Twenty-Eight Years Later - 5. Sean's Excuse - Epilogue

'No, daddy, no. Stop. It hurts. It HUUUUURTS!'

'BANG!'

My eyes flew open from the dream. It seemed more real every time. I looked around. Hospital. Right. A woman that I barely know. Laurie. My mother, was sitting next to the bed.

"Did I scream?"

"No, just a loud moan. The dream again?"

I realized for the first time it wasn't just a dream. It was a memory.

"No. A memory. You shot dad because he was..."

"Shhhh. Don't worry about that now. You need to rest from the surgery."

"I've been resting. Is it true? All these years; Aunt Kate telling me you were in a mental hospital. You were in jail, right?"

She looked at the floor. It took her almost a minute to answer, "Yes."

"Why?"

"Why did I shoot him?"

"No, I’m sure I can figure that out. Why would he do that to me?"

"I don't know. Maybe I wasn't affectionate enough. Maybe..."

"Don't blame yourself. He had to be at least a little sick. I got caught doing practically the same thing he was doing to me. But I was six. How..."

"Shhhh, Sean. There are no answers. If he was alive, I'm sure he wouldn't know why himself."

"He made me the way I am. It's his fault I'm - is nymphomaniac appropriate for a guy?"

"No, Sean, I don't think so."

"Well, whatever. Why did you have to buy a house in the town where Cody lives with his new foster parents?"

"Sean, honey, I didn't know. I spent the first few months out just trying to get you back. You didn't even know he lived here until you saw him again in school."

"You’re right. But I think that's what brought the memory back."

"Maybe. But we'll get you help. With any luck, you'll only be sent for counseling."

"Either way, I'll have to live with a label. Why couldn't I have hit something worse than just barely hitting my liver?"

"Sean, you don't mean that?"

"I stabbed myself, didn't I?"

"It was a cry for help."

"No offense, Laurie, it was a fucking scream for help. Help I never realized I needed."

I couldn't call her mom, or mother; not yet. I hadn't seen her in almost ten years. I've only lived with her a few months. I don't know what that kiddie fiddler did for a living, but I'm glad he had a two million dollar life insurance policy. I'm also glad Aunt Kate was the trustee of the account. Uncle Ted probably would have spent most of it.

"Now you know, and one way or the other, I'll get you that help."

"Thanks. I guess I didn't sleep enough. I'm going to try to go back to sleep now. You don't have to stay."

"Yes, I think I will leave. I need to arrange for someone to come fix the doors."

"Doors?"

"Three. The front and your bedroom doors were kicked in and the sliding glass door was smashed."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

Yeah, right. I closed my eyes.

"OK, you sleep some more. I'll be back later."

I held up my left arm, showing her the restraint, "I'm not going anywhere."

"I love you, Sean."

"I know."

Hell, you killed your husband for me. If that's not love, I don't know what is. For my past, I guess I don't really know what love is anyway.

Sean’s mother was overly wishful when she suggested he may only get counseling. Sean was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault and distribution of a controlled substance to a minor. The trazodone was indeed his mother’s. To add insult to injury, he was tried as an adult in front of a jury three months after the incident.

Randy testified to what he saw. The prosecutor entered the video into evidence. It was obvious that the jury was shocked. Cody testified to Sean’s history of attempting to break up other couples. The defense tried to show him as a former lover spurned; the jury didn’t buy it.

Ryan testified that he had gone over to Sean’s house only to work on their drama project. Once again, the defense tried to get the jury to believe he’d gone with the intent of having sex. Again, no sale.

The hospital doctor testified to what was used to drug Ryan. One of the policemen at the scene testified that there was a prescription bottle present in the home, in his mother’s name.

The defense consisted of Sean and his mother testifying. Sean tried to convince the jury he didn’t know there was trazodone in the mug. The doctor was recalled to indicate the amount of trazodone used, approximately three three-hundred milligram tablets, could plainly be seen in the mug, it wasn’t just a trace. More than a trace would have temporarily been floating on top of the hot chocolate.

Sean’s mother was called as a character witness. Her testimony about his father abusing him lent some level of sympathy to the jury. It wasn’t enough. The prosecution tried to impugn her integrity by focusing on her killing of her husband. The jury figuratively applauded her for that during deliberations.

A conviction for date rape in Illinois can lead to a prison sentence of 4 to 15 years (or 6 to 30 years if aggravated). The jury deliberated for only forty minutes before they found him guilty of both counts.

Distribution of a controlled substance of under one gram is a Class 2 felony, carries 3 to 7 years in prison and fines up to $200,000. Delivering a controlled substance to a person under 18 years old can double the maximum prison term and fine.

Sean was sentenced at the midpoint for each crime. Eighteen years for the aggravated sexual assault, and ten years for the distribution of a controlled substance to a minor; to be served sequentially. Sean would serve 85% of the sentence before he was eligible for Mandatory Supervised Release, per Illinois law - 285.6 months, or twenty-three years, nine months and eighteen days. The state of Illinois received $200,000 from what remained Sean’s father’s life insurance benefit.

His mother remained trustee for the life insurance, but worked as a waitress to not use it all up before Sean would exit prison. She needn’t had worried, she died in an automobile accident five years before he was scheduled to be released. After his release at forty years of age, he took the remaining $400,000 and started life anew as an actor with bit parts in movies and TV. Seven years later he was a victim in a convenience store robbery. He, two other customers, and the clerk all died of their wounds.

The rest of the boys never had to worry about Sean again.

Epilogue

Life went on for most of the rest of the folks in the story. A short summary for each, or each pair as the case may be, follows.

When the news came out at the trial that Ryan was gay, Hailey latched on to the number one starting pitcher on the high school baseball team, never bothering Ryan again. She lost her virginity and got pregnant on prom night. Six weeks later, her baby daddy was drafted in the fourth round by the home town Chicago White Sox. He immediately reported to their rookie league team in Phoenix, Arizona. While she spent the rest of her life as a single mother, the child support payments allowed her to live comfortably for six years before she died of a heroin overdose. Some people with too much money just didn't know what to do with it all. Like them, Hailey turned to drugs. Her son was adopted by her parents and grew up happy. Well, another term for happy as well: gay. Hailey must have rolled over in her grave when that news arrived.

Matt and Sam remained together into their senior year in high school. Sam once again tried to draw them into a threesome. Matt wanted nothing to do with that. He broke up with Sam and soon started seeing Cody. They married after college and remained a happy, traditional definition, couple the remainder of their lives. Sam was never heard from after high school. He joined the Coast Guard and drowned saving a five-year-old boy five years later. He never married. He received a commendation posthumously.

Ariel and Tyler had many sessions of makeup sex throughout the rest of their lives together. They too, married after college, and ran an online comic book store. The store featured artwork by Ariel Dalton. He became quite famous.

Lisa Stephens and Evan Hatcher became good friends and remained close for the rest of their lives. Each later remarried and the two couples spent a lot of time together, including vacations.

Randall Stephens Senior tried to make a living as a mule. It worked for a short while, but he was soon arrested for importing cocaine from Mexico, coincidentally, on the day Sean was sentenced. He essentially served a life sentence when he called the wrong man a faggot in his third year of incarceration. He bled to death on the prison bathroom floor after being stabbed sixteen times.

Ryan sued Sean for the sexual assault and incapacitation in civil court and was awarded $400,000. He and Randy remained together, both going to the same college. After graduating with their engineering degrees, they each found a job in Chicago, married, and as they say, lived happily ever after.

The End