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Chapter 211
My Star
Jake
Side by side, I ran with my dad through the woods back toward Saco.
Chatting with him had done me good. I was so grateful that he was my dad.
At the edge of town we parted, and I carefully took the bag between my teeth.
These bags, which Mom and Dad had brought from Chicago, were totally practical for us wolves. A complete outfit fit into the light bags. Becky or Marcus could carry them comfortably like a backpack, but for ourselves there was a sturdy strap that wouldn't break immediately in our snouts. Anyway.
I soon arrived in the woods behind Becky's parents' house. I saw light in her window. I had only casually looked up there after phasing back and getting dressed, but then leaned against a tree with a smirk as I heard the music softly and saw Becky jumping around her room.
My star! It was obvious that she was really not gloomy. And if she wasn't, I wasn't allowed to be either.
I ran the narrow path to the street, past the two neighboring houses and quickly up the driveway. In the last few yards, it had dribbled a little more.
The weather was really getting on my nerves, but from tomorrow it should stay dry for the time being. Allegedly. Said the weather forecast.
I knocked on the front door.
I saw their parents behind the windows, but Bryan could already be asleep ... Probably not, at Becky's private concert.
"Hello, Jake," her mother greeted me.
"Hi ...", I replied.
She eyed me timidly.
Sure. Who knows what Dad had told her to keep the news from me for the time being. "The news has reached me in the meantime," I therefore stated.
"And how are you doing with it?" came Henry from the living room.
"It got me down a little earlier, but Becky doesn't seem to have a real problem with it," I opined. "She called me," I added. After all, I couldn't say I'd seen her bouncing around happily through the window, since you could only see her window from the woods.
Officially, I finally picked up my star by car. The constantly overcrowded parking situation on this street was very convenient for me. Only her father's car fit into the driveway, Eliza's rather squeezed onto the sidewalk and on the street it was actually always crowded.
"I'm sure she'll come through the trial just fine," her father slapped me on the shoulder.
Eliza nodded in agreement.
"And could you please tell her that I'm going to kick her out if she doesn't finally turn down the music!" he pointed upward.
"But that could backfire, honey. Your little daughter would certainly find a new home," Eliza chuckled.
Now I nodded in agreement, while Henry rolled his eyes.
I then went upstairs, determinedly following the loud music.
For Becky, there were only two volumes. Quiet background music or festival sound.
I saved knocking, she would not hear it anyway.
Becky was leaning against her desk, typing on her cell phone and at the same time reaching behind her on the table. As the planned target of her fingers I suspected the bag with chocolate lentils, but they were landed in an empty, but certainly sticky bowl, in which I recognized the remains of a pudding or something. She pulled a disgusted pout and the fingers from the bowl.
"Multi-tasking, my ass!", I teased her. Oh well. I shouted it at her.
Still somewhat contrite, she looked up while I walked toward her. She put her cell phone aside and used a remote control to turn down the music system.
"There you are at last! I was already worried!" she said timidly.
I rolled my eyes.
Why did everyone think they had to worry about me? ... Okay. My one night panic attack, which I had told her about at the time, was probably reason enough.
I took her fingers and licked the pudding residue.
Mmm ... yummy. Stracciatella. Made me hungry for more. I just wasn't quite sure which 'more' yet. Pudding? Or Becky?
"I'm fine. No freak out today," I informed her and gently kissed her lips. Okay. More Becky!
She looked at me quite skeptically afterwards.
"I admit it. I was in a bad mood ... I went for a run in the woods. More precisely, I sat in our cove by the lake and thought. Of course, my mood didn't necessarily get any better in the process. At some point, Dad came over and we talked about everything. I've been better since then," I admitted.
Becky, of course, asked what 'everything' meant, but I put off explaining until later.
I was hungry.
"You're always hungry!" she charged, teasingly.
I shrugged my shoulders.
Wolves just.
It rained on the way home, but through the forest one was well protected. In addition, Becky had a thick rain jacket on.
Dad had actually saved me some of dinner from Leah and warmed it up for me.
Leah and Marcus arrived just as I was sitting over my plate.
His family was certainly a bit confused about the course of events, but all in all they were probably rather pleased that he had 'made up' with Leah. They didn't know the whole story. Of the fact that they were now also engaged, everyone had been pretty gobsmacked.
Marcus first brought my parents an invitation to dinner. In the next few days, if they could arrange it. Some time ago, his mother had been a witness to how things could be here. In this respect, my parents should determine the date, while Evelyn - Marcus' mother - was very flexible.
Then I lay in bed with my star. Facing each other sideways and between us was one hand of each of us, whose fingers played with each other.
I told my star what I had talked about with Dad.
That I had blamed myself for the attack on her, as revenge for the first day of school at Senior High. But that Jazz and Dad had prevented it several weeks earlier, which I then had to tell her in detail. My doubts about our legal system. How could it be that someone like Mike was on the loose? What would have happened on New Year's Eve if Becky had been at the party without us? Or if they had happened to run into each other at some other place? But Becky really seemed to be very relaxed, although the start of the trial came as a surprise in my opinion.
She crawled on top of me so that I was lying on my back.
"I've told you before, my little wolf. Nothing can throw me off balance like that again. Even if the same thing were to happen to me again. Because you'll be there ... But the chance of it happening again is infinitesimal," she said and kissed me.
"What do you mean?", I asked, confused.
"Jazz and I don't just talk to each other. He also taught me a little self-defense," my star smiled confidently.
I contorted my face, caught off guard.
This was really the first time I had heard of it. But when I thought about it, I could have expected it. As one know, my family - especially my dad - thought of everything. It was very reassuring information, though, which Becky had one more of.
"And if I ever go out without you, I have pepper spray with me. My dad gave it to me," she added.
So I fell asleep quite relaxed.
I would not have thought it possible a few hours earlier.
The next morning, I preliminarily suspected, I woke up very strangely.
