MY NOTES: Thanks to all my reviewers! Y'all rock! And as I was reading over chapter 5 after I posted, I realized that Julius passed Gerry his milk in the movie, not the other way. So please forgive me, but it's stuck that way now. FOREVER. lol. Hey, please give The Dated and the Dumped a look! It's by Jamaican Sunshine, and she's my bud! And she doesn't have many reviews right now! So give her a little r/r please! Forgive me, too, for the possibility that near the end, this chappie gets a little "Lion King-ish." It wasn't intended that way, but after I wrote it, I could almost hear Ronnie saying, "Run away, Ray. Run away, and never return." Oh, well... What's done is done...
Chapter 6: Man to Man: Part 2
As the team left the cafeteria, Ray walked just close enough to Ronnie to say in a harsh voice, "I'll deal with you later, Bass."
Ronnie turned to look at the shorter teen. "Look forward to it, Ray."
Then he turned away from Ray and just kept walking.
Ronnie leaned over to say softly to Rachel, "I could really go for a few hours of tai chi right about now."
"Yeah, me, too," she replied. "Remember how we used to do it at Huntington Beach? And there were a bunch of us."
"Yeah. That was awesome. Blue's learning some of it now. He's getting pretty good for a beginner."
"Really?" Rachel was glad that, at least for the moment, Ronnie's mind was on something other than Ray. "I didn't think Blue was the tai chi type."
"Neither did I. But he'll be better than I am when he's been doing it this long."
Rachel laughed. "You were terrible when you started. You moved like an elephant."
"Hey!" Ronnie said, already beginning to nurse his wounded ego. "I wasn't that bad."
"You were, too," she said with a laugh.
"Well, I don't recall you being a swan, either," Ronnie replied.
"Well, I wasn't good, but you were bad."
Ronnie laughed. "OK, so it took me almost a year to get past looking like an elephant. But you weren't good either." His face was becoming red very quickly.
Rachel smiled. "Oh, who cares?" She stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. Ronnie smiled at her, a sparkle in his blue eyes.
"You want to go get ice cream after school?" she asked. "My treat."
"I can't," he said, disappointment in his voice. "I have practice."
"Oh. Well, I can wait until after practice. My dad's not home, remember?"
"Yeah. Only I'm grounded," he replied.
"Why?" she asked.
"My old man was pretty peed about the couch thing," he said.
"I'm sorry, Ronnie. I didn't mean to get you in trouble."
"No, Rache. You didn't get me in trouble. I did what I did, not you."
"Oh, man. Well, how long are you grounded?"
"Until Saturday."
"Good. You won't be grounded next week."
"Nope."
"Then I'll treat us to some ice cream then."
"Sorry. But we can't do it then either."
"Why not?"
He smiled and winked. "Because the guys would never let me live it down if my girlfriend took ME out."
Rachel laughed. "Well, 'the guys' are pigs. But I like 'em anyway."
"Well, maybe they are pigs. But here, there are rules," he said in a mockingly serious voice as they entered their American Lit classroom.
As class started, Ronnie couldn't concentrate. He knew he was going to have to face off with Ray sooner or later. And he would just as soon have it over with.
Ronnie was one of the first at football practice. The only others to arrive before he did were Gerry and Julius, and Coaches Boone, Yoast, and Hines.
Julius pulled Ronnie aside and said, "We need to talk, Sunshine."
"Sure, Julius. What's up?"
"I want you to leave Ray alone if you can. We can't afford for you to get hurt. Rev ain't nowhere near ready to play quarterback again. We need you. And if you go down, our season pretty much goes with you."
"Rachel needs me more," Ronnie said in a tone Julius had never heard him use before. It reminded him of steel. Cold and hard, with a sharp edge.
Julius grabbed Ronnie by the arm. "Hey, Sunshine!"
Ronnie turned to face Julius. "What do you want, man?"
"Listen, Sunshine, I know you're pi..." at this time, Rev walked in, so Julius made a slight word change. "I know you're mad. But I'm not Ray, remember? This team is a family. And you don't talk to your brother like that."
Ronnie thought about it just a moment. "Yeah. Sorry, Julius."
"It's OK, man. Just simmer down. Don't bring this out on the field. I'd hate to see Boone break his foot off in your John Brown hindparts."
Ronnie managed a half-hearted smile. "Yeah."
By this time, the team was flooding the room. "You gonna be OK, Sunshine?" Julius asked.
