Standing In Shadows - 34. Chapter 34

SIS 34

I heard loud footsteps coming down the narrow hallway, something must have woke me, but I didn’t know what. Knowing the loudness of his footsteps, I wasn’t surprised to see Dad shove past my bedroom door. He opened his mouth to tell me to wake up, but seeing me he closed his mouth and waited for me to sit up.

“Take a shower,” Dad said as I rubbed the sleepiness out of my eyes. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand and saw that it was only a little past noon. I knew Dad wouldn’t let me sleep all day, but I thought he’d give me at least a little more time.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, letting my hand drop to my lap.

“Nothing,” he answered, his mouth tightening. “I don’t know, just go take a shower.”

“Alright,” I said, my stomach twisting. When he saw me stand he turned and left my room. Then I heard him stomping back down the hallway. As I was entering the bathroom I heard his cell phone ring. I was going to try to listen in, but I saw him walk around the corner to look down the hall. Seeing me there he put the phone to his chest and shot me a glare so I stepped inside and turned the water on.

I quickly wrapped my arm. Knowing I didn’t have a lot of time, I stepped into the water. Gritting my teeth I adjusted the temperature before I quickly lathered my body with soap and washed my hair.

“Come on Corey,” Dad yelled just beyond the bathroom door. I jumped and made sure the soap and shampoo was rinsed away before I turned off the water and stepped out. He was still hovering just beyond the bathroom door and I hastily dried off, ripping the tape and plastic bag from my cast. Walking over to the door, I unlocked it and when I pulled it open he took a step back. Dad could never hide how he was feeling, but when I looked up I could only see the tightness of his shoulders. He was holding back and that worried me more.

“What’s wrong?” I repeated and he sighed and stepped out of my way.

“We’re going to the field,” Dad answered, “get some clothes on.”

“Okay,” I said and watched him walk back down the hallway before I stepped back into my room. Feeling a chill go through me I dropped the towel and slid on a pair of boxer briefs. Then I grabbed a pair of soccer shorts and a t-shirt and my old running shoes.

Dressed I opened the door and walked down the dark hallway to the living room. He was standing with his keys in his hand by the door. Seeing me he opened it and turned the lock on the door. He held it open for me and when I opened my mouth to say something he pointed out the door so I sighed and walked around the small couch and kept walking. I didn’t look back until I was standing by his truck. He stomped down the metal steps causing them to groan and screech. He pushed the remote unlock button and I opened the door and slid in. His shoulders were still tight and when his cell phone rang again, he looked at the number and shoved it back into his pocket.

“Tell me what it is,” I said when he slid into the driver seat and slid the key into the ignition.

“I don’t know what the hell it is,” he countered, shooting me a glare. “Phil called and told me we better get on down there.”

“Phil?” I asked, my eyes narrowing.

“Yeah Phil,” He said, “you know he’s a booster and a major sponsor of the football team.”

“I know,” I said, my mouth going dry. Phil was a nice guy, the barber shop owner in town. He had always been a friend, especially to Mom and Dad. I had just seen him a few weeks ago to get my haircut. He made me promise a free sandwich for lunch from Mom. Glancing at Dad as he turned towards the high school I wondered why he would be calling now. Dad usually met with boosters by himself, to discuss sponsor money and equipment needs. Dad always hated those meetings because he knew they were judging him and the team’s successes and failures. For the most part Dad had done well, we had won a lot of games, nearly winning the state championship twice since he took over.

“When we get there I want you to keep your mouth shut,” Dad said as he nearly missed a stop sign. The wheels squealed and I looked over at him.

“I will,” I said, trying to calm my nerves.

“I don’t know what it is about, but we can easily guess what it might be,” Dad said, taking off again. I could already see the high school come into view and the parking lot leading to the field was full of cars.

“They called everybody?” I said as Dad slowed the truck and turned into the parking lot. We had to park farther back. When I was about to undo my seatbelt and open the door he turned and looked at me. I flinched when his hand went up and grabbed my shoulder. He gave it a quick squeeze.

“Remember, don’t say anything,” he repeated and he released me and opened the door. He waited for me to walk around the truck before we both took off towards the field.

When we walked around the metal bleachers to the gate we saw people standing there. I heard Dad grumble, but he didn’t hesitate and opened the gate. He stepped through it and I followed quietly, closing it behind me. Looking around I noticed that most of the boosters were there. As well as the parents of most of the team. When I saw Andy and Keith’s parents standing next to Phil all of them talking to one another I looked around again. None of my teammates were there.

