Reese wrote back. "I can't. My parents would pull me from the school and I'm learning stuff I'll never learn anywhere else."
The next morning the girl put a computer-generated note on his desk.
Dear Mr. Smithman
We don't want Reese to be class monitor any longer. It's interfering with his learning.
Sincerely
Mr. and Mrs. Wiltz.
The letter was even signed. Reese had seen enough of her handwriting to know that this hadn't come from her. Somehow she had convinced her parents to write the note. He was worried that her parents might talk with his parents. So he whispered, "Who wrote this?"
She turned her head sideways a bit and whispered back, "I did – with my left hand."
"Thanks. I'll give it to Smithman."
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Chapter 19
Dreamer was visiting Theo and Lucas on the Wilizy/Asia that was anchored over Toronto that Friday night in the fourth week of September. She was in Toronto partly to see how the Wilizy Chocoholic Shop was doing. She was also there to play basketball. The boys had been given the Wilizy/Asia to use as their home base because it was big enough to handle the chocolate cargo that Mathias would deliver, plus it had ample cabin space if anybody wanted to visit the boys and see how they were doing. So far, Dreamer had been the only visitor.
Dreamer had been to Toronto enough that she had been able to personalize her cabin. On her bed were sheets, a bedspread and several pillows. Stored neatly on the floor of her closet were two basketballs, two pairs of high top basketball shoes, and two pairs of business shoes. Two business suits and blouses were also in the closet in case she had to meet with somebody about the shop. A bureau held about half a dozen sets of shorts, sport tops, sport socks, sports underclothes, and regular underclothes. She also had other casual clothes along with an extra pair of sheets and pillowcases in the bureau.
In contrast the boys had bedrooms consisting of two sheets on a bed, a pillow, and a horizontal closet. A horizontal closet is where you store all your clothes horizontally, as in on the floor. Dreamer would wash her bedding and dirty clothes before leaving Toronto; she would include anything from the kitchen that needed washing. She refused to wash anything from the boys' bedrooms and insisted, as their manager, that they wear clean Wilizy Chocoholic franchise clothes each working day. They had six sets of official t-shirts for that purpose. The boys would race up and down the mast to see who got to choose chores: wash all the laundry or clean the ship's kitchen. When Dreamer wasn't aboard on a weekend, they'd air wash and dry their uniforms (i.e., shake them in the air a few times) and ignore everything else that needed cleaning.
On this night, Lucas had stopped by Dreamer's bedroom on the way to his own bedroom. This was part of his nightly routine when Dreamer was aboard. He leaned against the doorjamb and looked at Dreamer as she sat cross-legged on the bed, her head down. She was wearing her sleeping clothes – a loose fitting pair of black shorts and an even looser blue top.
"Bad funeral?" Lucas asked. He was wearing red shorts and a pair of flip-flops. His wet hair was hanging down to his shoulders and he was busy rubbing it dry with a short towel.
"Bad capture. The Safe Haven kidnappers are harder to find now. Plus they're scared stiff of giving us any information when we catch them – even when we threaten them with Bob. Granny takes pity on them. They still have to die, but gently."
"Does that mean that you've beaten Safe Haven?"
"No. Far from it. They're probably grooming new kidnappers. Granny wants to talk with Mac and Melissa again about our strategy. My nonny wants to take the Safe Haven underground bunkers apart. Mac wants them terrified first. Melissa doesn't know what to say. Granny says that Melissa is being a mugwump."
"What's a mugwump?"
"A mugwump is a creature that sits on a fence with his mug on one side and his wump on the other side. It's a fence sitter."
"I've never heard that expression before," Lucas said.
"Granny has lots of interesting expressions that nobody has ever heard before."
# # # # # # # #
Lucas had entered Dreamer's bedroom and was now lying on the bed, his back against the headboard, and his feet (minus the flip-flops) stretched out in front of him. Dreamer had moved over a bit to give him room, but she was still sitting cross-legged on top of the bedspread. Looking sad. Lucas had picked up on that and that's why he had moved to the bed. He already knew the way. The right side of the bed was his; the left side was Dreamer's.
