Off Balance

Chapter 9

After I rolled my eyes but didn't say anything, Dad stood up and patted my shoulder.

"I'll send them in. You'll be staying the night here. I'll be by in the morning with clothes and to take you to school. Please be good for them," he said.

"I will be," I replied.

He nodded his head before leaving the room. I was alone in the living room longer than I had expected. Dad said he was sending them in, so they must still be discussing me. That was fine with me. I kicked back on the couch and turned the TV on to watch some of the game highlights.

Finally, after half an hour, Charlie came into the room. He didn't look terribly mad still, but he was clearly not happy. He looked at me and I looked at him for a minute or two before he spoke.

"Turn that off and sit up," he finally said.

I did as I was told, as I was not really interested in the game anyhow. Charlie came over and sat beside me on the couch. "Talk to me, Andrew. What has been going on with you lately? You've been a punk lately, especially to Jill."

"I've just been tired," I defended myself.

"Kid, you and I both know that is a lie. The sooner you tell me the truth, the sooner we can be done with this conversation," he stated kindly.

"That is the truth," I insisted, not really wanting to go into detail with him.

He just returned my statement with a look.

"Ok, fine, I've been thinking about my mom," I relented after several minutes of uncomfortable silence.

He wrapped his arm around me, "What about her?"

"I just miss her," I replied as he squeezed me a little tighter.

We sat in silence for a few minutes. Charlie was still hugging me tightly while I took in the comfort he was offering. After a few minutes, he finally spoke.

"I understand that you have been missing your momma, but that does not give you an excuse to act the way that you have been this past week."

I nodded my head.

"You were already punished for being disrespectful to Jill the other day, but you yelled at her again yesterday. Taking into account her words and yours, I have decided to let that issue go. I understand that you were upset about your mom and that her words rubbed you the wrong way," he began lecturing.

"However, you are still being punished for your other adventures last night. Even if you were upset, that is no excuse to go buy alcohol, drink alcohol, or get in the vehicle with someone under the influence of alcohol, so for those things, you will be punished. It is completely unacceptable to put your life in danger like that, and I am not going to let it slide."

I nodded to let him know that I was listening.

"You have been grounded by Jill and I before, but we know that it never actually stuck, and therefore did no good. This time, you will be grounded for the same three weeks that Kyle was and it will stick."

"During these three weeks, you will not be allowed any electronic device or driving privileges, nor will you be allowed to be home alone. Jill only scheduled you on the days that she will be at the store so she will be with you at all times," Charlie gave me the details of my grounding, which were only fair since Kyle was getting the same treatment and it was my fault.

After he got my agreement, he moved on, "I am also going to spank you for your lack of judgment last night."

"Wait, what?" I spoke up, "I thought that was the alternative to grounding. I pick grounding."