There'll Be Storms (Spanking Story)

Chapter 4

We walked through the parking lot, past a lot of people who were so anxious to know what the verdict will be, and into the courthouse where everything was suddenly enhanced. It seemed brighter, time seems slower, and everyone seemed quieter. We were the only ones who were allowed to go into the courtroom before they let other people in because Eryk and I were witness' and Charlie was our guardian.
"I think you'll find that the jury is in our favor." The prosecutor approached us and shook Charlie's hand.
"I don't see any reason why they wouldn't be." Charlie responded.
They began talking but I zoned out. I was too busy looking around at the people in the seats, there were so many that they had to stand. No one in the audience knew who I was, who Eryk was, not even who mom was, so why are they here? I hate them. I hate them all because they're just people who are so obsessed with a homicide because it's rare that one happens in this town but need some form of entertainment and distraction from their boring lives. It's like they're at the movie theatre, they're the people who are so caught up in watching the movie that they forget there are people here struggling to make it through.
"All rise for the honorable Judge Smith."
"Be seated." He said as he sat heavily in his chair.
I watched as the officer brough Jeff to the table. He looked like he got punched in the face. I wish I would have been there to see it.
We waited almost an hour for the jury.
"Summon the jury." He instructed the bailiff.
The jury came in a few minutes later. There were seven men and six women, they were mostly white because everyone is in the town, and they were all older than Charlie probably.
"Has the jury reached a verdict?" The Judge asked.
"We have Your Honor," a heavy man stood up, removed his glasses, and pulled out a piece of paper. He had grey hair, a round face, and was wearing a blue plaid shirt with khaki pants on. He looked familiar. "we the jury find the defendant Jeffery Carlson guilty of first degree murder."
I heard a bunch of gasps from the crowd behind me as if it was not obvious that he'd be found guilty. Some of the women in the crowd were crying, others happy that a bad guy would be put away, but I just felt relieved that all of this was finally over. I looked over at Jeff and he just tilted his head back and smiled like he knew it was coming all along.
"Move to sentencing Your Honor." The prosecutor stood and addressed the judge.
"This case has been a very tragic one and I feel sorry for the family since it was so prolonged by the incompetence of the defendant. Nevertheless, based on the evidence and decision of the jury, I am hereby sentencing you, Mr. Carlson, to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Sentence is to begin forthwith."
"Why was he smiling at us?" I whispered to Eryk.
"Shh, we'll talk about it at home."
"But Eryk..." I stopped because Charlie snapped his fingers in front of us to let us know to be quiet.
I looked over and watched the bailiff put Jeff in handcuffs and then escort him out of the room. He seemed like he was about to cry and I almost felt sorry for him because he wasn't always like this.
"Come on, let's go home."Charlie said as he handed me my coat and then let Eryk walk out first.
We heard people around us whispering as we walked down the stairs to the main entrance. They all seemed happy for us but there had to be a reason they were whispering. My heart stopped when we saw Jeff being escorted out of the building, he was in handcuffs with two policemen but I still felt like I had to protect myself.
"You know guys, your mom wasn't buried too far from the house so it was real easy to piss on her grave." He gave us an evil smirk.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Eryk yelled at him as he started to reach forward like he was going to choke him. "How could you do this to her!?"
Charlie grabbed his arms and held them behind his back as if he was being handcuffed. Eryk fought and fought him but Charlie was too strong for him to break free.
"Get him out of here." Charlie said to the officer.
"Oh I remember you, you're the one she left for me and look at how well she turned out!" Jeff yelled in his face. "Have you seen their scars yet?" He motioned to Eryk and I. "Let me tell you something, I'd do it all over again and would probably humiliate them for the rest of their lives!"
Charlie let go of Eryk and took a swing at Jeff. He got him really good in the face, it was so solid that you could hear the thwacking noise when Charlie's knuckles hit his jawbone. One officer came over to Charlie and pushed him back as he went for another swing. Eryk stood up and began running towards Jeff but Charlie caught him before he could. The other finally escorted Jeff out of the building and into the nearest police car.
