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 ï>¿The Trailer Park: The Fifth Year: Part 1: Words And Music A Story in the
Wynter/Trailer Park Universe by Wizard CopyrightÂ(C) 2007 by Wizard

   Chapter 21

   "I have good news, and I have bad news," I announced as Robbie walked up
to her locker.  She'd driven to school with the Bradley girls that morning.

   "Let me guess.  The good news is, you haven't been expelled.  The bad
news is, you're suspended for two weeks," Robbie said with a grin.

   "Not even close.  I haven't even seen Parker this morning."

   "That's MISTER Parker to you," Tami said in a deep authoritative voice.

   Robbie laughed.  "So what's the news?"

   "You're losing your sisters."

   "I am?"

   I nodded.  "Yep.  Mr.  Blandings, the developer whose building that new
sub-division at Falcon Hills, is giving them a house."

   "Giving?" Robbie seemed shocked.

   "Well not giving, exactly.  He's selling it at cost with no down, and
he'll carry the mortgage."

   Robbie looked disappointed.  "And what's the good news?"

   "The good news is, the house won't be ready for two weeks.  Maybe
three." I looked at Tami.  "You know, I think she's bonded with her
sisters."

   Tami didn't answer, she just hugged Robbie.

   "Will it be big enough?" Robbie asked after a minute.  "There's six of
them now." After Mr.  Mulino had arranged with a airline friend for John
Bradley to fly home for free, Robbie's dad had offered him a job so he
could stay.

   "It's a four bedroom so the twins will have to share, but I doubt they'd
have it any other way." I stepped up beside her and put my arm around her
shoulder.  "You know, just because they move out doesn't mean they have to
stop being your sisters."

   I was wondering if I was going to get away with it.  I mean, it was
seventh period and I hadn't even seen Parker all day.  Maybe he realized
that he didn't have a leg to stand on.  Or maybe there had been enough
complaints at the district office to keep him busy.  Either way, I figured
less than ten more minutes and I'd made it through another week without
getting suspended.

   Mrs.  Conners was playing lightning round again.  So far I'd had to
defend eminent domain for private development and sending troops into
Mexico to create a buffer zone.  Personally, I thought we should send the
troops north and annex Canada.  Then we'd bomb Paris until they took back
Quebec.

   "Tony.  Lawyers are the foundation of our society.  Go."

   I opened my mouth but nothing came out.  I closed it again.

   "Tony, you're burning the clock."

   "Can I take an F for the day?"

   "No."

   "Lawyers are..."

   "SIMS!  What is the meaning of this?" Parker shouted as he stormed into
the classroom.  I never thought I'd actually be glad to see him.  He
slammed a newspaper down on my desk.  The article I saw had a picture of a
local ranger who'd just won some kind of forest service award.

   "Meaning of what?"

   Tami shot to her feet.  "Can't you read?"

   "Miss Sharp?"

   "Or are you just stupid?"

   "Tami!" Mrs.  Conners cautioned.

   "There's a name on that article and it ain't Tony Sims."

   "You wrote this?"

   "Yes, I wrote it.  That's why the newspaper put my byline on it." She
stared at the administrator and didn't flinch.

   I glanced at Robbie, and she shrugged.  Then I turned the paper over. 
The article below the fold was called Football: Rules Are Meant to Be
Broken and featured two pictures: Parker and Luke Hastings.

   "This is all lies," Parker accused.

   I scanned the article and passed it to Robbie.  She read it even faster
than me and passed it to Mrs.  Conners.

   According to the article, Luke had been suspended from Texas football
when he tested positive for steroids last year, which was why he was living
here with his grandmother now.  It also said that Luke's name had been
intentionally left off the list used for selecting random drug test
victims. And that Luke's suspension had been part of his school records but
hadn't been forwarded to the Washington School Activities Association.

   "That's why they have slander laws.  If you think I'm wrong, sue."

   "That's why Luke lied," Robbie blurted out and I realized she was right.
It made sense.

   "Luke didn't lie," Parked snapped as he spun to face the new attack. 
"Be quiet," he ordered and turned back to Tami.  "You said my team doesn't
respect me." That must have been on the continued-on-page-two.

   Tami laughed.  "Why?  Did you think they did?  Robbie, do you respect
Coach Parker?"

   Now it was Robbie's turn to laugh.  "He's a joke."

   "You're off the team!"

   "Okay," Robbie agreed.  "Is there a school rule that players have to
have respect for their coaches?"

   "You're done!"

   "Think you'll have a team at the game tonight?" Robbie asked.

