Chapter 255 – Jack's Frustration Boils Over
"Thomas Andrew Thornton." Gran yelled. "What the hell is wrong with you!"
She walked right over to Tommy and stood right in front of him, steam coming from her ears. She then looked at Frank and then over at Marcus and Bill.
"Get him out of here." Gran said. "I don't want him anywhere on this property at the moment. It is not the first time he has assaulted someone this summer."
"Frank?" Marcus said.
"Charge him." Frank said. "I currently can't see out of my eye and my nose is broken."
"Let's go." Bill said. "I will take you into the emergency room."
"Tell them to bill me." John said. "Make sure they bring in a specialist to look at his eye."
"I will." Bill said.
Bill started to lead Frank over to his truck.
"I will tell Abigail." James said.
Bill waved, that he heard.
"Thomas Andrew Thornton." Marcus said. "You are under arrest for assault."
Marcus reached for his radio that he carried as he was on call for the weekend. He called for a county deputy to come to the ranch.
John turned to Blaine.
"I would suggest that you head back to the bunkhouse." John said. "You had better have a good explanation of things when I speak to you tomorrow. Until then, I don't want to see you."
Blaine quickly retreated as he realized he was in trouble and might have even cost his father his job. Gran then turned to everyone who was gathered at that point. She raised her arms and waved people away.
"Let's go." Gran said. "Show over."
The group parted as Gran headed back to her seat. Almost everyone followed. James looked at Tommy and shook his head before turning and leaving as well. That left Marcus, John, Jack and Father Mark standing there with Tommy.
Father Mark could tell that Jack was fuming mad and on one hand Jack had every right to be angry at Tommy, but on the other Jack needed to step back and let his grandparents handle things. For his part, Jack stood rooted where he had stepped up next to Frank. He was taking slow deep breaths and flexing his hands. He was trying not to react and lash out at Tommy. Both John and Marcus were keeping a close eye on Jack, as they didn't want him to lash out at Tommy.
However it was Tommy who pushed things too far. Tommy was struggling against the hold Marcus had on him, cursing everyone and demanding his father who knows how to treat him. At one point, Jack balled up his fists and glanced back at Father Mark. Realizing what was about to happen, Father Mark wrapped his arm around Jack's waist and swung him around.
"Jack!" Father Mark said, sternly.
Jack took a second to look at Father Mark and saw the disappointment in his eyes. Jack took a deep breath and let it out harshly.
"Fine." Jack said. "But I do have something to say."
"As long as you say it from here." Father Mark said.
Jack nodded.
"Tommy." Jack said. "If Frank loses his eye because of you, assault charges are going to be the least of your problems."
"John Parker." John said with a warning tone.
Jack just looked at his grandfather and then took a step closer to Tommy.
"If Frank is permanently injured because of you." Jack said. "You will regret the day you were born. I will spend the rest of my life making sure you never see a penny of Thornton money. You are nothing to me and we are no longer brothers. I don't ever want to see your face again. Stay away from me, my friends, my horses and my property."
Jack took another breath and looked Marcus right in the eye.
"I want him gone." Jack said. "He is not allowed back on this property without the written permission from me."
"John Parker." John said.
Jack spun to face his grandfather once again.
"No!" Jack said. "He had disrespected you, my other grandparents, my fiance, my friends and me. Maybe jail is exactly what he needs. I am done. Apparently stripping him of everything else has failed to teach him the needed lessons. It is time to cut our losses, Tommy will never be a productive member of the Thornton family and will continue to bring shame to our name."
Once Jack was done speaking, he spit on Tommy's feet and walked away. John took a moment and watched Jack walk away. He then turned to Marcus and the sheriff deputy who had just walked up.
"Take him." John said. "I won't be posting bail. He can sit and wait until a judge decides what is going to happen. Since James and Margaret are technically his legal guardians, there is no need to contact anyone else."
"Understood." Marcus said.
"Where is the victim?" The sheriff deputy asked.
"Captain Hogan has been taken to the ER with extensive facial damage." Marcus said. "You can send someone over and get a statement. I will gather the statements from people here and get them to you."
