He broke the huddle and they all trotted up to the line. When the ball snapped, Hax fell back, slipping the handoff to the running back then turning as if he still had the ball in his hand… Someone slammed him brutally to the ground. They may be upperclassmen, but this wasn’t supposed to happen in practice! When he rolled angrily to see who’d done it, he found himself looking into the eyes of Darren Elias. Elias arched an eyebrow, “You thought you’d gotten away from me, didn’t you? You’re not the only one who’s been moved up!”
Dotson came running up, “What the hell’s going on here?!”
Elias looked startled, “Sorry coach. Good fake. I thought he had the ball.”
Dotson glanced around the area of the play, evaluating, then he said slowly, “Okay… I’m not sure I believe you. But I’ll accept that excuse once. Nonetheless, you’re hitting too hard for practice! When we’re done you’ll do a lap around the field to remind you we can’t afford to have our people getting hurt out here.”
He stared at Elias and after a moment, Elias nodded, “Yes coach.”
“And, if it happens again, I’ll send you back down to third team!”
“Yes coach.”
Dotson told Hax to run a pass play. In the third-string huddle, Hax’d gotten used to giving reminders to anyone he thought might’ve forgotten their role in the upcoming play. He looked at the guy standing in the wide receiver spot and said, “You’re the primary receiver.”
The guy rolled his eyes, “Why yes I am string-bean. Try to get the ball somewhere close to me okay?”
Hax realized he’d moved up and presumably would be working with a better quality of player. These guys might not need to be reminded. He found himself wanting to apologize. Instead he just said, “I’ll do my best.”
As Hax moved up to the line, he thought the defense was showing blitz. He turned to coach Dotson, “Coach, do you want us calling audibles?”
“Just run the play I gave you,” Dotson said irritably.
As soon as the ball was hiked, Hax saw Elias coming on the blitz. One glance showed him the wide receiver wouldn’t be free in time. Hax tossed the ball to the running back in the flats and danced away from Elias. The running back turned down field for a gain of several yards.
Dotson came over shaking his head, “The left wide receiver was your primary.”
“Yes sir,” Hax said. “With them blitzing I didn’t think I had time for him to get open. Sorry sir.”
Dotson looked around at the field as if he were re-running the play in his head. He turned to Hax, “Okay, I’ll accept that. Good initiative.”
Back in the huddle to call another pass play to the same wide receiver, Hax couldn’t help glancing at him. He said, “Yeah, it’s supposed to be to me. Maybe you could hit me this time.”
This time, there wasn’t any blitz. The play went as expected. When the wide receiver was about to hit the 10-yard line where he was supposed to buttonhook, Hax threw the ball. It hit the receiver on his left upper back just as he started to turn. The receiver looked pissed. Dismayed, Hax checked the yardage markers trying to make sure he hadn’t thrown the ball too soon.
Dotson bellowed, “Rogers, you’re supposed to hook at 10 yards! Not twelve!”
“Yes coach,” Rogers said, though Hax thought he sounded surly.
Back in the huddle, Rogers said, “Wait’ll you see me starting to turn, punk.”
Hax found himself wanting to say Yes sir, to the upperclassman, but reminded himself he was supposed to lead the team. Instead, he kept a calm expression on his face as he said, “The play’s designed for me to throw it before you turn. Then the player covering you won’t be expecting it. You need to turn on your mark.”
A flash of anger appeared in Rogers’ eyes and he said, “Look punk…”
The other wide receiver interrupted, “Rogers! You know he’s right. You need to learn your routes!”
To Hax’s astonishment, Rogers subsided. Hax decided the other receiver must be the alpha dog of the pair. He called the next play, another pass, this time to the other wide receiver on a crossing pattern.
Again, there was no blitz. The wide receiver broke free as he crossed and Hax dropped the short pass into his hands. Back in the huddle, the receiver said, “Nice pass! I’m Wayne Johnson.” He reached across the huddle to shake hands.
