CHAPTER 5: FIGURING OUT THINGS
The gang were all at the Bronze Beagle. Pat, Lucy, and Pig Pen avoided having alcohol, as Pig Pen was still serving his own suspended sentence, Lucy couldn't drink due to her own probation, plus mixing alcohol with her meds wasn't a smart move, and Pat due to her pregnancy. The subject was Schroeder's guilty verdict.
"I hope he gets locked up for a long time for what he did to my sister!" growled Linus, who was happy with the verdict. "He better not get a slap on the wrist!"
"He's been found guilty, Linus," said Shermy. "He's not getting out for a while. Even if he does get paroled early, there's no coming back from this."
"Well, I got paroled, and I'm still doing good," said Lucy. "Plus, in spite of what he tried to do to me, I still abided by the restraining order when it was in place."
"Well, he should have seen you were doing what was expected, Lucille," said Pat.
"I just hate that he's still at his mother's house!" fumed Linus. "He should be in jail right now."
"They got a monitoring device on him, Linus," said Charlie. "They'd know if he was off his mother's property."
"Who's to say he won't cut it off, Charlie?!" Linus protested. "People have done it before! He could do it and try to finish what he started!"
"It's tamper-proof, Linus," said Franklin. "My father worked in the military, and he had access to some of the stuff law enforcement uses, including those devices. He told me about them himself."
"Well, I wouldn't put it pass that asshole to try something like that!" Linus said, still upset. "The only thing Lucy is guilty of is having a crush on him, and yeah, she did cross the line when she attack the lady back then, she's better now. I hate him more than he hates her right now!"
"Calm down, honey," said Mary Jo, trying to ease Linus's tension.
"We all agree with you, Linus," added Frieda. "What Schroeder did to Lucy was totally shitty, but he's been found guilty and faces prison. He will pay for what he's done to Lucy here."
"The best thing for you to do is to let this go," said Charlie, trying to talk some sense into his best friend. "Schroeder is not going to be a free man for a long time. Besides, Derrick has been at Lucy's side as much as he can, plus she's with you at the library when you're both working. Even if he wanted to, Schroeder wouldn't be able to do anything!"
"Chuck's right, Linus," added Pat. "Don't let this consume you." Linus took in what his friends had to say. He finally sighed deeply.
"Sorry, guys," he said, wearily. "I think I need to be by myself for a bit. I'll call you later, Mary Jo."
"Okay, honey," said Mary Jo, who kissed him goodbye. Linus left the Beagle. After he left, Mary Jo said, "I'm worried about him."
"He'll be okay," said Pig Pen. "Linus gets pretty emotional about a lot of things, especially family."
"After our grandmother passed away, you know, the one who always tried to make him give up his blanket, even more than I did," said Lucy, "he was desponded over it for months on end, and this was the one who tried to take his blanket away. Linus takes family seriously."
"How is he taking Rerun's situation?" asked Mary.
"Not so good," said Mary Jo. "Before the Schroeder situation, he was dealing with what his brother was going through."
"Man, I feel bad for Linus," said Patty.
"We all do," agreed Charlie.
Elsewhere, on James St., Linus was walking by the Klimt house. He saw Schroeder with his mother in the backyard. They never saw Linus looking at them. Linus's anger grew more and more. Aside from what happened with Grace, what did Lucy do to him that he does this, he wondered. Linus then remembered some of Lucy's attention-getting antics she did when they were kids, like when she threw his piano up a kite-eating tree, or when she threw his piano down the sewer and it floated out to sea. Yes, Lucy did some shitty things to him when they were younger, but she had changed, and it was part of her bipolar disorder that made her do the things she did, but it still didn't excuse what Schroeder tried to do to her. Linus knew he had to pay, and prison was the least of what he deserved.
"You're going to pay for what you did, Schroeder!" he growled silently. "I promise you that, 'friend'!"
TO BE CONTINUED…
