26 February 2013 – Devens Regional High School, Shirley, Massachusetts

Once again, her mother was correct. As a teenager, it irked Sabrina to admit that.

When Shirley Police launched their investigation, the other secretaries in the office tried to claim there were no ‘statements’ to hand over. The detective wordlessly spread the copies obtained from Nicole Latham on the counter, and the woman on the other side of it flinched under his gaze. Nicole Latham herself was absent, sent home after someone told Principal Atwater she passed copies to Keiko. Too bad they didn’t know about the other copies in her large handbag, the copies she delivered to Josh Abernathy’s firm.

“Wisdom is but the difference between knowledge and experience, Sabrina,” her mother said when Sabrina brought up her apparent foreknowledge of what would happen. “Hopefully, my prediction regarding school leadership will not be proven true as well.”

The Shirley detective called in state troopers from the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office to help investigate the assault complaints and the school’s tampering with evidence. Within hours of Keiko and Sabrina walking out of Devens Regional, no fewer than six town and state police cruisers had arrived. The investigating officers held the office staff late into the evening.

The president of Devens Regional’s teachers’ union called Keiko that night for an off-the-record chat.

“Keiko, there’s a group at the high school pushing for your dismissal,” Tracy Pomeranz warned her. “Nicole Latham has been fired. Even though it’s wrong, the union can’t do anything about it because she’s not a member.”

“And what of the superintendent? What does he have to say?”

“I haven’t been able to reach him yet. The main office keeps brushing me off.”

“Thank you for the warning, Tracy. I do appreciate it. Our lawyers are already aware of what they are trying to do to my daughter. I shall inform them of this, however.”

Thursday, Mrs. Haversham ordered Sabrina to report to the administration office after school with her parents. The teacher looked a little too self-satisfied when she delivered that message. When Sabrina told her mother about the meeting, Keiko whipped out her cellphone and began a whispered conversation.

“Do not worry, Sabrina,” Keiko smiled after she hung up. “Everything will be fine.”

Sabrina shivered as she walked out of her mother’s classroom, picturing her mother as a bird of prey about to pounce on some small animal. At the end of the school day, they walked into the admin office together.

“Good, I’ll tell Mr. Atwater you’re here,” Nancy Bullock said when she saw them. She picked up the phone.

“You will do no such thing,” Keiko growled, stopping the woman. “My daughter was told to be here with her parents, not a parent. When my husband arrives, then you may notify Mr. Atwater, and not before.”

Nancy Bullock gulped and the color drained from her face. She lowered the phone’s handset and backed away from the counter. Keiko smiled when Jeff arrived followed by Josh Abernathy.

“Joshua, thank you for coming,” Keiko said while she hugged their long-time lawyer and kissed him on the cheek.

“Are you kidding?” he chuckled. “This is gonna be great!” He glanced at Sabrina and did a double-take. “Holy cow, Keiko! When did little Sabrina grow up? She could be your sister!”

“That’s what exactly what worries me …” Jeff griped.

“Sabrina, I’ll do most of the talking,” Mr. Abernathy told her. “I’ll give you a signal if it’s okay to answer a question, but look at me first before you say anything, okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Everyone ready, then?” Josh turned to the office staff when the three of them nodded. “My clients are prepared to meet with Mr. Atwater at this time,” he said.

A smug-looking Eleanor Haversham stood beside principal Don Atwater’s desk. Jeff gestured for the others to sit in the three available chairs. He stood behind them, scowling back at Mrs. Haversham. His scowl was more unnerving than her smirk. The older woman gulped.

“Miss Knox, you are being expelled for the fight you started at this school on February 27th of this year,” Don Atwater said without preamble, and without noticing Jeff’s look. “As you should already know, the Devens Regional School District has a zero-tolerance policy on fighting.”

“And the other two students who were involved in this incident?” Josh Abernathy asked.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Atwater asked as if he hadn’t noticed Josh in the room before.

“Joshua Abernathy. I’m the senior managing partner at Abernathy and Associates, LLP in Clinton, and the Knox family’s chief attorney. Now, as to my question?”

