The Touchdown

by Bishop, K. M.

  Those bastards.

  I shook my head. “Enjoy this while you can. The cops will be locking you up real soon.”

  I didn’t wait for Dawn to moan a stupid response. I hurried out of the locker room. Once outside I couldn’t help but breaking down in tears. I tried not to let anyone see me, but this video was going to be everywhere pretty soon.

  I was going to find a way to get them and make them pay. They would not get away with this.

  But deep inside, I felt broken.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Bobby

  I resisted the impulse to throw my laptop across the room when I saw the sex tape. It took every ounce of my inner strength to restrain myself, and the rage came through in waves, each one more persuasive than the next trying to get me to go nuts and rip my room apart. I had to do something to get rid of this crazed frustration that I felt.

  I was helpless. This thing was on the internet. It was going viral among our college crowds. I had been working on a term paper when a friend of mine sent me the link and told me what was happening. My heart almost stopped the moment I saw it. And I saw how many views it had and it was growing by leaps and bounds. Someone had invaded our privacy. The only way for this footage to exist was if someone had planted a recording device inside Ro’s room. I wondered if anything had been put in my room…?

  I doubted it. That would require a lot of sophistication to break into a dorm room at someone else’s college. But Ro lived in an apartment. The security should have had some footage of who had broken in there, right? Surely.

  I called Ro immediately and she was in tears. My baby… I wanted to rush to her and comfort her, to tell her it was alright. We would find a way to fix it. We would live it down.

  “I don’t know what to do. What if my parents see this? They will be mortified. I… I’m so lost…I just feel beaten.”

  “It’s ok. You can’t let this get to you babe. We will be fine. We’ll go to the cops and they can find who did this.”

  “On the internet? I doubt it.”

  “They know we are getting close to putting them away. They are running scared. Soon, all of this will be over.”

  I said the words, but I wasn’t sure I really believed them. I wanted to just bury this whole thing, make it go away as if by magic, or by the power of denial. Or at least soften the blow for Ro and let her get her emotions under control so we could come back to it later. But it wasn’t working. There was nothing I could really say to make this better. I was so tired, so sad about it all. I felt defeated and I knew that Ro did, too.

  “I don’t think so,” Ro said. “If my family sees this I’ll be disgraced in their eyes forever. I will never live it down. I… I will never be able to look them in the face again.”

  “I know it feels that way,” I said. “But we are in love. We are doing what lovers do. It’s very natural. We have nothing to be embarrassed over. We are victims. Someone invaded our privacy.”

  “It doesn’t matter. The shame and embarrassment I feel is overwhelming. I… I don’t know what to do.”

  I knew this was devastating to Ro. I was angry that our privacy had been invaded and that someone thought they would ruin our lives this way. But I was over it. I didn’t care what anyone thought about me doing something so natural. But I knew that it was killing Ro. She couldn’t stand for our private life to be on display that way. It had triggered something primal and fearful in her. I was so worried about my angel. I had to go to her.

  “Honey, I’m coming over there.”

  “You don’t have to. I know you have a lot of work to do,” Ro said. “Hell, so do I.”

  “I’m there if you want me there. Just say the words.”

  She was silent for a moment. “Ok. Please come, baby.”

  And I was on my way. I was getting pretty used to the drive and had actually shaved about ten minutes off the trip. It was nothing to go see my beloved. Why couldn’t we just live our lives in peace? These people had to be taken care of. Something had to be done.

  When I arrived at Ro’s I spent some time comforting her. Then we went together to the police. She was scared to go, but I talked her into it. This had to be done. But Ro was so terrified for anyone to see the video that she could barely tell the police what had happened. I ended up having to fill in the blanks for her. And that was ok. I didn’t mind at all. I had to be strong for her. And it wasn’t that I was not scared at all; I was just keeping it all inside. I wanted to focus on getting to the heart of the matter and putting these scumbags behind bars where they belonged.

  Officer White, whom we had spoken with before took a look at the case for us. He watched the clip online long enough to get the gist of it. Then he shut it off. Ro couldn’t even look at him now.

  “Ok,” he said. “First thing we will need to do is a sweep of the apartment to get the camera and then we will see if that serial number has an order history and who might have bought it. Hopefully they bought it online. After that we will obtain the security surveillance tapes from the apartment building and pinpoint anyone you might recognize as being the perpetrator. Do you know if there are security cameras in the halls?”

  Ro licked her lips and then spoke softly. “I think so.”

  “Ok, we will talk to the building manager and confirm.”

  “Are you any closer to leads on who might have cut the brakes on Ro’s car?” I asked.

  “Not really. It was done crudely with a basic tool. It could have been anyone and it might have happened anywhere. Something like that takes only a few minutes. It would have happened quickly. Nobody has reported seeing anything.”

  I sighed. “You couldn’t get any footage from the parking lot outside the apartment building?”

  “No. Apparently, her building doesn’t have video surveillance out there. They said they are working on expanding that.”

  Of course. We couldn’t catch a damn break here.

