Page 63 of Precise Justice

“Yes, come on, let’s go,” Robbie said.

“Do you think the other guy was in on the rape?” Stephanie asked as they walked across the lot.

“I don’t know, maybe. I’m not surprised the driver was,” Robbie said.

“What’s his name?”

“If it’s him and the house he came out of is listed in his dad’s name, his name is Henry Bonner, Junior. But everyone just calls him Junior.”

TWENTY-FIVE

Robbie and Stephanie sat quietly in Stephanie’s car wondering what to do next. Robbie was thinking it was strange that she was not surprised. Her middle school nemesis, the bully Junior Bonner went into a well-known gay bar holding hands with another young man.

Five minutes went by, then Stephanie asked, “What do you want to do?”

“Have you ever been here before?”

“No!” Stephanie almost vehemently denied the question. “You?”

“No, uh, uh,” Robbie replied. “Should we go in?”

“Up to you,” Stephanie answered.

“Let’s. What the hell, we’re part of the community now,” Robbie said.

“Okay, let’s go, you first,” Stephanie said.

Robbie looked at her friend, shook her head and said, “Come on, chicken. We’ll go in together. They won’t hurt us.”

They showed their IDs and paid the twenty dollar cover charge. The man at the door then attached a red plastic wrist band on each of them.

“Red means you’re underage. You’ll have to stay in the minors’ part of the building. No alcohol.”

“Okay, thanks,” Robbie said.

For a weekday night, the nightclub was busy.The Blue Lagoonwas nicer than any club, gay or straight, in the Upper Midwest. There was room for five hundred. Of course, it had a tropical island motif with a pool in the middle surrounded by tables under faux palm trees. The pool had a couple dozen people swimming in it on both sides of the nightclub.

The interior was divided in two by a wall that arched over the pool to separate the adults from the teens. A metal fence in the pool prevented swimmers from going back and forth. Adults could go into the non-alcoholic side without taking drinks with them but not vice versa. There was a DJ on the adult side blasting earsplitting music. A dance floor encircled the pool.

A hostess led Robbie and Stephanie to a table. It was at the end of the building, across from the dance floor and pool. The waiter came dressed in a Chippendale male dance outfit. They ordered soft drinks and watched the crowd. As Stephanie watched the crowd, Robbie looked for Junior and his friend. She found them four tables away.

“There he is,” Robbie told Stephanie.

“What?” Stephanie yelled back unable to hear because of the music.

“There,” Robbie yelled just as the music stopped. “There he is. To my right.”

“Okay, I see him. What’s he doing?” she asked.

Junior’s hands were under the table. In his left hand he held what looked like a Coke. In his right hand was a small, leather-bound flask.

“He’s pouring booze into his drink,” Robbie said.

Robbie looked around at some of the other tables and noticed a couple others doing the same thing.

The waiter arrived with their drinks. He set them on their table and said, “Be discreet.”

“What?” Stephanie sked.