Hax said, “Thanks Wayne,” and called the next play.
As the practice went on, Dotson felt more and more incredulous. Albright said this Buchry kid had an accurate arm, but there’s so much more to him! He stays calm. He knows what the rest of his team’s supposed to be doing even if they don’t. He watches the defense! Most of the high school quarterbacks Dotson had coached had trouble shifting from their primary to their secondary receiver when the primary was covered. Buchry’d already gone all the way down to his fourth eligible receiver a couple of times! And his passes hit with precision. Dotson had to admit Buchry wasn’t a very fast runner, but he handed off to the backs so sharply there was never fear of a fumble.
To himself, Dotson thought, This kid should be playing first string! Of course, Hayes won’t accept that, he likes Jurgens too much, but this kid’ll move up to first team sometime this season. His thoughts paused for a moment, then they went on, If we just had some receivers that were half as good… He snorted. If there is such a thing as a receiver half as good as Buchry is at quarterback. What the hell, when every pass lands right in their hands, maybe you don’t need really good receivers?
***
Roni got back to her dorm after her Monday classes and noticed someone sitting on the floor a little way down the hallway. She didn’t think anything of it at first but as she approached the girl’s thin frame registered. She couldn’t see her face but as she got closer she got an uneasy feeling, “Sabine?”
Sabine looked up at her with a mixed expression of despair and relief. “Roni!” she said quietly.
Roni sat down next to her on the floor of the hallway. “What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for you.”
“Um, why aren’t you waiting down by my room?”
“Madison and Indigo are in there.”
Worried that Sabine had knocked on the door and they’d turned her away, Roni said with some trepidation, “How do you know that?”
“They were just going in the door when I got here.”
“Oh,” Roni said, wondering what that meant. But then her thoughts got derailed by another question. “Um, Madison doesn’t remember the night Indigo helped us find her. What are they doing together?”
Sabine only shrugged.
For a bit Roni couldn’t think of anything to say, then she essayed, “What did you need me for?”
Sabine shrugged again and for a moment Roni feared that would be the only reply she got. Then Sabine said, “I feel better when I’m around you. Calmer. So, I’m hoping I can hang around? I’ve been feeling pretty awful.”
“Oh… yeah,” Roni said, trying to think of something better to say and wondering why in the world Sabine would feel better just being around her. “It’s… gotta be pretty rough…”
“My parents say we’re divorcing Adam,” Sabine said suddenly.
“Divorcing?”
Sabine nodded.
“How do you… divorce your brother… or son… or whatever? I thought divorce was for marriage…” When Sabine didn’t interject she asked, “Is it legal to divorce other people in your family?”
Sabine leaned against Roni’s shoulder, “I don’t know if it’s legal. But they say they’re writing him out of their will and they aren’t going to support him any more. He’s going to have to use the public defender for his court case. No tuition for school or money for food or anything… Well, I guess they’ve paid his tuition for this semester already but I don’t know how he’s going to stay in school.” She glanced over at Roni, “I have a feeling the school’s going to throw him out when they find out about what he did.”
“You feel bad about it?�
�
Sabine sighed, “I’m conflicted, you know? He’s my brother and even though we fought, he was good to me when we were younger. But…” Sabine sat up and turned to look at Roni pleadingly, “but how could he have done those things?! It’s like I don’t feel I ever really knew him. The brother I thought I knew wouldn’t have done that stuff!”
“It’s gotta be awful… is there anything I can do to help?”
Sabine seemed to relax a little. “Just being here with you, somehow that helps a lot.”
Roni put her arm around Sabine and tried to think of something else to say. A couple of minutes passed, then she said, “Um, should we go see what’s going on with Madison and Indigo?”
“I guess…” Sabine said, sounding apprehensive.