   Parker took several steps backward and leaned against Mrs.  Conner's
desk.  "You'll never play football again," he threatened.

   Robbie smiled.  "I can live with that.  Tony says the first week is the
hardest.  After that it's all downhill."

   I did.

   Parker looked like he wanted to add something, but instead stood,
straightened his tie, and walked out.  I wondered what it felt like to have
all your dreams come crashing down around you.  Then I remembered when Tami
saw me coming out of Paula's house and wouldn't even talk to me and thought
I knew.

   Mrs.  Conners looked at the clock and shook her head.  "I'm not totally
sure what just happened, but go home and have a good weekend.

   The clock said we had three minutes before the bell rang, but I sure
wasn't turning down a chance to get to my locker before the stampede.

   "Looks like we all have a free evening," Robbie said as she gathered her
books.  "Your house and torture Traci, or my house and beat up on my
soon-to-be-ex little sisters?"

   "Your house," I said and Tami nodded.  "More targets."



   Chapter 22

   "I think that can be arranged."

   Robbie hung up the phone and grinned at Tami.  I had an image of a lion
smiling at her partner before attacking a herd of antelope.  And I felt
very antelopish.

   "Who was that?" I asked.  We were sitting in Robbie's living room.  The
twins were lying on the floor watching something on the Disney Channel. 
The girls on the screen had cute tits, but other than that, I had no idea
what was going on.

   "Coach Vickers.  He wants me to come in a little early."

   "Early?" I said as I tickled Tami's ribs.  She was sitting across my
lap. "Doesn't he know you're off the team?"

   "Not anymore."

   I raised an eyebrow and waited.

   "Seems there was a conference call between Parker, Mr.  Reed, and the
WSAA right after school."

   "Oh?" The Washington School Activities Association governed high school
football along with a lot of other things.

   "Seems some enterprising reporter faxed an advance copy of her article
and..."

   Tami started to get up.  I clamped my hands on her hips and held her
there.

   "...  copies of a Texas suspension and the school's random drug test
list.  Parker's been suspended from coaching pending an investigation. 
Coach Vickers will take over, and he says I'm not kicked off."

   "You know it's funny that that enterprising reporter didn't say anything
to her best friends."

   "It didn't seem important," Tami said innocently.

   "Not important!" Robbie sputtered.  "We could have set a camera up in
Parker's office.  His face during that call would be worth everything he's
put us through over the last three-and-a-half years."

   Tami pulled herself out of my grasp and stood up.  "I may not like Mr.
Parker, but I don't think we have to enjoy watching his life come apart."

   Robbie started to say something, but I caught her eye and shook my head.
Parker may have brought most of this on himself, but to revel in it brought
us down to his level.  I guess that's why I love Tami: she makes me better
than I am.

   "I'm getting a Coke.  Anybody else want one?" Tami asked.

   "We do," The twins said in stereo.

   Robbie stood.  "I'll help."

   A commercial came on and the twins jumped up and moved to my lap.

   "You know how I hate girls sitting in my lap," I said, sliding my arms
around them.

   "No, you don't.  Robbie said that on your trip this summer you almost
always had a girl in your lap," Betty said.

   "That doesn't mean I liked it."

   "Yes, it does," Jo said.

   "Can we come next summer?" Stereo again.

   "I can never tell you two apart," I said to change the subject.

   "I'm Betty," Jo said.

   "And I'm Jo," her sister added.

   I looked at Betty.  "So how come you don't have a middle name?"

   The girls giggled, realizing that I knew their true identities.

   "Mom says that after three other girls, she was running out of cute," Jo
said.  "Which I think proves that I was born first."

   "No it doesn't," Betty snapped at her sister.  "Besides, I was named
after Mom's great aunt and she didn't have a middle name either."

   "I see you wasted no time replacing me," Tami said, coming back with a
can of Coke in each hand.  She handed one to each of the girls.  "I'm
borrowing your car," she added, saving me the necessity of answering.  She
reached down on the coffee table and picked up my keys.

   "Where are you going?"

   "Around." She smiled and left.  I looked at Robbie, who walked in with
two Cokes and handed one to me.  Robbie was practicing her
innocent-until-proven-guilty look.

   I took a sip of Atlanta's finest, set down the can, and slipped my hands
into the girls armpits and started tickling, accepting that girls ran the
universe and figuring that I should get mine while I could.

   "Just the person I wanted to talk to."

   I smelled a set-up.  Robbie forgets her equipment bag and calls and asks
me to bring it to the school, and Coach Vickers wants to talk to me.

