JAKE'S PUNISHMENT

Chapter 17 - HOLIDAY

Having Tony and Ryan around proved to be the help the family needed. The two men settled into their jobs quickly and would agree between them who would do which shifts. Most importantly they were fully supportive of Jake's life sentence and his regime within the walls of the house. Jake grew to fear the two men quickly. He was the most scared when he was alone with Alex, Tony, or Ryan, Danny less so. He had appeared to calm down and be a little less angry over time, although Jake was still extremely wary of him. Lorraine mostly kept out of his way and they were rarely in the same room together at the same time, apart from the occasional times when she would usually ignore him. He knew where he stood with her, he could cope with being ignored. He was wary of Sir, but he felt oddly calm around him most of the time, he knew that Sir was to be feared, but he also knew he was more level-headed than the other men and as long as he did as he was told and didn't make him angry he would usually be alright

''You are here as punishment, not for punishment'' Sir told him numerous times. ''Being here, serving life here, the loss of freedom and not seeing your family again, is the punishment. You only attract other punishments when you misbehave and earn them. As long as you behave you'll avoid them''

''Yes Sir'' he had replied. He understood what Sir was saying perfectly. but others didn't. He knew they would love to be cruel to him just for the fun of it if they could, but Sir was always monitoring what was going on and making sure nothing got out of hand.

Chloe, of course, was the only one he felt truly safe around. All the time Chloe and Sir were around he felt nothing too bad would happen. When he was left alone with the other men he never felt safe and felt that anything could happen. He felt that they were unpredictable and sometimes they just wanted Sir out of the way so they could do what they wanted to him

It was summertime and Jake had been doing some gardening. It was hard work but he enjoyed gardening and being outside, it was miles better than being stuck inside the house and basement. The sun was out and it was hot and he had his shirt open as he worked. They didn't mind if he was shirtless or had his shirt open, no one ever told him to button it back up. He was supervised by Ryan and Alex today. They were sitting, shirtless, watching him like a hawk, having a few beers. Being Shirtless meant they were able to display their impressive bodies, they were at the gym most days building up the muscle. Jake felt that sometimes they did this just to show him what he was up against if he tried to take them on, Jake had become skinny. He still had his six-pack and he still did some exercises in the basement but he didn't have access to a gym like they did. He wasn't being fed that well, he was given enough to get by and that was it. He couldn't compete with them. in a fight. He knew it and they knew it.

Chloe came out to reapply some sunblock on Jake. She had applied some a few hours earlier

''Why can't you leave him alone and stop fussing over him?'' asked Alex with annoyance

''I don't want him to get burnt'' she replied ''and if you two have any sense you will apply some too. You're already looking a bit red and sunburn is no laughing matter!''

''Anyone would think he was your baby the way you fuss over him sometimes Sis'' Alex opined

Once Jake had finished the garden he was permitted to shower as he was sweaty and dirty. After that, he was expecting to be returned to the basement like he usually was at the end of work. But instead, he was told that Sir wanted to see him and taken to the study. Jake was concerned as often when he was taken to see Sir in the study it meant that he was going to be punished for something. He really couldn't think of anything he had done wrong today but, knowing what they were like, Ryan and Alex could have found some trumped-up charge to use.