26 November 2012 – Devens Regional High School, Shirley, Massachusetts

Sabrina tightened the laces on her skates before hockey tryouts during the final week of November. She’d been waiting for this day since the beginning of the school year. Finally, today, Sabrina would go out there and show the coaches she deserved to be on the varsity squad as a freshman. At worst, she’d be a high school junior varsity hockey player by the end of tryouts.

Sabrina looked forward to donning the green, yellow, and white Devens Warriors hockey uniform for the first time. She drew her black hair into a ponytail at the base of her neck before putting on her helmet. Then, fastening the chin strap, she took a deep breath and walked out of the referee’s dressing room that doubled as the girls’ changing room.

Passing a mirror on the way out to the ice, Sabrina saw herself wearing her black, gold, and white replica Thompkins Black Bears hockey jersey. The Bears were her father’s high school team in Enfield back in the Dark Ages. This was her favorite practice jersey. Unlike her father’s replica, which bore his high school number of seventeen, hers had the number sixty-three worn by her favorite Bruins player. Her favorite player was quick, tough to defend, a constant scoring threat, and Sabrina patterned her play after him. She once heard him called ‘Little Ball of Hate’ – by the President of the United States no less. She figured fans of other teams used even less complimentary language.

Since the beginning of the school year, the three months had passed with much less drama than the first week. Sabrina had successfully avoided Mrs. Haversham for the most part. Also, she was able to bring Ruby into her circle of friends. Friends that had gone to school with Ruby in Ayer took longer to warm up to their fellow freshman, but her addiction to the group seemed to be working out well overall.

Sabrina stepped onto the ice and skated away from the boards to stretch. Shawn Hurt glided up alongside with most of the other freshmen and bumped gloved fists with her.

“S’up, Sabrina? You ready to show ’em what you’ve got?” Shawn asked.

“You bet! Some of the sophomores should remember me from our peewee and bantam teams, at least the kids who didn’t move away when their parents got reassigned by the Army. I’m guessing I’ll be a bit of a surprise to the others.”

“I’ll say! For some reason, they haven’t had any girls on the team here for a few years. This should be entertaining in any event.”

The group joined the rest of the hopefuls at center ice when the head coach blew his whistle. There they greeted the rest of the players who remembered Sabrina.

The coach ran through the schedule for tryouts and how the different groups – offense and defense – would use opposite ends of the ice for their respective drills before they came back together as a team. Shawn and Sabrina bumped gloves again before they skated to opposite ends. Shawn played defense as her father had.

The head coach ran the offensive drills. He selected pairs of players for each round of drills. He also kept skipping over Sabrina until she was one of the last two players to go through. She paired with an older boy – a junior defenseman – who smirked at her when they lined up to start their turn.

“Try and keep up little girl,” he sneered.

Sabrina gave him an expressionless stare and turned her gaze to the obstacle course in front of her. Nothing else existed except the ice and the task ahead. Her skates bit into the ice as soon as the whistle’s blast echoed across the frozen surface. Short, choppy strides brought her quickly to the first obstacle.

Sabrina leaned hard into the first turn, trusting her skates’ edges to keep her under control. All she heard was the ice groaning in protest over and over each time she leaned into those turns and the whisper of her skates on the ice as she worked through the various skill tests. Sabrina didn’t hear the upperclassmen cheering her opponent on, nor Shawn and the others cheering for her. Sabrina’s quads and hamstrings burned as she pumped her legs faster and faster. Spraying shaved ice onto the boards at the end of her run-through, she looked back to see her opponent still trying to complete the drill.

The other boy stumbled before crossing the finish line and slid across on his hands and knees. The coach complimented the other boy’s effort, but not Sabrina’s. She and Shawn shared a look – they were going to have one of those coaches this year, one who disregarded Sabrina’s abilities even in the face of convincing evidence.

Some of the upperclassmen who didn’t know of Sabrina’s hockey abilities before today looked at her with hints of acceptance and respect. The junior she beat and his friends glared at her. Those who weren’t happy with her tried to get physical when the group drills began. Sabrina either slipped away from them and made them miss their checks or stepped into them and knocked them off their feet. An occasional tap to their cups with the end of her stick helped Sabrina get her point across, too.