   "Hi, Coach.  I just brought Robbie's bag.  I know you're busy, so I'll
stop in and see you Monday." I started to turn, but Tami stopped me and
pushed me forward.  That's when I realized that she'd followed me into the
locker room.

   "Tony, I want you to come back."

   "Coach, I already made this decision.  It wasn't about Parker.  Well,
not all about Parker."

   "Tony, it's hard enough changing coaches in the middle of the season,
but with her on the team, it's almost impossible." He hooked his thumb
toward the one-and-only Monster Girl.  She grinned and buffed her
fingernails on her jersey.  "I figure you're the only one in the state with
even a chance of controlling her."

   Control Monster Girl?  What's he been smoking?  "Coach, I..."

   "Besides, it doesn't look good for one of a team's captains to be
sitting in the bleachers."

   "Captain?"

   Mike Reed stepped forward.  "I resigned.  And Mr.  Reed suspended
Hastings until he has a drug test.  I know the team wanted you and Robbie."

   I was impressed, though I didn't know if Mike meant it or just wanted to
do it before it was done to him.  I wondered if Luke was still using the
steroids.  If he was, maybe Mr.  Mulino's airline friend could come up with
a ticket for a certain future M.D.  from Colorado to come up and talk to
him.  "Even if I wanted to, my equipment..."

   "Is right here." Robbie stepped to the side.  My old locker had a brand
new label, 'SIMS.' And inside was my equipment bag.  "Tami got it and
brought it over."

   Tami turned me around until I faced her.  "You're playing.  Suit up."

   "But..."

   "Tony, I love that you wanted to spend more time with me, but I'm not
missing out on anything.  You love football.  Enjoy it while you can,
you're almost seventeen, over-the-hill.  Besides, I like watching you
play."

   "But..."

   Tami lowered her voice so only I could hear.  "Tomorrow, my mom's gonna
be gone all day, and I plan to make love to a football player."

   I turned back to the team.  "Let's play some football."

   The team from Wapato should have stayed home.  They never even got on
the board.  We scored six touchdowns in the first half before the coach
pulled all the first string.  Mike had offered to let me start at
quarterback, but I played all defense.  I thought it would be easier after
having been gone.  Four sacks, a fumble recovery and an interception.  Not
a bad comeback.

   After a few weeks off, I was out of shape and certain that I'd never
been so bruised and battered in my life.  And I loved every minute of it.



   Chapter 23

   "Tony Sims and Tami Sharp, please come to the office."

   Damn!  I'd just finished getting dressed down for P.E., and now I have
to deal with Parker.  I opened my locker again and reversed the process.

   When I got to the main hallway Tami was waiting by my locker.  She
smiled, but half heartedly.  "How bad?"

   "Depends." I opened my locker and pulled out my backpack.  "If your mom
doesn't ground you or put you on chore duty, we can have two weeks of empty
houses while parents work.

   Tami grinned.  "That's my Tony.  Already a plan."

   I slipped my arm around her, my hand finding it's place in the back
pocket of her jeans.  I figured were already toast; a little public display
of affection couldn't hurt worse.

   "Hi, Mrs.  Hatcher," I said as we walked into the office.  "We were
summoned." I held open the swinging gate for Tami.  We headed for Parker's
office.

   "Not there.  Mr.  Reed wanted to see you."

   I looked at Tami, surprised.  We stepped over to the next office, and
Tami knocked.

   "Come in.  Miss Sharp, Mr.  Sims, glad you could make it."

   "Miss Sharp?  You always call me Tami."

   "That was when you were my student.  Apparently now you're a full-time
journalist.  I need to treat you with respect."

   "You're mad at me," she said in dismay.

   "Not mad, disappointed.  I expected better of you."

   "I..." Tami started.

   "Parker..." I tried to say.

   "No!"

   We both shut up.

   "This is where I get to talk.  As an educator, I'm proud of you.  You
have become a journalist.  The article you wrote Friday is excellent.  You
did your research and presented it well."

   "Thank you," Tami said.

   "But...  as your friend, I'm not so impressed.

   "But..."

   "Tony, shut up and listen for once."

   I listened.

   "There is a name for what you did.  It's called ambush journalism."

   "But..." we said together.

   "QUIET!  Ambush journalism is very popular.  All the tabloid shows use
it.  But a journalist, a real journalist, balances the story.  You got your
facts, as I said.  Your research was excellent.  But did you even consider
giving Mr.  Parker a chance to respond?  Did you even try to get a comment
from me or Mr.  Butz?"

