Charlie: Let’s go bowling!

On one of the combined social meals at Janet's house, the three dads ended up in Jiro's workshop. Charlie and Merton admired Jiro's latest woodwork project, and his extensive set of wood working tools.

"Say, you know how our wives have taken to having the occasional coffee together in their lunch hour?" said Jiro.

"Umm"

"We should get together ourselves to do something. Since this situation with Mackay and the girls has basically bound us all together."

"But like what?" said Charlie. "In fact, what do you do in your spare time, apart from wood working?"

"I go golfing. I'm in a group of golfers of about the same grade, and we have a friendly, but nevertheless very competitive, match most Sundays." said Jiro.

"Right. I used to be a keen footballer. But now a days, what with me no longer being as young as I was, I just watch it on TV. I also toss around a ball with a group of buddies at the local gym." said Charlie.

"Well, I and Mary used to be very keen competitive ballroom dancers. But now we just go social dancing." said Merton.

Jiro picked up one of his hand planes and sighted down its length.

"It needs adjusting. But, anyway, there doesn't seem to be much common ground in that lot, does there?"

"Let's keep our minds open for some ideas, shall we?" said Jiro.

The next day, Charlie had a call out to the local bowling club.

"Hi! Greetings, officer." said the security guard. "We have video coverage of a bullying situation that developed last night, perhaps you can see if you can recognise the culprits? Unfortunately none of our staff got a good look at them, and the videos are not very clear."

After the official business was over, Charlie took a minute to look over the premises.

"So, I suppose you have all types here, from rank beginners to real experts?"

"Sure do. It's a great competitive sport, but plenty of people do it just for a bit of socialisation."

Back at the office, he submitted the video to the police system, in the hopes that the bullies' faces might be recognised. Since the faces were blurred, he was not very hopeful. And then, that evening, he rang up Jiro and Merton.

Next Monday night the three of them were in the bowling alley, toting up the scores for their first game.

"Overall they're pretty miserable. But nonetheless, I win!" said Merton.

"Ha, just wait until I get the hang of this. Not to mention memorise the rules. Then we shall see!" said Jiro.

"You know, I think we are all highly competitive. This might work out well." said Charlie.

They had more games. The night became late, and there were no longer many other patrons left.

"I think I've had enough for tonight. Especially considering I'm now the last." said Merton, as he sorted out the score sheets.

He realised that the other two were not paying attention. There appeared to be a bit of a conflict at the other end of the bowling range. There were two blokes standing over a teenage couple sitting at a table.

One bloke was shoving the teenage boy in the chest: "Hey, why don't you just go. This girl is obviously way too good for you."

The boy tried to stand up and protect the girl. The other bloke shoved him and the boy fell over and fell on the ground.

"Seff!" said the girl.

He got up. "I'm all right, Daisy. But I obviously can't fight them anyway, so I should go."

And he went. The jeers of the two blokes followed him out of the building.

Daisy sat in her chair, looking as if she was going to shrivel up and collapse in on herself.

Fortunately, by this stage, the security guard and Charlie arrived, closely followed by the other two dads.

"Hey, leave us alone! We have every right to be here, and this lady is joining us!" said one of the blokes to the men.

Charlie took a look at Daisy. She was clutching the front of her shirt with her hands, she was turning away from the blokes and trying to push back as far as possible in her chair, she looked to be on the verge of tears.

Charlie wondered about this Seff boy.

What the hell did he think he was doing?

He produced his police id.

"I'm police. The girl clearly does not want you, so if you two", he indicated Jiro and Merton, "Can take her aside, the security guard and I will have a little talk with them."

The little talk became a more intense longer talk. The two blokes decided to leave and go home, however they had to reluctantly allow themselves be given a lift to the police station by two extra police officers that had arrived soon after.

"Sorry that your social evening was spoilt." said the manager.

"Don't worry, it comes with the job. At least I found the two bullies. Anyway, I must check up on this Daisy girl."

Jiro:

Jiro and Merton had led Daisy to the other side of the hall, and they ended up sitting at another table. By now Daisy was crying.

