Sabrina
Copyright© 2026 by The Outsider
Chapter 12: Revelations
02 June 2015 – Jackson Street, Ayer, Massachusetts
The look on Marcia Knapp’s face could have frozen time. It was that cold.
The Knox family sat on the couch across from her. Two of their faces wore looks of hurt, shame, and embarrassment. One wore a look of smug satisfaction. The final Knox wore a look that told Pete she didn’t know how she felt about the whole situation.
Pete rose from his chair to shake Alex’s hand and hug his girlfriend. He made his decision about how he felt. He felt terrible for Mr. and Mrs. Knox, who were genuinely good people caught in a terrible predicament. He understood the anger his mother felt at both Ryan’s attack and the Knoxes’ inaction. He didn’t share it, however.
“Mom,” he said. “It’s over. Let it go.”
“OVER? How the hell can you say it’s ’over?’”
“Is he still around?” Pete replied. “My guess is he’ll never come back to New England, let alone Massachusetts, Mom.” Mrs. Knox sobbed at that. “Sorry, Mrs. Knox. Mom, how would you like it if I just left and told you not to contact me?”
In his letter, Ryan informed his parents that he was leaving early for Wake Forest. His baseball coach and the athletic director there found him a summer job and a place to stay. He hinted to his parents that they shouldn’t try to contact him until at least the fall, if not until Sabrina left for school.
“Do you understand what Alex did, Mom?” Pete continued. “You’ve watched baseball with me. You know what a ‘purpose pitch’ is. You also know fights can start when someone gets hit with a purpose pitch, even one as soft as Alex’s curveball! And Alex threw a purpose pitch not once, but twice in a row! He softened Ryan up with the curve, and then he tried to take his head off with the fastball!
“You don’t throw at someone’s head, Mom. You do NOT! We had two or three games left until the end of the season, and Alex chucked the whole thing for Sabrina and me. Alex could have played baseball in college if he wanted to. I doubt if the coach in Chicago will want him on the team, even if he does try out now. This kinda thing gets around. If Alex could get mad enough to throw at his own brother, throw at his head, who knows what else he’d do?
“I’ll heal up and be fine, Mom. Do you really want to cause more animosity between us and the Knoxes, more pain, by having me swear out a complaint against Ryan? Do you really want him dragged up here on an extradition warrant and put on trial? Maybe, if he was still going to be skulking around. But I’m out of here in fourteen months, and I have better things to spend my time doing. Karma will find Ryan Knox one day.”
Sabrina sat in the bleachers watching Alex graduate two weeks later.
“God, I’m broiling!” she griped. “This sundress isn’t keeping me cool, and I hope I’m wearing enough sunscreen!”
“You look beautiful, Princess.”
“Don’t try to butter me up, Dad.” She glanced to her right. “How’s Mom doing?”
Her grandmother tried to keep her only daughter from falling apart. Sabrina wasn’t sure Sobo rubbing her mom’s back was going to do the trick, though.
“As well as she can be, I suppose. It’s not easy for her. Or me...”
“No, I guess not.” Sabrina knew her parents wished Ryan was there. She hadn’t quite gotten to that point yet. She doubted she ever would. Still ... She sighed. “He was a friend once, not just a brother. Someone I used to do stuff with.”
“I know, Princess.”
Mr. Lanier droned on and on.
“Is there some kind of formula they have to follow with these things?”
“Must be.” Jeff craned his neck skyward. “Like Devens sending those four Black Hawks on a flyover to recognize graduates joining up. They do it every year. If the base didn’t send students here, I doubt they would.”
“I’m glad the war finally ended two years ago.”
“With you likely heading to the Air Force, I am too. It won’t be long before our country finds another one to fight, though. We seem to be like that.”
“Jeff, are we going to the reception after the ceremony?” her grandfather asked.
“No, Dad. Even as big as the field house is, we’d be packed in like sardines in there. Hot and loud as hell isn’t my idea of fun. I had enough of that during my trips to the desert.”
