Enough Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Detective Wilson called me two weeks later to tell me the District Attorney’s office had accepted the plea deal from everyone involved and sentencing would be held at the end of the month. I had spoken to Lexie maybe twice and had a few text messages from her. By this time, I had hoped that she would have loosened up a bit, but it did not seem that she had. For the most part, I had given up on any long-term relationship with her. I spent most of my day at the gym either training or teaching.

My track record for relationships left a lot to be desired. First Cassie dumping me for a college student and now Lexie for what she thought she perceived of what I might do. Seems the only good relationship I had been in was the one with my mother, as screwed up as that sounded. Although a lot of that was my fault, I was not the most outgoing person when it went to socializing.

The end of the month came quickly and soon I found myself back in court for the sentencing of the six people present the night my mom died. At ten minutes to the hour, all six defendants came in with Chrissy’s dad and sat behind the defense’s table. The district attorney was already present as well as Detective Wilson. Several minutes later the judge arrived and sat behind the bench. He opened the folder and scanned the documents quickly then set them down in front of him on the bench.

“Gentlemen, I understand we have reached a plea arrangement?”, the judge stated, glancing at both the attorneys.

Both attorneys nodded as the bailiff handed each of them a manilla file folder. Each opened the folder and read the contents then nodded back to the judge.

“Then pending this agreement, I am ready to sentence all defendants at this time if there are no objections.”, he stated.

“Hearing no objections, will the defendants please rise and face the bench.”, he commanded.

The lot of them stood up and face the bench hanging their heads gazing at the floor. I had absolutely no sympathy for the lot of them. Even though Josh caused my mother’s death, the rest of them covered it up for as long as possible. In my mind, they were just as guilty.

“Chrissy Haynes, Haley Mills and Jennifer Smith under the plea agreement you have plead guilty one count of obstruction of justice. I am placing the three of you on probation for a period of 24 months. If you complete your probationary period with no incidents, I will remove the charge from your criminal record.”, he started.

“Darren Miller and Mark Boudreaux under the plea agreement you have plead guilty to one count of obstruction of justice and one count of tampering with evidence. I am placing the two of you on probation for a period of 30 months. If you complete your probationary period with no incidents, I will remove the charge from your criminal record.”, he continued.

“Joshua Klein under the plea agreement you have plead guilty to one count of criminal negligence, one count of obstruction of justice and one count of tampering with evidence. I’m sentencing you to four years in the prison at Oakville starting immediately.”, he ended.

I looked over at Detective Wilson who just hung his head. Everyone gets probation and Josh get forty-eight months which means in can be out in two years. That is what my mother’s life was worth……two years. Inside I was out of control, but I knew I could not show it. I simply stood up and stared directly at the judge. After several moments of an intense stare down, he spoke.

“Do you wish to address the court?”, he asked.

“I don’t believe you want to hear what I have to say.”, I replied.

“What is your name, son?”, the judge asked.

“Chris Williams….”, I replied, still staring him down.

“You will address me as your honor.”, he demanded.

“No sir, I will not.”, I quickly answered.

“Son, I will hold you in contempt of court.”, he growled leaning forward.

“You have no idea how much contempt I have for this court. Those six defendants killed my mother and threw her in a dumpster like trash. Five of them get off with probation and one might serve twenty-four months in jail. That’s what my mother’s life was worth…. twenty-four months?”, I stated, very calmly.

Detective Wilson got up and moved next to me whispering into my ear that no matter what, I was only making things worst. Mr. Haynes stepped from around the table and informed the judge that I had threatened the defendants in a previous session in court.

“Mr. Williams, did you threatened the defendants?”, the judge asked.

“I have never threatened anyone during this entire ordeal. The boys were the aggressors every time and the girls went along for the ride. That is why this case never went to court. Because each time there was an altercation, they started it and witnesses were available. I guess sometimes the only way to get justice is to take it for yourself.”, I stated calmly.

“Are you threatening this court?”, the judge growled.

“No sir, I am not…”, I simply replied, turning around, and heading for the door.

I noticed that Lexie was standing against the back wall in a corner with another police officer. As I walked for the door, I really thought the judge was going to stop me, but he did not. I pushed through the doors and head into the lobby. Detective Wilson came running up behind me.

“Chris, hold on a second.”, he demanded, grabbing my arm.

I turned and faced him as he tried to catch his breath from the sprint, he had just run trying to catch me.