   "I..."

   "Now I and all your teachers are in the position of not knowing if we're
talking to Tami the student or Miss Sharp the reporter.  The tabloid
reporter.  If we make a joke, it could wind up on the front page.  AND
without a chance to explain ourselves.

   "As I said, your facts were correct.  You will probably be very happy to
know that Charley Parker has been suspended.  Now you're dismissed.  I'm
busy."

   "I..."

   "I said I was busy," he said coldly.

   I stood.  "We better go," I said.

   Tami looked like she was ready to cry.  "Hold me," she said as we shut
the door behind us.

   I hugged her close.  "It's okay."

   "No, it's not.  It wouldn't hurt if he wasn't right."

   "He's not."

   "Tony, he is.  If I was a journalist, I would have talked to him, too.
To Mr.  Reed and Mr.  Butz.  Even Luke.  But I wasn't getting a story, I
was getting revenge.  For you, for Robbie, for everybody."

   "Tami, he deserved..."

   She held her finger up against my mouth.  "Tony, it's not what he
deserved.  It's what I have to do if I want to respect myself.  If I want
you to respect me."

   "I'll always respect you."

   "But I won't.  You know how you feel about lawyers?  That's how I feel
about tabloid journalists.  And that's what I become the minute I don't
balance the story.  The minute I use it for an agenda." She reached into my
front pocket and pulled out my keys.  "I need to clear my head."

   "Want some company?" I asked conscious of the fact we were discussing
cutting class in front of the school secretary.

   "Not this time." She gave me a last hug, then pulled away.  "This one I
need to do on my own."

   I watched her leave.  Like I said before, that's why I love Tami.  She
makes me better than I am.



   Chapter 24

   "Ready, my captain?"

   I was just pulling my practice jersey over my shoulder pads as Mark
asked.

   "Ready," I agreed.

   The locker room was noisy.  Everybody was up after Friday's game.  I had
to admit I was feeling pretty good myself.  Tami had come back after about
an hour, then went in to have a talk with Mr.  Reed and another one with
Mr. Walker, and seemed to have found her balance.

   I looked at the outside door.  "Alright you clowns.  Let's try to look
like a football team," I yelled.

   The locker room echoed with their cheers, but then, just as I got to the
door, it died.  I turned.  Luke was standing just inside the other door. 
"Can I talk to you?"

   I nodded.  "Mark, take 'em out.  Two laps around the field, then give
'em to Robbie."

   He nodded, and, subdued, the team headed for the field.  "What can I do
for you, Luke?"

   "I, uh, I just wanted to say I was sorry."

   "For what?" I didn't want to see him squirm, but I figured if he was
really sorry, saying the words would help.

   "I, er, I lied.  I said what Mr.  Parker told me to say."

   "Okay."

   "If you want me to tell anybody, I will."

   I nodded.  "I don't think you have to do that.  The people who matter
already know."

   He looked at the ground and scuffed his foot.  "I just thought I should
say something."

   "Well, when she read the article, Robbie figured out why you lied."

   "Yeah," he said, rubbing his side.  "She's something else.  Remember
when I started and I said something about a pathetic team having a girl?"

   I nodded.

   "There's nothing pathetic about her."

   I grinned.  "Painful sometimes, but never pathetic." Luke looked like he
wasn't done, but didn't know what else to say.  "Can I ask you something?"

   He nodded, seeming almost grateful.

   "Were you using in Texas?"

   He looked at me, then back at the ground.  "Yeah."

   "Here?"

   His head hung even lower.  "Yeah."

   "Have you stopped?"

   "I...  I guess."

   "Don't guess.  Have you stopped."

   "I have."

   "Okay." I turned my back on him and walked to my locker.  I opened it
and dug my cell phone out of my jeans pocket.  I looked back at Luke, then
found the number I wanted in my contact list.  I dialed.

   Rosita answered the phone.  "Brees residence."

   "Hi, Cuz-in-law.  You ready to dump the doc and come cook for me?"

   "Who?  Is this Tony?"

   "The same.  Is the red-headed terror around?"

   "I'll get her."

   Luke scuffed his foot a couple more times, then turned toward the door.
"I'll just get..."

   "Stay!" I ordered as Cinnamon answered the phone.

   "Tony?"

   "The one and only."

   "You decided you wanted more of my body and are flying back?"

   "I wish," I said, only partly joking.  "I need Wynter's phone number."

   "I see.  A brunette and a redhead aren't enough, so you want a blond
too."