“Mr. Lanier would have had this thing over in three minutes if he’d had his way,” Sabrina commented.
“No doubt. Anyway, it looks like it’s over. Let’s find your brother and get out of here.”
The Knox family drove to Shirley for their lunch reservation.
“Dad, you have to be insane,” Sabrina heard her father say during the meal.
“Thanks for the support, son,” came the wry answer.
Sabrina looked over at the two men. Grandma Knox just rolled her eyes. Her dad hooked a thumb at his father.
“Grandpa thinks he wants to be a politician.”
“A selectman! It’s not like I’m running for Congress!”
“Good thing, too! If that were the case, I’d be helping Mom get you committed!”
“It’s your mother’s fault, anyway! She told me to find something to do now that I sold the garage!”
“I told you to find something respectable to do, Joe,” Grandma said, correcting her husband. “Used car salesman, loan shark, pimp ... something ... but a selectman?” Grandma shook her head. “I can’t wait to complain about you, the way you’ve always complained about them!”
The men drifted out to the patio when the family returned to the house in Lancaster. The women gathered in the kitchen. Sabrina stayed on the fringes of the conversation but didn’t offer much in the way of opinions. She wandered away from the kitchen table after a few minutes. She stopped next to the open patio door but kept out of sight.
“We still haven’t heard from him, Dad,” Sabrina heard her father say.
“This has to be incredibly hard on you and Keiko, son,” Grandpa Joe replied.
“On us as well, Joe,” Sobo added. “We get to see the grandchildren nearly every day. Even though Alex and Ryan will start college in the fall and would have left then, to have one ripped from you so suddenly...”
“Good riddance,” Alex snarled. The ensuing pause in conversation seemed endless.
“Alex,” Grandpa Joe growled, “go ask your Grandma Marisa how she felt when your father left for the Army. She thought she’d never see your dad again. I almost lost a son. Sobo did lose one. Now your father’s in the same spot we both were. Worse, he’s in limbo between the two. Once you’ve felt that pain, then you can try and give it a short shrift. However, until then, and especially in this case, shut your pie hole.”
“Martin, we didn’t expect to see you today,” Jeff said, shaking hands with the Shockers’ coach. “I figured you’d be up in New Brunswick visiting your family during July. I’m guessing Bruce asked you to tag along for a reason?”
“Yes. I’ll let him explain,” Martin Savard replied while sitting in the offered chair.
“Thanks, Martin. Sabrina, Mr. and Mrs. Knox, I’m here to let you know that Devens Regional has permission to restart our hockey program a year early. However, none of the seniors who played for Coach Lonergan will be allowed to participate unless they joined your walkout, Sabrina.”
“Okay ... So, how does that involve me, Mr. Wilcox?”
“I’d like for you to come back to our program and be the captain next year.”
Sabrina’s jaw dropped.
“Mr. Wilcox, no offense, but I’m already captain of the Fitchburg Shockers.” She turned to her coach and leaned forward on her elbows. “I mean, I am, right?”
“You absolutely are, Sabrina,” Coach Savard assured her. “If you choose to rejoin the Shockers next year, you will still be our captain. Neither Coach Dawson nor I nor your teammates feel that you failed to live up to your responsibilities this season.”
“Yet you’re here with Mr. Wilcox...”
“Sabrina, it’s well known that you want to attend the Air Force Academy. Mr. Wilcox and I feel, along with Devens’ new head coach, that nothing would showcase your ability to lead more than helping to bring the high school hockey team back from the dead. It might even help you stand out among the other applicants. And it would be another captaincy you can point to.”
Sabrina sat back on the couch to consider this proposal. Her act of defiance two years ago helped build something great in its aftermath. Now, part of her rebelled at the thought of abandoning the friends who supported her. She owed the Shockers a debt, particularly their coach.
“So, you want me to do this, Coach?”
“Well, not really. I don’t want to lose the leadership you bring to our team. But your absence from the school’s program would be far more detrimental. I think this could benefit you in the long run, Sabrina.”
