the middle ≫ jj maybank

viii. the punishment

After their failed attempt to find the gold, Slater left the pogues and headed home, dreading the conversation she was about to have with her parents. Her dad was most likely home already, and he'd probably filled her mother's ears with lies about JJ and the pogues, and spun a wicked story about how Slater was on the road to becoming a delinquent.

She pulled into the driveway and got out of her car, nervously looking at the kitchen window, where she could see the kitchen light was on. She was just in time for dinner, and just in time to get yelled at.

Whatever pleasant family chatter that the Shoupe-Cambry family had been partaking in immediately stopped as Slater walked in the door, dripping wet after catching the storm on the way back in from the water.

"Hey, Slate," Maeve said, offering a sympathetic smile to her sister as she entered the room.

"You're just in time for dinner," Leanore said as she patted Slater's place at the table.

"Great, I'm starving," she said, offering her mom a smile. "I'm going to change first."

Her father said nothing as she brushed past him and headed upstairs. She dried off and dressed in dry clothes as slowly as she possibly could, but she knew the longer she waited, the angrier her parents would be.

Slater went downstairs, taking her spot beside Maeve. She silently scooped some food on her plate, not meeting her parents' eyes as they bore into her.

"Where were you this afternoon, Slater?" her father began, drilling into her like the way he interrogated suspects at work.

"With my friends," Slater replied.

"I told you to go home," Vic said, setting down his fork. "I told you not to hang around those people."

"'Those people?'" Slater mocked. "Do you hear yourself, Dad?"

"Slater," he hissed, shaking his head. "They're dangerous. They're criminals. I will not have my daughter hanging around those kinds of individuals."

Slater looked to her mother, hoping to find sympathy. She found none.

"You can't afford to get in trouble, sweetie," Leanore said. "You've got college to think about."

Slater laughed, slamming her fork and knife down. "They're not dangerous. They're not criminals. They're kids, Dad. They're my friends."

"They're not your friends!" Vic shouted. "You barely know them!"

She sighed and pushed away her plate. "You know what? I'm not hungry," she said. "May I be excused?"

"Yeah, go on up to your room," Vic said. "You'll be seeing a lot of it in the near future. You're grounded."

Slater's mouth fell open. "Grounded? You've never grounded me in my entire life!"

"Well, now we are," Leanore said. "Slater, you're sixteen years old. You need to respect our boundaries."

Slater wiped her face off before pushing the chair back loudly, enjoying how it loudly squeaked against the floor. Maybe it was immature, but she was angry. Her parents had always treated her like a child, but this was going too far.

"Grounded for how long?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Keep talking to us like that, and we'll keep adding days to your sentence," Vic replied.