"Calm down now." Charlie said to Eryk.
"Sir, we're going to need you to leave the premise immediately." The cop said to Charlie.
"We will, thanks David."
Charlie walked Eryk out of the building with a grip on his arm and didn't let go until we were at the truck.
"You should have let me go after him." Eryk said as he slammed the door shut.
"No, you would have gotten in a lot of trouble." Charlie said as he leaned forward on the wheel and looked at him.
"You hit him." Eryk justified.
"I know one of the cops, he used to be in the army with me. I should be in trouble right now but I was lucky. You're only fifteen and violence is no way to handle your issues."
"Do you know how hypocritical you sound right now?"
My eyes widened and Charlie looked shocked.
"My hit was because he disrespected you both, yours was from built-up frustration. That is how accidents and regret happen."
"Whatever." He folded his arms and sat back in the seat.
"Watch the attitude Eryk. Put your seatbelt on." He said sternly while starting the truck.
We drove home and I couldn't stop thinking about that irritating smirk on Jeff's face and him violating mom's grave. I wonder if he actually did do it. I glanced over and saw that Eryk was just as, if not more, pissed than I was about today. Don't get me wrong, it's really great to know he's going to rot in jail for the rest of his life and I hope he's miserable everyday he wakes up, but I don't think that's enough. When the attorney asked me what I think should happen to Jeff all I wanted to do was blurt out that he should be killed. Shot from the back like mom was because he was a coward and couldn't even look her in the eyes when he did it.
Charlie made us sandwiches when we got home. We all ate silently without looking at each other. Charlie was trying to be calm and strong for us, Eryk was just stubborn and angry like he always is, but I was just thoughtless because I was still trying to process everything.
"Can we go to the lake today? The one down by the hill bottom? I could show Cody where the fall is." Eryk asked, trying to break the silence.
"Sure, just don't go any farther and be home for dinner at six"
"Sweet." He said smiling.
I looked over at the clock on the wall above the doorway and saw that it was only two, I didn't think we were in court that long but we must have been. Eryk and I went upstairs to change our clothes and find our swimming trunks, I put on an old t-shirt because I was still embarrassed of my scars. Eryk didn't seem to mind his as much.
"Are we going to swim or just jump the falls?"
"We'll do both, it's a lot of fun trust me."
We both took a gatorade and took off. The yard was really big below the hill because it was all clear of trees and other houses. The lake was warm because it was really hot today but Eryk and I dived straight in for some fun.
"Excuse me, small fry. The expert is coming through." Eryk said as he brushed past me and went to the end of the falls.
The drop was only fifteen or twenty feet and there was plenty of water at the bottom so Eryk had no hesitation when he cannon-balled straight into the water. He swam to the surface and gave me a thumbs-up with a big smirk on his face like I couldn't do better.
"Weak!" I yelled down. "I'm gonna show you how to make a splash!" I rubbed my hands together and waited for Eryk to swim to the side before I ran and jumped straight into the water.
"I think mine was better." he smiled and splashed some water on my face.
"What time is it?"
"Um, I don't know. Let's go check."
We swam to the shore where we left our clothes and drinks. Eryk reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone.
"Where did you get a cell phone?"
"Charlie gave it to me for whenever we do stuff like this."
"Why don't I get a cell phone?"
"Because I'm older." He smirked and opened his phone. "Oh shit, it's 6:30 and I have three missed calls from Charlie. Come on, we need to go now."
We picked up our clothes and ran before even putting them on.
"Hello?" Eryk said nervously on the phone with Charlie.
I couldn't hear Charlie but judging from Eryk's responses I could tell he wasn't happy.
