“Before you yell at me, I had no idea we could make money by doing any of that.”
“I don’t doubt that it was unintentional,” Mr. Morris said. “The key is that as soon as you found out, you let me know. We will self-report this to the NCAA. I suggest that you stop doing the streaming stuff for now. And I would also suggest that you donate the money to a worthy cause.”
“I can give it to my mom’s cancer support charity,” I suggested.
“Well, in fact, that would make it worse. It needs to be something your family isn’t involved with,” Mr. Morris said.
“No, you can’t give it to Duke’s campaign,” Dad said, shooting down my next idea.
“What are you talking about?” Mr. Morris asked.
I told him about us putting my dog on the ballot to face Thomas Fox.
“My dad loves it. I told him at lunch today,” Ms. Dixon said. “He said that he would fully endorse your solution to the party’s problem of not getting a candidate on the ballot. For my part personally, I can’t wait to get Mr. Fox in court again.”
“Do you think we could get your dad to endorse Duke?” Dad asked.
“I’m sure he would.”
“How about if Duke endorsed him? Do you think your dad’s campaign could put a blurb about that out to the press? Just so you know, I plan to ask Governor Higgins for the same,” I explained.
“I’ll ask him. I’ll sell it that it’ll make him look more in touch with his constituents. His handlers are always harping on that,” Ms. Dixon said.
“Back on topic,” Mr. Morris said. “I don’t think this is a big deal, but we are dealing with the NCAA, so you never know. I’ll float it to one of my friends who still works there and see what she thinks. If it turns into a problem, I’ll let you know. For now, put the money into a separate account and hold it until we decide what to do with it.”
“Megan, if you could get me all the details, I’ll use it as background for my discussions with the NCAA. Once we do decide, I’ll also need a copy of the check you cut to whatever charitable cause we donate the funds to.”
“Hey, can it be my church?” I asked. “They need money for a new roof.”
“Let me ask the NCAA. Unfortunately, some people have a problem with religion. If she thinks we need to go in a different direction, we’ll pick something like an animal shelter.”
“Or a homeless group?” I asked.
“That works too. Just nothing where your family is involved in the management,” Mr. Morris said.
◊◊◊
“Before you go, we have the background check on Peggy’s guy,” Caryn said.
Peggy had announced she was going on a date with someone none of us knew. I’d gotten his name so we could have him checked out. It must have turned up something because I would never have heard anything if it came back clean. Caryn handed it to me, and I read the one line and looked up, confused.
“Fritz couldn’t even find this guy. Not a driver’s license, birth certificate, nothing. He said that the lack of a background worries him.”
“What does he recommend?” I asked.
“Starting tomorrow, Paul will drive Peggy to and from school and keep an eye on her. Fortunately, your mom is taking care of the boys, so there are no worries about daycare,” Dad said.
“You’re worried about Coby and Little David?” I asked.
“It’s probably nothing, but we pay Fritz for a reason. Chuck will be around the house to watch over your mom and the boys for now.”
“I never thought we would find anything,” I admitted.
Dad snorted.
“We didn’t.”
“I guess I would rather we be overly cautious,” I said, and suddenly realized something. “Who’s going to tell Peggy?”
I would bet she wouldn’t be happy that we were checking up on her dates.
“Your mom is taking care of it. Peggy will be fine,” Dad predicted.
◊◊◊ Monday October 17
I was sitting in precalculus, taking a quiz, when my phone chirped to tell me I’d received a text. This was right after Ms. Lowden had given us a lecture about turning them off for the quiz. She glared in my direction. Apparently, this was the last time someone’s phone was going off during a quiz or test … or there would be ‘consequences.’ I don’t know what came over me.
“Dare! She said to turn your phone off.”
Ms. Lowden made a big display of getting out of her chair and striding to Dare’s desk. He looked at me like I’d just told him there was no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny. I felt bad … really.
“Did you leave your phone on, young man?”
“Go ahead, tell her,” I said helpfully.
Okay, I was probably going to Hell for that one, but I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t want to sit in detention after school today.
The flaw in my plan was that I didn’t count on Ms. Lowden being a detective. I figured I was home free because Dare wasn’t able to talk in class, especially to teachers.
“Give me your phone,” she ordered Dare.
He handed it over, and she saw it was turned off. Ms. Lowden turned to me and gave me a stare that didn’t bode well for my chances of avoiding detention.
“Now yours, Mr. Dawson.”
◊◊◊
“Why that little …” I began as I watched Dare bolt from my side and make a beeline to Brook.
Tim and Wolf were with me in line.
“What’s going on?” Tim asked.
“I got detention because Dare wouldn’t take one for the team. Now he’s telling Brook on me.”
Usually, with guys, that would have been enough of an explanation. The problem was they didn’t buy that Dare would do anything to me that would get me in trouble. When they pulled the details out of me, they were equal parts impressed that I would try to blame Dare and mortified that he hadn’t stood up for me. Maybe I embellished a little or glossed over a few details. What mattered was that my friends backed me up.
When we finally got our lunches and started towards the table, all the girls were giving us dirty looks. Tim and Wolf slowed down so that I somehow faced them by myself. I turned around, and the guys were busy tying their shoes. So much for having my back.
“Did Dare tell you how he got me detention?” I asked.
The girls all turned to him, and his head went down. I became a little worried when Cassidy stood up and gave me a look. Wolf and Tim decided to go eat at another table. Maybe they had a good plan.
“Hi,” I said with a big smile.
“Want to try again?” Cassidy asked.
I made a big show of thinking it over, but when she took a step towards me, I caved.
“I might have been partially responsible,” I admitted, and Cassidy took another step. “Okay, okay. I was a bully and tried to make it look like Dare did it.”
Cassidy took my lunch and set it on the table. I’m such a ‘stupid boy’; I should have known what was coming next.
“Cassidy, I swear, if you crack my ribs again …” I hissed as I dropped to my knees, “there isn’t much I can do about it.”
She looked at Brook, who nodded. Cassidy turned back and helped me up.
“You need to set a better example,” Brook announced.
I grumbled something under my breath.
“What did you say?” Cassidy asked.
“Yes, ma’am?” I asked.
“Good answer,” Cassidy said and kissed my cheek.
Her boyfriend, Don, rolled his eyes. I mentally chastised him for not controlling his woman.
“You owe Dare an apology. He’s been a wreck all morning because you blamed him for your own misdeed,” Gina announced.
I saw a little smile touch Brook’s face. Someone had apparently taken lessons from my mom. I would bet next month’s allowance that she put Gina up to that because there was no way Dare had said anything to Gina about his state of mind. I gave Dare the stink eye and was surprised when he didn’t look away. What good was a socially awkward teen if he had started coming out of his shell when he was around my girlfriend?