Writers on the Storm

by Christy Cauley

Two weeks before Thanksgiving, the football team had their last game of the season. It was the regional championship game and all of the cheerleaders were excited. Cornelia was no exception. Despite everything that was going on, she was eager to cheer at the big game. The team was excited about having the home field advantage and Cornelia knew she and the other cheerleaders would add to that excitement. She was glad the season had run so long. Cheering was a welcome distraction.

  As Cornelia was getting ready, Amanda was holding Daruma in her hands. Amanda was going to catch a ride to the game with Cornelia. Cornelia was excited because Chad was going to attend too. She had never gotten to cheer in front of Chad before. He never went to the games. He hated football, but he knew how much the game meant to Cornelia and so he agreed to go. Since this was a championship game, his parents let him. Although she was still grounded from seeing him, what her mother didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

  “This is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen,” Amanda said with a laugh.

  “I know, right?” Cornelia replied. “But Chad gave it to me, so I love it.”

  “That’s weird. I thought it was his right eye that was painted on, but it’s his left.”

  “It might have been the right before. I’m having a do-over,” Cornelia said while she was looking for her other pom-pom.

  “What?” Amanda asked.

  “It’s something Chad said. I took back my wish and made a new one. If it comes true I’ll paint on the right eye.”

  “How charming,” Amanda said sarcastically and put Daruma back on the shelf.

  “That’s what I said,” Cornelia said with a laugh. She turned around after she found the second pom-pom and tossed them on the bed next to Amanda.

  “That’s it. Now just a little make-up touch-up.”

  “You don’t need any more make-up, CC,” Amanda said.

  “Just give me a minute,” Cornelia replied, sitting down at her vanity.

  She could see Daruma in the reflection of the mirror and it made her think about Mrs. Hakim. She wished Mrs. Hakim were well enough to attend the game, but Cornelia knew that wasn’t possible. She couldn’t even come back to work. Students were beginning to wonder what was going on. They thought she had only hit her head but they knew she had been out too long for a simple concussion. They were asking questions, but Cornelia and Admeta deflected them.

  Cornelia touched up her blush and eye shadow and applied some lip gloss. As she gave herself one last check in the mirror she tried to avoid Daruma’s gaze. She felt as though he was looking down on her for going out and having a good time while Mrs. Hakim was so sick. Cornelia glanced at his backward reflection and allowed herself one moment of regret. “No,” she thought to herself. “I know I’m being selfish, but it’s only one night,” she reassured herself.

  “Are you ready yet, CC?” Amanda asked.

  “Yeah,” Cornelia replied. “I’m good to go.” Cornelia grabbed her pom poms, coat and purse, and the pair went downstairs to find Veronica and Michelle sitting in the living room talking. Cornelia had not known that Michelle was there.

  “Oh, Hi Michelle,” Cornelia was caught off guard. This was the first time she had seen Michelle since her mother’s revelation. “This is,” she began speaking to Amanda, then hesitated, “my mom’s friend, Michelle.” She decided that was the most diplomatic way to put it. Then she pointed to Amanda, “and this is my friend, Amanda. I mean,” she stumbled, “she’s my friend from school,” Cornelia offered, and then blushed. She didn’t want Michelle to get the wrong idea, but she was only confusing Amanda, to whom she did not confide her mother’s secret. Cornelia laughed to offset the awkwardness of the moment and Michelle gave her a knowing glance, then the two women stood up from their seats. Cornelia noticed that Veronica was holding a “number one” foam finger.

  “Um, mom, why do you have that?” Cornelia asked.

  “Because Michelle and I are going to the game,” Veronica answered matter-of-factly.

  “What?” Cornelia asked with a slight hoarseness to her voice.

  “It’s the championship game, CC, I wouldn’t miss it,” Veronica said with a slightly harsh tone. Cornelia took the hint, but she was still very dismayed that Veronica had not shared her plans with her. This wasn’t in Cornelia’s plans at all. Now she wouldn’t be able to hang out with Chad at half-time.

  “Are you ready girls?” Veronica asked.

  “Yep,” Amanda replied for the both of them. The two women grabbed their coats and the four of them headed to the SUV.