I felt Becky under me, but something seemed to be crawling over my legs. At the same time, I was still dreaming strange stuff. It was summer and I was eight years old again, but Becky was still there. To take care of Leah and me. Very disappointing. Because I just couldn't coax a kiss out of our babysitter. Something definitely slapped me in the face in the midst of my childish attempts at flirtation. My dream changed. I was in danger of sinking in the water and clung to a saving anchor. My babysitter. But she went down with me. When I thought I had finally drowned, I was awakened by a squeaky laugh.
I opened my eyes while still struggling to breathe a little and saw Ced in front of me.
In the middle of my bed. Cheerfully gurgling. That explained the sudden water in my dream.
Becky had apparently already woken up before me. My little brother smiled once again in her direction.
"Good morning," someone purred equanimously from somewhere in front of the bed.
Dad. With our cups in hand, which I looked forward to very longingly. One bright spot that morning. First my babysitter who wouldn't get involved with me. Then the unexpected death by drowning. To top it off, my brother also stole my girlfriend.
"I'm here, too!" grumbled Dad, playfully indignant.
"Yes, but only because of the coffee!", I countered.
"Then I guess that's the only reason you took me into this family?"
"What did you think?!", I stated the facts here once and sat up.
This was followed by a resounding slap in the face.
Well, was really just a gentle teasing blow against my lower jaw. Closely followed by a kiss on the forehead.
"Thank you," I followed up as I got my cup. "And what are you doing here at this hour already?", I asked Ced as I sat back.
He had simply been awake early and accompanied Dad on his morning tour of the house. And my bed was just a stopover.
Dad took him away again.
One room further on, someone still had to be woken up.
I pulled away the curtain in front of a window.
No rain.
I smiled.
"Nothing seems to stand in the way of our date!", I said enthusiastically as I snuggled up to my star.
It was Wednesday, a bit unconventional for a classic date, but we didn't have time on the weekend and today was neither practice nor game. At least no game from us. Marcus was playing, but I certainly didn't need to hold his hand while he did. He would have to settle for Leah. I know, a pitiful substitute for me, but he just had to live with it.
I went running with Leah as usual, our fiancés did the same, but on feet instead of paws.
We had breakfast and we were already at the school.
Brandon vividly recounted how his ma had shared the news that Leah and I now had an adoptive father.
Apparently she wasn't sure what to do with it yet. Be happy for mom and us because we were obviously okay with it? Continue to find it odd because of the age difference? She was still thinking about an appropriate response.
School was as usual. Only with two tiny differences from usual.
Becky spent the day trying to get out of me where our official date would take us. And Dad was there in the afternoon, too. Chemistry, biology, and physics. All three subjects in which we had absolutely no difficulty. Accordingly, we followed the lessons attentively.
We chatted quietly. Or rather, Dad explained the current subject matter to us a bit more quickly today. And more comprehensively than would be required for high school. Since our teacher had an important official appointment in the last hour, we could leave a few minutes earlier.
This was not only convenient for me but also for Leah. Dad would drive her to Marcus' game, so the two of them had a bit of a head start since the hallways and parking lot were still empty.
Just in time for the bell to ring, I stood in front of the business administration classroom. The door flew open, and the first students streamed through the hallways.
My sweetheart was already smiling at me when she saw me standing in the doorway. Hastily she threw her case into her bag, grabbed her jacket from the chair and flew into my arms.
"Hi ...", I greeted her.
"Hi ... I think we have a date," my star purred.
Yes, we did.
I tried to act like Dad would. Correction: like Dad always did. Gentlemanly.
I helped my fiancée into her jacket, opened the passenger door on my car for her, held out a hand for her to get in, and so on. Driving toward Portland to Becky's favorite music, I didn't have to go into the city. My destination was on the northern edge of town.
My star was curious, but I did not reveal anything.
"We're skating?!" echoed Becky as I parked.
She sounded joyfully surprised.
"In a manner of speaking," I replied.
We were standing in front of a skate park where we men were when our ladies were in New York.
I certainly wouldn't shoo Becky over the skate course. She was athletically inclined, but skateboarding was not for the untrained. After all, I wasn't going to chauffeur her home in an ambulance. Since I had inherited my dancing genes from Mom, I couldn't take my star out dancing. Well, I mean, elegantly take her out dancing. I had no problem in discos. But skating I could. And here I was able to bribe my genes with what I just could. In the adjacent roller disco hall.
We borrowed old-fashioned roller skates and stormed the area.
Becky could do inline skates, so only had to adjust briefly.
Round and round we went through the rink. Sometimes hand in hand, sometimes one after the other, we paused at the bar, rolled again in time to the music, teased each other, laughed a lot. Even kissing worked quite well on the roller skates.
Well, we took the parapet that framed the area a few times in the process. It was nice to have Becky all to myself. I'm not complaining now, we truly had enough time to ourselves, but it was kind of different. This was one of those things we would have normally done together with our friends, but with the two of us it had a whole different style. And just the two of us was actually very rare. It was just like Mom and Marcus had said. I didn't really have a private life. But I had a twin sister.
"Can you actually still do that right?" asked Becky as we sat back in the small bar.
This glazed space separated the skate course from the disco room. So you could see both areas and Becky just watched the real skaters quite impressed.
Becky knew that I had been a skater back in the day, which had also been my active stoner days. She had made fun of it at the time. So about skaters. I had not yet figured out whether that was why I had hung up the skateboard on the proverbial nail at some point.
"Yes, I still can. Even better than back then," I answered truthfully and told her how I had ripped Emmett off mercilessly.
I honestly put the 'better' down to the wolf in me. Even when I was breaking in on the unfamiliar board, I noticed that a lot of things were easier for me than I had remembered. Probably because I could control my whole body better, including all the muscles it contained. Even Mom's gene share didn't stand a chance.
"Show me how you drive," my star asked.
We finished our drinks and returned the roller skates. Instead, we rented complete safety equipment and a skateboard.
