Unfortunately for Ryan, he didn't really have anything that Heather wanted. What Heather wanted most at the moment was to impress Alan and get back in his good graces, so obviously betraying Alan to his enemies was a complete non-starter for her, but Ryan had no way of knowing that.
Four more people burst on the scene even as Ryan was still trying to think of a way out, making his scheming moot. Susan and Suzanne had been running together, looking for Alan and Christine, while Simone and Sean were running together, doing the same. Both pairs had either gotten lost or had run in wrong directions until they came close enough to hear Christine's second yell for help.
All four of them had just met up inside the racquetball courts when they heard the sound of angry people arguing and realized where the fighting was taking place. Suzanne and Simone pulled out their cell phones to call in the location to Glory and 911 as Sean and Susan ran ahead to discover that they were on the wrong side, as the fighting was just outside the walls of the courts. Then the whole group, moving together, quickly rounded the eastern wall of the racquetball courts to race along the corridor between the courts and the fence near the library. They tried to sneak up, but were seen when they climbed over and through the flimsy barrier that Ryan's gang had built to block that corridor.
Ivan saw them coming and cried, "Shit! This is NOT GOOD! I'm outta here!" He rushed to climb over the chain link fence on the western side of the shed that led to the empty canyon beyond it.
But Heather laughed contemptuously, then asked loudly, "Where are you going, Ivan Fedorov? You have seven witnesses who saw you here, so what good will that do?" She laughed some more. She was great at mocking laughs, at which she'd had plenty of practice.
Ryan realized the gig was up, so he made no attempt to move. "She's right, Ivan," he said wearily. "If you run, they'll just track you down anyway and you'll get in even more trouble. Besides, Aaron's in no shape to get away, so he'll get caught and lead the police to the rest of us."
Ivan made it to the fence, but he stopped there and turned around. "FUCK!"
Susan, Suzanne, Simone, and Sean were all panting hard as they climbed over the barrier, since they'd been running practically nonstop the last five minutes.
But Suzanne said loudly and firmly, "FREEZE! Nobody move, nobody talk! Don't do anything! This is a crime scene and the police will be here in a minute!" That wasn't a bluff, either. Simone reinforced Suzanne's threat by loudly and conspicuously talking on her phone to Glory, who was guiding the police officer at the football game to the site of the fighting.
Rock was still hoping against hope to somehow pound Alan some more once Aaron stopped hobbling around and could run some interference against Christine. Upon hearing Suzanne's mention of police arriving, he cursed, "FUUUUCCCK!"
He walked up to Aaron and said in a low voice, "Aaron, I'm totally screwed. Being caught on school grounds is an open-and-shut case against me anyway. All we've got here are broads and nerds. Can you just keep Christine occupied for a minute or two so I can finish Alan off?"
Aaron didn't get a chance to reply, though, because Susan had heard that and erupted in full 'mama grizzly bear' fury. She and the others had made it over the barrier and she was headed straight for her son, so she was close enough to hear Rock.
She stormed towards him, shouting, "YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!"
Sensing trouble, Sean and Suzanne hurriedly tried to get between Susan and Rock. Grabbing Susan's arms, they managed to keep her from physically assaulting Rock, but only just barely.
She brought her livid face so close to his that he was forced to lean back and then step back as she kept coming at him. She was spitting and screaming at Rock while frantically wriggling in an effort to free herself. "If you touch a hair on his head, you're DEAD! Do you understand?! DEAD! He's my baby!"
Alan was a ways away so he could only listen. He cringed at being called a "baby" and shielded his eyes so he wouldn't have to see his mother going postal.
Heather and Simone watched with fascination. At five feet eleven inches, Susan in her "mama grizzly bear" mode was a sight to behold, to say the least, and both girls made mental notes to never tangle with her.
Sean and Suzanne were still frantically trying to hold Susan back, barely managing to do so, succeeding at all only because Rock was backpedaling rapidly.
Suzanne cried out, "Stop! It'll create a legal nightmare! These guys are guilty as hell! Don't complicate things!"