Now it was Coach Savard’s turn to lean forward in his seat.
“I won’t kid you, Sabrina: going back won’t be easy. Our team in Fitchburg works well together on many levels and in many different combinations on the ice. The team at Devens will be a huge gamble for you. My guess is that your teammates there will be mostly unknown to you, and in most cases, you won’t have played with them. You’ll have to help your new coach figure out how the pieces fit and how to keep them motivated if you have a less-than-successful season.”
“Who is the new coach?”
“His name is Cory Bramhall,” Bruce Wilcox answered. “He’d be here too, but he’s still up on PEI packing up his family...”
”’PEI?’”
“Prince Edward Island. He’s been the hockey coach at a school up there for six years. He and his wife are originally from the Boston area, and they’re looking forward to coming home.”
Sabrina blew out a breath.
“This is a lot to think about, Coach, Mr. Wilcox...”
“We know it is, Sabrina,” Bruce Wilcox admitted. “Take your time. Talk to your parents, friends, and teammates. If you could, give us an idea of which way you’re leaning by next month?”
Sabrina nodded. Her father showed the two men out.
“A tough decision, Princess.”
“That it is, Dad. I’m gonna hit the gym to clear my head before I give this any serious thought.”
“That is a good idea, Sabrina,” her mother said, speaking for the first time. “Such a decision should not be entered into lightly.”
Sabrina nodded once more and walked upstairs.
“As if she doesn’t have enough on her plate...” Jeff whispered once their daughter was out of earshot.
“I am confident she will come to make the right choice, Jeffrey.”
“She usually does.”
Two weeks later, Sabrina sat down with Lieutenant Colonel Mark Witherton, USAF (retired), USAFA Class of 1984. Rather, she sat. He stood.
“I apologize for standing like this, Miss Knox. My back’s bothering me something fierce this week, and sitting aggravates it. As a result, I have to either stand or lie on the floor to get any work done. At my age, I’m liable to fall asleep on you if I lie on the floor.”
“I understand, Sir. Dad’s a paramedic. He knows plenty of former colleagues whose backs are in similar condition.”
“So, you want to go to USAFA? Why’s that?”
“My dream is to join the space program as a pilot, Sir, not simply as an astronaut. I want to be a spacecraft commander one day. I feel a path through the Air Force Academy offers me the best chance to accomplish that.”
“There are other paths that could get you there without as much risk. Military service is not the safest of choices.”
“Both sides of my family have a military tradition, Sir, though Dad’s side has the deeper one. I understand the risks.”
“How far back does that tradition run?”
“At least four generations on Dad’s side, from what I’ve discovered. Dad, Grandad, Grandma’s biological and adoptive fathers, my sort-of great-grandfather, his father, and uncles. My sort-of grandmother also served.”
”’Sort-of?’”
“Dad met a woman during his time in the service. They tried dating, but it didn’t work out. They eventually came to think of each other as brother and sister. Those ‘sort-of’ relatives are hers but are definitely family to me.”
“And on your mother’s side?”
“My Uncle Ken. Nobody else since the Meiji Restoration, from what we know.”
“So, your mother’s side is Japanese?”
“Yes, Sir. Her parents immigrated to Washington State in ‘62. She and Uncle Ken grew up speaking Japanese, and my parents have continued that with my brothers and me.”
“Is Japanese the only foreign language you speak?”
“No, Sir. I speak Spanish as well, and I’d like to learn another language also – either German or Russian.”
“I see you’re a karate instructor and the captain of your hockey team?”
“Yes, Sir, and I’ll be the captain of the high school team once school starts. They’re rebuilding the program after a three-year shutdown. As for karate, I’ve been attending the same dojo with my parents since age five. I teach mainly children’s classes, though I assist Sensei with an adult class now and then.”
“A black belt, then?”
“Yes, Sir, second-dan. Mom’s sixth-dan, and Dad’s third.”
“The shutdown you mentioned earlier? That was your doing, wasn’t it?”