  Officer White told us that he would look into this and they would let us know what they found out. It was the same old song and dance. I was losing a bit of faith in the local cops. Maybe they were in on it for all we knew. This was getting ridiculous.

  We left the police station and got back in my car. Ro was devastated. I could see the anguish in her face and I felt totally powerless to help her. I knew that nothing I said or did would comfort her in any way.

  “I can’t go to my place. Not now. I feel like I’m being watched.”

  “Well, White said he would get right on that. So, hopefully it happens soon and they find something.”

  “Right. I still need some time.”

  “You’re welcome to stay with me, but that is a long drive to go to class and practice every single day.”

  Ro laughed. “I think Allison’s friend Christy will let me stay there a few days.”

  “We need to get away and do something fun. There has to be a way to get the stress out of our lives for a bit.”

  “What do you suggest?”

  “My cousin Michael is having a raging Halloween party. He has it every single year and it’s always a hoot. It will be fun. We can dress up in costumes and play all sorts of games. You can meet some of my friends. What do you think?”

  Ro smiled. “It sounds interesting. I’m game. Let’s go.”

  I smiled back. She was trying to get past this. Her strength never ceased to amaze me. My woman was a warrior.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Ro

  It felt good to slip away into another world where I didn’t have to be me anymore. The Halloween party that Bobby had suggested we go to occurred the day after I found out about the sex tape that had leaked all over the internet. It was devastating. I felt crushed in every possible way. My whole world felt shattered. I was beyond sick. This was awful. I couldn’t think. I could barely breathe.

  I wasn’t sure how I was going to get through the game tomorrow. Allison’s friend Christy was nice enough to let us both crash at her apartment for a few days. Alliso
n took the couch; I took a sleeping bag on the floor in her living room. Christy had graduated the year before and had an apartment close by while she worked for a local bi-weekly newspaper. It wasn’t much, but it was something in journalism which was her dream. She was a good example of how your dreams often did not quite match up with what reality had in store for you.

  Facing the squad at practice was an experience in itself. Of course Dawn and her little clique were laughing and giggling the whole time, unable to resist making snide comments. Luckily Coach was on my side and she made them all do calisthenics while the rest of us worked on the new routines. At the end of practice we all ran through the new routines together. Dawn and company did not do well with them since they had to spend most of the practice doing pushups, burpees, and jogging around the track. Subsequently, they were effectively benched for the game tomorrow which pissed them off royally.

  Dawn couldn’t help herself from yelling, “You stupid slut!” To me as she stormed off. Oh, it was glorious to hear her totally losing her mind that way. It made my day and when I caught the coach’s eye, we shared a nice smile.

  Afterwards, I went home and changed into my costume. Bobby was going to pick me up soon. His cousin actually only lived about forty-five minutes from me. It was going to be a fun night.

  Officer White said that his men did a sweep of our apartment and found a very small hidden camera in the fern that Allison had placed in the hallway. It was the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen. It was crazy how small they could make those things nowadays. He said that nothing was coming up on the purchase history. It was either sent to a dummy P.O. box, or it was just plain stolen from someone. There was nothing to trace it to.

  Bobby was becoming less enthusiastic about the chances of the cops apprehending them. He didn’t let on and I could see he was doing his best to put on the best front possible for my benefit, but I’d become pretty adept at reading him and I knew that he was getting discouraged.

  He’d been so with me the whole time. Anything that I needed, he was right there beside me. I wasn’t sure I could have gone through any of this without him. Of course, none of this would have happened if I had never gone out with him.

  The thought went through my mind before I could stop it. I hated to think that. I loved Bobby with all my heart, but I couldn’t help but feel that if we had never gotten together then none of this ever would have happened. That was what they wanted us to think. That’s how they expected us to feel. They were torturing us for this reason. Or at least they were using it as an excuse. The problem with Dawn stemmed much deeper. This just gave her the leverage she needed to get other people on her side to attack me. It was a flimsy excuse. And I felt stupid for allowing those thoughts into my mind. I would never resent the man that I loved.

  No.

  I wouldn’t let it happen. I was stronger than that.

  I put on my costume and did my makeup. I decided to go as a sexy vampire. I’d always had a dark fascination with vampires and horror movies. I never understood people who dressed up as something silly. That went against the very spirit of Halloween in my opinion. I decided to forego the actual white makeup or anything too heavy. That stuff could get hot and I didn’t like the idea of sweating all night. So, I kept it a bit subdued and I just put on bright red lipstick, dark eye shadow, a pair of red contact lenses I’d ordered online (they were surprisingly comfortable) and then my costume, which showed off the right amount of leg and cleavage. I now looked like Countess Dracula. Then I did my hair quickly and stood up in front of the mirror. Everything looked perfect.

  When Bobby saw me his eyes nearly popped out of his head. His jaw dropped open and he had to do a quick walk around me. I loved the response. It was exactly what I was hoping for. His eyes lit up with desire for me and I could practically read all of the dirty thoughts going through his mind, right then. I hoped we could capitalize on those ideas later.

