Chapter 19

To Cal's relief, nothing bad had happened by the time most people had eaten and the sun was getting low. He had relaxed his vigil on Rebecca and Bobby and was talking with Dante Powers about the new basketball coach and the team's prospects. He realized that he had not seen the lovebirds for a while, and when Dante walked off to see someone else, Cal started scanning the beach for them.

He was just starting to be concerned when Cheryl came running up to him, followed closely by Tessa. "Cal, Cal!" Cheryl panted out. "Greg and his dogs went up the beach talking about some sweet nerd pussy that was out that way. They're really drunk. Rebecca and Bobby walked that way earlier."

The 'dogs' referred to Greg's closest followers. That afternoon there had been two, both teammates. One was the quarterback, Chad, who had come to resemble Greg's shadow. The other 'dog' was Vick, the top defensive lineman.

Cal was in motion before Cheryl stopped talking, cursing himself for losing track of his sister. He could hear Tessa pounding along behind him and was only slightly surprised to see the athletic Cheryl surge just past him as he put everything he had into his stride. They got lots of stares as they flew by but only a few people started to follow them.

It was a good fifty yards from where Cal had been standing to the end of where the students were congregated. They covered at least another hundred yards beyond that before he heard screaming ahead and back from the water a ways.

After what seemed like miles but was only about thirty yards farther, Cal and Cheryl burst into a large clearing to a chilling scene. Rebecca was on her back, naked. Chad was pinning her arms to the ground as she struggled. Greg was kneeling between her legs, trying to aim his cock at Rebecca's opening as she kicked and squirmed frantically to avoid him. His swim trunks were behind him and he apparently had not worn a shirt.

To Vick's amazement and relief, he saw that Rebecca was not as helpless as he had at first thought. As Greg and Chad forced her to the ground, she turned into a dervish of wildly flailing legs. Vick desperately wanted to help her, but he had barely gotten his vision back and he could not marshal enough breath to stand or even to crawl.

As Rebecca had watched and felt Bobby take the brutal beating from Greg, she had been almost paralyzed with fear, but it was fear for Bobby, not for herself. She did not know how badly he was hurt, but she feared the worst. The fury of Greg's attack had been stunning, and she could not see how her lover could survive the impact that she had felt through his body as Greg beat and kicked him.

Suddenly, Vick had appeared, and Greg's attention was now on her, rather than on Bobby. Greg was going to rape her, that was obvious. But a strange thing happened. The potentially paralyzing fear drained from her as she was forced to the ground, replaced by a rage that she never knew she possessed. Her virginity was the most precious thing she possessed, and she had long been committed to giving it to Bobby. Maybe Bobby was dead - she did not know, but if Bobby could not have the gift that was rightly his, there was no way that Greg was going to steal it.

Instances of people acquiring superhuman strength in situations of great duress are well known. Rebecca's virginity - Bobby's property - was being threatened. To her, that was enough to drive her into that superhuman zone. Her crotch was exposed for the first time to anyone. That did not matter. She was naked in front of three males. That did not matter. All that mattered was that Greg was trying to steal what belonged to Bobby. The fact that it was her body about to be violated was secondary in her thinking. At that moment, her heart told her that she would rather die than let Greg have what he was trying to take.

Rebecca had been flailing frantically at Greg for many seconds, throwing her body around violently to prevent him from lining up his cock. When he let go of a leg to try to guide himself into her, she kicked him with all of her might, forcing him to grab her legs again to hold her still. At that moment she caught a glimpse of two people rushing toward them, and she knew that it was Cal and Cheryl.

Knowing that help was at hand did not cause Rebecca to relax. To the contrary, knowing that she was going to win allowed her to turn her anger toward punishing Greg, rather than just protecting her cherry. Once more Greg released her leg and tried to line himself up, swearing at her for resisting and at Chad for failing to hold her still. Instantly, her foot flashed out, hitting Greg solidly in the face. He redoubled his efforts to restrain her and slapped her hard across her cheek.