"Yes, Sir." The deputy said. "Was the victim taken by ambulance or private car?"
"He was taken by Bill Avery in his work truck." John said.
"Understood." The deputy said. "I know Bill."
Marcus handed Tommy over once he was handcuffed. The deputy nodded to everyone and led Tommy to the car, him still cursing and screaming. Once they had left, Marcus turned to John.
"I will write it up." John said.
"I will go make sure Jack is okay." Father Mark said.
John sighed. It was not how he thought the day would go, but it was what it was. The three men headed back to the group. Marcus barely got to the table when he was handed several sheets of folded paper.
"We know the drill." James said. "Documentation."
"Thank you." Marcus said.
"Is Frank going to be okay?" Lee asked.
"We don't know." John said. "Bill took him to the ER. He has at least a broken nose and he said he had lost vision in his eye. We don't know anything more. I am sure Bill will call when he knows something."
They encouraged the kids that were still up there to go about their afternoon and to just keep playing.
After he walked away from Tommy and his grandfather, Jack went right downstairs without talking to anyone. Elizabeth saw him walk by and having heard part of the argument, she went after him before anyone could stop her. She caught up to Jack, as he walked back out of the changing area of the gym in just his running shorts and wearing a pair of fingerless gloves.
"Jack." Elizabeth said.
"Elizabeth." Jack said, his voice strained.
His head was down and he refused to look at her.
"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Elizabeth said.
"I need some time." Jack said.
He then walked over to the heavy bag that he had hung in the gym and started hitting it. Elizabeth watched him for a second and she could tell that he had some training in what he was doing. She was also memorized by watching his muscles flex and move as he continued to hit the bag.
"I am not walking away." Elizabeth finally said, loud enough she knew he could hear. "You need to open up to me. We are going to be married."
Jack turned to look at her as his chest was heaving from the workout.
"Your brother was out of line." Elizabeth said. "And you have every right to be angry. But you can't keep doing this. You need to let people in. We are all worried about Frank. But just getting mad and blowing up is not helping anyone."
Elizabeth had walked up to Jack while she had been speaking. She needed to focus and not think about the fine sheen of sweat that covered his bare torso. So instead of looking at his body, she tried to focus on holding his gaze.
"You don't understand." Jack yelled.
"I am trying." Elizabeth yelled back. "But you aren't letting me in. I have had more fights with my sisters than I can count. I know what it is like to fight with a sibling. I know what it is like to be so angry that you can't even look at the person. I know what it is like to feel like you have to take care of everything. What I don't know is what you are thinking or how you are doing, because you refuse to talk to me. I wasn't going to push you, but we need to stop this. We need to be able to talk and you need to be able to find a way to let me in."
"What do you want me to say?" Jack snapped. "That I hate Tommy and I hate that my parents spoiled him. I hate the way that he treats people and there are times I wish I would have killed him when we were smaller."
"Yes!" Elizabeth said. "Because then at least I know what you are thinking."
"Fine." Jack yelled. "I hate Tommy and I hate my parents for spoiling him and blaming me."
Jack then turned and hit the heavy bag five or six times in rapid succession. He was breathing heavily and his chest was heaving again, but at a moment, he continued to hit the bag. He was yelling something that Elizabeth didn't fully understand. What she could make out was about Tommy and his parents. Elizabeth stepped back and just watched. She knew she had pushed Jack, but at least he wasn't bottling his feelings up any more.
After about ten minutes of punching and kicking the heavy bag, Jack collapsed to the floor. Father Mark walked over, he had been in the doorway and heard most everything. He draped a towel across Jack's shoulders and handed him a Gatorade. Jack flung his gloves off and threw them on the floor. Elizabeth took a seat next to Jack.
"Now." Elizabeth said. "Tommy is going to be gone at least tonight. I believe that Frank is going to be okay. So tell me what else is going on."
"I feel like a failure." Jack said.
"Why?" Elizabeth pushed.
Father Mark opened his mouth and Elizabeth saw it and held up her hand. Father Mark closed his mouth and nodded.
"Why?" Elizabeth demanded. "Why do you feel like a failure?"
