“I was kidding, Trinity. I just had to get you, is all.”
“Uh, huh. I knew that,” Trinity said. “But that did not keep me from thinking about it. What is it like, sleeping with someone?”
“Not that much different than sleeping alone,” Sara said, going into the bathroom. He has never even tried to touch me, nor I him. We both seem to sleep soundly, so we have not even touched accidentally during the night.
“Sometimes we talk for a little while. Juliet brushes my hair for me most nights before I go to bed. Jason is usually reading or studying. We talk then. Sometimes, for a few minutes after we turn out the lights. Just casual stuff, mostly.”
Sara returned from the bathroom. “You better not waste any time. I can drop you off at home, or take you right to school. There is bound to be something here you can wear.”
“Daddy had some business early this morning. I think I will go straight to school with you. Has he ever kissed you?”
Sara turned toward Trinity. She saw the genuine curiosity. “No. Has not even tried that, either.”
“You ever kissed anyone?”
“Sure. My mother,” Sara replied. “I have given Mrs. MacDougal a kiss on the cheek a couple of times. She is so sweet to me. Even when I am in trouble for something.”
“How can you get into trouble? She works for Jason.”
Sara just looked at Trinity.
“Yeah. Okay. She is boss, when it comes to adult stuff, I guess, huh?”
“Oh, yeah,” Sara replied.
“I just realized that this kissing thing really is not about Jason and me. You believed me when I told you nothing else was going on.”
Trinity got out of bed and began going through Sara’s closet, looking for something she could wear.
“Yeah.” Trinity sighed. “I kind of want Alan to kiss me. But I never have, either, except my family. You know. No boy girl kisses.”
She sighed again. “Alan went out with Brenda for a while. I am pretty sure he kissed her.”
“I bet she kissed him back,” Sara said.
“You are not helping,” Trinity replied.
Sara smiled. “A kiss… boy girl kiss, cannot be that big of a thing. People do it all the time.”
“You going to let George kiss you when you go out?”
“Uh… I am not sure,” Sara replied, quickly turning away from Trinity. “It is a first date, and all.”
“That is true,” Trinity replied. “I thought about asking Jason to let me try it with him. But I punched him in the stomach last night and told him he better not hurt you. So I doubt he would want to let me practice kissing on him.”
“Trinity!” Sara admonished her.
“I had to let him know you were my friend, and I would stand by you, even though I had known him a lot longer,” Trinity protested.
“Not that!” Sara said. “He told me you punched him. He was not upset.”
“He was not?” Trinity asked, eyes growing big. “Then maybe he would let me…”
“Trinity!” Sara admonished again. “That was what I meant. You cannot kiss Jason.”
“But you said you did not love him. You are not going out with him. This is just the contract.” Trinity motioned to the bed as she laid out some clothing.
“That is not it. What about Alan? If you care about him enough to want him to kiss you, why would you want to kiss Jason?”
“I would not be kissing him to kiss him. Just trying to figure out how to do it.”
“Well, how would you feel if Alan kissed Bootsi good night after that cheerleader dinner?”
“That is just a casual thing.” Trinity shrugged. “I think a good night kiss would be okay. It is not like they would be kissing as girlfriend, boyfriend, like Alan and I will be.”
“I do not know,” Sara said. “I am afraid you are going to get hurt.”
“I thought you said kissing was not a big deal.”
“The how. The who and why… They can be, I think,” Sara said quietly, looking at Trinity.
Trinity sighed. “Love stinks, sometimes.” She smiled then and said, “How do I look?”
“You look fine,” Sara said, amazed at her friend’s sudden change of subject. “I will get those clothes back, right?”
“Uh… Sure. Sure.” Trinity grinned.
“Come on. Breakfast will be waiting.”
“Holy cow!” Trinity said as she rolled down the window of Sara’s truck. “It must be sixty degrees out already! It was freezing last night. And snowing.”
“Jason’s weather instruments indicate a high pressure system building. Probably be warm now for a couple of days.”