   "I need an expert opinion, and I'm short on minutes.  Right now Robbie's
running the football team, and I'm not sure how long they can last."

   "You're back on the team?"

   "Long story.  I'll call this weekend."

   "If you don't, I'll sic Hailey on you."

   "The number," I reminded her, and she rattled it off.  "Do you know if
she's home?"

   "She's supposed to be working on a group project for one of her classes,
and they're supposed to meet at her house."

   Luke had a nice little ping pong game going.  He's look at me, he'd look
at the door to the field.  He'd look at me, he'd look at the door to the
hall.  I pointed at a bench.  "Sit."

   I dialed Wynter's number, saving it to memory.  Her mom answered.

   "Hi, this is Tony Sims.  We met this summer.  Is Wynter around?"

   "Yes, I remember," she said.  She seemed to take it in stride that a
teenager she'd met once was calling her young daughter.  Someday I'd have
teenaged daughters.  I doubt I'll be so easygoing.  "Get suspended again
and need help?"

   "Well, I did get suspended again."

   Luke turned red.

   "But I'm back in school again.  I have a medical question"

   "And they don't have doctors in Washington?"

   "Not this good."

   She laughed.  "She's upstairs with friends, just a minute." I heard a
click.

   A minute later, another click I must have been on hold and Wynter came
on the line.  "Hello?"

   "Hi, adopted cuz.  What do you charge for phone consultations?" I asked
as soon as she answered.

   "For you, nothing," she said.  "Cinnamon wouldn't let me, anyway."

   "Never make exceptions for family, they'll drain you dry.  What do you
know about steroids?"

   "A little." I had a feeling that Wynter would say 'a little' even if
she'd just won a Nobel for a paper on them.

   "Know anything about how long they're detectible in a person's system?"

   "Tony!" she gasped.  "You're not thinking..."

   "Blondy, I don't even like aspirin," I interrupted.

   "Well, of course it depends on the steroid.  I did some research on them
when one of LaMarcus's and Huntly's friends said he was thinking about
using some, so they could talk him out of it.  Some like clenbuterol or
tets...  tet..." She sighed and then took a deep breath.  "Tes-tos-te-rone
undecanoate, less than a week.  Others like nandrolone phenylpor... 
phenyl-pro-pri-on-ate or nandrolone decanoate, a year or more."

   "Hang on," I said, then caught Luke's attention.  "What did you use?"

   "Winnies, the pill kind.  I don't like needles."

   "Winnies mean anything to you?"

   "Oh, sure!  That's from the brand name Winstrol, which is what their
friend wanted to use.  That's stazon...  sta-noz-o-lol.  Two weeks, maybe
three."

   "That works," I said, more to myself than Wynter.  "Feel up to a
lecture? Something on the order of what your dad got when he fell down the
stairs."

   Wynter laughed.  "Will it do any good?"

   "Time will tell," I said.  "Can you hold?"

   "Sure." I could picture her nodding, her ponytail bobbing.

   I dropped my hand with the phone, picked up my helmet and walked over to
Luke.  "Here's the deal stud.  This is my cousin.  She's only thirteen, but
you will listen to her like she is God herself, and with that much respect.
Do NOT let any problems she has pronouncing words make you think she
doesn't know what she's talking about.  When she's done, put my phone in my
locker, dress down, and hit the field.  Five laps, then report to Robbie
for your assignment." I held the phone out to him.

   "But I'm off the team."

   "You're back on.  I'll clear it with Coach Vickers and Mr.  Reed.  Two
weeks from now, your name WILL come up on the drug testing schedule, and it
WILL come up every week until you graduate.  If you don't come up clean,
I'll make sure you never play ball again.  Understand?"

   Luke looked confused but nodded.  "Why?"

   "Partly because we never gave you a chance to be a part of this team. 
And partly because I got reminded today that fair is not just in the eye of
the beholder.  It's in the eye of the doer."



   Chapter 25

   "How'd your meeting go?" Robbie asked.

   "Not great," I said and sat between the two girls.  Robbie and Tami were
sitting on the stone wall outside the side door.  Thirty-seven-and-a-half
percent of the cheerleading squad were sitting on the other wall.  I gave
Mikee, Allie, and Darlene big smiles.  Beyond the overhang the rain was
coming down.  Mr.  Nye, the science teacher, said we might set a record.  I
didn't want to set a record, I wanted football practice, and if it didn't
lighten up soon, practice was going to be in the gym or canceled all
together.

   "So Luke's off the team again?" Tami asked.

   "No, he's on.  But Coach Vickers and Mr.  Reed are not my biggest fans
at the moment."

