Too Much (Sequel to Baby Pogue) // JJ Maybank

33. guilty

"...guilty. We hereby sentence Daylon Thomas to 25 years with no chance of parole or early release."

Avery Thomas never imagined herself to be sitting in a court room for her own brother's trial after being accused of domestic violence.

There was something off and unsettling about the energy and it was not just the solemn faces from the jury and judge herself.

She could not take her eyes off Daylon.

He had not looked at his family once.

Okay, maybe once when he was first escorted into the court room. But after that his eyes remained on whatever space was in front of him.

Avie noticed how emotionless he looked. He did not look cold or cruel, like how he had been, rather he seemed exhausted. Like the life was sucked out of him while he was in holding. Well, it probably was.

His eyes were lifeless and there was almost no humanity behind them; like he was some sort of doll that had been thrown into the dump but didn't make it to the truck. He would then be tossed around the road, under cars and trucks until some kid with a fucked up family life and trauma finds him and thinks he's fun to play with.

Daylon did not seem upset, or angry, or cruel. Nor did he seem satisfied, or content, or happy. It was as if he was possessed by some sort of numbing demon that sucked all of the life out of him; even the evil emotions he once felt.

In fact, the entire Thomas family saw it.

Amelia was in tears the entire time. She wanted so badly to hug her son one last time and tell him he would get better and that everything would be okay. She felt as if part of this was her fault. She raised him! How could she have let this happen? She kept wondering where she went wrong and what could have possibly triggered him growing up to get to this point.

Did he have some sort of trauma or depression growing up that went untreated? No, Amelia was far too careful to let that slide. She showed all of her children the utmost love and support through everything. She was disappointed in him for this. But it did not change the fact that one of her son's was going to prison.

He was the only one left living with her besides Rian, of course. Where was she going to put all of his stuff? She could not bare to throw any of it away. But what was the point in keeping it? By the time he would get out, he would be in his forties.

God, her heart was in pieces right now.

Rian kept pushing back tears during the final portion of the trial. He was in too much shock in the beginning to feel anything other than baffled. He knew what Daylon had done to Kie but it hit him all over again as they tore through the entire scene in front of everybody.

Hearing that his second son was found guilty of domestic violence did not sit well with him. It was nauseating. And seeing that Daylon was so emotionless through it all made the pain that much harder.

Daylon was not trying to fight it. He was not affected by any of their words. Rian tried so hard to find some sort of empathy, or sadness, or fight inside of his son's eyes. Nothing.

Ashton sat beside his sister who held his arm the entire time. He had never felt closer with her than in this court room. They had a lot of good and bad moments but this seemed to bring them even closer. Maybe it was the fact that it was just them two now. Mom and Dad only had two children now.

Ashton tried not to release any of his feelings during the trial. A few moments he longed to cry; for his baby brother, for his niece and nephew losing their uncle, for Kie who had to sit in the plaintiff's seat the entire time listening to her horror all over again. She had to stare at the man who convinced her to love him the entire time.