The Grave Shadows

18. Punishment

Everett stirred from a hazy slumber at four o'clock in the morning, missing when and how he got home. He remembered the gray road streaming to the violet horizon and two bottles of whiskey sniggering on the passenger seat of his truck. The prophecy of his failure had come true.

When Everett closed his eyes again, a terrible clash at Pearl Orchard haunted him, except this time, his attention deviated from breaking Luke's face. Everything had shattered. Everybody was staring at a freak, the ungrateful black sheep who always ruined everything in the end.

Everett pondered the explanation and justification for his mistake. The murmuring tides of lights washed over the windowpanes, caressing his bruises. He skipped dinner and the fundraiser when he stormed off like a lunatic. And Bill Watts would punish him for that.

A pair of sparrows flying into the woods beyond the Watts Clan's laws. The birds were fortunate, but Everett's luck would be Bill Watts's blood-curdling scream, spits on the face, and all sorts of pain. Words designed to make people kill themselves would be ready for him. Gladly, the brutal process had its ending. Of course, Luke would get some of the blame. The stupid kid would be quiet for days, but that could be a good thing. Everett might enjoy a few days away from that clingy child. Turning away from the windows, Everett drew back inside a high-security prison of Colt—the Watts boys' royal privilege.

Everett sneaked down the stairs. Anticipating the inevitable punishment made him queasy. Bill Watts was ruthless, so Everett should be alert and instantaneous. When he slipped in the dim kitchen, his lungs nearly collapsed. Bill Watts loomed over a coffee machine with white steams fuming around him. It was too late for Everett to fall back now. His father had noticed him. The execution came too soon.

"Coffee, Everett?" attending to the machine, Bill Watts asked. He poured the dark brew into two mugs and glided to a kitchen island. "Sit." He pulled a chair for Everett and sat on the opposite side.

Everett's head swirled in a loop of horrid scenarios. Bill Watts usually disciplined his boys in the library. But in the kitchen, many objects suited the instilling of orders. The boiling coffee could come at Everett's face at any moment.

Wilting, Everett settled on the chair, ready for what he deserved. He was an embarrassment to Bill Watts—always had been and would be.

"What do you think about Angelica?" Bill Watts asked, and his eyes were on the mug in front of Everett.

"She's beautiful," Everett said, expecting a roll of his father's rage. The coffee might have poison in it.

"Good." Bill Watts slid a black velvet box on the marble top.

Everett knew what the content was before he saw the inside. He opened it. "Hmm..." Staring at his mother's ring, he reconsidered the response.

The coronet of the Watts queen gleamed at Everett, his chest aching by the thought of it on his mother's finger. The Draugr Ring, the Watts Clan called it, had old runes engraved on the band. The Watts Clan had a strange approach to romanticism. Mary once told Everett that the symbols had the kaleidoscopic meanings. For her, it meant to come back from the underworld for love.

"Hector is coming home," Bill Watts said. "Our family can be whole again." The ring disappeared inside his paw as he stood.

What about David? Everett exhaled from his mouth, holding back from jinxing himself with that name on the judgment day.

"Father!" Everett sprang to his feet as Bill Watts wheeled away with the coffee. "I'm sorry about yesterday." Through the abasement, he looked at his own feet, his heart self-strangulating.

Bill Watts paused. "When people catch you like that, Everett, your head and legs are free," he said. "Don't let anyone stop you without giving him hell." He spun around and peered at his disappointing son. "When I was twelve, I saw a man like you with a bullet hole in his back escape a clutch of four strong men. You are my son, so you can do better than that." He proceeded without reacting to Everett's resentment.

Bill Watts never let misdemeanor go without tough discipline. The punishment was just Everett's guilt. Maybe this was a hopeful but obvious answer. For the past two weeks, the Watts boys witnessed the different side of their father. Cyan's scholarship could be genuine, and everything could be one big coincidence.