Sledge: The Hockey Player's Secret Baby (13 page)

“Yeah,” I said with a shrug.

The cop radioed for another officer. The stairway door behind him opened. The police must have been collecting evidence.

“You’re a witness?” the detective asked.

“Yeah. Svetlana was here visiting me. She thinks I’m pregnant. She managed to talk my RA into letting her into my room, then she attacked me. She dragged me to the stairs. She was about to throw me down them when I managed to break free.”

I left Astrid out of it. I didn’t know what would happen next. Would they arrest me? I didn’t want Astrid to get into trouble too.

“I hit her,” I continued. “She stumbled back and fell down the stairs. I didn’t push her. I just wanted to break free. It was self-defense.”

“Whoa, whoa… slow down. Where was Sledge in all this?”

“He wasn’t here. He knew nothing about it. Check the security cameras. They’ll show that I’m telling the truth.”

I prayed that there were cameras in the hall to back up my story.

“There aren’t any functioning cameras on this floor,” he said.

“What about the lobby?”

“We’re looking into it.”

“They’ll show that Sledge was never here.”

“We’ll see. Where is your RA? I want to speak to him.”

“He lives down there.”

I pointed to his room. The cop walked over and knocked on his door. When my RA answered his eyes were as wide as an owl’s.

“Yes, officer?” His voice cracked like a boy going through puberty.

“Where were you yesterday afternoon?”

His eyes darted to me. “I was in class.”

“Did you witness anything in this hallway?”

“No.”

“Did you let a female into this young woman’s dorm?”

“No, officer.”

“He’s lying!” I screamed.

The officer held up his hand, silencing me. “Did you see an altercation on the stairs?”

“I didn’t see anything,” he replied.

I glared at him. Then I remembered how I’d threatened him yesterday. I’d made him promise not to tell anyone what he’d seen or I’d get him expelled. I needed him to tell the truth now, but I couldn’t fault him for honoring our original agreement. He probably thought I’d get him into trouble. He was only trying to save himself. I’d probably do the same in his position. Still, I glared at him.

“Alright,” the officer said, walking away.

“Wait, that’s it? You’re not going to question him further? He’s lying.”

“I know he’s lying.”

“You do?”

“I’ve been doing this a long time, young lady. I can tell when some dumb kid is lying to me.”

“Then you know I’m telling you the truth.” He abruptly stopped and turned to face me. “You have to believe me,” I said. “Svetlana is making this up to punish Sledge.”

“Because you’re sleeping with her boyfriend?”

“No. I’m not sleeping with him.” He cocked an eyebrow. Clearly, he thought I was lying to him. “We used to date in high school, but we broke up. It doesn’t matter. She thinks we’re having an affair, that’s why she’s doing this.”

The officer turned to leave. I stepped in front of him. “I’m not going to leave you alone until you believe me.”

“Fine. That’s how you want it?” He pulled out his handcuffs and said: “Turn around.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m taking you into custody. You’re being charged with obstructing a criminal investigation into an attempted murder.”

“
Attempted murder
? Are you nuts?”

Calling a police officer nuts is not the wisest thing to do. To put it mildly. He slapped the cuffs on my wrist tightly then ordered an officer to take me downtown.

“But…” I protested futilely.

I was only trying to do the right thing. I was trying to save Sledge.

“Behave yourself,” the officer said as he led me out of the building.

The crowd went nuts when they saw a girl being led out in handcuffs. They took video and pictures with their phones. Strangely, they also cheered. My arrest excited them. My face was going to be all over the internet. I was fucked.

The police officer opened the back door of the cop car and pushed me inside.

13

To my surprise, they didn’t book me or throw me in a cell. The police officer took me into the station and uncuffed me. He ordered me to sit, then left.

I chewed on my nails and waited to be arrested. Who would bail me out? No way was I calling my parents. They’d kill me. I’d have to call Astrid. I waited and waited. Minutes turned to hours. Police officers came in with people in cuffs. They were all booked and led off to cells. Still, I waited. At one point, I considered running. No one was paying attention to me. I doubt they’d even notice. I was too chicken, though. The place was crawling with cops. Running away looked guilty. It was best to wait and be honest.

A man screamed in the distance. I had no idea why. Was there a fight? Was he just insane? None of the cops reacted to it. This was an everyday occurrence for them. Finally, a man in a trench coat walked into the station. He glanced at me and said: “You the college girl? The witness to the attempted murder.”

“There was no attempted murder,” I replied.

“You sound like the girl,” he said drily. “C’mon.” He led me to an interrogation room. “We’re very busy here, but I’m glad you came down,” he said. “Your boyfriend is in a lot of trouble. You can clear a lot of things up for us. I’m sure you want to help him out. The way you do that is by helping us. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” I replied meekly.

