Chapter 50

Sunday morning brought a sobering conversation. "Before I fly home, we'd better talk about the other two boys," Elaine told Cheryl and Cal when the couple returned from their reduced 'day-after-game' early workout.

"To tell the truth, I'd just as soon never hear about them again," Cheryl responded. "I lost all of Friday night for studying and I had trouble concentrating yesterday. I don't want to be rude, Elaine, but I really have to hit the books today."

"I'm afraid you may not have the choice to just ignore them," Cal warned. "The big one could sue you."

"That's crazy!"

"Absolutely. But that won't stop him," Cal told her.

"I'll stop him," Elaine said. "I'll sue him first. I was the one he injured. I hate to play that kind of game, but it's the way the system is set up, I'm afraid. We'd better have Maddy sue Pat, too. It's preemptive."

"This is crazy!" Cheryl moaned. "This was the year we were just going to be normal college students, relax, and enjoy ourselves. Are we cursed, or something?"

It had taken a day and a half, but the need for tension release had finally hit Cheryl. Friday night and Saturday, the anticipation of the games had centered her thinking. Saturday night, it was the party and Cal's return. She might have gotten by without a breakdown, but when Elaine brought up the subject, it broke through her defenses and the tears came. Elaine and Cal bracketed her and did their best to comfort her, but they realized that she just had to cry her way through it.

The effect of the 'break-in' on Cheryl was made even more clear when there was a knock on the door after she had barely regained her composure. She recoiled and gasped before Cal got up to see who was knocking.

Through the peep hole, he could see a man and a woman waiting on the step. As he opened the door, he assumed they were soliciting, probably from some religious organization. By the time it registered that that was unlikely on a Sunday morning, a look of surprise had taken over the man's face.

"You... you're Banner!" the man stammered, obviously knocked off balance for whatever his intended mission was.

"That's right," Cal answered. "How can I help you?"

Taking a breath and straightening up, the man said "I'm Harlan Clancy and this is my wife Marge."

"Yes?" Cal's questioning reply set the man back. He had obviously expected the name to mean something.

"We're Pat's parents," Harlan explained.

Cal just stood motionless and expressionless for a long moment. "Oh, we didn't know his last name," he finally said. Then he added "I don't think it's appropriate for you to be here."

"Not appropriate? Why?" Harlan asked.

"My girlfriend and my mother were victims in a criminal act, and your son was one of the perpetrators," Cal explained.

"But that's why we need to talk to you," Marge pled, almost in tears. "We don't understand why Pat was even arrested. And his shoulder was hurt, too."

"You don't understand?" Cal said in disbelief. By this time, Elaine and Cheryl had come up behind him, but they decided to let him handle it. "Obviously, you don't know what happened here."

"Pat told us," Marge insisted. "It seems like just a big misunderstanding. Then his cousin Chad was badly hurt."

"Until you get the true story of what happened, and until we can have a lawyer present, we can't talk to you. I'm sorry."

"How long before you can get a lawyer here?" Harlan asked.

"How long before you can read all the statements?" Cal shot back.

"I thought we could settle this without all of that red tape," Harlan said.

"As long as you don't know what happened, that's not possible." Cal stated firmly. "You'd better get the truth about the first arrest, too."

"You weren't even here Friday night," Harlan said belligerently. "Who are you to set the terms?"

Cal just stepped aside. Eyes still red from here crying session, Cheryl said "Well, I was here. Cal was much too polite for my liking. Now, leave!" She closed the door firmly.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Cheryl swore, stomping around the room. "That asshole is stealing time I don't have to spare! What gives him the right to mess up my life?"

Cheryl was still agitated when Elaine picked up the phone and dialed Martin. She told him that it would be best if she stayed another day or two and he said he would cover it at her business.

After chatting with Martin for a while, Elaine called Marty at home. She hated to do it, but she was more concerned about preemptive action after the attempted visit by the Clancys. After briefly telling Marty the situation, Elaine said "Is there someone here that you can recommend?"

"I'm licensed in four states, including that one," Marty revealed. "I'd like to handle it."

"Really?"

"Yes. I don't know how your family and friends get in all of these situations, but once again, you did nothing wrong. I like your idea of filing right away. I will have to get a correspondent firm to actually submit the documents for me, but that should be no problem.

"One other thing. I should sit down with the boy's parents alone. You told me that Cheryl is concerned about demands on her time. This would keep her out of it. You shouldn't have to go back there, either. Let me lay out some options of what you could ask for if it comes down to a bargaining session.