"Charlie, I'm sorry. We were having so much fun that we lost track of time. No! No, I'm not trying to make excuses, Charlie it was an honest mistake...yes, sir. A week? Charlie that's completely unfair..."
Eryk stopped walking and looked straight ahead. He balled his fist because he was mad at whatever Charlie was saying.
"Okay fine." He hung up the phone.
"Did you just hang up on Charlie?" I asked shocked.
"Shit, yeah I did but the house is right there so it's not like we're far away."
We both slipped in the back door but Charlie was waiting right there. He grabbed Eryk by the back of his collar and used his other hand to cup the underneath of his arm.
"You had three missed phone calls and you're almost forty minutes late, do you really think it was smart to hang up on me when I was in the middle of talking to you?" He asked. "You don't ever hang up on me!"
"Ouch! Okay, okay, let me go!" Eryk yelled.
"Excuse me?" He held him closer to his face.
Eryk said nothing because he was too angry and stubborn to apologize or respond back. He only made a really angry face at Charlie which seemed to piss him off even more.
"Get in the living room now." He let Eryk go and gave him a little push towards the doorway.
"Should I...?"
"No, no, I left Eryk in charge but apparently that was too much of a responsibility for him. Cody I want you to sit at the dining room table until I'm finished with Eryk." He said calmly.
I nodded my head and sat down in the closest chair to the window so I can somewhat see what he was doing with Eryk.
"I think you know what to do since you insist on continuing to push me." Charlie said sternly.
"Charlie, I'm sorry I didn't mean..."
"It's too late. You are not him," he pointed towards me. "you know my rules and you should know how to act. I've already given you a warning twice today, now bend over the armchair."
I watched him take off his belt and I got really nervous. Eryk, who tossed his head to the side in frustration, went to the armchair and put his hands down without another word. Apparently this isn't Eryk's first encounter with Charlie in this situation, must have happened on the weekends when he would sneak down. Charlie raised the belt and began planting smacks all over Eryk's backside. Eryk remained still since he was clutching the arms of the chair but he flinched once Charlie started hitting his sensitive spots. He had his eyes closed and he was trying not to cry but it had to have hurt because Charlie was fast. Really fast and he didn't wait in between strikes.
"Look at me." Charlie instructed as he put his belt back on, I think he hit him around fifteen times. "If I tell you to do something you better respond in a much more respectful way next time and without hanging up on me. When I give you a curfew I expect you to follow it entirely, if for any reason you feel like you're going to miss it you damn sure better call me. Do you understand?"
"Y-yes sir" Eryk's face was bright red and even though he'd never admit it, he had tears in his eyes.
Charlie walked closer to Eryk's face and bent over some. "You know what I do and don't tolerate in this house and you know the consequences, I'll lay this belt on you everyday if I have to but you can prevent all of this by how you act."
"Yes, sir." Eryk actually looked remorseful for what he did.
"It comes with the responsibility of having a phone, being able to go places, and being able to watch over your younger brother. If you want all of these privileges then you need to watch and manage your time better or you're going to lose them or come home to this." He referenced to his belt.
Eryk just nodded his head and tried to hide the embarrassment he was feeling from being lectured.
"Pull yourself together, don't cry." Charlie said roughly but sounded sorry for him. "I barely marked you."
Eryk wiped his eyes and fixed his posture so he was standing straight. "Barely marked you," that phrase stuck in my head as Eryk walked upstairs. To me it looked like Charlie got him pretty good but apparently he can do better.
"Cody." Charlie said while crossing his arms and walking into the living room. "You saw what I just did to Eryk, do you know why?"
"Because we were late, missed your calls, and he hung up on you?" I asked.
"Yes, but more importantly because he acted irresponsible."
I nodded my head to show I was following him.
"The fault is more with Eryk than it was with you so I'm going to ground you tomorrow. That means no video games, TV, phone, or going outside and you're also going to have extra chores in the morning."
I nodded my head, not like I had a phone anyway.
"Now go shower and go to bed."