“What am I doing here?” I asked but Dad shook his head shooting me a glare.

When they finally noticed our approach their voices lowered, most people stopped talking completely. Phil, noticing us, looked relieved and shot everyone a glare before he closed the distance between us.

“I told them not to do this,” Phil said looking at Dad. When he turned to me, I saw that his face was flushed. His normally soft blue eyes were wide, but when they took me in he sighed. Then he surprised me by placing a hand on my shoulder and patting it a few times before he turned back to the crowd that hadn’t moved to greet Dad like they usually did.

“I know Phil,” Dad said, “you called and told me a hundred times.”

“I thought you needed to be here for this,” Phil countered and then we all stopped walking when we were a few feet away. I glanced over at Dad, he had his arms crossed over his chest, I saw his eyes darting at every face I knew was staring back at us.

“We have a petition,” said a man I barely recognized. I looked down at his hands and saw there was a small wooden clipboard with a packet of papers secured to it.

“Hand it over,” Dad said, uncrossing his arms. When the man hesitated Dad, glared and walked the short distance between us and them and ripped it from the other man’s grasp. I tried to read over his shoulder, but Dad turned slightly away from me.

“I told them not to do it,” Phil repeated, “that they were a bunch of dirt trash idiots.”

“Don’t say anything you’ll regret Phil,” Dad said briefly glancing at him, but I couldn’t help seeing the tight smile that crossed Dad’s face. When he turned back towards the crowd, still holding the petition out in front of him. He flipped through the pages once more, each new page making me flinch. Dad wasn’t really looking at the names on the pages and when he got to the last page he shoved the rest of them back down and looked at them.

“Every booster and almost every parent signed it,” the same guy said. “Every player too.”

“Not every player,” Dad said glancing at me, “you still haven’t told me what this shit is about here.”

“It’s about our reputation,” the man said and I turned to see Andy’s Dad saying something to Keith’s Mom. She shot him a look and then turned to look at me.

“I think we can all agree that it has gone to shit, Bill Crawley,” Dad countered balling up the petition and ripping it from the clipboard. “If we’re stooping to garbage like this.”

“How will people treat us, what about the other schools?” Bill asked and I saw Phil go rigid.

“What does it matter to you?” Phil asked, crossing his arms. Dad went back over the petition again, paying more attention to the names that were on it.

“Look Corey is injured anyway,” someone in the crowd said. I saw Dad shoot the person a glare, but I didn’t know who it was.

“Dad,” I started and he shot me a glare.

“Tell you what,” Dad growled looking down at the packet. “You tell him why we’re here.”

“You weren’t supposed to bring him,” Bill countered, crossing his arms.

“We didn’t sign it Lee,” Eve said from the small cluster of people off to the side, “Someone else signed our names, I didn’t even know this was going on until Phil told us to come.” Hearing her say that made me feel better at least.

“We could never sign it,” Lorie, Andy’s Mom, added her voice a higher pitch than I remembered. When I looked at her, I saw tear streaks down her face. “He’s such a sweet boy that doesn’t deserve this.”

“Tell him what this is about,” Dad challenged, ripping the packet of papers apart, “go ahead, tell him, don’t hide behind these papers.”

“Don’t Lee,” Phil said, “It will only hurt the boy.”

“He’s not a boy,” Dad countered, “he needs to hear what people think about him if he’s going to make it in this world.”

“I don’t know...” Phil started, but Dad turned to look at him shaking his head. Phil, frowning, stepped behind Dad and came to stand on the other side of me.

“We are just afraid that with you on the field that it would be a distraction and allowing you to stay on the team would send the wrong message,” Bill said and I swallowed and tried not to flinch.

“Cowards,” Dad said, “That’s fucking bullshit.”

“It’s the truth,” someone else said. “What sort of message are we sending out, that it’s okay to be a faggot.”

“Who said that?” Dad asked, stepping towards the crowd. “I’ll kick your ass for that.”

“Dad, if they,” I started but he turned around.

“Don’t you dare give them what they want,” Dad bellowed his cold eyes shooting through me. “They are trying to take everything away from you.”

“I know,” I said, squaring my shoulders. “I’m not giving up my spot, but you might not have a team if I don’t do what they say.”

“I don’t want a team that can’t stand behind you,” Dad said, turning to look at everyone else. “It’s sad that you all seem to have forgotten what Corey has done. Why don’t you all go look through the trophy cases this afternoon. See what he has done for this school, before you turn your back on him.”

