Chapter 6

Tag slept late the next morning and barely got up in time for lunch. By then, he was completely recovered from the turmoil of the game, and he was anxious to see what Vivian had found for his afternoon date. He showered and otherwise prepared for his 2:00 o'clock appointment with sex and drove to the beauty salon.

He was about a minute late, but that was a trivial matter to everyone but Tag. He walked in and was shocked to the core by who he saw waiting for him. She was Jane Forester, the girl known universally as the high school slut. Tag was disturbed by her reputation so much as he was surprised that she would want to date him. This was a girl who, reputedly, could get a date with any boy on campus by the mere crook of her finger, so why was she interested in him?

Well, Tag figured that he would get the answer sometime that afternoon; all he needed was some patience. Therefore, he walked up to Jane and his sister and tried to act completely normal. Apparently, he was successful enough at that, and Jane walked out to the car with him. He helped her into his car, and he was admittedly surprised when she did not flash him as she swung her legs around to clear the doorway.

They went directly to the hangout for the usual milkshake. Jane sat very tall in the car to make sure that every person who cared to look could see her in the car with Tag. A lot of people looked to see who was with him this time, and there was a lot of surprise shown on a number of faces. She was the last girl that many of them would have expected to see with Tag.

They rode around for a while with Jane not saying much beyond the usual trivialities and pleasantries. Tag was really wondering what was going on. Finally, he couldn't wait any longer and asked Jane what she would like to do that afternoon. Her answer was, "Tag, I would like to go somewhere private for a serious talk." That was not what he expected, but he bowed to her request and drove to that place in the forest that Susie liked.

When they arrived, Jane turned to Tag and said, "Tag, I was serious when I said that I just wanted to talk. I know that is not fair to you, but I desperately need your help with my reputation. Two years ago, I made a very stupid blunder and went on a date with a boy who had the reputation of a coxman. That reputation was deserved, and I was date raped.

"On top of that, he talked about fucking me to everybody who would listen, both male and female. He never said that it was rape. Instead, he made it sound like I was going after him. I was too naïve and frightened to do anything about it, and I have been suffering ever since. That was the only sex I ever had with a boy, and I have not had a normal date since then, either. Every boy who asks me out expects to fuck me, and says so up front. I have refused them, but that has not helped my reputation because every boy has told outrageous lies about what went on between us, even though a date never actually took place.

"The only way that I can figure to escape from the trap that I am in is to have a normal date with somebody who has an outstanding reputation for sex, but not to have any sex with him. You are the boy, or should I say man, who is unlucky enough to be chosen to be my savior.

"What I need from you is for you to tell everybody you can that you dated me and tried to have sex with me, but I refused. Tell them that I am a virgin because I am a virgin for everything but rape. I will tell the same story, but I will tell it in such a way that it makes you a hero; that way you will not be hurt by failing to score with me.

"Can you do this for me, a girl that you barely know?"

"Jane, I am shocked beyond words by your story! Of course I will help you. I am not sure how I will do it, but I will figure out some way to get your story around. Who was it who raped you? I promise not to kill him, but you can bet that he will retract his story. If he doesn't, we can sic the cops on him. There is no way that he should get away with this."

"Oh, Tag, I don't know how relieved you make me feel. The boy was Jack Upson. He was a Senior at the time, and he is still in town. He works at a Union service station on Main Street, and he is probably still going after naïve girls like I was."

"Okay, we've got him on two counts. Two years ago, you were a minor, but he had to be an adult if he was a Senior. I know the guy, and he certainly fits my expectations of a date-rapist. We've got him on a rape charge and on a sex with a minor charge if you are willing to go to court. How do you feel on that?"

"I'm so torn up by what he did to me that I am willing to stand on the courthouse steps and shout my story to the world if it would result in punishment for him. Yes, I'll do anything to put that bastard away!"

"Okay, let's do this. We'll go see my dad and tell him your story. He knows a lot of important people in town, and he can tell us who to talk to next. How about your parents? Do they know about this, and what will they say if you go public?"

"My father is a pussycat when it comes to orders from my mother. She knew about the date rape less than an hour after it happened, but she ordered my father to keep quiet. She was afraid of what it might do to the family reputation if word got out that her daughter had been raped. She made me promise to keep quiet, but I can't any longer. In other words, neither one of them will do anything for me, and I would not be surprised to be disowned when the word gets out."

"Okay, are you sure that you still want to go through with this thing? If you do, I think that it would be best to cancel your thought about me trying to talk you into sex. That would be a bad distraction if I am going to help you."

"Absolutely, I want to go through with this exposure of Jack Upson. Yes, you are right about my little plot. I will drop it right here and never mention it again. Please, let's go see your father before I chicken out!"

They drove around to Tag's Chariots and went in to see Jim Green. They had to wait about five minutes before he was available, but he listened to Jane's story and got more and more upset as she related it. After he heard the story and saw proof on her driver's license that she was now an adult, he called a lawyer he knew and made an appointment for Jane. She wanted Tag to go along as moral support, and he agreed. Jim also said that he would pay for this first meeting with the lawyer. The meeting was set for 9:00 AM on Monday morning, and both Tag and Jane said that they would cut classes if they had to in order to make the meeting.

