Regrets and Heartaches

Regrets and Heartaches 23

{Regrets and Heartaches is pure fiction. As I am writing this story, I am above the age of 21. If you want a story with lots of sex, look elsewhere. This is a love story. Seeing, as it is a love story, sex is in there, but it is in realistic balance in the characters' lives.

Any similarity to any real events, names, or life events is purely accidental. If you are a underage, (according to your state laws as a minor), if this literature is offensive to you or to anyone around your viewing area, or it is illegal for you to view such content where you are reading it, stop reading the story.

This story cannot be distributed in anyway, shape or form without my expressed consent. I will like to give a shout out to a reader that has helped me with ideas where the story is, thank you!}

Written by J.P.G.

I have a home page for you to see what the characters look like or what the places look like. If you want to walk in their shoes, please go to: http://jacobmillertex.com/

Chapter 23

Bill and his friends just sat there looking out the window of the van as it drove down the highway. None of the boys could believe this was happening to them. They knew they did wrong, but to the point to be sent to jail? The worse they thought they would get is a slap on the hand and sent to bed without dinner.

A couple of miles before the detention facility, Tyler spoke in a low voice that only those around him could hear. "You promised us this was not going to happen Bill. You said this morning that your dad was going to be able to protect us, but instead he landed up going to jail along with us. Tell us what are we supposed to do now."

"Keep your mouths shut and not turn on each other." Bill snapped at Tyler as he gave the other guys a dirty look.

"Telling us not to talk, what about you Bill?" Matt said in a louder voice then the others were speaking in. "All this is because you couldn't keep your mouth shut. You just had to show off and be the man. Well because you felt you needed to be the man, we are now in this position of going to jail, where we would normally be released to our parents."

"Yeah we told you this morning to shut up, but no you kept going. You kept egging on the judge, we all knew right there and then that was wrong. Why didn't you just listen to us and swallow that pride of your for just a few minutes. If you would have just done that, we would not be here right now." Randy punched the seat in front of him.

Before Bill could respond, one of the Sheriffs got up and yelled out for everyone to shut up. The boys looked out the window just in time to see the outside of the detention facility they will be spending the next couple of days. All four of them thought the same thing; it is creepier than they thought it would be.

As soon as the van pulled into the sally port, the same Sheriff got up and ordered everyone out of the van. One by one, the inmates made their way from the van into the door that led to the processing room. There they were unchained and ordered to strip down to their birthday suits. As they stripped, several inmates walked over with towels and threw a towel on floor in front of each new inmate.

When the final inmate was bare-naked, they were escorted into a huge shower room where they had five minutes to shower. No one talked; they all showered as quickly as they could and waited there when they were done for the guard to return. Exactly five minutes later, the guards returned and escorted them back to the room they came from.

Their clothes were already in a bag, and lying on top of the bag was an orange jump suit, but before they were able to get dressed, they had to spread their cheeks. Bill could not believe what he was going through. The very thing he hated the most was happening, another guy touching his private area and moving it around.

Once everyone was searched for weapons, they were ordered to get dressed. Bill, Tyler, Matt and the others quickly grabbed their boxers put them on and then slipped on the jump suit and then their socks and shoes. When they finished, they stood there looking straight ahead dreading what was to come next.

The guards ushered all the inmates out of the room and down a narrow, creepy hall. Bill looked around to see what he heard about this place was true. It did not take long for him to see a lot of what he heard was true. One of the first rooms they passed was the room that was used to torture the gay youths. It was the very room where Joey was placed on the metal mattress and electrocuted to the brink of death. The smell of burnt flesh could still be smelt as you passed that room.

It gave Bill and his friends the shivers as they walked past it. They heard the stories, but never believed them until now. With their own eyes, they are seeing the very machines that Joey and others like them were connected to and tortured. It made Bill and his friends sick to their stomach just looking at them.

They were snapped out of their thoughts when the guard started to yell out the rules and procedures of the place. As he went through how their days were going to be, none of the boys could believe it. Basically, their lives are now going to be spent in an eight by eight room twenty-three hours a day with nothing to do. No television to watch, no reading material and nothing to write or draw. Just their thoughts in a very dark room will be their only friend and company.

When the guard finished going through what was expected of them, he started yelling out their names and pointed to a door. When Bill's name was called, he walked over to where the guard was pointing to and walked into the room. He turned and watched as the door of his cell closed. Extending his arms, he was almost able to touch both walls of the cell.

He made his way to his bed and sat down, putting his head between his legs, trying to catch his breath. For the first time reality hit him and hit him hard. The life that he knew is gone and the one replacing it is one that he does not want. Before he knew it, tears of regret and sorrow started to roll down his face.

Meanwhile back at Bill's house, his father, Chief Carnes walked in to find his wife waiting for him. When she saw that he did not have their son with him, she started to yell at her husband. Before he knew it, things started flying in his direction, slamming and breaking against the wall. When his wife ran out of things to throw at him from the living room, she went to the kitchen and started to get whatever she could to throw.

Chief Carnes wrestled the plates out of his wife's hand and got her to sit down in a chair in the kitchen. "I promise you that I will do whatever it takes to get our son back home. It doesn't' matter to me anymore what I have to do, he is going to come back home."

Mrs. Carnes looked up at her husband with tears rolling down her cheeks. "You and I have been over for years. The only reason I have stayed with you is because of our two sons. I should have stood up to you when I saw what you were doing to Bill. What you were teaching him, but I didn't. I let you influence him, but not anymore.

You get my son back home and I mean immediately. Once he is back here, you and I are done for good. I am going to take our kids far away from here so you can no longer hurt them. If you try and stop me, I will bring out every skeleton in your closet that will more than likely make you spend the rest of your natural born life behind bars."

Stunned on what his wife was threatening, Mr. Carnes took several steps back. "You listen to me and listen well. I will get our son back, not because of the threats you are making, but because he is my son. Once he is back home, we are going to go back to the way things were and act like the loving family everyone thinks we are."

"No not anymore!" Mrs. Carnes yelled as she got up. "We are not going to act like something that we are not. In addition, there is no way I am going to allow you to hurt our boys anymore. You are a bad influence, an influence I need to get our boys away from if they have any chance of having a regular life. There is..."

Her husband giving her a slap across the face interrupted Mrs. Carnes. Something not new, but something she was tired of happening to her. "That is the last time you are going to ever raise your hand to me, the last time." She jumped on her husband and started to claw at his neck and face. It did not take much for him to pull his one hundred and twenty pound wife off his back and toss her across the room.

The fighting that was going on down in the kitchen, Tim, their youngest, was hearing every bit of it. Normally his brother Bill makes him go into his room and he runs down and saves his mother from their father. He gets in the middle of it and takes the hits that are meant for their mother. He walks away with the bruises, broken bones and black eyes, but he never cared about that. All he cared about is his mother and brother never got hurt.