"I couldn't protect Frank and now he might lose his eye." Jack said, softly.
"It wasn't your job to protect Frank." Elizabeth said. "He is a big boy and he knew stepping in carried a risk. I am sure that Frank doesn't blame you for what happened. It was Tommy's fault and no one else's as far as Frank getting hurt."
"But …." Jack said.
"But nothing." Elizabeth said. "Just as it wasn't my fault the way that Rosemary behaved, it isn't your fault the way that Tommy behaved. You can't control what Tommy did. It is also a long time past when he needs to learn that actions have consequences. It is a lesson that we have all had to learn. But you parents stunted his growth by never teaching him that, so now it is a harder lesson to learn. You have done nothing but try to protect everyone since we got here. Tommy is responsible for what Tommy does. You tried, and he didn't want your help before, so now he needs to learn the hard way."
"I agree." Father Mark said. "I am sure that it was Blaine who pushed to bring Tommy up here so he could have some time off today. It is not your fault what happened. I also agree that Frank knew what he was doing when he stepped. He is a combat vet, he knew the danger and still stepped in because he felt he needed to."
"Why does everything have to go wrong?" Jack asked.
"The only thing that went wrong was Tommy acting out again." Elizabeth said. "He was quickly controlled and Bill took Frank to get medical attention in a timely manner. The littlest of the kids won't even know what happened unless something is said. The other children understand that Tommy was in the wrong and he was taken away for hurting someone. So it can only ruin your day if you let it."
"She is right." Father Mark said.
"What about Irish Charm?" Jack said. "I failed that horse."
"No." Elizabeth said. "You did everything that you could and the horse needs help. You said it yourself that Manny will see if he can figure it out. I know that ultimately you are responsible for the horses here, but you need to let the other people do their jobs. You did what you could. Not every horse can be saved, even young ones. I know that is not an easy thing, but it is reality."
Jack just looked at Elizabeth.
"Don't look at me like that." Elizabeth said. "I didn't understand, so I asked questions until I understood. Isn't that what you told me to do."
Jack just nodded while he took a sip of his Gatorade.
"You are eighteen." Elizabeth said. "You don't need to have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Is there a lot that you will ultimately be responsible for? Yes, but there are other people that you can rely on. You have people around you who want to help you. But we can't do that, if you don't let us. I also understand feeling like you need to hit something or yell at times, but once that passes, you need to figure out why you felt like that and actually deal with the underlying emotions or nothing changes. I learned that the hard way. I might not have always had someone to talk to, but I always had the ability to write out my feelings and try to make them make more sense."
They sat there for a moment. Elizabeth let what she said sink in a bit. She knew that she had at least gotten him to listen a little.
"So how are you feeling now?" Elizabeth said.
"Frustrated." Jack said. "I just feel frustrated and I can't really put words to why."
"Okay." Elizabeth said. "You are frustrated. That is an improvement. What do you need from us, so that you can come back outside and be with other people? Your grandmother is expecting you to play music in about twenty minutes. We will be putting food out for people to snack on in about another hour. It sounds like it is going to be visiting, music and relaxing until the fireworks."
"Can I have a few minutes alone with Father Mark?" Jack asked.
"Of course." Elizabeth said. "Is there anything else?"
Jack looked back at Father Mark quickly, then at Elizabeth.
"Maybe a quick kiss." Jack said.
Elizabeth leaned over and gave Jack a kiss. She tried to keep it short, but it was more passionate then she had intended because Jack leaned into the kiss more than she had meant. She quickly pulled back as she remembered Father Mark was sitting right there. She ducked her head a bit, but moved out of Jack's reach.
"Thank you." Jack said. "Thank you for coming after me and not let me just shut down."
"Anytime." Elizabeth said.
She leaned over and gave him another quick kiss, then got up and went to leave.
"I will tell Gran you are talking." Elizabeth said. "In case you take longer than twenty minutes."
"Thank you." Father Mark said. "We will try not to be too long."
Elizabeth left the gym and pulled the door shut behind her. She stopped for a moment and said a quick prayer. She was glad that Jack had opened up at least a little to her, but she hated pushing so hard to get there.