“Jesus, I can’t believe you just said that to old man Seiler and he let you walk.”, he stated.

“He let me walk because he was paid off by Haynes. You know it, I know it, fuck……everyone knows it.”, I replied.

“Chris, if anything happens to anyone of them, you’re suspect number one.”, he said in an informative tone.

“Only if there are witnesses, detective.”, I replied, turning and walking away.

For the next month or so, I did nothing but train and work. I didn’t go out of the house with the exception of the grocery store twice. Lexie and I talked on the phone a few times, but I restrained from mentioning the trial at all. To her credit, she never brought it up, but I was not sure if that was good or bad. I was sitting on the sofa watching tv when my phone rang. It was Lexie, I picked it up right away.

“Hey Chris, what are you doing?”, Lexie said, in a cheerful voice.

“Watching a movie on tv.”, I replied.

“Oh, ok…… well, I wanted to invite you to my house on Saturday night, it’s my mom’s birthday.”, Lexie announced.

“Um sure…… what do I get her.”, I asked.

“Well, she really loves a good bottle of Merlot.”, Lexie stated.

“Ok, I will get her one. What time is it for?”, I asked.

“Six o’clock and my dad will be cooking on the grill.”, she answered.

“Ok, see you then.”, I replied, hanging up.

On the way home from my work out on Saturday morning I stopped at a wine store in town having no idea what to ***********. Thankfully as I went in, a young woman asked if she could help me. I explained my predicament and she smiled.

“We have Merlot in every price range imaginable. How much are you looking to spend?”, she asked.

“I don’t know…., um show me something really nice though, no ten-dollar bottles.”, I replied.

“Ok, let’s go over here.”, she answered, pointing to a large shelf in the corner.

“These are two very good merlot’s, one is Duckhorn Three Palms Vineyard and the other is Leonetti Cellar Merlot. I have had these and they are excellent.”, she admitted.

“Ok, give me one of each., I replied.

“Sure thing.”, she replied, going back behind the counter and through a door into the large warehouse.

She came back quickly with both bottles packaged in a box and set them on the counter. She reached under the counter and pulled out two gold bows, peeled off the adhesive and stuck them to the top of the boxes. The total purchase came to two hundred and seventeen dollars. I paid her and left then deciding to go to the men’s store and get a new pair of jeans and maybe a shirt. I crossed town and pulled up into a local men’s clothing store that had just about everything. Once again, as soon as I walked in, a woman in her thirties came over and asked if I needed help. I followed her back to where the jeans were and started looking at the different sizes. I always had trouble because my waist size was thirty, but my legs would not fit comfortably in that size. She suggested I try a pair of Levi 508’s and handed me a pair in my normal size. I went into the dressing room and tried them on, and I had to admit they fit perfectly. I came out of the room and stood in front of the large mirror looking at the fit.

“That’s the one….”, the woman stated.

“They do fit well.”, I replied.

I told her I would take two pairs then went back in the dressing room and took them off. I came out and handed them to her then walked over to the shirts. ***********ing shirts was even worst due to the size I had put on above the waist. Most shirts were always too tight in the chest, shoulders and arms. The saleswoman suggested a line they carried call the Performance Bamboo shirt. She stated it was made for men who were muscular in their upper torso. I tried on a couple, and I did notice that I had a bit more room in them than a normal shirt. I ***********ed two as well then checked out and headed home.

I took a shower that afternoon and dressed leaving my home at about six o’clock. I arrived about twenty minutes later and parked in front of the house. I went up the sidewalk and rang the bell. Lexie answered the door quickly and invited me inside. She did give me a soft kiss on the lips that surprised me a bit. I followed her to the family room where her mother, brother, Pops and Maw Maw, Lexie’s grandparents.

“These are for you.”, I stated, handing the bottle of wine to Jennifer.

“Oh Chris, you didn’t have to do this.”, she said.

“Yes ma’am, I did.”, I replied.

“Chris, these bottles are very expensive, you really shouldn’t have.”, she said, a little choked up.

“Enjoy it Ms. Thomas, it’s your birthday.”, I answered.

I sat down next to Pops and we started catching up since the last time we had talked. We talked for about thirty minutes before Lexi’s mom came back in and asked me to help her in the kitchen. I excused myself and followed Jennifer into the kitchen where she turned and faced me.

“Ok, what is going on with you two?”, she asked.