Now that his brother is not home to save his mother, it is now up to him to step in and stop his father from hurting their mother. Tim got up, and went running down the stairs. When he reached the kitchen, he found his father over his mother hitting her over and over again. Not thinking about what to do, he went running to his father and with all his strength, he pulled him off his mother.

Just like the fights before, Mr. Carnes did not care who he was hitting, as long as there was someone there he could take out his frustration on. He turned his attention to his youngest and started hitting him as he was hitting his wife. Since Tim was not as big as his brother was, he could not stand up to their father and take the hits as Bill did. All he could do is protect his face and let his father do whatever he wanted to him.

Mrs. Carnes crawled out of the kitchen and once in the hallway, she got up and walked over to where her husband hangs up his gun belt. He had not had a chance to lock his gun away in his lock box before they started fighting, which means it is still in his hostler. When she got to it, she pulled the gun out and ran back to the kitchen.

Walking right up to her husband, she put the barrel of the gun to his head and cocked the hammer. "You son-of-a-bitch, get away from my son!" Mr. Carnes stopped hitting Tim and just stood there not moving an inch. "I am not going to tell you again, you get away from my son or so help me god I am going pull this trigger."

"Come on now, let's all settle down." Mr. Carnes raised his arms in the air. "Un-cock the gun and lower it before you do something that you will regret. The gun in your hands has a sensitive trigger and the slightest move will make it go off."

"If that is the case, you better move away from my son or there is no telling what these shaky hands are going to do." Moving the barrel away from her husbands head, Mrs. Carnes looked down at Tim. "Get up Tim and go and call 911. I know those that will come work for your father, but at least with them here he won't hurt us."

Tim did as he was told crawling out from beneath his father. Once he was clear from him, he got up and ran to the phone, leaving his mother and father alone in the kitchen. Mr. Carnes stood up straight, keeping his arms in the air, he turned around and smiled.

"You better hope that the guys get here before I can get that gun away from you. If they don't, they will be walking into a scene of me standing over your dead body. They will ask what happened and take their report, but at the end of the day I will get way with killing you sorry ass." Mr. Carnes started to laugh. "I don't even know what I saw in you the day I asked you to marry me. Maybe pity, but it surely wasn't love."

Just then, Tim came running back into the kitchen. Mrs. Carnes looked at her son for the first time and saw the ripped clothes and the blood running down his face. It took every ounce of her strength not to pull the trigger for what he had done. All of the beatings she and her sons received at the hands of her husband came flooding back. Slowly she was squeezing the trigger, Tim and his father saw it. Tim walked over to his mother and placed his hands over hers on the gun, and softly spoke.

"He is not worth it mom, he is not worth it. If you shoot him and he survives, you go to jail and we are stuck with him. When that happens, who is going to be here to keep him from hurting us? We need you here, not in jail, please mom don't do this."

Tim got through to his mom and she slowly released the trigger of the gun. She kept it pointed at her husband, but she was no longer squeezing the trigger. Moments later, several police cruisers arrived and made the chief-of-police leave his house. They didn't arrest their boss, but they didn't allow him to stay at the house either.

Once he and his officers left, Mrs. Carnes knew that she and her sons were not safe in that home anymore. Tomorrow or the next day her husband will be back and things will be fine for a couple of days, but it always go back to him beating on her and one of her sons trying to save her. That she cannot have anymore and she knows it. One way or another, she needs to get away from him and for good. However, that cannot happen until he gets Bill home, after that it is a different story.

As all this was going on at the Carnes house, Joey and Caleb were settling in for the night. They had not talked yet since their little fight in the kitchen. It was not because they were angry at each other. It was just that neither of them knew how to get the conversation going. They felt if they were the first to break the silence, it was admitting to the other that they were wrong.

Finally, as they crawled into bed, Joey broke the silence. "I had a meeting with the company I told you about that I called to see if they would get my mother and bring her back to US this evening. By the sounds of it, they can, but I do not know if I want them to do it after all. Maybe it is better that my mom stays where she is."

Caleb moved to his side to look at Joey. "I know you too well and what you just said is bullshit. You won't be able to rest until your mother is in jail. At least know where she is. Right now, you are constantly worried that she is going to appear and try to take Fran back. Also, try to hurt you again. No babe, you need closure to this."

Joey knew Caleb was right and there was no use denying it. "Well I went ahead and gave them the go ahead to locate where she is and make the plans to get her back to the US. However, before they do anything else, they have to report back to me. What worries me the most right now is not bringing her back, is that she gets away with what she did. At least with her running from the law, she can never legally try to take Fran back. She will always be on the run and can never really bother us."

"Yeah you are right there, but what is stopping her from getting her family or someone she knows to do it. At least with her you can see her coming. If she uses a family member or a friend, you will not know what hit you until it is too late. I think what you should do is let that company do their job and bring her back. Then we hope everything goes right."

Everything that Caleb is saying is right and Joey knows it. He agreed with him and eventually after talking it through, decided to let Mr. Ludwig and Mr. Cross do their job without having to report to him. If they can get their hands on his mother and bring her back here, then he can rest a little more easier, at least for a while that is.

"Now that we agree what to do there, I would like to talk with you about something that was have been putting off." Joey turned to his side to look Caleb in the face. "I am tired of spring break being the big elephant in the room for us. My friends and you will never get along, which bothers me, but at the same time I don't care. I love you Joey and I would stop talking to my friends if that makes you happy."

"I would never ask that of you because I don't have that right to. You had those friends before we met and you should try to keep them. Yes, we don't get along, but that doesn't mean you can't be friends with them. I feel eventually they will come around and realize you are who you are and were that person way before I came onto the scene."

"Well even if they eventually come around, all I care about right now is right now. That means you, my family and finding a way to make things work here in El Paso. Therefore, I called up Lonnie and the other guys were there. We caught up and then I went right into our plans of spring break. I told them that I am madly in love with you and I want to spend every minute of every day I can with you. That will not happen during spring break if we take separate vacations. So I told the guys that I was not going to go with them."

That shocked Joey to his bones. He knew Caleb loved him and Caleb did not have to do that to show his love. A week in the big picture of life is nothing and he can handle being away from Caleb. As long as he has Caleb for the rest of his life that is. He would have missed him that entire week as well, but something he was willing to do because just like Caleb, Joey loves his boyfriend with every bit of his heart.

"Before you say I shouldn't have done that and I need to call the guys back up, I won't. I want to be with you for our first spring break. I don't care if it is here in the hotel or at South Padre Islands with our friends. All that matters to me is that you are at my side and we are making passionate love with each other that entire week."

Caleb reached over to Joey and wrapped his arm around his neck. Gently he pulled Joey over to him and did not stop until their lips touched. Neither of them fought for power, they just let it go, taking turns exploring each other's mouth. The only time they broke the kiss was to come up for a quick breath.