  On the way to the game Michelle and Veronica spoke in the front seats mostly about real estate. While in the back seat Cornelia was grumbling to Amanda that she would not be able to see Chad during the game. Amanda agreed that was harsh. The two exchanged words about how nasty Rebekka and Sarah had been lately and how they hoped to avoid a scene.

  When they arrived, Veronica dropped Cornelia and Amanda off in front of the school as she drove around back to find a parking space. Amanda left Cornelia at the door to the locker room and went to find Chad in the crowd. Meanwhile, Cornelia went to lock her coat and purse in a locker. As expected, Rebekka and Sarah were waiting.

  “Hi Corny,” Rebekka said in a snooty voice.

  “Oh come one, Rebekka. Can’t you be an adult?” Cornelia asked, placing one hand on her hip. “You don’t like me, I get it. Can’t you just leave me alone? If you don’t like me so much, why are you always going out of your way to harass me? Just leave me alone. I won’t talk to you if you don’t talk to me. Problem solved,” Cornelia said sounding more like a 40-year-old than a 14-year-old.

  “Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Sarah asked.

  “Shut up, Sarah,” Cornelia and Rebekka said in unison.

  “Ha, see there? We can agree on something,” Cornelia said with a laugh as Sarah flashed an evil frown.

  “Let’s go, Sarah, I don’t need to waste any more time on this trash. You just make sure you stay the hell away from my boyfriend,” Rebekka said, brushing Cornelia’s shoulder as she passed by.

  “I wouldn’t touch your boyfriend with a ten-foot pole,” Cornelia got in before Rebekka and Sarah scooted out the door.

  After the girls left she thought of a hundred snappy come-backs she could have said, isn’t that always the way? Cornelia snickered to herself about her “ten-foot pole” comment. She thought it sounded like something her mother would have said. Then she locked her purse and coat in a locker, put on her cheerleading sweater, the only thing they were allowed to wear in cold weather, and headed upstairs to see if she could find Chad without her mother noticing.

  She walked up the stairs and out of the locker room and thankfully did not run into Rebekka and Sarah again. She looked around the stands to see if she could see Amanda and Chad, but they were not there. Then she walked around behind the stands. Just as she’d hoped, Chad was under the bleachers waiting in line at the concession stand. Cornelia ran over and gave him a big hug.

  Someone behind them yelled, “Hey, no cutting!”

  Cornelia replied, “I’m not buying anything, I’m just standing here.” The guy who yelled grumbled a little, but said nothing further.

  Cornelia turned back to Chad. “My mom is here,” she said.

  “I know, Amanda told me? But why?”

  “I don’t know, something about it being important to me,” Cornelia replied.

  “Well that’s nice of her, but I was hoping to finally get to spend some time with you.”

  “Me too,” Cornelia said sadly.

  “Well, don’t be too down. It’s the championship game and you’re going to help the Falcons win, right?” he asked with a grin and gave her pom-poms a shake. Cornelia melted on the spot. Chad could find the good in everything.

  “Where’s Amanda?”

  “She went to the bathroom. She’s probably back in the stands by now.”

  “Ah. Well, I’d better go. My mom will be wondering where I went and Kenzie will be wai
ting.” She gave Chad a quick kiss and headed to the cheer pit.

  When she arrived Amanda waved from the center set of bleachers. She was sitting next to Veronica and Michelle who were deep in conversation. Much to her surprise, she also saw Admeta sitting by Amanda’s side. Cornelia had never seen Admeta at a football game. In fact on one of their visits to Mrs. Hakim’s house, Admeta had told her how much she despised American football. Soccer was the real football as far as she was concerned. Admeta did not wave. She was holding a video camera. She looked almost embarrassed to be there. She was huddled down in her silver coat with the hood pulled over her head. Cornelia thought she looked rather silly.

  As Cornelia looked around some more, she saw more members of Writers on the Storm in the stands. It seemed like most of the school was there. The bleachers were completely filled and there were people standing along side and even underneath them. It was even standing room only outside the fence, along the sidewalk. Cornelia saw Sandy, Andy and Randy Turner near the top of the bleachers in the center. Sandy looked bored but the twins were hooting and hollering. They were wearing matching Falcon coats that must have been purchased at the local vendor down the street. They also had their faces painted bright blue. Cornelia thought they looked like deranged members of the Blue Man Group.

