Chapter 57 - 57: The Judge Gives us a Surprise. . .

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I woke up to an early alarm, it went off around 6am. Which is actually quite early considering I'm just going to be going to court today. I got out of bed, then gathered my clothes up that I was going to wear for the day. I heard my Dad's alarm going off in the room next to mine. I knew I only had a few minutes left before he needed to go into the restroom. So I hurried into the restroom to grab a shower real quick. After I was done, I put on my clothes, and then walked out towards the kitchen. I could smell something nice being made.

"Dad, I'm out of the shower!" I called after I stepped out of the restroom.

"Alright, come finish breakfast then." He yelled from the kitchen.

I walked into the kitchen to see him making eggs and sausage.

"Smells good, I'll take over now." I told him once I walked beside him.

"Thanks son!" He told me while leaving the kitchen.

"Hey, do I need to make for everyone? Or just me and you?" I called after him.

"Just you and I. The girls will still be asleep after we leave." He called back to me.

I just shook my head, and started finishing up the sausage. It took me about 5 more minutes to finish the sausage up. I took the pan, and dumped the sausage on the paper towel that Dad had set out earlier. Then I went to the fridge, and grabbed out six eggs. I grabbed a bowl also, so that I can put the eggs into it after I cracked them open. I walked to the counter, and started cracking open the eggs, and dumping them into the bowl. I grabbed a fork.from the silverware drawer to stir the eggs together. I pour the eggs into the pan, and start cooking them slowly, while turning them over. After a few more minutes, my Dad got out of the restroom around the same time I had gotten done with the eggs. I put them on the kitchen table while he was walking towards the kitchen.

"Smells good Devin, want any milk?" He asked me while walking towards the fridge.

"Nah, I would like some coffee though. You mind getting me some?" I asked him.

"Sure, just give me a moment here." He commented.

"Alright, so where do we have to go for court? Is it Lewistown?" Ge then asked me while scooping eggs onto his plate.

"Yeah, we have to be there around 8am. I figured we could head over towards Jason's beforehand to make sure Tracie has everything." I told him while taking some of the eggs myself.

"Alright. It shouldn't take us too long in order to get there, and make sure she has everything." He told me while he started eating.

The sausage and eggs were not bad, they tasted pretty good.

After we finished eating, we put our dishes into the sink, and then we walked outside to take the car to head over towards Jason's house. It only took us about 15 minutes to get to his house, I took a look at the clock, and it said it was 7am. I got out of the vehicle, and walked up to the front door. I rang the doorbell, we only had to wait for about a minute before Tracie opened the door.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting you guys to show up here." She commented.

"Yeah, I wanted to make sure you are alright. It is still pretty rough for me, so figure it was a lot worse for you." I told her.

"Well come on in, and I'm actually doing pretty alright. I mean, yah it sucks, but what can I do about it? The only plus side to this, is the fact the guy that did this will get into a lot of trouble." Tracie said to us while shutting the front door.

We walked towards the kitchen, Sampson ran up to us. So I decided to pet him for a little bit. 'He is getting old. . .' I had thought.

"How old is Sampson now?" I asked Tracie.

"Um. . . He is 8 or 9 years old I do believe. He is around middle age for a dog." She told me.

"Alright. Who is a good boy!" I exclaimed towards Sampson. He just stood there looking at me with a very excited tail. I decided to pet him for a little bit longer before I followed My dad and Tracie out to the kitchen.

"So, what are they planning on doing in court?" My dad asked Tracie.

"As far as I know, they will accuse him of driving illegally, and also for killing Jason. They will need your guy's statements about where he was beforehand, and they are going to want to talk to me about what happened at the incident. The problem that I'm seeing is the fact I wasn't there at the beginning part of it. So, hopefully they will take my side of the story. I really hope the guy goes to jail. He deserves to be there." She told him.

"I mean, I don't really have much to say, but I'll give my side of the story. If anything Devin definitely needs to be there. He spent more time with Jason beforehand." My dad commented.

"Well, you don't have to worry about me. I'll tell them my side also. I also agree with you Tracie, I really hope that guy rots in jail for this. I mean, it is completely bullshit on why the guy was driving." I told them.

"Devin, I know it is pretty upsetting, but you gotta remember to watch your mouth. You can't say that type of stuff in court." My dad told me.

"I know, but still. The guy deserves it." I told him.

"You know, you're just like Jason. Very stubborn. . . Hahaha." Tracie started laughing.

"What do you expect? We have been friends for 4 years already. . .Hahaha." I commented back.

"Alright, do you guys want to ride up there with me, or you guys going to be driving yourselves up there?" She asked us.