They wrapped themselves into each other's body and stayed that way until they had fallen asleep. There was no need for blankets. Their body heat that they are sharing was keeping each other warm. Around midnight, Joey jolted awake from a nightmare he was having of his time in the camp. He looked over at Caleb and found him shivering from the cold. He quickly reached down and pulled the blankets over them. As he laid back down, he gently pulled Caleb to him and fell back to sleep in his arms.

Neither of the boys stirred again until their alarm clock sounded the next morning. For the first time since they moved to El Paso, they woke up energized. With Bill and his friends out of the way, at least for now, Joey and Caleb felt relieved, like a big boulder has been taken off their shoulders. They can actually walk down the halls for now and not worry about running into those five guys and land up in a fistfight.

As they got ready, they talked about the transfer and agreed to not say a word to the others until Joey had a chance to talk it over with Al. Caleb listened to his mother and understood where Joey was coming from and why he had to talk with Al before doing anything. Seeing that his boyfriend was that understanding surprised Joey.

"Okay who are you and what did you do with my handsome, gorgeous boyfriend?" Joey walked up to Caleb and playfully squeezed his cheeks and pulled softly at his skin on his arms. "It feels real, which means you must be my boyfriend, but someone came in the middle of the night and brain washed you or something."

Both Joey and Caleb cracked up laughing. "I know after I sounded last night, you are having a hard time believing me, but my mom sat me down and made me see. Cleared everything out of my view and made me see why you are doing what you are doing." Caleb leaned over and kissed Joey on the fore head.

They kissed each other a couple more times on the forehead, but the kissing did not stay there. Before heading downstairs, they held a very passionate kiss that spoke volumes. The only reason it didn't go any further than the kiss is because their phone rang. It was Helen on the other end making sure they were awake and coming down for breakfast.

The morning flew for the boys. No one at school was talking about them. Instead, they were still talking about what happened to Aaron. The rumor was pretty much factual and that surprised Joey and the guys. As the morning wore on, more parts of the story were added, which included Bill and his gang being arrested and are in jail.

As Joey and Caleb made their way to third period, they could not help but overhear the conversation that was going on with a couple of their classmates next to them. `It is just strange that Bill was arrested and was not released. His father is the one in charge of the police in this city and he couldn't stop his son going to jail.'

`Yeah I heard he tried, but it didn't happen because of this new judge. He was prejudiced against Bill and his father because who his son is.' Joey was about to get up and give those two that were talking a piece of his mind, but Caleb stopped him. Caleb held on to his arm and when Joey looked over to him, he saw pleading eyes for him to stay.

Leaning over, Caleb whispered. "I don't care what those jerks are saying and neither should you. My dad did what he was supposed to do and that is all that should be said on the subject. Don't let anyone get under your skin, and especially over something this small. It's not worth it. On top of that, they will see eventually they are wrong."

Joey opened his mouth to respond, but the final bell rang. Their instructor started to take roll call, and he and the rest of the students in that class know they have to be quiet while their teacher is talking. Joey looked straight ahead and started thinking on what Caleb had just said, and came to the same conclusion. Those idiots are not worth getting angry and then expelled over.

Harold was having a good morning until he was returning from lunch. As he got off the elevator, a middle age woman approached him that he has never met before. She asked if he was Judge Harold, which he answered yes. Then she started to tell him why she was there. When she gave her last name, Harold stopped her from going any further.

"Mrs. Carnes, you should not be speaking to me at all about your son's case. If anyone you should be speaking to is the DA, but even then, you should have your son's attorney present for the discussion. So please ma'am walk away before you say something that you can't take back that will hurt your son even more."

"No sir, I am sorry, but I'm not going to do that. I need you to hear me out so you know my true son. Not the ugly brute of a kid that you think he is. He is not..."

"Ma'am every parent says that about their kids because that is what they see in their kids. They cannot see any bad in them, even if it is right in front of them. With that said, I cannot talk about this case with you. Please Mrs. Carnes go and talk with your son's attorney and see if he will let you speak on Tuesday on behalf of your son."

Harold started to walk away when he heard Mrs. Carnes yell out that her son will not make it in jail until Monday. He tried to ignore it, but the way her voice was, he could not. No man with a soul and an ounce of compassion would be able to ignore it. Hesitantly, he turned around and waved Mrs. Carnes over to him.

"Mrs. Carnes this is what I am willing to do for you. We will go into my courtroom and you will sit in the gallery until we can reach your son's attorney. If he can make it to my court room and has no objections, I will let you talk to me." Mrs. Carnes shook her head, forcing a smile on her face. "Do not get your hopes up on this, because the district attorney could object to this as well."

For some reason Mrs. Carnes felt that neither the District Attorney nor her son's attorney will have any objections to her speaking. They are parents and they can put themselves in her shoes and feel what she is feeling right now. By them doing that, not only will they not object, they will give her as much time as she needs.

Harold did as he promised. The minute he walked into his chambers, he asked his secretary to call up the attorney of record for Billy Carnes and ask him to come over as soon as he could. While she was making the call, Harold brought in the DA an explained to him what was going on. Just as Mrs. Carnes thought, the DA did not object.

Once Harold got that out of the way, he put on his robe and headed out to his courtroom. He called his court into session and started with his afternoon cases. About an hour into his afternoon docket, Bill's attorney walked into the courtroom. He saw Mrs. Carnes and went over to her to see what was going on.

She explained to him what she wanted to do and at first, he did not like the idea. Mainly he felt doing what she wants to do, is throwing the man that is paying his fees under the bus. Then he thought that he does not work for the father. His client is Billy Carnes and he is the person he needs to fight for.

The more Mrs. Carnes went on, the more the attorney felt for her. He gave in and told her that he will stand at her side as long as the judge and the DA do not object to it. He got up from his seat and walked over to the DA'S table. As they talked, he found out the DA was not objecting to this, or neither is the judge.

With that at hand, he walked back to Mrs. Carnes and told her that it looks like she is going to get her chance to talk to the judge. As Harold finished the couple of plea cases in front of him, Mrs. Carnes and her son's attorney went over a couple of things. Not what she was going to say, but how to talk to the judge. The attorney warned Mrs. Carnes that this judge is a mean SOB and she needs to be very careful on what she was going to say.

As he finished up on how she should talk to the judge, Harold called them forward. "Let me make myself very clear on this matter at the get go. What is about to happen here today is not evidence and will not be treated as such. I am allowing this to happen in order to hear from a parent that wants to speak on behalf of her son. I have never done this before, and more than likely I will never do it again. Therefore Mrs. Carnes, here is your only chance to speak for your son, so take advantage of it."

Mrs. Carnes cleared her throat and started out softly, but by the middle of the second sentence, she was speaking at her normal voice. "Thank you you're Honor for doing something that you yourself just said that you normally don't do. I really appreciate and I will try not take a lot of your time her this afternoon.