"Did you go first on the justice part of the burial again?"
"Yeah. I'm not getting any better on that, Lucas. I still go crazy when I'm in the clearing alone with the body. I can't help it. I barely know what I'm doing. Only a few of the women are still coming. I used the hammer this time. I put the pervert's hand on a rock and smashed every bone to dust."
"You know why you attacked the hand, right?"
"Yah. I know. I understand why I have so much anger. I just wish I could get rid of it faster."
"There are plenty of perverts waiting to be caught; you don't have to hurry."
"Are you doing anything about your own anger? I wish you had stayed in the group with me."
"Beating a pervert's dead body wasn't going to do anything for me."
"So you're still angry?"
"Yup."
"Great stone face?"
"Yup."
"Still hate all women?"
"Not hate. I just don't want to be around any. Except you."
"So why do you go to the nudie bars all the time?"
"I'm working undercover. I'm developing quite a picture album of Toronto's scum."
"Do you need to drink to do that?"
"You've been talking with Theo."
"Seriously, Lucas. Drinking is bad for you."
"I have it under control."
# # # # # # # #
"I'm ready," Dreamer said softly. "Are you ready?"
"Sure."
Lucas switched positions on the bed so that he was sitting up on his side of the bed, feet on the floor looking away from Dreamer. She lifted herself off the bed and came around so that she was facing Lucas. He looked up at her. "When you're ready," he said.
Dreamer took a half breath, pulled her top completely off, and held it in one hand away from her body. She stood frozen – looking at Lucas' face. He was staring at her chest.
"Ten seconds...now," Lucas said.
Dreamer quickly moved to her bureau and put her blue t-shirt on top of it. Then she grabbed the brush and comb on the bureau, climbed onto the bed, and positioned herself on her knees behind Lucas. She did not attempt to cover herself during that process. Lucas didn't turn to watch her. She started brushing out his hair.
"Are you finding the heavy staring easier now?" Lucas asked.
"Yah. But I sure know how long ten seconds is. Good basketball training, I guess. Most of the time when I'm in the kitchen, I'm topless now. Theo doesn't look and neither do you, so that makes it easy. It's when you're staring right at me within touching distance that I can hardly stand it."
"Are you planning to increase the time soon?"
"Perhaps. Is Theo OK with me going around like this? He looks uncomfortable."
"He is trying to be comfortable because he kind of likes you, so he wants to help. He hasn't said anything about you stopping. But, ..."
"You think I shouldn't be walking around topless so much? I'm OK being uncovered there now. Less stress for Theo if I stop?"
"Sounds like a plan."
# # # # # # # #
"I've finished combing, Lucas. You'll need a trim soon. The ends are all ragged." Dreamer left the bed and peeked into the hallway. Theo was nowhere in sight. Normally she would have closed the bedroom door, but Lucas had taken it off. This way, Dreamer would never know when Lucas might peek into her bedroom. Theo would pretend to peek in, but he always closed his eyes first.
Dreamer stepped into the shelter o
f her open closet, pushed her shorts to the floor, and stepped out of them. Back to the bed. She sat on her knees immediately behind Lucas' broad back and began the braiding process.
"Please don't look over your shoulder, Lucas. Not even a little bit."
"I figured you'd be doing this soon. I'm not interested in your body, Dreamer. I see enough naked women in the bars."
Time passed. Dreamer tried to suppress the urge to braid Lucas' hair as quickly as she could. The trembling hands eased off a bit, and she focused intently and solely on getting the braid as straight as she could. When the last knot was tied, she leaned over, slapped him twice on the shoulder, and whispered into his ear. "You're done. I'll be over by my closet. You can look at me for five seconds, no more. Wait until I say OK."
Lucas waited until he heard her breathing settle and she said OK. Then he walked out of the cabin, glancing for five seconds at Dreamer's naked back and butt as she stood facing away from him, pretending to peer into her closet. "Did you know that your neck, back, and butt are bright pink?" he said on the way out.
