No Such Luck…or Destiny's Deceit?
Ch 18: Justice Will Be Served
It was the day of May 29th, 1974, something important is happening at the Royal Woods District Court of Justice. Today was the trial against the McCann family and the Hazeltucky Lions, the guilty parties were seated in the defendant's stand, ready to make the testimonies that will sure ward off community service or prison for days, months, or even years.
Prison was what Thomas is afraid of, and he is sure to get into prison now for being an 'irresponsible' father to Eloise and Chandler. Lillian planned to take the children with her; what she didn't know, was that they are going out of the United States real soon and be separated from her 'failure of a husband'.
The Loud and Emily families were seated in the plaintiff's stand, ready to explain their complaints and outnumber the testimony the poor defendants make to ward off their sentence.
The prosecutor sat in his stand, ready to prosecute the criminals. The judge rose up to her stand and banged her gavel, signaling everyone that the case has begun.
Marcos and Julian were in their respective stands, ready to defend their respective clients.
"Alright, Mr. Harrison, you can call your first witness." The judge declared.
"Yes, your Honor." Julian said, calling his first witness. "Defense calls Thomas McCann to the stand!"
The father of the McCann family was anxious as he went up to the witness stand. He was met with looks of disdain and contempt from everyone in front of him. William and Olivia shook their heads when he rose up to his stand to make his testimony.
"So, Mr. McCann, is it true, that your son, Chandler F. McCann bribed a group of teens to beat up an 11-year-old just for some petty revenge?" The prosecutor spoke to him, with a serious look on his face.
"I-I can explain that to you, sir." Thomas said, he didn't even know that Chandler bribed a group of teenagers to beat up Lincoln for some petty revenge. "Chandler is a sweet little boy, I know he's not going to do anything like that…"
"Huh?" Henry raised a brow. "You really think of your son like that, McCann?" The Emily father said coldly.
"I do, I know he isn't going to do some sort of crime or something!" The McCann father retorted.
"That brings us to Exhibit A!" The judge declared as the bailiff turned on his projector. The video feed from a few days ago played in the public, Chandler was negotiating with a group of teenagers from the Hazeltucky Lions.
"Why the hell did I even consider going to that jerk's party in the first place?" Clyde asked himself.
"Exhibit B!" The bailiff said, showing another projection. It was Chandler and the invited guests having fun at the sewage treatment plant in hazmat suits.
"Taking children to a sewage treatment plant? At least they're safe in hazmat suits!" The prosecutor said to the father of the McCann family.
"Oh dear!" Rita covered her mouth in shock. "Children at a sewage treatment plant?!"
"See? It's a good thing Lincoln didn't get to go to Chandler's party at that treatment plant!" Lynn Sr. said, crossing his arms.
"Why did he even want to have fun there in the first place?" Michael asked himself, he knew that chlorine was dangerous, but had temporary effects on the affected person. It was a blessing that he had studied chemistry; sodium hypochlorite (a.k.a, bleach) is another potential threat that can cause harm and severe side effects.
"How can you explain this, Mr. McCann?" The prosecutor grabbed his pointing stick and pointed it at the projection on the projector screen. "These children were at a sewage plant! Do you even know how dangerous the chemicals were?"
Thomas squirmed uncomfortably in his stand, he had just humiliated himself in front of the crowd. His stubborn attitude really paid off, didn't it?
Now Chandler realized that the consequences for his family had escalated from trivial to severe, first, he lost his popularity at school and got appointed by the students as the new laughingstock, then Noah, who threw him into his locker a couple days after the fight. Lillian wanted a divorce with Thomas, since he was too stubborn to listen to her.
Why the hell did Thomas and Lillian consider getting married in the first place?
Noah looked at Chandler, his eyes full of flaming hostility towards him. The older redhead shook his head as a sign of condemnation for the 11-year-old and his family.
"What a spoiled kid, no wonder his father will always abide by his 'preferences'." Valerie rolled her eyes.
"I can explain it to you, Mr. Prosecutor." Thomas said, shakily raising his finger. "It was Chandler's birthday when that happened, he said he wanted the party at my workplace," He looked at Lillian with a hard glare. "and Lillian, if you're hearing this, I'm not as quite as stubborn and stupid as you think, I kept telling your, I mean, our son, that it was dangerous there, he kept retorting and blabbering to me, and that's when I finally abided by his preferences to make his ass shut up."
