Chapter 2 #2
“All rise.” She knew that she had to pay attention now so she’d not mess things up, but she missed the name of the judge who was presiding over things today.
When Daniel was brought out, she almost didn’t recognize him.
He’d gotten fat, and his hair was nearly all gone.
If not for the judge saying his name, she was sure that she would have thought that there was someone else in the room with them.
Grandma held her hand as they listened to the charges against Daniel.
He was being tried by a federal judge because he’d destroyed a few mailboxes.
She’d thought it was just the one, but there were five of them.
Melbourne had told her that each one of them was a two-hundred and fifty thousand dollar fine or up to three years in prison if found guilty, or both.
Then there was the crime of urinating on the mail that had been in the mailboxes.
She might well be away from him while he was in prison for a lot longer if things went the way that she hoped they did.
There were video cameras from homes that showed him destroying the mailboxes. Even video of him urinating on some of the mail, too. Once it was established that he’d committed the crime, there was the sentencing phase of today. He was asked if he had any questions or concerns before his sentencing.
“I didn’t know that that was a crime, your honor.
” He told him that it was written right there on the mailboxes.
“Well, I didn’t see it. Perhaps they should make it in bigger print so that everybody can see it.
The next time I have myself a fit, I’ll be sure not to touch the mailboxes.
Just fine me and that’s all you need to do. I’ve learned my lesson for that.”
“You think that you’ll be able to afford over a million dollars in fines, Mr. Crow?
That’s the rate that it’s going to cost you.
” He said he didn’t have that kind of money on him at the moment.
“Are you being an ass in my courtroom, sir? I surely hope not. You either pay the fine or I’m going to put you in prison for the maximum number of years I can give you.
Twenty years is a long time to think about what you did. ”
“I’ve already been in jail for six months.” The attorney for the government said it had only been two and a half months. “Seems like a lot longer to me. Just give me something for good behavior, and we can call it a day. I don’t have that kind of money, and I doubt anyone does.”
“You should have thought of that before you messed with the mailboxes and the mail within them.” He said that he’d think on that real hard, but he’d already lost his job and needed to find his wife. “Your ex-wife, you mean. She divorced you nearly three years ago.”
“I’ve been looking for her since before that.
She’s got my son, and while I don’t care about him, I do want to get her back to the house and take care of me.
It’s not fair that she could divorce me when I couldn’t find hide nor hair of her.
You find her and tell her she needs to pay those fines; it’s the least she can do for leaving me like she did.
” He looked around the room and right over her.
“She should be here since she is the one who caused me to have my temper flare up like it did. If she’d just have been home when I got there, then none of this would have happened to me. ”
“It says here that you beat her daily, sometimes causing her to go to the hospital. Is that right?” He said a man had to keep his wife in line.
“That’s against the law too, were you aware of that?
” He waved him off like it wasn’t anything that he wanted to be concerned with.
“I don’t know what that means. You’ll have to use your words when in my courtroom, young man. ”
“As I said, you have to be able to keep them in line. And if they need it so bad as they end up in the hospital, then that should be a lesson that they learned.” She knew that he thought that he was right, but hearing him say the words out loud really made her think what a monster he’d been to her all those years.
“What do you say we get this over with, and I can go on with my life. I’ve wasted enough time in that poor excuse for a jail as it is.
Just let me off for good behavior, and that’ll be the end of my time here. ”
He was sentenced to not just the twenty-one years in prison, but he also had to work at the prison to pay back the fines that he incurred while on his crime spree.
She wanted to get up and dance, but was afraid that he’d see her and come after her.
Even with all the officers in the room, she wasn’t stupid enough to think that he’d not be able to get to her.
~*~
Melbourne was happy with the results of the trial.
It had been quickly taken care of because Daniel had become such a problem in jail.
Not taking a bath was only one of a dozen or so issues they were having with him.
Another one was his whining all the time about things, like food, and his not being able to watch television.
Going to see Sammy at work, he decided that he was going to see if she could have lunch with him while there. He normally wouldn’t do anything like that, but he had a list of questions to ask her about getting them a home and land that he could take care of for them.
He was excited about having a home like his brothers.
He really didn’t know what kind of house he wanted; he’d leave that up to Sammy, but he wanted to have some land that he could shift and lie on when he could.
Going to the other realm was fine for him at times, but he did want his own land so that he could take care of the grounds, too.
Planting things, flowers, and trees was high on his list of things to do.
Someday, he wanted to see his kids playing in his yard, too. If Sammy wanted to have any, that was.
“I can’t have lunch with you until after the lunch rush.” He said that he could wait for her, and she looked frustrated. “I’m going to have to clear tables and be hostess. I have two people who called off today. And while I’m all right with working here, it’s going to be a lot to get done.”
“I can buss tables. I’ve done it before.
” She said she couldn’t ask him to do that.
“You didn’t ask, I said I’d do it. I don’t mind at all.
It’ll give me something to do while I wait for you.
It’ll be fun too.” He asked for an apron and was given one.
There were already several tables that needed to be cleaned off, and he was ready to get to it.
“I’ll take them to the kitchen and work like that. I don’t mind at all to help you out.”
He worked for nearly three hours straight without a break and thought that he was having the best time ever.
It was busy, as soon as he cleared a table, Sammy was seating someone in the cleaned space.
The staff seemed to be having a good time, too, and showed him how to set up the tables so that they could save time.
Putting the silverware on the table with napkins was easy for him since he was already there in the first place.
When things started to slow down around two-thirty, he was shown how to put tablecloths on the tables that were no longer in a rush to be used.
As soon as he put the tablecloth on the tables, it gave the room a brighter appeal.
When he took back the last of the bus tubs, the kitchen was very helpful in showing him how to stack things so that they could get to the dishes quicker.
He loved the way that things had a flow, and he was more than happy to do what they needed to get things cleaned up faster.
He went to find Sammy when one of the dishwasher workers told him she was looking for him.
“You did a fantastic job. I’ve never had tables turn so quickly before.
Makes me realize how much James is screwing off.
” He said he’d not meant to get anyone in trouble.
“It’s fine. James has been complaining about how much work he has to do and doesn’t get any respect.
I think that the waitstaff is thrilled to have their tables turned so quickly. It means more tips for them.”
“Speaking of tips, they tried to give me part of theirs. I don’t need the money, and I really enjoyed myself.” She said she’d have to pay him something. “Buy me lunch and we’ll be even. And I mean it when I say that if you run short again, give me a call. I’ll gladly come and help you out again.”
“What about for dinner?” He was sitting in the dining room with her now, and the place was empty but for the two of them. “When James called off, I didn’t realize it was for the night shift as well. If you could help us out again, I’d be very grateful.”
“Gladly.” He ate the food that was set in front of him.
“I’ve been seeing this on a lot of tables when I went by.
This looks great.” He ate more than half of his lunch before she’d been able to give him his drink.
“I guess I was hungrier than I thought. And I love that I’m getting to have lunch with you, too. ”
The two of them enjoyed their lunch of hamburgers and fries.
He had a milkshake with, and she had a bottle of water.
When they were finished, two of the waitstaff came over and thanked him again for working today, and they made a lot of tips because of him.
He told them that he had a good time and was going to be doing it tonight, too.
They were both thrilled and told the other two waitresses who were filling salt shakers and folding napkins around silverware.