatedly inquire of Marty Anderson about why he was sitting atop the back of a quietly sobbing piss-ant. Janet inserted herself between the school official and the son of the Assistant District Attorney and took the Principal by the arm. She started turning him away from the site and the sight of Marty's continuing restraint of the piss-ant.

Dan watched in pure astonishment as Jan's best friend re-directed the principal away from Marty and the piss-ant and moved him over to the pitcher's mound. There she pulled his head down and began an earnest verbal pitch into his ear. The Principal's eyes got huge as he listened to whatever the sixteen year old daughter of his boss had to say. His gaze rose and scanned around the area surrounding the mound and fell upon the four clusters of students and teachers gathered around the four injured assailants. Then his attention shifted to Don Nichols and his stepsister Janice Thomas.

The older man could now see that the Nichols boy was injured and even his stepsister seemed to have some fresh blood on her blouse and arm. This caused him to rapidly re-evaluate things. He now thought of the attack upon the Thomas girl from the prior week and realized that a repeat attempt at attacking her might have been made.

Janet pulled his head down and began gesturing while speaking — drawing the man's attention to each facet of what she understood had happened.

While Dan was watching this he suddenly realized that Jan must have gotten in contact with her mother. "Mom!? Where are you? What!? What are you doing up there? Oh! OK! Mom! Listen, Mom! Some guys attacked Don! Yeah! He's only hurt a little! Three of 'em were the same ones who attacked Julie. Don said the fourth one is the brother of that guy who attacked me last week."

Jan's eyes rolled and then she shut her eyes as she listened to something that her said. "No, Don's only slightly hurt. He's got a swollen, bruised place on one leg and he's gonna have a black eye along with a cut on his cheek. What!? NO! No one cut him. It's just where one of them got in a punch. Dan broke that guy's arm and leg! What!? No! I said that Don broke the guy's limbs. Mom! You just misheard me or the connection got weird — that's all!"

Jan's and Dan's eyes both got big at Jan's gaff. She'd spoken his true name!

"What!? Oh, four of 'em came at Don and he took out three of them. The other one ran but then Marty started chasing him down and I kicked him and Marty caught up with him and beat him up! YEAH! I jumped and kicked 'im! What!? No! I'm fine. I scraped my elbow when I landed — that's all." Jan was grinning as she related that last part to her mother.

Now Jan seemed to be listening to her mother. "Huh!? No! No, he's in the hospital. Oh! Uncle Lester called you about that. Well, yeah! No, Don was barely touched that time. He said that weirdo grabbed him once. Then Snottingham tried to hit him and he just ducked. That caused the V-P to fall down and hit his head on the floor. YES! That's really what happened. Two kids in the class told me about it. Then, I heard about it again earlier during lunch. Yeah! OK! Here he is."

Jan rolled her eyes yet again and handed Janet's cell phone to Dan. He shook his head for a moment and then lifted it so that he could speak with Gwen Nichols.

Dan then began speaking with Don's stepmother Gwen. After a minute or so she then handed off her cell phone to Don's father Henry. Dan then described his very weird encounter with the crazy V-P and what then followed as he was questioned about how Snottingham had ended up unconscious.

Then Don's father asked about how his son had come to be hurt. Dan described the attack directed both against Dan and the four girls. As he finished answering questions from Don's father he had to listen to a string of curses as Henry promised to sue the families of those four boys and the local judge who had allowed the three would-be rapists to be released and returned to school.

Eventually, Dan learned that Henry and Gwen were up in the countryside between Roanoke Rapids and Warrenton - looking at a newly available tract of country land about halfway between I-85 and I-95, near to the North Carolina and Virginia state line. They were looking for property to expand the family training facilities in a way that they'd attract business from both states.

The call wound down and Henry told Dan that he had to get off the phone as he needed to call Don's uncle Matt and some other individuals he knew. Dan recognized that the discussion of the previous evening was likely to be renewed and even intensified. They said their goodbyes and Dan promised that he would be sure to be checked out by the EMTs and his doctors. Henry and Gwen were planning on finishing their business before turning around to return to Danielville.

Coach Hill had made his rounds and noticed how a number of his players were acting very responsibly in aiding other students. He was glad to see that level of responsible behavior being shown by them. He'd worked with other teams where the football team members had acted irresponsibly — or, far worse. It appeared he had a good group of kids playing for him.

In the background the sound of sirens now ended and the warning tones of emergency vehicles backing up could be heard in the parking lot between the baseball field and school buildings.

Dave Hill now walked up to young Don Nichols and his stepsister. The young man who he wished could play as his quarterback had someone's shirt pressed up against a freely bleeding wound. There was blood on the girl's top, too. "What happened, Don? Why was there a fight?"

