JAKE'S PUNISHMENT

Chapter 27 - JAKE'S PARENTS

They were very upset, of course, they were. Who wouldn't be if their son vanished off the face of the earth? It was all very odd and they knew he hadn't joined a monastery. His mother didn't believe a word of that when they had spoken on the phone, she could tell he was lying but then again she had always been able to tell when her son was lying. A mother just knows these things right? She sensed that something was seriously wrong with her son too, she could feel the edginess in his voice. That awful phone call still haunted her because she knew her son was in a bad place, maybe someone had hurt him. She couldn't bear to think about it too much.

They weren't really very happy since they found out that Jake had been keeping things from them like when that girl Mandy turned up at the house with a baby girl and told them she was Jake's daughter, they had no idea about this at all. They had never even heard Jake mention the name Mandy, Cindy had been the one he had always talked about, the one he was crazy about. But when Jake split up with Cindy so suddenly they had wondered what the reason could be and now they knew, it all made sense.

Then there had been the drunk driving and killing of that poor young boy. As parents themselves they felt for the parents who had lost their son and they felt shame at what Jake had done. But it had been an accident, let's not forget that. Jake had been sorry about what he did and he was still their son, they loved him and supported him as always.

They knew he hated his driving ban and the boring unpaid work but still he got on with it without complaining, They had been so sure everything would work out fine in the end. Then he just disappeared, just like that. One day he goes out, doesn't tell them where he is going but says he won't be longer than a few hours. But a few hours becomes a few days and then a few weeks and a few months and Jake doesn't come back. His phone is found in the bushes in the park and that's when they really panic.

Of course, the police are more concerned that Jake is supposed to complete his sentence, he still has his fine to pay and all those hours of unpaid work to finish..oh and heaven forbid he should miss out on finishing those pointless and dreary probation meetings with the useless Mr. Maxwell.

Well his mother got increasingly frustrated with the police and told them, screamed at them, that her son hadn't run away he was a missing person and they had to do something damn it, they had to find her boy and do it fast! Jake's father, on the other hand, tried to keep cool and calm, he never felt there was any point in panicking, it didn't help did it? But as the weeks had turned into months he too had become increasingly concerned for his son.

In the end, they were sick of sitting around waiting and doing nothing and had hired a private detective to do investigations, and see if he could come up with anything.

Now, as they sat outside the big house with the high walls and huge gates at the front, they felt completely sick with nerves. Was it really a good idea to confront these people? Surely they didn't know where Jake was, how could they? They wouldn't have hurt him would they? But they knew these people must have been angry, and that was understandable. Well, they had come this far, they had to go through with it, they had to talk to them.

Jake's parents got out of the car and rang the buzzer outside the gates.