The second day of tryouts focused more on team play than skill evaluations. Sabrina settled into her accustomed position of left-wing during the drills. Some of her new teammates needed a series or two to get on the same wavelength and begin functioning as a unit, but things seemed like they were going well. Those who played youth hockey with her needed no time at all.

Sabrina stood ready in the low slot to the opposing goalie’s right mid-way through one full-team scrimmage. She didn’t notice a defender skating up to her on her blind side. But, Sabrina noticed when her helmet struck the ice in front of the goal. Her back and neck hurt like hell as she rolled over.

The junior she paired with yesterday, Erik Lonergan, smirked down at her. His smirk ended when one of her team’s defensemen crosschecked Lonergan into the side of his goal. The hulking defenseman dropped his gloves, followed the junior to the ice, and punched him over and over. Whistles blew loudly as the coaches tried to separate the two.

“Smolinski, you’re out of here!” the head coach bellowed at the sophomore who stood up for his teammate.

“What about your piece-of-shit son, then?” the boy bellowed back. “The play was clear across the ice, and your boy crosschecked Sabrina from behind! What am I supposed to do? Let a teammate take that kind of abuse?”

“You’re off the team!” the coach screamed. “Get out of my building!”

Anders Smolinski shrugged off the players holding him back and collected his gloves before skating to Sabrina.

“You okay, Sabrina?” he asked as he helped her up.

“Moose, I’m sorry…” she offered with a sniffle.

“Don’t be,” he replied with a smile. “He’s not a very good coach, anyway …”

“I TOLD YOU TO GET OUT!” the enraged coach roared.

Moose turned and fixed him with a stare. “I’m talking to a friend, making sure she’s okay, which is more than I’ve seen you do. I’ll leave when I’m done. You want me gone sooner? Drop your gloves and take your chances.” Turning back to Sabrina, he smiled again. “There’s a new Under-Nineteen team in Fitchburg hoping to start their season in a week or so; they still need players. I should be able to skate for them no problem. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

Sabrina watched Moose skate away. She played with or against him every season since they started youth hockey. Like Shawn, he hadn’t cared that she was a girl, nor that she was better in some things when it came to hockey, just that she was a good teammate and worthy opponent.

Sabrina looked around at the other players. Some also watched Moose leave, while others bumped gloves with Erik Lonergan. Sabrina’s eyes locked with Shawn Hurt, the rest of the freshmen, and the sophomores before they all skated away toward the locker rooms. A whistle started blowing wildly again behind them. Looking back as she stepped through the boards, she saw a few juniors and seniors also joining the group of departing players. She walked into the tunnel and waited.

“Dingo, what gives?”

Dingo – Phil Scott, the American-born son of Australian ex-pats – pulled off his helmet and grinned. “We’ve all decided that we’d rather take our chances catching on with outside teams this year than playing for that ass-wipe.” His parents may have classic Aussie accents, but his was pure Boston.

Sabrina grinned back and punched him genially on the shoulder before turning for her dressing room. When she emerged, Sabrina found the boys talking to Coach Dawson in the hall outside their locker room. Dingo gestured in the direction of the rink while emphasizing a point.

“Coach, he’s out of his frikken mind if he thinks we’re going to play for him after what his jumped-up prima donna of a son just did to our friend! I don’t care if she’s a girl or not. She’s one of the best I’ve played with – and I think the guys here agree with me!”

Noah Dawson sighed and nodded at the statement. His JV hockey team and a few varsity players were about to turn their backs on high school hockey, and the season hadn’t even started. Noah couldn’t fault their loyalty to a friend and teammate. The school would be lucky to field a competitive varsity team, too, given the skill levels of the upperclassmen who joined the younger players in their walkout. Those left on the team lacked the raw talent needed to excel as a group.

“Guys, you don’t have to do this,” Sabrina said as she approached.

“Yeah, we do, Sabrina,” Shawn said. “Dingo and I might not have sisters, but Moose and a lot of the other guys do. If we don’t take a stand, he’ll do the same thing to someone else’s sister and allow someone like his son to act like Erik did. ‘If not us, who? If not now, when?’”

Sabrina smirked at her friends. “And I’m gonna get blamed for the whole thing, too.”

“Exactly!” Phil Schechter crowed, generating a wall of laughter. “Come on, Sabrina, you know well-behaved women seldom make history!”