Dan pointed with Don's free hand. He pointed out the three would-be rapists. "Those three are the guys who tried to rape Julie Anderson. They were out for some revenge and maybe other things involving my stepsisters and friends. That one still conscious and with the broken limbs said he's the older brother of the guy who attacked me last week in practice and then assaulted Jan. The four of them came at me together. That one Marty's sitting on is the only one who got away from me. That's only because he ran after I dropped the other three. Marty got him after he tried to escape. Though, it took a flying tackle from Jan to slow him down so that Marty could run him down."

Dave Hill's eyebrows had risen up in response to mention of the guy who'd been on the football team. He turned around to look at the one indicated and now that he looked him over he could see the resemblance with that young idiot he'd thrown off the team the previous week. He looked up and met the eyes of his nephew David. David shrugged his shoulders and spoke. "I'm just helpin' to make sure that none of the girls stomp on any of these idiots. If several of us hadn't have caught and held them they would have done more damage than what Don did to them." He grinned at what he'd said.

Coach Hill listened and decided his nephew was serving a purpose and just nodded. "OK, David. Just be sure to make some room around them when the EMTs get here." He started to turn back to Don Nichols and his stepsister when he saw two Danielville PD officers coming through the gate over by the dugout. Then he looked at the crowd of mostly students standing around the infield of the baseball diamond and realized that something needed to be done. He lifted his whistle to his lips and waved his arms as he blew on it. Suddenly, the murmur of discussion surrounding him ended. "Listen up everyone! The police are here and the EMTs will be arriving any moment. Make room for the emergency personnel. Back up and let them do their jobs!"

Mr. Robbins had made his way through the crowd of students and now approached Don Nichols. He glanced at Janice Thomas and quirked up his eyebrows at Dan.

Dan made an attempt at a grin and instead grimaced. "This is my older stepsister, Mr. Robbins. Go ahead and say whatever you want to. Jan and I seem to suffer through the same attacks on a regular basis. We kinda know everything there is to know about one another." He turned and tried to wink at Jan. She just smiled at him.

"OK, Don. What about that thing I've got in my office?"

Dan thought for a moment. "Oh, OK. Call our home this evening and check to see if I'm at home. Maybe I'll be in jail or something. But, I hope not!" Dan really tried to smile but just couldn't quite pull it off.

Jan snorted. "Don't pay any attention to that! Don's just worried over these two attacks on him. What do you have in your office?" Jan smiled as sweetly as possible given how things seemed to be going with her family.

Dan snorted and then immediately groaned as his injured cheek reacted to that action.

Earth to Dan! Don't puff out your cheeks, dummy!

Jack Robbins looked at the beautiful, exotic looking girl whose top was stained with blood. If this was Don's other stepsister then he was beginning to think that he now had a better understanding of why the young man didn't feel comfortable being thrust into the program. The presently nude man could feel his own response to the young woman. She was beautiful, desirable, and a whole lot of other things. For a teenaged boy to live with such a delightful creature and also with his other stepsister could certainly be a problem. The nude teacher just tried to suppress his own reaction to the exotically beautiful looking young woman standing before him.

Dan turned to Jan. "Don't say anything to anyone else, but Snottingham had a weapon with him when he first took a swing at me. I took it away and threw it into Mr. Robbins' office. We've had a look at it and it's really, really unusual. I want 'Dad' to have some of his contacts examine it and some other things I noticed about our crazy V-P. He may be something other than what he appears to be. That is, not crazy and maybe not even American." He gave Jan one of his expressions — as best as he could with his left eye starting to close up and the cheek being covered with a blood-soaked bandage made up from an undershirt.

Jan's eyes got big and round yet again. It seemed that such was happening to her with regular frequency, these days. She started slowly shaking her head as Janet and Principal Prescott were now approaching them. She didn't comment on what Dan had had to say to her.

Once Janet came up beside her best friend she was handed her cell phone by Dan. "Thanks, Janet. We've spoken with the folks. They're up near the Virginia line and won't be back for awhile. But they're not too worried about what's been happenin' — at least, not after they heard from both of us." Dan nodded slightly to Jan.

Jan followed up with a comment of her own. "Yeah, I think they're startin' to learn that when something happens around Don then he's gonna be the survivor — not the victim." She looked at their Principal instead of either her friend or lover.

Janet just grinned at what she heard. It was all as true as could be to her.

James Prescott just let out a breath as he heard that last part from the Thomas girl. These young Thomas girls were just making his day for him! First little Tasha Thomas and now Janice Thomas. The man was suddenly trying to recall if there were any other Thomas girls in the middle or elementary schools. He'd have to prepare himself if there were any more of them.

Dan observed the Principal and thought back to how Tasha had harangued Dr. Prescott earlier that morning and realized that the man was probably feeling a bit shocked by how he kept encountering teenaged Thomas women and their astute, succinct observations.