“We cannot discuss matters involving other families,” Don Atwater said with finality.

“Even when they involve my client?”

“No.”

“Very well, I do appreciate your making my job easy in that case,” Josh said as he rose from his chair. He opened his briefcase and pulled out a stack of paper. Like a poker dealer he began arranging documents on Don Atwater’s desk, one by one.

<slap!>

“This document is an injunction from the federal court seated in Worcester for the District of Massachusetts. It prohibits any action against Miss Sabrina M. Knox under the protections granted by the federal whistleblower statutes.”

<slap!>

“This document is a federal civil rights suit filed in Worcester against the Devens Regional School District and its agents – namely you and one Ethan R. Lonergan – for sexual discrimination against Miss Sabrina M. Knox.”

<slap!>

“This document is an injunction from the First District Court of Northern Middlesex in Ayer prohibiting you from taking any disciplinary action whatsoever against Miss Sabrina M. Knox. It also requires that you place her back in all her classes, both in good standing and until further notice. This order results from your one-sided handling of this incident.”

Don Atwater’s face lost more and more of its once confident look as the documents landed on his desk.

<slap!>

“This document is a civil suit filed in Ayer on behalf of the Devens Teachers’ Association against the Devens Regional School District for breach of contract as a result of its actions against Mrs. Keiko T. Knox. Specifically it states the district and its agent – again, you – are culpable for attempting to prohibit Mrs. Knox from acting in her parental capacity when no other parent or guardian was available, a violation of section twelve, paragraph four of the collective bargaining agreement.”

Josh paused for effect before dropping the last document onto Atwater’s desk.

<slap!>

“And this document is a civil suit filed in Ayer against the Devens Regional School District seeking damages as a result of the district’s inaction during and following the assaults on Miss Sabrina M. Knox on the 27th of February this year. The suit again names the district’s agents: you and Mrs. Eleanor Haversham.”

Don Atwater and Eleanor Haversham stared at the array of documents. They looked up at Josh Abernathy in disbelief. Josh made a show of looking at his phone.

“When you announced your intention to expel my client, I advised a process server waiting outside the school district’s offices in Ayer to deliver copies of these notices. He texted me moments ago to inform me that they have been served. He’s an off-duty Middlesex County deputy sheriff by the way, in case you or the district try to claim you were never served.”

Those in the principal’s office heard the phones in the outer office begin ringing. Josh motioned for the Knox family to rise.

“I suspect that at least one of those phone calls is for you, Mr. Atwater. We will leave now to give you some privacy.” Sabrina saw Josh smile in the same predatory manner as her mother had earlier. “Good day to you both.”

“In case you do not have enough to read tonight, Mr. Atwater,” Keiko said in a flat, emotionless voice as she dropped a sealed envelope atop the legal notices, “That is my resignation, which is effective immediately. A copy of this resignation letter was delivered to the district offices with the other legal documents, and a follow-up copy will be delivered by registered mail. I have removed my personal property from my classroom. I have informed my colleagues that they may take what they wish from whatever remains. I can no longer work for a school district which so lawlessly tramples people’s rights or does so cavalierly and frequently.”

Keiko spun on her heel and left the offices. She checked her mailbox in the outer office. After throwing out the school supply catalogs she no longer needed, she peeled her name off the mailbox, turned in her school ID and keys, and left.

Sabrina sat on the floor in her room with strains of Pink Floyd’s song ‘The Final Cut’ echoing around her. She heard her father play it often enough around the anniversaries of the deaths of battle buddies, including her Uncle Ken’s, so she knew it would fit her mood. The song was almost as old as her parents, but the slow lament of the music soothed her nerves. She stopped crying sometime around the fifth or sixth time the song repeated.

Her father entered after a soft knock on the door. He walked over, sat on the floor next to her, and gathered her in his arms. Sabrina sobbed again.

“Princess, what’s the matter? You’re playing Floyd so it’s gotta be bad.”

Sabrina shook her head.

“Honey, I can’t help if you won’t tell me what’s wrong.”