"There, now, it's all right." said Jiro. He made a movement to pat Daisy on the back. Only she twitched and hunched up her shoulders and shrank from his touch.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"Here, if you can ring up your parents, they can come and pick you up." said Merton.

"They're not home yet."

Jiro took the opportunity to dash over to the drinks machine, buy a can and come back.

"Here, lady, have a drink to calm your nerves."

"Seff abandoned me!"

Since, in actual fact, he had abandoned her, neither Merton nor Jiro could think of any come back.

"He's supposed to protect me! I thought if I had him by my side he would protect me from something bad happening again!"

Jiro's radar went 'ping!' What was that, something bad happening again?

He had a horrible flashback, of that night last year when Jenny had come home, clearly distressed about something.

"I'm sorry you're having such a bad time. Hmm, would you like to talk to my wife, who is also a police officer? It sounds like you might benefit from a discussion about bad things happening."

Panic and terror roiled through Daisy's mind.

She jerked and jumped out of her chair.

"No! No! I musn't!"

She tripped over her feet, stumbled against the chair.

"Must get my purse and leave!"

She tried to dash across the hall back to her original table, but she collided with another chair. Staggering, crying, she ended up on her knees. She got up, eyes blinded by tears, took a step - and crashed into the manager.

By very good luck, the manager was female. Middle aged, plump, the sort you could expect to be waiting at home for her grandchildren to come in and be fed cookies. She wrapped her arms around Daisy.

"There now, I think you should slow down and take it easy for a while."

Daisy gave up trying to act on her own accord, and settled in for a good cry.

Jiro had rang Janet, who wasn't too far away. So in twenty minutes Janet was sitting down at one of the tables, Daisy to her side and the manager on Daisy's other side. The dads had discreetly retreated, while the security guard had wisely decided he had better get out of the way. Since the bowling hall had closed for the night, he went to the front entrance and started to lock the doors and tidy up.

Janet:

Janet gently held Daisy's hand. "Would you like to tell me about the bad thing that happened to you?"

Sniff, sniff. "Last year I was, was raped."

Janet was holding a pencil above her pad, but she was not bothering to write anything down yet.

"Oh dear. But you never reported it?"

"No, no. It was at the school, I never saw his face. He gave me a piece of paper saying he would kill me if I reported it."

There was a crack. The pencil snapped in Janet's hand. Her knuckles went white from tension. Her eyes flared red.

Fortunately, Daisy was staring down and did not see this. The manager, who did, blinked her eyes in surprise. The three dads, close enough to hear, stopped moving and went even more silent than they had been.

"Oh"

"Oh"

"Right"

Deep breath.

"Ok. How about I take down an initial statement, then I will drive you home. We can discuss later what the next steps will be."

Some time later on the same night:

"Parker! Are you free to come to the office right now?" said Janet, speaking on her phone in her office.

Perhaps Parker was listening very closely to the tone of her voice. He indicated that he was free.

"So, Jenny was attacked on the last day of the second term. Daisy on the last day of third term. But we still have no reports of any assaults on the last day of the first term, nor the fourth term." said Parker.

Janet clenched her fists. "Maybe Jenny was the first. May he rot in hell. But, yeah, there have been no reports about anything happening after her."

"By the way, why the last day in the term?" said Parker.

"Oh. I suppose could it be that this school has an end of term festival on the last day? There are lots of kids and parents and other members of the public milling around. So I suppose it is easier for the culprit to be lost in the crowd if something goes wrong."

"Hmm. Course that inevitably leads to the question, what happens at the end of this term?"

"We need to speak to the vice principle. And the school board."

Jiro:

The morning after.

"Good morning, teenagers!" said Jiro.

Four grunts in reply.

"Well, it is obvious that Jenny didn't inherit our early bird genes. Nor did you others get any from your parents." said Jiro.

"Now, Mackay, the name of your friend is Seff, is it not?"

There was silence after hearing Jiro's story, finally broken by Mackay. There was no mention of Janet's appearance and why she had been there.

"I am having trouble accepting Seff's behaviour... Were these bullies really that bad?" said Mackay.

"Bad enough to be a real pain, but probably no more." said Jiro.