Ouch! I'll have to remember and talk with Mr. Mullins about that! Otherwise, this poor guy might be tempted to take out some of his frustrations on the girls. Damn, damn, damn! He and I have both had really bad days, so far! He could go crazy about all of this insane stuff.

At this point Officers Mitch Littleton and Chad Devereaux had worked their way through the dispersing crowd to where Don's attackers were being overseen by several students. Miguel was one of the students standing guard over the injured. He'd overheard Jan talking to the other girls and he had a good idea of what had happened. He told the two officers what he'd seen as he ran up to find Don injured and what he understood had occurred before he and the other students had arrived. They listened as the arriving EMTs began working their way to the area around the pitcher's mound. Assessments and treatments were begun on the attackers. The two officers moved to assist the others with placing the injured onto gurneys.

Deputy Danny Perkins arrived at a jog and was directed to Marty Anderson. Marty grinned as the familiar deputy came over his way and he got up off of his prisoner. "Hi Danny. This guy tried attacking Don but ended up running, instead. I caught 'im and had to restrain him for you guys. He's one of the three who tried to rape Julie."

Danny's expression changed over from an honest attempt at neutrality to a hostile scowl as he hauled up the still sobbing piss-ant. He carefully overlooked the obvious signs of a beating and spun the stupid kid around to face away from him. He held the kid's hands behind his back and handcuffed him.

More arrivals were now occurring. Captain Lester Thomas came through the crowd and found several familiar faces. His boss Sheriff James Perkins arrived only a few moments later. He noticed his nephew cuffing a kid that looked familiar. Then he recognized who the kid was — he'd been one of the three who'd attempted raping young Julie Anderson. He turned to where Danny and Marty were standing beside the now shivering and sobbing piss-ant.

Police Chief Richard Matheson and Deputy District Attorney Martin Anderson came onto the scene together. They saw the Sheriff heading over to where his nephew held a handcuffed kid. Attorney Anderson's son was there too and so they went in that direction. While Danny held onto the shaking piss-ant the three officials heard Marty relate what he knew of the attack on Don. The officials turned around to watch as two gurneys were moved along with the unconscious subjects of Don Nichols' all too capable ability to defend himself and others. Several students were helping with rolling the gurneys along towards the gate in the fence over by the visitors' dugout. A brief discussion led to the conclusion that they needed to speak with the Nichols boy.

Meanwhile, one of the EMTs and Coach Hill were attempting to deal with the remaining, conscious 'victim' of Don's actions. Another ambulance was reported to have arrived via the emergency services' radio, so that individual would soon be removed along with his unconscious compatriots.

Lester Thomas had been having a discussion with his two children and also simultaneously wondering why Leroy had a naked Debbie clinging to him. Lester knew who the girl was. One of her grandfathers was Police Chief Matheson. They got along quite well together - having worked on a number of cases and other problems that crossed over the lines separating their respective jurisdictions and responsibilities. Sheriff Perkins assigned his Patrol Captain many responsibilities and one was the majority of the interactions with the Danielville Police Department.

However, Debbie's other grandfather was the mayor and there were problems between that man and the county government and especially the Sheriff's Department. Lester looked at the girl and knew he'd have to speak with her parents. His son seemed to have gotten the attention of a girl whose attraction to him could cause problems in the local law enforcement community and between the local governmental representatives.

Tasha was being held by her brother and Debbie. Lester asked about that and learned that Tasha had had to be restrained when she'd seen how Don was injured. She'd wanted to attack the boys who'd ambushed Don and the girls. As Lester heard about this he began to wonder about the frame of mind of his daughter. He spent a few minutes checking with her to make sure that she was OK and under control. He managed a smile as he turned away from his two children and Debbie to check on his niece and her stepbrother.

As he turned to check with Jan and Don he found that his boss and the Police Chief and Attorney Anderson were approaching. Along with them came Danny Perkins with an evident prisoner and Marty Anderson.

So it was that six individuals gathered before Don, Jan, Janet, Mr. Robbins, and Dr. Prescott. One of them tried to get away from those two individuals who now terrified him. However, even as he tried to back away he collided with Marty Anderson. The terrified piss-ant almost fled into the grasp of Deputy Danny Perkins. Others noticed this and so the Sheriff told his nephew to remove his prisoner and transport him to the Police Department, as the high school was in the jurisdiction of the city of Danielville.

The last ambulance had arrived and now Mike Devereaux and his partner made their second appearance of the day at Morgan County High School. Coach Dave Hill and the other EMT who'd stayed behind assisted in getting the last of Don's attackers placed onto a gurney. His moaning and complaints grew in volume as his broken joints were jostled during the movement to the gurney.

