Jake Stephens was a normal, typical 21-year-old. He had recently trained as a mechanic and was now in a full-time, well-paid job. He loved playing football, having a few too many beers with his mates, and of course, he loved girls. He also loved cars, that's probably why he had chosen to be a mechanic. A bit of a lad, he had slept around with a lot of girls. He was a very good-looking boy, and also had a lot of charm and charisma, so he never had any problems pulling any girl he wanted, they would all want him. He knew it made his mates jealous as hell but all that changed when he met Cindy and fell in love with her. Cindy had been the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and he knew as soon as he laid eyes on her that she was the one for him. He fell in love there and then, love at first sight. A cliche right? Of course, but in this case, it happens to be true!
They had been together for just over a year, everything was going well. They were madly in love, living in their own little flat, and were planning to get married. It seemed to Jake like life could not get any more perfect! That was until Mandy turned up and ruined everything. Mandy was some slut Jake had slept with before he met Cindy, he forgot all about her pretty quickly after he had been with her. She was good but nothing too special, so Jake had no reason to remember her really!
Well boy did Mandy arrive with a bombshell for Jake. It turned out that the one time Jake forgot to use a condom was the one time he got a girl pregnant. Mandy arrived on his doorstep with a 6-month-old baby girl and declared Jake to be the father. Jake had, of course, insisted on having tests to prove this, and much to his dismay they did prove that the baby girl was his daughter. Jake had always been pretty careful and sensible about using protection, but that one time he was so drunk and Mandy had been eager to get on with it, so he decided that just the once it wouldn't hurt to be reckless. Only he was wrong, it turned out to be one silly mistake and the results were a disaster in Jake's mind. He was a father now and he did not want to be, he was not ready for it. Both he and Cindy had agreed they would not have kids until they were ready for it in the future. Now suddenly he was a father and the mother was a woman he did not even love
He demanded to know why she waited until the baby was 6 months old to contact him. Mandy explained that she was scared to contact him as she was not sure how he would react. In any case, there had been a couple of other boys she had slept with around the same time that she thought could have been the father. But when it was proved they were not she realized it was time to contact Jake. Well, Jake felt so mad that he reduced Mandy to tears a few times with a furious rant. He screamed at her that he wished she had not contacted him. He did not want this wretched baby, he was not ready to be a father. Mandy sobbed and appealed to Jake to step up to his responsibilities, she didn't think she could cope as a single mum and in any case, she still loved Jake. She wanted them to get together and raise the baby together.
To Jake this was absolutely out of the question, Cindy was the only girl for him. He would come to an arrangement with Mandy to pay child support but that would be where his involvement in the child's life would end. Cindy, however, was shocked to the core by the situation.....when she eventually found out about it that is. Jake decided at first to keep it from her, but Mandy eventually contacted Cindy to tell her. Cindy was angry that Jake had kept this from her and didn't accept his apologies immediately. She refused to speak to him for days and threw him out of the flat. Jake found himself sleeping on the sofa at his parent's place for a bit until Cindy calmed down. After a few days, Cindy contacted Jake and agreed to meet him in a cafe, He was hoping she would forgive him and let him move back in. But when he went to meet her she broke his heart with her decision. She told him she was leaving him because she felt the right thing for him to do would be to live with Mandy and raise his child together with her. It would be the best thing for that poor innocent little girl. Jake was crushed and even got on his knees in front of everyone in the cafe to beg Cindy to reconsider but her mind was made up. It was over and Jake should go and bring up his daughter.
For days after Jake was angry, heartbroken, despondent, and unable to think of anything else but how much he loved Cindy. He refused to talk to Mandy or see his daughter, he yelled at his parents when they tried to help. He wasn't putting in any effort at work and got disciplined by his boss. Finally, he snapped and told his boss to fuck off and stormed out of work, he couldn't care less if he was fired or not.
That night, after he had stormed out of work, he drove to the pub and spent the night drinking. He got so drunk that he threw up a couple of times in the pub and became abusive with the staff when they told him that they felt he had had too much and they would not serve him anymore. He became so angry at this that he threw a few tables over and tried to assault the barman. The barman had to escort him out of the pub and warn him not to try and reenter or else the police would be involved.
At this point Jake knew he should take a bus home, he was way too drunk to drive. But what the fuck, he didn't care! So he stumbled to his car and after taking a while to find his keys, open the door, and get in he was finally off. Driving was the one thing he really loved, he could think more clearly when he was driving. So now, as he drove along, he was planning what he would do next. He decided the only thing to do would be to go and see Cindy, and beg her to take him back. Fall to his knees again if he had to, yes he would do that! While he was busy planning what he would say to her, he did not notice his foot pushing harder and harder on the pedal. His speed was picking up at an alarming rate, first, it was 30MPH, then 35, then 40.....and then he didn't notice the young boy stepping out in front of him either. He didn't notice until the boy had gone over his windscreen and was lying on the road.
Shocked and stunned, Jake pulled over immediately and got out of the car. Already a crowd was gathering. It was a Friday night and plenty of people were out for the night. The boy was lying in the middle of the road, he looked in a bad way. The boy was a teenager, and couldn't have been older than 18 or 19. People were trying to help him, someone was on their phone calling an ambulance. Jake just stood there in the cold night air wondering if it was all some kind of horrible, surreal nightmare. It just didn't feel real, it had to be a dream right?
The next thing Jake remembers after that is waking up in a police custody cell. He was cold and wet, he soon discovered the reason for that was because he had wet himself. Cold and shivering, he got up and rang the buzzer for someone to come. A police custody officer arrived promptly and Jake calmly explained he was wet and needed dry clothes and dry bedding. The custody officer was accommodating and promised that fresh clothes and bedding would be brought promptly. He told Jake not to feel embarrassed, this happened all the time with drunks! He was not the first to wet the bed in the cells and he surely would not be the last!
Jake then asked, rather reluctantly, what had happened, why was he here? He could not remember being arrested and brought here. The custody officer explained that Jake had had a blackout at the crime scene. He asked Jake if he remembered what had happened and Jake said he vaguely remembered the boy on the road. The custody officer asked Jake if he remembered being drunk at the wheel and hitting the boy. Jake confirmed that he vaguely remembered, it was all a bit of a blur really. He asked, with fear in his voice, if the boy was ok. He felt his heart beating so wildly he felt it might burst out of his chest. The custody officer pulled a sorrowful face, it was going to be bad news for Jake. Indeed, the custody officer informed Jake that the boy had died. Jake was horrified and asked what would happen now. The custody officer told Jake that he was looking at charges of drunk driving and accidental death while under the influence. He explained that Jake would be interviewed in the morning and advised him to get some sleep.
He returned with the fresh clothes and bedding and asked Jake if he wanted a drink or any food. Jake said he did not Jake changed into dry clothes and spent the rest of the night lying on his bed staring at the ceiling of the cell. He could not sleep. He felt sick, how could this happen? It occurred to him that no one had told his parents what had happened, he'd have to ask for a phone call in the morning. What would he say to them? How would he tell them what he had done?
Jake couldn't stop it, he started to cry. He was terrified about what would happen next.
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JAKE'S PUNISHMENT
General FictionWhat happens when a grieving family decide to take the law into their own hands and impose their own punishment? Jake Stephens is a 21 year old man who's life is about to change forever.One foolish night, one terrible mistake and a teenager ends up...