"Well, I've need to go to Peoria after we are done in court, so we will drive ourselves." My dad told her.

"Alright Roger, thank you again for bringing Devin to this. This greatly helps out a lot." Tracie told him.

"No problem Tracie, it is the least I could do for you." He told her.

"Well, it is 7:30 now, so I think we should go ahead, and head on out to Lewistown. It shouldn't take us too long to get there." She mentioned to us.

"We will follow you then." Roger told her.

We walked back out the front door, and got into my dad's car. We started to drive off, dad turned on the radio, and turned up the volume. We started listening to some hip hop, it wasn't a bad song either. It was good enough where we started singing it together, but we couldn't hear each other. He turned it up really loud. After a little while, we drove up to the courthouse in Lewistown. We got out, and waited for Tracie to show up. It honestly only took an extra 5 minutes for her to show up. She got out, then we followed her into the courthouse. I guess our court meeting was on the 3rd floor. Once we got up there, we ended up saying quite a few people there.

"Tracie, is this all for Jason's trial?" I asked her.

"I'm honestly not sure. I mean it might be, but it might not be." She commented softly.

We decided to wait quietly until we were supposed to head into the courtroom. Once it got close to the time, a sheriff came into the hallway and called us in. We followed the sheriff until we reached a door behind the judge's sitting area. He knocked on the door, and waited for someone to answer it.

"Enter." Someone commented from the other side of the door.

The sheriff opened the door, and motioned us into the room. After we walked in, he shut the door behind us. The judge was sitting behind a desk, he looked quite old.

"Tracie correct?" He asked.

"Yes sir, my name is Tracie." She commented.

"Who are the two behind you?" He then asked.

"Roger and Devin. Devin was my son's Best Friend. They treated each other like brothers. Roger is Devin's father." She told him.

"Alright, well my name is Tom. I've got some news for you, and I would like you to sit down." He told us.

We then moved towards his desk, and sat down in three out of the four chairs.

"First off, I'm sorry for your loss. It must be really hard to lose someone that close." Tom told us.

"It is indeed hard, but we are still going forwards. Jason would be upset if we just stopped doing anything." Tracie told him.

"I can understand that. Now, for the reason why I've called you guys into this room. There won't be a case for you guys." He told us.

"What do you mean there won't be a court case? That guy needs to be punished. . ." I almost yelled at him.

"Calm down son, let him explain." My dad then told me.

". . ." Tracie just looked at the judge.

"Indeed, let me explain to Devin. I know it is hard, but just hear me out. The reason why there won't be a court case is the fact that the gentleman who ran over your son passed away earlier today. We don't know why he passed away, but we think he just died in his sleep. I know this might be pretty surprising, but the surprising part is next. The company he worked for decided that they were going to give you guys some money. They know it isn't enough, especially losing a child, but that is the best they can do. They will be giving you $500,000 Tracie, that is the most they can give to you. It isn't a really big company, but it is still big enough to hand out that much. All they ask is that you forgive them." He told Tracie.

At this point, we all had our mouths wide open. We were honestly quite surprised. It took Traice just a moment to make a decision though.

"I deny the money. I don't want it." She told him.

Tom looked at her for a moment, then just smiled. "Unfortunately, you can't deny it. They've already transferred the money over to you. Now, you don't have to keep the money, but you have to at least take it."

". . . Fine. . . Do we need to be here for anything else then?" She asked.

"No, I'll let everyone know what happened after you leave the courtroom. Also, the check will be in the office on the 2nd floor." He told her.

"Thank you Tom, we will be leaving now." Was all that Tracie said. She seemed pretty upset over this.

We walked out of the courtroom, and walked downstairs to the office. Traice walked in by herself, then about 10 minutes later she came back out.

"Fucking bastards. . . I've got the check." She commented harshly.

"Everything alright?" I asked her.

"Yeah. . . Just frustrated over the fact the guy died. I feel like he got out of this way too easily. Anyways, what are you guys going to do? I've got to go to the bank, and deposit this I guess." She then asked.

"I've gotta go to Menards, and get some wood for the house. We should be back in town around 3 hours later. If you want, come on over, and relax for a little bit. I bet Shawna would love the company." He told her.

"I think I shall. Alright, I'll see you guys later then." She commented, then started walking downstairs.

"Ok, I think she is pretty upset. It was a good idea to invite her over Dad." I told him.

"Same here. I mean I would be upset too if that happened to me." Roger told me.

"Well, lets go ahead and head on out then." I told him.

We walked downstairs, and out the door that we came from to begin with. We walked out to the car and got into it, we drove off right afterwards.