"I didn't need to know that," Dreamer called after him.
# # # # # # # #
Sunday afternoon. Dreamer and Theo were off to play basketball. This time they were going to a different gym. Nobody in the school gyms that they used for practices could stop Theo. They could stop Dreamer close to the basket because she couldn't jump as high as guys. But when she came to the outside for a pass, she just blew by her bigger, slower check when she attacked the basket. "Go play at the U of T," they had said. "It's free drop-in basketball and they have seven gyms with fourteen half court games going on at one time. Guys your own age will be there; perhaps even a girl or two."
Lucas decided to keep them company, so they ended up taking the metro to the St. George Subway Station and walking a few blocks to the university's Athletic Center. As always when they practiced, they'd untether their slings and collect them later. Basketball was a contact sport. If they wore them, the slings would get ripped or discovered. They didn't need their slings to get up in the air. Theo, almost 13, was dunking regularly. Dreamer, at 15, was touching the rim with her fingertips. Lucas had quickness, but couldn't dribble very well. On defense, he was a force.
When they entered the gym, a tall teenager asked them for their ages. Faced with a 13 year old, a 14 year old, and a 15 year old who wanted to play together, he sent them to the upper gym where they'd find kids their own age. They found two guys that didn't have a team yet, asked them if they were interested in playing together, and then the five sat down to wait their turn to play. The gym had simple rules. Win and stay on the court to play the next team. Lose and come off the court. You're now last in line to come back in. The winner of each game is whoever is ahead when the ten-minute buzzer sounded. Ties were broken by shooting fouls. The first player to miss a foul shot lost his team the game.
They won four straight games before fatigue caught up with them and they had a thirty minute break. That gave them the chance to drink, eat a bit, and talk strategy. One of the new kids, Adam, was a good dribbler, and the other, Gordie, was an outside shooter. Their team strategy was obvious. Pass the ball into Theo and Dreamer. If they were covered, they'd pass the ball back outside for Lucas to drive or for Gordie to shoot. If everybody were covered, Adam would start all over again. They won their first game easily. Things fell apart in the second game.
# # # # # # # #
Theo had the other team's tallest player checking him – as always. Both players were evenly matched except that Theo's check was two years older. Dreamer had the second tallest player from the other team checking her, and he couldn't match her for skills, but he was a very tight checker. She noticed on more than one occasion that he was pressing up against her butt a lot, trying to push her out of position when she set up near the basket, but also making her very uncomfortable with the way he was pushing up against her. One time she went up for a defensive rebound, caught the ball very high over her head, and felt his hand grab her left boob and squeeze it. The next time she was fighting for a rebound, he squeezed her right boob. One touch could have been an accident; twice was not.
The next time they were on defense, Dreamer gave the guy a clear lane to the basket. He took it. As he was rising into the air to take a shot, she gave him a hand with his elevation. To be accurate, she didn't actually give him a hand. She did slide in front of him, placed her leg between his legs, and helped him elevate to the basket with a solid knee to the groin. It was an uplifting experience. He collapsed with a thunk to the floor and curled up in a ball. All action on the half court stopped. Then all action in the gym stopped.
What happened, Dreamer? Theo didn't have any idea what had been going on.
He squeezed my boob. Twice. Deliberately. Plus he's been bumping up against my butt all game.
I saw the bumping once – the guy had a big grin on his face. Lucas messaged while coming over to stand with Theo and Dreamer.
They watched as the other team gathered around their player, who was now on his knees and breathing deeply. Five very angry faces were looking at Dreamer. They overheard his accusation. "She kneed me deliberately because I had beat her clean."
I'll take the guy on the ground, Lucas messaged.
No. He's mine. You'd kill him. You have Dreamer's back. Theo left his team and approached the guy still on the ground. Behind Theo, their two other teammates joined Lucas, pushing Dreamer behind them in protection. Dreamer pushed her way determinedly back to the front.
"Your guy sexually assaulted my sister," Theo said. "Bumping her butt and squeezing her boobs. She gave him his own treatment back. Take a breath and walk away."