I took only the third of the boards available for selection. I knew what I could handle best. What exact size, what kind of rollers and the like. There were small but subtle differences there, especially with the axles. The picture below was a bit silly, pink butterflies and rainbows, but that was beside the point.
"That would go well with Marcus," Becky laughed, fully infecting me.
Yep ... the unicorn on his ass would definitely feel very comfortable there.
Becky made a picture of what she would rub his nose in later.
I took the safety helmet and briefly drove myself in. Then I showed my star that I could really still skate and used the entire course for that. But I only skated a generous round.
We had a date, after all.
When I rolled back to her, there were three guys standing with her.
"That's my fiancé!", I heard her say quite proudly.
"Too bad, but I guess that was to be feared," resigned one of them.
"With such a pretty lady," added another.
"Cool moves!" the third one praised me and held out his hand.
As usual among skaters, I hit it, but then they moved on. Or rolled on.
"Those guys were pretty impressed," my star welcomed me.
"Is this a miracle!?", I started to say. Yes, sounded arrogant. Was meant to be. "With a beautiful girl like you!", I ended.
Becky smiled, but hit me - teasing me - against my torso.
"I meant the skating!" she clarified.
I kissed her bribingly.
No, the guys would have been impressed with Becky, not my skate skills. Girls like my star did not become lost to those very often.
We still had a little time and Becky was interested. So she stood on the board, and I showed her a little bit.
Next to us was a small group of boys. They had heard my private lessons and then partially demonstrated what I explained to my star. Just a few simple things.
Occasionally, however, she would fall into my arms, and I was sure that it was mostly on purpose. But who would want to complain about that?
In time, we were back in the car, and I drove closer to the city proper.
The destination was a seafood restaurant at the 'Back Cove'. A large side pool of the ocean. A tip from Marcus. Not a particularly fine place, which is why we could go in normal clothes, but the food would be first class.
Under Dad's guidance, I had reserved a table by phone.
I had to learn finally also times, how one always got everything, which one wanted in such a way. Marcus had also said that I should take a table on the upper floor, if possible, if I had a chance at such short notice.
When we entered the restaurant, I understood.
Downstairs there was a lot of activity. It was quite noisy, and many people were walking around. Fortunately, a waitress actually led us upstairs.
They had not been able to promise me that when I made the reservation.
The décor here was just as simple as downstairs, but it seemed more elegant somehow.
Must have been the many large aquariums that divided the room. It was also much quieter here.
We were assigned a table next to a window. With a view of the Back Cove.
We sat sideways on the chairs to see the view better, with Becky leaning back against me. The waterfront was partially lit with colorful lights, some public or particularly beautiful houses were illuminated by spotlights, and the taller houses of Portland's downtown could be seen in the background.
We shared the appetizer platter, and I fed my star, who continued to lean against me, the finger foods. Then I got a shrimp burger and Becky had chosen grilled tilapia fillet.
I did not know. In exchange for one of my giant shrimp, I got a bite of her fish. Tasted brilliant.
For dessert, I suggested a little walk along the water. There was a 'Ben & Jerry's' store somewhere. Arm in arm we strolled there. It was further than I had assumed, but that didn't matter. With the ice cream we had enough food for the way back to the car.
I drove my star home - so to speak - as was proper after a date.
I took the bags from the back seat, opened the passenger door for her, and led her by my hand to the porch. She stopped one step above me.
"Thank you for a lovely afternoon and evening!" she said.
"Then may I ask you out again?", I said hopefully. I wouldn't let her out of her promise to marry me, but maybe she didn't want to go out with me alone anymore. Who knows?
"Anytime, my big wolf," she murmured, coming toward me.
To a dreamlike goodbye kiss. Yep ... the date had probably gone well.
"Good night, Jake," she then said goodbye and I watched my star dreamily as she unlocked the front door and entered the house.
I hung my thoughts on this for a moment.
It was really true. We had never had a real date before. I had never taken my star home after a date like I did now. Even when we had been out alone before, I had taken her to Edward's house afterwards. We hadn't really agreed on that, rather it had been kind of a given. But I wanted to immortalize this moment in my mind. How it felt to deliver this happy girl safe and sound and in love at home ...
Then I walked briskly behind.
"I live here, too," I reminded her.
She still had the front door in her hand and so far had only continued to look at me.
So I also got a welcome kiss because I came home.
My family was still awake and sitting in the living room, respectively Leah just came home from the forest.
She was limping.
Dad operated.
So to speak.
He cooled the joint. She got the anesthesia from Marcus.
Becky was already running upstairs while I was assisting my sister in her death throes.
I then made fun of how that had happened when she told it.
She had wanted to change back - as usual - so that she could go on directly as a human, but had then stumbled over something lying on the ground. I was totally thrilled by this. That was the proof that it wasn't only me who always had such unnecessary nonsense happen!
I heard my room door fall into the lock and retreated. Quickly into the bathroom and then there was a star in my bed.
As if she was just waiting for me ...
The rest of the week was pretty relaxed.
I had a game on Thursday and Leah and Becky on Friday.
We won. In each case.
On Friday Akai and Tom came for their usual practice. They had brought Phoebe with them, and we had sat and chatted for a long time in the cabin where we had been for Dad's bachelor party.
On Saturday we went to Rosalie's workshop.
Five of us. Ced was also there and helped to the best of his ability. Sometimes on my Harley, sometimes on Marcus' Bus.
Around noon, however, Esmé and Carlisle picked him up and took him swimming.
Dad had arranged it that way because I had asked him for something under the seal of secrecy and Ced wouldn't necessarily get my trust about that. He would only betray me! I wanted to learn to dance and surprise my star with it. Rosie was in on it, since she was acting as my dance partner. And Marcus, of course.
He sat in the remains of his bus and looked on with great amusement.
"Let's PLEASE take a short break!" demanded Rosie in the meantime. "I would love to let him trample other shoes than my new 'Jimmy Choos'!" she screeched, and was gone.
There was a dirty laugh behind me.