“Coach,” Bill said, “we know he’s a good player, he should have kept something like this quiet though.”

“He was outed by another student,” Lorie countered, “we all got the texts, honestly Bill.”

“It’s not Corey’s fault we’re out here,” Dad said, “you brought us out here so you could shove a few papers at us, telling Corey he can’t be on the team anymore.”

“Idiots, the lot of you,” Phil said and despite himself Dad smirked.

“You’re going to lose a lot of business Phil,” Dad warned, but Phil shook his head.

“I’m close to retiring anyway,” Phil said, turning to me, smiling.

“I am here to tell you that Corey is on the team because I make those decisions, not you. He is the captain and he will stay that way,” Dad said, crossing his arms. “If you can’t handle that go home and tell your players they need to turn in their equipment and jersey, I will be in my office waiting.”

“Coach,” Bill said, stepping forward. “You won’t have a team.”

“Then we won’t have a team,” Dad said, “for the parents of seniors, I hope you know that you are stealing one of the best years of your sons’ lives.”

“Damn right they are,” Phil added, but Dad ignored him.

“Look,” Dad said, “we live in a small district, a lot of your boys’ football careers will end after they graduate here, we all know that. So let them have fun while they still can. Don’t tell my son that he has lost a spot on a team just because he’s gay. Odds are one of your boys are also gay, and what would it look like to them, seeing us all here like this?”

“I wouldn’t let my boy flaunt that shit like your son, I’d…” Bill started, but Dad rushed him, red faced, he grabbed Bill by the shirt collar, his fists balling up.

“Choose your words carefully about my son Bill Crawley,” Dad growled, “there is nothing wrong with my son, just with you dumbasses.”

“Dad,” I said and I noticed him soften for a brief moment before hardening again. I didn’t want him hitting Bill and Bill looked like he was about to crumble underneath my Dad’s glare anyway. Hitting him would only cause more trouble for Dad. This is when I wished Mom was here, she always had a way to calm him.

“I think we’re done here folks,” Phil said walking past me to pat Dad on the shoulder then letting his hand fall back to his side. Dad let go of Bill and took a step back, glaring at everyone in the crowd.

“I’ll be in my office until five this evening,” Dad said, “tell them to bring their jerseys, if they can’t support a teammate, they can’t keep it. I know it is too late to find a new coach before camp, but I’ll be placing my resignation with the school board after this season is over.”

“Dad no,” I said, turning to face him. “Don’t do that.”

“Are you sure about that Lee?” Phil asked, “Don’t do anything hasty, they’ll come around.”

“No, but it’s what I have to do,” Dad answered, reaching over he grabbed my shoulder and like he did in the truck earlier, gave it a quick squeeze before letting go. “I will stand by Corey, I will see him graduate and then I’m done. Football isn’t worth this shit.”

“Sorry,” I said, swallowing against the tightness of my throat.

“Go on home, I’ll call your Mom to swing by after work to pick me up,” Dad said nodding his head towards the parking lot as he handed me the keys. “For the rest of you, you’re messing up the field so get off it and leave. Bill pick up the trash.”

“Go on home like your Dad said,” Phil said as the crowd of parents and boosters started breaking up into smaller groups. I wanted to follow Dad to his office, but he was a few feet ahead of me walking quickly.

“I want to stay with him,” I said, turning back to Phil.

“I’ll stay,” Phil said, “you don’t need to see it if it gets bad.”

“Do you think they’ll do it?” I asked and I saw his expression harden.

“If they do, then they don’t have a hell of a lot of balls,” Phil responded and I smirked, even though my heart was hammering in my chest. I couldn’t help blaming myself for all this. If I had only waited, none of this would have happened. If I had been more careful. I didn’t really regret anything I had done though, not really. It had mostly been good.

“What’s the baseball team doing?” I asked and Phil smiled.

“Nothing that I know about, and I know everything that goes on here” Phil answered offering me a smile, “I think you have nothing to worry about, your Dad pulled a fast one on them.”

“By telling them that they won’t have a team?” I asked and he shook his head.

“Go to your closet and take out your jersey,” Phil said as we started walking towards the exit. “If you can give that up for someone else, then you never really deserved it.”

“So you think they won’t, no matter what their parents want?” I asked not believing him at all. But he only nodded and walked me to the truck. I knew that he wouldn’t leave me until I was safely inside and away from the field. He gave me a wave and as I started the engine and backed out of the parking lot. Most of the parents were still talking things over, some had left.