“Guys, if I want a barrage of historical quotes, I’ll go talk to my dad.” She paused and looked all her former teammates in the eye. “You guys are sure? There’s an extremely high likelihood none of you will ever play hockey here again now that you’ve walked out.”

Dingo stared back. “And that’s a problem why?”

Sabrina sat cross-legged on her bed, staring at the picture on the far wall once again. News of the walkout had spread across the state, then it went farther. The Boston Globe heard about the teens’ protest and published the story the day after the event – yesterday. Wire services picked it up, and now it was national news. Sabrina sighed at the memory of her father trudging through the trees and snow around their house to post no trespassing signs around the perimeter of their property. Her parents referred all requests for interviews to John Jones, their lawyer, and Tommy’s father. They’d have to decide how to handle those requests soon.

Once again, a knock drew her from her thoughts. Her mother smiled at her and walked silently into the room.

“Sabrina?” Keiko asked as she sat.

“Not how I wanted to make the paper, Mom,” Sabrina sighed. “Now, no hockey coach is gonna want me on their team after the Globe’s story.”

Keiko raised an eyebrow. “Giving up? This is very unlike you, Sabrina.”

“Mom, you saw Mr. Lonergan’s comments in the paper! ‘Troublemaker’ and ‘difficult’ are not words you want used to describe you, let alone ‘uncoachable!’”

“And why would you give a shit about what someone like Ethan Lonergan thinks?” Keiko spat. Sabrina blinked at her mother’s use of profanity – highly unusual – and the intensity of her question. “Eight years of youth hockey coaches telling us that you are a special player, and you want to listen to someone such as that? You have not even asked us to drive you to Fitchburg, so you may try out for that other hockey team!”

Keiko lurched off the bed and began pacing. Sabrina’s eyes followed her mother as she stalked around the room. Growing up, she’d seen her mother happy, bemused, exasperated, surprised, but never agitated.

“Sabrina …” Keiko took a deep breath and tried again. “Sabrina, do you not understand that if you fail to at least try to make this other team, you allow people such as Ethan and Erik Lonergan to win? You will send the message to them and others like them that it is permissible to treat women how they have treated you? Will you give up on all of your dreams so easily? You stood up to Greg Oglethorpe last year, to Eleanor Haversham on the first day of school, and you stood up to Ethan Lonergan when you walked out of hockey practice. Why would you stop now?”

Sabrina sighed and stared at the opposite wall again. “Shock, Mom? This got out of control so quickly! The guys gave up so much when they followed me off the ice! Maybe I’m better off not playing hockey anymore?”

“If that is how you feel, then I will admit to feeling something about your choice that I rarely feel about you: disappointed.” Sabrina blinked, and her eyes filled with tears. Keiko reached out and took her hand.

“You said it yourself, Sabrina, you led your teammates off the ice – they followed your example. Anyone from your team who has tried out for the U-Nineteen team has already earned a spot on it. Will you now cast your friends and supporters adrift? I am certain you would find a spot on that team as well. I am also certain you would be a leader on that team despite your age.”

Keiko used a hand under Sabrina’s chin to get her daughter to look her in the eye again.

“Use the fire within you, Sabrina. Use it to cut a swath through the Under-Nineteen league the likes of which no one has ever seen. Do not allow that fire to burn inside you without a way to release it, for it will leave you a hollow, angry person. That is what happened to Ruby Sepulveda until you helped her. As I once said to your father, go out there and kick some ass.”

Sabrina chuckled before wrapping her mother in a fierce hug.

Head coach Martin Savard could not believe how his luck had changed over a single week. Last week he told the management of the fledgling Fitchburg Shockers they would have to forfeit the season due to their inability to put a whole team on the ice. Now his almost-empty roster overflowed with talent. And the headliner was going to be the young lady trying out for left-wing today.

Savard stood on the ice near the bench watching the five-foot-four fourteen-year-old fly around the ice. She certainly wasn’t scoring with every chance she got – no player was that good – but her teammates already looked comfortable playing with her. She put herself in the correct position to receive scoring chances from her teammates, and they gave her plenty of those changes. Finally, he blew his whistle and motioned those on the ice back to the bench.