“Good. Tell me about your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend. We dated in high school, then broke up. We only recently reconnected.”

“Okay. So you started sleeping with him when? A couple weeks ago?”

“No. We aren’t sleeping together. Svetlana thinks we are. In fact, she thinks I’m pregnant.”

“Are you?”

“No! It’s all one big misunderstanding.” I wanted to rip my hair out from frustration. “I’ll take a pregnancy test if you don’t believe me.”

“Easy. I believe you. Go on. Tell me why Sledge and Svetlana were at your dorm.”

“Svetlana showed up yesterday afternoon alone. Sledge wasn’t there. She pounded on the door. I wouldn’t let her in. Then she flirted with my RA until he agreed to get the master set of keys and let her in. That’s when she grabbed me. She pulled me down the hallway by my hair to the stairway. She told me she knew I was pregnant but I wouldn’t be for long. She was trying to throw me down the stairs and give me a miscarriage.”

My eyes pleaded with the detective to understand. His face gave away nothing. He leaned back in his chair watching and listening. “Go on,” he said blandly. I had no idea if he believed me or not.

“She dragged me to the stairs. I fought back and managed to break free from her grip. I punched her in the face and she fell over backwards. She lost her balance and went down the stairs. I ran to her and tried to help. My RA saw everything. He’s denying it now, but he’s lying because he’s afraid of being kicked out of school for stealing the master set of keys and entering my room without my permission.”

“Then what happened?”

“We waited for the ambulance. Svetlana threatened me. She said she would tell the police that I attacked her and pushed her down the stairs.”

“What did you say?”

“I told her that all the police had to do was check the security cameras to discover the truth.”

“There aren’t any security cameras in the stairway.”

“The detective said there was one in the lobby.”

“Yes there is.”

“Have you seen it?”

“Yes. It doesn’t show Sledge entering the building.”

“See, I told you! Wait, if you knew then why did you ask me about Sledge?”

“I wanted to see if you were telling the truth. Svetlana still maintains Sledge was present at the scene.”

“She’s lying.”

“I know.”

Awkward silence descended on the room.

“You’ll let Sledge go, then?” I asked.

“The videotape clears him. It doesn’t clear you, however.”

“I don’t understand. If Svetlana claims Sledge pushed her-
and it’s obviously a lie
- why would you believe her word over mine? I’m telling the truth.”

The detective sighed. “How do you know she was trying to throw you down the stairs?”

“She dragged me by my hair down the hall. She tried to force me into the stairway. I fought back. I
defended
myself.”

“Okay.” He rose from his seat.

“Okay? What does that mean?”

“You can leave. I’m not charging you with anything- for now.”

“But you may in the future?”

I couldn’t keep the panic from my voice. I’ve never been in trouble with the law. I’ve never so much as been in a fight or gotten a parking ticket. I was starting to hyperventilate. I was afraid if I stood up I might pass out.

The detective came to my side. He kneeled down next to me. “Hey, it’s okay,” he said. “For what it’s worth, I believe you. If it was my call, I’d say forget about this. You did what you had to do to protect yourself.”

“But?”

“But… this girl has got a team of lawyers at her disposal. She’s rich and vindictive. My advice to you would be to watch your back. She may put pressure on the DA to press charges against someone. Not only does Sledge not appear on the video, but we were just able to verify his alibi. He was at hockey practice when the assault took place. She’s going to be pissed her lie was exposed. She may come for you next. Just keep your head down. Don’t talk to her. If she comes back to your dorm, call us immediately. We’ll take care of it. Don’t throw any more punches unless you have to. Do you understand?”

I nodded. The man patted my shoulder. “Okay. You should head home. Do you have someone you can call to pick you up?”

“I- I think so.”

He helped me out of the room and let me wait in a quiet area away from the stream of criminals that were flowing into the police station. He brought me a Coke and sat to talk with me until Astrid arrived. He was a nice guy. I wished my father was more like him.

Astrid picked me up and we drove back to our dorm. I explained everything that happened. She listened quietly, absorbing it all. When we got back to the dorm, the crowd was gone. At least I didn’t have to worry about gawkers.

We went upstairs. The police were finished with the ‘crime scene.’ The thought of it being the site of an attempted murder made me want to laugh. It was insane. My phone was ringing as we walked in the door. I picked it up just as it was about to go to voicemail.

“Sledge?”

“Bobbi! Christ, are you okay? I heard you were arrested.”

“Yeah- well, no. Not exactly. They let me go.”

“Listen to me. Do not talk to the police. My lawyer will handle everything.”

“I already talked to them. When I heard you’d been arrested, I told them the truth. I couldn’t stand the idea of you going to prison for a crime you didn’t commit.”