Four faces turned to the guy on his knees. "Idiot!" the big 15-year old said. "We told you not to do anything stupid with her."
"I didn't," the guy said. "She can't take the physical stuff under the basket, that's all. She's a lying squaw."
The 15 year old raised his hands at chest level, palms out, as in Truce. He approached Dreamer. "Tell me what he did."
Dreamer did.
"You're on your own, Pizza Breath. I don't know her at all and I'd trust her to tell the truth before I'd trust you." He took his teammates, minus the squeezer, to the sidelines. "We're not involved," he said to the crowd gathering on the edges of the court.
Pizza Breath was now on his feet, still glaring at Dreamer. "I owe you."
"Take a breath. Walk away," Theo repeated.
"Can't let a squaw get away with lying."
Theo put his hands out at waist level and curled his fingers twice towards himself. Come and get it.
Pizza Breath came and got it. Theo was used to sparring with Lucas – a boxer versus a thrower. Both were evenly matched. Pizza Breath had nothing. His first roundhouse swing put him off balance. Theo increased that imbalance with a kick to the back of Pizza Breath's already faltering knee and down he went onto his back, dazed. Theo knelt beside him, licked two of his fingers on his left hand, and inserted them into Pizza Breath's nostrils. His right hand found the squeezer's forehead and pressed his head to the gym floor.
"Struggle and I'll rip your nose off your face."
Pizza Breath lay back.
"Take a deep breath."
Pizza Breath tried to do that but found his nose otherwise occupied. He opened his mouth instead. Theo tried to ignore the unexpected stench. Pizza Breath did have pizza breath. The extra large size pizza breath.
"Listen closely. We are not squaws or bucks. We are aboriginals. We protect our own. We fight to the death. We do not run away. You assaulted my sister and you called her a squaw. In my family, we have a tradition when some ignorant person acts as you have done. The girl is allowed to toe punt the guy that assaulted her."
Pizza Breath watched from his prone position as Dreamer eased off to her left and started to bounce on her toes in readiness for the field goal run up.
"Are you ready for this?" Theo said quietly to the impending toe-puntee. "
Or perhaps an apology instead?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," an authoritative voice said. "Nobody is toe-punting anybody."
# # # # # # # #
While the big man in the blue shirt labelled Varsity Blues Coach got the other teams back to their games, Dreamer found Lucas and planted a kiss right on his mouth. "I did it! I did it! I didn't freak out when he touched me!" Then she gave him a long hug and added another enthusiastic kiss on the lips for good measure. Theo received the same treatment. Then she fist bumped her two other teammates, making sure to explain that Theo and Lucas were sort of like brothers, but weren't actual brothers because Adam and Gordie both had this weird look on their faces with all the hot kissing.
Pizza Breath was banned from the gym for the season because of his bigotry and sexual assault. The other four guys on the team were told not to bring him back. The coach had a quiet word with the 15 year old and shook his hand. Then he approached Dreamer and her team. "Gordie and Adam, you were playing well. I liked the way that you stuck up for your teammate. You'll need a new team for the rest of today. Try the four guys you were just playing against."
Then he approached Dreamer and her two brothers. "You three can't play in this gym any longer," he said as he led them through the exit door.
# # # # # # # #
Lucas immediately bristled but Theo messaged him, I'll take care of this. Don't blow up.
I was just defending myself, Dreamer messaged, not understanding why they were being banned too.
"Who are you guys anyway? I haven't seen you here before. Tall guy. What's your name?" The coach started descending some cement stairs.
"Theo."
"How old are you, where do you go to school, and how long have you been playing basketball?"
"I'm almost 13. I'm home schooled and I've been playing basketball since June."
The coach stopped in mid-step and looked back at Theo. "You've only been playing for four months? Who coached you?"
"My grandmother."
"Can you beat her one on one?"
"She has a bad hip and no, I can't beat her when she's trying."
The coach resumed descending. "Same questions to your brother. He is your brother, right?"