When Cal's discipline caused him go pause momentarily to assess the situation, Cheryl never broke her stride and pounded across the sand toward her erstwhile boyfriend. Cal saw his sister kick Greg in the face, receiving a hard slap on the cheek in response. That made Cal lunge forward, whereupon he caught a glimpse of Bobby, crumpled and motionless on the other side of Rebecca with Vick bent over him.

Cal's sister Rebecca was just the sweetest person he would ever know. Her genuine innocence was endearing. And Bobby! It was not hard to figure out that one or more of the three had beaten him badly. It was hard to believe about Vick. In fact, it looked like Vick was himself either hurt or ill.

That Bobby had been beaten trying to protect Rebecca was obvious to Cal. It was the way Rebecca and Bobby were, and it was the most beautiful thing in Cal's life. That Greg would try to steal that innocence, that purity out of some perverse hatred just drove Cal over the edge.

Although he was still a good fifty feet away, Cal let out a yell. Looking up, Greg hollered "Stop that fuckin' kicker so I can finish this piece." Somehow, Greg had not seen Cheryl hurtling toward him and she had not made a sound. Vick heard the yell and rose up shakily.

The big quarterback let go of Rebecca's arms. He saw Cheryl, but ignored her and immediately headed toward Cal, assuming that he could just block Cal's way with his superior size and strength. When Chad released her arms, Rebecca went instinctively for Greg's eyes, scratching him viciously down both sides of his face. When he reflexively put his hand to his face and sat up, she aimed a solid kick at his crotch. He had barely recoiled from that when she scored another solid kick to his throat.

Rebecca should have scrambled away from Greg as soon as Chad released her arms, but she was so overcome with rage that all she could think of was to hurt him. Emitting a strangled bellow of pain, due to his wounded larynx, and grabbing at his crotch with one hand, Greg hit Rebecca in the face again, this time with his fist. That blow left her barely conscious.

Vick saw the blow to Rebecca's face, and it was almost like he had taken the hit himself. Somehow, somewhere, he found a hidden reservoir of strength and got his feet under himself. Half-crouched, half-standing, Vick saw Greg winding up for another blow to Rebecca's head. His massive arm outstretched, Vick flung himself toward Greg. Vick's hand reached Greg's arm just as it started forward toward the almost-unconscious girl. It was enough to knock Greg off balance, and the blow never connected.

The alcohol, the exertion, and the oxygen deficit from his barely functional diaphragm left Vick once again semi-conscious on the ground, but the potentially deadly blow had been deflected. At just that moment, Cheryl reached Rebecca and knelt down over her legs, belligerently facing Greg.

Meanwhile, knowing that time was critical, Cal ran toward Chad at full speed, then did a slight sidestep to get by him. As Cal slipped past, Chad reached out to grab him. Although it was not essential to his objective of saving his sister, his towering anger caused Cal to grab Chad's arm and spin himself. As Cal heard the pop and the instant scream, he felt satisfaction that it was the right arm. No passes that year.

Greg had not even looked back toward Cal until he heard Chad's scream. All chance of 'getting his piece' had ended when Rebecca's heel hit his testicles. It was not a disabling blow, but it hurt enough to shrink his erection instantly. Now that his supposed lackey, Vick, had interfered once again and 'his woman', Cheryl, was protecting his intended conquest, sex receded from the forefront of his interest. Anger at being denied what he wanted became his new driving force. He was about to deal with Vick's betrayal when Chad screamed. Then, the fact that his quarterback was disabled seeped through the alcohol buzz and amplified his rage.

Swearing vehemently but barely audibly, Greg lunged to his feet, already moving toward Cal, the alcohol somehow overcome by adrenalin. He hardly noticed that he was only seeing thru one eye.

Vick was marginally aware of what was happening, as if in a nightmare. Greg had beaten Bobby, beaten him badly. Bobby was a good kid. Now Greg had tried to rape Rebecca, another good kid. How did he, Vick, get in the middle of this. This was terribly wrong! He would never do these things himself! It was against everything his mother had taught him. His mother: she had warned him that something bad could happen.

