Kiss of A Titan
Chapter 62

Everyone resumed school the following day with a fresh start with whatever they had planned to do for the day and I was having the time of my life spending quality time with Richard in the open without the fear of being intimidated by those who criticize our relationship, especially Lori. And for two weeks before exams, I enjoyed the peace and quiet of nothing affecting the tranquil time I had without any scandal that would land us both in the Principal's office which had become one of the few places in Houston I had added to the list of places I never wanted to step my foot in after the incident with Richard.

Things went more smoothly for Richard and I as time flew by much more than I had thought we would encounter a rocky start in our relationship but when I had thought we would have finally have a pleasant time hanging out together, another windstorm that almost shook the foundations of our relationship occurred the second week of September, which was to be a preparatory week for nationals and Richard was at the beck and call of Coach Robbins to round the training all the athletes were partaking to get a spotlight in the upcoming games which everyone did willingly except for Katherine who started skipping training.

Her absence and lack of commitment for the sport greatly surprised everyone including Coach Robbins who tried to talk to her about her misconduct but it proved futile to convince her to get back to practice. She refused to listen to everyone including her friends and was lagging behind than others who were training harder for the events.

It did came as a shock to me that she only came to her senses after Richard had spoken to her personally concerning her recent decline from professional attitude that she turned a new leaf and started looking forward to earn a spotlight in the Olympics like the younger athletes who joined the team following the recent progress the team had made in the earlier games. It was not until after a week ago Richard told me how he persuaded Katherine to remain on the team that an abominable incident happened at Houston High..

At lunchtime, I had left class to take a textbook I forgot to add to the books I had taken out of my locker at the hallway before the first lesson and I was duly present at the hallway ensuring that everything I had kept inside was in its right place. Momentarily, the once silent hallway was thrown into pandemonium as four cops, having arrived outside the school building in their police cars, stormed inside with sniffing German shepherd dogs wearing rein muzzles on their mouths. Through the midst of ruckus, the German hounds led the men straight to the gym where there was an even more violent disturbance than there was in the hallway. Principal Harry was quickly notified of their presence in the school and he left his office in haste to find the dressing room meant for the athletes, all turned upside down by the policemen whilst Richard and those that were half naked inside were scrambling to safety from the ferocious hounds that guided the cops. From afar, a lot of students and teachers were watching the men ransacking the dressing room for something ominous their leader had mentioned to Principal Harry and Coach Robbins who rushed to the scene upon hearing what was going on. Chloe and Amanda came to find out what was happening like the other nosy teenagers and met me standing not too far off from where the real ruckus was coming from. They tried to find out from me and other bystanders if we knew why the policemen had unexpectedly showed up in the school but none of us had any idea what their intentions were. The appalled faces of the teachers who were asking questions from the cops, especially Coach Robbins, told the students that were close by that something definitely had gone wrong in the dressing room judging by the horrid expression on the face of Principal Harry.

But none of us said anything to the teachers who already knew what was going on even though we were desperately curious to find out what was actually happening inside the dressing room.

I started feeling uneasy when I caught a glimpse of Clyde and William tussling with two of the cops through the door that was fairly crowded with onlookers who stare inside the room in bewilderment in spite of the presence of the dogs growling in the midst. It became clear to everyone standing outside that one of the athletes had been apprehended by the angry cops and the tension kept mounting every passing minute the situation was getting difficult to control. I shifted back wanting to get away from the brawl and the shouting but then a familiar voice that arose from the center of it all made me tremble in fear where I stood beside Chloe.

"It's not mine!" the voice pleaded fervently but another whom I suspected to belong to one of the cops retorted sharply.

"Shut the hell up! Gary, bring him outside!", "We found the stash in your bag...and you can't deny that fact", the fourth cop rejoined as he dragged the handcuffed culprit outside alongside Gary whilst putting up a fight with the other athletes who were trying to save him. Everyone was stunned to see that the culprit turned out to be Richard and I felt even greater terror when I saw that the squad leader who had been talking with the Principal was Lori's dad. I could do nothing but stare at Richard being dragged away by three policemen whilst the fourth was still having a conversation with Principal Harry. Before our very eyes, Richard was taken by the cops down the same hallway to the exit despite putting a great resistance to stop himself from being handcuffed and taken away to the police car outside by the cops.

Though I was too terrified to recover from the shock, I went a bit closer to have a talk with Coach Robbins hoping that he would be the best person to tell me what actually happened inside the dressing room that now lay scattered from top to bottom with pieces of clothing lying on the floor. I got a little closer to Coach Robbins but he seemed too engrossed in his conversation with the two other men standing before that he didn't even notice I was behind him.

"Officer Malcolm, are you sure that this isn't a set up?" the Principal, with his hands akimbo, asked for the third time since he inquired what brought the law enforcement agents to his school "Not likely but we got a tip that he had the stash in his possession", "I have known Richard and he isn't one to deal with hard drugs let alone cocaine", Coach Robbins said in Richard's defense "I suppose you pretty much don't know him well", "How so?"

"I know his family history. He could have indulge in it because he probably felt depressed that his mother was going to die and she did few weeks ago", "That doesn't prove anything", "Look here, it may look like someone's trying to frame him but a search warrant was issued to clear things up", "And you think he's guilty because of what you discovered, huh?", "Maybe or Maybe not but the case will be handled in the precinct", "You know his background, right? He's from a wealthy family...", "If he's found guilty, I bet you that he won't get away with it and his father won't be able to help him", Officer Malcolm said and glanced at his wristwatch whilst his two listeners looked at him in spite.

"I gotta head back to the precinct", he said pulling along his dogs with the reins as he left the two men,

"If you want to discuss this further, it will have to be at the police station", he said finally and strode towards the exit while Coach Robbins and Principal Harry left the rest of us standing by the door to think of how to sort out the problem that had hit everyone like a hailstone. It was after the situation had died down that we heard the full story of what happened in the athlete's dressing room.