Trinity looked over at Sara in amazement.
When Sara noticed she looked sheepish. “Well, he has these marine instruments in the study! He is always checking the weather. His sailing…”
Trinity grinned. “I know. Just like Daddy. I just figured you were immune.”
“Not totally, I guess,” Sara replied. “Some of it is interesting. I am getting into the weather stuff. I need to know weather patterns and things like that, if I ever plan on designing good houses.”
“Very good point,” Trinity admitted. “And dollars to donuts we do phys ed outside today.”
“That will be great,” Sara said enthusiastically.
“Easy for you to say. You did not wind up with grass burns all over your leg last time, the way I did.”
“Try not to fall down so much,” Sara said, laughing.
“How would you like to wear frozen panties after PE?” Trinity asked sweetly.
“You do that again, and I swear, I will run yours up the flagpole!”
They were still threatening each other when Sara parked the truck.
After doing their third wind sprint during PE that afternoon, Sara managed to gasp out. “Hey. Maybe those frozen panties are not such a bad idea, after all. It is HOT.”
Hands on knees, Trinity gasped back. “Yeah. And look at those guys. We are running our legs off, and the track team guys are just doing a light workout.”
“They do not compete again until next spring,” Sara replied. “We have a game next Tuesday.”
Both stood and watched when Trinity pointed to Jason. They saw him make his run and launch the practice javelin.
“Would you look at that thing fly!” Trinity exclaimed. “And he is just getting warmed up! Hey! There’s Alan!”
“Not too bad,” Sara said.
“It would be great, if he was not throwing next to Jason. I think Jason is taking it easy, too, Alan does not look bad. Probably knows I am watching,” Trinity replied.
Sara agreed silently. Alan’s throws were coming within a few feet of Jason’s. Alan was actually very good. Jason was just exceptional.
“You going to look at boys, or are you going to get into shape for the game?” came the question from behind them.
Sara turned and headed for the rest of the team. “I was thinking about look…” Trinity started to say.
Sara ran back over, grabbed Trinity’s arm and dragged her away from the coach. “She is going to get ready for the game.”
Coach Andrews smiled as she stood and watched the track team for a few moments. Sometimes she wanted to strangle Trinity. But she was sharp as a tack. The best playmaker guard she had ever coached. That personality was a major part of the talent.
When she walked back over to her class Coach Andrews said, “Okay, ladies. I think a full lap at half speed, then finish up with a sprint. And stay wide. No cutting short. Jason is practicing.”
“Jeez Coach!” Betty Mancuso protested, “Not even Jason can throw it that far!”
“Well, you just do not cut across. Some of you ladies tend to bounce a bit. Even as talented as Jason McKindrick is, he could get distracted.”
“Aw, Coach!” groaned Betty. “Besides, the cheerleaders are right over there practicing. They are not distracting him. More of them bounce a lot more than we do.”
“Mancuso,” Coach
said, stepping over to her and throwing an arm around the Junior’s shoulders. “We can discuss this for a little while, then everyone can run a half a dozen sprints to make up the time, or you can lead the other ladies in a really wide run.”
“She’ll lead! She’ll lead!” Trinity said. She grabbed Mancuso’s arm on one side, and Sara grabbed the other.
“Come on, Mancuso!” Trinity urged. “Why do you always have to start an argument just before we can head for the showers.”
“But I am telling you that Jason would not hit us, even if we ran right in front of him,” Betty protested.
“We know that, Betty,” Sara said. “Coach just has to be careful. You know what happened over at Montrose. That kid that caught the shot put in the leg is still on crutches.”
“But that kid is an idiot! He…”
“Run, Mancuso!” Trinity said, giving the much taller girl a light shove.
Trinity was watching Alan and Jason as she ran. She looked around when she heard Sara mutter under her breath. “That lousy, stinking, no good…”
“Rodney!” Trinity said when she saw where Sara was looking. Rodney was headed toward the cheerleaders. Trinity smiled slightly when she saw the cheerleaders spot Rodney, and then turn and head toward the gym.