My son is seventeen years old and yes, those in this courtroom know him as a kid that bullies other kids, almost killing one of them, but that is not him. He is not that kid and I know you do not put much weight to that since it is coming from a parent that has to always believe their kids did no wrong, even when they did.

My son was wrong on what he did to that poor kid, and I will not make any excuse for what he did. What I will do is tell you how my son became who he is today. Ever since I could remember he has been there protecting me from his father. A man that is abusive no matter if he is drunk or sober.

Since he was knee high, he came between my husband and me when the fighting got bad. He took the beatings from his father so I never had to. I know I should have protected my son and left my husband, but I always thought that the man I married would eventually return, but I was wrong on that. Over the years, that man completely disappeared and another man took his place that I do not even know.

Also through the years, my son Billy grew angrier and angrier your honor. The fights have gotten worse and a lot more than in the past. At times, my husband beat my son so badly, he knocked him out. Billy figured out in order to stand up to his dad, he had to get as big as he is, and he did. By the time he started high school, Billy was bigger than his father was, but never once raised a fist to him. He used his strength to protect me whenever my husband came home and just went off.

I always feared that anger I knew my son was keeping bottled up was eventually going to come out. When it did, I was scared for the person on the receiving end of it. Well that happened this past week and that poor kid did not deserve it. All Billy has known in his life is to beat on people that are smaller than he is. He saw his father do it and his father is the chief-of-police, so why should he not.

My son is not the devil you see him as. He needs help and he needs to get away from his father. Please your honor; give my son and his friends a chance to prove to you that they are not the kids you think they are. If you lock them up at their age and throw away the key, you are taking away any chance of them actually proving all us wrong."

"Mrs. Carnes my heart goes out to you, but I can't take what you are saying here today to move me one direction of dealing with this case. I have parents coming in here every day giving me a sob story in hopes that will save their kid from going to jail. If I would listen to every parent that walked in here I will never sentence anyone to prison."

Mrs. Carnes pulled out an envelope from her purse and asked if she could approach. Harold gave her permission and she walked up and handed the envelope to him. Before she walked back, she made sure Harold opened the envelope and pulled the contents out.

"Those pictures you are looking out is proof on what I said here today is true. Every time my husband beat my son, or me I documented it with pictures. In your hand your honor are pictures of my son beatings all the way back to when he was eight years old." Harold looked up at her not understanding how she allowed this to go on. "You heard me right your honor! He was eight years old when he stood up for me for the first time."

Harold did not say a word; he just went through the pictures. The further he got in the pile, the sicker he got to his stomach. Some of pictures showed minor cuts and bruises, but there were others that showed knocked out teeth, blood coming down the side of an eight-year-old boy's head, broken bones and on and on and on.

"Ma'am if you do not mind, I would like to keep these pictures so I can get copies made of them. You or your attorney can come back Monday and pick your original ones up." Harold looked up from the pictures.

"You honor those pictures in your hand are copies, they are not the originals. I have the originals locked up somewhere very safe that my husband has no idea where. Those I brought here today are for you to keep sir. I knew my word alone was not going to be enough since I am a parent of a person that is before you."

Just then, Chief Carnes came crashing through the doors. The minute he walked in, he was yelling objection. When he reached his wife, he pulled her by her arm and tried to drag her to the side, but Harold was not going to have any of that. He ordered his bailiffs to restrain the chief-of-police. Once they got him to settle down, Harold spoke.

"Chief Carnes I am not going to even start on what is before me right now. That is a matter for another day, which that day will be soon. What I am going to talk to you about is your escape from county jail last night." Chief Carnes looked at Harold as if he was out of his mind. "I held you in contempt of court and sentenced you to twenty four hours jail time. Imagine my surprise when I came in this morning and found out you were not locked up as I ordered.

The officers that were on duty last night that allowed you to walk out of jail, disobeying this court are no longer employees of this state. I issued out a bench warrant for you arrest soon after I made sure your friends down there were dealt with. So thank you for coming on in and turning yourself in. That was very nice of you and it will save the city money on not having to search for you."

"What the hell are you talking about? You can't lock up the chief-of-police. No place in this city or state is safe for me, because of the job I hold."

"I disagree with you sir and I am willing to prove that. Your sentence is now double and you will be our guest at the new detention facility. We will provide you with private transportation to our facility and process you in with a false name. Once you go through processing, you will be taken to your cell, where you will stay for forty eight hours."

"You have no idea who you are messing with your honor. All I have to do is make one call to the mayor, he will have me out of there, and you off this bench. You just made the biggest mistake of your life just now."

"If you want to call up the mayor, go right ahead. In fact, I will let you use my phone in my chambers because I want to see your face when he tells you that he cannot do a thing for you. I do not work for the mayor. I was appointed to this bench by the governor and he is the only one I report to, except the law abiding citizens of this district." Harold looked at his bailiffs. "Take him away and make sure this time he doesn't walk out. If he does, you will be joining the others in the food line."

Chief Carnes continued yelling that Harold did not have the right to do what he was doing, but no one was paying any attention to him. They escorted him out of the courtroom to a side room where they disarmed him before handcuffing him. Once they had all his weapons, badge and holster, the bailiffs handed him over to the two Sheriffs that were there to provide the chief his ride to the detention facility.

Stunned on what was going on, Mrs. Carnes just stood there watching as her husband was being pulled out of the courtroom in handcuffs. She has always thought her husband was untouchable, but this judge is not afraid of him. He is willing to show her husband no matter if he is wearing the badge, and in charge of the police in this city, he must follow the same laws as everyone else. If he does not, he will be treated the same.

While the chief-of-police was, being dragged out of the courtroom kicking and screaming at Thomas Hospital Aaron woke up. It seemed that he somehow knew he was being talked about and those that were doing him wrong are being dealt with. His mind knew he was safe and now is letting the body know.

As he opened his eyes, he looked around the room. His father had just left to go down and grab something to eat, so the room was empty. Scott and Cory were not there either, but it was not by their design. They wanted to spend the day with their brother, but their father made them go to school. Principal Haynes did not want the courts to have any reason to pull his sons off probation and make them do the time instead.

Therefore, there was no one the room when Aaron woke up. He was alone and he felt it as he looked around the dark room. There was light coming into the room from the hall and from the monitors of the machines that were connected to him. Other than that, the room was pretty much dark and cold.

Aaron tried to get up, but every part of him hurt, even his eyes, which were barely opening due to them still being swollen. Through the cracks of his eyes, he tried to figure out exactly where he was. Not just the machines gave it away, but his memory of the last thing that happened to him told him that he must be in the hospital.

Once more, he tried to move up on his bed, but he failed. His legs being up in the air and the other parts of his body in some kind off cast or wrapping, he could barely move. Then the pain coming from his rib area got worse every time he tried to move. This last attempt brought pain that Aaron never thought was possible to feel. He gave up and just laid there in his bed looking straight up at the ceiling.

