Waves of Reckoning (The Montclair Brothers) (19 page)

“Yeah,” Brian agreed, but Tyler could tell it wasn’t bringing the kid any peace.

Tyler read the nameplate on the judge’s bench. He sat forward and whispered to Vincent. “Is this judge any good?”

“Uldum? He’s lenient. I was hoping for Tarzinski, but the case was reassigned. I’m not trying to shatter your hopes, but there really isn’t any reason to flood you with false hopes, either. We have to stay focused on the power of Brian’s words. I didn’t ask him to go over anything at your house yesterday, because we can’t risk him sounding rehearsed.” Tyler leaned back and tapped Renee’s hand. She gave him a look that seemed to say ‘Don’t worry, Silly. I have it all under control.’ Tyler glanced down at her purse. He was grateful for the metal detectors at the courthouse doors.

Jacob, Sean, Emma, and Elissa, all walked up to Brian, and hugged him one at a time. They then reassured Tyler and Renee, that everything would be okay. It didn’t take a genius to realize that none of them actually believed those words, because they couldn’t maintain eye contact with him as they spoke.

Emma stood on tiptoes and whispered in Tyler’s ear. “I can take, Shirley.” Tyler straightened back up and looked at her. She was dead serious.

“No. You’re to stay right here, Em. Don’t you dare approach either one of them. Understand?” Tyler warned.

“Actually I don’t. She won’t even reach the walkway out front.” Emma pointed down towards her flat shoes.

Tyler looked at Jacob for help.

“I got her Ty, don’t worry.” Jacob reached over and grabbed her hand, pulling her down to sit between him and Sean.

“Someone’s missing,” said Tyler. “Elissa. Where is she?” He began to survey the room. “She was just here.”

“Shit,” whispered Sean. “She’s back there by the door. I’ll go get her.”

As Sean pulled her towards the front row with the others, she began protesting. “Stop! I can see better from back there!”

“Come here, Elissa,” directed Vincent with a stern voice. He sat her between him and Carrie. Elissa looked over at Emma. When their eyes met and they nodded at each other, Tyler almost fell out of his chair. He was going to have to hurry with his plan before the Montclairs, and gang, started a brawl.

Chapter 19

T
hey all rose
as the Honorable Timothy Uldum entered and took his seat at the bench. Tyler could clearly see the Waters and Boyd Simmons, their attorney, seated over to his left. Although Vincent was a part of the legal system, he couldn’t understand how anyone could defend people like the Waters or Robert. Personally, he thought the courts should toss scumbags like that to the victim’s families, for a session of no holds barred retribution.

Judge Uldum announced that court was in session. “Are all necessary parties present in the courtroom?” He looked over the top of his wire-framed glasses.

“Brian Waters is present your Honor,” stated Anthony Chase as he nodded at Brian.

“Shirley and Hank Waters are also in attendance, your Honor,” replied Boyd Simmons.

Tyler looked at them and wanted to start throwing punches. He glanced at Renee, who was staring at Brian’s parents with laser eyes. He patted her arm, but she didn’t acknowledge his touch.

“I’ve read this case over,” began Judge Uldum. “The evidence, to support the claims by Brian Waters against his parents, Hank and Shirley Waters, seems to be lacking. Mr. Chase, do you have anything further to support your client’s allegations of abuse?”

“Your Honor, with all due respect, I don’t think it’d be fair for the court to make a decision without hearing from Brian Waters. As far as physical evidence, the defendants have had a couple of years to remove all traces of Brian, and the torture he endured, from that property.” Anthony Chase flipped through the pages of a legal pad.

“Do you have any objections, Mr. Simmons?” asked the judge calmly. Tyler was surprised, because he was used to the constant irritation in Judge Weddle’s voice.

“No objections, Your Honor,” answered Simmons with a smirk on his face. Tyler wanted to wipe it off of him.

“Very well. Mr. Chase, is your client prepared to take the stand?”

Chase leaned over and whispered to Brian. Tyler couldn’t hear what was said, but he watched as his son’s face began to show some of the fear he was feeling. Brian approached the stand and was sworn in, before he climbed up in the witness chair. Tyler watched the boy’s eyes move to Hank and Shirley, who did nothing but smile.

“Mr. Chase, any leading questions, and I’ll stop you. Brian, you’re under oath, so you are required by law to tell the truth,” warned Uldum. “You may proceed.”

