“Neither was Sandy.” I looked up at the other parents. “Have any of you seen these pictures? I mean, they weren’t published with the article.”
“And you have?” Mary Ann Ellis, Kaylin’s mother, answered.
“Of course. They have to do with Paige, after all.” No point in beating around the bush, especially since Renee knew exactly who the girl in the pictures happened to be. My admission caused a general murmur to run through the assembly. “I’m sure Renee had already told you that, or maybe just insinuated it. She’s the one who took those pictures after all, or paid for them, anyway.”
“I just wanted to be sure that she didn’t have anything to hide. Most people do, after all.” Her voice was thick with innuendo.
I closed my eyes. I can’t believe I’d been so stupid. If the Perry’s had had a PI following Sandy, of course she knew about the two of us. We hadn’t really tried to be very clandestine, after all. Of course, that meant she knew from the start that Paige and Coach Dalton weren’t sleeping together. It just was a more inflammatory story, so it was the one she’d gone with.
Renee turned back to the parents. “I’ll admit that the pictures don’t prove Coach Dalton has consummated an inappropriate with Paige yet, although I’m sure she was trying, women like that, after all.” Mary Ann nodded her agreement. I couldn’t read what the others thought.
“What exactly do you mean, women like that?” Mrs. Trainer, our goalkeeper, Brianna’s mother, spoke up.
“Well, one thing I do have proof of is that Coach Dalton is a lesbian. And those pictures do show that she’s a groomer. People like that always are. You may not care, but I do. I mean, why else would a doctor want to coach underage girls?”
Mrs. Ellis nodded. “Absolutely. You can’t be too careful. God only knows what she’s been teaching our girls.”
“What she’s been teaching is field hockey, and she does it because she loves the sport. And someone being gay does not make them a pedophile. Coach Collins was a straight guy, you were never worried about him.”
Mary Ann looked aghast. “Coach Collins was a good, Christian man.”
I laughed. “Please. You have any idea how many ‘good Christian men’ have abused children throughout history?”
Mary shifted uncomfortably, and I looked back over to the girls. They were sitting around the coach’s feet as she talked to them. I couldn’t see Paige’s face, but Adrienne kept glancing nervously over at her mother.
Coach Dalton raised her voice so we could hear her. “Alright, now, we’ve got a game to win Friday, and I want everyone focused for the rest of the week, Got it?”
“Yes, Coach.”
“Good, now hit the showers.” The team jumped as one and headed toward the locker room. Sandy watched them go for a moment before turning towards the parents and heading our way.
She gave me a little glance as she approached, and I smiled demurely back. I watched her face harden into the professional mask I’d seen so many times. It wasn’t her real face. That was far softer, with an undying light in her eyes. She didn’t show it to many people, but she did to me, and I loved her for it.
“So, I imagine you all have questions. I’ll start, though, by saying that I am not now in, nor have I ever had, an inappropriate relationship with a player. I have discussed the matter with Principal Harrison, and the player in question has as well.”
“They know it’s Paige.” I crossed my arms under my breasts. “Renee made sure of that.”
“Are you a lesbian?” The note of challenge in Mary Ann Ellis’s voice was unmistakable.
“Yes, I am.”
“And what have you told our daughter’s about that?”
“Very little. It’s not something that has any relevance to hockey. A person’s sexual orientation doesn’t change proper stick handling techniques, or offensive positioning, or any other thing I’m aware of.” She looked over the assembly. “There are a couple of girls on the team who know, for varying reasons, mostly because they asked. I did ask them all not to broadcast it.”
“Because you know it’s wrong.” Mary Ann’s voice was angry, and Sandy met her fierce gaze levelly.
“No, because it isn’t relevant, and I didn’t want to make an issue of it. Ask your children, see what they say. What I am trying to focus on is the fact that Lost Valley will play their first playoff game of the season on Friday, and I don’t know about you, but I’d like to win it.”
I looked around at the faces of my fellow parents. They ranged from concerned to confused to supportive. Mary Ann was looking at her like she was an invader, a monster to be slain for the good of all. The righteous hate in her eyes made me shiver. Paige had told me about it, of course, but seeing close up what Kaylin was fighting against made me sick inside.
Coach Dalton broke away and headed to her office, the murmuring starting again as soon as she was out of earshot.
“I don’t trust her.”
I rounded on Renee Perry, who’d spoken. “You don’t, huh?”