"Were you any better at your first dance lesson?", I grumbled.
"No. I'm not laughing at you either ... but about Rose. She should have expected it!" Marcus said defensively.
Dad agreed with him.
From the afternoon we were at home, in our castle made of glass.
We had promised our parents a family night and we inaugurated one of our grills on this occasion.
Sure, in operation had already been last Saturday at our birthday party, but now it was the first time among us. Without the one who could handle it.
We were too spoiled to just turn meat or sausage, but tried our hand right at the 'four hour' spareribs.
We prepared salads in the afternoon, bread was cut, a few dips were added, beer was chilled ...
Wrapped in blankets so that our humans did not get cold, we sat between the fireplace and grill with pillows on the floor.
We played 'Charades'.
Ced was chosen to pantomime for us the terms that Dad gave him. Accordingly, the game was fun, but also tedious. And again and again a watchful look to the grill.
In the meantime, I had briefly retreated to the bathroom and called David.
I was concerned about the temperature in the grill.
"If anyone else calls me, we'll be right over in person to have some of that barbecue, too!" thundered David.
"Who has called already?", I inquired.
"Well. I guess Ced can't use a phone yet, but other than that ... EVERYONE!"
The ribs were definitely successful, and we sent David a photo of the leftover mountain of bones afterwards.
It was not yet midnight when we all went to bed.
Or to the attics.
Ced was already asleep, of course.
I don't know what Leah was up to in the next room, but with Becky I had a little private picnic with soft music. Actually, we had been tired, which is why we had gone upstairs, but now I was feeling frisky again. In the small pantry between our lofts I found milk in the fridge, and in the cupboard next to it a packet of cookies, salt sticks, and potato chips.
A little later, when I went to get the chocolate that had been smiling at me the first time, I ran into Leah and Marcus, who were already munching on it together.
"You shouldn't snack after brushing your teeth!", I reprimanded them sternly. Role model son and all!
"You have cookie crumbs on your T-shirt!" countered Leah.
Crap!
"Didn't we still have milk up here?" she then asked.
"Um ... yeah ... the ... is with us," I admitted.
So the two of them joined our little picnic and we chatted for a long time.
The next morning we had an extended breakfast in bed.
Or rather ... in my attic. With Mom, Dad and Ced. God, it was cozy!
On my subsequent question, who would have come up with this cuddly idea, because someone was now responsible for the crumbs in my attic, I was discreetly told where I would find the vacuum cleaner.
Run, shower, dress.
Then while Becky and Leah had their dance lesson with Dad, I settled into the kitchen with soda and licorice candy canes. The Lego tower my parents had brought was still waiting for me.
Since Mom was forbidden on principle to handle hammers and nails, Marcus went to help her hang up the pictures.
Ced would sit on the table with me. He would supervise that I put it together properly. While I was doing that, I had an episode of 'The Three Investigators' playing on my cell phone.
About an hour and a half later, everyone sat around me and witnessed Ced put the top on the tower.
Normally I would have been faster, but my little brother had questioned some things. This Lego structure already looked pretty good, but had been rather boring from a tinkerer's point of view. The Millennium Falcon from 'Star Wars'. That had been exciting at the time. It was still on a shelf in my room. At that time I had spent the whole Christmas day with it.
The smaller child among us got a bottle of blood, the bigger kids got a little snack and then the kids were off together.
As requested by Ced, the siblings did something today only among themselves. Without parents.
Ced didn't know what he wanted to discover first when we reached the indoor playground. Climbing towers, bouncy castles, trampolines, swings, seesaws, ball pit, obstacle courses, climbing nets. And we big kids were allowed on everything. Marcus even met an acquaintance who was supervising his little sister's birthday party. Ced hardly let us rest, always wanted to discover the huge hall to the last corner and try out everything.
We had to negotiate hard for a coffee break in the afternoon.
With the promise to come back here with him. And regularly! At the same time, he was grateful that there was a bottle of blood in his backpack. An opaque bottle. Together with popcorn, it was apparently a real feast for the short one.
Just in time, however, we arrived at our home in Saco.
Mom and Dad greeted their baby extensively.
Ced had actually survived an outing with his siblings. Who would have thought that? Just in time, because we had a dinner date out.
Mr. Corbin, Becky's lawyer, had arrived today and was staying at the best hotel in town.
It was certainly not comparable to what he was used to. Saco was just a small town and did not need 'five star' hotels. He was invited to one of the best restaurants in town, which was only one street over from the hotel. Becky's parents would come, too.
Changed, we then stood by while Ced still told our parents about the playground. Even while Dad was taking him over to David and Sonya, he didn't seem to stop showing all kinds of things.
In two cars we drove off.
Mr. Corbin was already sitting with Becky's parents when we reached the restaurant.
I had the impression that he greeted Becky in a particularly friendly way. He seemed like an uncle or something who was part of the family. Comfortable and warm. No trace of a tough lawyer. We didn't talk that much about the trial starting tomorrow. Just when and where we would meet him and how it would go in general. That's all Becky wanted to know. She trusted him and he would demand the harshest sentence possible. Settlements - that is, monetary payments from the Hanks family to Becky, who would then withdraw all or part of the charges in return - had already been rejected several times beforehand. Becky didn't want pain and suffering or damages. She wanted Mike to get his comeuppance. That was the only reason she had filed charges.
"When the trial is over, I will pay a little visit to your mother afterwards, Marcus," Mr. Corbin said as the main course was cleared.
Dad hadn't ordered anything.
Rare diabetes and all. Only his glass of fruit spritzer was right next to mine, and I took turns drinking, which was not noticeable due to a decorative vase of flowers and the tall salt and pepper shakers.
"Is there anything new from my father?", Marcus of course, dug deeper.
"That's one way to put it," Mr. Corbin smiled, pulling an envelope from his briefcase.
He handed it to Marcus, who looked into it with astonishment.
"Wow ...!" he dropped back against the back of the chair as he held a check in his hands.