“Mom quit her job because of me, Dad, a job she loved,” she sniffed.

“Oh, Princess, she’s needed to quit that job ever since Mr. Hammond retired and they named that idiot Don Atwater principal.”

Sabrina snorted a quick laugh.

“You didn’t hear me say that about Mr. Atwater, by the way.”

“Hear what, Dad?” she snickered while drying her tears.

“Very funny, Sabrina. Now, about your mom’s job at the high school, Sensei Doug has been trying to get your mother to join him as a business partner for almost two years. He’s seen how little she enjoyed dealing with the school administration in that time. We will buy a forty percent stake in the dojo and your mom will become a full-time instructor. Trust me, she’ll be a lot happier there.” Jeff grinned down at his shocked daughter. “Plus, the more I get to see Doug Daoust, the more I get to needle him about becoming a grandfather.”

Sabrina laughed, her dark mood gone. Emily Daoust, her former babysitter, had married the previous summer and delivered what her father called a ‘honeymoon baby’ nine months later.

“Will I be able to keep taking my flying lessons?”

“Sure. Why wouldn’t you, Princess?”

“Well, I don’t know what Mom will make at the dojo compared to what her teaching job paid.”

“Oh, honey,” Jeff laughed, “we have more than enough for your flying lessons, don’t worry.” He saw the look on Sabrina’s face. “Princess, do you remember Dr. Sacha?”

“She came out for Grandma’s birthday party a few years ago and had been like one of her first math students at Thompkins, right? She was cool!”

“Back around the time your mom and I got back together in ’94 I won a court case against a company that wrongly fired me. I used that money to invest in Dr. Sacha’s company right when she first started it. By the time I left the Army the second time your mother and I owned fifteen percent of the company. We now own twenty percent. You might have heard of it – it’s called Neptune’s Forge.”

Sabrina sat upright. “Neptune’s Forge? They’re like the hottest energy company out there! They’re credited with single-handedly cutting carbon dioxide emission levels since they started up!”

Jeff nodded. “And when they launched Poseidon Power Systems five years ago, we received a five percent stake in that in lieu of taking a larger ownership interest in Neptune’s Forge.”

Sabrina blinked. Not only did her family own a fifth of one of the fastest-growing companies out there, but they also owned part of another.

“So, you own five percent of Poseidon?”

“Well, no,” Jeff admitted. “That’s up to almost fifteen percent now.”

Poseidon had taken the fusion generator technology invented by Neptune’s Forge and made the leap to direct electrical output without the internal steam turbine stage. This would mean on-board generators for electric vehicles in the future. Their current power cell model would fill the cargo area of a panel van so it wasn’t yet practical for most mobile applications, but the size decreased year by year.

“Dad, that’s really cool and all, but the fact remains that Mom quit her job because of stuff I did at school.”

“Sabrina, honey, let me explain something. You didn’t ‘do’ anything except defend yourself and stand up for others. That’s exactly what we’ve been trying to teach you and your brothers to do. And your mom defended you as well, which also pissed off the school, but as parents that’s what we do. We will go to the wall for you kids. We will give up everything to keep you safe from whatever. Honey, do you understand that your mom and I would die for you?” Jeff saw the tears in Sabrina’s eyes as she thought about the possibility of losing her parents.

“Again, Princess, that’s what most parents would do for their kids. You know the scar on my back?”

“The one near your belt line?”

“That’s the one. I didn’t get that because I bumped into something sharp in New Orleans like we’ve told you. I got that scar because someone tried to kill me.”

“WHAT?”

“Our first few hours in the convention center down there weren’t pretty. Some guys grabbed your mother and were going to rape her. Rape her, Sabrina. Mr. Ezra and I stopped them, but one of them tried to stab me in the side with a knife. We fought not only to defend ourselves, but to stay alive so we could get back home to you kids.

“We didn’t tell you what really happened down there because we didn’t think you were old enough yet to handle the raw truth of it. That’s no longer the case, and I’ll tell your mom that later tonight. The other thing I want to be honest with you about is that I would have killed to get home to you guys, Sabrina. I did it in Afghanistan, and I would have done it in New Orleans if I felt I needed to. I have no doubt the same is true for your mother.”

