Angel greeted me and sent me to wardrobe and makeup. They had set up a big tent, much like the one at her release party. I got dressed in my western wear and found Mr. Lester. I would be in only a couple of shots. They had a long shot where I was supposed to be talking to some girls, with Eve looking on. The other was of me smiling at Eve. Thankfully, Mr. Lester did those first so I could get going.
I was a little irritated that Eve made it a point not to talk to me. As I was leaving, she waved and then turned her back on me. Her mom saw the look I had on my face as I got ready to go home, and she stopped me.
“David, don’t be too hard on her. She’s trying hard to keep her career going, and she doesn’t want anything to interfere in it.”
“I get it. Let her know that I’ll help with her next video if she wants, but she has to ask me herself. Not her agent, not her manager, not you. Her. But even if she does ask, I will not help with the third one. I refuse to be made the bad guy.”
“We were surprised when we heard that song. I’ll let her know,” her mom said, and then turned and walked away.
WHEN I GOT HOME, I found Peggy sitting on the steps to my apartment. She followed me in and didn’t say a word. I went to shower to get the makeup off and got out of the western clothes. I should have asked if I could wear them home, but I guessed they’d call me if they needed them back. I did like the boots.
I came out of my bedroom to find Peggy sitting in the dark, staring off into space.
“You want to talk?” I asked.
She shook her head ‘no.’
“Does your mom know where you are?
Again, she shook her head.
I got my cell phone out and called her house. Her mom answered.
“Hey, it’s David. Peggy’s with me. I’ll make sure she’s home before bedtime tomorrow.”
“Is she sober?” her mom asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay, I trust you to take care of her.”
“Thank you,” I said and hung up.
I turned on the TV and found the late Pac-12 game. Peggy snuggled up to me and fell asleep in my arms. When the game was over, I woke her up, and we went to my room to sleep. She was exhausted. I gave her a t-shirt to wear and left my shorts on. Whatever was going on, she needed to work it out herself.
Chapter 13 – A Mess
Monday October 27
I got up to run. I was stretching in the driveway when Peggy came out our back door. She had a big meet on Wednesday for Districts. If she did well there, she was going to State. She came up to me and gave me a kiss.
“I want to say thank you, again,” she said.
“You need to thank Mom. She’s the one that did it,” I said.
Peggy had slept nearly fifteen hours Saturday night and Sunday. Mom finally woke her up so they could go to lunch after Mom returned from church. After lunch, Mom sat down with Peggy, and they talked for a couple of hours. Then they went to her home.
I’d spent the day much as I had Saturday with Tish and Dylan. When I got home, Dad ordered pizza, and I did some reading I’d been putting off. I finished my reading and then joined Dad for the Sunday Night Football game.
Towards the third quarter, I heard Mom come home. She had Peggy with her, along with a couple of bags. I was directed to take her bags to Greg and Angie’s old room. Peggy was going to stay with us this week to give her parents time to work things out.
“She’s a remarkable person,” Peggy told me this morning. “You, my friend, didn’t take no for an answer. You got the ball rolling by calling your mom. If you hadn’t made that call, I’d have missed being crowned the Homecoming Queen. You also let me stay over Saturday night when I needed a friend. So, I owe you my gratitude.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, and then changed the subject. “How do you want to train today? Steady pace, or speed work?”
“Your speed work training has been really helping me. Let’s do that, and I want you to push me.”
I grinned at her and took off quicker than she normally ran. She gave me a dirty look but kept up. I had gotten a running app that kept track of time and distance. You could even input a course. I’d set out a three-mile course. My pace was just a little faster than the winner of the women’s race at state was last year. Of course, we were running on a street, and they would be running my dad’s golf courses.
When we made it back to the driveway, Peggy wanted to collapse, but I made her keep standing and walk. I pulled out my app to show her the time. Her eyes got big as she tried to catch her breath. She had beaten her personal best by twenty-two seconds, with that time would have won State last year.
AT LUNCH, I FOUND A small table and pulled my script up on my tablet. I planned to start to learn my lines for the movie. I was minding my own business when the guys showed up and pulled up chairs. I gave them a curious look.
“I told the girls it was a mistake to not let you check out their dates,” Neil said.
They had grim expressions on their faces. I figured they were worried I was mad because I wasn’t sitting with them for lunch.
“Look, it’s okay. I need to study, so I won’t be hanging out as much at lunch.”
“No, that’s not why we’re here. We have a problem,” Ray said.
I looked confused.
“Piper ...” Wayne started.
“SON OF A BITCH!” I yelled, and started to get up.
I would kill Justin for this. Neil stood up.
“Sit,” he ordered me.
I glared at him for a minute and then sat down.
“We don’t need you to go and take care of Justin. We need you playing Friday and to not get suspended for fighting,” Wayne said.
“How is she?” I asked.
“Physically, she’s fine. He didn’t force her. Emotionally, she’s devastated that he told everyone about what a great lay she is. Emma’s also a mess. She said you warned her, and she never told her sister. It’s a complete, well, you get the picture. Piper won’t even talk to Emma,” Neil told me.
“That’s the easy part. They’re sisters. They’ll work it out. Justin, on the other hand, is going to get a beating. He has to learn to keep his mouth shut. Piper is one of us, and we protect our own,” I told them.
“David, trust us to take care of this,” Neil said.
“Okay, but I want to make sure none of you gets hurt. I also want you to promise you won’t take it too far. Justin’s a jerk with women, but he’s an okay guy otherwise.”
They all nodded and left. I felt like I was the Godfather and had just sanctioned a hit. I was worried Wayne would get out of hand, but I trusted Neil to keep a level head and make sure that didn’t happen. I looked over at the table, and Emma and Piper weren’t there. I assumed they’d gone home for the day.
BY THE END OF THE DAY, I found out I had assumed wrong. Emma and Piper had tracked down Justin, who’d been in PE at the time. Before practice, Coach Diamond told me what happened.
“I overheard Justin bragging in the locker room. I pulled him into the office and had a talk with him,” he started.
“I could tell I wasn’t getting through to him, so I sent him out to run laps inside the gym. I had the rest of the class playing basketball. I never saw Piper and Emma come into the gym. I heard a slap and turned to see Justin shove Emma. Piper kicked him between the legs, which put him down. Then the two girls started kicking his legs and torso,” Coach Diamond said as he chuckled.
“I went over and pulled them off, though I took my own sweet time getting there. I told Justin that next time he did something that stupid, I might not stop the girls.”
“Do you think he got the message?” I asked.