  Brenda Stark and Ralph Ziggler were sitting together in the front row on the left. Cornelia wondered if there was a love match happening or if they were just friends. She saw Valerie Regal with her mom and dad sitting toward the right side of the crowd. Her parents both had blue “number one” fingers just like Veronica’s. Cornelia wondered if Valerie was embarrassed by her parents’ enthusiasm, but she didn’t look bothered. And finally, Cornelia saw Steve Esandros standing by himself under the right side of the bleachers. He had his hands shoved in his coat pockets and looked as if he wished he were invisible. Cornelia wanted to run over and say “hello,” but Kenzie had already begun her pre-game monologue. She was pleased to see Chad walk over and greet Steve. He probably didn’t want to chance sitting near Cornelia’s mother.

  Kenzie was giving the run down of cheers and giving the girls a pep talk about how their cheering helps lead the guys to victory and that this championship meant a lot to the entire school. She talked about how lucky they were to have a home-field advantage in a state playoff game. Cornelia was barely listening. She was thinking about Mrs. Hakim and how she knew she would have been at the game if she could. She was thinking about her own father who didn’t bother to show up at yet another event that meant a lot to her. And she thought about Chad whom she would not be able to spend time with. Then she realized how self-centered she was being and she tried to concentrate on what Kenzie was saying.

  As the football players ran out to the field, Kenzie and Rebekka held a banner for the boys to run through. Cornelia thought it was pretty ironic that David Wharton’s current girlfriend and ex-girlfriend were acting as a team. She was sure that David pulled some strings to get Rebekka in there because she certainly wouldn’t have been Kenzie’s first pick. The two girls didn’t get along before the love triangle. They certainly weren’t going to get along now.

  As the boys ran through the banner, the crowd on the home side cheered and the crowd on the away side booed. The rest of the cheerleaders were in a frenzy, standing on the sidelines cheering on their football squad. When the other team was announced everything happened in reverse. The SRHS cheerleaders, however, did not boo. It was considered poor sportsmanship and Kenzie would not allow it even though the visiting team’s cheerleaders had booed the Falcons.

  After all of the announcements, it was finally time for the kickoff. The Falcons got the ball first and the crowd went wild. The crowd had never been so enthusiastic before. It just reinforced the importance of the game. The first quarter went by very quickly. No one scored a point, despite all of the encouragement. The cheerleaders were doing their best to keep the team hyped up.

  “Falcons are ready! Falcons are smooth! Falcons will take control! And stomp all over you!” they screamed at the top of their lungs. They had to. The crowd was so loud you could barely hear yourself think.

  “Number 12,” Kenzie said and all of the cheerleaders shouted, “Come on, get up and scream. We're going crazy for the Storm River team!”

  Cornelia’s favorite cheer was the one that taunted the other team who happened to be the Yellow Jackets. Cornelia thought that was a silly mascot. How threatening is a yellow jacket, she thought. Their uniforms were white with brown and yellow trim. Cornelia thought white was a terrible color for football uniforms. She imagined how dirty they must be after a game.

  She screamed the taunting cheer the loudest, “When you're up, you're up. When you're down, you're down. When you're up against the Falcons you're upside down! Hey, Yellow Jackets, you’re upside down! Yeah, you’re upside down.” The cheer didn’t quite make sense, but Cornelia didn’t care. For a little while she was able to forget about Mrs. Hakim and all of her troubles and just immerse herself in the game.

  During the second quarter, the Falcons scored two touchdowns. Each time they scored the cheerleaders shouted, “Check out the score. Yeah, we want more! No, we aren't needy! We're just greedy!” They also cheered for individual players. As usual, when they cheered for David, Cornelia didn’t put much effort into it.

  “David, David, he’s our man, if he can’t do it, no one can.” Cornelia noticed that Kenzie was less than enthusiastic as well while Rebekka was nearly jumping out of her shoes.

  At the end of the second quarter, the score was 14 to 0, Falcons. Everyone on the home team side had a sense of euphoria. Cornelia ran into the bleachers to greet her friends and family as did the other cheerleaders.

  “Hey guys,” Cornelia said to the group.

  “Hey CC,” Veronica replied and the others echoed.

  “I didn’t expect to see you here,” Cornelia said to Admeta.

  “I didn’t expect to be here,” Admeta replied.

  “So why’d you come?”