Sabrina stared at her father. “I’m glad you didn’t have to, Dad, but why didn’t you need to?”

“Because the guy in New Orleans was out of the fight when I slugged him in the jaw. Other people jumped to our defense after that, so we didn’t have to take that step. But if it came down to it I wasn’t going to leave a live enemy behind me.”

“How do you know when not to?”

“I wish I could give you a good answer, Sabrina,” Jeff sighed. “For me, it’s become instinct and New Orleans wasn’t war. The Infantry School at Fort Benning first taught me about that when I was eighteen, about how and when to control it. The Rangers sharpened that control when I went back in when you were younger. Now, anyone threatening me or someone I love will be put down, and put down hard, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll die because of it.”

Jeff stood.

“Enough guts and glory talk. Let’s go have dinner.”

The return of spring brought the end of the hockey season for the Fitchburg Shockers. They made the league playoffs but were ousted in the first round. Still, Coach Savard was pleased with how the young team performed in their first year. He looked forward to next season. He reminded the players to stay in shape over the summer.

Sabrina restarted her flying lessons. She gave Hamish MacDougall a big hug when she saw him again, because she hadn’t taken any lessons since the beginning of November. The redheaded giant froze when Sabrina first hugged him. He glanced over at Jeff. Jeff nodded and Hamish relaxed and hugged Sabrina back.

“It’s good to see you again, Mr. Hamish!”

“Och, lassie, it does an auld mahn good to see ye again as well.”

“‘Old man?’ My dad’s the only ‘old man’ I see around here!”

Hamish laughed with Sabrina while Jeff frowned.

“And have you beat this ‘old man’ in a running contest yet?”

“Whatever, Dad.”

“Fine,” Jeff said as he walked away. “Have a good walk home!” he called over his shoulder.

Sabrina scoffed at her father before hooking Hamish’s arm to pull him out of the office.

“C’mon, Mr. Hamish, let’s go flying!”

With the pre-flight and start-up checklists complete Sabrina soon had the Cessna lifting off the runway and into the blue sky.

“Oh, man, I’ve missed being up here!”

“It does grow on one a bit, doesn’t it, lassie?”

“Och, aye, Mr. Hamish!” Sabrina said with a giggle and a passible Scottish burr.

“Cool! From up heah you can see wicked fah!” Hamish retorted in an exaggerated Boston accent. Sabrina burst into laughter and had tears streaking down her cheeks in no time.

“Oh my God!” she gasped as she tried to catch her breath. “How long have you been saving that one up?”

“A while,” he admitted. Sabrina laughed again and a sad grin crossed Hamish’s face.

“What is it, Mr. Hamish?”

“Nothing, lass, nothing.”

“Mr. Hamish, c’mon. What’s wrong?”

Hamish shook his head. “Ye reminded me of my wee niece just now, lassie.” He paused and looked out the side window. “I havnæ seen her in some time.”

“How old is she?”

“She’s næ so ‘wee’ any longer. She’d be about your age now.”

“I was born in ninety-eight. How about her?”

“Aye,” he said with a sigh.

Sabrina could tell he wanted to be done with the subject. She had one last question, though. “Did something happen to make you leave Scotland and not go back? Is that why you haven’t seen her in a while?”

“Aye …”

The return of spring also brought the return of baseball to the American landscape. The Red Sox began the 2013 season on the road against their arch-nemesis the New York Yankees. April started with the Sox playing .500 baseball by the events of Patriots’ Day.

Patriots’ Day is a state holiday in both Massachusetts and Maine, and is celebrated on the Monday closest to the actual anniversary of Lexington and Concord, April 19. It commemorates those battles in 1775, which started the American Revolution. Those first shots fired collectively became known as ‘The Shot Heard ’Round the World.’