“You did what? Have you lost your mind? Did you really think I’d be okay with the idea of
you
going to prison? I’m going to contact the police and tell them I’m responsible.”

“You can’t. The officer told me that they verified your alibi. They checked the security cameras and you’re nowhere near the building. It’s obvious that you were never here. You’re in the clear.”

“I’m coming over,” he said.

“No, don’t do that. Earlier this place was crawling with cops.”

“Come here, then. I’ll send a car to pick you up.”

“Is that a good idea?”

“I need you.” There was a catch in his voice that sent a shiver down my spine.

“Okay,” I replied simply.

I hung up the phone. It started to ring almost immediately. Without looking at the caller ID, I answered it.

“Hello?”

“You were arrested,” my father said. It wasn’t a question. “Everyone in town is talking about it. It’s all over the internet. People are saying you’re pregnant. How did I raise a daughter this stupid? Pregnant?
Again
. I’m on my way to the city. You better have your things packed and ready to go. I’m taking you home.”

“What about school?”

“School’s finished for you.”

“You can’t do that.”

My father paused. I’d never spoken to him like this before.

“The hell I can’t. I’m paying for your school. I can pull you out whenever I want.”

“No you can’t. My tuition is already paid. It’s too late. I’m not leaving.” I looked to Astrid. She nodded her head in support.

“You’re coming home with me today.” His voice was like a knife. My chest felt tight. I almost dropped the phone.

“No,” I replied. My voice was barely audible.

“You listen to me, young lady. I will be there in-”

I hung up the phone.

“He’s coming,” I said to Astrid.

“Your dad?”

“Yeah. Sledge too.”

“I have to leave,” I said.

“What?”

“Sledge wants me to come over to his place and talk. I’m going to ask him if I can crash at his place for a few days, until this stuff with my dad blows over.”

“This
stuff
with your dad is never going to blow over.”

“I know.”

My stomach sank. This was it. I had to stand my ground. My life was my own. It was my responsibility and I was not going to let my father ruin it for me. I grabbed a gym bag and started to throw in clothes. I didn’t look. I grabbed night clothes, gym clothes, party dresses. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I just wanted to flee. I put my laptop into my messenger bag then grabbed my cell phone.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Why?”

“I feel guilty running out on you like this.”

“It’s cool. Have fun with Sledge. Don’t think about your dad. And call me.”

We hugged and she helped me with my things. Together we walked down to the front of the building. I checked my watch. I hoped the car Sledge sent came before my father. A sleek black sports car pulled up in front of the building.

“Bobbi?” the driver called from the rolled down window.

“Yes?”

“I’m here to pick you up.”

I hugged Astrid goodbye after putting my things in the trunk.

“Don’t worry about your dad,” she said. “When he shows up, I’ll tell him to fuck off.”

“Thanks… I think.”

“Have fun with Sledge. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she said with a laugh.

I got into the car and headed for Sledge’s house. He lived in a penthouse downtown, not far from my dorm. The building was breathtaking. The gothic architecture stood out in the sea of corporate skyscrapers. It was hard to imagine Sledge living here. He’d always had simple tastes. Maybe money had changed him. I started to walk into the building when the doorman stopped me.

“Are you expected?” he asked.

“Um, I think so.”

Thankfully, Sledge came down at that moment. He embraced me so hard he nearly knocked me off my feet.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine. Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” His eyes fell on my gym bag. “Let’s go inside.”

He picked up my things and we rode the elevator to the top. Immediately, my phone started to ring. I hit Ignore, then silenced it. My father had called four times already. Hanging up on him was going to make him insane. No one challenged his authority.

The gossip had humiliated him, but mostly it proved he had no control over his daughter. The humiliation would go away eventually, but the loss of control would be intolerable for him.

“Who’s calling you?” Sledge asked.

“No one.”

He gave me a look that said:
Really? After all of this you’re still keeping secrets?

“It’s my dad,” I said.

“Is everything okay?”

“No. It’s a disaster.”

He set my gym bag full of clothes down.

“This is awkward but… could I stay here for a couple days? It won’t be for long. You won’t even know I’m here. I’m just waiting for things to blow over with my dad,” I said.

“Of course you can stay here. Stay as long as you want. I have one condition though.”

“What?”

“Tell me what happened with your dad. Why is he coming up here?”

“He’s coming here to pull me out of school and take me home.”

“What? Why would he do that? College has been your dream since…”

“Since I was a little girl. He doesn’t care. I’ve humiliated him. He heard about the rumors. Everyone back home is talking about it. They’re saying I was arrested, that I’m going to prison, that I’m pregnant…”

I glanced up at him. Sledge looked concerned, but not too bothered by this. Meanwhile, I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

“Can I have a drink?” I asked.