Lillian looked at Chandler with shrunken pupils, she was so pissed at him for making this bullshit happen to them, first, a case was filed against them, and second, their family is going to be separated into pieces.
"Tom, I'm not going to file the divorce papers anymore, just please, please, please, don't—" Lillian was interrupted.
"Leave you? I'm sorry, Lillian, it's too late. I saw you file those papers in front of my two eyes." Thomas replied to his wife. "Divorce me all you want, I tried to reassure you that I put them in hazmat suits, but you passed it off."
Lillian was in tears, she sobbed quietly in her hands. She had made a terrible mistake, she blamed it all on her husband when she was the perpetrator herself. Chandler wasn't spoiled, nor influenced, it was already seen in his actions. He was pure evil.
"The court has no further questions to ask you, Mr. McCann, you may return to your seat." The judge ordered.
Thomas returned to his stand, sitting next to Lillian, who was sobbing to herself. He rolled his eyes and didn't pity her or anything, she already filed the divorce papers so her decision was final.
The teenagers from the Hazeltucky Lions made their testimonies, some tried to downplay it to the point that they blamed Lynn Jr. and Lincoln, while some told their story truthfully and honestly. After what seemed like an hour later, the defendants and plaintiffs were done making their testimonies and complaints.
The jury made their decision, and hampered the teenagers from the Hazeltucky Lions with community service for seven weeks, and punished Lillian with jail time. Thomas took the kids home with him, he was also quite disappointed with Chandler in this issue.
They got to their house, when William and Olivia came outside with an envelope in hand. William gave Thomas the tickets, and when the McCann father opened it and took a good look at the contents inside, three flight tickets were inside, it was supposed to be four, but Lillian was in prison. He read the ticket description, and the flight was going to Bucharest, Romania.
Befuddled, he asks William. "Why are you giving us these flight tickets?"
"You and your children are leaving the United States, tonight. If you value your freedom, hurry to the airport and be gone by nightfall." Olivia threatened. "If you don't, then we'll do it by ourselves."
Thomas nodded, and then he tells the children to pack up. Eloise did as told, while Chandler stood his ground and told him to his face that they ain't going to Romania.
"Chandler! Enough! We're living in Romania forever and ever, this is a lesson for you!" Thomas said to his son. "It's time for us to live in Europe!" He said as Eloise came out with their baggage.
They put their suitcases into the car as they went in and sped off to the airport.
At the Royal Woods International Airport…
They put their tickets and passports in the reception, got their luggage checked, and went into the airplane. Chandler hated leaving Royal Woods, as he looked out the window. Thomas comforted him, patting his back.
"Chandler, it's time for you to learn a lesson." Thomas said to his son. "You have quite a temper and complain when you don't get what you want. I want you to be safe, Chandler, understand?"
"Yes, Dad." Chandler said solemnly as the plane's engines whirred to life and flew away from the United States. "Goodbye, Royal Woods…"
When they arrived in Bucharest, Romania…
The plane landed, they got out and did the same procedures they did back in Royal Woods. They got out, and Chandler looked around. "Hello, Bucharest…" He said, rolling his eyes.
A local greeted them. "Buna ziua! Bună dimineaţa! (Hello! Good morning!)"
Chandler didn't understand the language the local was speaking. He just waved his hand at the local who greeted them, Eloise and Thomas were amazed at the sight and pulled Chandler towards their new house.
It was quite big, and it was located by the hillside. Chandler grimaced as they got inside the house.
They began laying down their stuff on the couch, and laid down on the couch seats.
"Ah, European culture." Thomas said, breathing in fresh air as he opened the windows. "Much better, ain't it, Eloise?"
Eloise gave a thumbs-up, while Chandler raised a thumbs-down.
To be continued in Ch 19…
A/N: Hello readers, now that Chandler and his family are out of the picture, the Loud and Emily families can now focus on better beginnings. Chandler made two wrong moves in a row, plus his mother doesn't look after him, only his father does the dirty job for her.
That's all I'll tell you for today, peace out.