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Part 8

The graduations behind them, Dick and Marilee moved through the rest of the summer. She had a job at the mall to supplement her allowance and help pay for some of her dorm room decorating expenses. As far as she could tell, Dick seemed to be nothing other than loafing around the pool and watching movies when he wasn’t playing video games.

It was making Marilee crazy, especially when she’d want to get together and he’d apologize, saying he was too busy, too tired or Bruce wanted him for some society/Wayne Corp thing and he couldn’t get out of it.

“Mom, he’s just so damn lazy—I mean seriously. He doesn’t do anything!”

“Now honey, be fair. He’s still very nice to you and he’s worked hard all through his senior year. He deserves some down time.”

“Two straight months? He doesn’t get out of bed until almost noon, he sits around, and he works out. That’s it. Nothing else. He’s become so boring I can’t stand it!”

“And didn’t he send you three dozen roses and that pearl necklace for your birthday?”

“Which he was too busy to show for up for in person.”

“Give him some time, sweetheart. He’s a lovely young man and you two were so happy all year. Maybe he’s just going through a phase.”

“Maybe.” Marilee didn’t sound either convinced or happy. “I’ll give him two more weeks, that’s it.”

In fact, of course, Dick—or rather Robin—was busy working on cases with Batman. There was that huge drug cartel they’d brought down, a counterfeiting ring they’d stopped before the market could be flooded with bad bills and three cases he’d lead the Titans on that took them from New York to Australia and then to Scotland. Plus, he also was getting ready for his move to New Carthage and Hudson in a few weeks. And he’d missed her birthday because he was off-world for a few days with the JLA, telling her he was getting in some off-season skiing in South America.

 

* * *
 

Bob Richards had been watching the relationship between his daughter and Dick Grayson go through different stages during the last few months and it looked pretty clear to him that they were coming up to the homestretch and the final inning.

High school romances, they just didn’t always stick. He made the mistake of saying something along those lines to his wife one afternoon while they were doing some yard work.

“It’s not over and it’s not close to being over—how can you say something like that? I saw the two of them at that big party he had for his class and they were as thick as thieves the whole time. In fact…” She stopped herself, covering by reaching for another shovel full of mulch.

“In fact, what?”

“In fact nothing. They were just very sweet with one another, that’s all.”

“Marykate…”

“Oh, all right, I found his shirt in her bed the next morning, if you must know.”

“And I’m just finding out about this now?” She didn’t say anything “I assume that she wasn’t using it as a nightgown…didn’t you tell me that they weren’t sleeping together?” No answer. “Does Wayne know?”

“I didn’t tell him, if that’s what you’re asking. Why, are you thinking of driving over for a father to father chat, take your shotgun while you’re at it?”

“I think he should know at the least.”

“And you think someone like Bruce will care if his son is getting some? He’ll probably break out the champagne.”

Bob refrained from a retort, putting the rake down and going into the house.

She called after him, “Bob, for God’s sake, don’t make him angry.”

A few minutes later Marykate heard his car pull out.

He’d called Wayne to be sure the man was home, concerned and though he wasn’t surprised with the news, he wasn’t all that happy, either. Twenty minutes later Bob was sitting in the Solarium, being handed a perfect glass of iced tea by that butler/major domo character and waiting for the man to leave so he could say what he wanted to and clear the air, set things straight.

“Bob—may I call you Bob? I understand you’re upset about the kids, but, really, I can’t think that you’re really all that surprised.” Wayne was relaxed, clam and unconcerned.

“Did you know?”

“I’ve never discussed this with Dick and he never brought it up with me but I certainly didn’t rule it out. I don’t mean to sound glib, but they’re both normal young adults—it’s not unexpected.”

“No, I’m not surprised, but as a father, I’m sure you can understand that—technically—we’re looking at rape here. My daughter only turned eighteen two weeks ago and, assuming that they were intimate during the winter and spring—which is likely—your son could well be in some very serious trouble.”