When Monday came, Tag drove them to meet the lawyer. There were the usual pleasantries and such before the meeting got down to business. Jane told her story, and it was recorded with her permission. When asked, Tag said that he was a friend and only there for moral support. The lawyer nodded and did not say anything else to Tag.

The lawyer agreed that the Statute of Limitations was not going to save Upson, and he agreed to call the DA (District Attorney) that afternoon. The lawyer wanted some time to study the legal precedences before he contacted the DA. However, he was quite sure that Jane had a case. She could even sue for civil damages if the DA would not act.

Tag drove them back to school and did not see Jane for the rest of the day. They had different lunch breaks and no common classes, so he was not distracted by her. Football practice went its usual way as the team prepared for the Hudson game. That was the "Homecoming Game" for this year, and the student body was very excited by the situation. There was no chance that Tag would be replaced at any time during this game, short of an injury, so everybody's focus was exactly where it should be. However, the defense was drilled very heavily on how to respond to passing situations. Coach Harkness wanted to be certain that there would be no near-fiascoes like almost happened against Baylor.

That afternoon when Tag got home, he was told that Jane wanted to talk to him. His mother had fielded the calls, and she reported that Jane was crying and really sounded down. Tag tried to call Jane, but only got an answering machine. He tried again after dinner with the same result. However, hardly had he hung up when the phone rang.

This was a call from Jane using her cell phone. She cried throughout the conversation, such as it was. Her report was that the lawyer's office had called her parents about their visit to his office to arrange payment for his services. Her mother had answered and had refused to pay any charges run up by Jane. Furthermore, Mrs. Forester ordered Jane to have no more dealings with the lawyer or with the Green family. If she did, her mother was going to throw her out of the house!

Naturally, this was very upsetting to Tag, and he went to talk to his father as soon as he got Jane's cell number. Tag promised to call her back as soon as he finished talking to his father. Jim Green was really pissed off at the lawyer and promised to call him first thing Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, he said that he would pay any legal bills until the matter was straightened out.

As to what to do with Jane, that was a different story. About all he could do for now was to offer to put her up in the guest room of their home. He would have to wait on his discussion with the lawyer before he could go beyond that.

Tag called Jane and invited her to their house for the night. He recommended that she bring enough clothes for two or three nights because of the state of flux in the current situation.

Jane said to consider that she was on her way!

Jane showed up in about half an hour. She arrived in tears again because her mother told her that she was not to return if she left the house that night. That was the last straw as far as Jane was concerned, and she stomped out without saying goodbye to either of her parents. Fortunately, her car was registered in her name, so there was no problem with it.

The whole Green family was out to welcome Jane, and she got hugs from the women. They got her moved into the spare room in no time. Tag and Vivian stayed with her until she had her few things unpacked and stowed in the closet. Tag put her small suitcase out of the way for her, and they all trooped down to the family room where the elders were waiting.

Judy, Tag's mother, asked Jane if she needed anything that night. Jane said that she did not think so, but she did go on about how much she appreciated how the Green's were looking after her. They talked for a while and then the three women went into the kitchen for soft drinks and popcorn. Jim took advantage of that to say to Tag, "I hope you are not planning to sleep with Jane while she is here. I'm afraid that could complicate things for her with the cops."

Tag said, "I hadn't even thought of that. Dad, I'm not a sex fiend who has to have a serving of pussy to keep me from going mad! I honestly don't feel that way about Jane. I got involved because of her story."

"Sorry, I did not mean to imply that. I was just pointing out something that might come up. She's a good looking girl, and she might decide that she owes you something for being so nice to her. I'm just suggesting that you put that off until we can get a handle on what is going to happen."

"Okay, I understand and completely agree with you. Mom or Vivian might help by saying something to Jane to cool her down. I'm just afraid of how she might feel if I had to turn down any advances that she might make."

"That's a good point. I'll speak to your mother about that before we all go to bed. Strictly speaking, you two can do anything you want to, since you are both adults, but we don't want to give the DA or the cops some false impressions before they even get started on the case."

The women came back into the room before any more could be said on the subject, but both men felt that the essentials had been covered. They ate the popcorn and enjoyed the drinks before Judy commented that it was a school night, and Tag had a curfew imposed by the coach. That was all that was needed to start everybody toward the bedrooms. As soon as the younger set had left the room, Jim told Judy what he had said to Tag, and she agreed to speak to Jane before she went to bed.

Jane and Tag each drove her/his car to school so that there would be not problems over either one getting home. Susie Troutman walked up to Jane and said, "I know that you and Tag had a date on Saturday afternoon. How did it turn out. Usually, a girl is just busting to brag about a date with Tag, but you are not saying anything. Did something go wrong?"

"Susie, Tag and I had a very nice time on Saturday afternoon. I especially enjoyed it, but I don't want to talk about it. Please drop the subject for now."

That was so far from what Susie expected to hear that her curiosity was twisted to the breaking point. She now had to ask Tag what had happened, and she was not going to take any sort of evasions for an answer. Susie didn't know it yet, but she was about to have her nose twisted to match her curiosity.