  “I know Mrs. H. wanted to be here, so I thought I would video tape the game for her so she can see it. You know?”

  “Wow,” Cornelia replied. “That’s a great idea.”

  “That’s really nice of you,” Amanda added.

  “She would do the same for me. I mean if it were the World Cup or something,” Admeta said and the three girls laughed. Veronica and Michelle were caught up in conversation again but they were interrupted by an unlikely source.

  “Mrs. Drake?” a sweet voice asked and Cornelia turned around to see Chad standing there.

  “Hello, Chad,” Veronica said rather cheerfully. “Michelle, this is my daughter’s boyfriend, Chad Barrington. Chad, this is my friend Michelle.”

  Greetings were exchanged, and then Chad continued. “May I have the honor of escorting these lovely young ladies to the concession stand?” he asked and then smiled the sweetest smile Cornelia had ever seen. Her knees felt shaky and she couldn’t wipe the silly grin off of her face despite herself.

  Veronica looked from Chad to her daughter and back again. “Oh, go ahead you kids,” Veronica said, much to Cornelia’s surprise.

  “Thanks, mom!” Cornelia shouted but she was already halfway down the bleachers with Chad, Amanda and Admeta in tow. The group went to the concession stand to buy some drinks. They greeted friends and members of Writers on the Storm along the way. They ran into everyone except Steve. He and Chad had gone their separate ways after the second quarter ended. They ran into the Turners who accompanied the group to the concession stand. Afterward, they headed around the side of the band building to return to the stands before the second half started.

  As they approached the corner, they could hear the distinctive voice of one David Wharton taunting someone. When they turned the corner, they saw David’s victims hunched over as if he had been hit in the stomach. It was Steve Esandros.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Cornelia shouted.

/>   “Stay out of this, Corny. It’s none of your business,” said Rebekka who was standing beside David and a group of his friends who were laughing. Sarah was looking on but she wasn’t laughing like everyone else. She looked scared. Some of the others were football players in uniform and others were in jeans and t-shirts.

  “Leave him alone!” Admeta shouted and ran over to Steve to see if he was alright.

  “This is none of your business either, wetback!” David spat at Admeta.

  “What did you call her?” Cornelia asked.

  “CC this is a bad idea,” Amanda whispered as Cornelia pulled away to confront David. Chad dropped his drink and ran up behind her.

  “You heard me, Corny. Why don’t you and your wetback friend go home and take this faggot with you before I kick his head in some more? I’m sure your mom, the dyke, will take care of him.”

  Cornelia didn’t miss a beat. She threw her drink in David’s face and soaked him and Rebekka beside him.

  “Oh, bonus,” she said, smiling at Rebekka.

  “You b-!” David started to say as he leapt toward Cornelia, but he was stopped dead in his tracks by Chad’s fist. David went down like a red wood tree that had been cut off at the base of the trunk. His friends just stood there for a moment, shocked by what had transpired. They weren’t laughing anymore and Rebekka ran to David’s side to see if he was o.k., but he was out cold.

  “Bam!” Andy shouted.

  “Take that, Mr. Quarterback!” Randy added.

  Before David’s friends had a chance to move, two of the coaches had come over to see what the ruckus was about. They ran over to David and pushed Rebekka aside. Rebekka was sobbing like a crazy person and Sarah walked over and put her arm around her shoulders trying to calm her down.

  “He’s just knocked out, Bekka. He’s going to wake up,” Sarah said and Cornelia was shocked Sarah had an original thought.

  “Shut up, Sarah, what do you know?!” Rebekka screamed at her. A few feet away, the group of friends was contemplating the scene.

  “I can’t believe you did that,” Cornelia said to Chad, looking at him in surprise.

  “I’m sorry, CC,” he said with regret.

  “Don’t be,” Cornelia said, “the pig deserved it.”

  “What happened here?!” one of the coaches shouted.

  A boy wearing a black t-shirt with a skull on it pointed to Chad and said, “He hit him.”

  “Him?” the coach asked, looking at Chad as if he didn’t believe Chad could have laid David out so badly.

  “He deserved it Coach Miller,” Amanda jumped in. “He was beating Steve up,” she continued.

  The coach looked over at Steve whose eye was swelling. He was still hunched over in pain. “Get the paramedics over here, Bill,” he said to the other coach. As the other coach ran off, Coach Miller was slapping David in the face lightly, trying to wake him up.