   Yesterday when I'd gone out to the field, Coach Vickers hadn't been very
happy to have Luke back, but he let himself be convinced to wait and
discuss it with Mr.  Reed and me.  Robbie had been less than thrilled,
though I don't think anyone realized it but me.  Last night, when she
joined Tami and me for our walk, I kept waiting for a sucker punch.

   Today I'd met with Coach Vickers and Mr.  Reed at the beginning of
second period.  Coach Vickers left for his class at the beginning of third,
but Mr.  Reed and I had just finished.  I'd missed most of lunch.

   "Does he have to take a drug test first?" Robbie asked.  She knew the
deal I'd made with Luke.

   "Nope.  I convinced Mr.  Reed that the whole team would walk if one
player was required to take a non-random drug test without any evidence
that he's been using."

   "We would?"

   "Yep.  I figured I could convince my co-captain it was the right thing
to do, and she'd lead the team.  They kinda like her."

   "What if your co-captain isn't sure it's the right thing?"

   I put my arm around Robbie and gave her a squeeze.  "She would be.  Luke
got caught in Texas and paid the price." Officially he wasn't Texas
all-state.  He gotten caught right after the season, and they stripped him
of the title.  "In Washington, he's never been caught."

   "Never been caught.  That's what worries me.  I don't want to play the
season under a cloud."

   "This is Washington.  There's always clouds." Her elbow caught me in the
stomach, but I'd been expecting it and tensed up.

   "You know what I mean," she said with a touch of spite.

   "I know what you mean, and the universe will make sure that the cloud
doesn't hang over us too long.  Mr.  Reed added Luke's name to the drug
list himself."

   "The universe, huh?"

   "Yep, that old justice-loving universe." With a touch of help from Kelly
Dubrey.  The district used a computer program that WSAA provided.  All the
names of athletes in fall sports were input, and the computer spit out a
random list of seven percent.  This morning, before my meeting, she'd
hacked into the computer and added a worm to the program that would keep
Luke's name off the list for two weeks, then make it come up every week
after that.  It took her about fifteen minutes.  It was great having a
genius on retainer.

   "And Mr.  Reed bought that?" Tami asked.

   "I gave him my personal guarantee that Luke was clean." Or would be when
he tested.

   "And he bought that?"

   "Yep." After two hours.  I knew he wanted to pin me down about how I
knew Luke would get tested.  But he knew the only way I could guarantee
that was to fix the system, and I was trying to give him some plausible
deniability.  I think he finally got that.

   Tami asked the question that I knew everyone was thinking.  "And what if
he's still using?"

   "Then I guess I hang up my white hat and six-shooters and stop trying to
save the world.

   "But you'll still save cheerleaders, right?" Allie asked.

   "I'll always save cheerleaders."

   "Save them from what?" Paula asked stepping out the side door.

   "Save them from slave-driving captains.  They want to transfer to
football, 'cause they heard that Robbie's not nearly as tough."

   I was saved from Paula and Robbie's comebacks by the bell for our next
class.

   I watched Robbie walk away with relief.

   "Think it's no football?" Tami asked, reading my mind.

   "That's part of it." There'd been no football practice Tuesday or
yesterday because of the rain.  We couldn't even use the gym because of
other activities.  "She's just been a..." I stopped before calling my best
friend a bitch.

   "Totally," Tami agreed.  "She barely ate anything at lunch.  Maybe she's
just hungry."

   I couldn't blame her for that.  Tuna noodle surprise.  The surprise was
if you could keep it down.

   "Must be her time of the month."

   "Nope," Tami said, slipping her arm around me and her hand into my back
pocket.  "Too early.  Next week."

   Oh goody.  Something to look forward to.

   "Maybe she just needs to get laid."

   "Is that a suggestion, oh love of my life?" I leaned to the side and
kissed her nose.

   "You better believe it," she said with a grin.  "See if you can get Mark
Russell off his butt and into her pants."

   Not exactly what I had in mind, but on the other hand, not a bad idea.

   "Maybe she's just nervous," I suggested.

   "Robbie?"

   "She gets nervous.  She just usually hides it well.  This time she wants
it too bad."

   "I wonder why.  You shouldn't have told her about losing by a vote."

   "She needed to know."

   Tami sighed.  "I guess she did.  So what's going to happen?"

   Now it was my turn to sigh.  "Officially, we have three chances in ten.
In truth, probably three out of five, straight odds."

   "So better than fifty-fifty."

   "Maybe."