"Yeah. I guess so."
Gerry walked up to Sunshine and Julius. "Hey, y'all! Boone's gettin' pretty ticked. He wants everybody dressed and on the field in two minutes. Exactly."
Ronnie ran to his locker, hurredly pulling on his shoulder pads, then his practice jersey, then his football pants. He made it onto the field just as Boone blew his whistle.
First, the whole team ran a warm up lap. Then they did up-downs. Then they got started working on plays. They worked on a play with Rev as a runningback, that they really hoped never to have to use. It was a good play, but it was only to be used in emergencies. They were playing for the regional title that weekend, and they wanted to be ready. After the practice, they gathered for the "Coach Boone Patented Pep Talk." He told them that practice was going to run a little late the next day, so to "tell momma not to keep supper warm."
As they headed toward the locker room, Coach Boone called, "Sunshine, Bertier, I want you two, front and center."
Gerry and Ronnie looked at each other, then ran down to Coach Boone. "Yessir?" Gerry said.
"I heard you boys had a little run-in with Budds," Boone said, his voice quieter than either of the boys had ever heard it.
Gerry looked directly at Boone. "Yessir."
Ronnie couldn't look at Boone. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time his shoes had looked so interesting. He was scared that Boone was going to return him to his original position of "full offensive bench-warmer." He didn't know what Boone would do to him if he answered.
"Sunshine," Boone said. "I didn't say that just to hear myself talk, son. I need to know why. I do not approve of fighting. Or almost fighting, unless you have a heck of a good reason."
"I do, Coach," Ronnie said. "Ray deserves to be drug behind a truck going about 70 down the interstate. But I was just going to settle for beating the crap out of him."
Gerry couldn't help thinking how graphic the thought was for a hippie.
Boone tried not to smile. "Well, you need a REASON, Sunshine."
"Coach, he... He hit a girl. My... my girlfriend. And he really hurt her."
Coach Boone shook his head. "That boy... I wish I could..."
Gerry nodded. "Yeah, Coach. Me, too."
Boone smiled a little.
"Sorry if I did anything wrong, Coach," Ronnie began. "but..."
"Nah, Sunshine. I don't think you should be getting in fights. But I understand. And if it ain't on school property, they can't do nothin'."
"Yessir."
"Well, you boys hit the showers."
"Yessir," they replied in unison.
The two boys ran up to the locker room. Julius and Petey were waiting for them in the locker room. "You alright, Sunshine?" Petey asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Rachel said to tell you she'd see you tomorrow. She walked home."
"She WHAT?" Ronnie couldn't believe she'd just walked home with Ray to worry about.
Petey's mind suddenly registered why Ronnie was so upset. "Oh, no!"
Ronnie didn't even take time to shower. He got dressed and ran to his truck. Petey yelled after him, "Be careful, man!"
Ronnie didn't answer. He got into his truck and put it in gear. He pulled out of the parking lot as fast as was legally possible, and hoped that he'd find Rachel before Ray did.
Rachel was walking down the sidewalk, two streets away from home, when she heard a voice that sent a shiver of fear throughout her body. "Hey, Rachel!"
She couldn't believe Ray had followed her. She began to walk briskly, hoping she'd make it home before Ray could get to her.
But he didn't let her get away. He ran until he caught her. He put his arms around her, as if he expected her to act like she didn't care that he had hit her, ar pushed himself way past her boundaries.
"Are you OK, Rachel?"
She rolled her eyes. "As if you care."
"I do care," he said, feigning innocence.
"Yeah, right," she said.
"Oh, come on. I'm sorry, baby," Ray said.
"Don't you dare call me baby. I'm not your girlfriend. And get your hands off of me."
Ray acted oblivious to her words. He pulled her closer and rubbed her arms.
"Ray Budds, you have five seconds to get your fithy hands off me," Rachel said, standing up straight and making her voice sound strong, even though she didn't feel strong.
Ray tried to kiss her, but she pulled away. "Stop it, Ray!"
"Aw, come on, Rachel. I'll get us something to eat, and then we can go to my place. My mom's in Richmond visiting family, and my dad's working late, so we can have the place all to our selves. We'll talk things out."
"No. You expect me to believe that you're thinking about talking? I've been out with you before, remember. And you don't control your hormones too well. Leave me alone, Ray." She tried to pull away from him, but he was too strong. She felt trapped, and started beating his chest. When that didn't work, she began to yell for help. Which was completely useless, since all of the houses were empty.