Roni rose, then reached down to give Sabine a hand up. They walked down to Roni’s room. Roni was about to swipe her card in the door lock but then hesitated and thought she shouldn’t interrupt the girls inside without a warning. She knocked on the door and then swiped her card. Pushing the door open an inch she called out, “Madison?”
Madison’s voice sounded uncertain, “Roni?”
Roni pushed the door open further, “Yeah, how are you doing?”
Madison and Indigo were sitting next to each other on Madison’s bed, staring at Roni. Madison said, “My hangover’s gone, so that’s good. I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about this whole thing.”
Roni glanced at Indigo, “How did you and Indigo meet? I’m sure you don’t remember her from… that night, do you?”
Madison shook her head.
Indigo said, “It turns out Madison’s in one of my classes! I didn’t realize it when I saw her at the party, but I recognized her when I saw her again in class today. After class I went over to see how she was doing. She still seemed shaken up, so I walked her back to the dorm.”
Roni pushed the door open farther and came in, followed by Sabine. They both sat on Roni’s bed as Roni said, “I’m really sorry about what happened to you Madison…”
“Despite my dad’s jumping to conclusions, it doesn’t seem like it could have been your fault. Sorry about that.” She tilted her head questioningly, “Indigo and Sabine both told me they met you sitting on a couch and you told them I’d brought you to the party?”
Roni nodded.
“And that then you realized you couldn’t see me anymore, so the three of you got up and started searching for me?”
“Uh-huh.”
“She says you guys found me and Adam in a dark little corner off to the side of the pool, and I’d already been drugged?”
“Yeah, sorry. I know I was supposed to be watching out for you, but you couldn’t have been out of sight very long. Still, when we got there, you were really out of it. He must have put that stuff in your drink as soon as he saw you!”
Madison shook her head, “It’s just so weird, I don’t remember anything. I sure wish I could…” she frowned, her eyes focused on Sabine.
Roni turned to look at Sabine and realized the girl was quietly sobbing. She put an arm around Sabine in an effort to comfort her.
Madison said, “Sabine? What’s the matter? Don’t…” She took a breath, “I think I’ll be fine in a few more days. Indigo says she doesn’t think he had time to really do anything to me,” she turned to look up at Indigo, “right?”
Indigo shook her head, “No, he had your pants unzipped, so he probably felt you up some…” Indigo paused and looked chagrined at the expression on Madison’s face. “Sorry! I guess that’s pretty bad. I just meant he hadn’t actually raped you or anything.”
Madison’s eyes went back to Sabine who continued quietly sobbing. “Sabine?”
Sabine said, “Madison… I’m so sorry. I just couldn’t seem to tell you the other morning. Adam’s my brother… If…”
“Your brother!” Madison said abruptly as she rose to her feet and her face flushed red with anger. “Are you here to spy for him?!”
Roni said, “Madison! He did the same thing to her!”
Disbelievingly, Madison said, “Yeah, sure. Your own brother put his hand in your pants?”
Very quietly Sabine said, “No, he raped me…”
The room was silent for a moment as Roni put both arms around Sabine and hugged her, thinking it felt like the girl had shrunken further than her already small frail-seeming self. Madison said uncertainly, “Why’s he still running around free then?”
“I didn’t understand what’d happened. I woke up feeling sick, you know? And I was sore… down there. Since I couldn’t remember anything happening, I just thought I must be sick or something. But, all of a sudden I felt afraid of my own brother…” she broke off with a sob. “I… I didn’t understand! Until I saw him lying there with you and Roni said you looked like you’d been drugged. Then I knew…”
Madison got up and crossed the room to sit on the other side of Sabine and hug her as well. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
Roni glanced back and forth from Madison to Indigo, “This is horrible for her whole family you know.”
“Oh, God!” Madison exclaimed, “I didn’t think of that! Do your parents know about it yet?”
Sabine nodded, then haltingly explained about how her parents were divorcing Adam. When she finished talking, silence reigned in the little room, all of the others apparently thinking about what it must be like to have something like this happen to your family. Not just the horror of learning that someone you’d loved could do something inexcusable, but also the fact that everyone you’d ever known would be judging you as well.