Hearing Chad's scream of pain had taken the edge off of Cal's rage and allowed the discipline of his training to take hold again. He saw Greg coming at him, obviously drunk and just as obviously wounded by Rebecca's heroic defense. "Greg! Greg! Just back off, Asshole, and you won't get hurt! It's over! Greg!"

Calling the big guy 'Asshole' and suggesting that he, Cal, could hurt Greg were both highly inflammatory moves. Cal could not say that he said those things on purpose, but that was what came out. At any rate, Greg never broke stride.

Later, Cal had to admit to himself and to Ken that his next move was more deadly than it had to be. But within a fraction of a second he had unleashed a full-force kick at Greg's knee. Immobilizing a dangerous opponent by taking out a knee was a standard defensive tactic, and Cal used it instinctively.

There was more than just stopping Greg on Cal's mind, though. He wanted to punish the would-be rapist. Cal could deliver a punishment that Greg could not buy his way out of. Cal's sense of fairness demanded it, overruling all of the years of training and discipline that had momentarily governed his actions.

It was a flashback to the first attack on Fasil fifteen months earlier. This time, though, the target was not a trained fighter and was drunk besides. Greg's knee took the full force of Cal's kick. It was Greg's forward foot and his weight had just transferred to it. The joint was forced to bend sideways into a terribly unnatural configuration and gave up the ghost, ligaments probably beyond hope of adequate repair for any future high-level football.

Vick had been able to turn his head and he saw Greg's destruction. The sight energized him enough to get on his knees. He pulled off his smelly but large T-shirt and handed it to Cheryl before he again collapsed onto his hands.

Now it was time for Cal to take care of Rebecca, whom Cheryl had quickly covered with Vick's shirt. Cal saw his sister's suit and her cover-up a few feet away, but when he got to them, they were torn apart. Helping Cheryl pull his sister to a sitting position, Cal took off his own shirt and put it on her, keeping Vick's shirt around her lower body. Rebecca roused from her semi-conscious state just as Tessa pounded up to them.

When Rebecca recognized Cal, she screamed out "Cal! Oh, God, Cal! He killed Bobby! He killed Bobby!" She tried to roll toward her boyfriend, but she was still too weak. "No, Sis. Bobby's alive. He's breathing." Hoping that what he had said was true, Cal looked at the boy and saw that it was. Rebecca collapsed backward and Cheryl let her down easily.

"Cops! Ambulance!" Cal shouted.

With barely a glance at Greg, Cheryl tore off the shorts she was wearing over her swimsuit, tossed them to Cal, and said "Put these on her." Then, she took off in a sprint. Fortunately, an alert deputy had seen the three running off in apparent panic and other students starting to follow. He decided to investigate. Cheryl had only gone sixty or seventy yards when she encountered him. "Ambulance! More cops! Tried to rape! Beat up bad!" she managed to get out before sitting down on the sand, gasping for breath.

The deputy did everything right, and in less than a minute, the paramedic van could be heard coming up the beach and at least two squad car sirens were right with it.

While this was going on, Cal had gotten the shorts on Rebecca. He was cuddling her and restraining her from touching Bobby, telling her that she might hurt him more if she touched him. Tessa was right with them, crying as she tried to comfort her friend. Rebecca was still almost out of it and could only keep sobbing and chanting "He killed Bobby! He killed Bobby!"

Two paramedics arrived with a stretcher and their equipment kit. They looked first at Greg, then at Chad, both of whom were moaning pitifully. As one stooped over Greg, Cal got angrily to his feet. "Hey, he's the rapist! Forget him. This boy's hurt real bad and he did it. Take care of him. Now, damn it!"

The paramedic sputtered at Cal's bossiness. "But... but this is Greg Overland..." It was the first deputy that almost dragged the EMT over to Bobby and got the situation corrected.