“Of course not.” Mrs. Ellis piped in. “It’s going to get out now, everyone on the team will know. And I don’t want people normalizing that sort of thing around my daughter. She’s still an impressionable girl. They all are. You start telling them that sort of thing is okay, who knows what could happen?”
One of the other parents spoke. “Do you honestly think any of those kids don’t know that gay people exist?”
“There’s a difference between knowing they exist and seeing them up close, letting them tell you that an abomination is normal.”
“Hey! I’ve got a cousin who’s gay, and he isn’t an abomination!”
That was spoken by a parent of one of the Sophomores, Lena, I think. The debate kept going, and I backed away, not wanting anything to do with it. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to escape without a look from Renee Perry telling me that this was not over. My phone chimed as I leaned against the wall outside the locker room.
Sandy – This has been a long day. I’m in the mood for something fattening.
Me – Sure. How about fried chicken?
Sandy – That sounds perfect. See you at your place?
I sent back a thumbs up, to which Sandy responded with a few emojis of her own, which made me blush.
“Hey, Mom. Ready.”
“Yeah, sweetie, you want to drive home?”
She nodded, and that was the plan as we made our way out to my beater of a van. However, just before she climbed in, her phone rang. I gave her a quizzical look over the hood, and she just shrugged and answered. “Hello? Yeah, um yeah, hi, hello.”
Her eyes went wide, and she mouthed “It’s Virginia!” to me. I laughed and came around to the driver’s side, pulling out my keys and shooing her around as she spoke.
I did my best to follow along with the conversation as I drove home. It didn’t last long, but I was fairly confident that Paige had been invited for an official visit, an assumption that was quickly confirmed when my daughter disconnected the call.
“They want me to come up this weekend! They’re playing Wake Forest, and they’d have someone show me around, and I could even sit in on the pregame stuff! Can I go? Please”
I smiled at her. “Sweetie, it’s your dad’s weekend, you’ll have to ask him.”
“Can I call him?”
I laughed. “Of course.”
I could almost feel the excitement radiating off my daughter as she pressed the screen. “Hello?”
“Daddy? I just got invited to Virginia for an official visit!” She pressed a button, connecting her phone to my van’s speakers.
Bill’s voice sounded through the cabin. “That’s terrific, sweetheart! We can definitely do that, as long as it’s okay with your mom, of course.”
“It’s fine with me, Bill.”
“Good. What are the boys’ schedules this weekend? Do you know?”
We talked logistics for a minute before I turned the conversation back over to Paige, who regaled her father with everything the coach had said as I drove us home. I stayed out of the whole thing, trusting Bill to make the arrangements.
By the time we made it home Paige was on the phone (well, face-timing) with Kaylin and Sherri. Apparently Kaylin had already had a visit to Wake Forest, and she was regaling everyone with how much fun it would be.
***
“Virginia really is a wonderful school.”
“I know.” I leaned back against Sandy while the latest Netflix sensation played on the T. V. The kids had all retired upstairs, and I was just enjoying being with my girlfriend before she went home. We’d decided that another night here would be too much for now, but I have to admit I was having second thoughts. I was just happier when she was here, or I was there. Basically when I was with her. “I’m not worried about Paige. At least, not more than usual.”
I could feel Sandy’s energy change. “What is it?”
I looked up into Sandy’s eyes, which were far away. I watched her give herself a little shake and force out a smile. “It’s nothing.”
“Sandy?” I put a little touch of remonstrance into my voice, looking over my shoulder.
Sandy just smiled down at me. “Don’t worry, it’s not a bad thing, just a secret. It’s just not mine to share. If it were something dangerous, or if I were worried, I’d tell you, I promise.”
“Okay.” I closed my eyes and leaned back against her, trying to put it out of my mind. “I trust you.”
“Thank you.”
She held me in silence until the episode finished. I didn’t budge, not wanting to move and make the moment end. Finally I felt Sandy’s lips pressed into my hair. “I need to go sweetheart.”
“I know. Don’t want you too.”
“I don’t either, but we talked about this.”
I made a decision at that moment. “After the season, maybe we can move forward?”
“Are you sure? It’s so fast for you, baby.”
“I don’t care. I’m forty-three. I don’t want to be alone any more. And it’s not like I’m worried you’d be bad to my kids.”
“And the rest of your family?”
“I don’t give a damn.” I prayed inside that it was true. “And if having a bisexual sister costs my brother an election, well, I think the country will survive.”