MADversary (18 page)

“Just a sec.”
  She slid her shoes back on, deflated.  She shouldn’t have said anything.  “Why are you in such a hurry now?”

He stood.  “I
gotta
help the guys load up the equipment.”
 
Yep.  She’d touched a sore spot.
  She placed her hands on the concrete but didn’t say anything.  “Do you need some help up?”

“Sure,” she said, feeling for his outstretched hands.  He helped her stand up and started leading her back out of what had been their temporary love nest.  He continued to hold her hand as they wound their way back around to the door.
  He was quiet now.
  What should have been a fulfilling
, tender
time and more moments of bonding had turned into an awkward
shuffle out the door.

They finally entered the gym again, assaulted by pop rock and a strobe light.  Megan appreciated that, even though it was dark in the gym due to the mood lighting, she could see her way around.  Tyler stopped and turned to her. 
“Hey, sorry.
  That just really…pissed me off.  I’m
gonna
have to talk to her tonight.”  Megan nodded but said nothing. 
His eyes scanned hers,
seeming to look for something.  He leaned over and kissed her again.  It was full of promise and passion, but he cut it short.  “See you later, okay?”

She nodded, still standing in the gap between the bleachers, watching him walk away.  She suddenly felt empty and alone. 
Empty and alone was okay when that was what you were used to, but crashing down from a fulfilling, soul-joining high made empty and alone feel worse…much worse.  That feeling
just confirmed that com
ing tonight had
probably
been a bad idea, because her hurt was fresh all over again.

Chapter Twenty-one

MEGAN STOOD BY
the refreshments table, scanning the crowd, hoping
to spot
Lisa
in the midst of all the moving bodies
.  She was tired of this goddamn reunion and ready to return to her life, the one without Tyler,
the
one without his promises.  She was tired of feeling emotional and upset, but more than that, she hated the ups and downs.  She felt so alive with him and so lost when he left, and that
yo-yo effect
couldn’t be healthy
for her emotional well-being
.

She didn’t see Lisa, but she did spy Tamara.  Tyler had denied that Tamara had given birth to his baby, but he hadn’t been convincing.  She planned to grill the woman and find out exactly what she was saying.  Maybe
Megan
could corroborate the details or confirm they were untrue by talking to others, but she had to know what Tamara considered
to be
the facts first.

She glanced behind herself, feeling a little guilty, and saw Tyler holding a guitar case in hand, talking with one of the guys from his band.  It turned out that Megan didn’t need to approach Tamara, because the woman approached Megan while her back was turned.  “You just can’t keep your hands off the guy, can you?”

Megan turned around.  Tamara
was having
to raise her voice over the music to be heard.  The refreshments table was next to the alternate exit which led to a lobby of sorts but branched out into the school proper.  When she’d been in high school, she knew the hallways to the classrooms were blocked off
during events
but the lobby itself should be open and available, and the fact that lights were on inside confirmed her thoughts.  Of course, she thought.  There were restrooms in the lobby as well, and they’d want those available
to the alumni
.  “Can I talk to you?”

Tamara’s blue eyes lit up. 
“Thought you’d never ask.”

Megan bobbed her head toward the lobby.  “Let’s go in there where it’s quieter.”

So the two women made their way into the lobby next to the gymnasium. 
They stood next to a wall that had a long display case full of trophies and souvenirs like special footballs and baseballs.  There were a couple of uniform pieces as well and other sports memorabilia having to do with the Winchester Bulldogs.
  “So what do you
wanna
know?”

Megan steeled her jaw.  She knew it was a bad idea going down this path, but Tyler hadn’t wanted to talk and she had to know.  “Tell me everything.”

A sly smile curled Tamara’s lower face.  Megan’s soul withered as she realized how much this woman relished what she was about to do.  Tamara was bitter and wanted to infect Megan with her acrid words. 
Too late
to back out now
.
  She was already committed, so she kept her feet planted, her lips shut, and her eyes locked on perhaps the only person she could call her adversary.

“Well, you know Tyler and I dated before you two did.”  Megan nodded her head.  Tamara’s eyes then grew sorrowful, but for some reason Megan thought it was an act.  “You know, he told me he loved me and wanted to be with me forever.  So I did what any girl would do—I gave him my precious flower.  I let him take away my innocence.”  Her words slapped Megan across the face.  Megan was pretty certain that wasn’t true, but she couldn’t quite remember.  She thought, though, that Tamara had been known for being easy back then
, and she was sure Tyler wasn’t her first
.  But Megan couldn’t ponder her thoughts while Tamara pressed forward.
  “But I was smart about it then.  I was on the pill, so I couldn’t get pregnant.

“And then we broke up.  I guess he got bored with me, or maybe we fought too much. 
I shouldn’t say
we
broke up.  He broke up with me.  I wasn’t fun anymore.  And that’s when I realized I’d been mistreated and abused, and I reported to authorities that he’d raped me, not once, but several times when we’d dated.  I thought I loved him, so I didn’t say anything until he was gone.  But it was too late.  I had no proof, so no one believed me.

“Imagine the shame and embarrassment I had to go through the rest of the year.  They didn’t have the alternative high school here yet, so I had no choice.  If I wanted to finish school, I had to go to WHS.  And, believe me, it hurt to see him
going on with his life while mine withered to nothing.  He started dating you, but not long after, he approached me.  And I had some weird, stupid thing going on in my head.  I wanted him to love me.  So when he wanted to sleep with me again, I said
yes
.  I felt bad that he was cheating on you, but I wanted him for myself.  I hope you can forgive me.”  Megan nodded her head, not wanting to say anything.  She didn’t even have time to decide if any of wh
at Tamara was saying was true.