  Bobby was dressed up as a mobster. His hair was slicked back. He was wearing a dapper three piece suit, and a bright red tie. It was minimal, but it was very sexy.

  “Wow, that is fantastic,” he said. “You look phenomenal. My cousin Walt is going to flip.”

  I smiled. “That’s the effect I am going for.”

  I took one last look at myself in the mirror before we left. The costume was a little small in my chest, but it made me look even more like I was about to pop out of the suit at any moment. That was so hot. I was feeling very desirable in this outfit. I was also getting some great ideas for later.

  We went to the party and it was a blast. Walt lived in a large three story house that had been handed down to him on his mom’s side by a wealthy relative. Both of his parents (whom he still lived with) were out of town on business, so the place was up for the party of the year. There had to be well over a hundred and fifty people there. I couldn’t believe that he had that many friends. He seemed to know everyone as he walked around slapping high fives and having fun flirting with women. There did seem to be a lot more women than men. That was clearly not an accident. Walt was on the prowl.

  Walt was a decent looking and very confident and charming. That was something that most likely worked out in his favor as he walked around trying to pick up women. He and Bobby couldn’t have been less alike, except they did look a bit close to each other. The family resemblance was only skin deep though. The moment Walt spoke, you got the feeling that you were being sold something that you did not want to buy.

  “Wow, where have you been keeping this beauty locked up at?” Walt asked after Bobby introduced us.

  “She’s been keeping me locked up,” Bobby teased.

  “Only when he really deserves it,” I said.

  I was a bit nervous going to the party, because I wasn’t sure how many people had seen the sex tape going around. So far, it seemed to be confined to the student body of our schools, but once something was no the internet, the sky was the limit as for how far it would go. There was no telling. But there was nothing else I could do about it, so if anyone had a comment to make about me, then they could make it on deaf ears. I was tired of caring. The shock had actually washed over me and I was slowly coming to terms with it.

  I hadn’t told my family yet. I hoped by some miracle that they would escape the news somehow. But eventually it would reach them, probably through a relative, or a co-worker. Who knew? The news should have come from me. If it didn’t it would be so much worse, but I hadn’t been able to bring myself to tell them. I was just too embarrassed. It was a huge sinking feeling in my gut. I felt sick every time I thought about it. I was just delaying the inevitable.

  “Wow, that sounds hot,” Walt said. “You got a sister?”

  I smiled and shook my head. I appreciated the fun of the party, but Walt was a bit much to take. I didn’t want to become too friendly with him. I figured he was a decent guy at heart, but he was a horndog and there was so much about him that seemed a bit shady to me. But Bobby seemed to like him so I did my best.

  I wondered what if Bobby and I got married one day, and how many of his annoying relatives I would have to deal with sometimes. I supposed it was a fact of life and something that all married couples had to deal with. I couldn’t think of one.

  Marriage… wow… Bobby and I hadn’t actually spoken much about it, but it had been implied between us for a while. I wanted to be his wife. In fact, I wasn’t sure that I would ever want anything else as much as much as I wanted this. It had become something that I thought about all the time, a feeling that permeated every facet of my being.

  I wondered how he really felt about it. He spoke about the future all the time, the future with us, but he never specifically mentioned marriage or kids. I wanted both one day and the more time I spent with him, the more I wanted those things. At times I’d entertained the idea that it was more important to me than cheerleading and my career, but I quickly dismissed the idea. I would have both, but there was a time and place for both. I would focus on my career first and then
one day in the near future, I would have children with the man of my dreams.

  Bobby and I danced several songs together, each one getting us a bit more turned on than the last one did. It felt so good to just be in his arms and to just be away from all the pain I’d felt for so long. It had only really been about six weeks, but it felt like an eternity. The stress was killing me from the inside. I had been having headaches a lot. I had dizzy spells. I wasn’t sleeping. I couldn’t concentrate on school or anything else. The only time I felt at peace was when I was in Bobby’s arms. And now I was there and we were at this fun party away from it all. So far no one had said anything or acted weird to me. I felt free and easy. Life was almost fun again. The music was loud. The crowd was dancing. There was alcohol and food everywhere. I ate too much. I drank a bit too much. And I felt fine for the first time in what seemed like forever.

  When we finally left the party, I was feeling so much better. I felt like I had almost before any of this madness had come into my life. Bobby drove away from the party, his car cruising down the road. It was getting late, just a little after midnight, but I’d be home soon.

  I closed my eyes. I was a little bit tipsy but not too badly. It felt good to unwind a bit and have a few drinks, but I did still have a game to cheer for tomorrow. I didn’t want to show up hungover or out of commission to perform. That would have played right into Dawn’s hands. That bitch. If it took me a thousand lives I would find a way to make her pay for this.

  I didn’t like these hateful feelings I had in my heart. The way this experience had changed me was not good. I often felt like I wasn’t myself anymore. I just wanted to feel whole, to feel good again. To be happy… ah yes… happiness… I’d almost forgotten what that felt like. I was close to it in that car ride, but it wasn’t the content happiness that I used to feel before I started being attacked left and right by psychos.