"This is your maintenance allowance for the past two months. From now on, you should receive a check for half the amount each month. Even for this current month. If this does not happen, please let me know," Mr. Corbin said in a businesslike manner.
"How did you manage that? He thought he didn't have to pay anything because I'm of age," Marcus asked.
"Well, this initial statement by your father is simply not true. He is liable to pay maintenance as long as you are in school. He would also be liable to pay for your educational expenses, but I understand you are benefiting from a scholarship in that regard. Congratulations on that," Mr. Corbin complimented.
"Thank you," Marcus stammered rather incredulously. "But surely he didn't just hand that over?"
"No," Mr. Corbin smirked. "There was a lively correspondence between his shyster ..." - that sounded rather contemptuous - "... and me personally. The last time he admitted defeat, when I gave the legal maintenance amount to consider, which a family judge regards as absolute lower limit, and which would examine the ability to pay by requiring the disclosure of all property circumstances. With information obligation of all employers and the tax office. From this final willingness to make a somewhat higher payment, I gather that he has probably withheld income or emoluments from your mother or has not been detailed enough about their amount so far."
The lawyer grinned.
Diabolical.
"I take it you're okay with the amount?" he followed up, however.
"Absolutely! That's more than I've been making in a month so far!", Marcus was seemingly still trying to grasp his newfound prosperity.
I didn't see the amount exactly, it was none of my business, but it was four digits, even if it started with a one.
And then it was already Monday ...
Dad woke us up at the usual time, but I let the running with Leah go today.
My star was nervous, and I didn't want to leave her alone.
We cuddled together and I just held my star.
"Are you scared?", I asked her in a whisper.
"Kind of, yeah," she murmured, disengaging from my arms a bit.
Just enough so that she could look at me better. And she looked at me for a long time. She traced the contours of my face, stroked strands of hair from my forehead, traced my eyebrows and my mouth.
I leaned forward, very gently kissed her soft lips, and leaned back.
"You don't have to be afraid, my star. I will be with you," I promised.
She smiled gently in response.
"I know, Jake, and for that I am immensely grateful. Also Edward and Bella for allowing you to skip school because of me. After all, you are not obliged to appear in court," she said.
"But I am committed to standing by my soon-to-be wife through good days and bad. And I don't see it as a duty so much as a matter of course that I won't leave my star alone."
"You are so sweet! ... What would I have done without you?"
"Maybe we shouldn't think so hard about that," I remarked. I'd had enough of that with Dad's help, though I didn't necessarily like the result.
"Actually, I'm not really scared at all. It just makes me kind of nervous that I don't know what kind of ideas Mike's lawyers are going to come up with. I'm sure they'll come down on me and pick apart every word of my testimony. Call me a liar and stuff like that."
"Probably, but Mr. Corbin is supposed to be well prepared for anything. I don't think Mike and his lawyers have a great chance of getting out of this somehow ... Dad said it would be less about charging him with the crime as such, and more about proving the seriousness of the crime, just to get the harshest sentence possible."
"Yeah, that's what Jazz said," she sighed with a resigned smile.
I kissed her on the tip of her nose, and we went to take a shower.
At breakfast, I had the feeling that they deliberately preferred cheerful themes. Perhaps that was also quite good.
Becky had to hold onto the table to keep from falling off her chair laughing when Leah told her about her planned English essay.
She was actually supposed to take apart a tragic love poem for it, but just completely reworded it with Dad's help so that there was nothing tragic left. However, it also made little sense when they were done.
Marcus drove off first, as usual.
"And don't forget: You're the strongest star I know!" he said goodbye to Becky.
She smiled gratefully.
"Right he is," I confirmed.
But since we also had to go to Portland that morning, we left shortly after him. Becky and I in my car.
Mom and Dad would pick up Mr. Corbin from the hotel and follow. Mom didn't want to sit around at home while her family was in court.
She would probably just tumble nervously down the stairs. That had been her argument, against which Dad had been unable to counter.
Only Leah stayed at home.
In this respect, she could comfortably continue having breakfast. For the time being.
Esmé should be coming any moment to take care of Ced.
We drove in silence for the most part and listened to the radio.
News, traffic reports, weather, current music, advertising. Soon a new drive-in movie theater near Scarborough was opening.
"We can go there then," I suggested.
"That almost sounds like a date ... But only almost," Becky grumbled playfully.
I cleared my throat.
"Can I invite you to the drive-in, Becky?" so I asked more formally.
"I'll go anywhere with you," she smiled and took my hand off the gearshift knob, "except Australia. The spiders are out of my league and too poisonous!", she continued.
"So you have no objection to free-range kitty cats in Africa or something?", I inquired.
"Nope ... I have a wolf with me. He protects me!"
"I do! Most of all! But a spider like that is more afraid of you than you are of it."
"But does the spider know that?"
I had nothing to oppose this, but we arrived in the city already.
I looked for a parking spot, we had to walk down a street, and then we were at the Portland courthouse.
I had noticed Becky getting quieter and slower at my hand, but I couldn't think of anything to say to change that.
She squeezed my hand and smiled as Jazz met us in the doorway.
"What are you doing here?", I asked him.
"To assist the family star ... if I am wanted," he replied meekly.
Becky nodded delightedly and hugged him.
We had a good fifteen minutes left when my parents arrived in the foyer with Mr. Corbin.
Our attorney greeted us with a handshake, asked about Becky's well-being, and told her everything would be fine.
Becky seemed to believe him. She was absolutely calm, although she didn't seem to want to let go of my hand.
Mr. Corbin briefly explained the exact procedure after he had reported us at the reception as present and thus the spatial details were made known to him. He had to orientate himself briefly on the basis of the signposting.
"I haven't been in this building that many times," he defended himself, which made Becky and I smirk.
Sure. He came from Chicago, after all.
We had to go up one floor and they directed us to a kind of waiting room.
Chairs on the walls, water dispensers, doors to washrooms, a lonely green plant in a corner. It could do with a little watering.
