Chapter 27

"That red light goes on, and I spank."

Robbie grinned, and I knew she wasn't taking my threat very seriously.

"I mean it. If Mom hears me tonight, my life is over."

Robbie smiled sweetly. "And I care, why?"

"You wrote the script," I reminded her.

"True," she admitted. "But my dad won't ground me."

I nodded agreement. "Yeah, he's given up on civilizing you."

"No, but I explained years ago that well behaved women rarely make history."

I grinned. I could imagine Robbie saying just that and her dad taking it as a simple statement of fact.

"Any comments before we start old business?" the man in the center of the table on the stage asked.

I took a deep breath and raised my hand. The man on stage recognized three others before he got to me.

"Yes?"

I stood. "My name is Tony Sims. I'm not from this school, I'm go to..."

"I know who you are," The man said stiffly.

"I just wanted to say that the team from my school has decided that they'd be happy to come to Lake and play baseball."

The man looked surprised, then smiled. "I'm glad to hear that you've decided to end this nonsense."

I smiled back. "They decided that they were punishing the Lake students for something that wasn't their fault." I paused 'cause I knew that I had to get the rest out in one breath. "After all, it's not their fault that a bunch of fucking idiots hired an asshole and don't have the guts to control his tongue!"

I gave the school board a half-bow, turned, and walked out as the auditorium erupted into pandemonium.

I had to get the rest of the story from Tami, Robbie, and the video that Robbie shot, a video that, I wasn't very surprised to find, included my little tirade. I went out, sat in my Mustang, and started reading the first of James Patterson's Murder Club mysteries.

Tami and Robbie sat quietly as the board discussed a dozen items of old business. Robbie had changed memory cards in her camera after I left and now kept her camera focused on the board on the stage. The board opened the floor for new business. A man a few rows ahead of the girls stood up as Robbie focused her video camera on him. "I'm John Polaski. I think all of us are happy that the boycott against Lake is ending, but we can't ignore the Coach Rich situation any longer."

The man in the center of the board table brought down his gavel sharply. "Mr. Polaski. The board certainly appreciates your concerns, but this isn't the appropriate time for that discussion. We will deal with it at a later time."

"What time? This is the fourth time I've brought up the subject since November. And I'm not the only one."

"When the time is right," the board chairman said. "Right now we should just be happy that our student athletes will be able to compete. Though one thing I can assure you is that that young man's inappropriate remarks will be reported to his school."

"I'm not sure his remarks were all that inappropriate," Polaski said as he sat back down.

From the camera angle, Robbie had moved back several rows as the meeting broke up.

"Mr. Kellerman? I was hoping to get some comments," Tami said as she approached the board chairman.

"Young lady, isn't it past your bedtime?"

'Bedtime?' I thought when I watched the tape. Both girls had been back in my car by a quarter after ten.