“Good job today,” he said in his Canadian accent once the players filed off the ice. “You guys are coming together very quickly, and I think we’ll do okay this year. We’re a very young team, so I don’t want to get your hopes too high, but we’ll surprise many people if we stick to the fundamentals. So everyone except Sabrina Knox, go ahead and get cleaned up. Sabrina, come on over here if you would.”

Sabrina bumped gloves with the other players as they left the bench for the locker room and thanked them for working out with her. Once everyone else departed, she approached the coach, who indicated she should sit on the bench.

“Miss Knox,” he smiled from the ice-side of the boards, “that has to be some of the best hockey I’ve seen from a young player in some time.”

“Thanks, Coach,” she replied with a blush. “As my dad and I told you yesterday, though, I’ve been playing with most of these guys since we started in youth hockey. So you might get a different result from the players I don’t know as well.”

“I doubt it. The juniors and seniors from your school told me they haven’t played with you, nor have the one or two other players on our roster before your group showed up. Still, I didn’t notice any difference in play. This team was good before. As a group, they just plain love to play. But with you here today, they stepped it up a notch. I’d very much like it if you joined this team.”

“That’d be great, Coach!” Sabrina replied with a smile.

“Good. You’re going to be my second-line left winger when the season starts next week. I hope that the familiarity between you and your peers will help us overcome the fact that we haven’t been a team that long. I’d rather build a good foundation as a team this year than worry about our record.” Martin Savard shrugged. “I’m not sure upper management will see things that way, but I’m not worried.”

“We’ll give you all we’ve got, Coach. I’m sure you’ve already seen that.”

Savard smiled again. “That’s why I’m not worried. Your teammates want to be here, want to play – that’s worth more to me than a full roster of players just going through the motions. That said, if you know anyone else looking to play, send ’em my way. There are still spots on the roster, and I’m more than happy to work with marginal players who give one-hundred percent.”

“Will do, Coach.”

The following day Sabrina approached a pair of forlorn-looking hockey players who hadn’t joined ‘her’ walkout last week.

“You guys okay?” she asked. “The food from the cafeteria isn’t that bad!”

“Hey, Sabrina,” Vic Thurmond said. Glancing over at his tablemate, Vic introduced the two. “Pete, this is Sabrina Knox. Sabrina, Peter Knapp.”

“Hey,” Pete said after a glance.

“What’s up with you two?”

“We’re not looking forward to practice today,” Vic answered. “Coach has been riding us pretty hard since your group walked out last week. The team’s gonna suck this year. Most of the best players left when you did.”

“Why don’t you come to try out for my new team, then? We play over at the Wallace Civic Center on John Fitch Highway, which isn’t that far away. We share the space with Fitchburg State and a lot of high school teams around the area, but the facility’s pretty nice.”

“I wouldn’t be able to get over there,” Pete mumbled while looking at the table. “It’s just Mom and me, and I take the bus to and from school so she can work.”

“I’m sure my parents will drive you there too, Pete,” Vic cut in. “You live one street over from me, and they already drive you home from practice when they come to pick me up anyway.” Vic looked up at Sabrina again. “We both like to play, but we’re not very good, not like the others. The only reason we’re still putting up with the Lonergans is that there are plenty of roster spots open here.”

“And the Shockers still have room on their roster too, Vic. The coach said he’d rather have players on his roster looking to learn than prima donnas who think they know more than he does. He’s really patient and would rather be a team with a good handle on the fundamentals than a bunch of stars who aren’t a team. We’ve only been practicing as a team for a week, but we’re going to surprise some people. So why don’t you guys skip practice here today and come with me? Mom drives a Suburban, so there’s plenty of room.”

Vic and Pete shared a glance and nodded.

“Great! After school, grab your hockey bags and sticks and meet me by the back entrance near the teacher’s parking lot. I’ve got a set of keys to the car, so we can have everything loaded by the time Mom comes out. I’ll swing by her room and let her know what’s going on.”

“I’ll call my dad and tell him to pick us up at the Civic Center instead of here. He works in Fitchburg anyway, so it will be an easier drive for him.”

“Pete, will your mom be okay with this?”

Pete nodded without looking at Sabrina. “She makes dinner after I leave for school in the morning and leaves it for me for whenever I get home. I’ll text her and let her know, but she’d rather I get out and do stuff than sit at home watching TV, anyway.”