So there we waited.
Becky's parents came as soon as we were seated. The prosecutor, the tall lanky and chirrupy guy, also came and greeted us before quickly disappearing. It was more of a factual statement that we were there than a greeting.
Dad had remembered to bring us something to drink.
Cola ... caffeine and sugar. Fit.
The longer I sat around there, the more queasy I somehow became.
The walls seemed increasingly oppressive. Jasper's influence, which I nevertheless clearly felt, didn't really help.
Quiet muttering to himself.
I looked at my watch.
A few more minutes until it was eight o'clock sharp. Quickly again to the toilet, before it went off. Mmm ... Everything was already older construction in here. But clean. With tasteful background music. You could forget where you were here. Well, in what kind of building. 'Washroom' was hard to miss.
I hurried, but was still too slow. As I was washing my hands, I heard Becky.
"No! Not without Jake!" she determined just then.
Despite the running water, I recognized the slight hint of panic in her voice.
So I hurried even more and stumbled through the door, almost knocking over Becky, who was already waiting for me just beyond.
There was a general smirk as Becky's fingers intertwined inextricably with mine. She looked up at me. With a strange look.
"I'm here," I merely whispered.
She nodded gravely and turned to the court usher.
Somehow defiantly prompting. As if she wanted to say, NOW we can go.
"This way, then, please," the court usher said, annoyed.
So we followed him.
Before I walked out the door, I looked back at Dad.
"Remember. Pull yourself together!" he admonished me so quietly that only I could hear.
Quietly, but very emphatically. Well, I was basically allowed to go to the judge with Becky, but he definitely had the upper hand. If I behaved inappropriately in any way, expressed an emotional thought, for example, he could throw me out, too. And it was clear to all of us that an emotional thought on my part would have to do with homicidal thoughts or something like that!
I nodded.
What else could I do? I couldn't promise that much.
"The Honorable Judge Richard McCarty," the court usher said in a tone conveying respect.
I smirked inwardly.
I knew this tone of voice from various courtroom movies when the judge entered the courtroom, and everyone then stood up. Jazz had warned us that it really happened that way. Anyone who did not rise was liable to a fine for contempt of court.
The prosecutor was present and rose, of course. Also Mr. Corbin.
In this case, however, the judge himself also stood up.
A tall man in his forties. As tall as myself. Also, he did not necessarily look lanky or gaunt, but as if he knew sports not only from hearsay. But an angular face with a hooked nose that somehow didn't want to fit in with the rest. The room was quite crowded. Files, folders and especially law books were piled up everywhere. A tennis racket peeked out from between two shelves.
In any case, he stood up as soon as we entered the room and came around his oversized desk.
"Miss Young," he held out his hand to her.
Hands were shaken while Becky just nodded.
"Good morning. Please take a seat," he offered her.
He nodded to the court usher. Apparently the cue that he was no longer needed, as he left the room and pulled the door into the lock behind him.
"And who exactly are you, young man?" he asked right after as his gaze met our interlocked hands.
I loosened my fingers to politely offer him my hand.
"Good morning. I am Jacob Black ...", I introduced myself.
That was as far as I got.
"Mr. Black is involved with Miss Becky Young and since she is a minor, he acts as her confidant," added our attorney.
"Jacob Black? ... The name means something to me, doesn't it?!" the judge pondered, while gesturing to me, too, to take one of the chairs.
I sat down and Becky's hand was immediately back with mine.
"Yes, from the files on this case. Mr. Black found Miss Young after the crime and took her to the hospital," the prosecutor explained.
"Then I should rather meet you later in the witness stand and not now with the main witness", the judge questioned, Becky's fingers wrapping much tighter around mine, and he himself sat back down at his desk.
I wanted to answer him, but Mr. Corbin was faster again.
"He didn't find them alone. There was a mutual friend with him. That one is among the witnesses."
"Mr. Edward Stone," added the prosecutor.
"Black," Mr. Corbin corrected. "Mr. Edward has since married and taken his wife's name. I had sent you a communication to that effect last week."
"In which you also asked to briefly explain this today," the judge seemed to recall.
"Correct," confirmed Mr. Corbin.
The judge made a prompting gesture.
"It so happens that Mr. Edward Black is seventeen years young, but is married to the mother of Mr. Jacob Black. A lady of thirty-seven years of age. Quite an unconventional marriage."
"I would agree with that based purely on the record, but there's nothing in the law against it, as long as Child Protective Services has reviewed the facts," the judge interjected.
"Mr. Edward Black wanted not only to enter into marriage with Mrs. Black, but also to adopt their children. Therefore, not only was Child Protective Services involved for the purpose of marriage, but the case as a whole was decided by a family court judge. The applications were granted," Mr. Corbin continued to explain, handing the judge some papers, which the judge looked at.
"So now you have a legal guardian even younger than you?" the judge looked at me.
He smirked.
"Not exactly," I stated. With a smirk as well. Actually, Edward was quite a bit older than me, after all. "I have a Dad now!", I explained in more detail.
"Out of sheer curiosity, may I ask what happened to your biological father?"
"He died before we were born, before anyone knew about us. I have a twin sister. My mom hadn't noticed the pregnancy either. From there, I don't know life with a Dad. Not until now."
"And Edward is a great Dad!" interjected Becky.
It came across a little defiant. As if you questioned it, and she wanted to confirm it, though.
The judge looked at Becky in surprise.
Not unkind or that he felt insulted.
But he smiled then.
"And you wanted to discuss this with me before the trial because ...?" he then looked at Mr. Corbin again.
"Adding to the marriage, Mr. Jacob Black and Miss Young are engaged ..." he added first.
"So young and already engaged. Congratulations!" the judge kindly interrupted.
"May it be a happy marriage," the prosecutor also wished.
"Thank you," Becky and I murmured.
