Dawn gaped at Cire. Her gaze s.h.i.+fted from her to the broken golf club. It was expensive and she was sure that the Coach would ask her to compensate for that. She realized that even Cire must be knowing that she would be asked to pay for the wood. "What have you done?" she rasped, "You have broken the shaft of the club. The Coach is going to ask me to pay for it."What a setup.
"Yes, I have broken it because you don"t need it," Cire replied, extending the pieces to Dawn. "Your inclusion in the team is hereby terminated now. I will recommend the Coach to throw you out and get Niall"s sister."
"So this was her aim?" though Dawn. "Or was it Niall"s plan?"
"I will point out your non-compet.i.tive att.i.tude towards the team. You not only broke a club in anger because I asked you to show your skills, but you also talked rudely with me. Also, I will make you pay for this driver," Cire was raucous.
Dawn stared at her for a moment. She couldn"t believe that Cire could go to such lengths. It was just not needed. This didn"t suit a Captain"s role. How could a leader of the team be so sneaky, twisted and disgusting with her thoughts? How could a leader not use her wisdom and depend on those around her? And how could her thoughts sway to this extent because she wanted Niall"s sister in the team? It spoke volumes about how corrupt and biased she was as a leader. Just because Niall instigated her, she didn"t even check the pros and cons of it and reacted. What about her knowledge of her team members?
"But it is you who broke it?" Dawn"s voice was jittery. "Why should I pay for it?"
Niall and Elize laughed at her.
Cire looked at them and asked, "Did you see me smas.h.i.+ng it?"
"What? No, we saw her," Niall said with extra excitement in her voice. She was feeling very happy about the whole situation. She thought that she would easily challenge Dawn and then deem her as useless for the team, but this turned out even better.
Dawn"s posture slumped slightly as she bent her neck forward. Her mouth opened and closed. She didn"t know what to say. When she found her voice, she said, "This is incorrect, Cire. You can"t frame me like this. And that too because I didn"t want to compete with Niall?"
The weather outside had taken a turn for the worse. Sun was completely overtaken by the thick dense clouds that were as evil as the facial expression of Cire. A small bolt of lightning escaped between them. A few seconds later rumbling thunder came indicating that it could rain any time soon.
"What is going on?" came a booming voice from behind. "Why aren"t you all practicing? Do you think you all are at a party?" When they turned, they saw that the Coach was standing behind them some twenty feet away.
Cire turned back her gaze towards Dan and gave her a wicked smile. Niall showed her middle finger to her and immediately rushed to the Coach. Elize snickered and walked after Niall. Cire kept standing there.
"Coach Brandon, Dawn needs to curb her temperament," Niall said with all the innocence she could gather on her face. Her eyes were wide like that of a puppy abandoned on the street.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Cire had been asking her to play as a team with us so that she could a.s.sess the abilities of each player, but Dawn refused to join us," she replied with puffy cheeks.
The Coach frowned and kept his hands on his hips. He narrowed his eyes at Dawn.
"Not only that, Sir. Cire insisted that she should show her the drives to her. So she took the driver out of the bag and then gave it to Dawn. She only wanted to compare her swings with mine because she wanted to know how to pair us up against the rival team," continued Niall. "But—" Niall pursed her lips and lowered her head.
"But what?" the Coach asked in a very angry tone, almost at the point of bursting.
"But Dawn became furious at Cire and charged her for doubting her skills. She took the driver and smashed it into two," Elize completed what Niall wanted to say.
All the while Dawn kept watching the three of them with raised eyebrows. They were h.e.l.l-bent on s.n.a.t.c.hing her scholars.h.i.+p. What amused her was how their nasty minds worked in tandem. She realized that Niall was the queen bee while the rest were just her slaves in the trade. The way she manipulated and enacted the entire scenario made her worthy of being a theater artist. Niall successfully made the Coach believe that Dawn was the culprit. Dawn licked her dry lips.
The Coach"s eyes bulged. To complete the impact, Cire walked with the two pieces of the club and gave it to him meekly. She whispered, "I am sorry Coach. I just wanted to see her golf swings."
His mouth fell seeing the condition of the expensive golf equipment. His anger burst and he rasped, "All of you will come with me to the Sports Block now! You three are going to narrate all that you just said to me." He looked at Dawn and pointed, "You!— You will be removed from the team."
Without speaking a word, Dawn took a deep breath. She had to calm down herself. If things got out of control she didn"t know what would be the repercussions. Quietly, she kept the 8-iron back in the golf bag, picked it and walked out. The others followed her behind.
While they were midway, Dawn heard Niall say, "Coach, I know it is too early to mention, but my sister is a great golfer and you already know that. After all, she has been trained under you. If you can recommend her name, she can be a proud partic.i.p.ant of the team. She is not as arrogant as Dawn is."
"I will see," said the Coach and they again walked in silence to the bus. Niall knew when to make the impact the most.
The golf course was half an hour"s drive from the Sports Block. Only the girls giggled all the way. Dawn sat away from all of them looking outside at the Irish countryside.
When they reached the office, they met with the officer-in-charge of the sports equipment who took them to the Dean. This was a serious matter after all.
"Tell him what all happened at the range," the Coach said sitting on a chair opposite the Dean.
The girls narrated everything step by step. The Dean was shocked. His nostrils flared up. He said, "Is there anything you would like to add, Dawn?"
Dawn pursed her lips and took out her cell phone from her skirt. She pressed the "Start" b.u.t.ton of a recorded voice file. "Please listen to this," she said and placed the phone on the table with increased volume.
"h.e.l.lo, Dawn." Cire"s voice was loud and clear on the phone.
Suddenly—