“Brian, do you know the difference between the truth and a lie?” Chase walked around the prosecution table and stood at the podium.

“Yes. A truth is what really happened, and a lie is false.” Brian stared at Tyler, making his heart ache for the kid.

“Do you recall the statements that you made to the police when they came to your hospital room, while you were recovering from a gunshot wound?” Chase turned over some pages of a document.

“Yes, I remember,” answered Brian.

“Did you tell the police officer about some of the abuse you endured while you lived with your parents?”

Simmons rose from his chair. “Objection, Your Honor! The accusations against my clients haven’t been proven.”

“Let Brian speak, Mr. Simmons.” The judge shook his head.

“Just…some of it.” Brian’s face reddened and he stared down at his hands.

“Could you start from the beginning and tell us about all of it?” Chase took a deep breath and walked closer to Brian.

“I really don’t know how old I was when the abuse started. I just remember them getting more and more angry with me. Sometimes they’d knock me around, but then they started locking me in my bedroom. I slept most of the time, or I stared out the window. Compared to being in the basement, it wasn’t all that bad. The days sort of blended, though.”

“Brian, do you remember when your parents first locked you in the basement?” Chase asked hesitantly. Tyler had already been told by Vincent, that this prosecutor had a reputation for going after child abusers, with a vengeance.

“If you need to know exactly how old I was, I can’t answer that. I know the year I was born, but there wasn’t exactly a calendar down there or even windows. I didn’t know when the day ended or when the night began.” Brian stared back over at his parents and swallowed hard. Hank and Shirley Waters looked like school teachers. Tyler’s stomach turned.

“Tell us about that time. If you need a break, just let me know.” Chase walked back to the podium.

“I remember it was around Christmas. I wanted to come out of my room and see the tree, it was in the basement. They wouldn’t answer me, so I kept asking. I could hear Christmas music from the television, which was nice, but I just wanted to see the tree. The next thing I remember, my dad was dragging me down the stairs by my arm. I was thrown into the bathroom down there. The entire floor and bathtub, were covered in dry pine needles. He said, “There ya go! Now you can see the damn Christmas tree!” All I was wearing was my underwear, so those needles stabbed me. I was bleeding everywhere. I lived that way for days, before I started banging on the door, begging to be let out.” Brian ran his shaking fingers through his hair. “That’s when my dad put a chain from the bathroom floor to my ankle. I couldn’t reach the door then, my arms were too short. But I could lie in the bathtub since I’d removed the pine needles. That made them angry. My dad would come in with bags of ice and empty them into the tub, so I’d be forced back onto the pine needles on the floor.”

Tyler covered his face with his hands. Painful visuals were flooding through his brain. Renee was shaking. He reached down and held her hand, but she was beyond comfort.

“You had water to drink, then?” Chase asked after a moment.

“Yeah, but some time later, my dad came in and removed the sink and toilet. He threw a bucket at me. When I was kept in my room, I was at least escorted to the bathroom across the hall. Those days were long gone. I remember seeing the relief on his face when the bucket bounced off of my chest, like I was going to become the perfect outlet for his anger. He started coming in and knocking me around on a regular basis then. First he’d shove me down, but then he’d punch and kick me. I couldn’t run.”

“Did they feed you?” Chase asked. The disgust on his face was evident.

“Man, I’d get so hungry. But yeah, they fed me. The water they gave me was either dirty dish water or bath water, I don’t know which, but it tasted foul and soapy.” Brian’s face twisted as if he was drinking it again. “They fed me their garbage. Sometimes it was dried up chicken with coffee grounds stuck to it, or whatever was rotting in the trash. I ate it though.”

“How long did that last, Brian?” Chase asked softly.

“Things stayed the same as I grew. My dad would change the size of the clamp around my ankle to a larger one, but nothing else improved. I had no clothes, blanket or pillow, so I got pretty cold down there. At some point, my dad removed the light bulb, and there weren’t any windows. It stayed pitch black in there. I didn’t know what time of day it was. He’d only put the bulb back in when he opened the door. Like he had to see the pain and misery on my face. The kindest thing he ever did was to throw me a pair of his boxers one time, so at least it was something.”

“Did you go to school, Brian?”

“I wasn’t allowed out.” Brian shook his head.

“Your parents claim that you were homeschooled. Is that true?” Chase seemed like he already knew the answer.