A few minutes later, he heard the door of his room open and someone come in. At first, he thought it was someone from his family, but when he felt soft warm hands grabbing his arm, he knew it was not his dad or brothers. The hand was too small to be a male hand, and it was so gentle. Then whoever grabbed his arm wrapped something around it. When it started to get tight around his upper arm, he looked over at the nurse.

At first, she did not see Aaron move because she was writing down the numbers from the screens in his record. When she looked down to un-wrap the cuff from his arm, she jumped back a couple of feet. Staring back at her was a very innocent face, eyes barely open, but she was able to see the beauty in them. Her heart fell as the innocent eyes stared at her, almost pleading for help.

"Why didn't you let me know you were awake young man when I walked in here?" The nurse spoke finally as she gathered herself and walked back to the bed. "Your doctor has been wondering why you hadn't woken up yet, but your father kept telling him and us you do things on your own time table. I can see that." The nurse put her right hand over Aaron's forehead to make sure he was okay.

"I am sorry for scaring you; I must look like a Frankenstein monster right now." Aaron forced out of his very dry throat. The nurse could hear the scratchiness in his voice so she walked out of the room and came back less than a minute later with a cup of ice. She walked over to the bed, and put a couple ice cubes in Aaron's mouth and then she took another and rubbed it on his dry lips.

As he sucked on the ice, Aaron tried to speak again, but that even hurt. "Thank you for bringing me ice. It really is hitting the spot." The nurse grabbed another ice from the cup and slowly put it against his lips.

"Don't speak right now! You have been asleep for a couple of days and the surgery you underwent, well that is the reason that you are having a hard time talking right now. You relax and let me go and get your doctor and father. He just left to go down stairs to get something to eat and drink. Normally he brings his food up here to be with you and I am pretty sure he is going to do the same thing now."

Just as the words left her lips, Principal Haynes walked in with a tray with his lunch and a soda. He saw his son look his direction, causing him to almost drop his food. He quickly put his tray on the table and walked over to his son's side. The nurse started to walk out of the room, but before she completely left, she informed both of them that she was going to get Dr. Whitmore and his staff.

Principal Haynes nodded his head, but did not take his eyes off his son. "How are you feeling?" Principal Haynes gently patted his sons head. "You have been through a lot in the last couple of days and must be in pain."

"I am, but I am glad that my last thoughts didn't come true." Principal Haynes was confused on what his son said. At first, he did not understand what he was saying and his son saw the confusion. "When those guys were beating me, I thought I was going to die. I wished I were dead so the pain would stop. They..."

"You stop speaking like that Aaron. Never say those words to me again. I cannot live if I lose any of my kids, so never wish you were dead. Your life has just begun and there is so much you are meant to do. Proof of that is you surviving that hate that was put on you last Thursday. I am sorry, so sorry that I wasn't there when all this happened."

"Dad you can't be everywhere all the time. You are superman, but come on, sometimes superman cannot be there. You too are only one man." That put a smile on the principal's face. "All that matters are like you said, I survived, and I am here." Aaron voice was cracking as he spoke due to his dry throat.

"Can you remember who did this to you?" Surprised and at the same time scared of the question his father just asked, Aaron turned away. He started to worry. If they do not know who did this to him, he is not safe. If he tells on Billy and his former friends, what he got the other day would be nothing compared to what they would do if he tells.

"Son, we already know who it was! All I was trying to see if you remembered and could testify to it. Your testimony will for sure put those that did this to you away for many years, if not the rest of their lives, I hope. So if you can remember, can you please tell me who did this to you Aaron?"

Aaron turned back to his father with tears rolling out of his eyes. Seeing that he brought his son to tears, he dropped the question. He leaned down and wrapped his arms around what he could of his son gently and tried to hug him. As he hugged his son, Dr. Whitmore and his staff walked into the room, but stayed at the door until Principal Haynes got up.

"You need to be careful there, you don't want to break this young man in half." Dr. Whitmore spoke in a chipper voice. "Hello Aaron, my name is Dr. Whitmore, I am your doctor." Dr. Whitmore gently shook the hand that was not in splints. "I am glad you woke up when you did because I was already on my way out of the hospital."

Dr. Whitmore picked up Aaron's chart to check his last readings. "I am pretty sure you have a lot of questions, but before you start asking them let me tell you what is going to happen and has happened in the last couple of days and weeks. I know you know where you are and what had happened to you, so there is no need to go over that stuff.

What I am going to tell you is that you are a very lucky kid. You would not be laying here if you were not a fighter. No matter how good of a surgeon I am or anyone else is, we would not accomplish anything if you did not fight to stay alive. You need to keep that fight in you, more so in the days and weeks ahead of you.

It is going to be very painful but I think you already know that. Your body is healing, but the amount of damage that was done to you, is going to take a while. If everything goes as planned, you should be out of here at the beginning of the week. That does not mean you will be able to go to school right off the bat. Even when you go back to school, you will not be able to do everything at once. The cast on your leg and arms, as well the splints and wrapping around your ribs will not be taken off for at least a couple of months. This means, you are going to be uncomfortable for a while.

Put all that aside you mental health will take even longer than your physical health to heal. You might not believe me right now, but if you do not get the help you need to recover mentally, your life is going to be a very bad one. The ghost of what happened to you will haunt you all your life and that we cannot have. So along with physical therapy, I'm going to have you seeing a therapist." Aaron looked at his doctor as if he was out of his mind asking him to see a shrink.

"By the look in your eyes you don't agree with me on the last part, but you will see I'm right. Let us not worry about all this right now. What I need you to concentrate on at this moment is trying to stay awake more than just a couple of minutes. I know me talking to you is putting you to sleep, so I am going to leave to let you watch television or whatever you want to do that keeps you awake."

"Dr. Whitmore, can my son get up from the bed and walk around if he wants?"

"No, not today, first, he is too weak to do that due to not only the damage to his body, but as well, the medicine he is on for the pain. I am weaning him off it, but I cannot take him completely off it or he is going to be in way too much pain. Plus when he does get up and start walking, I don't want him doing it without a physiotherapist at his side."

"Okay what about eating. He has had nothing to eat in the last couple of days, can I go out and get him his favorite foods, or is he stuck eating what the hospital serves."

"I know the hospital food is not that good, but for now he is going to have to eat what comes up from kitchen. The first couple of meals will be more liquid than solid due to him not eating for a couple of days, and what I did inside of him when I was in there. We need to make sure everything is working right, and in order to do that. There are steps that must be taken. If any of those steps are skipped, things will be worse for Aaron."

"Basically then he has to lay here like a piece of furniture for a couple of days." Principal Haynes did not mean to sound angry and frustrated, but it came out that way. "I am sorry Dr. Whitmore I know you are doing this to make sure my son walks out of here as healthy as he was the day he was beaten. I just hate seeing him stuck to this bed."