"One other thing," Marty said. "It would be good if I represented all four of you women. Can you arrange that?"

"I sure can," Elaine enthused.

"Good. I'll arrange to get all of the police reports and witness statements. I will also take care of arranging a meeting with the Clancys. I'm sure you know that this will cost you a bit. For that, you should be able to almost forget about the whole thing. Tell Cheryl to just concentrate on her studies. And on winning."

Cal really liked what he felt at practice on Monday. It was not that anything had been wrong before. It was just that certain feeling had not been there - that confident feeling of a winner. Both of his high school teams had been consistent winners and the feeling had always been there.

This college coach was trying to build his team into a consistent winner, and attitude was an essential attribute of a winner. The team might only be one and one for the year, but the attitude had taken a quantum leap. Last year had been the first time in many years that the team had exceeded .500 in conference play. Cal had followed their progress last year, at least as much as he could from a distance and with his own busy schedule. He could see them as legitimate contenders for the championship.

Even though he had had two exceptional games, Cal was still the new kid. Padre, however, was a veteran, well known by all of the defensive squad. "You're the leader of the defense, my friend," Cal told Padre in the locker room after practice.

"I don't want to be a leader," Padre protested. "I just want to play." With a grin, he added "... and hit people. Hard."

"Then just keep doing that."

"It doesn't seem like much," Padre complained.

"Hey! What happens when Maddy makes one of those unbelievable digs of hers?" Cal asked.

"Well, the others get pumped up," Padre answered.

"And when you knock some poor runner right into next Tuesday?"

"Oh. I see what you mean. As long as I don't have to make speeches or anything."

"Nah. Just keep doing that growling bit." Cal had to duck as Padre took a playful swipe at him.

At volleyball practice, Cheryl faced a different problem with Maddy. For the first time Cheryl could remember, Maddy's concentration was erratic. "So, you saw Hector yesterday?" Cheryl asked.

"Mama let me invite him for dinner," Maddy said with a big smile.

"What did your family think about him?"

"I never got to talk to him," Maddy answered with a pout. "First, my brothers were all over him. Then Mama and Daddy started working him over. I felt sorry for him."

"Did you get any time alone with him?"

"Not at the house. But he took me out later." Maddy's grin told Cheryl all she needed to know about the date.

"So, you gonna get back to concentrating on volleyball any time soon?" Cheryl prodded.

"Cheryl!" Maddy complained before the two broke into giggles.

That evening, Marty called to talk with Cheryl. She had Elaine, who had taken her scheduled flight, already on the line. Marty asked Cheryl to get Claire on the other line, then asked for Maddy's home number. She wanted to discuss bargaining options with the four of them. Within ten minutes, they were all on the line.

"Here are what I see as options," Marty started out. "First, you can just let the case take its course. My guess is that it will get bargained down to a misdemeanor and Pat would get probation - probably six months. They might throw in some community service."

"That would mean he would lose his basketball scholarship, wouldn't it?" Cal asked. "He was listening in with his ear to Cheryl's phone.

"That's up to the coach," Marty replied. "That's something I was not able to investigate. The question is: do you want him to lose it? Do you consider that an important punishment?"

"What are the other options?" Cheryl asked, dodging Marty's question.

Marty decided not to push for an answer. "If you decide that all you want is to be protected from any further trouble from Pat, I'm confident that you could get an injunction in exchange for dropping charges."

"But all that does is automatically punish him if he tries to hurt her again," Cal objected.

"That's true," Marty agreed, "but don't you suppose his parents would pressure him pretty hard. And wouldn't he be kicked off of the team if he violated it?"

"I guess I should leave it up to the women," Cal said. "I'd like to throw away the key."

"You should hear what Hector says about Pat," Maddy said, entering in for the first time. "He's never met the guy and he's ready to beat him to a pulp."

"Does he feel bad that you took care of it for him?" Cal teased.

"I kinda did, didn't I? With Elaine's help."

"Of course, there is always the option to just forget the whole thing," Mary said, trying to get the discussion back on track. "You could consider the injuries and the ego damage to be enough punishment."

Elaine spoke up at that point. "What would you suggest, Marty?"

"If I sensed any remorse, particularly if I sensed that his parents understood what he was like, I would suggest option two or three," Marty stated.

"I've got an idea," Cal said. "How about they drop all charges if he enlists in the Marines."

"Woah!" Marty exclaimed. "What's your reasoning on that?"

