Chester57

Don the Pimp seems to have a modicum of common sense and intelligence, at least when it comes to his entrepreneurial and organizational skills. He has to know how much trouble he and his two pals will be in once Jack talks to the police. Right now the charges are felony assault at the state level. It can only go downhill from there. If they cross a state line they become federal fugitives. If they completely lose their minds and plant an IED in a school or at a school event then it would be less painful if they simply hung themselves. In my opinion Don will either try to lay low or head for the hills. His two friends will be the ones stupid enough to take revenge against Jack.

Don't worry about it and don't rush. One thing I'm curious about is whether the beating that Jack took was perhaps based on something that you might have witnessed? I've seen any number of playground and schoolyard fights but it was always one-on-one and more along the lines of the Craig-Jack Homecoming fight. The two guys were usually bleeding and out of breath before any serious damage was done. The only beat-down in my personal experience happened around 1978 to a cousin of my best friend. He mouthed off to a carload of the wrong people and took an hellacious pounding a lot worse than Jack did (two months in the hospital and rehab). Like Billy Joel said-- the good old days weren't always good.

"The familiar, excited feeling, the stiffening in my pants, the hollow feeling of my breath in my chest... All of it came rushing back in a second." "This wasn't right! I'd sworn that I would stop this whole prostitution thing happening and here I was, letting myself get turned on by it like usual. That was not how it was going to be." ----------------- Before the saga is over I would love to see Jack have another session with Dr. Fitzsimmons and find out why he is both a righteous avenger and a sexual voyeur. Jack is a 'White Knight' and what else?

Good question. Jack has been re-doubling his efforts after having lost sight of his goals. It's quite common behaviour in our society. No one ever wants to admit to being wrong. Some folks will just tune everything out and charge forward, completely ignoring the evidence that what they are doing is a failure or destructive or hurtful. It remains to be seen whether Jack got some sense beat into him.

His friends' reactions aside for the moment, I'm far more interested in how Jack's parents will react to all this. After Hannah and Mike get over their hysterics, they are going to be big-league pissed when they find out what he's been up to. What do you think they might do? Ground him indefinitely? Make him quit GameStop? Give his car to Allan? Yeah, Jack's in the dog house. I can't help but think that Don overplayed his hand. His operation depends on low profile and his two thugs threw that right out the window. They probably would have been better off if Jack had gotten away with the catalogue. As stated before, I don't think it's a very strong piece of evidence by itself. Even if Karen is identified and questioned, so what? She and Jack didn't engage in sex. Now, however, Don and his two pals have to realize that they will be facing felony assault charges and may get desperate. As far as the group is concerned, I'm going to predict that this incident will help heal the Fracture and get things back to normal. I hope I'm right. I also hope that Jack gets his bandages off in time for Opening Night!

Not me. It doesn't open until next week in my neck of the woods.

I certainly hope so! Joe Long and I are waiting breathless for Ms. Cartwright to reappear.

Not really. I think he's just one of those slightly weird and unique teachers that we've all had at one time or another. He obviously loves his job. I've got a feeling about Mrs. Karlow, however. She ended rehearsal ten minutes early ("for reasons that are my own") which was perfect timing for Jack to make his meeting with Don. Strange and weird.

You're right. Jack is supposed to have a near-photographic memory. Could the phone number (and license plate) still be on the SIM card of Jack's cell? Someone more knowledgeable than me will have to comment.

He won't be able to explain it. Good chapter, by the way! From the description of the beating we can assume that Jack has bruised or cracked ribs, broken bones in the hand that was holding the binder, head and face lacerations and maybe a dislocated jaw and/or missing teeth. "Mom, really-- it's not as bad as it looks." (This should be Jack's signature line.) Remember what I said about Jack being smart but having very little real-life experience? Well, he just got a crash course in 'real life' so let's hope he learns from it. Anyway, the ring will soon be common knowledge since the beat-down happened on school property. If Jack is unable to talk, then Kayla will scream it to everyone. I wonder if the next chapter will open with Jack in the hospital or maybe the story will skip forward a month to when he is healed.

Congratulations on such a noteworthy milestone! Gonna start reading it now...

Thanks! I've been trying to think how the ring might be removed from Brow Ridge in a non-violent manner but can't come up with anything. If Karen is representative of the twenty or so girls providing sex at the school, then none of them is being coerced and are in it for the cash. They certainly won't testify against Don, nor will any of the guys who have been paying for sex-- unless they want to see their names and phone numbers (protection, remember?) distributed far and wide. So nobody really wants the ring to be gone except Jack. Someone's going to get hurt in Chapter Fifty.

