After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 27

A fair few of the families stuck in Savannah, Georgia for the The State of Georgia and The Flag State's High Seas Division v. The Boys of Bainbridge Military Academy trial spent that Friday evening packing their bags to head back to their respective hometowns for the weekend. Some had travelled much further distances than others, and even leaving every weekend would be too taxing. Some families had one parent and/or half the family leaving for the weekend while the rest stayed in Savannah. The hallways of the fourth and fifth floors were frequented by passersby with bags in hand, leaving the hotel room for their homes for the weekend. How backwards it seemed, that homes were being used for weekend getaways and hotel rooms left to hold most belongings until occupants would return in a short couple days.

The Langley family were among the bunch who didn't have plans to return home that first weekend. Jeffery was working remotely for the time being, and Laurie was off completely on a proclaimed "long-term family emergency." All parents and family members of the boys received the same letter of requirement that people often got for jury duty, a letter that announced to employers that their presence was required in a court of law. Unlike jury duty, for character witnesses set to testify, these letters of requirements labelled the families as witnesses, but the notification that a leave of absence from work would be required remained the same. Luckily for Jeffery, his employer was understanding. He was already aware the situation and his employee's family involvement in the Bainbridge case that was still making national headlines.

Jeffery and Ralph both had plans to get a lot of work done for school and work that weekend. Laurie made Ralph promise to take a couple hours to come explore Savannah with her at some point that weekend. Ralph reluctantly agreed under the condition that his school work still got done.

But all that could wait til later, the Langley family decided early that Friday night. They took some time to simply relax in the hotel room after getting back from the courthouse. Laurie fell asleep watching TV with Jeffery, who pretended he wasn't using his bulky laptop to answer business emails. Eventually, his work bored him to sleep too. Ralph had just gotten out of the shower when he found them both asleep. He had felt the immediate need to wash the week off his body as soon as possible. If only, he could wash it out of his mind too.

Ralph went down to the lobby to order an evening snack just after 2030 hours. He didn't use the phone in the room so not to wake his parents. The receptionist handed him a menu and a sticky note and told him to write down what he wanted, and she'd pass it along to the kitchen staff. As Ralph scanned the menu, a familiar voice prompted him to lift his head. Even with her back turned to him, the girl was unmistakably Paige Merridew. She stood at the reception desk where Ralph stood a minute earlier, speaking to the same receptionist. Ralph watched the exchange from his seat until the receptionist disappeared through a door behind the desk. When Paige turned with a heavy sigh, she looked frustrated or upset. But when her eyes landed on Ralph, it was baffling how quickly her expression changed.

"Ralph" Paige smiled as she approached him, her frustration masked with a customer service type tone that was far too peppy to be genuine. "I'm glad I ran into you" she tucked her dress beneath her gracefully as she sat down in the chair beside him.

"Paige hey" he smiled weakly back, still clutching the menu. "Why's that?" he asked curiously.

"I haven't seen you much in the last couple months, since we've all been preparing for all this" she answered honestly, "and not at all outside the courtroom since we got here. How've you been?"

"Okay, I guess" Ralph again smiled weakly. He couldn't bring himself to be any peppier than that. She was much better at this than he was, he noted.

"Yeah" she sighed with a knowing nod. "Me too. This week's been pretty draining. Thank god it's over. I wish we knew when this was all gonna be over. It kinda sucks not knowing how long we're gonna be here, doesn't it? We're here putting our whole lives on hold, and we don't even know for how long. Even prisoners know the end date of their sentences, y'know?" the blond girl rambled.