After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 5

There hadn't yet been a better day than the one Jack finally got his arm sling off. It was the third and final obstacle that kept him from physical freedom for the past several weeks. His knee brace had been off for eleven days, and his stitches were removed over five weeks ago now. Paige drove him to the children's hospital in Dalton on October the 18th for the appointment that was to determine whether or not he was close enough to perfectly healed to resume a normal life. And thankfully, the odds were in Jack's favour that morning.

The only thing that put a damper on Jack's mood the day he regained total control of his right arm was the fact that it was a Sunday. Jack would return to school the following day cast free; something that would surely earn him attention given that he'd spent ninety five percent of the school year in it thus far. But surprisingly, Jack Merridew wasn't thinking about the attention he'd get at school. The only attention Jack really wanted was, of course, from Ralph Langley. And he'd have to wait a whole damn school week before he could get it.

By this time, both boys had gotten their subpoenas for the upcoming trial. It had been just less than a month since Ralph got his, but just over one since Jack received his own. Between the time Evan found out and the day Jack was relieved from the medical restrictions he'd been under since August, there had been no talk in the Merridew house about the trial. It seemed to be business as usual. Naturally, it was tense but things were always tense between the three of them, if not just between Jack and Evan. The tension was heavier than usual though, and that unspeakable elephant in the room loomed in the air, thickening the tension in moments of shared silence.

When Jack excitedly returned to the Langley house for the weekend on the evening of Friday, October 23rd, he was surprised to learn that the family was being rather proactive about the trial. The boys' case was assigned a primary defense lawyer who would be responsible for meeting with the privately hired attorneys by each family before arguing the boys' defense in court. Ralph's family couldn't afford the greatest lawyer in all of Georgia, but with the money they weren't spending on elite military school, they could thankfully swing a pretty good one.

That Friday night, Paige dropped her brother off at the house as usual, and Jack let himself in without knocking as usual. Ralph, seeing that he really was sling free, greeted him as he always used to; by throwing himself at him and just hoping that Jack had the strength to catch him instead of being knocked over. For the first time in weeks, he did.

Jack watched Ralph return to the kitchen table where stacks of paper were laid out across it in a seemingly disorganized manner. He assumed it was Jeffery's work stuff, but was surprised when Ralph started collecting and organizing the documents into different folders that sat on an adjacent chair.

"What is all this?" Jack had to ask as he stood and watched the younger boy clean up.

"Just trial stuff" Ralph nonchalantly replied without even bothering to look up.

"Trial stuff?" Jack questioned.

"Yeah, y'know, like notes from meeting with my lawyer, copies of the subpoena and the analysis of it, possible outcomes, defense strategies, things like that" the surprisingly educated boy explained as if it were simple as can be.

Ralph tapped the stack of papers in his hands against the table top to line them up, then finally looked at Jack when the elder boy didn't answer him. Jack looked stunned or confused or worried, perhaps. Ralph thought he knew him well enough to say for sure, but this time he couldn't.

"What?" Ralph finally asked, keeping his gaze fixated on Jack as his hands continued to slowly clean up.

"You've already met the trial lawyer?" Jack snapped out of his zoned-out trance to ask.