"Humph" said Carmen. She grabbed the lapel of Mackay's jacket. Turquoise grabbed the other.

"I hope you would never do that sort of thing to Jenny!"

"No, no, of course not. I would stay. And probably get beaten to a pulp, but still I would stay."

"You had better!" said Turquoise.

"Thanks, Mackay." said Jenny.

Carmen and Turquoise let Mackay go.

"Well, I suppose he passes." said Carmen.

Turquoise gave a start and looked at her hand, dismay slowly building up in her expression.

"Did I just threaten a man?" She looked as if she was going to shrink from Mackay's presence and start waving her hands around, as if to ward off evil spirits.

"Turquoise!" said Carmen, grabbing her arm, but much more gently than she had grabbed Mackay's jacket. "There is no need to revert to your old behaviour. Things are different now, remember? And this isn't just any man, this is Mackay. He's our man."

"Oh. Right. Yes, of course." said Turquoise.

Jenny took Mackay's arm. "Just as long as you all remember that he's also my man, Ok?"

"Hey, do I get to contribute to this discussion?" said Mackay.

"No!" said three voices, simultaneously.

Having established certain facts about their relationship, they finished their breakfast and went off to school.

Jiro also left for his work.

This is actually getting quite entertaining. I'd better not tell anyone, but.

Daisy:

On Tuesday morning the first class of the day started. Which meant that Seff and Daisy were going to see each other. They managed to exchange a few words.

Everybody in the know knew that things were not going to be easy.

Seff and Daisy agreed to meet for lunch, at the bench where they had first met.

Daisy's lunchbox was old. It was warped and had a cracked catch. Her hands were shaking and she had to battle to get it open. She took out a sandwich and began to eat it, all the while staring ahead and down. There were two ants on the sandy ground. One was carrying a dead insect, much bigger than itself, and not having much success at dragging it along. The other ant came up and began to help it, and together they dragged their trophy along the ant trail. Although some of the time, they hindered each other, and ended up going in the wrong direction. But, mostly, they managed to progress.

"Would the first ant protect the second ant if needed? Or would it run away and leave it to its fate?" thought Daisy.

Her vision was beginning to get blurry.

Seff had been watching her. "Daisy, I'm sorry I left you, but..."

That was as far as he got.

"You didn't leave me! You abandoned me! Those two could have been rapists! You should have protected me! Instead you ran off like, like some coward! I was protected by four men who were total strangers. But, nonetheless, they were the ones who looked after me!"

"Ah, not so loud, others might hear you." said Seff.

"I don't care if they do! So what?"

"Well, look at it from my point of view. I was clearly outclassed. If I had stayed, they could have easily beaten me up. By the looks of them, they were violent enough maybe even put me in hospital. Or, God forbid, even worse. So, what would you have had me to do? Get beaten up and end up in a hospital bed with tubes stuck in me, or make a retreat and end up sitting next to you now, perfectly healthy?"

"Ah"

Daisy had a vision of Seff, covered in bandages, lying in a hospital bed, with alien looking machines around him, monitoring his vital signs with red squiggly lines and making mysterious beeps.

"N-no, I don't suppose..."

"And, as you said, those four men protected you, anyway. So no one got hurt. Well, except for my pride. But, surely, my pride isn't all that important, is it?"

"N-no, of course not..."

"And I managed to save you from having to visit me, in a hospital bed and possibly unconscious."

"Ah, yes..."

"So even if I have to end up suffering because of your angry out lashing towards me, I still think that my course of action was the best in the circumstances. Don't you think so?"

"Y-yes, yes, I, ah, wouldn't want you to get hurt over me."

Daisy was thinking that Seff was getting some unfair criticism from her. After all, what use would getting beaten up do, anyway?

She also had a little thought: Am I getting confused?

But Seff was still talking, and she forgot about that.

"So, I realise that you are still hurting over this, and it is your right to do so. I can't blame you for that. You need some space to be by yourself and recover. How about we meet for lunch again tomorrow?"

"Ok, yes I do need some time to myself." she said.

"Just remember, I do want to look after you and care for you. I just hope we never run into a lose-lose situation like that again."