I didn’t want to go home to that quiet apartment though. Knowing I would be alone most of the day, going crazy waiting to know how many of my teammates quit the team. So I turned away from town and kept driving until I saw Clinton’s house come into view. I didn’t know if I was welcome there or not, not after sneaking out last night. Seeing Jenny’s car in her driveway, I sighed and kept driving to the next house and pulled in behind her car and got out.

As I was walking towards the house I saw the curtains in the front window move and a flash of red disappearing. When I was at the bottom step the door opened and she came out of the house smiling until my expression gave me away.

“What happened?” Jenny asked quickly, closing the distance between us wrapping me into a hug. I pressed myself against her as hard as I could. Although she wasn’t Clinton, she was just as comforting and I realized how much she meant to me.

“They ambushed us,” I answered and she broke the hug to study me. “They had a petition, they want me to quit.”

“Who does?” Jenny asked, her eyes narrowing.

“Isn’t your Dad a booster?” I asked and she looked towards the house.

“Yeah,” she answered, “the boosters want you to quit?”

“And most of the parents,” I added and she wrapped me into a hug.

“I hope you gave them hell,” Jenny whispered tiptoeing, I knew she was trying to hug me with all her strength, but being a lot smaller than me, I barely felt it.

“Dad did,” I said smiling as she broke the hug.

“Dad didn’t say anything to me about it, I swear,” she said, “he’s been home all day. I would have kicked his ass.”

“Jenny,” I said rolling my eyes. “Don’t…”

“I know, don’t go fighting with my parents,” Jenny mocked, rolling her eyes. “Guess what Corey, teenagers fight with their parents.”

“I know,” I said as she studied my face.

“And you have a hickey,” she said and I felt my face flush.

“Is it that obvious?” I asked, wrinkling my nose. It hadn’t seemed so obvious looking at it through the mirror on Clinton’s truck. I had been too rushed by Dad to look at it in the mirror after I showered.

“Yes,” she answered smiling.

“Jenny,” I stammered frowning, “you should have seen them all, people don’t change, I shouldn’t have let myself, I should have kept it hidden...”

“Shut up,” she interrupted looking over her shoulder then back to me. “Thinking like that won’t do you any good.”

“What am I supposed to think?” I asked stepping away from her when she went to hug me again.

“I don’t know,” she answered, “just not that, I know that much.”

“Really?” I asked, rolling my eyes. Then she surprised me when she punched my shoulder.

“Yes really,” She countered shaking her hand, “now rub it and make me feel better.”

“It did hurt,” I said grimacing, “what was that for?”

“For doubting yourself, loser,” she said and I reached for her hand and gently massaged her knuckles.

“You’re getting vicious,” I said, “first Cj, now me.”

“They say redheads have tempers, and I warned you the other day anyway,” she countered then we both heard a sick sounding engine coming down the road. Knowing the sound of Andy’s truck I looked over my shoulder and watched as they slowed down in front of Clinton's house. From the front yard I saw Keith point to Dad’s truck and then Jenny and I reached up and waved as the truck started moving again and pulled into the driveway, parking behind me.

When they got out of the truck, I saw their faces were flushed as they jogged towards me. Jenny took a step back and I looked at her and she was watching them. It was then I was tackled to the ground, landing on my back. Both of them started talking at once and I couldn’t understand what either of them were saying.

“I have a broken arm, idiots,” I groaned feeling my arm throb underneath Keith. They both went still and moved off me.

“We should have gone with our parents this morning,” Andy said as they helped me to my feet. I knocked Keith’s hand away when he started brushing the grass from my shirt. I heard Jenny laughing beside me.

“They said you wouldn’t be there so we waited until they got home,” Keith said, “we didn’t know anything until Phil called this morning.”

“How did they keep it a secret?” I asked, “People talk.”

“That don’t fucking matter,” Keith said and I saw Jenny grimace and look towards her front door.

“Mom will wash your mouth out Keith,” Jenny warned, “maybe we should go get some milkshakes or something.”

“I could go for a milkshake,” Keith said and I rolled my eyes.

“Why were you there anyway?” Andy asked as we all started towards our vehicles.

“I think Dad wanted them to tell me what they were going to tell him,” I answered, “maybe he hoped they wouldn’t.”

“Did they?” Jenny asked, grabbing hold of my hand.

“Yeah,” I answered and she shook her head.

