After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 75

Sunday nights were never easily enjoyable, not since the start of the trial anyway. Paige Merridew spent most Sunday nights painting her nails with a fresh coat of polish for the week, washing her hair and styling it in front of the TV, and testing her makeup products on her wrist to ensure they hadn't dried out in the last seven days.

The night of Sunday, July 4th 1993 started off like an ordinary Sunday in Savannah, but it didn't end like one. Paige sent Jack down to the main lobby to order food for the two of them, and in the meantime, she picked up the phone and called Jeffery Langley.

Over the last couple weeks, Barnes presented her case against Maurice Kent, one of the older boys who hungout with Jack on the island, and back at the academy a bit before the plane crash. The case against the now fifteen-year-old concluded two days ago on Friday, and tomorrow was set to be the start of the case against Ralph. Paige noticed that her brother was growing more and more irritable with each passing day, and she wondered if the time closing in on Ralph's case might have something to do with it. She was well aware that the separation Jack initiated wasn't ideal, nor was it what he would've done under normal circumstances. It had been weeks now since Jack started getting more affectionate toward her, preferring to sit in her bed with her as they watched TV or did homework at night than in his own. Paige was smart enough to make the connection between the unusual behavior and her brother's separation from Ralph. She was also smart enough to make the connection between his recent irritable mood and the start of Ralph's court case.

She had to admit, though, that she was surprisingly impressed by how empathetic Jack seemed to be towards the boy he hadn't been with in months. It was uncharacteristic, but most of his recent behavior could be classified as so, so she didn't overthink it all that much.

After Jack started slamming doors and shouting curse words at her from inside the bathroom earlier that night, Paige was more than happy to send him downstairs for awhile to put in a dinner order with the front desk. Usually, they went out together, but on top of not feeling like it, Paige had other plans.

The phone rang a couple times before Jeffery Langley answered. Paige figured the family was busy preparing for Ralph's case that was to be introduced tomorrow. Knowing Ralph, he was probably sick with stress right about now. The first ten minutes of her call with the boy's father confirmed her suspicion.

"Are you relatively confident in his case otherwise though?" Paige asked Jeffery.

"I am myself, and our lawyer seems to be too" Jeffery confirmed, "Ralph's a worrier, he always has been. I think he feels like he's supposed to worry. That's the Laurie in him. They've both been a little frantic as of late, but we're managing. Thank you for wanting to check in though, I'll let Ralph know you called as soon as he stops pacing."

"Of course, you and Laurie have done a lot for Jack and I over the last few months. It's the least I can do. I've been thinking about Ralph a lot lately" the girl empathetically declared.

"Say, I haven't heard from Jack at all in the last several weeks. How's he been doing?" Jeffery noted.

"Yeah, I know. He's been crabby lately, probably because he knows the trial's turning in on Ralph, and then him shortly after. He's doing alright considering, though. He's bitter and snappy a lot of the time, but that's not exactly abnormal" the girl explained, "I think he's bummed about having to spend most of his summer here in Savannah too."

"Ralph's said the same thing a time or two since the weather started to change. I'm sure all these kids just wanna go home at this point. It's been a tough seven months, to say the least" Jeffery agreed.

"And we're not really close to the end yet" Paige sighed regretfully, wishing it wasn't true.

"I'm afraid not" Jeffery too agreed, the exhaustion apparent in his voice as much as hers.

"Well, I wanted to wish you all the best of luck in there tomorrow" Paige refocused the conversation. "I'm sure Ralph will be okay. I know the jury will see him for who he is before the end of all this."

"I'm sure you're right" Jeffery smiled to himself. "Thanks for the call, Paige. Let us know if you need anything" the man graciously replied.

"Thank you, don't worry about us for now. See you down there bright and early tomorrow" Paige insisted genuinely.

"That you will" Jeffery agreed before wishing her goodnight and hanging up the phone.

Just as Paige put her phone away and got comfortable on the bed with her plethora of makeup products, Jack bursted loudly through the door, startling the mascara wand out of her hand.

"Those dick sticks downstairs refused to let me bring your stupid wine up" Jack snapped and he practically threw the paper bag of food onto the floor.

"Oh, um okay" Paige stumbled, "it's fine, Jack, I'll go down there myself. You're not twenty-one, that's probably why."

"I fucking told them it wasn't for me, but they acted like they didn't believe me, and basically accused me of a goddamn crime" Jack spat angrily as he stormed through the hotel room.

"Okay okay" Paige attempted to diffuse the situation, "I didn't even think of it, that's my fault, Jack. I shouldn't have sent you down there. I wasn't thinking" she said as she slipped her slippers on.

"No, its their faults for making false accusations against me. I could sue them for defamation of character, you know" Jack continued.

"I don't think it works that way, but it doesn't matter, Jack. Just let it go, relax, sit down and eat. You got the rest of the food, right? I'll be right back" she said in a hurry before scurrying out the door.

Paige made her way down to the first floor lobby as she considered whether the she could convince a doctor to medicate Jack for the next month or two of the trial, at least until his own case was wrapped up. He was aggressive, volatile, and even violently angry at times lately. Considering the current stage of the trial, she wasn't all that surprised, but knowing the why behind the behavior didn't make it easier to manage. Paige collected the bottle of wine she ordered, apologized to the front desk staff for the outburst her brother surely had several minutes earlier, and made her way back up to the fifth floor.

With Jack's aggressiveness increasing in intensity and frequency, Paige was really starting to worry. He was slowly morphing into a smaller and more stressed out version of their father. Paige could barely handle one of Evan Merridew on a good day. It was beyond her how she was going to manage the two of them over the course of the summer.

It was almost 9:30 at night now, and for the first time today, Paige realized she completely missed that it was the 4th of July; Independence Day. It would've been wrong to celebrate anyway, she thought. What reason did they have to celebrate independence when they were trapped in Savannah, and Jack and the other victims of the plane crash were months away from losing the what was left of theirs?