“Dick was also technically a minor until this spring.” He saw Wayne’s eyes go hard, almost like a mask was removed and his real character were hiding underneath; it was remarkable and a little intimidating in such a vapid individual. Somehow, his voice remained mild, “I don’t think there’s any need for that kind of unpleasantness, Bob. ‘No need to drag the kids through something like that. As far as I know, no one has been really harmed here, have they? We’re talking about two young people who seem to genuinely enjoy one another’s company, have a reasonably solid relationship and are more than capable of making their own decisions.” He didn’t quite shrug dismissively. “I really don’t think that anything would be gained by that.” His smile was sincere, or seemed to be. “No one wants to hurt the kids; why don’t we talk to them—privately—and see what they have to say? For all we know there’s no problem at all, I mean, I know I’ve never walked in on them, nor has anyone in this house so far as I know.” He stood. “There’s no proof, really, is there? Maybe nothing like that’s going on, after all.”

“I’d say that’s unlikely but, fine; I don’t want Marilee upset any more than necessary and all right, I know this isn’t unexpected. But she’s my daughter and I have to say that if she’s been harmed in any way, if that boy has…well, I won’t let it slide, do we understand one another?”

“I think so. If you’ll excuse me for a few minutes, I’ll talk to Dick now, see what he has to say for himself.”

He nodded, pulling out his cell phone, “And Marykate can talk to Marilee.”

 

* * *
 

Bruce found Dick down in the gym going through his parallel routine. “’Have a minute?”

Dick hopped down, grabbed a towel and walked over to the edge of the mats.

“’Sup?”

“Bob Richards is upstairs, upset. Have you been sleeping with Marilee and, if so, how long?”

Dick stared at him for a long moment while realization dawned and he nodded in answer to Bruce’s question. “Since that ski trip they invited me on over the holidays. He’s talking rape? Crap.” He tossed the towel on a chair. “We were careful; she’s not pregnant and we’re both clean, I swear. And you have to know I never forced…I wouldn’t ever.”

“Good.”

“Dick, I want to ask—do you think that you’re in love with this girl?”

He hesitated, looked at his feet for a moment and then shook his head. “I do like her, I do but I’m not…you know. I—no.” He raised his head. “Are you mad at me?”

Bruce didn’t quite smile. “No. It would be nice if you were but I don’t believe that you used her any more than she used you. You were careful, right?” Dick nodded. “You didn’t lie to her or promise anything you weren’t going to come through with?” A head shake. “Then, no, I’m not mad at you.”

“You think he’s going to try blackmail or is he just being a protective father?”

“Protective father would be my guess.”

“Crap—you want me to come upstairs and talk with him?”

“Probably wouldn’t hurt. Put a shirt on, first; I don’t think that’s the statement you want to make right now.”

 

* * *
 

Back up in Solarium Bob was still on his phone, talking quietly. Dick and Bruce waited on the other side of the room to give him privacy until he snapped the phone closed and turned around, speaking without preamble. “Marilee insists that it was completely consensual, is that true?”

“Yes, sir. Like I told Bruce, I wouldn’t ever, I just, I wouldn’t.” Dick was subdued, respectful. “I’d never hurt her, and we were always safe—we were always careful.”

“Do you two think that this relationship will continue when you’re both away at school? You’ll only be seeing one another on holidays, do you think it will survive that?”

“I don’t know. We’ve talked about it a little and—I don’t know.”

Obviously it wouldn’t and both fathers knew it, even if the kids didn’t. Bruce, though, suspected Dick might even have planned to let her down easy by letting the separation do the work for him.

“When do you leave for Hudson?”

“Two weeks; I have to report for orientation on the twenty-third.”

Bob nodded once. Fine, that would probably be the end of this aside from a few letters and phone calls while they sorted things out between themselves. “All right, then we’ll leave it at that. Bruce, Dick, thank you for clearing the air about this, I appreciate it.”

