After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 83

July 12, 1993. 9:18 AM.

Ralph Langley felt agitated as he sat next to his parents in the gallery of Courtroom 4. The collar of the button-up shirt he wore under his blazer was bothering him, and he had to resist the urge to adjust it every few seconds. He buttoned it all the way to the top this morning instead of leaving the top few buttons on the collar open like he usually would. Jeffery questioned it as they were leaving the hotel earlier that morning, but Ralph insisted that he was just cold. Normally, that answer would've satisfied Jeffery, but it was mid-July in Georgia, and creeping up on eighty-five degrees outside.

Earlier that morning, Ralph woke up feeling the heavy weight of exhaustion in his eyes. He got maybe four hours of sleep at the most, and it took all his energy to keep his eyes open as he carried himself to the bathroom. He lazily brushed his teeth in front of the mirror, and that's when he saw it; the bruise-like marks all over his neck. Ralph's eyes went wide in a panic as he realized none of the suits he had to wear to court would hide it.

Goddamn it, Jack he thought moments after he pulled his shirt off, revealing the rest of the bruises. Just as he thought he'd really gotten away with sneaking out and spending half the night in Jack's unsupervised hotel room, here it was; the mistake that was bound to get him caught. Ralph spent an unusually long time in the bathroom that morning trying to cover it up with his mom's makeup, much to Laurie's annoyance who was used to having the bathroom to herself for the majority of the morning. Ralph's makeup skills were severely lacking, so the boy was forced to settle for buttoning ever last button on his shirt, covering most of his neck.

Upon their arrival at the courthouse, the Langley family met with Zoey in a deliberation room to quickly go over the final day of testimony against Ralph. It was a day of relief and excitement, finally the spotlight would be lifted and placed on someone else. The worst part was really over. According to Zoey, Barnes had two more witnesses to testify against him that day, and that would be it.

It was a short meeting, and the Langley family found themselves standing in the hallway, waiting for the courtroom doors to open. It was then that Ralph located the Merridew family standing on the other side of Courtroom 4's double doors. His eyes locked with Jack's, and a smug smile crept up on the blond boy's face. Jack chuckled ever so slightly when he saw the ridiculous way Ralph buttoned his shirt to hide their crime, a gesture nobody else but the two of them noticed.

The look in Jack's eyes said 'I'm trying real hard not to laugh' and the look in Ralph's said 'thanks a lot.'

Presently, Barnes was questioning her second last witness to speak against Ralph. The witness in question was one of the training officers for the Unit 8 squadron at Bainbridge Military Academy. Ralph might've found it strange that all Barnes was asking him about was Ralph and Jack if half of her case against him wasn't the bad influence Jack must've had on him. She asked the witness about how solid their friendship was, if they ever had spats or gave each other the silent treatment, if he considered their friendship superficial. Because Jack and Ralph weren't in the same grade, the officers who trained their squadron were among the only staff who ever saw the two of them together.

It was strange though, the questions Dana asked the training officer. She didn't seem to be interested in whether or not Jack and Ralph got up to things they shouldn't have during training. Instead, Barnes was seeking to confirm that they were, in fact, good friends for the majority of their time at the academy. What was the point in that? Wasn't that well established already?

Jeffery and Laurie looked evidently confused too, Ralph noticed. Zoey kept subtly whispering with Laurie on the other side of Jeffery. Ralph might've felt less anxious, and less like the collar of his shirt was choking him, if Zoey didn't look confused too.