Susan didn't seem dissuaded, and in fact looked like she was going to rip Rock into little pieces unless Sean and Suzanne got more help, and fast. She cried out with great venom, "You BASTARD! HURTING MY BABY!" She plunged a hand into a pocket to pull out some pepper spray so she could at least nail Rock from a distance.
Suzanne managed to knock the pepper spray out of Susan's hand, but not before Rock spotted it and backpedaled again into Ryan, who angrily threw him forward.
Ryan barked, "This was supposed to be about US, you pussy-whipped loser! Not some dumb cunt! And now you're afraid of a MOM? Go cry to your own mommy!"
Rock whirled on Ryan, but Ivan stepped between them, saying "Cool it! We got enough problems! Shut your mouths! Don't say anything!"
Susan was still struggling wildly, threatening to break free. Then Suzanne had an idea and said, "Look at Alan! He needs your help!"
Susan looked at Alan, still standing by the shed with Christine, and completely forgot about Rock. Her vicious face instantly morphed into a deathly worried one while her body posture relaxed. As Sean and Suzanne let go, she opened her arms wide and ran to her son. "Oh, Tiger!"
She thought, My Tiger is hurt! He needs me! He was so brave; he's a hero! He needs his big-titted mommy! I just want to show him how much I love him and smother him in milky titty love! But we can't do that in public; it'll give everything away. I have to be STRONG, just like Tiger is strong! Keep it cool until we get home!
Sean positioned himself between Alan and Christine on one side and Rock and Aaron on the other, to help out in case the fighting resumed. Ryan and Ivan sagged in defeat, moving farther away toward the fence, talking softly as they tried to dream up excuses for their parents.
Suzanne picked up Susan's pepper spray and held it up - her own was in her purse back in the football stands - just to make sure those two wouldn't try anything. She gave them the evil eye. I hope they try something. I'd kill for an excuse to go psycho all over their asses! They hurt my Sweetie and that's unacceptable! Go ahead and try it, punks - make my day!
Simone had been standing close to the center of activity, prepared to fight. But seeing that there was no immediate danger, she rushed over to Heather to stand with her and block the other corridor leading away from the shed area.
Heather had her cell phone out. She was calling her father, Frank, who was in the stands watching the game, to come over and help. Since her father was a big, strong former Marine, she figured he could help with securing Ryan's gang if need be.
She was surprised at how much she wanted him there just then. I sure am glad Dad is at the game. I can't believe it, but I can hardly wait for him to get here and hold me and hug me. Jesus, I sound like some kind of mushy soft girly-girl.
Susan rushed over to Alan, took him in her arms, and gave him a great big hug. It took a lot of willpower for her not to kiss him on the lips or show other signs of incestuous affection. "Tiger! Tiger! You're hurt!"
Suzanne rushed to Alan as well. She longed to hug him too, but she had more important things to do. She knew Susan's passion could barely be controlled, so her first job was to make sure that Susan didn't say or do anything sexually incriminating. But Susan gave her a look indicating that she was being mindful of public appearances.
Relieved, Suzanne looked around. It was clear that the desire to fight had drained from all four members of Rock's gang. They were just quietly standing around, looking defeated. Still holding the pepper spray, she pulled out her cell phone and called her lawyer.
The arrival of Glory and the heavyset police officer a minute or so later was somewhat anticlimactic, because by that time the situation was well under control.
The officer, whose name was Charlie, looked remarkably like Boss Hogg from The Dukes of Hazzard and was sweating more than anybody else there, even though he'd exerted himself the least.
In fact, with the possible exception of Aaron, none of the members of Ryan's gang had any serious criminal tendencies; they were just spoiled, overconfident, arrogant bullies. They came from rich families (again, except for Aaron), and assumed that their parents would soon arrive with legal representation to get them out of this fix.
Suzanne, though, was determined to make sure that didn't happen. For all practical purposes, she was more in charge of the scene than the hapless police officer, at least until the school officials arrived, and she made a blizzard of phone calls. She was determined to see that nothing would go wrong.