“It was,” Sabrina confirmed while sitting up straight and looking Colonel Witherton in the eye. “The coach at the time denied me a chance to play, based solely on my gender. I can skate, Sir! I would have helped that team, but he chose not to accept that help.”
“Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you, Miss Knox?”
“You’d rather have somebody wishy-washy leading our airmen, Sir?”
“Don’t you mean ‘airmen and -women?’”
“I can play the PC game if you like, Sir, but I figured this wasn’t the time for it.”
“Okay then,” Witherton said, leaning forward on his desk, “how’d you get those scars?”
“Combat,” she fired back without hesitation. “Got some on my shoulder, too. Wanna see?”
Her interviewer smiled and shook his head, cutting the tension in the room.
“I’ve read the stories, Sabrina. This letter from The Youth Citizenship Foundation pulls no punches, either. Your experiences over the past few years will set you apart from your fellow applicants. You acquitted yourself very well in difficult moral and physical situations, made tough choices when they had to be made.” Colonel Witherton pulled another paper from the stack in front of him.
“Your Congresswoman Daniels and I served together during the Persian Gulf. Our commanding officer from back then is now the Secretary of the Air Force. She and I both received letters from him ‘suggesting’ you would be a good addition to the USAFA Class of 2020.” He looked at her over his reading glasses. “If you know anything about the military, I’m hoping it’s that a suggestion from your commander isn’t really a suggestion.”
Mark Witherton walked around his desk and extended his hand.
“I have no doubt you’ll receive that nomination, Sabrina. From there, it’s up to you.”
Sabrina shook the offered hand. Witherton held it for a moment.
“A word of advice, Sabrina? Off the record?” Sabrina nodded. “Be careful, especially if you do get to Colorado Springs. The culture there is still very much male-dominated, if you take my meaning. Whatever you may be experiencing along those lines now will be magnified there. I admit that I was a party to that culture when women first arrived. It took a long time before I learned better. Don’t suffer in silence.”
Sabrina and her father stepped onto the ice sheet at Devens Regional. School wouldn’t start for another week, but she felt she needed to reacquaint herself with this building. Sabrina decided to take the harder path: she chose to return to the renewed Warriors hockey program.
“You know the rink’s the same size, right?”
“You’ve only mentioned that a dozen times, Dad. I need to start adjusting to a new home arena.”
“However I can help. You know that.”
“Mom seems a little better since Ryan called to wish you a happy birthday last week.”
“Knowing someone you care about is okay, after not being one hundred percent sure for a while, is a bit overwhelming. You remember when we first went to Maine, and I ran into Annie again?”
“Kinda. I was a bit young then.”
“All right, stretched out enough? Let’s start with some slow laps.”
The pair worked through various skating drills long before they ever pulled a net into position. Once they finished the drills, Sabrina wanted to recreate the state championship-winning goal she had always heard about.
’God knows Dad and Uncle Chris talk about it enough!’ Sabrina thought. Jeff pointed out where Sabrina should start.
“You ready?” he called across the ice.
Sabrina raised her gloved hand from where she stood by the bench. Jeff slapped the ice, and she charged for the net. It took many tries before they got the timing right.
“BURNER! BURNER!” she called as they tried to replicate the successful result. They finally did. Once they did, Sabrina curled behind the net and tackled her father in mock celebration.
“I had hoped to GOD I’d never hear that again!” a new voice called, drawing their attention.
Sabrina and Jeff picked themselves up off the ice and glided over to the man on the bench. He stepped through the open door when they drew close.
“Christ, you’re even wearing the same damn jerseys! They’ve been haunting my dreams for thirty years!” Both Knoxes wore replica Thompkins School Black Bears jerseys. “I hope you’re my new captain,” the ruddy-cheeked blond remarked, pointing at Sabrina. “This fella here looks a little long in the tooth.”
“Hi, Coach Bramhall, nice to meet you. I’m Sabrina Knox. This is my dad, Jeff Knox.”
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