Rodney took several quick strides and grabbed Kathy’s arm. But he suddenly released her when the javelin landed beside him. Kathy ran toward the gym.
When Rodney took a step after her another javelin landed between him and Kathy.
“Oh, Lord!” Sara said. They cut toward the center of the field.
Rodney took a step back. Another javelin landed close to him. Rodney was running then, away from the gym. Sara cut looks between Jason and Rodney. The other three javelin throwers on the track team kept handing Jason their practice javelins. By the time Sara and the others ran up, there was a line of javelins marking the path Rodney had taken to the far side of the athletic field.
“McKindrick! What the hell are you doing?” yelled Coach Crandall, running up as well. Coach Andrews joined them.
“Ladies, that is it for today. Hit the showers,” Coach Andrews said.
“But…” Sara protested. The look the coaches gave her sent her scurrying with the rest toward the gym.
“The rest of you, in the showers,” Coach Crandall said. “McKindrick, you stay front and center.
Rodney was suddenly there. Both coaches stepped between Rodney and Jason. Jason had not made a move when Rodney ran up, yelling.
“He tried to kill me! Did you see that? He tried to kill me! He threw a dozen javelins at me!”
“Back off, Rodney! I will handle this.”
“I am telling you he tried to kill me! I am going to take his head off!”
“You are going to the office and wait,” Coach Andrews said, gabbing Rodney’s arm as he continued to struggle to get past Coach Crandall.
“Get off me! My dad will get you fired if you lay a hand on me!”
“Just let him go,” Jason said quietly. “I can deal with Rodney.”
“Shut up, Jason,” Coach Crandall said. “Rodney, no one gets fired. No one got hurt. Now, you go up to the office and wait. I will get to the bottom of this. Pam, would you go see to the classes? I may be a few minutes.”
“Okay, Richard,” Coach Andrews replied. She whistled under her breath when she looked at the line of javelins stretching across the athletic field.
“Okay, Jason,” Coach Crandall said as he led Jason out to begin retrieving the javelins. “What in the world did you think you were doing?”
“I was not going to let Rodney hurt Kathy, Coach. I heard him say he was going to teach her a lesson, earlier. I did not think he would do anything, but then he grabbed her. There was something in his eyes… I was afraid he would really hurt her.”
“Jeez, Jason. But throwing javelins at him! This is going to get serious,” Coach Crandall said. “Rodney’s father is a powerful man. He can cause a great deal of trouble for you. I fully expect the authorities to be called in. What if you had missed and hit him? You really could have killed him. Wounded him seriously.”
“I am willing to take the consequences of my actions,” Jason replied quietly.
“I know, son, I know. I respect you for what you were trying to do. Rodney is a… We both know what he is. He deserves a lot worse than being chased by flying javelins. I heard what happened at the party last night. But, Lord, his father…”
“Coach,” Jason said quietly, as they carried the javelins toward the gym. “You have a wife, two kids and a baby. You have to protect yourself. I knew what I was doing. Knew the consequences. I am not afraid of Rodney or his father. There is not really anything they can do to me that can really hurt me.
“But they can you and several others. I do not want that to happen. I know you have to uphold the authority of the school.”
“You are a remarkable young man, Jason,” Coach Crandall said. “I wish there was something I could do to actually help. I have come so close to throwing Rodney off the team…”
“You would have just gotten fired, and someone that his father could control would have been hired. Everyone would have been worse off,” Jason replied.
“I feel like a heel, not standing up to them.”
“Do not,” Jason said. “It is easy for me. I really have nothing to lose. You do. A lot. So do several people here at school. Make sure they know I do not want them to jeopardize their jobs, or anything else.”
Jason saw several people trying to see what was happening. “Better make it look good, too, Coach. We have an audience.”
“Jason, I will make this up to you, somehow, sometime,” whispered the coach.