Ray whispered, "Shh...quiet..."
Rachel was about to give up when she heard a vehicle. "Thank God," she gasped.
Ronnie got out of his truck. "Get in the truck, Rachel," he said, softly. Ray cruelly squeezed her tighter until she couldn't breathe, then let her go, gasping for air. She ran to get into Ronnie's truck.
Ronnie looked at Ray, anger spread over his face. "I'll be at your house in five or ten minutes, Ray. You better be there."
Ray narrowed his eyes, then turned to walk toward his house.
Ronnie turned to go to his truck, when Ray turned around to attack him from behind.
Ronnie turned around quickly, knowing that if Ray got him down first, he would bust his head on the cement sidewalk. He pushed the shorter boy to the side before he pushed him down, so that his head hit the grass. As much as Ronnie couldn't stand Ray, he had no desire to give him a concussion. Rachel watched as Ronnie landed on top of Ray, sending a flurry of punches at his face. Ray flipped Ronnie onto his back and began to beat the blonde guys face and body. It was all Ronnie could do not to scream as Ray cleverly hit him right where he'd injured him before. He resplit Ronnie's upper lip and punched the bruises on his chin. He battered Ronnie's sore ribs and arms.
Ronnie knew he had two options. He could either gather up the strength he had left and flip Ray onto his back, or he could have the crap beaten out of him.
He heard Rachel's quiet crying, and it seemed to give him strength. He pulled himself together and pushed against Ray with all of the strength he had left. He knew he had the upper hand, and that he needed to take advantage of it pretty quick, so he peppered the short teen with punches. Ray tasted blood as his teeth cut his lips. His eye was swelling, and Ronnie just kept going. Ronnie was tired, but he was blinded by fury. So he kept fighting, and hoped he wouldn't have to much longer.
Ray's breathing had become laboured, and he couldn't fight much longer. Ronnie knew that, so he stood up. He was panting himself, and it almost made him dizzy. "I want you to leave right now, Ray. I don't want you to spread anymore of this BS about me and Rachel. And I don't want to see you anywhere near her again."
Ray stood up slowly, and staggered just a little as the lack of air to his head set in. He slowly stumbled away. Ronnie watched him to make sure that he wouldn't come back, so that Ronnie could get into his truck safely.
When he got in the truck, he knew he was hurt pretty badly. Nothing a little rest couldn't fix, but still, it hurt. He hoped he'd be OK for the game.
"Rachel," he said, "I want you to get a ride from now on. Don't walk home. It's too dangerous with Ray around."
"OK, Ronnie, I will."
Ronnie drove Rachel home, then headed toward his own house. He knew he was in for it when he got home, but it was worth it. It was worth beating Ray to a pulp. And the fact that he'd gotten Ray's hands off of Rachel. At least for the moment. But now he ahd something much harder to do. He had to deal with Rachel's dad. Without making someone mad at him.
If he told someone, Rachel would be mad. He'd sworn he wouldn't say anything, and yet, how could he not tell? How could he let her dad keep hurting her.
As he pulled into the driveway, his mind drifted to his own dad. He was in trouble. He saw his dad standing on the porch.
"Yep, I'm in deep trouble."
He got out of his truck and grabbed his bookbag, careful not to sling it against his sore ribs.
Colonel Bass looked at Ronnie. The boy's hair was full of dirt, and his shirt and jeans were grass stained. Both were ripped. His new pair of jeans had holes in both knees, and his left shirt sleeve was hanging on threads.
"Where have you been, Ronald?"
Ronnie was too tired to even be annoyed at the use of the name "Ronald." He looked at his feet. He knew better than to lie to his dad. And even if he could've lied, he wouldn't have known what to say. Nothing could explain the way he looked, and how late he was. "I was fighting with Ray. He tried to hurt Rachel again."
Colonel Bass shook his head. "I don't like all of this. That Budds boy could use a good beating. Any boy who would hurt a girl..."
"Well, I gave him a good beating, Dad."
Colonel Bass looked at Ronnie. "Son, I don't like this fighting. But I do understand.
"Yessir," Ronnie replied before running upstairs to take a shower.
A/N I'm still not sure about how to deal with Rachel's dad. And I still don't know what to do about Julie. Any suggestions? Or, to quote JarJar Binks, "Any help here would be hot."