   Tami tilted her head but didn't say anything.  "Leslie probably has one
slot locked.  After all, she won last year.  I think Jeremy Wilkins is
gonna get a slot.  That leaves one."

   "One out of three." I nodded.

   "What do we do if we don't get it?"

   "You and I get some free time.  And Robbie we keep sedated and away from
other people."

   "How long?" Tami asked with a sly grin.

   "Probably not more than two, three years.  She should be over it by
then."

   "You're a good friend."

   "I try."

   "You still clean?" I asked as I pulled a jersey over my head.

   Luke looked irritated.  I'd arranged for me and him to be the last ones
out of the locker room.  "I said I was," he snapped.

   I didn't bother tucking in my shirt and stepped over in front of him. 
"Slick, you haven't earned trust yet.  Mine or anybody else's.  I don't
know if you believe it or not, but I want you to succeed, to pass your
test. And you WILL get tested.  Since I don't trust you, I'll nag you. 
Still clean?"

   Luke's fists were clenched, and I was ready if he took a swing.  "Yes,"
he said finally.

   "I don't know a lot about those Winnies.  But I've heard that steroids
can cause increased aggressiveness, so either uncurl those fists or use
them."

   Luke looked down at his hands as if he hadn't realized, then relaxed
them.

   "We might as well get this straight," I said, relaxing a little myself.
"I'm not your friend.  I probably won't be.  I'm your team-mate and your
captain.  And I will nag you, bug you, and bully you to get what I want. 
If you don't like that, or you can't handle that, you know where the door
is."

   Luke tensed again, his fists half closing, but nodded.

   "If you need help, ask.  If it's medical I can call Wynter."

   "No, I...  is that chick really thirteen?"

   I laughed and slapped him on the back.  "So she tells me."

   "She sounded like a cross between my doctor, my mom, and Mr.  Lansing,
my old vice-principal."

   "That's my Wynter.  Now get out there.  Four laps."

   "The team did two."

   "Your point?"

   Luke stared for just a second, then nodded and ran through the door.  I
decided that I'd call Wynter after practice and see if there was anything I
should know.

   The absurdity of the situation struck me, and I laughed as I grabbed my
helmet off the bench.  A junior calling an eighth-grader for medical
advice. I ran toward the field and my own four laps.

   Tami and I were just finishing our sixth circuit of the park when Kelly
skipped out of her house.  The rain the last couple nights had kept us
inside.

   "How's my favorite munchkin?" I asked.

   "Am I really your favorite?" she asked coyly with a big grin.

   "Well, top three anyway." Her face fell.  "Definitely top five."

   "Tony, stop teasing," Tami ordered.  "You're his favorite," she added to
Kelly.

   "I don't even know if I like him anymore," Kelly said with a hint of a
pout.

   "You do," Tami said, then leaned down and whispered something that made
them both laugh.

   Kelly looked up at me.  "Mom wanted to talk to you."

   "What about?" I asked automatically.

   Kelly shrugged.

   "Now?"

   Kelly nodded.

   I reviewed my last couple weeks and decided that I probably didn't need
to make a run for it.  Tami and I followed Kelly back to her house. 
"Where's Mikee?" I asked as she let us in.  I knew Peter wasn't home.  He
was at my house, supposedly doing homework with Traci.

   "She's at Lizzie's.  They have some kind of presentation in science
tomorrow." I nodded and noticed Kelly's mom look from me to Kelly to Tami.
She didn't want a crowd.

   "Hey, Tami.  Why don't you take Kelly over to my house and play her
those new MP3's I downloaded.  I think she'll like them." Tami hesitated
only a second before realizing the same thing I had.  She took Kelly by the
hand and led her out.  Kelly would probably like the music though.  I'd
found a Swedish singer named Amy Diamond.  She was only twelve or thirteen
but had a hell of a voice.  Her music was a little too bubblegum but still
good, and, hopefully, her managers would get smart and find her better
songs.

   As the door closed, Mrs.  Temple and I looked at each other awkwardly,
then she waved me toward the sofa.  After I sat she fidgeted, then sat in
the opposite lounger.

   "I don't think I ever thanked you," she said, not quite looking at my
face.

   "It was nothing," I said.  I wanted to minimize it considering the rest
of my relationship with her girls.

   "No, it was more than that." She got up, walked across, and sat next to
me, taking my hand in both of hers.  "You saved my daughter."

   "She just needed someone to talk to," I said, embarrassed.