Sabrina stood near her locker the following week, laughing with her Shockers teammates. They played their first two games last week, one Thursday afternoon and one Saturday night. They lost the Thursday game in overtime but won Saturday on a last-minute goal in regulation. Coach Savard was full of praise over their play in both games. He said they showed the heart he’d hoped for and hadn’t given up. However, Sabrina’s laughter was cut short when her head jerked back violently – someone had yanked hard on her ponytail.

Spinning around with fire in her eyes, Sabrina saw Erik Lonergan and some of his friends walking away laughing. He glanced back and gave her another smirk. Sabrina closed the distance between them and grabbed him by the collar. After slamming him into the lockers lining the hallway, she held his nose between her first and middle fingers and squeezed hard.

“Touch me again, Lonergan, and you’ll be learning how to breathe through a hole in your face where your nose used to be, capisce?”

Lonergan knocked her hand away, which hurt his nose more and tried stepping toward her. Instead, Zach Epping, one of the seniors who now played for the U19 Shockers, reached over Sabrina’s shoulder and shoved him back into the lockers.

“Leave her alone, shithead,” Zach growled. “You turds leave us alone, and we’ll leave you alone. You try starting something, and we’ll be sure to end it.”

“That little bitch ruined our season!” Lonergan protested.

“Your father can’t coach his way out of a paper bag, so don’t blame her! We had to find another team coached by someone who knows what he’s doing! You assholes deserve to suck.”

“She can’t handle the fact that girls don’t belong on the boys’ hockey team!”

“If this school had a girls’ team, this wouldn’t even be an issue because we’d be the better group of players!” Sabrina shot back. “Wait until the feds take a giant bite out of your father’s ass for Title IX violations!”

Erik Lonergan scoffed at that. His friends chuckled with him.

“Come on, Sabrina,” junior Luke Paulson said while tapping her on the elbow. “They’re not worth the effort.”

Her teammates escorted her to the cafeteria, ensuring her regular crowd was at their table before drifting away.

“What’s up?” Erica asked.

“Had a run-in with Erik Lonergan in the hall by my locker,” Sabrina replied.

“What happened?” Tommy inquired. Sabrina filled them in. “Good thing you’re talking with Bettina Novak after school today. She’ll help you put that bunch in their place.”

“I’ll be the most hated freshman in the school, but I can’t let them get away with their arrogance. The school doesn’t even have a Title IX coordinator! They’re denying me a chance at playing hockey here because I’m a girl! I can handle what people think of me, but I’m a little worried about Mom’s job. The current principal strikes me as a bit vindictive.”

“He certainly seems to have his little cronies hovering around him at all times,” Shawn chimed in. “None of them strike me as very open-minded. Doesn’t your mom have union protection, though?”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t put much faith in their protection, either. So if the school district wants her gone, they’ll find a way to get rid of her.”

“I can’t believe the district would be that stupid,” Ruby muttered. Several brows rose. “Okay, never mind.”

The troubles started the last week of school before Winter Break. It wasn’t as if a SWAT team raided the school, but the students could tell something was up. Serious-looking people showing up in the admin offices and asking lots of questions spurred frantic activity and private, emergency meetings of the regional school board. The sessions were borderline illegal under the Commonwealth’s Open Meeting Law and drove wild rumors: The chemistry labs were making meth. Mr. Atwater was being fired for something – though no one could say what that something was. There was some sort of cheating scandal. Only Sabrina’s circle of friends had a hint of what was going on.

On the last day of school for the calendar year, December 21, news broke that Coach Dawson had resigned from the staff of Devens Regional. The remaining high school hockey players cast angry glances Sabrina’s way after the announcement. Then, Erik Lonergan stepped toward her with a furious look on his face before one of his friends stopped him.

“You must prepare for things to get worse after vacation, Sabrina,” Keiko warned her on the way home that afternoon. “With more than a week to mull the situation, people will have their own opinions rigidly formed. They will not hesitate to inform you of those opinions when we return to school, I am guessing.”

“You mean like she should just deal with it?” came Ryan’s snarky voice from the third-row seat. But, of course, that was redundant – Ryan only used a sarcastic voice now.

“You will be cleaning the bathrooms when we arrive at home, Ryan,” Keiko replied with an angry edge to her voice. “Your father and I did not raise you to think in such a condescending, dismissive manner. Perhaps you should contemplate adopting a better attitude while cleaning. I can find other, more odious tasks for you should you need further encouragement.”

