Free Restrike by Reba White Williams Page B

You’ll have to leave the Carolinas, maybe even the South, once people hear my story. And Henry, you’re practically a neighbor. I know your sister and your mother, we’re members of the same church. They think you’re a devout Christian. I’d hate to hurt them by telling them what you really are, but I’ll do it in a minute. Paul—your fiancée’s in my Spanish class. She’ll never marry you if she hears about tonight. She’s a decent girl and deserves better than you—and believe me, she will hear about you.
    “I know that if I tell the world about you, my reputation will be gone, and I’ll have to leave Duke, and I’ll be infamous as the person who ruined all your lives. But a lot of people will thank me for telling the world what you are. I bet this isn’t the first time y’all have tried something like this. I promise every one of you: touch me, and your lives will be over starting tonight.”
    Coleman stared at the boys, who seemed paralyzed, their faces gleaming pale in the twilight. She turned to Maxwell Arnold and said, “A lot of people saw me leave the dorm with you tonight. Everyone will know what a monster you are. You probably don’t care, and from what I know about your family, they probably wouldn’t care either. But touch me, and you’ll go to jail, so help me God.
    “And that’s not all. If you ever come near me—if you ever even speak to me again, I’ll curse you such a mighty curse you’ll wish you’d never been born. I’ll devote the rest of my life to taking my revenge on you. I’ll stay after you until I die, and after my death I’ll haunt you.”
    That night was engraved in Coleman’s mind forever—the words she spoke, the scent of the pinewoods and the honeysuckle, the soft night air, how the boys looked, and how she felt. Mostly she felt anger, but in the back of her mind was a tiny flicker of fear. They could have killed her, of course, and they were all drunk. Drunks were unpredictable.
    But they got back in their cars, and she climbed in beside Henry. She knew his family best, and she certainly wouldn’t get in a car with Maxwell Arnold. She looked back, and Maxwell Arnold was standing in the clearing by himself, staring after her. He shook his fist at her as the car pulled away. Neither she nor Henry spoke on the way back to campus.
    If only that had been the end of it. The boys—Tommy, Buddy, Henry, and Paul—begged for an opportunity to apologize to her, but she wouldn’t speak to them, so they turned to Dinah to plead for Coleman’s mercy. They blamed everything on Maxwell. He’d told them she was “willing,” it was a “party,” Coleman “wanted it.” After they sobered up, they knew how close they’d come to ruin, and that she still held their futures in the palm of her hand. But there was nothing they could do but get on with their lives, so that’s what they did.
    Except Maxwell Arnold. The way Maxwell saw it, Coleman had humiliated him in front of his buddies, and he was determined to make her pay for it. He kept his distance from Coleman, but he bugged Dinah. Every time he saw her, he told her how much he hated Coleman and Dinah, too, because she was Coleman’s cousin. Coleman considered complaining to the authorities, but he never actually threatened her or Dinah, and she wasn’t sure he was doing anything illegal.
    Anyway, the Arnolds owned one of the biggest tobacco processing companies in the South. Even with the decline of smokers in the States, they made a ton of money exporting their products to the third world, and they contributed to all the right politicians. She didn’t think anyone would do much about Maxwell, unless they caught him breaking the law. Even then, he’d probably get his hand slapped.
    Arnold’s little “party” had put her off college dating. She never knew what trap Maxwell Arnold might set for her. And as much as she’d tried to reassure Dinah, Coleman thought Maxwell was dangerous. She’d received notes and