Nets and Lies (16 page)

“Yeah, this bitch just poured water all over me!”

Marcus shook his head. “Nah, man. I think she was doing you a favor. I heard a little of what you were saying, and it seems to me that you’ve got a filthy mouth. I guess she was just trying to clean up your piece of shit ass!”

Damon stared at Marcus in shock. “Now you and your little bitches can get the hell out of here before I call the cops and file a sexual harassment claim on the four of you!”

The guys didn’t argue. They followed Damon out of the restaurant.

My fury melted and left me stung and hurt by their words. Now my reputation and what had happened with Coach T had managed to spread to the other schools.

“Thanks, Marcus,” I murmured.

“No problem, Jo.”

“Can you tell Manny I’m gonna cut out a little early? I’ll make it up tomorrow or this weekend.”

He nodded. “Yeah sure.” I started for the door, and he stopped me. “Listen Jo, I don’t know what all happened at school and stuff. But I just want you to know that I’m here for you if you need me.”

I smiled. “Thanks, Marcus. That means a lot.” I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

When I pulled away, he grinned. “No,
that
means a lot!”

I laughed. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

It wasn’t until I got into my car that I started crying. I cried all the way home. My mascara blinded me, and one time I almost hit a road sign.

After I pulled into the garage, I checked my appearance in the rear view mirror. I looked like a crazed raccoon with blackened cheeks. When I went inside, I found the house empty. A note on the counter told me Mom and her new boyfriend, Rob, had gone out for dinner. I sighed. Dinner could mean any number of things, and it usually meant she wouldn’t come home all night.

I started upstairs to my room. The answering machine on the end table flashed new messages. As I began taking off my shirt, I pushed the button to play them back.

“Everyone knows you’re a whore. You do anything that walks. You disgust me. I hope you rot in Hell for what you’ve done!”

The phone clicked off, and the machine played another message. “
You’re a lying slut! I hope you go to jail instead of Coach T!”

There came a shrill beep followed by another message
. “Listen bitch! You better stop lying about Coach T. If you don’t, you’re gonna find yourself in a world of hurt! It’s real hard to screw up people’s lives when you’re dead!”

With trembling hands, I turned the machine off. I didn’t want to hear anymore. Name calling was one thing, but now my life had been threatened.

Mom never came in that night, and I never went to sleep. I sat in the middle of my bed with her loaded .45 by my side until morning.

I felt like the walking dead the next day. Third period rolled around, and I dreaded going to the gym. It had become a freaking shrine to Coach T—the place where his supporters made pilgrimages. Obviously, I wasn’t a welcome visitor. I would have skipped out entirely, but I needed the credit to graduate.

I started into the locker room to change out when someone grabbed my arm. I shouted, both in fear and pain. Then I was dragged into the athletic room and thrown up against a rack of equipment. The metal cut into my back, and I screamed in agony.

In the middle of my scream, I heard the distinct sound of the lock clicking behind me. “Look, cut the shit and let me out. This isn’t funny!” I growled, as I rubbed my throbbing back.

I heard someone reach for the lights. They flicked on, and I gasped. “W-What are you doing here?” I asked.

The imposing 6’3, two hundred pound form of Carson Ridings stared me down with his dark green eyes. He was Kara Riding’s brother, but more importantly until Coach T, he was the only guy I had ever loved—or thought I’d loved. I’d lost my virginity to him when I was in the 8
th
grade, and he was in the 10
th
. When we were dating, I was too stupid and let him go off the deep end and slap me around. I’d dated him on and off for two years—until he left for college. That’s really when I began my pattern of dating guys who used and dumped me.

But it wasn’t the presence of the former love of my life that scared me. It was the smoldering look of hatred etched across his face. I shuddered. “Answer my question.”

He crossed the space between us in one long stride. Once again, he grabbed my arms. “I’ve heard the shit you’re saying about Coach T.”

I tried slinging away from him, but his grip was too tight. I knew if he didn’t let go of me soon, I’d be bruised. But I kept my cool and jerked my chin up at him. “Yeah, so? What’s it to you?”

At my response, he shoved me back into the shelf again, sending tears of pain to sting my eyes. “It’s a hell of lot to me, you conniving little bitch!”

I narrowed my eyes. “Look, it isn’t anything to you. We’ve been over for a long time now—even the random booty calls you threw my way have been long gone. So, the way I see it what happens to me is none of your damn business!”

Carson shook his head. “Listen to me. Through his Northwestern connections, Coach T has Kara a scholarship—a fucking full ride, you see? If he isn’t here, she doesn’t get the scholarship, and she doesn’t go anywhere but maybe Harrison Community College.”

“That’s too bad.”

Once again, metal cut into my back. This time I felt blood seeping through my shirt. “Stop it!” I cried.

“Not until you get it through your head, Jordan. My mom didn’t fuck old guys to get rich like yours. My dad’s disabled from that car accident, remember? He can never work again, and my mom is working two jobs just to make it. Kara has busted her ass for four years, and she deserves that scholarship.”

