Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes of Hazzard, not making any money, just cheap thrills.
Warnings: Angst
Rating: FRT
A/N: Thank you all for reviewing and voting. The jury's in.
/ denotes thoughts, assuming that the site doesn't delete the slash mark.
If You Love Something Set It Free
Chapter 12
"Has the jury reached a verdict?"
"We have your honor," answered the jury foreman, handing a slip of paper to the baliff.
After reading the verdict, the judge looked at the defense table and instructed Kathy Sue to stand up, "Mr. foreman, what has the jury found?"
"Your honor, in the matter of The State of Georgia vs. Katherine Sue Shelton, we the jury find the defendant, not guilty."
At these words the courtroom erupted into chaos as friends and family reacted to the verdict. Suddenly, before anybody could stop him Luke grabbed the baliff's gun and turned to Kathy Sue. "You won't get the chance to hurt him again!" he snarled, pulling the trigger. Immediately afterwards, several state policemen burst into the courtroom and fired on Luke!
"NO!" Bo woke with a scream /thank God, it was just a dream/
"Bo, you okay?" Luke asked, startling Bo who hadn't realized his cousin had moved over to sit on the edge of his bed.
"Yeah, just a nightmare that's all," Bo answered, praying it would remain a nightmare only.
"Want to talk about it?"
"Not really, but I know you won't leave me alone 'til I do. There's really not much to tell, the trial was over and the jury found her not guilty."
"What else? Don't try it Bo, I know you're not telling me everything," Luke said, cutting him off before he could protest.
"You grabbed the baliff's gun and killed Kathy Sue, then...I woke up when the state police rushed into the room and started shooting you," Bo told him, shuddering slightly as he remembered the all too vivid dream.
"You ain't got to worry about that Bo. There ain't no way the jury would find her not guilty. They may decide she's insane, but they won't let her go free, I know they won't."
"But...what if they do? What if they think that I did something to deserve the things she did?" Not giving his cousin a chance to answer, Bo rushed on. "Luke you have to promise me...if they do say not guilty; promise you won't do anything crazy. You won't take the law into your own hands, please Luke I need you here, not in prison or...dead. Promise?" Bo asked of his cousin, tears shimmering in his eyes.
Seeing just how scared Bo was, Luke did the only thing he could. Wrapping his arms protectively around Bo, he whispered, "I promise you cousin, I won't shoot her or do anything to take the law into my own hands. You won't have to face anything by yourself, I swear to you Bo, I'll always be here for you."
"Thanks Luke, I know it's silly to be so scared by a dream..."
"After what you've been through? It's not silly Bo, a dream like that would've scared me too," Luke reassured him. After a few more minutes of talking, Luke returned to his own bed and both boys settled down to sleep.
The sound of the rooster crowing woke them next morning. Getting up and dressed they headed outside to take care of the morning chores. A couple of hours later, they returned to the kitchen ready to enjoy the breakfast Daisy had made for them all. After the blessing, the meal was eaten in silence, all of them thinking the same thing and not wanting to bring it up.
"Dang it!"
"Bo..." the only thing Uncle Jesse needed to say.
"I'm sorry Uncle Jesse. I just hate this, everybody avoiding the subject so y'all don't upset me, and since won't none of you say it, I will. Do y'all think the jury will reach a verdict today?" Bo asked the question on all their minds.
"I don't know Bo, but Mr. Williamson will call as soon as the jury reaches a verdict. Do you want to be there or just wait to hear the verdict from Mr. Williamson?" Uncle Jesse asked.
"I guess I should be there, but...maybe it would be better if we stayed home," Bo told him, thinking about the nightmare he'd had last night.
"Then that's what we'll do, I'll give Mr. Williamson a call after breakfast and let him know. What do you kids have planned for today?" Jesse asked.
"I have to work this afternoon, Boss is opening early, figures we'll be busy cause of the...trial," Daisy told them, the last word barely audible.
"That sounds like something Boss would do," Luke said, the anger easily heard.
"I'm sorry Bo..."Daisy began to apologize.
"Ain't your fault Daisy, told you I don't want y'all avoiding the subject on my account. And Luke I know why you're mad, but ain't no point getting mad at Boss for being himself." Turning to Uncle Jesse, Bo answered his question, "I was thinking maybe me and Luke could go see Cooter. We owe him for some parts, thought maybe we could do some work for him since we ain't got the cash. What do ya say Luke?"
"Sounds good to me Bo, beats sitting around here all day." Luke told him, relieved that Bo wasn't letting worry about the trial keep him at home. As soon as they had finished with breakfast, Luke and Bo finished the few chores left to do before heading into town.