Sabrina and Keiko both heard Ryan muttering something but chose not to react. Alex kept his head down, trying to remain out of the line of fire as he sat in the middle row studying his math homework. He was to the point where he wanted to ask his parents if he could move into the guest room, away from his twin brother.

The Knox family celebrated Christmas in Enfield with both sets of grandparents, Sabrina’s aunt and uncle, and their cousins. Ryan made himself scarce, but their grandparents kept dragging him from his hiding spots to engage in ‘family time,’ which annoyed him. That suited Sabrina and Alex just fine. Their cousin Matt was home on leave from the Navy. He and his family made the trip home from Rota, Spain, where he was stationed as an F/A-18 Hornet weapon systems officer. Jenni was halfway through her freshman year at Purdue, where she planned to study civil engineering.

The Cavanaugh and Donnelly clan visited the day after Christmas. Sabrina took the opportunity to speak with Grandma Jane and Aunt Heather about her academic and career goals and tell Grandma Jane how her flying lessons were going. She had scheduled only a couple of lessons now that hockey season was in full swing, but she warned Mr. MacDougall to expect that. She had two and a half years before she could get her license anyway, so she wasn’t worried about it.

Just before New Year’s, the Fitchburg Shockers announced the hiring of a new assistant coach – Noah Dawson. The press release said that Coach Dawson looked forward to working with young players and continuing their development in hockey and as citizens.

School restarted on January 3. All hockey games had been suspended until further notice due to a lack of players, forcing the team to forfeit games through at least the end of January. The rumor mill kicked into high gear again. Mr. Lonergan would be specifically named in a federal lawsuit alleging sexual discrimination under Title IX. The school was accused of other violations of the law as well. Unfortunately, the rumors would prove to be correct this time.

Most students, faculty, and staff proved Keiko’s prediction correct as they glared at Sabrina. Her friends were still her friends, and they closed ranks around her. More than one student was told to speak up if they had something to say, mainly if her friends heard ‘effing bitch,’ or something to that effect.

The Shockers continued to be her after-school refuge. They played two, sometimes three games a week and would make the U19 league playoffs this year. So between her workouts on the ice and in the gym at home, Sabrina could vent her anger and frustration by sweating them out.

Things continued as they were until after February vacation. Between classes their first week back, her friends waited while Sabrina dug something out of the bottom of her locker. Then, she felt someone run a hand over her butt and squeeze while she was bent over.

Sabrina froze for a split second, then reached back and grabbed the wrist attached to that hand. Twisting the wrist, she spun it behind her assailant’s back and slammed him into the lockers. Next, she grabbed the back of his underwear and jerked it up – hard. He grunted and dropped to the floor while Sabrina spun around to face the rest of his group.

Erik Lonergan was there, of course. He followed the groper with his eyes as the boy slumped to the ground, whimpering. Erik looked back to Sabrina, growled, and reached for her. She let him grab her arm, then she reacted. Placing her hands on his shoulders, Sabrina stepped up to Erik and introduced her knee to his balls. He screeched and slumped to the floor, doubled up and holding himself.

“Miss Knox!” Sabrina heard a voice call out – Eleanor Haversham’s voice. The teacher marched up to Sabrina and reached for her other arm.

Sabrina batted the teacher’s arm away. “Don’t TOUCH me!” Sabrina snarled. The older woman shook off her surprise and reached for her again. Again, Sabrina deflected the teacher’s attempt to grab her. “Are you hard of hearing? * DON’T! TOUCH! ME!*”

Eleanor Haversham flushed an angry red. “You’re going to the office, young lady!”

“And them?” Sabrina asked while pointing to Erik Lonergan and his sidekick.

“I didn’t see them do anything!”

“Then you’re blind as well as deaf,” Moose Smolinski said as he reached for Bill Finnegan’s collar. The boy still gasped for breath as he lay on the hall floor. “Finnegan here put his hand on Sabrina’s ass without her permission, which I believe qualifies as sexual assault.” Moose hauled the junior to his feet before gesturing at Lonergan. “Einstein there tried to grab Sabrina like you did. As you can see, it didn’t work out so well for him, either. Since you seem not to care what precipitated Sabrina’s need to defend herself, my friends and I will join you in the office after we escort these two there.”