Suddenly Indigo sat up as if inspired, “We should do something about this!”
The other girls looked at her uncertainly, then Roni ventured, “Do what? It seems like Sabine’s parents and the police are going to punish Adam…”
“No! Do something that’ll keep it from happening to anyone else.”
“How would we do that?”
“Get roofies off the street. Did they test your blood, Madison? Was it a roofie?”
Madison nodded, “Rohypnol, yeah.”
“Wait, is it a drug? I mean is it a legal drug, or illegal?”
Sabine’s head was hanging down, but she said “I looked it up. It isn’t legal here. But it is legal in Europe. It’s kind of related to Valium so it can be prescribed as a sedative there. Drug mules bring it over from Europe and it gets distributed, mostly by organized crime groups.”
Enthusiastically, Indigo said, “So, we’re college students, right? We could ask around about buying roofies—people expect college kids to be interested in drugs. Then, when we find a dealer, we tell the police who he is.” She sat back, looking self-satisfied.
“And you’re thinking the dealer will get arrested?” Madison asked, sounding interested.
Indigo nodded, but Sabine said, “I think, here, it’s mostly used for sexual assault. That means the buyers are pretty much all guys. Even the people who buy it and take it themselves for some kind of drug-trip are usually male. Girls trying to buy roofies might seem kind of suspicious.”
Indigo shrugged, “So, we just get some guys we know to ask around about buying it for us.”
Madison said slowly, “I don’t know that many guys. That’s why I was so excited to go to a party with that asshole Adam.” She paused and glanced guiltily at Sabine, “Sorry…”
Sabine didn’t look up from where she’d been staring at the floor, just said, “No, it’s okay. He is an asshole.”
“I’m pretty good at meeting people,” Indigo said. “I’m pretty sure I can find some guy to do it for us, given a little time.
“I’m from Lareta,” Roni said in a worried tone, “and the police in Lareta were afraid of organized crime. Just because you tell the cops who some of the dealers are, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll get arrested.”
Indigo’s eyes widened, “Really?! If that’s true, why do we even have police?!”
Roni shrugged, “Good question. Don�
�t be too hard on them though. If anyone defied the mob in Lareta, they died. Worse, their family died with them. Made it pretty hard to find someone willing to arrest any of the Castanos’ goons. But, just because the police in Lareta were afraid, that doesn’t mean the police here have been intimidated too.”
Indigo said, “Maybe we should tell the FBI…”
“We could,” Roni said slowly, “though the Castanos killed some FBI people in Lareta as well. Besides, I don’t think the FBI gets involved with picking up local dealers. Aren’t they more interested in national and international drug traffickers?”
“Okay,” Indigo said, “we’ll tell the local police first. If they don’t do anything, then we’ll have a good reason to go to the FBI. I think the FBI is supposed to deal with organized crime.”
“If we tell them,” Roni said thoughtfully, “I think we should try to tell them anonymously. If the police’ve been infiltrated by the Mafia or something, we don’t want them killing us instead of arresting the criminals.”
Indigo stared, “You really think they’d do that?!”
Roni shrugged, “I know it’s been done in Lareta.”
Chapter 4
Hax walked nervously into Master Akita’s martial arts studio. He hadn’t attended sessions very often since he’d represented the studio in the Winter Martial Arts Challenge. Hax had won the challenge for his group and Akita had seemed inordinately proud, but then he’d had to stop coming to classes as much. Once he started playing baseball Hax’s participation at Akita’s had dropped off to occasional weekend sessions. Akita had seemed very disappointed, as if he’d had hopes for Hax to succeed in more competitions and Hax had felt bad about that. He’d gone to the studio some in the early summer, but once football practice started he’d stopped going at all.
The Boy Who Couldn’t Miss Page 7