"Well ... Both the marriage and the adoption are legal. The engagement between Jacob and Becky does not yet establish kinship between the witnesses, which would mean that testimony would have to be disregarded or unheard because of bias, if necessary. Witnesses in this regard are Edward Black, but also his father, Dr. Carlisle Stone, who was the treating physician of Becky ... The opposing attorneys have so far acted quite inventive and emphatic. I want to prevent these family relationships from leading to being used by the opposing side to generally confuse or delay the court. Therefore, I wanted to discuss legal concerns with you in advance and get them out of the way."
"I am actually familiar with Mr. Arnold Hanks, although I do not know him personally, and I have a rough idea of what you mean by inventive and emphatic. But that should not be discussed here, but later in court. For the rest, I agree with you about the prior statement of family circumstances. Insofar as legal doubts are raised about this, I can now reject them as groundless. They have no connection with the crime, but could well be used by the lawyers of the defense in their favor ... So this is cleared up?", the judge inquired finally.
"I think so," Mr. Corbin nodded.
"Do you have anything to add to that?" the judge asked, addressing the prosecutor.
"No, sir, it was all said in that context," the latter confirmed.
"So now we can get to why we're here," the judge began, quickly glancing over the papers in front of him. "Miss Young. How are you?" he asked, chatting.
Such a question somehow came unprepared. Becky didn't seem to have expected it either. She merely bristled.
"I hope all that lawyer talk didn't make you nervous," the judge followed up with a friendly smile.
"What, no ... I'm fine," my star stammered.
"Very well. I assume you have been told why you are here today. Even more so, only in my chambers and not on the witness stand in the real courtroom."
"Yes, they did. Because I'm not eighteen yet, I don't need to be at the trial if I don't want to be there by myself. But I need to confirm the statement I made to the cops at the time in front of you," Becky explained.
"That's right," the judge nodded approvingly. "Mr. Winslow will read your statement. If anything is not as you stated on the record at the time, please say so immediately. Also, if you might want to reconsider a passage for a moment, have questions or the like, please interrupt the prosecutor. It is conceivable that something was expressed differently in writing than you said it, which may well lead to confusion. To that extent, please do not hesitate to speak."
Becky nodded and the judge made a prompting hand gesture to the prosecutor.
The latter cleared his throat and began to read out the text in front of him:
Complaints office dated October 15, 2024, 11:43 a.m., Saco/Maine.
Miss Becky Eliza Young states the following to Police Officers Sebastian Davis and Rachel McIntyre:
At about 7:20 a.m. today, Tuesday, October 15, 2024, Miss Young was ambushed backwards on Union Street on her way to school and dragged into the vacant factory buildings of the former construction locksmith ...
Becky listened very intently while I focused more on Becky herself.
I paid very close attention to her breathing and heartbeat, her body language and especially her eyes. They contracted, they widened, they sought my gaze. And I reacted to it. Squeezed her hands tighter, stroked them gently, even just held them. When it came to the unsightly details, she trembled ever so slightly, and I put an arm around her shoulders. I was trembling more inwardly. From anger rising again, but we helped each other through it.
Mr. Corbin asked for a little break and handed Becky a glass of water as tears ran down her cheeks. But she quickly regained her composure so that we could continue quickly.
She wanted to get it over with.
Becky interrupted the reading again because she didn't understand something.
There were some technical terms used.
The prosecutor came to the end, and Becky and I both took a deep breath.
The judge asked if the testimony was complete and accurate, which Becky now confirmed.
Thus, Becky was now free to be present at the trial or to leave. She would be officially informed in writing about the outcome of the trial and thus the conclusion of her report.
However, the judge admitted with an encouraging smile that we were more likely to learn the outcome from our lawyer or witnesses on our part.
Mr. Corbin still spoke encouragement to my star by saying she did really well and came through it well. He would take care of the rest.
We were given a polite and friendly goodbye; we shook hands with the three men and right in the hallway Becky was in my arms. She cried a little and held on to me.
And I just held her tight.
"It's over, Becky. You did it!", I whispered to her.
She nodded without breaking away from me.
We stood like that for a long moment.
"Let's just get out of here, please," she then pleaded, wiping away the remnants of tears.
"Okay, but we have to let the others know," I said.
She nodded again and we walked the few feet to the waiting room.
That's where our families were sitting.
Mine relatively relaxed, since they had probably already noticed that we were done. Theirs, on the other hand, immediately jumped up and asked how it was and how we were doing.
"I'm fine. I just want to get out of here," Becky answered her parents.
They could understand that.
Henry and Eliza, however, would stay.
Even though they didn't really want to know exactly what had been done to their daughter - that is, in all the unpalatable details - they still wanted to make sure that the process went the way we all wanted it to. Namely, that Mike was taken out of circulation.
We were about to leave when Dad whispered to me that Mike would be entering the building any moment with his father and lawyers in tow.
"Do you want to go to the bathroom before we go back? Wash the tears from your face?" I asked my star gently.
She nodded and disappeared through the corresponding door.
"Good response," Jasper praised me softly.
"Can you scare the hell out of Mike?", I asked him.
He grinned in reply.
Dad chuckled a moment later.
He seemed to be listening to this.
"Do you want us to notify you before the verdict is announced?" asked Dad while my star was with me again.
"Yes. I want to be there when Mike gets his punishment," Becky answered him.
The most relaxing places I knew were the forest and our home on the Saco River.
So we drove back to Saco.
I parked in the driveway in front of Mom's house and ran through the woods as a wolf.
I walked leisurely, the air and the feeling of freedom were just so pleasantly refreshing. For both of us.
Once we arrived at our glass house, I quickly threw on some comfortable clothes before we strolled along the riverbank.
We were mostly silent for quite a while, but Becky seemed to calm down more and more with each meter, returning to her usual strength.
That's what Jasper had predicted. No matter how much Becky would have longed for this day, to be confronted with the events of that time in such detail, to reawaken the exact memories, it would throw Becky psychologically off balance. But at the same time, he had said that she would quickly free herself from it in her own way. Exactly what that would look like, however, he could not predict. But I knew in the course of the morning.