It is also the day when the Boston Marathon is held. Marathon Monday is a special day around the region. Starting near dawn, hardy souls can watch reenactments on Lexington Green and at the Old North Bridge in Concord before a Red Sox game starts just after eleven a.m. The main portion of the Boston Marathon kicks off in Hopkinton before noon and the elite runners cross the finish line in Boston’s Copley Square around two p.m.. Wheelchair finishers cross the line starting at about one-fifteen p.m. after leaving Hopkinton at eleven-thirty a.m. Following the Red Sox game, many of those fans drift out to Kenmore Square to cheer the runners still on the marathon course as they pass by.

Boston Police, Fire, and EMS drilled both separately and together for years to cover all contingencies during the many large-scale events in their city, including the world-famous Boston Marathon.

At two forty-nine p.m. the first of two explosions rocked the area of the finish line. A second bomb detonated twelve seconds later some two hundred yards back up the course. The Boston Athletic Association immediately suspended the race as police, fire, EMS, race volunteers, spectators, and even some who just finished running the marathon themselves ran to those who needed help. Thanks to them anyone who survived the explosions were safely evacuated for treatment of their injuries. Three spectators were killed immediately by the blasts.

A cold fury settled over the region during the next few hours. The Patriots’ Day holiday borders on the sacred for many, a day during the April school vacation week when many things connected to the region are celebrated – the main one being the quest for freedom of those former British subjects in the Eighteenth Century.

Fear began to creep into the fury people of the region felt as the hours passed. The two responsible were identified rather quickly but continued to roam free. The terrorists murdered an MIT police officer in his cruiser three nights later while trying to steal his firearm. Later that night they also carjacked another man and forced him to take money out of an ATM before he could escape. Watertown Police located the stolen car just after midnight on April 19th using the info from the vehicle’s built-in GPS locator. Additional officers flooded the area.

A furious gun battle erupted when police attempted to stop the car. The terrorists threw pipe bombs as they fought. One terrorist struggled with police after his handgun ran out of ammunition. He was killed when the other ran over him with the stolen car. The living terrorist fled in the car, but later abandoned it and eluded capture. One police officer was critically wounded in the gun battle but survived, and another sixteen were wounded. One of the wounded died of his injuries nearly a year later.

By the next morning almost nothing moved inside Route 128 as police continued to hunt the remaining terrorist. Residents in and around Watertown were asked to stay in their homes and most were happy to oblige. Many businesses remained closed. Area highways were for the most part deserted, which almost never happens. When police captured the surviving terrorist in Watertown that night, the wild celebrations following the announcement were a spontaneous release of the pent-up stress of the week.

Thousands of hockey fans attended a Boston Bruins home game earlier the night of the gun battle, despite the terrorists still being at large. Instead of long-time Bruins singer Rene Rancourt performing the National Anthem, he urged the assembled crowd to do most of the singing. Sabrina’s father mentioned that the scene reminded him of many he witnessed after other terrorist attacks, and that they were all acts of healing – and defiance.

The Red Sox bonded with each other during their road trip, which began almost as the explosions occurred. They followed the example of fans at home by immediately adopting the slogan ‘Boston Strong’ as their own. The team hung an away jersey bearing that slogan on the back along with the number 617, Boston’s area code, in the visitor’s dugout of Cleveland’s Progressive Field. This also bonded the team to the fans. The team returned home to a Boston which now breathed easier after the capture of the remaining terrorist.

Before a doubleheader on the 20th, the Red Sox held an on-field ceremony to honor the police response on Marathon Monday, the other first responders, the victims, and the survivors. The only player from the magical 2004 season still on the Sox roster, slugger David Ortiz, summed up his and his teammates’ feelings succinctly during a pregame speech:

This is our fucking city …

Judging by the cheer he received from the crowd there weren’t many who disagreed with him.

“There were kids at that game!” Sabrina heard a student at another locker exclaim before classes started the Monday following the game. “And even more watching on television! He should be ashamed of himself!”

He should have repeated himself, Sabrina thought as she closed her locker.