"I understand your frustration on all this Mr. Haynes, but you've got to relax. Everything that can be done for your son is being done. It is going to take time to get him back to how he was before all this happened. Even when he goes home, he is not going to be one hundred percent. That won't happen for months, so be prepared for that."

Principal Haynes thanked Dr. Whitmore for everything and apologized again before he left the room. When he and his staff left, the principal pulled one of the seats in the room up to the side of bed and sat down. He grabbed the remote to the television, turned it on and started channel surfing until Aaron told him to stop. It was not long after that Aaron fell back to sleep, giving his father a chance to eat his now cold lunch.

Meanwhile back at Austin, Joey and his friends were out in the quad talking during the last minutes of their lunch period. The chatter about what had happened to Aaron, Billy, his friends had settled down, and the student body was talking about different things. They were not even talking about Joey and his group for the first time. They talked about every other thing under the moon except the two things that have been their favorite topics for the last couple of days.

When the first bell rang, Joey and Caleb followed their friends into the building. As they walked in, they grabbed each other hands to hold, but Joey let go of Caleb's hand when he saw Major Massey walking towards him. He hoped that the major did not see him holding hands with Caleb. When he walked past and did not say a word or even look at Joey, Joey breathed a little easier. They were not caught Joey kept telling himself.

However, that changed when Joey walked into the ROTC. As he made his way to the classroom, he heard Major Massey calling for him. He turned around and walked into the major's office to see what he needed. At first the major did not say a word, he just pointed to the seat in front of his desk as he finished whatever he was working on.

"Son you make think that I am a prude and bigot when it comes to homosexuality, but you would be wrong on that. I know you do not have a choice in this matter. As you did not have a choice on what color hair you have or the family you were born into. Still though, you do have a choice on how you show and live your life in public.

I figured on what just happened here at this school the other day, you and your boyfriend would not show any emotion out there in the halls, quad or anywhere else in this school. Bill and his group are not the only haters in this school. There are a lot more that are not afraid to do the same thing to you that happened to Aaron Haynes.

You seem to be a very smart kid by your grades, and what I have heard from Colonel Chandler. If that is true, use those smarts Mr. Alvarez when it comes to your love you have for your boyfriend. I do not want to find out that you got hurt the way Aaron did. Because if that would happen, I would have to go out and find those kids that hurt one of my cadets and make it clear that will not be tolerated."

Joey could not believe what he was hearing from Major Massey. He thought that he was one of those haters, not one that would stand up for him. Now he can see how wrong he was. Major Massey under it all has no problems with gays. In fact, he will stand up for him if any wrong happens that is not just.

"You are a bright kid Mr. Alvarez and I want you to stick around long enough to show me what the others have seen and like about you. So please do not do what I saw you and your boyfriend doing today during lunch. Not because I find it wrong, because, I honestly do not. It is because others here not only will find it wrong, but also will try to hurt you. Do I have your promise on that?" Joey nodded his head. "Good then, get on out of here and make my battalion as good, hopefully better than El Paso High's battalion."

Joey got up from his seat and walked out of the office thinking how he is going to get the battalion at least as good as Jacob's. There is a lot of work that needs to be done and he does not even know where to start. On top of that, this battalion is behind Jacob's because they have not even put the simplest changes into effect yet. That alone is enough to worry about because if they were unwilling or unable to do that, the harder changes will be even worse when he started to put them into place.

Seeing a different side of Major Massey made Joey feel a lot better. From the first day he met the major, he thought he was going to have a jerk on his hands, but today he showed a different side of himself. The way he presented his feelings the first day he met Major Massey and how he did it today was very different. Do not get Joey wrong, he loves the major of today, not the major from the other day.

He really liked the way the major talked with him, it brighten up his day. It brightened up his day so much nothing bothered him the rest of the day. Caleb even noticed, but did not say a word. He liked seeing his boyfriend happy and not stuck in his own head. In his opinion, Joey spends way too much time in his head, which will hurt him.

When they were heading home, Joey was the lively one in the conversation. He started it and kept it going with the guys. Half of the time, they had no idea what he was talking about, but they did not care. As long as the conversation did not swing around to the topic they are tired of hearing, Aaron, Bill and his gang.

As soon as they walked into the hotel, Joey and Caleb grabbed their snack and headed up stairs. Caleb was barely off the elevator when Joey was on top of him, kissing. His dick got hard instantly. Joey could feel Caleb's dick wrestling to get free from its confinement in Caleb's jeans and boxers. He reached down between their legs and gave it a couple of squeezes, causing Caleb to shiver.

They ripped each other's shirts off and started to undo each other pants as they made their way to their room, but did not make it. They kept tripping over the boxes that were all over their living room that they had not unpacked yet. Finally, after the third time tripping, they did not bother to get up.

Right there in the midst of the boxes, in the middle of the living room, the boys made passionate love to each other. They cared neither who was top nor who was bottom. They flip flopped several times and had so many climaxes they lost count as they exploded all over each other or inside of each other. They sixty-nined swallowing everything down they could, both marveling at the number of times they were able to shoot their load, these two young men were so hot and in love with each other.

An hour later, they sat there in the middle of the living room tired, sweaty and in each other's arms looking at each other with love in their eyes. Not lust, but real true love they have for each other. Not a word was spoken between the two, everything was said with their eyes and the way they caressed each other's bodies.

It did not take long for them to get hard again. Caleb pulled Joey into his arms starting to make passionate love for the fourth time in a little over an hour. He picked up Joey's legs and slowly put them on his shoulders. Leaning down he kissed Joey tenderly and with feeling as he lined his dick up to Joey's sweet, tight entrance. Gently he pushed in and once his dick broke through, he slowly moved forward making Joey moan in lust.

Once he hit is lover's button, Joey's moans got louder. Not breaking the kiss, Caleb slowly moved his dick almost right out then, before he was completely out, he pushed back in again. He stayed at the same slow speed for a little while longer, but he could not stand it. He could not stand how Joey's ass was wrapped around his dick as if it was made just for him. It fit like a glove and it was bringing him to his climax a lot faster than he wanted.

Joey could see in Caleb's eyes and could feel the way he was moving, that he was close to a climax. Gently he rolled Caleb on his side and let his dick fall out. Once Caleb's dick was out, Joey felt empty. He reached down between their legs and with his pre-cum that is leaking like a faucet. He spread it around his dick, using it as a lube.

When he felt he was lubed up, he lifted Caleb's legs and placed them on his shoulders as gently and loving as it was done to him. He lined his dick up to his boyfriend's entrance; slowly pressed against it and did not stop until it popped through. Once it did, he pushed his dick further and further into Caleb not stopping until his pubic hairs were touching his lovers sexy bubble butt.

Just like Caleb, Joey started moving his dick out slowly and once it was almost out, he went back in. It did not take him long either to reach is climax. When he was about to explode, he pulled out. Quickly they got into a sixty-nine position. Knocking over several boxes, they finished each other off. Not a drop fell from the others mouth they swallowed it all.