"Ok, ah, thanks. Ah, I guess I will tell you, then. Last night, I ended up talking to the wife of one of those men. Her name is Janet, she happens to be a police officer. And, well, I told them about how I was..., attacked, last year."

"Actually, I think that is a good idea! I was worried at how you appeared to be bottling it up within you. It can't be good to do that. Do you feel better that someone in authority now knows and can take actions to look after you?"

"Yes, I suppose I do feel better. Although I also feel a little frightened at the possibility that that man will kill me."

Seff reached over and took her hand.

"Don't be frightened. Remember you now have the police on your side. It surely makes you feel easier."

"Yeah, I guess so. The police are on my side."

She squeezed his hand.

"Also, have you told your parents, yet?"

"No, I just couldn't bring myself to do so. Janet also thinks I should tell them. But, in fact, instead of that, Janet has arranged for me to meet with a psychologist at the hospital this afternoon after school. Her name is Mary, and apparently she is very good at this sort of thing."

"My dear, that's very good news. Wait a minute, Janet and Mary? Say, do you mean Janet the mother of Jenny and Mary, the mother of Mackay?"

"Err, they are?"

"Must be. I'm sure you will be in good hands. I'm so glad for you."

The siren went off, marking the end of the lunch break. They stood up. Daisy hesitated but Seff did not. He stepped up to her and gave her a hug.

"I'm really sorry you got hurt like that. But you must be glad it all ended up well."

At last, Daisy hugged him back. "Yes I am. Thank you."

Seff, seeing his chance, lightly patted her bottom. Daisy did not make any objections. Then they were apart and off to their afternoon classes.

Seff really is kind and nice.

Police Station Boss Parker:

That morning, Parker also had a somewhat strained meeting. It was with his boss; however, it also ended on a happier note.

"Good morning, commissioner. I take it you have received my latest report about the situation at the River Island School?"

"Yes, I have." He got up from his desk and paced back and forth.

"Unfortunately, you must realise that the current political situation is, shall we say, just a touch unstable. Not to mention insane, but don't tell anyone I said that. The outgoing acting premier just wants to retire and look after his grandchildren. The two politicians who hope to be the next premier are very polite towards each other, but behind the scenes, there is much furious political activity. They are both instigating investigations against the other, and any other perceived threats that their imaginations may generate. And, sadly, they have enough authority to be able to directly commandeer a lot of police resources in the process. So there are not a lot left over to do any real police investigations."

Parked pressed his mouth together but otherwise did not do anything.

"I believe you have met one of the victims, Jenny was her name?"

"Yes sir. I haven't gotten to know her or anything, but I have observed her. Initially she was like a frightened timid mouse, and she was alone and isolated except for her parents. Now that she has gotten some friends, in very strange circumstances but never mind that, she is slowly coming out of her shell. According to Janet she is beginning to act like she used to do so, before her attack."

"Hmm. Hmm. Ok, Parker, let's do something about this."

He picked up a piece of paper from his desk.

"Four more police officers who specialise in investigating people of interest have been assigned to my care by our political masters. I'm to set them up in offices somewhere and get them working on threat assessments. So, what I'm thinking, how about I assign them to the River Island Police station? Just get Janet to make room for them somewhere. I guess some of the regular officers there will have to share rooms, or move into the broom closet, or something. And, of course, I will assign these four people their tasks. But, well, it's getting a bit hectic here, these days, there's so much work, so, ah, I might be a week or two before I can get around to it. So, I don't know, maybe you can find them some work for them to do in the meanwhile? Just suggesting..."

"Yes sir. I get your drift. I would like to thank you, and I'm sure Janet and Charlie will also."

The commissioner handed him the piece of paper with the details of two men and two woman, and Parker left the office.

"Janet, these four will be arriving first thing tomorrow morning. I'm thinking I'll get them straight onto investigating the three men who are at the top of our suspects list. Give them a few days to get together their reports, and then we will decide on our next course of action. Ok?"

"Good. Ok."

"Right, here's how I was thinking of going about this..."