The sound of her classmate’s voice followed her down the hall as she walked to her first class. Her classmate clearly couldn’t let Ortiz’s slip go. The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, however, sent out a tweet as soon as he heard about Papi’s choice of words:

David Ortiz spoke from the heart at today’s Red Sox game. I stand with Big Papi and the people of Boston.

Unlike Sabrina’s classmate he understood.

Sabrina slipped into her chair in her History class and sighed. Pinching the bridge of her nose didn’t bring any relief from her building headache. Erica Thorisson looked over.

“You okay, Sabrina?”

“Cassie was whining about Big Papi dropping the f-bomb on Saturday.”

“Cassie can go f-bomb herself!” Erica hissed. “She probably bitches to her boyfriend while she gets laid. ‘Oh my God! Can’t you keep going? That’s too hard! Now that’s too soft!’”

“Thank you very little for putting that image in my head. Some friend you are.”

Erica chuckled. “I guess she doesn’t understand that Papi simply expressed his true emotions over the events of last week.”

“Something like that. He certainly said what I felt, that’s for sure. I was just glad to see my dad home safe.”

“You said he’s a SWAT medic. Did he have to go out to Boston with his team?”

“Yeah. His team was one of the ones searching Watertown.”

“My folks debated the legality of those searches all weekend.”

“Dad said that they made sure to ask permission to search every house before they did so. He said they didn’t need search warrants if the owner invited them in. If they had asked and didn’t get that permission, he said they would have backed out of the location, surrounded it, and requested the warrant.”

“Hey, guys,” Tommy said as he slid into the seat behind Erica and rubbed her shoulders. Erica smiled back at him. “I’m guessing you’ve seen the video of the Red Sox pregame ceremony by now?”

“Sabrina was just telling me how Cassie’s bitching about Papi’s choice of words.”

“She can eff off,” Tommy spat. “She’d probably complain during sex.”

Erica burst out laughing. “That’s what I said!”

“Christ, I’m surrounded,” Sabrina muttered.

“Dad, does DMD have any summer jobs for kids my age?”

“Well, someone always needs help around the place, Sabrina, though I’ll have to check with HR about which jobs fifteen year-olds are allowed to do. Why? What’s up?”

“Well, you know Alex is working for Sullivan Landscaping this summer. I don’t think I would be allowed to operate the weed-eaters, lawnmowers, or equipment like that. He and I want to start saving toward a car.”

Jeff’s eyebrows rose at that. “You wouldn’t be able to drive it until the January after next, as in 2015. That’s over eighteen months away – over nineteen actually. You do know you have to be sixteen and a half to drive in Massachusetts?”

“I know. Alex and I figure if I add the money I’ll save from a job to what he’s saved from last year, and what he’ll earn this summer, we can get a pretty decent car and not some deathtrap. He’ll turn sixteen and a half in September and can drive at that point. He’ll be off to college in the fall of 2015, so there’ll only be a few months where we have to share it.”

“I notice you haven’t mentioned your younger older brother …” Jeff said knowingly.

Sabrina had the decency to blush. “Honestly, Dad, we didn’t include him in our plans because he thinks you and Mom will just buy him a car in September.”

“Oh, he does, does he? Well, like so many things coming in life, Ryan’s in for a surprise on that. On the surface I don’t oppose the idea you and Alex have cooked up. I’ll talk with your mom and we’ll get back to you both, okay?”

“Thanks, Dad!”

Jeff called Alex and Sabrina into his home office a few days later.

“Okay, you two, here’s the deal. Your mom and I agree with your plan for the car in principle, but there’s the question of your brother’s involvement.”

Alex and Sabrina didn’t like the sound of that!

”Ryan doesn’t know it yet, but he’s getting a job this summer. The three of you will keep track of your hours worked as well as the money you’re saving. Use of the car will be directly proportional to the number of hours to offset any pay disparities. For example, Alex, if you work the most, you’ll get first crack at the car if more than one person wants to use it. Total usage will also be tied to those hours.