  “Oh my God, he’s dead! You killed him!” Rebekka screamed, still sobbing.

  “He’s fine,” the coach said. “He just got clocked. Look, he’s breathing. Just calm down.” David made a groaning noise as he started to wake up. “See, he’s coming around now.”

  “What?” David asked, confused.

  “Just lie still, Wharton, the paramedics are on their way, lie back, your nose is bleeding,” Coach Miller said. By that time a large crowd had gathered. Cornelia noticed her mother and Michelle standing in the crowd and wondered how much they had seen and heard. They made their way over to Cornelia to ask what happened. Cornelia was relived to learn that they hadn’t heard what David said.

  “It’s nothing, mom,” she said. Veronica wanted to protest but she could tell from Cornelia’s intenseness that she shouldn’t push.

  When the paramedics arrived they split up. One went over to David to put gauze up his nose and checked his pupils and the other asked Steve where it hurt. When the second paramedic spoke, Cornelia recognized his voice. He was the cute paramedic who had taken Mrs. Hakim to the hospital the month before. Cornelia approached him to see how Steve was doing. Admeta was still by his side.

  “You two again?” he asked, looking at Admeta and Cornelia. The girls said nothing.

  By that time Mr. Beckardi had arrived on the scene. He was asking questions and getting statements from everyone. All of Cornelia’s friends told him how David had been beating Steve up and Chad put an end to it. All of David’s friends said they didn’t know what happened to Steve and that Chad had just sucker punched David out of nowhere. Cornelia was furious. Steve said nothing. Then the police arrived.

  The game was delayed as the police took statements from everyone at the scene. Then the paramedics started to put Steve and David in the same ambulance. Steve and David both protested.

  “You can’t put Steve in there with that pig!” Cornelia yelled at the cute paramedic.

  “Well we only have one ambulance, what do you propose I do?” he asked.

  “What about that one?” Cornelia asked, pointing to an ambulance that had been parked next to the field throughout the game.

  “If we take that one you’ll have to forfeit the game. There has to be an ambulance on the premises or the game can’t go on.”

  “Well then stop the damn game!” Cornelia shouted.

  “Young lady-” Mr. Backardi began.

  “No, Mr. B., you can’t put Steve and this disgusting waste of human flesh in the same ambulance,” Admeta interrupted.

  Cornelia could tell that David wanted to call Admeta names but he didn’t dare with the principal standing right there. Rebekka climbed into the ambulance but the cute paramedic told her to get out. Rebekka protested, but the cute paramedic wouldn’t budge. He said there wasn’t enough room with two patients on board.

  “It’s o.k., I don’t need to go to the hospital,” Steve said, finally.

  “Yes you do,” Admeta objected.

  “She’s right, you have to go,” Cornelia said, putting her hand on Steve’s shoulder. Steve refused to get in the ambulance. Rebekka was then allowed to ride along since there was only one patient. Apparently David’s parents were somewhere in the crowd and were told to meet the ambulance at the hospital. The group could hear David protesting about leaving the game but the coach insisted that he go to the hospital and the ambulance drove away with David as its only patient.

  “We’ll take Steve to the hospital,” Veronica offered. Cornelia was startled. She had forgotten her mother was even there.

  “Yeah, we’ll take him,” Cornelia echoed. “Come on Steve.” Cornelia, Veronica and Michelle turned around as Amanda and Admeta helped Steve walk. But before they could take a step, they saw a police officer handcuffing Chad.

  “Oh my God. What are you doing?!” Cornelia screamed and ran to Chad’s side.

  “It’s o.k., CC,” Chad said. “I’ll be fine.”

  “He assaulted someone, Miss. We have to take him in,” an older police officer said as he tightened the cuffs.

  “But what about David? He assaulted Steve. We all saw it.”

  “Did you actually see the quarterback hit this young man?” he asked, motioning toward Steve.

  “Well no, but it was obvious!” she began.

  “Well, Miss, no one here can deny that this young man hit the quarterback, but no one can agree on who hit your friend here,” he said. “Now if he would just make a statement maybe we could do something about it.” Steve just shook his head.

