Page 1 of The Lawyer's Quandary
ChapterOne
“What isit I can do for you?” Greg Lampeter asked once he had his potential clients settled on the sofa in his large office. At the big law firm in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he started his career, he would never have gotten an office this spacious, but now he had his own practice, one of maybe a dozen in the Cumberland County seat of Carlisle. He settled back in his chair with a legal pad at the ready to make notes.
“Well…,” the college-age young man said as he cleared his throat. Then he rubbed the back of his neck with nervous energy.
“Okay,” Greg said. “First thing I should tell you is that whatever you say is confidential. The files with my notes are locked, and only I have a key. My paralegals and associates are all under the same bubble of confidentiality. No one is going to talk about what we say.” Greg could see that the younger guy was really nervous, and his gaze shifted to the man in his early thirties with the most striking blue eyes Greg had ever seen. “Why don’t we start with your names?”
“I’m Mark Baker, and this is Steven Strickler,” the older man said as the tension in the room didn’t budge an inch. “I’m an assistant swimming coach at the college. I’ve been there a little over a year. Part of Steven’s cardio training involves time in the pool, so we got to know each other.” Mark began to pink a little. “As a bit of background, I’m gay, but he and I are just friends.” He was pretty clearly going down the rabbit hole here, but it was nice to know that the hot coach was gay and that he was cute when he got flustered. Not that it was germane at the moment, but maybe it would be.
“All right. Steven, you made this appointment for an initial consultation, so the floor is yours. What is it that you would like me to look into?”
“I play lacrosse at Adams College down near Gettysburg, and, well… I think I was….” He paused. “I think the assistant coach… felt me up.” He shook, and Greg didn’t move for a second, but then he leaned in.
“I believe you,” he said, and the tension leached out of Steven’s shoulders within seconds.
“You do? Nobody else seems to. Except Mark.” The kid seemed kind of broken, and that got under Greg’s skin.
“Why don’t you tell me what happened and what you’ve done about it so far?” Greg asked. “Have you reported it to the college or spoken to the head coach about it?”
Steven shook his head. “I can’t. See, that’s the problem.” He was agitated. “No one understands.”
Greg was beginning to see that Steven was a wall of wiry muscle and anxiety. “Then how about you try to explain it to me. As your lawyer, I’m on your side and no one else’s. Period. But I can’t help you or at least tell you what I can do for you if you don’t explain things to me.” He tilted his head slightly toward Mark. “So you aren’t one of Steven’s coaches?”
“No. I work mainly with the men’s swimming team, though I do assist with the women’s team as well. Steven often comes into the pool to train and keep fit during the winter months. I’ve asked him if he’d like to join our team because he’s really fast, but lacrosse is his passion, and he’s a gifted player. I guess since I’m not one of his coaches, and there aren’t the usual expectations and roles, we became friends.”
“Has he told you what happened?” Greg asked.
“Not all of it, no. This is really hard for him. Coach Bates has been with the program for years. He and Coach Littleton are legends on campus. Together, they have built the lacrosseprogram into a regional powerhouse. Adams College doesn’t have a huge athletic department. They have a football team and offer a number of other sports, but it’s lacrosse, soccer, and swimming that we are known for athletically.”
Greg nodded and turned back to Steven. “So you came here to tell me that one of the beloved lacrosse coaches at Adams College did something inappropriate?” That was enough for now. What Greg really needed to do was get Steven talking… about anything.
“Yeah.”
Greg sighed softly. “Are you on scholarship?” Steven nodded. “And you were given that scholarship to play lacrosse for Adams?” Another nod, and slowly Greg was beginning to get the picture. The power imbalance was enormous. “Eventually, you are going to have to tell me what happened, and I’m going to need you to do that in as much detail as possible. This is a serious allegation, so if we’re going to make it, then I need all the information I can get.”
Steven gaped. “You mean you’ll help me?”
“Yes. I think I can do that. But…?” he prompted, to try to get Steven to take it from there.
The sigh from Steven was huge. “I earned my scholarship. I worked hard for a long time to get my place on the team, and I want to win. And I don’t want it taken away.” Steven’s nervousness grew once more. Most of the time, clients felt wronged, and they were ready to shout their grievances from the rooftop. But this was a very different situation.
“Steven and his father are somewhat estranged,” Mark supplied.
“I decided to make it on my own, and….”
The pieces slotted together in his mind. “Strickler Trucking?” Greg asked, and Steven nodded. “Okay.” Evans Strickler had more than a small reputation for his conservativefamily and religious values. His firm had gotten into trouble for trying to fire a gay driver. It had backfired publicly and they had backed down, but still, it made Greg wonder.
“But I know, regardless of our differences, that he’ll pay for whatever I need… quietly.” The nerves were back, and Greg wondered what he was stepping into. “See, my dad and I have a huge difference of opinion. He caught me last semester with my boyfriend and went ballistic. I have a girlfriend now, but to Dad, there’s straight and then there’s everyone else that he thinks shouldn’t exist, and I refuse to hide that part of who I am.”
A picture was beginning to form in his mind. “You’re bisexual, and you have had relationships with both men and women. Not that it’s pertinent, because no one has the right to touch you or coerce you into doing something you don’t want, regardless of your sexual identity. But thank you for telling me.”
“See, I have one ankle that is weaker than the other because of sprains and stuff. So I always went to coach to have it taped and wrapped before games.”
“It helps provide rigidity and support,” Mark added. “More of a preventative measure.”
Greg didn’t want to interrupt, so he turned to Steven and let him explain just what went on. It was not a pretty picture, and the more Steven said, the angrier he got. “I know it could all be explained as an accident, or at least I’m sure Coach Bates would say that’s what it was, but it’s been going on for a while. At first, I didn’t know what to do and thought that it was all in my mind. But then I heard one of the other guys saying that he didn’t want to spend time alone with Coach Bates, and I started to wonder why and if maybe I wasn’t the only one. Nothing specific was said by anyone, but there’s this undertone of rumor and teasing that got me thinking.”
Greg was floored. He had heard of cases like this with athletes. There were even some famous ones. And he knew thattaking the same old route as before was probably not the best thing to do. “Let me ask you this again. Who have you told at the college? Coaches, other players, your parents… anyone. Who knows?”