“Since anyone being bumped by someone who worked more hours will still want to use a car, that will mean having to use either mine or your mom’s car if available. We will discuss that on a case-by-case basis. We will also match whatever you three save for the car dollar for dollar. If you three save fifteen hundred dollars for the car, we’ll add another fifteen. The car will, however, be in either your mother’s name or mine. You’ll all be classified as ‘inexperienced drivers’ by our insurance company and having the car in our name will lessen the premium, if only a little bit. What are your thoughts now that I’ve said that?”

Alex frowned. “Honestly, Dad, I don’t like it much. Ryan will try to game the system somehow.”

“And I’m expecting him to, Alex,” Jeff replied with a smile.

“How is that fair?” Sabrina demanded.

“Alex, would you rather drive a ten-year-old car on your dates, or one of the Suburbans, which are about three or four years old?”

Alex smiled when he caught on. “And won’t smell like Ryan’s dirty socks … or something?”

“Wise beyond your years, my boy. Wise beyond your years.”

“Okay, Dad, we’ll agree to that plan, then.”

“I notice you didn’t say anything when I brought up ‘your dates …’”

“That’s because Nora Bellamy would like to go out with me at some point and having a decent car available won’t scare her off.”

“Nora Bellamy?” Sabrina asked before punching her brother in the shoulder. “You dog, you!”

Jeff raised an eyebrow.

“Dad, think Aunt Allison and you’ll be pretty close,” Sabrina answered. “She probably won’t be valedictorian, but she won’t be far off.”

“She’s easy on the eyes, I’m guessing?”

“Like I said, Dad: think Aunt Allison.”

Alex looked smug before buffing his nails on his shirt.

The Justice Department handed down its final rulings on Sabrina’s Title IX and whistleblower cases near the end of May. Devens Regional had to disband its boys’ hockey team immediately or allow girls to play. If they chose to let girls onto the team, at least twenty-five percent of the players had to be girls. There were playing time stipulations also.

Something which was not negotiable was the immediate dismissal of Ethan Lonergan. He was gone regardless. The former coach pulled his son out of Devens Regional the same day as the rulings came out. Sabrina heard Erik finished the year at one of the private schools in neighboring Groton.

The choice the Justice Department offered the school district wasn’t really one, of course. In demanding Coach Lonergan’s removal they effectively handed the hockey program a form of the NCAA’s ‘death penalty.’ The intent of that form of penalty is to wipe the slate clean by not having any players from the old program still at the school when that sports program is allowed to resume. With the Devens freshmen and sophomores spearheading the walkout and this year’s juniors not having a hockey team available during their senior year, the one-year ban had the same effect.

Keiko began her full-time career as a karate instructor at the beginning of June. She approached her new job with the same intensity she used at her old. Workouts at their home gym grew longer and more intense, she increased the number of yoga sessions she attended per week, and she wrote out lesson plans. The night before her first class, Jeff intercepted Keiko in the kitchen before she walked out to the gym. Sabrina and her brothers turned at their mother’s shriek.

‘Mom doesn’t shriek, what’s going on?’

Moments later their father carried their now-laughing mother over his shoulder through the kitchen and into the living room.

“JEFFREY!” she laughed as he spun her around and around. “I must …”

“Sit down and spend time with your family, Keiko? RELAX!” He deposited her on the couch.

“Jeffrey, I must prepare for my classes tomorrow,” she protested as she tried to rise.

“Is this the first class you’ve taught at the dojo, Keiko?” Jeff asked as he sat next to his wife and pulled her to his side.

“No, of course not, but …”

“Other than Doug, is there anyone else at the dojo more qualified to teach your classes?”

“No.”

“Right, so cool it. You’re ready for tomorrow. If you were any more ready, you’d be an overcooked turkey.”

Four pairs of eyes stared at Jeff.

“Dad, that was terrible simile,” Ryan commented.

“Yes, Jeffrey, it was. Odious. Putrid. Grimace-inducing.”

“You’re the English major, Keiko, remember? If you want to know about the Indian wars in America at the end of the Nineteenth Century, I’m your guy, but I ain’t exactly a subject-matter expert in English like you.”

“Clearly.”