  “What’s wrong with you? Why won’t you tell them what happened?” Cornelia asked, but she already knew the answer. She and Steve locked eyes. He was not about to budge. If he told the police that David hit him he would have to tell them why. He didn’t want to suffer further humiliation in front of the entire school, most of whom were still watching the scene.

  “If you change your mind and decide to press charges against someone, you just let me know,” the officer said to Steve and handed him a card.

  “CC, just take Steve to the hospi
tal, o.k.? I’ll be fine,” Chad said.

  Cornelia looked into his big blue eyes. She couldn’t stand what was happening. It wasn’t fair that Chad was going to juvenile hall while David walked away free and clear.

  “This isn’t fair,” she said out loud.

  “I-,” Chad started to speak, but was interrupted by the officer.

  “Come on now, Miss, we have to go,” the officer interjected.

  “I’m going to call my dad. He’ll help you,” Cornelia said. The couple said good-bye with their eyes, unable to talk privately.

  As Chad was led away he turned around and said, “Hey CC, do me a favor.”

  “Anything,” she replied.

  “When you get to the hospital will you check to make sure David is going to be o.k.?”

  “What?!” Cornelia asked, outraged.

  “Just do it for me, please, CC?”

  “Fine. For you,” she said and Chad was put in a waiting squad car and driven off.

  The women helped Steve into the front seat of the SUV next to Veronica and the rest piled in the back. Luckily the SUV had an extra seat in back to fit eight people. Michelle offered to climb into the back and Cornelia was impressed with her thoughtfulness.

  The ride to the hospital was filled with groans from Steve and each woman taking a turn asking, “Are you sure you’re o.k.?” Everyone except Cornelia. She had borrowed Amanda’s cell phone to call her dad. Brandy, Cornelia’s young step-mom, answered the phone.

  “Brandy, I need to talk to my dad,” she said.

  “Who is this, please?” Brandy asked.

  “Who do you think it is? It’s Cornelia. Let me talk to my dad,” Cornelia said, frustrated. She could hear Veronica whispering something under her breath.

  “Your dad is busy, CC,” Brandy replied.

  “Well tell him NOT to be busy. And don’t call me CC!” Cornelia said.

  “Don’t take that tone with me, young lady,” Brandy said angrily.

  “Young lady?” Cornelia asked. “I’m only ten years younger than you. Now put my dad on the phone, Brandy!”

  “You listen to me, Cornelia Drake,” Brandy began.

  “No, you listen to me you stupid bimbo!” Cornelia shouted and she heard her mother snicker from the driver’s seat. “This is a freaking emergency and I need to talk to my dad. Now put him on the phone or I’m going to tell him that my life is over because of you. Who do you think means more to him, me or you? Put my freaking dad on the phone right now!” she shouted. There was silence on the line but Cornelia could tell Brandy had put the phone down to go get her dad.

  “Jeez, CC,” Admeta chuckled a little and Amanda followed suit.

  “I hate my step-mom,” Cornelia replied. When Cornelia’s dad finally picked up the phone he began to chastise Cornelia for being mean to her step-mother.

  “Daddy, I need your help,” she interrupted.

  “Oh God, what did you do now?” he asked.

  “It’s not me, it’s Chad. Why did you just assume I did something?” she asked. “Oh never mind. I really need your help, Daddy. Chad’s in trouble,” she said in her best daddy’s little girl voice. Veronica never liked Chad, but Harrison was friends with Chad’s parents. He did some work for their non-profit organization, so Cornelia was confident he would help.

  “What did he do?”

  “He hit a boy. But the boy deserved to be hit, Daddy. He was beating up one of our friends and then he came after me. Chad stopped him,” Cornelia tried to keep her voice down. She didn’t want to upset Steve.

  “Are we talking about the same Chad?” he asked.

  “Yes, daddy, Chad Barrington,” Cornelia replied, annoyed. “You have to help him, Daddy, please.”

  “Alright, CC. They probably took him to district 3 headquarters, I’ll go see what I can do.”

  “Thank you, Daddy!” Cornelia screeched into the phone. “Call Mom’s cell phone when you know something, o.k.?”

  “Alright, CC.” Cornelia gave Amanda back her phone and was relieved that her father was going to help, but she was still worried about Steve. The hospital was only a few minutes from the school, so they arrived pretty quickly.

  Chapter 19

  Truth or Consequences