When they arrived at Cooter's garage and told him their idea, he quickly agreed, glad to have the help. An hour later, Bo slid out from under the car he was working on and came face to face with his friend L.B.. Neither boy spoke at first, both feeling a little awkward. They hadn't seen each other since a few days before Bo's kidnapping and L.B. was feeling guilty for having wondered if Bo had wanted what she did. Bo wasn't sure what to say to his friend, he could see the guilt written plainly on his face. While he didn't blame L.B. for wondering, he couldn't help wondering if he could trust his friend to be there for him. Did the guilt he saw mean that L.B. knew he had been wrong, or would he leave here and gossip with others about their conversation? Taking a deep breath, Bo decided to give his friend another chance, but even so he planned to be careful. "Hey L.B., haven't seen ya in a while."
"Yeah I know, listen Bo, I just wanted to say; I'm sorry about that. I should've been there for ya, I just didn't know what to say and, well I didn't know if what I'd heard was true."
"You mean you thought maybe I wanted her to...ra...rape me? I heard you talking to Cooter last week L.B.. I don't really blame ya none for wondering, heck wondered myself sometimes, but... I thought you was my friend, why didn't you just come to me instead of talking about me behind my back? How am I supposed to trust you after that?" Bo asked, forcing himself to look his friend in the eyes, refusing to turn away.
Seeing the hurt in his friend's eyes L.B. felt worse than ever. "I'm sorry Bo, you'll never know how sorry I am for that. If I had known you were there...I guess that don't matter none though. I still had no right to be talking about you like that. I don't wonder anymore Bo, I know you didn't notice me at the trial, but I was there and I heard your testimony. I had no idea about what she'd done and I'm sorry I ever had any doubts about you. Do you think you'll ever be able to forgive me?" L.B. asked, hoping that Bo could get past his hurt feelings.
"I don't know, but I'm willing to try. ...um, so you want to help me work or are you just here to look pretty?" Bo asked, trying to sound lighthearted but unable to keep the tension from his voice.
Sensing that his friend was trying to get things back to normal, L.B. tried to play along, "You're just jealous Duke. Let me have a look at what ya done so far, see if I can fix it," he teased, smiling when Bo chuckled at his words.
Watching from the office, Luke and Cooter were relieved to see the two younger men laughing and joking with each other. Once he had calmed down, Luke knew that L.B.'s questions were probably normal and that he didn't mean any harm. Of course he had still worried that Bo wouldn't be able to get past it, no matter what he said about not blaming his friend. He looked at Cooter and grinned, happier than he could say that Kathy Sue hadn't cost Bo a good friend, as he had been afraid she would. Joining the two younger men in working, they spent the next several hours working and joking, allowing the tension to slowly leave.
"Hey y'all, you realize it's lunch time? How about me and Luke go over to the diner and pick us all up some lunch?"
"Sounds like a good idea Cooter, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse," Bo told him, the others nodding in agreement.
"Alright then, what do you two boys want?"
After getting Bo and L.B.'s orders, Luke and Cooter left to get lunch from the diner down the street. Ten minutes later, Bo heard footsteps behind him, "That was quick, y'all forget...," he trailed off when he saw Roy Mason and Billy Joe Henderson standing there. "Hey Roy, Billy...Cooter's not here right now, he went to get..."
"Ain't here to see Cooter. Seen you over here working and we thought we'd come see ya." Roy answered for them both. "So Bo," Roy began walking to the workbench and picking up a screwdriver. "Now that the trial's over with, you can tell us the truth. Kathy Sue didn't really rape you did she? You wanted to be with her didn't ya?"
"No that ain't the truth. I didn't want any of the things she did to me, I didn't lie about it," Bo insisted.
"Look here Roy, you got no call talking to Bo like that. You're just looking to start trouble, and you can just take it somewhere else." L.B. told him, stepping towards him and drawing back his arm, prepared to hit him if he had to.
Seeing that L.B. was willing to defend him, Bo felt some of his fear leaving him, Advancing towards Billy Joe, he backed his friend's move.
Knowing they would have trouble taking these two in a fair fight and not wanting to face Luke and Cooter, both troublemakers turned tail and ran. Looking at each other in surprise, L.B. and Bo broke out laughing a moment later, just as Luke and Cooter returned.
"What's so funny fellas?" Cooter asked.
"Roy Mason and Billy Joe Henderson, they..." Bo looked at L.B. and burst out laughing again, unable to go on.
Cooter and Luke exchanged a confused glance, but couldn't keep the grins from their faces at the sound of Bo's laughter. After several minutes, both of the younger men had calmed enough to tell their older cousins what had happened. At first both of the older men were angry and wanted to teach those two troublmakers a lesson, but after thinking it over they began to see the humor too. Realizing that Bo had taken an important step in getting past what had happened, they decided to let it go.
After several more hours of work, Bo and Luke said their goodbyes, climbed into the General and headed for home. Pulling into the yard, they were surprised to see Lawerence Shelton's car parked next to Uncle Jesse's truck. Wondering what he wanted, Luke looked at Bo in concern. Seeing the look on his cousin's face, he was determined not to let Mr. Shelton hurt Bo any further. "Come on Bo, might as well see what he wants."