Both Jan and Dan observed this and tight smiles played across their faces. Tasha, Cindy, Donna, and Cindy were nearby and they expressed their displeasure at the guy who'd managed to injure Don prior to his discovery that Dan as Don was actually a disciplined and accomplished martial artist.

A discussion ensued and the various officials learned about what had happened when Don, his two stepsisters, and two friends had walked out to the baseball diamond to have a private discussion.

The question was raised. Police Chief Matheson asked it. "Don, what were you five discussing?"

Dan smirked a bit before answering. "That's a private matter, Chief Matheson. I've been remembering a few things since I woke up with a case of amnesia. I wanted to talk with all four girls about what I thought that I remembered versus what they knew." He turned to Martin Anderson. "Mr. Anderson. I don't want to discuss that particular topic any further without my Uncle Matt being present as my, no — make that our attorney. Would you agree that our private discourse is just that — a private discussion amongst friends. We were simply interrupted by a bunch of crude, uncultured ruffians who threatened things against my stepsisters, friends, and myself. I only acted out of self-defense and what had been a friendly discussion among friends bears no relation to what occurred as that discussion was interrupted by those ruffians who were so intent upon violence." Dan attempted a slight grin through the ache of Don's face as he finished the delivery of that little speech.

Martin Anderson and Lester Thomas paused to look at one another, as they knew each other quite well. They both burst out in laughter. Soon, they were joined in their mirthful response to young Don's comments by Chief Matheson and Sheriff Perkins. Jan was laughing so hard she had to wipe tears away from her cheeks. Mr. Robbins, Dr. Prescott, and Marty Anderson just looked on in nearly stupefied surprise as they ran through what an apparently 15 year old Don had stated. Dan just stood there and tried not to smile through his aching face.

"Damn, Sneak! You even know the legal stuff, don't you!" The group turned around to find Chad Devereaux grinning at how they'd responded to Dan's pronouncements.

Corporal Mitch Littleton had also finished aiding with the injured attackers who'd been laid out by Don. He came up and nodded to his boss Chief Matheson. "He sounds a lot like his Uncle Matt. But he's a little more direct in how he handles problems, I think."

Mark Jeffers also joined the group surrounding the two bloody students. He'd helped with the injured attackers and now he wanted to learn some more about what had caused the attack against Don Nichols.

More chuckling followed as those surrounding Dan considered how young Don had dealt with his attackers. District Attorney Anderson spoke. "I think we can let your private discussions remain private. I don't want to find myself confronted by Matt Jennings anytime soon. Your private conversations are just that and don't appear to have any relation to this obvious case of assault other than you were sitting here conversing when you were attacked. We'll just leave things at that." He nodded to Dan and Jan to let them know they were off the hook as far as that matter lay.

The questions continued as Mike Devereaux returned to have a look at the two stepsiblings. He cleaned and bandaged Jan's elbow before turning to deal with Don's injuries. He simply sprayed an antiseptic on the leg injury before getting around to the facial wound. As that wound was cleaned Jan responded to the continuing questions. She answered with what she'd observed from her hiding place at the home dugout. Then she finished with her description of how she'd kicked the running piss-ant and what happened when Marty caught up with him.

Mike finished cleaning the wound and sprayed a coagulating antiseptic sealant over the area of the injury. He pressed the torn wound closed and covered it with a large adhesive bandage. "Don, you need to get this sutured. It's large enough a cut that it needs to be closed up properly. Do you want to go to the emergency room or see your own doctor?"

"I think I'll go see my Neurologist and his partner. Jan can drive me there. He'll probably want to look me over for any injury that might have been done to my skull."

Mike Devereaux nodded. "That sounds good. You should go ahead and get this treated and sutured up." He turned to the Principal. "He needs to deal with this immediately. It looks like he needs his clothes so that he can leave school."

Dr. Prescott nodded and pulled a keyring from his pocket. He turned to Mark Jeffers and handed the keys to the teacher. "Mark, go along with Don and Jan. Open up the office where we're storing the clothing boxes."

Mr. Jeffers himself nodded and turned to leave the baseball field. Don and Jan accompanied him. Janet joined them and accompanied several of Don's friends who also went along with them. Dan didn't speak with Jan as he didn't want to bring up any of the topics they'd discussed in front of the several teenagers or the teacher who were accompanying them.

The officials now turned to the girls who'd been with the duo who'd just left when the attack began. They began questioning them for a bit in order to get multiple perspectives on the start of the attack.

Martin Anderson found himself admiring how the young Nichols boy had stood up to this attack. And what Janice Thomas had done in staying behind and even getting involved in stopping one of the attackers from escaping was truly admirable. And he could almost chuckle at the thought that his son had caught up with one those monsters who'd tried to rape Julie. But, he'd have to have a talk with Marty about not taking things too far and crossing over into a form of vigilante justice.