My chin trembled. “He raped me.”

Carson momentarily released my arm. Before I could catch my breath, he sent a stinging slap across my cheek. “He never raped you.”

“Y-Yes, h-he did!”

At my words, my other cheek rang with his slap. “He never raped you. I know you, Jordan. You screwed his brains out. I’m sure of that.”

I shook so hard my knees threatened to give way. I leaned voluntarily against the shelves to keep my footing.

Carson jerked me forward. “Then what? He found someone else or he grew tired of your bullshit games just like every other guy.” He snorted. “Jesus, you’re pathetic!”

“Go to hell.”

His hands tightened on my flesh. “Listen carefully to me. You’re going to go to the authorities. You’re going to tell them it was all a lie, and you’re sorry. You’re going to make things right, so Coach T can have his job back. Is that clear?”

“I’ll never do that.”

“Oh, yes you will,” he countered.

“No, I won’t! You can hit me all you want to. I was your girlfriend for two years, remember? I know what it’s like to be knocked around by you.”

Carson widened his eyes. “We’re not talking about me. This is all about you!”

“Yeah, it is all about me. And I’m sticking to my story, and no one is going to make me change my mind!”

“Even if I promise you’ll get hurt worse than any beating I ever gave you?”

Fighting the panicked sobs that threatened to break my sanity, I jerked my head up and stared coldly at him. Then I reared back and spit in his face.

He stared at me in astonishment. Before he could say or do anything, I said, “If you don’t let go of me, I’ll go straight to the police and press charges against you. Then your own precious scholarship would be in jeopardy!”

Slowly, his hands fell from my sides. “Bitch,” he muttered under his breath.

I started towards the door. When my fingers grasped the doorknob, I turned back to him. “Don’t expect me to feel sorry for you. We both know your old man was driving drunk when he had that accident. Driving drunk after meeting his mistress for a quickie at some seedy, out of town hotel.”

His eyes glowed hatefully at me. “You shut your fucking mouth!”

Bolstered by the effect I was having on him, I cocked my head. “Can’t handle the truth, Carson?” I paused as I collected myself. “I’m glad to see you’re still as big a prick as ever. Beating up girls sure makes you a big man, doesn’t it?”

With that, I spun around and unlocked the door. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. But I didn’t go to the locker-room. Instead, I grabbed up my purse and book bag and headed for the hallway. I had just made it to the landing of the stairs when I felt the presence of someone behind me. But I never got a chance to react. Someone or something lunged at me, and I pitched forward, tumbling down the stairs. My head hit the concrete on the landing, and then everything went black around me.

***

As I started coming to, I had the worst out of body experience. My eyelids fluttered, taking in a small beam of light over my head. That beam of light caused me to panic since I thought it was
the light
, and I was dead.

But then I heard my mother’s voice raging
with profanity, and I knew I wasn’t in the great light. When I tried moving my head, screaming pain seared through me, and I cried out.

“Jo-Jo?” A hand touched my cheek. “Oh honey, are you all right?” Mom asked.

“It hurts,” I croaked.

Mom took my hand in hers. “I know, sweetie. You had a pretty bad fall.”

“I did?”

“Yeah, some bastard pushed you down the stairs!”

It took a lot of effort to open my eyes. When I did, my mom gasped. “Would you look at the size of her pupils? I am going to sue this school for everything that it’s worth!”

“Mrs. Solano—”

“That’s Bradford,” my mother corrected through clenched teeth. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Of course, she would have to correct them. Even when I lay mangled and broken, there was no way in hell she wanted any connections to my father.

“My apologies, Ms. Bradford, but I can assure you there is no need to threaten us with lawsuits. What happened here was clearly an accident,” a voice said on my right. I realized it was Mr. Sands.

Mom snorted contemptuously. “Pushing my daughter down a flight of fifteen stairs was no damn accident. Neither was defacing her locker and keying her car. But you people didn’t take that seriously either.”

This time it was Dr. Micheltree who responded. “Yes, we are taking it seriously, Ms. Bradford. We’ve been reviewing the tapes to find the culprit.”

“Fantastic. I suppose you’re going to do the same to see who it was who attacked her?”

I interrupted her. “I know who it was.”

All the heads spun to stare at me in surprise. “But how could you possibly know, Jordan? I mean, from the tapes you were obviously pushed from behind,” Mom argued.

“I still know who it was dammit!” I countered, trying to pull myself into a sitting position. When I heard the plastic paper crinkling beneath me, I realized I was in the bed at the nurse’s office. Great, I didn’t even want to begin to know how I got here. I imagined lying there in a crumpled heap for hours as numerous kids stepped over me. I’m sure it would make for some great gossip.

Mom reached out and helped me. Then she kissed my forehead. “Who was it baby?”

“Carson Ridings.”

Dr. Micheltree and Mr. Sands exchanged a look. “But Carson Ridings doesn’t even go here anymore. He graduated two years ago.”