Daisy: Having a talk

That afternoon after the last class Daisy waited in the library; she had an hour to fill in before Mary was due to pick her up. She wandered around a little, browsing the stacks, when-

Oh, that's Jenny having a read. I wonder where her friends are. It’s certainly a weird story about her recovery and association with Mackay and those other girls. Now, what was it, that's right, that nice lady police officer from last night is her mother. Surely she didn't tell Jenny about my being attacked... But Seff abandoning me she might have...

On a whim, she decided to say hello to Jenny. Even though the last time she tried, Jenny shrank from her approach and ran away. But she seemed to be getting much more sociable, now a days.

"Err, hello Jenny."

"Oh, hi, Daisy."

Jenny looked startled and nervous, but so far, she was not running away.

"Did you father tell you that he saw me last night at the bowling club?"

"Y-yes. He told us all about it."

"All,, all about it?"

"Yeah, about those two nasty men harassing you, and pushing Seff onto the floor, and how Seff ran away."

"Oh, right, yes." said Daisy.

"We had a talk about it last night, me and the other three. And, well, we had trouble accepting the fact the Seff just gave up, but you don't have to say anything if you don't want to."

Sigh. "It's all right. I had a talk with Seff during lunchtime. We were both very tense, and it was a very intense talk, but after he explained how it really didn't make any sense for him to be injured and hospitalised, and still not be able to protect me, I was able to understand his actions better. As he points out, neither of us got hurt, which was a much better outcome all round. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Ah, yes, ah, of course. Nobody got hurt; obviously that is a good outcome."

"Seff is being very kind; he is allowing me some space to come to terms with it all. I'll see him for lunch tomorrow, and we can talk over it some more."

"Kind. Yes, err, he's being kind... I'm glad that that was all explained. It makes Seff's actions look much more sensible." said Jenny.

Nevertheless, she still looked a little puzzled.

Daisy was glad also. Someone else was affirming her feelings about the situation. It made her mind feel easier. So she kept right on talking without paying too much attention to what she was saying.

"And your mother was very nice also, she held my hand."

"Huh? Why was mum there? I mean, Charlie was there, and not only is he a policeman, he's also a big bloke. So why was there the need for mum to be called in?"

"Oh, ah."

Daisy remembered Seff telling her that it would be good to reveal her pain to trusted others. And, after all, she was going to have a long talk with Mary about it all. So why not try starting with Jenny?

"Well, you see, I haven't told anyone apart from Seff, and Janet last night. And, I suppose, the others from last night who were close enough to hear. But, anyway,, if you promise not to tell anyone?"

"Sure, but what am I promising not to tell anyone?"

"I - I was - raped - last year."

She put her head down and held her hands tightly. A few tears formed in her eyes.

"Oh, oh, sorry..." Jenny reached out and held Daisy's hands in hers.

"I, I'm really sorry... I, I would have never have guessed, you seemed to be perfectly normal, I mean, nothing like me..." said Jenny.

"I kept quiet about it. It was so hard, but I guess I must have been successful... Wait, wait, did you say 'nothing like me'?"

There was five minutes of really really intense discussion. Jenny moved her chair around to be next to Daisy's, and their hold progressed until it was a full hug. At this point Mackay, Turquoise, and Carmen appeared in the library.

"Huh?" said Carmen, "Why are Jenny and Daisy having such an emotionally charged discussion?"

"Right, Mackay, you stay here!" she said.

Turquoise and Carmen joined the two other girls, and there was more discussion.

Eventually:

"I must be off; I'm being picked up by Mary for a consultation. But thanks to all of you, it is wonderful to have some support." said Daisy.

She shook hands with Jenny, and rushed off.

Daisy had her consultation with Mary. She found it very helpful. And Mary brought up one very sensitive point.

"I really think you should tell your parents."

Daisy begged to disagree.

"I started off not telling them, and now I'm too embarrassed to tell them. But having talked it over with you, and with Jenny and her friends, I feel in a much better position. So I still don't want to tell my parents. I don't want to bother them. They are stressed out with their constant work and money problems; I don't want to give them anything more to worry about."

Mary had to let that topic go. They also talked about the very explicit threat of violence.

"He must have been the one that tried to murder Jenny and Carmen. I'm so very afraid that he might come after me next. Or what if he does something against my parents? Or, something against my boyfriend Seff?"