"Unfortunately," Cheryl answered for Cal, "we've seen Pat before. At least someone a lot like him. What if he shows no remorse and his parents refuse to acknowledge that he did anything wrong. Would you say that is a criminal in the making?"

"So, let the military make a man of him, huh?" Marty mused. "Actually, it is brilliant. Extreme, but brilliant. Cheryl, you've emphasized that you did not want any more of your time taken up by this. That effectively eliminates the first option."

"Yeah, I guess it does," Cheryl agreed. "Look. I don't know how the others feel, but as I get farther from it, I feel less anger. I would like to pretend that it never happened."

"But you can't, Honey," Cal pointed out. "Look how you reacted when his parents knocked on the door."

"I'll get over that," Cheryl insisted. "I'm tired of having enemies. I'm tired of uncertainty. My family is in a shambles, and that's enough."

"How do the rest of you feel?" Marty asked.

"I don't want enemies, either," Maddy said.

"I was the least affected," Claire said. "I'll go along with Cheryl."

"Pat's a long ways from where I live," Elaine said. "I got in my punishment."

"If that's the general feeling," Marty said, "here's what I would suggest: an injunction covering all four of you plus all of the others involved in that game. In addition, a court-sanctioned agreement not to pursue any civil action against any of you."

"Does that include the big guy - I guess his name was Chad?" Cal asked.

"Definitely," Marty said. "I should point out one thing. This solution does nothing to try to straighten out Pat if he is indeed troubled or borderline psychotic."

"I guess I should be concerned about him," Cheryl said, "but I just can't spare the time or the energy."

"I think that is wise," Marty agreed. "I think this can be done without me coming out there. I'll talk to the DA tomorrow and let you know."

When Marty called on Thursday to tell them that the deal had been completed, Cheryl and Cal had very mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, there was definitely relief that the episode was over. Both of them had felt anger that Pat had stolen something from them. He had stolen part of the disciplined, focused lives they had worked hard to build. Now, they could forget him and get back to what was important.

Forgetting was probably not possible, though. Thursday was a day they both had the late morning open and normally came home to study for a few hours. They had barely gotten in the door when the phone rang and it was Marty with the news.

No sooner had they hung up from Marty's call when it rang again. This time it was Julia Waxman. "This is an official appointment, paid for by Elaine, so don't hang up," Julia told Cheryl, who had answered the phone. "Get Cal on the other line, and let's talk."

Cheryl was getting rather tired of interruptions to her tight study schedule, but she could not be irritated with Julia. Or with Elaine, for that matter. The hour did prove to be beneficial. In her usual fashion, Julia seemed to be reading their minds.

"Cal, this is not the way you like to solve problems, is it?" Julia probed. "It bothers you that Cheryl is just walking away and Pat is essentially getting a pass, right?"

"I'm not even going to ask how you guessed that," Cal quipped.

"How many stressful situations have we been through together over the last seven years?" Julia countered. "And Cheryl, you see Pat as a young man badly in need of 'fixing'. Walking away like this won't help him get fixed. Is that about right?"

"The first thing I'd like to fix is the insolent smirk on his face," Cheryl spat out. "But, yeah, you're right."

"Elaine, Marty, and I talked about that," Julie revealed. "Marty suggested demanding treatment as part of the settlement. My problem with that is his parents. If they send him to treatment, fine. It will help him. If they take his side against an unjust punishment, it will be worse than useless."

"I hadn't thought of that," Cheryl admitted.

"And don't think he is getting off with no punishment," Julia cautioned. "Being beaten by a team of women was disastrous for him. Being injured by two women was even worse."

"He wasn't really injured, was he?"

"More than we suspected," Julia told them. "Besides a dislocation, something was torn in his shoulder. He is very worried about having full motion in his shooting arm by the time basketball practice starts. Not being able to shoot beforehand will set him back for sure.

"His parents were stupid not to insist on a gag order as part of the agreement. I'm sure word of how he was injured will get out. Can you imagine what that will do to him?" Julia sounded almost gleeful.

"What about the other guy, the big one?" Cheryl asked.

"I assume you knew how dangerous that blow could be," Julia said.

"I did. But I couldn't let him hurt Elaine or Claire," Cheryl protested.

"No, no! I wasn't being critical," Julia hastened to explain. "You did what you had to - you used your training. He was big, strong, mean, and dangerous. What I was getting at was the terrible scare you put into him. I'm sure there were several minutes when he thought he was going to die because he could not get his breath. They did not have to intubate him, but it was close. Have you had any nightmares?"