While Bobby was being examined, several more deputies and the first flight of students arrived on the scene. Gasps and titters were evenly mixed as Greg moaned and writhed, not caring that his crotch was regularly displayed in full view, his limp penis flopping around. The deputies had all they could handle trying to enforce a perimeter around the scene.

It took both Cal and Tessa to hold Rebecca back as the paramedics worked on Bobby. When they had him laid on the stretcher, he came to and tried to sit up, croaking out "Rebecca! Rebecca!" with what little voice he could muster.

The paramedics tried to get him calmed down, and finally, the lead EMT turned to Rebecca and said "Please! See if you can calm him down before he hurts himself worse!" As Rebecca crawled forward and looked like she was going to lay right on top of Bobby, the EMT had to catch her and warn her. "Hey! He may have broken ribs! Don't touch him!"

"Bobby, Bobby!" Rebecca sobbed out. "I'm OK! He didn't get in me! Cal got here! I'll be right here, Honey. Just let them take care of you. Ohhhh, Bobby! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"

As much as Cal had always loved his sister, his admiration for her went even higher at that point. Here she was, nearly raped, her face already discoloring from Greg's blows, both arms bruised from Chad holding her down, and all she could think about was Bobby. Instinctively, Cal knew that anger and concern for someone else were good for her. They would help stave off her own shock reaction.

By this point, over a hundred students had arrived and Rickert forced his way to the police line. "What the fuck?" he yelled. "Who wiped out Greg? Shit! Chad, too! Christ, we're screwed! Lemme at the motherfuckers!"

Cheryl had recovered her breath enough to beat the police back to the group, where she hovered near Rebecca. When she heard the new arrival yelling, she jumped to her feet in anger and strode toward him, squeezing between two deputies to get right in his face.

"Rickert, you slime ball. They tried to rape Rebecca and they beat up Bobby. That's what happened. Luckily, Cal got here in time."

"Cal? Then who the fuck hurt Greg? And who gives a shit about a coupla nerds, anyway? Man, we had the championship!"

"Cal took 'em both out in about three seconds, that's who did it. And if you don't shut your filthy mouth, I'll take you out myself!" Cheryl spat at him.

"Cal? No fuckin' way! That shrimp kicker? Why would he wanna wreck the team?"

"He was trying to keep Greg from raping his sister, you asshole!" Cheryl was screaming at him.

"Rape, Hell! She probably wanted it!" With that, the angry player broke through the police line and headed for the little huddle around Bobby's stretcher. But before he got halfway there, the hulking body of Vick suddenly blocked his way.

"Far enough, Rickert! They got what they deserved. Now get back out of here and shut up!" Vick never tried to approach the victims, and never said anything more. He did stand as a second line of protection between the growing crowd of students and the medical team.

At that point, Vick was full of self-loathing and disbelief. Cal's destruction of Vick's two teammates had shaken him badly. When he saw the depth of love and concern Rebecca and Bobby had for each other, it reminded him of what he once had with his mother. The enormity of what had happened - what he had been a part of - hit him and he vomited again, violently. In all of the furor, hardly anyone noticed, except for Tessa. She came over to him and just patted him on the back until he was able to stand again.

By the time most of the rest of the football team reached the scene, a female deputy had helped Greg get his trunks on, but his moans and curses had not abated. Having gotten a good idea of what had happened, the medics now seemed to be taking all of the time they needed with Bobby before paying any attention to the others.

The other players reacted with mixed shock and anger, with most of the anger directed at Cal for ruining their season. Most of the rest of the school did not know much about Cal, and there was general disbelief that he could have wrought such mayhem.

Chad had managed to get to his feet and started moving toward the crowd, probably hoping to get away. It was Vick who stopped him, threatening to tear off the other arm. Chad apparently believed him.

When the questioning began, Rebecca refused to say a word. She said she would only talk when she was at the hospital with Bobby. Even Cal could not budge her. It was Cal who reminded the officers that a rape victim or intended victim needed to be examined for injuries or other evidence.