Once they could not get any more of what they wanted from each other, they fell back to the floor and stayed there until they caught their breath. Joey was the first that was able to move again. He pulled himself off the floor and helped Caleb up. When they were both on their feet, they walked to the bathroom and took a long hot shower. They soaped each other up and made sure they did not miss any part of the others body.

They headed down to the lobby once they were dried and dressed again. The guys knew something was up since Joey and Caleb were in different clothes than what they were wearing when they went up stairs. They teased Joey and Caleb until they were called in for dinner. As soon as they sat down at the table, there was no more sex talk.

The rest of evening the boys spent it in front of the television as a group, which surprised Beth and Harold. Since they have moved into the hotel, as soon as they finished eating, they all scattered up to their rooms and watched television by themselves, but not tonight. They gathered in the movie theater room on the first floor and watched movies until early in the morning. None of them wanted to be the first to call it quits, so a little after three; they all at once got up and headed to bed.

The next morning Joey and his group got a big surprise. The guys from the shelter were down stairs moving things to their right places when a group of guys walked in. At first they froze, thinking these guys were here to make them trouble. One of them after a few minutes of silence told the guys that walked in that this was not a regular hotel. If they needed a room, they would need to go down the street to another hotel.

One of the guys laughed at what was said and then they heard Caleb voice from the rear of the room. He explained to the guys that the guys that are standing before them are not looking for a hotel. They were confused when they heard Caleb say that and more confused when they saw him shake their hands as if he knew them. Then when he told them where Joey was and he would take them up to him, stunned them even more.

The guy that laughed politely said no and explained what they were doing there. They came down to help them move in he explained. As he went on, Harold and Helen walked off the elevator, and went over to greet them. When the boys saw that, it confirmed that Caleb and his family knew these guys. Then when Joey got off the elevator and almost ran up to the group, it was confirmed these guys were not strangers.

After Joey said hello and did a little small talk, everyone made their introductions to each other. Once everyone knew everyone else, or at least their name, Gary and Janet split them into teams and they went to work. It did not take Harold, Andy Sr. and Andy Jr. to set up their penthouse since Helen had pretty much unpacked everything.

Once they were done, Harold went down stairs to check in with Helen to see when dinner was going to be ready. She explained it was not going to be until around five, giving Harold almost five hours. He kissed Helen on the cheeks and promised her that he was going to go in for a couple of hours, but will be back in time for dinner. Helen tried to stop Harold, but gave up when she saw that he was not really listening to her.

Harold grabbed his briefcase and headed out. There was not much traffic on the roads, which surprised him. He got from the hotel to the detention facility in little less than thirty minutes. When he walked in, the guards were surprised to see him there on a Saturday. They quickly snapped to attention and waited to see if they could be any help to the judge.

The very first thing Harold asked was to be taken to the cell where Chief Carnes was. The two guards he asked looked at each other with confused looks on their faces. As soon as Harold saw the looks, he realized they did not know the chief-of-police was here. He had forgotten that they gave Chief Carnes a fake name to keep him safe in here. Harold gave the fake name and the guards looked at their list and got his cell number.

They escorted Harold to Chief Carnes cell. A couple cells before they got to the cell that Carnes was in, Harold asked the guards to stay back. Not asking any questions, they did not continue. Instead, they watched as their boss walked to the cell he asked for, slide the little door on the main door open.

Looking in to the cell, Harold saw Chief Carnes lying on the bed in an orange jump suit. The chief knew someone was looking in on him, but did not look up. "Mr. Carnes how are you today?" Getting no response, Harold continued. "Well I came down to make sure you were where you are supposed to be and to talk to your son."

That got the chiefs attention. He looked up at the door and made eye contact. "You can't speak with my son without his attorney present. Since I do not see his attorney with you, I am to assume he is not here. Therefore, you'd better not talk to my son if you don't want to join me in here."

"I know the law sir; I don't need you quoting it to me. Before your wife and your son's attorney left my courtroom yesterday, I got their permission to talk to your son. Since his attorney gave the green light, I do not need your permission. You enjoy yourself in here. I'm glad to see that you are yourself, a selfish asshole."

Harold slammed the little door shut and walked back over to the guards. He asked to be taken to Billy Carne's cell. Within a couple of minutes the guards escorted the judge to the cell he requested. This time he did not open the small door, he asked to be let in. The guards went in first to make sure the inmate had nothing that he could use to hurt the judge before giving the all clear that he could go in.

When Harold stepped into the cell, Billy jumped up from his bed and stood there almost at attention. He was dressed in the same orange jump suit, white t-shirt and blue shoes that his father was wearing. Harold looked around the cell and just like Billy, he reached out his arms, but he was able to touch each wall without a problem.

"Please sit down young man." Harold pointed to Billy's bed. "I don't know if you know this or not, but this place was a brain washing camp for gays before the state took it over and turned it into a detention facility for gangs. One of the boys you don't like much was sent to this place when it was that camp and let me tell you when we got him out of here; he was a shell of a man than you see today.

The reason I am telling you this is the hatred you have, you are not alone. Also I want to let you know that those that ran this camp are now guests in our system. They are going to stay in our system until the day they die since they are going to be convicted in four different states as it stands now."

Bill just looked up at Harold taking everything in on what he was saying. "Bill, may I call you Bill or do you want me to call you Mr. Carnes?" Bill gave Harold permission to call him Bill. "Thanks Bill for that! I spoke with your mother yesterday and let me tell you she really cares a lot about you. You being in here is really killing her and seeing that in her face is killing me, but I have to put that aside in the position I am in.

She told me many things and showed me many pictures. I am sure you do not want me talking about what she told me. That is something you probably want to put behind you and forget about it. I would like to help you achieve that, but before I do, I would like to know in your own words why you did what you did to Aaron. I promise you what you tell me here I will not use against you in your case in anyway."

Bill did not want to tell Harold a word, because he did not trust him, but the look on his face changed Bill's mind. "To tell you the truth sir I really don't know why I do what I do. It is just, I have all this anger in me and when I see a person that I can release this anger on, I do it without even thinking. I know that is wrong and I have no real excuse for doing what I have done."

"Son I understand all that and I know probably where that anger is coming from. However, that still does not explain what you did to the Hayne's boy. You almost killed that kid because he is gay. Do you really hate gays that much that you want to see them all dead? Do you think a place like this is where they all should be put?"

"Hell no sir they don't belong here. When my friends and I arrived, we walked past the rooms that the people that ran this place before, used to torture kids my age. The smell of burnt flesh is still in the air, it made me sick to my stomach. No one, no matter who they are, deserves what those kids in here got.

I really do not hate gays either. My dad is always saying how bad they are and how they all should be gathered up and shot. However, I don't believe the same thing that he does, not really. I did what I did to make him happy and hopefully at least for one night he does not hit on mom and me. I hoped that by hearing what I did to that kid, he would be too happy to think of hitting us like he normally does."

