Loved By Levi

Twenty-Eight

Mylee

Both of our tall chairs creaked as dad and I slid off of them. Even though I wasn't even halfway done with my coffee, I could tell he was ready to go and decided to stop torturing him. I had to admit, this coffee shop was a little too granola for my taste, too. 

He tossed his paper cup into the trash with a loud plunk, followed by a splash. I looked away, trying to hide my laughter. Only my old man would have the nerve to throw a full cup of perfectly good coffee away right in front of everyone. 

As I turned, something on the large TV on the far wall caught my eye and I found myself walking towards the blown up photo of the college girl's rodeo team. 

"Mylee, you ready to go?" 

I drifted closer, unable to take my eyes off of the  picture on screen, accompanied by a bold caption. It wasn't just a photo; it was a snippet of a story from the local news station. 

"Entire college girl's rodeo team suspended after allegations of bullying reported. See website for more details and an exclusive interview with rodeo team coaches, Jack and Marnie Boone."

By then my dad had also wandered over. I glanced at him, mouth hanging wide open. His bushy red eyebrows were drawn together in a way that most people would have seen as angry. I just saw confusion. 

He gestured to the screen and gave me a questioning look. "Mylee, did you know about this?" 

I shook my head. My mouth was still open in awe. 

My dad sighed. "I suppose you should probably get on that phone of yours and read the whole story, see if we should try and do anything about it." If there was one thing to be said for my old man, it was that he wanted to see every situation handled with fairness. That was a value he'd worked hard to instill in me over the years, and my obvious shock just demonstrated that his efforts had paid off. 

Numbly, I pulled my phone out of the back pocket of my shorts. Before I turned it on, I looked up at him, feeling like a child again. "Dad, I didn't want it to go this far, I swear."

He just nodded and gestured to the phone in my hand. "Let's just see what Jack and Marnie had to say and then we'll decide what to do." 

My hands felt cold as I typed in the website. For a minute, I debated just calling my coaches directly, but like dad said it was important to see what spin the media was putting on it before making any rash decisions. 

The news story was the first thing to show up. According to the site, it had been posted twenty-seven minutes ago. I wondered if Jack and Marnie had brought it up with the school right after I told them or if they'd waited for the work week to begin. Neither would surprise me. I clicked the link and turned the volume up loud enough that even my deaf old dad could hear. 

A young reporter in a black jacket and white dress shirt filled the screen and began telling the story of our rodeo team's demise. 

"Disciplinary action has been taken against all members of the local collegiate women's rodeo team after allegations of bullying and harassment were brought to the attention of the team's coaches, Jack and Marnie Boone. The Boones have  coached both the men's and women's teams for a number of years now. Jack teaches several animal science courses at the school and Marnie works as an adviser for the college of agriculture. Jack, can you tell us exactly what prompted you to put this suspension into effect?" 

The camera panned to Boone in all of his cowboy glory. I noticed he had on his good hat, which meant things were definitely serious. As far as I could tell, this was basically the rodeo version of a press conference, and since it involved the college's reputation he probably wasn't going to try lightening the mood. 

Still, seeing him on screen made me smile. 

"Well, we've been having some trouble with a few of these girls for a while now, just bein' catty and all. When it got bad enough to make one of our girls quit, we knew something had to be done." 

"Jack, specifically what kind of problems were these girls causing?" 

Boone shrugged and looked to Marnie. The camera moved to focus on her as well. 

"Right now the college is conducting an investigation to see if the suspension should be held," Marnie's lilting voice cut in, "so we can't say what the specific issues were. The important thing is everyone's okay now. Hopefully this suspension will stop them from causing more trouble." 

Boone watched his wife proudly and nodded in agreement. 

"We can say, though," she added, "that those girls have gone behind our backs time and time again to get their way, and that won't be tolerated any longer." 

I laughed aloud. Only Marnie would be brave enough to throw out a jab like that when a confidential investigation was being conducted. Obviously that little comment was meant as both a warning for them and a consolation for me. 

The camera panned back to the young reporter and I put my phone asleep. Dad's solemn gaze met mine. "Baby, what the hell did those girls do to you?" 

I just sighed and shook my head. "It's a long story."