Losing My Religion

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Author's Note: Sorry if this has been hard to follow. I'm written sporadically and included only emotions in really short (the chapters won't be too long, only one scene as of now, with one point of view, which varies by chapter) unorganized doses. A stronger plot line should be developed in this chapter. Charlie's not the one being accused, don't be confused ;-) I'm hoping this will start to become clearer. And all the sudden song lyrics? Really not relevant. At all.

Disclaimer: Ducks go to Disney and the newspaper article (with different information) was originally run in the June 6, 2002 edition of the Denver Post. As soon as this situation ends, I swear I'll come kayaking with you Cubby.

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Chapter Three: Dead End Road

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I thought that you were joking
When you said you couldn't breathe
You said you couldn't breathe
Turns out that you were choking
On a town you couldn't leave
You knew you'd never leave
It met your disapproval at the age of 8 years old
You were only 8 years old
From then on there was no removal
From that one way dead end road
That one way dead end road

I thought that you were laughing
When you cried your eyeballs out
You cried your eyeballs out
And I don't mean to be prying
But what were you so sad about
What are you still sad about
Met your disappointment at the age of 9 years old
You were only 9 years old
From then on there would be no ointment
To take away these burns
To make that pain grow dull and forever ain't that long
When your smile's stuck in your head like a pop song
All you think about is death
Your dirty head has gone unswept for way too long now
For way too long now

I thought that you were sleeping
When I found you there in bed
I found you there in bed
When I touched you you were freezing
It turned out that you were dead
It turned out that you were dead
It met your disapproval at the age of 8 years old
You were only 8 years old
From then on there was no removal
From your fucked up head and your broken home and forever ain't that long
When your smile's stuck in your head like a pop song
All you think about is death
Your dirty head has gone unswept for way too long now
For way too long now

Dead End Road Alkaline Trio

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Julie ran her hand shakily through her dirty blonde hair, stomach overwhelmed with nothing short of nausea as she rambled on with her early morning routine. The cranberry juice that she had been drinking tasted acidic and foul in her mouth. The sudden rush of blood to her brain made her vision blurry, enunciated by the trembling hands that held the paper. She couldn't quite comprehend what she felt, as though a water balloon verging on ice had exploded in her gut, sending a flush of biting cold through her veins. Gnawing on her lip, she began to read the article.

Youth hockey coach accused of sex assault- Girl says relationship began when she was 12

John Ingold Minneapolis Star Tribune Staff Writer

January 6, 1997

A Minneapolis youth hockey coach was arrested Tuesday for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a player that started when the girl was 12.

Gordon Robert Bombay, 44 - a defense attorney and current St. Paul Mounds View youth hockey coach, who once led Team USA to a gold at the Junior Goodwill Games - was hauled away from Biff Adams Arena in handcuffs after police learned of the relationship, which allegedly began five years ago.

He was interrogated, booked on one count of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of...

Unable to continue, she tossed the paper beside her to the floor, knowing the noise wouldn't wake her roommate, who once she was unconscious remained that way until a godly force intervened. She gazed to the other side of the room, and looked at the sleeping brunette who was entangled in a web of sheets and blankets. There she looked so innocent, like a normal 17 year old girl, attempting to sleep away her weekend.

The idea that the man she once trusted with her life, had laid his hands on her made the goalie ill. The slightest thought of his old, grimy hands corrupting and groping away her innocence made her stomach contents churn and begin to climb her esophagus. Ever since Connie had finally broken down about the ordeal, which had begun before Julie knew of her existence.

She couldn't quite comprehend how a man who had such charisma, such charm and heart would even contemplate touching a pre-pubescent girl. Nor did she truly want to know. Looking back on things, she had begun to wonder why she hadn't come forward earlier. Hadn't been able to pick on the subtly blatant clues. The ability he had to pick you up when you were down and vulnerable, giving you the euphoria that there was someone who truly cared, then create a close, tight bond. She'd never thought anything of the closeness Bombay had established with the group, mostly out of naïve ignorance.

Luckily by seeing the reverberations of his actions first hand through means of Connie, she was able to crack the shell of denial that still surrounded so many, break away and see him for what he truly was. Slowly the Ducks were beginning to join the rest of the community in a firm stance against his antagonizing, some more tentatively than others. Averman, Goldberg, and Fulton hadn't said too much either way, for they probably still had some doubts about the situation. The only one who seemed to vocally side against Connie was Charlie. Julie was spread between sympathizing with him, she'd never seen such a strong hockey player collapse like he had, or bitch slap him, having heard some of his choice comments about her friend, the victim of the situation. Word had it that Bombay had tried his hand with him as well, the two appeared to be even closer than Connie had been, which cast him thick into denial. It wouldn't have surprised Julie right now either that her former coach swung both ways below him.

The only concept she was able to grasp was that he was a twisted bastard. A pedophile who got off on kids a third of his age. A pervert who came into a position of power, where his players respected and adored him and used their trust to gain for his own immoral pleasure.

A sick menace to society that belonged behind bars, with innocents far from his grasp, she thought as she wearily stood up and walked toward the door, casting one last sympathizing gaze at her friend.

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