“No, not at all. After I ran away, in the evenings, I’d spend time at libraries. There was this homeless man who taught me a lot.” Brian briefly looked at Tyler. “When I moved in with Tyler and Renee, I had to catch up to my grade level.”

Tyler didn’t realize that tears were dripping off his chin. The wet faces and clenched fists of his brothers let him know he wasn’t alone. Emma and Elissa were both crying and holding hands. Renee, however, still hadn’t removed her eyes from the Waters.

“Tell me about the day you got free. Did your father let you out of the basement?” Chase’s fist was wrapped tightly around the side of the podium.

“Eventually, my dad took the chain off of me. Maybe he liked more of a challenge, but I know he definitely liked throwing me farther, making me hit the wall. I was so afraid of defending myself, but one day I just lost it. When he walked into the bathroom the last time, I hit him in the face with all of my might. Then I ran like hell.” Brian grinned.

“What pushed you to the point of standing up to a man much bigger, much stronger than you?” A silence fell in the courtroom, but Chase let Brian take his time.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Brian looked back down at his lap. Tyler could see his eyes watering.

“Brian, I know this is very hard for you, but it’s important that you tell us everything you remember.” Chase walked closer to Brian again.

“There’s nothing more to tell, I’m done.” Brian stood up and walked back to the prosecutor’s table and sat down, putting his face on his folded arms. Tyler wanted to scream.

The judge wrote something down, and then looked over at Simmons. “Do you have anything to add?”

“A few things, Your Honor. There’s
no
evidence
anywhere
on that property, that Brian was abused or neglected. None. The basement isn’t even in the condition that’s been alleged. The police report…” Simmons laughed, causing him to get a stern look from the judge. “It was all made up by Tyler Montclair and Brian Waters. He wants to adopt this boy, so he had to lie in order for that to happen. Brian’s a runaway who didn’t like to follow rules, plain and simple. Money talks, Your Honor, and the Montclairs have plenty. I’m sure the boy has been given lots of expensive gifts while he was with them. My clients, Hank and Shirley Waters, are loving parents. Shirley homeschooled Brian, and you have copies of his paperwork, to prove it. To even suggest that they’d be capable of emotionally or physically abusing Brian, is ludicrous. There’s absolutely no proof! Not to mention, if Hank Waters was abusing his son, where was his mother? Certainly, she loves Brian, and she’d never tolerate it. So please, Your Honor, ask Brian Waters where his mother was when all of this abuse was
supposedly
going on?” Simmons held his hands out to drive his point home. Tyler wanted to break the man’s arms.

“Brian, was your mother home during these times you’ve described?” asked Uldum.

“Yes,” Brian answered in a quiet voice. He lifted up his eyes and looked at the judge.

“Why didn’t you tell her?” The judge looked at the kid as if he was full of doubt.

“Tell my mother? She was there.” Brian started to laugh. He stood up and looked right at his parents. “My mother was there, because she was filming it!” His entire body started to crumble.

The courtroom fell silent.

Renee tried to get up, not to comfort Brian, but to attack the Waters. As Tyler held her down, he looked over at his brothers. Jacob and Sean were holding Elissa and Emma, who were also fiercely fighting to get at the Waters. He watched Vincent look at Carrie with concern, when she rose to her feet and hurried out of the courtroom.

“Please stay seated,” interrupted the judge. “Brian’s statements were very moving, but there’s still no evidence that any crime was ever committed against him. This case has been thoroughly investigated by Child Protective Services, as well as by law enforcement. I’m releasing Shirley Waters from custody, effective immediately, and dropping all abuse charges against both her and Hank Waters. Because Brian is still a minor, he’s going to be returned to the care of his mother today. Mr. Chase, did you ask Tyler Montclair to pack a suitcase for Brian?”

“Yes, Your Honor.” Vincent looked at Tyler, and he smiled and nodded, but he had no intentions of
sending him on that trip to Ohio.

“Very well. Case dismissed.” The judge got up and walked out of the courtroom. Hank and Shirley were thanking Simmons. She hugged her husband goodbye, and then she started walking towards Brian with a smile and outstretched arms. Tyler hurried over to his son.

“Goodbye, Brian. Take care of yourself.” He hugged him with one arm, shoved an envelope into his hands, and whispered.

“Run…”

To be continued in:

The Montclair Brothers

Book 4

Coming in the summer of 2014