Nodding shakily, Bo pulled himself from the General and slowly walked towards the house. Stepping into the kitchen, Bo instinctively stepped back when Mr. Shelton stood up.
Seeing this, Lawerence sat back down. "Bo...I wondered if I could speak to you?" Noticing the reluctance on Bo's face and the protective stance his cousin had taken, he hurried on. "I already spoke to your uncle, he knows what I want to talk to you about, if that helps," Lawerence offered.
"You don't have to talk to him if ya don't want to boy, but I think you should hear him out. If it'll make ya feel better me and Luke'll stay right here with you," Uncle Jesse said, throwing one arm around Bo's shoulders as he spoke.
"Okay Uncle Jesse, if you think I should, I will. I would like you and Luke to be here though, if ya don't mind."
"Course we don't mind, come on Bo, let's have a seat and hear what the man has to say." Luke answered, leading him to the table and shooting a look at Lawerence Shelton. A look that clearly said, hurt my cousin and I'll make sure you pay.
"First let me say, I am sorry for what my daughter did to you Bo. I know I should have realized sooner that she needed help and I can't tell you how very sorry I am for my failure. I know it doesn't come anywhere near making it up to you, but I have an offer for you. I would like to, after the verdict, pay for surgery for you."
"Surgery? What kind of surgery?"
"Skin grafts Bo, I've done some checking and of course the surgeon would have to see you before he could say just what could be done. But I don't want you to be forced into carrying those scars for the rest of your life and if it's possible, I would be glad to pay for any necessary surgery. Whatever it takes to rid you of the reminders of my daughter's actions."
"I don't know Mr. Shelton. I sure don't want to have her initials on me forever, but it ain't right for you to pay, you didn't do it. I know you feel bad about what she did, but it ain't your fault and I don't want your pity."Bo began to stand up, stopping when Lawerence grabbed his wrist.
"Bo, you're wrong. It is my fault, well in a way it is. Please sit back down. Thank you, now you're right I didn't hurt you, but I allowed my wife to run our house. Allowed her to talk down to me and teach Kathy Sue that was the way to behave towards the man you love. Though as bad as my wife can be, Kathy Sue took it a step further and physically abused you. Then the things she did recently, well obviously she is completely out of control and I am partly responsible. I'm responsible in that, if I had been more of a man when she was growing up, perhaps she wouldn't have thought that her actions were acceptable. I can't take back what she did or the mistakes I made, but I can help you now. That's my only reason for offering to pay for the skin grafts that could rid you of those scars, not guilt or pity, but atonement. The only atonement I can offer, please think about it Bo. Don't let your pride and anger stand in the way of your healing."
Seeing that Mr. Shelton was sincere and knowing he did make sense, Bo agreed to at least think about it. Leaving the house, Bo headed to the creek and waited for Luke to come get him after Mr. Shelton left. It took longer than he expected, but finally he heard Luke approaching. Turning he was surprised to see the grin on Luke's face. "Mr. Shelton gone?"
"Yeah, he left right after you did. I was just heading out to tell you when the phone rang, it was Mr. Williamson. The jury's back with the verdict..."
"And?" Bo asked, though he knew by the smile it must be good news.
"Guilty!" Luke shouted, grabbing Bo in a hard embrace. "Guilty on all counts Bo. Bo? Ain't you glad to hear that?" Luke asked, concerned when he saw the look of sadness cross his cousin's face.
"No, but I am relieved. I know you don't understand Luke, but I did love her. Cause of that, I can't be glad that she's going to prison. I can be relieved though, knowing that she'll never be able to hurt me again. Maybe now I can start getting on with my life, instead of always being afraid. So how long is she going to prison for?" Bo asked, after trying to explain his feelings to Luke.
"Don't know yet, Mr. Williamson said there'll be a sentencing hearing in a couple of days. He says the jury will talk it over and then they'll make a reccommendation to the judge. After that the judge will decide how much time she gets, but Mr. Williamson is going to do his best to make sure she gets life. ...There's one more thing Bo, Mr. Williamson wants you to talk to the judge, let him know how what she did affected you. He thinks it'll help to convince the judge to lock her up for life, do you think you can handle that?"
"I...I don't want to, but I know it needs to be done. Guess after the trial this should be easy, huh?" Bo asked, not surprised when Luke was quick to reassure him that he could get through this one last thing. "Come on Luke, let's head back to the house, before Uncle Jesse starts worrying."
Luke nearly ran into Bo's back when he stopped in his tracks. "Bo, what is it?" When his cousin didn't answer, Luke stepped to the side and looked towards the house. "Great what does she want?" he asked, seeing Pamela Shelton's car.
"I don't..." Bo croaked out. Swallowing hard and taking a deep breath, he tried again. "I don't know, but I'll bet she ain't here to help."
TBC
Well, the verdict's in with the sentencing soon to come. I'd say there's only one more chapter to go, but I've been thinking that for the last several chapters, so what do I know? ;) Let me know what you think of the story, please.