“You guys can ride with me,” she said when we all started walking to our own vehicles.

“Nah,” Andy said, “we can’t stay long, we're going to go house to house and kick some ass.”

“You’re not badass enough,” I countered shoving him with my left hand.

“Just ride wherever then,” Jenny said as Andy shoved me back. “I’ll be right back, I forgot my keys.”

“Alright,” I said and she let go of my hand and jogged back towards the house. When the door was closed I heard Andy sigh.

“Dude how can we make a play when you’re still in the game?” Andy asked and I turned to see him smirking.

“What?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Did you see how her ass bounced when she jogged?” Keith asked and Andy nodded.

“No,” I answered and Andy shook his head.

“But you still have a better chance of getting in her shorts than we do,” Andy said and I shook my head.

“So what does that say about you then?” I countered and turned to look across the yard to Clinton’s house.

“Oh god!” Keith groaned, I jumped and saw that he was pointing at me. “He’s been sucking face.”

“Probably more than that,” Andy said, grimacing as what he said sunk in. “Dude that’s like the number one rule, don’t do it where it will show.”

“Shut the fuck up,” I groaned slapping him on the back of the head.

“My favorite is between the boobs, all up in there,” Andy added rubbing the back of his head.

“I like thighs,” Keith said smiling.

“In a bucket of chicken,” Andy added, earning another smack across the back of the head.

“She still likes you though,” Keith said, “we can see how she looks at you, she’s still hooked.”

“She’s not,” I countered glancing over my shoulder as the front door opened and closed. I watched her jog towards me, a smile on her face. She had changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I could just make out a green bra through the fabric. I glanced at Andy and Keith and saw that they were watching her approach as well. The way they watched her reminded me of watching Baywatch when we were younger. I wanted to laugh, but what they said rocked me.

“Ready?” She asked, coming to a stop beside me.

“Yep,” Andy said, winking at me as he walked to the driver’s side of the truck. Keith smirked and walked around to the passenger side leaving Jenny and I alone at her car.

“Are they afraid I’d crash and kill them or something?” Jenny asked, rolling her eyes.

“Probably,” I said shrugging. “We can wait if you want to call someone else.”

“Why would I call someone else?” She asked, reaching to open her door.

“Maybe Amber or something, I don’t know,” I answered shrugging as my face flushed. I hoped it didn’t give me away, but she only smiled.

“She’s with Bryan, probably under him by now,” Jenny said as she opened her door slightly and I walked around to the passenger side and got in. She put it in drive and did a small circle in the yard. Andy and Keith had already pulled out onto the road, but backed a short distance to let Jenny in front. It was probably some perverted joke that they were laughing at by letting her go first, but I wasn’t about to tell Jenny. “Are we stopping for Clinton?”

“I can go see if he’s grounded,” I said glancing at her as she slowed down to his driveway.

“Why would he be?” She asked cocking an eyebrow. Then she looked down at the hickey.

“We snuck out,” I said, my face hot. She only studied me for a moment before pulling into the driveway.

“Go ask,” she said and I sighed and opened the door, leaving it open not expecting him to be able to go. Richard and Merie seemed really upset this morning. Walking up to the front door I pushed the doorbell before I thought better of it. Then I heard footsteps and when the door opened I saw Merie standing in front of me.

“Go home Corey,” Merie said, “Clinton is grounded for sneaking out last night.”

“Sorry,” I said then as I was about to turn I saw Clinton come up to stand beside her.

“Mom,” he groaned, “please.”

“You broke the rules Clinton, sorry Corey,” Merie countered, then offered me a polite smile.

“Let him go Merie, I just got off the phone with Lee,” Robert yelled from somewhere deeper in the house. My heart sank hearing Dad’s name.

“How will he learn to follow rules if you’re always letting him slide?” Merie asked, as Clinton tried to gently dislodge her from blocking the front door. Being a foot shorter than him, it should have been easy, but he gave up and sighed.

“They had a petition Merie,” Robert said, “the boosters and some parents.”

“What?” Merie said forgetting that she was on guard duty she stepped out of the doorway and Clinton stepped through it before the screen door fell shut.

“I want to know…” I started, but Clinton grabbed my hand and dragged me towards Jenny’s car.

“I was in the living room when your dad called,” Clinton said, “we need to go before Mom remembers I’m grounded.”

“When she does you’ll be in deep,” I said smiling through the tension I felt, but I wasn’t about to convince him to stay.