Even after talking it over, she was still unsettled about it all in her mind. Particularly about the possibility of Seff being attacked. She figured that since her parents were never at school, then whoever the attacker was would have trouble even knowing who they where, let alone doing anything against them. But Seff?

Jenny:

Later that night, at Janet's and Jiro's dining room table.

"But, I still think it is despicable for Seff to run off like that!" said Carmen.

"I'm having trouble with it also. I really must have a talk with him tomorrow." said Mackay.

"But, well, the way that Daisy explained it, it made sense. I think. Although the more I think about it the more tangled my thoughts get." said Jenny.

Janet had allowed herself half a glass of wine. She sipped a bit of it, held the glass in the air to admire the colour of wine, and then spoke.

"Basically, there are always situations where there are no good choices to make. Where every choice leads to something bad. A classic lose-lose case. If you ever find yourself in one of those, then you just have to make up your mind about which glass of poison you are going to drink."

She took another sip of her wine from the glass that she had chosen.

"Thankfully, such pathological situations don't arise all that often."

"Yeah, I suppose so..." said Carmen.

"So, was last night one of those pathological situations?" asked Mackay.

"Don't ask me, I wasn't there when it happened." said Janet, "Ask Jenny's father."

Jenny's father was also holding half a glass of wine.

"So it looks like Jenny's mother has put me on the spot, has she?" he said as he nodded to her, sitting right next to him.

"Well, let's say, I my opinion, I think that Seff could have stuck it out for a bit longer."

"Hmm" said Carmen, staring at Mackay. So was Jenny and Turquoise.

"Right, right, I will stick it out much longer! Ok?" said Mackay.

Daisy:

The next morning found Daisy bleary eyed and fuzzy in mind. She had lain awake half the night, thinking about Carmen and Jenny being attacked with that purple gas.

"If it gets out that I have reported the assault, then the attacker will definitely try to kill me. Would he also try to kill Seff? Maybe he would. Maybe he would kill him first, to make me suffer. Then kill me. What am I to do?"

Obviously, Mary should have spent more time talking about this subject. Unfortunately, there are always unavoidable mistakes.

By the time she started walking to school, her mind was beginning to suffer from overload; her synapses were facing imminent burnout. Even after talking it over, the accumulated pressure of months of hiding the horrible news was still making itself known.

"It felt so good to tell others about what happened, to share my pain. But that does nothing about the fear of being attacked. At least can I protect Seff..."

She stopped on the footpath. She had to do something. So she rang Seff.

"Can you meet me just in front of the school?"

"Seff, that attacker might kill me, after all he made a good attempt to kill Jenny, and he almost took Carmen's life at the same time. But I'm afraid he might also get you. But there's no point in both of us suffering. So let's pretend our relationship is over. After all, I can always say it is the result of the bowling club incident. That way I can protect you as well as you protecting me. But, I would like to assure you, I do understand your feelings about what happened. I do want to continue our relationship. It doesn't matter if everyone else thinks we have split up. Nobody else needs to know what happens between us two. What really matters is what we think about it. And we can always announce it is back on, at some later date."

"Ah, Ok. As long as we are still, in reality, an item. So, I guess, I don't meet you at lunchtime today?"

"No. How about you come over to my place after school. We can talk, and do our homework together. My parents are hardly ever home anytime before dark, so..."

Seff must have liked this idea. He readily agreed.

Mackay:

That lunchtime, Seff and Handel and Mackay had a meeting.

"Hmm, in actual fact, Daisy is no longer my girlfriend." said Seff.

"Oh" from the two others.

"You see, we had a disagreement about that bowling club incident, and, one thing led to another, and, so, well, that's how it is."

The news spread amongst the small collection of students who knew about them.

"Really, what did he expect, the coward!" said Carmen.

"Well, that discussion about pathological situations did make sense," said Turquoise, "So I wouldn't go quite as far as that..."

"I had a brief talk with Daisy today," said Jenny, "She didn't seem too upset."

"I find the whole situation a little - strange." said Mackay. But, I suppose Seff wouldn't deliberately hurt Daisy, so...