Before he could continue Jason whispered back, “You do not have to, Coach. I accomplished what I wanted.”
“All right, Jason,” the Coach said, his voice firm. And loud. “You know the rules on horseplay. You are suspended from the track team for one month. You will not use the javelin at all, even for practice, on school grounds. You are restricted to individual physical activity until you can prove to me you are capable of participating in group physical activity without this type of dangerous horseplay.
“Do I make myself understood?”
“Yes. Coach. I understand. I will not let it happen again,” Jason replied, his voice loud enough to carry to anyone listening, but calm.
“All right. Go to the office and wait for me. We will have to notify your guardian, then do the paperwork with Vice-Principal Smathers.”
“Yes, sir. Should I change first?”
“Absolutely not. You march yourself down there just the way you are.”
Jason turned and headed out of the office section of the gym. Jason managed to wink at Sara and Trinity.
Sara turned and stepped toward Coach Crandall. “Coach, he was just…”
“That is enough, Sara,” Coach Andrews said, sharply. “It is none of your business. We will handle discipline as we see fit.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Sara said quietly. She knew Jason would not want her interfering. She had seen the wink. She would have to let him do it his way.
“I am sorry, Coach,” she told Coach Crandall.
“That is okay, Sara,” the coach replied quietly. “I do know how you feel.”
Sara saw him sigh as he motioned Coach Andrews to follow him into his office.
“A whole month!” Trinity whispered to Sara as they headed toward the next class.
“That was just the track team,” Sara whispered back. “Coach is actually letting him off easy. Remember, they do not even have a meet until spring.
“I have a feeling that Rodney, and his father, are not going to let it go at that. Rodney was as scared as he was angry. I saw his face when he came storming back.”
“I think we should see how Kathy is. She did not look too good when we got to the gym.”
They slipped into English class just a few minutes late, after hearing Kathy’s assurances that she was fine. Miss Murc
heson simply said, “See me after class, ladies,” and continued the class.
“Explain your tardiness,” she said when the pair walked up to her desk when the bell rang.
“We needed to check on Kathy Wilkenson. There was a…”
Miss Murcheson waved her hand. “Enough said. I heard about it. How is Kathy?”
“She seems okay. After last night, then today, I thought she might be a little rattled,” Sara replied.
“She did wonderfully last night,” Miss Murcheson said. “I was quite proud of her.”
“You were there, last night?” Trinity asked. “I did not see you.”
“I could not stay long. I helped down at the shelter. You ladies did a wonderful thing, turning that party into such a charity event. That food and clothing will be a big help.”
“You were the tiger lady!” Sara said.
Miss Murcheson smiled. “Yes.”
“I saw Daddy dancing with a tiger. That was you?”
Miss Murcheson nodded. “I hope that does not upset you. Your father is a very nice man. He even offered to help down at the shelter when I mentioned that was where I was headed.”
Trinity smiled. “Daddy can be very helpful to have around.”
“I am quite sure. Have either of you talked to Jason since… the episode?”
Both girls lost their smiles. “No. He was still in the Vice-Principal’s office when we went by.”
“I do hope they treat this matter with the consideration it deserves,” Miss Murcheson said. “You two should hurry. No need to be late for another class.”
“We are both sorry, Miss Murcheson. We will not do it again,” Sara said.
“Uh-oh!” Sara said when she saw Jack Lawrence headed to the school offices. Then Sally Richardson entered the building.
“What?” asked Trinity. “Wait a minute. That is Jason’s guardian, is it not? Larry something.”
“Jack Lawrence,” Sara said. “And the woman is his lawyer.”
“I thought he was a lawyer,” Trinity said.
“Jason’s lawyer.”
“Jason has a lawyer?”
“Good thing, with Lawrence as his guardian,” Sara said. “Look. I will tell you more about it. We do not want to get in trouble ourselves, at the moment. This is bound to take a while. Get to class, then meet back here, okay?”
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