Harold could see in Bill's face the sincerity in what he was saying. "Bill you hurt the Hayne's boy really bad. You and your friends are lucky that you guys didn't kill him. If you did, you guys would be in a whole different kind of trouble."

"I know sir and I can't stress how sorry I am for what we did. My friends would not have done what they did if I did not push them to do it. We were wrong, but it was done because I wanted to make my father happy. Because of that, my friends should not be in here or sentenced to prison. I know I have no right to ask you, but I am going to do it anyways. Please can you give me their time and let them go free."

That request stunned Harold to the bone. The boy that is sitting next to him is not the same boy that was in Principal Hayne's office. He is sincere, apologetic and had real concern not for where he lands up, but for his friends. Harold actually feels that if this boy were the one he met first, not the other one, it would have been harder for him to do what he did when he sent him and his friends down here.

"By the way can I ask how Aaron is doing? He was a friend of mine until I did what I did and I am worried about him. Can you please tell me that he is going to be okay?"

"I can tell you that he is going to be okay. He woke up today, surprising his doctors and father." Harold got up from the bed. "I need you to stay safe in here. Mind your p's and q's until I see you on Tuesday. In that court hearing, be this person, not the person that you think your father wants you to be. He is wrong I know you know that." Harold extended his hand and Bill shook it. "I now believe your mother, you are a good kid, but just messed up right now due to the kind of life you have had. Let's see what we can do about helping you out to make your life a better one."

Bill watched Harold walk out and didn't know what to make out of his visit. He has seen now two sides of the judge that is going to pass sentence on him. The other day he saw a mean guy that is strictly by the book. Today he saw a man that he would love to have as his father. As he sat back down, he started wishing that the judge he met with today is the one that is on the bench on Tuesday.

TO BE CONTINUED...

WRITER'S CORNER:

{Welcome back all to another filled exciting chapter of "Regrets and Heartaches". I hope many of your questions and concerns were answered in this chapter that you had from the others. I lot of things happened in the chapter that explained a lot of thinking of several of the new characters.

At beginning, you rode along with Bill and his friends as they were processed in. If anything, this detention facility should be used as a scare straight program. Just walking in the place should scare anyone away from a life of crime. No one wants to land up in a place like that, I mean no one. Bill and his friends got to see first hand that the rumors they heard about this place are true.

You then found out how Bill became the kid that he is today. My heart goes out to him, his brother, and not so much his mother. She should have taken her kids out of that home years ago and protected them from their father. I know it is easier said than done, but man, what Bill went through by the hands of his father. No wonder he landed up hating the world and everyone in it.

What can I tell you about Joey and Caleb that you guys don't already know? Just like my other main characters, they really love each other. It is not just the sex between them, they love each other. They showed that in this chapter more than ever. Caleb cancelled his spring break plans to be with Joey and Joey bent on the transferring. That is a relationship women and men that is a relationship, bending and meeting halfway.

Was anyone surprised that Mrs. Carnes went to Harold to try to save he son? Her story is sad and it looks like it reached Harold by the way the chapter ended. Not only her words cut through, but also she had pictures of the whole thing. I would like to see Chief Carnes get out of this one. We all know he does by the other stories, but man when it rains it pours because less than a week later he is arrested again in Jacob's story.

What did the chief-of-police think by walking into Harold's courtroom the way he did? As Harold said, he escaped from jail. Yeah he did not dig a hole and crawl to freedom, but he did not serve his time. I am glad that Harold is not afraid of him and took him back into custody to serve his time.

You all saw another side of Major Massey in this chapter. He showed a caring side of himself when he brought Joey in and asked him to be careful. This time he did not order Joey, he explained to him that it is excessively dangerous for him to do what he did with Caleb earlier during lunch. I see where the major is coming from and I hope Joey as well sees where his instructor is coming from. He is trying to protect Joey that is all.

I hope you all enjoyed the small love scene in this chapter because I wrote it. The normal editor to this story is on vacation and I have Trevor filling in for him. I felt it was just right that I wrote out the love scene it is overdue for me to do one.

Jacob and the gang showed up on Saturday morning. If any of you know the timeline of the stories, you would know that this story is about a week behind the other two. I did not repeat much of what happened while they unpacked the hotel since it was in detail in "Jacob Finding His Way" chapter seventy. If you want this in detail or forgot about this plot, please go back over to seventy of Jacob and read it again.

Finally, the end of the chapter, what can I say except we are seeing the true Billy, or are we? You guys know me, I like to throw in a lot of curve balls. With that said, I think we saw the true Billy at the end of this chapter. Are you guys confused yet? I hope so that way you keep coming back to see which Billy is the true Billy.

Again, let me remind you guys to not forget about all the other open plots and characters out there. This story is about a week behind Jacob and Alex's. We are already at the weekend that Jacob and the guys came down to help Joey and his group settle in. We still have everything that happened that weekend. On top of that, there is Beth, Dominic plots still open. As well as the dating situation between Fran and Allen and much, much more still to cover. So come on back and see how all that unfolds.

There is so much going on in this saga. I can keep writing, but I will not. You guys are going to need to tune in to the next chapter to see what is going on. More plots are going to open and old ones will be closed. This story, like my others, will keep you on your toes. Do not miss what is coming up in the chapters to come.

I do not want to say too much more and spoil the future chapters to come, so I will not. I warn you though! Do not skip a chapter, or you will be lost. There is a so much to answer in the chapters to come. Keep reading the future chapters, and enjoy!

Please email me and let me know how I am doing at jacob@jacobmillertex.com, Thanks!}

EDITOR'S CORNER:

This is one of the best chapters Jacob as written for a while, well done my friend. As Alex was, Billy is very much the same, owing down to peer pressure, which in both cases was their fathers. Except for the fact that she would have been locked up and Billy and his brother would have lost her for good I was willing her to pull the trigger when she was holding it to the chief's head. This man is an asshole of first order and the sooner he is put away the better.

Thinking back about Billy, I really feel sorry for him. Any family unit, which has an evil wicked bad tempered person like the chief in it has got to be an unhappy one. Jacob said that his wife should have taken herself and the boys away a long time ago, but that is easier said than done. She married him because she loved and she gave birth to his children deep down she hopes that the original love they had will return.

Congratulations on the love scene Jacob even if you did rob me of one of my favorite pastimes. LOL Finally, you showed that Harold is a wonderful caring man, only interested in what is right and proper in this world. When Daniel Sr. is in the White House, he would make a great attorney general. (Hint, hint)

I love my job, the pays lousy, but the fringe benefits far outweigh anything else. Those benefits are hearing from you guys telling us what you think of our stories.

Believe me Jacob has a great team and we are all dedicated to writing the best stories possible.

Hugs Trevor

trevor@jacobmillertex.com