Tamara continued.  “So I agreed, but I was off the pill.  He couldn’t wait and he had no protection.  Well, of course it happened. 
I got pregnant with his child.  I didn’t know at first, but when I went to get on the pill again, they told me I couldn’t because I was pregnant.

“I was scared.  I decided I wanted an abortion, so I asked Tyler to help me.  He got angry and slapped
and beat
me and blamed me for it.  So I just cried and worried and didn’t do anything.  I finally told my mom I was pregnant
,
and she convinced me to keep
the baby
.  So I was pregnant at graduation.  I wasn’t really showing yet, especially under the gown.  And I decided to try one last time to get Tyler to do the right thing.  When we were lined up outside the football field, before we walked out there for the ceremony, I pulled him aside.”

Megan remembered that incident.  She remembered Tamara desperately clutching at Tyler, begging him to take her back, crying that she loved him so, that no one else could ever love him like she did.
  She could see in her mind’s eye how Tamara kept grasping Tyler’s hand and how Tyler was trying to get her off him without hurting her.  Could this really be the person Tamara was describing, a young man who beat and raped her, who refused to care for his own child?

“When he said he didn’t want me, I told him I was keeping his baby.  And that’s when
he told me to let go of him.  He said he never wanted to see me again.”  Megan remembered Tyler saying something like that.  His voice had been raised in frustration.  Megan hadn’t been the only classmate who’d heard Tyler telling Tamara to leave him alone.

Still…she was finding Tamara’s story hard to believe.  Her disbelief must have shown on her face.  Tamara said, “I came here, wanting to try one last time to convince him to do the right thing, to be a good father to his son.”  She lowered her voice.  “You don’t believe me, but I have proof right here.”  Tamara yanked her purse from off her shoulder and opened it.  She reached in and pulled out a
n envelope.  Inside was a
paper that was folded in
thirds
.  She handed it to Megan.  Megan just looked at it, feeling confused.  “Go ahead.  Open it.”

Megan folded open what wound up being two or three papers folded together.
  She noticed a child’s drawing on one of the back pages in blue ink.  It was a spider hanging on a web drawn in blue ink.  Megan figured Tamara’s son had drawn on it.  She took a deep breath and unfolded the papers.
  The top
sheet
was on
a company’s
letterhead
, but she didn’t take time to digest it
.
  The writing seemed faded, and Megan thought it was because it was old.  Megan scanned the page
, but her eyes were drawn to Tyler’s name a little way down the page.  It read, “Tyler Green
cannot be excluded as the biological father of Tyson Dickens.”  That didn’t mean much to Megan, but as she continued reading, she saw that the report said Tyler was considered the child’s father, and the results were up to 99.99 percent conclusive.  Megan’s heart sunk.  Tyler
had lied to her.  Suddenly, she felt dirty and betrayed, and she felt angry with Tamara too.  Those feelings were immediately followed by guilt.  Should she be mad at Tamara who only wanted vindication?  Well,
the woman
hadn’t had to be so nasty about it.  In shock, Megan handed the papers back to Tamara
.  She had no words.

“
Now
do you believe me?”

Megan heard the music from the gym swell as someone entered the lobby area.  “Megan!”  She recognized Lisa’s voice and turned around.  Her friend’s face was red and, as she felt herself become reoriented, she realized Lisa was crying.

“What’s wrong?”

Lisa sobbed and said, “
I don’t want to talk here.”

Megan looked up at Tamara.  “I
gotta
go.”  The other woman
nodded,
a smirk on her face.  For some reason, her look of satisfaction pissed Megan off, but she said nothing else.  Instead, she wrapped her arm around Lisa’s shoulders and led her back into the gym.  She planned to
take
her outside where they’d have quiet and privacy.  Lisa followed without protest.

As they walked outside, away from the stifled heat, noisy pop music, and flashy lights, Megan looked around.  She saw, not too far from the entrance, a van with open doors.  She figured out it belonged to
Madversary
when she saw Tyler and his
bandmates
loading equipment inside the back.  She turned her head to Lisa, not wanting to see Tyler.  She needed time to process what she’d heard.  More than that, though, she had a friend who desperately needed her.  So she continued walking them towards Lisa’s car
, and Megan was grateful that it was on the
opposite
side of the parking lot.
  The two walked in silence, and Megan tried to wrap her mind around all that Tamara had dumped on her.

Chapter Twenty-two

THE TWO WOMEN
half-sat on the bumper of Lisa’s car.  Megan still had her arm around Lisa, trying to comfort her friend.  “You
wanna
tell me what happened?”

Lisa wiped at her cheeks and tried to subdue her sobs.  “Randy Butler is a fucking asshole.”

Oh, God, no.  Megan had consoled her
bestie
through many a man problem, and when
Lisa
called a guy a
fucking asshole
, it was serious.  “What the hell did he do to you?”

Lisa sobbed again.  “He’s married!”  It took her friend a while, but Lisa explained that Randy had brought his family along but had gone to the first night mixer alone.  Long story short, he couldn’t resist Lisa and then wondered how he could continue the charade.  He decided to come clean with Lisa
tonight
, because his wife and kids were going to attend
the Sunday breakfast.
  He gave her a big old sob story about how there was no love in his marriage, but Lisa had already been with more than one married man, and she knew it was all a lie.  She’d slapped him across the face and
walked away
, donning what dignity
she had left
, and searched for her best friend.
  “God, I’m so fucking stupid,” she said.