“Sabrina, I’ll go get your mom,” Ruby offered before turning and walking away. Eleanor Haversham seemed like she was about to say something. Still, the teacher caught the looks on the faces of Sabrina’s friends and decided against it.

The large crowd of students who gathered in the office to give their account of the hallway altercation startled Nicole Latham at first. However, she soon collected herself and handed out paper to the students to write their statements. Don Atwater talked in hushed tones with Eleanor Haversham while Sabrina waited somewhat impatiently for her mother to arrive.

Keiko stepped through the office door while Mr. Atwater attempted to wave Sabrina into his office. Sabrina didn’t move until her mother gave her the okay and followed her in. Once again, Eleanor Haversham stood next to an administrator’s desk and accused Sabrina of actions that didn’t quite match the facts.

“So, you claim that Sabrina is entirely at fault then?” Keiko asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, of course,” Eleanor Haversham said with a huff.

“The penalties for fighting are clear, Keiko,” Don Atwater added.

“From what I understand, Sabrina was assaulted twice and defended herself. I don’t believe that fits the definition of ‘fighting.’”

“Your daughter put her hands on two other students!” Eleanor bellowed.

“After they put their hands on her. Are you going to tell the female half of the student body that they cannot protect themselves because they might be punished for ‘fighting?’”

“Our female students are not being ‘assaulted’ regularly, as you claim,” Atwater protested.

“Because you don’t consider boys snapping a girl’s bra to be assault, let alone sexual assault,” Sabrina growled. “Boys like Erik Lonergan get away with that stuff every day!”

“And while we are on the subject, have the Shirley Police been called?” Keiko interjected.

Don Atwater sputtered at the question. “The police? No! Of course not!”

“Those boys placed their hands on my daughter without her consent. The first young man in question fondled her buttocks – indecent assault and battery in this state – and the second assaulted her with intent to do her harm. By not notifying the police when advised of the crimes committed, I will argue that you and the school are accessories after the fact in both incidents.”

“That still doesn’t excuse the fact your child was fighting!” Eleanor repeated.

Keiko cast a tired glance at her. “I see we are getting nowhere with this discussion,” she sighed as she rose. “Sabrina, gather your things and meet me in the parking lot. We will drive over to Shirley’s police station and file charges against these two boys ourselves.”

“Where are you going, Keiko?” Don Atwater demanded. “You have classes to teach!”

Keiko fixed him with a stare. “My family is more important than any job. You refuse to do anything about the assaults on her person, so as her parent, I must.”

“Your husband can handle that while you stay here!”

“My husband is attending a conference in Saint Louis, so, no, he cannot.” Keiko ushered Sabrina out of the office without another word. “Do not allow anyone to prevent you from leaving, Sabrina,” Keiko whispered in Japanese. Sabrina nodded in understanding.

Nicole Latham slid a thick manila envelope onto the counter, which Keiko scooped up as she passed by. The two women acknowledged each other with nods before Keiko and Sabrina left the office. Sabrina told her friends what was happening in a whisper in the hallway. Half a dozen of them volunteered to escort Sabrina to her classroom and locker before escorting her out to the parking lot.

“What did Mrs. Latham hand you, Mom?” Sabrina asked when they pulled out of the school’s lot and drove to the police station across the street.

“Copies of all of your friends’ statements, which will come in handy when we talk with the police and Mr. Jones, or someone else at Mr. Abernathy’s firm.” Josh Abernathy was the senior partner of the law firm the Knoxes used and where John Jones worked. “Mrs. Latham will also be mailing another set of copies to our house should we need them in the future.”

“The future?”

“Yes, Sabrina, should the school ‘lose’ them.”

Keiko parked in front of Shirley Police headquarters. “Sabrina, Eleanor Haversham is not going away. She will keep pushing to have you punished over this. I can also see Donald Atwater pushing to have me disciplined because I left work ‘without sufficient notice.’ As if they could tell me in advance this was going to happen.” She held up a hand to stop Sabrina’s apology. “Do not apologize to me, Sabrina, for you did nothing wrong. We must plan our next moves carefully, and I believe one of those moves will be to notify Joshua’s office as soon as we are done here. Let us go inside.”