After a couple of arguments, the deputies reluctantly allowed her to be taken into the van for transport to the hospital along with Bobby. Another ambulance had been dispatched for Chad and Greg. Just before the door closed, Cal yelled out "Hey, get fingernail scrapings from my sister. She scratched his face good. Wait! Don't leave or the evidence won't be good! And her torn clothes - they're evidence, too."

A deputy was questioning Cal at the time, and tried to keep him from heading toward the van. Fortunately, the very first deputy was keeping close track of things and ordered the evidence properly taken care of.

Vick did not even think of the humiliation of having his mother pick him up from the party. Once the endless questions were finished and it was decided that he had done nothing to be arrested for, he refused a deputy's offer of a ride home. Seeing him dropped off from a patrol car could have killed his mother.

He had to wait for several other callers at the lone working pay phone by the park's putrid rest rooms. It took more courage to dial his home number than to charge across the clearing at Greg.

"Mom. Can you pick me up at the park. I... I'm OK, but I screwed up big time. You were... you were right all along about Greg. I'm so s... sorry!"

The ride home was silent, and Vick could not look Emily, his mother, in the eye. She decided that it would all come out when he was ready. Her son had been like a different person since early the previous spring. He had flaunted her rules and mouthed off to her in ways he would never have done before.

Emily had much to be proud of in her son, and it been the one huge bright spot in her otherwise hard life. She had worked very hard to give him a chance to rise above their meager existence, and it looked like football was his ticket. Lately, she thought that she had lost him to that gang of rich playboys who were just using him. Now... she desperately hoped he was not in serious trouble.

When they got home, she risked the motherly move of telling him that he really needed a shower. She busied herself with tea, trying not to worry about what she would learn.

Vick just stood in the kitchen for a moment when he returned. Then, he almost sprinted to her and engulfed her in his arms. She was much shorter than him and no lightweight, but he lifted her right off of her feet and hugged her almost painfully. He began a tearful chant of "Mom, I'm sorry! Mom, I'm sorry!..."

After a minute, Vick led Emily to the sofa, and pulled her right onto his lap, a totally unprecedented move for them. He told her the story of what had happened.

"But you didn't do anything to those kids. In fact, you tried to stop Greg," she pointed out.

"But if I had been there, I could have stopped it all! I know I wouldn't have let them hurt Bobby or Rebecca," he insisted.

"No, I'm sure you wouldn't, Honey."

"You know the worst thing, Mom? When I saw how those two thought only of each other, it... we had that until I screwed it up!"

"I think we've got it back now, Honey. I really do."

"Will you go to the hospital with me, Mom? I've got some big-time apologizing to do."

Elaine and Martin were literally about to board an airplane when they were paged and found out about the attack. Pete's team had an early pre-season game on national television, and they had planned to spend the whole weekend. That plan ended in a hurry.

Bobby suffered a painfully bruised kidney, a dislocated shoulder, a concussion, three cracked ribs, a hairline fracture of his pelvis, and massive bruises all over his back, buttocks, and upper legs. There was nothing that he could not recover from completely, but it would take quite a while and he was in for a lot of pain. Only the fact that Greg was drunk and was kicking Bobby with bare feet prevented paralyzing or fatal spinal injuries.

Martin and Elaine visited Bobby's parents in his hospital room as soon as they were sure that Rebecca was OK. Her cheek was turning alarming colors, as were her upper arms, but there was no concussion. The fact that she refused to talk to them until they went and saw how Bobby certainly spurred them along. They ended up staying well past midnight as Rebecca refused to leave until she got a definitive report on Bobby and was allowed to see him.

Bobby's display of selfless courage on their daughter's behalf erased any lingering concerns Elaine and Martin had about the boy's appropriateness for their daughter. If the attackers had not taken the time for Bobby's beating, the rape would have succeeded before Cal arrived. The whole situation was very traumatic for Rebecca, but not nearly what it might have been. Her anger and her concern for Bobby were good signs.