   "No, it was more than that." She let go of my hand with one of hers,
reached up, and gently turned my head so that we were looking at each
other. "She needed someone to listen.  That's a lot harder to find. 
Someone she trusted.  I'm a nurse.  I've seen what happens to kids who
can't find a way to work through their traumas.  Alcohol, drugs, suicide."
The last word was barely a whisper.

   "It wasn't that bad."

   "It could have been.  She was...  retreating."

   "I, uh..."

   "I know I'm embarrassing you, and I'll stop.  But I wanted you to know
that I knew everything you'd done for my Kelly.  And my Michelle."

   I really wish she hadn't said 'everything.'

   She leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.  "Now that you're totally
embarrassed and uncomfortable, I was hoping to talk you into a favor."

   "A favor?"

   "We got a call from Green Hill."

   It took me a few seconds to make the connection.  The State Boy's School
wasn't something I thought about a lot.

   "Kenny's doing real well.  We're going up this weekend."

   "That's..." I wasn't sure what that was.  I knew this was his mother,
and she wanted him to do good.  BUT, if he did too good they could send him
home.  I really didn't want to deal with that.  "I'm glad he's fitting in."

   "That's nice of you to say, though I have trouble believing you meant
it."

   I figured silence was my best answer.

   "We're going up tomorrow.  He'll get a three-hour furlough Saturday,
then maybe another on Sunday."

   Damn, damn, damn!

   "Kelly and Mikee don't want to go."

   "If you want me to talk them into it, you picked the wrong guy."

   She smiled.  "There are some things that are beyond even you."

   I wish she hadn't said it like that.  I found myself wondering if I
could talk the girls into going if I tried.

   "Kelly isn't ready for it.  And now Mikee..."

   "She knows it all," I said quietly.  What hadn't come out on the road
trip came out shortly after.  Both girls had talked to me about it.

   "I thought so," she said.  "Those two don't have many secrets."

   Thanks to Cousin Cinnamon.

   "Like you said, Kelly needed somebody who'd listen," I said, and Mrs. 
Temple nodded.

   "Anyway, Kelly and Mikee don't want to go, and as much as I'd like to be
a family again, I don't think forcing them is the right thing to do."

   I relaxed.  I hadn't realized that I'd tensed up.

   "Kelly wants to stay with Traci.  Michelle too."

   "Uh...  We'd love to have them, but Mom left today." Her company was
sending her to some kind of meeting in Dallas.  "Dad too." Mom and Dad
decided that we were so responsible lately that they made a long weekend of
it.  Mom's meeting started Monday, and she'd be back Thursday or Friday. 
Dad was going to fly to Olympia from Dallas and be back Wednesday or
Thursday.  Until then, Traci and I were solo.

   "I know.  Michelle told me."

   "Oh." I was more embarrassed than when she'd thanked me.  She was
telling me that she trusted me.  Not my parents: me.  "I'll call and check
with Mom, but I don't think there'll be a problem."

   "Thank you." She leaned forward and hugged me, and I finally realized
that she'd been holding my hand all this time.

   "What about Peter?" I asked.

   "He's going with us.  He's never got along with Kenny all that much, but
I think he feels it's his duty."

   "He doesn't, uh, know?"

   "No.  Do you think he should?"

   I felt odd being asked to advise a parent about raising a kid only two
years younger than me.  "Peter's a pretty smart kid.  And he's pretty close
to his sisters." I left the rest unsaid.  Did they want to tell him, or
risk having him find out.

   Mrs.  Temple nodded.  "I'll think about it.  There's one more thing,"
she said, letting go and sitting back.

   Damn.  I really wanted this conversation to be over.

   "I told you that the counselor said Kenny was doing really good."

   I nodded.

   "If he keeps it up, there could be other furloughs."

   I nodded again, trying not to think about where this was leading.

   "He might even be able to come home for a weekend."

   Damn!  Why hadn't the fucking D.A.  charged him as an adult and put him
away?

   "Kelly and Michelle are always welcome.  But it might be better if they
stayed with friends outside the park."

   "I wasn't thinking of that.  I was thinking of you."

   "Me?"

   "You and Kenny." She was holding her breath, looking at me, watching me.

   "I have no problem with Kenny."

   She relaxed, letting out the breath she'd been holding.

   "But I told Mikee that I'd do whatever it took to make her and Kelly be
safe.  Feel safe." I looked her straight in the eye.  "I don't make
promises lightly.  And I don't break them."

   She held my gaze for a couple seconds, then looked down at the floor. 
"I wouldn't want you to."

   I think I was just given permission to hurt Kenny if I thought it was
necessary.