Page 4 of The Lawyer's Quandary
“That sounds great.” Mark wiped his mouth and set down his napkin. Then he reached into his wallet and pulled out a card. “Give me a call sometime.” He paused with the card in his hand. “Us having lunch or dinner isn’t going to be some kind of conflict of interest, is it?”
“I don’t think so.” And yet there was that possibility. Mark was employed by the college, and it was possible that Greg couldbe taking them on. “For now, if we decide to have dinner, we should tell Steven so he is aware. That will take care of any conflict at the moment.”
Mark leaned over the table, his blue eyes growing darker. “I get it. If things get sticky with the college….” Then it wasn’t just Steven who could have an issue, Greg could end up in the middle between Steven and his lacrosse coach.
ChapterTwo
After sayinggoodbye to Greg and thanking him for lunch, Mark checked the time, got in his car, and hurried over to the field, arriving just after the match started. He got out of the car and stood on the top of the verge that surrounded lacrosse pitch. He had a good view, and at first, everything looked to be going well. Adams College was up by two points, and then everything changed and Dickinson tied the game.
At the end of the quarter, Mark watched the team, with assistant Coach Bates talking to them, and even from twenty yards or so, he could see the tension that rolled off of Steven. He jogged closer, and the more Coach Bates spoke, the more it looked like Steven wanted to beat him to a pulp.
“Get yourself under control,” Mark sent to Steven though the universe, and at that moment, Steven looked up and saw him. He nodded and sent his message quietly once more, hoping that Steven would understand that the rest of the team would pick up on his stress and run with it. Finally, the head coach took over, and the tension eased somewhat, but even from here, Mark could see that things were not going to go well. Steven stood off to the side, getting himself under control. Two of the other players joined him, and Mark saw the same tension in them as Steven. Clearly, none of them had said anything to the others, but judging by similar reactions, they had the same issue with Coach Bates.
“Shit….” He checked the clock and saw they had two minutes left. Mark made his way over to the side, not wanting to encroach. Steven jogged over. “I know you want to kill him,”Mark said. “But for now, either leave it off the field or pretend that every opposing player is Bates and just play your guts out. You need to lead your teammates or you’ll go down in flames.”
Steven took a deep breath, released it, and nodded. Then he looked over at the other team with fire in his eyes before running back to the rest of the players. They got together, and Mark had no idea what Steven might have said, but they played the second fifteen minutes like they were unstoppable. Dickinson, a formidable team, looked completely out of their league.
“What did you say to him?” Head Coach Littleton asked as he watched play. “Whatever it was, Strickler is on fire.” He looked over at the rest of the team. “I don’t know what’s going on, but they need to work it out. I thought they were going to kill Bates, and now it looks like they’re out for Dickinson blood.”
Adams College scored again, and all Mark could do was shrug. There was no way in hell that he was going to tell anyone what was going on in his head at the moment, because his own thoughts chilled him to the core.
“You reallymanaged to keep it together,” Mark told Steven as they got to the car for the ride back to campus. “It would have been okay for you to ride on the bus with the other players and enjoy the victory.”
Steven dumped his gear in the trunk and got into Mark’s battered Toyota Camry. “I don’t think I could have ridden in that bus with Coach Bates and not have wanted to throw him out of a window. The more I think about what he did, the more I want to kill him.” He turned in the seat as Mark closed the door. “You know, the more I consider what he was doing to me, the angrier I get. I didn’t know that I could feel this way or that people could be this evil. Bates began trying to give the guys a pep talk, and every time he looked at me….” Steven heaved for breath, andMark waited to give him a chance to vent and let it out. “Can you take me to the lawyer?”
“Steven, he needs a chance to do his work and get you the papers before you make any decisions. Just give yourself a chance to cool down.”
“But I keep wondering what I’m going to do if he tries again,” Steven said.
“Then make sure you are not alone with him,” Mark offered. “And when you get the chance, quietly talk to Connors and Wilson.”
“Why?” Steven was still fuming, but he was coming down from his anger and hopefully beginning to think clearly.
Mark hesitated. “Because they had the same look to kill that you did, and there has to be a reason.”
“Shit!” he cried. “I should have figured that out.”
“No. What you should be doing is playing lacrosse at the top of your game and enjoying the highs that come with it. That is what you should be doing. Not worrying about Coach Bates and crap. If you need something, go to the head coach. Do not spend time with Bates and do your best to avoid him.”
“But what about Connors and Wilson? Should I ask them?” He was clearheaded now.
“Not outright. But for now, keep your ears open to anything. I know what I said earlier, but let’s wait to see what Greg comes back with. The guy is smart, and he’s going to have a plan, and we don’t want to do anything to mess that up. But I’ll tell him what I suspect.”
“Cool,” Steven said, and finally seemed to settle in the seat. “I can’t do this all on my own. If I had to, I’d quit the team and figure shit out from there. I don’t think I’d make it. No fucking way.”
“Then it’s a good thing you don’t have to,” Mark said as he turned south onto the main street of Carlisle, and they fell right into traffic behind the bus with the other players.
Steven sat quietly on his phone for much of the trip back. “I got the stuff from the lawyer,” he said and made a call.
“Do you want me to listen in?” Mark asked, and Steven put it on speaker.
“I got the file, and I’ll sign and send back the agreement. Do you really think we can do this for ten grand?” Steven asked. “I know these things can drag on.”
“I have a way forward that’s quicker and could possibly get us what we want. If we need to go to court, then we will, and at that time, we will alter our arrangement based on damages recovered.”
“Okay. So what is our plan? You are on speaker here in the car with Mark,” Steven said.
“If you wish for him to hear this, then that is up to you. But I think we should put together our case and present it to the board of trustees directly. Give them the chance to do what is right before this goes too far. If they cover it up or simply ignore us, then we sue them for everything they have.”