The silent walk became more and more wordy. At first depressing, as we talked about the morning so far and speculated on how the trial would go. We switched to what we would miss at school today to plans concerning the next days and weeks. About fun meetings with our friends, dates of four with Leah and Marcus, cheerful family evenings and especially romantic rendezvous for two.
The ideas about the latter were very ... engaging. Especially how these evenings would probably end.
We were then in a great hurry to get to my room.
And Becky was like pure dynamite in my bed that morning. My heart raced when it wasn't skipping a beat. My body trembled incessantly. Her lips made my skin glow. I was hallucinating! Everything but Becky blurred before my eyes, and she looked like a star in the flesh, shining with a glowing light. Becky blew up everything in me and it took me a long time to sort everything back into its original place. As if she was trying to prove something to herself, or as if it had been a release. I lay there panting, trying to comprehend what had just happened, with Becky lying on top of me equally gasping for air. She had fallen on top of me, exhausted, after the dynamite had exploded.
I just held her in my arms, still searching my mind together, while Becky fell asleep.
Gently I turned with her and bedded her in the soft sheets.
She had an incredible smile on her lips, which I kissed gently. How much I loved this stunning girl!
I had to get up, unfortunately.
Becky had actually thought of a condom, which I would have simply forgotten earlier. I had to dispose of it and wash my little Jake. So the smaller one of us. After all, he wasn't that little! Besides, noon was already over. I was a wolf. I had hunger! Becky had already snuggled comfortably in the blanket. Was just no longer a wolf in bed. I searched for my boxer shorts, my cell phone falling out of my pocket. A new message. From Leah.
Are you all right? I just had a strange ... don't know exactly ...
appeared on the display.
Erotic desire?
I asked.
It was just lunch time, which explained that Leah was immediately shown as online and writing. I waited.
Yes, that sums it up very well.
One star can really take your mind away ;-)
I wrote back.
Then have fun further ;-)
I went into the kitchen and searched the refrigerator and pantries.
There wasn't much food because it wasn't a weekend. Since the remodeling work was finished, Esmé no longer cared that there was enough food here. Since my parents now spent their weekends here regularly - in doubt with all of us - they went shopping for this house on Fridays, but that only included supplies for the weekend. To that extent, I only found the pitiful leftovers. A cup of yogurt, a banana, two oranges ... and a few less perishable things.
I gathered everything together and made a picnic.
When I looked at the result on the tray, it didn't look so pitiful.
Another bottle of juice with two glasses and up I went again.
My star was still asleep. Also, the incomparable smile was still there.
I put the tray down on the nightstand and crawled over to her.
She didn't seem to have slept too soundly. She snuggled up to me and mumbled something about thirst.
"I brought something for that," I explained.
She opened her eyes and smiled at me.
"Among other things," I put in.
She leaned in to my lips, kissed me and stretched, sitting up.
I took the tray and my star's eyes lit up with excitement.
"A picnic in bed? Nice idea!"
"I thought so too!"
We stayed in bed for a long time, fed each other, shared some things fairly, some things we had to defend from each other.
For dessert, I had only brought chocolate sauce, which I could definitely deal with in the context of Becky.
I was sucking some of it off Becky's toe - how on earth did she get there? - when my cell phone rang.
"Dad?", I took up the conversation, continuing to hold Becky's foot, who was still giggling and trying to save her foot.
But I was stronger.
"Hi, Jake. The last witness is being sworn in right now, and I think that - if you want to catch the verdict - you can start getting on your way," Dad informed me.
I had not listened very closely, although I had understood him in terms of content.
Becky had reclaimed her foot, grabbed the bottle of chocolate sauce, and was squatting on the bed in front of me, ready to fight.
"Um ... this is bad right now," I stammered, facing Becky menacingly.
She nodded prompting what would be going on.
"The trial is about over," I told her.
"What trial? ... Oh, I see. THE trial," she remembered.
Dad had apparently understood that. So ... between the lines.
"Thank God I'm not home!" he muttered to himself.
I could 'hear' him rolling his eyes.
"How are things looking with them?" asked Becky meanwhile, which of course Dad understood.
"Very promising. The jury already seems to be pretty much in agreement on what they don't know yet, of course," Dad whispered.
After all, someone might be listening to him, and then how would he know what was going on in the jurors' minds.
I passed it on to Becky like this.
"Well, let's stay here then. It's so ... cozy right now," she smiled at me meaningfully.
So, cuddly was the name given to this attack posture armed with chocolate sauce. I found that very interesting.
"Got it already. You two have fun ... and behave," Dad seemed to smirk on the other end.
"Fun, my ass. This here is war!" I made it clear.
"War? ... At some point we should probably have a serious conversation between men," Dad reflected, amused.
"Maybe, but not necessarily now," I really just wanted to get rid of him.
"Okay, see you later," he had no doubt understood.
I hung up, threw my phone on our clothes in front of the bed, and fought for the sauce.
It turned out to be quite a protracted fight, which ended at some point in the shower. For reasons completely mysterious to me, Becky and I stuck from head to toe. Afterwards, I creamed my star from head to toe, which playfully transitioned into a full body massage. I had no idea about such things, but she seemed to enjoy it. At least Becky did. I was kind of bored with it and switched again. Into an erotic massage. She seemed to like that even more ...
It was approaching supper time as we walked home through the dark forest.
Once in our garage, Becky and I make out first before I threw on my clothes.
I hugged her backwards and so pushed her out of the garage, across the patio and into the dining room.
Leah and my parents were at home. They were putting the finishing touches on dinner, the table was already set, and they seemed to be in a really good mood. They smiled at us.
"Well, who won the war?" Dad asked us.
"Tie!", I clarified.
"So?" asked Becky promptly, though.
"Go ahead and sit down. Dinner is ready. We'll tell you how it was," Mom replied, already holding the first bowl.
Thank you for reading!