"A couple, but it hasn't cost me much sleep," Cheryl answered. "What I did to him was really part of them."

The talk went on for the rest of the hour. At the end, Julia dropped her professional demeanor a little. "You need to realize that the two of you are more than just patients to me. I feel some of the same pride that parents must feel about their children. Please, don't let this episode knock you off track. I'm proud of how you responded, both during and after. Let it go. Don't let Pat steal any more from you."

About dusk on Thursday, Cal was afraid that the benefits of the conversation with Julia would be undone. Another knock on the door revealed Pat's parents on the doorstep once again. "Could we come in?" Harlan asked. Cal noticed that Marge was standing back, looking very stiff and unhappy.

"Wait just a moment, please. Let me alert Cheryl," Cal said. The real problem was the ultra casual state of dress that often characterized their evenings. He also did not want her to be confronted by them with no warning.

"What do they want?" she hissed from the bedroom where she had fled. She was stepping into some sweats.

"I have no idea. I'll send them away if you say the word."

"No. I guess we'd better talk to them. Closure, right?" Cheryl said with a forced smile.

As they sat down, Harlan looked rather beaten down while Marge looked stiff and angry. "What we read in the police reports and the various statements was not what we had heard from Pat. That goes for both incidents," Harlan said softly.

"We came to thank you for being so lenient. It could have been very bad for Pat," Harlan went on. Both Cheryl and Cal noticed how Marge's face reddened at that comment.

"It is hard for a parent to admit that he may not know his child very well. It is worse to think that his child has fooled him. I am sorry that our son's actions have disrupted your lives. I sincerely hope that it will not detract from your athletic performance - either of you.

"At my insistence, Pat will begin seeing a counselor. I am hoping that the effects of our parenting mistakes can still be undone." When Harlan said that, it looked like Marge was going to attack him, but she stayed in place and just flushed dangerously.

The visit was over that quickly. When the Clancys were out the door and safely out of earshot, Cheryl doubled over with laughter. "Can you imagine the battle that must have happened before he dragged her over here? If looks could kill!"

"Maybe I should send him some porn tapes. I'm sure he's going to need them for quite a while," Cal managed to gasp out as his own laughter took him over.

He was still standing in the middle of the living room, laughing hard when Cheryl tackled him. It caught him off balance and he went down. She was on top of him in a flash. He thought at first that she wanted a wrestling match or a tickle fight to finally wash away the tension. Her mouth smashed against his and her hand down inside his shorts quickly revealed her true intentions.

Cal could not help remembering a few of Cheryl's sexual 'fits' from the past, and he wondered if another was building up. They had been awesome experiences, if a little frightening at first. This time, though, she showed no signs of losing control.

As had happened numerous other times, they were soon naked without remembering how it had happened. How was on his back on the living room floor and she was astride him, bouncing on his cock with amazing energy.

During the Greg years for Cheryl, tender, considerate love-making had been what she had needed from Cal. The more those years faded into the past, the more the couple enjoyed the joyous, energetic celebrations of pure sex. That did not mean there was not love involved. Just the act of meeting that particular need of their partner was very much an act of love.

That Thursday night, they had just achieved closure on a stressful episode. They were young. They were in top physical condition. Their libidos were strong. They loved each other. They trusted each other. They could use each other for pure, animalistic release and experience love through it. They could heal each other with their exertions.

Cheryl spent herself in the superior position and eagerly accepted his rolling them over for a vigorous second round. It took many minutes, but eventually, they were equally spent. When she got up, he could only admire her wonderfully tight, erotically shaped backside as she walked away.

Instead of returning with a rag and a towel as he had expected, she came back with both phones. She set them down and began caressing his exhausted penis. "Uh, Baby, I think that's a useless battle," he warned her.

"No way!" she proclaimed. "I'll get it going again. I want to call your Mom and tell her about the visit, but I want you in me when we talk. Do you think she'll be able to guess what we'll be doing?

"Then we'll cal Maddy. Sweet, innocent Maddy. Wouldn't she be shocked if she could see us as we talked?

"Instead of calling Claire, why don't I just invite them over. I'll bet they'd love to see what they've been hearing through that thin wall all of those times. What do you bet he's chasing her around right now, just from hearing what we just did."

Cal gave a derisive snort. "Who do you think is chasing who?"

"Well, I don't care," she insisted. "See, I told you I'd wake it up. Now get it me so we can call your Mom."