Glory was in a bind because she longed to hold Alan and comfort him, both like a mother and like a lover. But due to the other people there, she was forced to act as if she almost didn't know him. She was afraid to show any affection at all, for fear that she would quickly spin out of control and kiss him on the lips.
She was relieved though to see how happy Alan appeared when he recognized her. He gave her a very grateful and loving smile, despite the risk. That eased her concerns a lot, giving her the strength to carry on without any direct comforting words or touches.
Still, her relief that Alan was okay was tempered by the sad feeling that she was an outsider. She envied Susan, who continued to hug and mother Alan like he was on death's door. She was reminded that he had a very close family and harem, and the two were nearly one and the same, yet she was not a part of it. She wouldn't be going home with him, nor would she be spending the night with him. Those thoughts weighed heavy on her mind. But luckily, there was suddenly much to do and she didn't have the time to dwell on such issues.
Christine felt alone, ashamed, depressed, and guilty, all the while trembling from the aftermath of her first real combat now that the fighting was over. Everyone else seemed to have something to do or someone to hug. She wanted to hug Alan, but Susan was still all over him like an octopus.
Alan thanked Christine profusely while Susan continued to hug him, but Christine didn't pay close attention. She just stared at the ground in a daze.
Heather's father Frank had arrived on the scene just after Glory and the police officer. (Her mother Helen was stuck in a beauty salon getting her hair done, so she was unable to be there.) Frank checked to make sure that Heather was okay, then gave her a hug and a pat on the back. Then he noticed Christine's white face, trembling, dazed look and depressed manner. He had commanded a Marine rifle company in the Gulf War over a decade earlier and recognized the symptoms, so he left Heather with Simone, went to Christine and spoke softly to her.
She replied to his gentle questioning and soon was sobbing in his protective arms while he soothed her. She was grateful for the attention and didn't care at the moment that he was the father of her worst enemy. Frank was a great big burly bear of a man, but he could also be a big softy, and the tender reassurance he was offering Christine was exactly what she needed at that moment. He was proud to give it to her.
Meanwhile, all sorts of law enforcement officers, medical workers, school officials and other functionaries began showing up.
Christine's parents, Lars and Olga, weren't at the game, but a school official had called them and they rushed over immediately. Christine felt a lot better after she was enveloped in yet more hugs from both her parents.
Frank Morgan pulled Lars aside and spoke earnestly to him about what Christine needed over the weekend in order to recover quickly from the emotional trauma of the fight.
Alan and Christine were amazed at the fuss that was being made over what had happened. Soon, yellow police tape had marked off the crime scene, and Rock, Ryan, Ivan and Aaron had been handcuffed.
Ryan had been quiet along with the others. As the bracelets closed on his wrists and the officer was reading him his Miranda rights, it began to really sink in just how the situation was being treated. He snapped at Rock, "This is bullshit! I'm not going to take the fall for you! This is YOUR problem. I was dragged into this against my will!"
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Rock growled incredulously. "It was YOUR plan."
Ryan lied, "Yeah, but I only meant to intimidate Alan. I didn't think there'd be any violence."
"That's such BULLSHIT!" Rock shouted. "Oh, I get it - you're trying to weasel out of it now, aren't you? Are you going to stab me in the back? I thought you were my friend!"
"Hey, I am NOT going to prison for you!"
Suzanne listened to their arguing with a wolfish grin. In recent days, and especially in the last 24 hours, she'd had brief but very informative discussions with Heather and Simone around the time of the group meeting that morning, plus longer discussions with Glory, Katherine, and others. She'd pieced together the story of how Rock was cuckolded by Heather with Alan, and she knew somewhat of the friendship between Rock and Ryan.
She thought, Ryan's going to squeal like a stuck pig! Count on it! Why should he ruin his future to get revenge for Rock's romantic failures? It's not his fight. It's a wonder he went to such lengths to plan this fight for a friend, but I can tell they won't be friends for long! Ryan's gonna try to pin this all on Rock and Rock will try to pin it all on him. And there are those other two. With all their infighting, we'll be able to get the dirt on not only these guys here today, but the rest of their gang.