“Is it okay with you if we still see each other?” Dick was nothing if not polite.

“Yes, but I’d prefer if you’d keep close to home, both you and Marilee. I assume you know what I’m talking about here.”

Dick nodded; Bruce walked the man out. Dick, watching from the living room widows, saw them shake hands as Bob got into his car. The sound of the car door shutting seemed some kind of metaphor for closing the book or slamming the lid on this little segment of his life. He was supposed to pick Marilee up for dinner in a couple of hours and he saw no reason to cancel. He’d be leaving in two weeks, no reason not to play out the season, as they say.

He liked Marilee but he wasn’t any more in love with her than she was with him and they both admitted it, if not to each other. She’d made a concerted effort to ‘get’ him last fall and he’d gone along with it even after she’d told him exactly how she’d singled him out, he had no hard feelings about her premeditation in their friendship.

And, living with Bruce, it wasn’t like he hadn’t seen it before.

 

* * *
 

The end of the summer went pretty smoothly. The kids made a point of staying visible and not going off together, at least not that Marilee’s parents noticed. If they said they were going to a movie and never made it to the theater, well, it happens. Dick did his best to give Marilee as much time as he could but it wasn’t all that easy between Bruce’s demands on him, the Titans and getting organized for school. He made a trip up to New Carthage to find an off campus room to rent so he wouldn’t have to deal with security problems in a crowded dorm and had to find things to furnish the place with and set up.

Marilee spent a long weekend at the shore with her cheerleading friends, Annaclaire pumping her for all and every detail about Dick and his ‘talents’, both of them giggling as they compared notes about their respective beaus.

By late August both Dick and Marilee were away, trying to get settled into their new schools. Just as predicted, they wrote, e-mailed and phoned each other with less and less frequency as the first semester passed, both saying how busy they were with their classes but promising to see one anther as soon as they both got home for Thanksgiving.

Mari told him how disappointed she was to find Radcliffe had no cheer squad, he told her that he wasn’t sure that college was right for him—or maybe he wasn’t right for it. She mentioned a few of her new friends—all female, though Dick doubted that. He didn’t tell her that his Robin responsibilities were making finishing his class assignments almost impossible.

Finally Dick drove over to her house after dinner the night before the holiday. He shook hands with Bob and kissed Marykate on the cheek, made small talk for a few minutes and then the two young people went into the den to pretend to watch a video.

Half way through they both accepted that the spark was gone, or maybe it never really was there beyond the pull of hormones.

“You’re sure? We could—I’m dropping out I’m going to tell Bruce before I leave to go back to Hudson. I figured that I’ll finish out the semester and then withdraw. I’ll have more time. Maybe we could, you know, try to…”

She didn’t quite meet his eyes. “I’ve sort of met someone.”

No surprise. “You’re sure you don’t want to, you know, give it another shot?”

“You’re nice, Dick, you really are and I’d rather die than hurt your feelings but I’m sorry—I like you a lot but it makes me crazy that you never do anything.”

“Excuse me?”

“You just don’t have any ambition to do anything besides have fun and this whole dropping out thing just proves it. For the first time you have to actually work and instead you just quit. I can’t do that and it’s too hard t watch you keep doing the same thing over and over.”

Cripes, talk about the last thing he’d expected. “But, I do a lot. I do all kinds of…”

“Dick, God—last summer all you did was play video games and hang around the pool. I mean did you even pick up a single book? It made me insane.”

“But I did…”

“No, Dick, you didn’t and I can’t take it anymore. I still like you, we’re still friends but that’s all it is from now on.”

Slightly stunned, he made his goodnights, chastely kissing her on the cheek before leaving. Walking into the cave earlier than he was expected he saw Bruce walking on the main computer.

“You’re not gonna believe what just happened. You’re just not.” He sat down and took a bite of Bruce’s sandwich. “You’re not.”

A week later Marykate read through the Radcliffe freshman directory then hit her computer, bringing up Google to do a few searches.

5/20/09
 

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