After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 61

January 27, 1993. 8:09 AM.

Ralph Langley and his band of devoted supporters met up before court on Wednesday morning, as they usually did, for a quick rundown of the day. Zoey Berman explained to Jeffery, Laurie, and Ralph that tomorrow would be the last day Murray would be presenting tapes of the Flag State interviews for the prosecution, for now anyway. By Friday, the floor was expected to be turned back over to Dana Barnes. Ralph was not looking forward to Friday for that reason alone, but it failed to spoil the excitement he had for the weekend as a whole. The Langley family had plans to return to East Point for the weekend, and Ralph had never been so excited to sleep in his own bed.

But first, he had to get through three more nights in Savannah, and three more days of testimony.

Ever since the schedule change incident that brought Ralph's tape to the public eye on Friday, Zoey was especially keen on keeping the Langley family informed of what would happen next.

But there was nothing Zoey could've done to prepare Ralph for what he saw that Wednesday morning before they were due in the courtroom.

After finishing up their usual morning meeting in the deliberation room, Ralph filed out after the adults into the hallway where Courtroom 4 was, the place most of its current members waited for the doors to open at exactly 8:50 AM as they did everyday.

It was then that Ralph located the Merridew family talking with their lawyer by the doors. From where he stood, Ralph could clearly see the surplus of injuries Jack was sporting on his face and neck today, injuries he definitely didn't have yesterday. Ralph's heart stopped when he saw the blood red spot in Jack's left eye, and the cut that trailed down his skin just beneath it. His eyes wandered to the different bruises and cuts on the other side of the blond boy's face, none of which he made an effort to conceal.

Ralph then turned his gaze on Evan Merridew, who he was considering marching over to and screaming at right about now. Ralph hadn't seen Jack in such bad shape since Evan had him hospitalized back in August before the commemoration ceremony. Except this time it wasn't broken bones, but cuts and bruises that seemed very amateurish for Evan's usual approach to violence.

"Dad" Ralph whispered as he tugged on his father's sleeve, who was tuned into a conversation between  Zoey and Laurie. "Dad" Ralph repeated more harshly, but still kept his voice at a whisper.

"What is it, Ralph? You're not being very respectful right now" Jeffery notably observed.

"Look" Ralph ignored the insinuation, gesturing subtly at the Merridews standing several feet away from them.

Jeffery glanced in the direction his son indicated, and scanned the area for a moment before his eyes landed on Evan, Paige, and then Jack. He very quickly realized what his son wanted him to see, and a wave of frustration and pain came over Jeffery, just like it did his son moments earlier.

Jeffery looked down to lock eyes with Ralph again, both their faces written with the same old, bitter feeling. How they hated feeling helpless.

The courtroom doors were opened by a clerk shortly after, and families started to slowly venture in to find seats for the day. Larry's family started sitting near the middle of the room again, instead of the back, now that Larry wasn't the sole focus of the trial anymore. The Merridew family took a spot at the very back today, and Ralph needn't wonder why. He knew by now that no one in that family was going to stand up to Evan, not even Jack himself. But he was surprised that their lawyer, who clearly must know about Evan's abuse at this point, would just sit and stay silent while Jack remained vulnerable to its reoccurrence.

Ralph's curiosity would soon be addressed once the Conroy family made their way into the room. They too sat in the back row, but on the other side of the aisle from where the Merridews were. And to Ralph's surprise, the reason was the same. Roger was sporting injuries oddly similar to those visible on Jack's body. Heavy bruising on the face, shallow cuts around the forehead and jaw, and a white bandage was taped to the side of Roger's neck. Given that court hadn't started and the jury had yet to enter, nobody cared too much who was looking where. Ralph, facing the back of the room, looked from Roger to Jack, three times over. It couldn't possibly be a coincidence, could it be? Ralph had just assumed that Jack's injuries were Evan's doing.