In all fairness to Jack, don't forget that he's a 17-year old teenager from an upper-middle class suburb. He's very smart but he also has very little real-life experience to temper his actions and his mouth. I'm sure we all pulled our share of bone-head plays when we were that age. I know I did.

Don't you love it when he says that?

Yeah, you've got a point. The ring must have an impressive cash flow in order to hire some muscle boys for security and to deal with problems. It would be wise of Jack to get some 'muscle' of his own by telling Joe what has been going on. He certainly still feels rotten about what happened with Belle and I'm sure he would have Jack's back if there were trouble.

I'm famous! Thank you!

That's what I thought at first-- that the bomb would be placed in Jack's locker. The thing is, Jack seldom visits his locker. If anything incriminating were to be found there I think the school administration and the police would believe that Jack was being set up again. He and Kayla would tell them everything they know or suspect to this point. Since Matt's locker is next to Jack's, he would become the prime suspect because Jack would have told them that Matt is involved with the ring. But the main reason I think that the pipe bomb won't be found, planted or exploded on school property is that it would cause a three-ring circus of federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies descending on Brow Ridge High like an invading army and they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. That would definitely get rid of the prostitution ring, but again, I don't see it happening.

Quite possible. I've already scrapped a couple pipe bomb theories since I don't believe it will happen at the high school. If Jack and/or Kayla exposed the ring and shut it down then what do you think Don would do? He didn't strike me as any kind of a tough guy. Pimps slap their whores around, not genuine all-American heroes like Jack. Don is nothing more than a smart-ass college guy with cojones the size of chickpeas. Hell, Kayla would beat him bloody. So rather than call Jack out, Don the pussy pimp will bomb his house.

You want to know who might single-handedly bring down the prostitution ring at Brow Ridge? Yep... Kayla. If something-- anything-- happens to Jack, then Kayla is going to go ayatollah apeshit (my favourite descriptive term from the late '70s). She won't give a flying fuck about Belle, Jessica, Matt or anyone else who gets in her way. She will scream at the school counsellors, the principal and then the police. Security would be increased in and around the school building especially at the end of the day. The cops would also have Don's description and plate number which would make life difficult for him if he were spotted on school property. Granted, it wouldn't be the end of the ring but it would probably get them out of Brow Ridge, and that's all Kayla would care about.

It's obvious that we all care about what happens with Amanda but don't overlook the possibility that we may be worrying about nothing. Recall a few chapters back when Jack voiced his concerns to his mom and Hannah told him in no uncertain terms to drop the matter. Probably means that she knows exactly what is going on with her daughter. Amanda could have easily confided to her mom and now Hannah is covering for her-- maybe with Helena or maybe with a new boyfriend that we don't know anything about.

Guilty as charged-- I inherited my mom's lead foot. Believe it or not, I've only had one speeding ticket in almost forty years (I also inherited the angel she had on her shoulder). The area you describe is roughly similar to the one I grew up in. If we assume a dozen high schools in the given 30-mile radius, then Don is either the busiest pimp in the Midwest or he has a number of partners. I may have been wrong about Evan being the pimp but I'm still wondering why he and his crew (and Rhona) were hanging around at the dance.

The Morenos live thirty minutes away from the Harrisons. Probably a distance of 30-40 miles. I lived fairly close to my high school. In a radius of thirty miles there were probably a dozen or so high schools that I can think of. I don't think finding working girls or clients would be a problem.

If the ring involves multiple schools, then it's possible there is more than one catalogue. Jack didn't recognize any of the girls in the binder that Don showed him so it stands to reason that if a guy from Brow Ridge wants sex he has to choose a girl who isn't from Brow Ridge. That is a sensible security measure and greatly decreases the chance that one of the prostitutes will be recognized by her real name. Jack said there were about twenty girls pictured in that binder. If there is a different one for each school then the ring could be huge. It also means that Amanda and/or Belle could be in one of them.

Maybe 'trust' was the wrong word. How about that Amanda is disgusted with guys right now? She is certainly disgusted with Jack and his plan and probably with Alan as well. Even if Amanda wasn't home when Jack was listening outside the bedroom, don't forget that Kelly is part of Helena's group so it's not going to be a great secret that she's having sex with Alan. @Jashley 13 -- Hope you're feeling better this week. Question: Is this 'GarboCon' that Rhona told Jack about an actual event? A couple of my nephews would go to gamers' conventions across the Midwest and I know they never mentioned this one.

I think it's a good bet that she has hooked up with Helena. When Amanda was at rock-bottom after Sam's cheating-- locking herself in her room and not speaking to anyone-- Helena was the only friend she valued. It has been suggested that Amanda might become a local slut, offering herself to anyone who wants to pay for the privilege but I don't think she trusts guys anymore.