Ignoring his wife’s response Jeff turned to the kids. “So, what do you guys want to do tomorrow while your mom’s beating up little kids and teenagers?” He grunted when Keiko elbowed him in the ribs.

“Range day,” Ryan said right away. All eyes now looked at him instead of his parents. This was the most interaction with the family he’d shown in over a year.

“A motion for a ‘range day’ is on the floor. Do I hear a second?”

“AYE!” the other two kids called.

“Opposed?” No answer. “The ‘ayes’ have it. So voted.”

“Sure, Jeffrey, go to the range on a day when I cannot,” Keiko griped. “You just do not want me to beat you again.”

“That was some pretty slick shooting, Sabrina.”

“Thanks, Mr. Costigan,” she answered as she made sure the AR-15’s chamber was empty and the bolt was locked open. She and her brothers would help their father clean their weapons when they returned home. Her father and brothers were still over at the handgun portion of the Rod and Gun Club.

“You’re right up there with your folks now, in both pistol and rifle. My guess is that it won’t be long before you’re beating your father head-to-head.”

“Don’t say that too loud, or you might bruise his fragile ego.”

The two shared a laugh at that. That was something Jeff would never have trouble with, admitting that someone was better at something than he was. He often told others he was in awe of Keiko’s prowess on the mat and how she routinely handed him his ass.

“We Rangers don’t have egos, Sabrina.”

“How you can say that with a straight face I’ll never know,” she answered with a chuckle and shake of her head. “What I’d really like to do is go head-to-head with Dad on one of those decision courses the cops use, or whatever they’re called. You know, the ones where bad guys and good guys randomly pop up in windows or doorways as you walk through a ‘town.’”

“You’ve got the accuracy for one of those courses, that’s for sure. From what I can tell from your range time here you make good decisions, too. Hell, I’ll wager a few bucks on you when the time comes.”

“Betting against my dad over something, Mr. Costigan? You know that doesn’t really work out too well for people, right?”

“And betting against your mother? How does that work out for people? As much of your father as you have in you, you’re your mother’s daughter.”

Four of the five Knoxes sat around the worktable in the basement with the weapons they fired at the range spread out in front of them. Laughter echoed across the room while they scrubbed carbon from steel pistol and rifle parts. For once, the stress level when all of them were in the same room was low.

“Guys, what should we make for dinner? I’m sure your mother will appreciate not having to cook when she gets home later this afternoon.”

“Do we have time to make gyoza and sushi for tonight, Dad?” Ryan asked.

“We should. I think we have everything except fish on hand. Let’s plan a menu and once we’re done down here, we’ll double-check the ingredients and I’ll call the fishmonger in Fitchburg. Do you want to invite Sobo and Sofu over tonight?”

“Yeah! Who’s going to do what?” Alex asked. “Sabrina’s better at making the dough for the gyoza than Ryan or me.”

“Let’s figure out what we need and who’s going to go with me to the fish market if we need more than I thought, then we’ll divvy up the jobs. I’m sure Sobo will want to come over and help – you know, quality control and all.”

“At least she’ll make sure we’re doing things right. Sofu would just sit there and eat the sushi as we make it,” Sabrina giggled.

The four spread out across the kitchen and made a shopping list. Sabrina handled calling her grandmother who almost ran out the door before the words were out of Sabrina’s mouth. The pint-sized general began barking orders when she stepped into their kitchen minutes later. Sabrina watched with a goofy grin on her face. Having her mother’s parents living right next door was certainly a blessing.

Ryan went to Fitchburg with their father to get salmon and tuna. Mayumi expanded upon the menu, adding sashimi to the list. She also added fifty-pound bag of sushi rice to the shopping list. It wouldn’t go to waste between the two households.

“What’s with your brother?” Jeff asked Sabrina in a whisper at dinner. “He actually seems human again.”

“I think he’s got a girlfriend now, Dad.”

Jeff sighed and rubbed his temples. “I’d say whatever works, but, shit …”

“Dad, language!” Sabrina hissed, her voice belying the grin on her face. “Of course, I can’t wait to see your reaction when I tell you I have a boyfriend …”

Her father turned green at the thought.