Class A Felony
Title: Class A Felony
Author: Quicksilvermad
Fandom(s): The Twilight Series
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1228
Inspiration: Eclipse Chapter 15 - Wager
Warnings: Language, triggering subject matter, my somewhat iffy interpretation of police procedure regarding arrests (blame TV)
Summary: Jacob learns that he is not above the law. And "No" always means "NO."
As the resident "I-pretty-much-only-write-Charlie-stuff" spitefic-er, I had to write this. It's my duty.
The screen door slammed open and the angry footsteps of an eighteen-year-old practically shook the house. The father of the household turned away from the television to rebuke his daughter for storming into the house like a toddler having a tantrum but felt the words die in his throat when he saw her face.
Bella's mouth was swollen, she had slight whisker burn on her chin, and her eyes were about ready to overflow with the tears she was holding back.
She was also cradling her right hand against her chest. The knuckle was split and bleeding down the front of her shirt, and the skin surrounding it was already puffed up twice its normal size and turning the color of an eggplant.
Charlie was on his feet in seconds and grabbed an icepack out of the freezer. "Come here," he gently ordered. "Bells, can you tell me what happened?"
"She punched me and broke her hand."
Bella flinched at the interrupting voice and Charlie's heart clenched.
"You did this to my daughter."
"She hit me, Charlie."
The father saw red. The cop stepped between Jacob's imposing frame and Bella's trembling body. "And why did my daughter hit you, Jacob?"
"I don't know what her problem is. I just kissed her. She liked it-"
"I told you to stop!" Bella shouted. "I didn't like it because I didn't want you to kiss me!"
Charlie wet a dishtowel in the kitchen sink and moved closer to his little girl, letting them run their mouths so he could get a better handle on the exact situation. He carefully held the cold cloth against her lower lip where the skin looked like it was split.
"I didn't hear you complaining at the time."
The father saw spots dancing in his line of vision and felt blinded for a moment. The cop lost control. Charlie made Bella sit at the dining room table and took two long strides in Jacob's direction. He grabbed the boy's wrist, pinched his thumb backwards, and pulled Jacob's arm behind his back. He shoved the huge teenager into the wall and gave a wordless shout of anger.
"Don't you dare talk to her. You've just committed a class A felony, Jacob Black. Indecent liberties by forcible compulsion. 'No' means 'no.' My daughter hit you because she didn't want you to touch her. If you can't get it through your head that you've fucked up, I'm going to have to arrest you, charge you, and you'll be sentenced to two to five years. Now," Charlie eased up the pressure he was placing on the joint in Jacob's thumb, "do you understand that Isabella didn't want you to touch her?"
"But I love her! She doesn't know any better-I mean, Edward is dangerous for her. I love her!" Jacob snapped. He tired to meet Bella's eyes over his shoulder, but Charlie tugged on his arm again and put himself in his line of sight.
"Bells, get my radio and call Jimmy Taylor. Tell him I've got a one-four-one and this is a code two, ten-sixteen," Charlie started reading Jacob his rights.
Lewd conduct, urgent-no light or siren, pick up prisoner.
With her good hand, Bella twisted her dad's radio on and depressed the talk button. As she repeated the ten codes, her voice shook. The adrenaline of the moment-of actually punching someone-was wearing off and leaving her body weak and aching. She wanted to blurt out all of the truth of the situation (vampires, werewolves, kidnapping, near-death experiences, emotional and mental abuse) but couldn't bring her voice into play.
There was white noise for a few long seconds from the radio as the deputy got paperwork ready for an official report. "What's your ten-twenty, kiddo?"
What's your location?
Bella went through the list of ten codes she memorized as a kid and pressed the button again. "Ten-ten-'A,' Jimmy."
Off duty, home.
"Ten-four, kiddo. ETA five minutes."
Bella turned off the radio and watched her father. Charlie finished cuffing Jacob and smiled at his little girl. She remembered "home."
She weakly smiled back and returned the cool cloth to her lips when it tugged too much.
"We're taking you to the ER once Jimmy picks him up," he said to her.
Charlie was about to frog-march Jacob outside to wait for Jimmy's cruiser when he heard the quiet humming of a familiar car engine.
Edward.
Charlie sighed. He couldn't deal with two of them. He shoved Jacob into a seated position on the porch steps and motioned for him to stay put.
Grumbling under his breath about the injustice of the universe, Charlie tapped on Edward's window and whirled his finger in the classic "roll 'er down" mime. The kid glanced at the porch and pushed the button for the window. He opened his mouth and exhaled a lungful of that sweet-smelling "I-need-some-insulin" breath of his. "What is-"
"Get off my property in the next five minutes and I won't arrest you for trespassing, Cullen," Charlie warned. He was so very tired of teenaged boys and just wanted to get Isabella to the hospital before the she started fading any more. At the rate they were going, she'd pass out before he could drive up to the hospital doors.
Cullen was, for once, properly intimidated and immediately threw the Volvo in reverse.
Charlie watched him drive off and counted the minutes it took Jimmy to arrive. He was wondering what his deputy didn't understand about the "urgent" part of a code two response when he saw the headlights of a blue and white Crown Victoria flash just up the road. Jimmy took no care in parking and probably tore up a third of the sod on Charlie's lawn, but the Chief of Police didn't care. He just wanted Jacob Black in custody and processed so he could take his daughter to the hospital. He said as much to Jimmy when the man asked him what Jacob did and showed him Bella's face and hand. Doctor Custerbeck would take photos for evidence, but Charlie didn't feel he could be a calm arm of the law with Jacob and he passed the collar on to Jimmy.
The younger man nodded and gave Jacob a wilting look when he tried to put the blame on Isabella again.
Charlie watched Jimmy inform Jacob Black of his rights again and almost had to physically shake himself to get back on track. Bells. Hospital. Now.
As he helped his daughter buckle her seat belt, Charlie couldn't help but wonder what the hell Billy was thinking to lead his son into thinking that forcing a girl to kiss you was any sort of good idea.
"Dad?"
She sounded like she was little again-pigtailed and chubby-armed with a Snoopy band-aid across her skinned knee-and Charlie felt like the air was being sucked out of the car. He glanced at her face and pressed the gas pedal a little harder. "What is it, Bells?" he asked.
She sighed brokenly and seemed to shrink in the seat. "I'm sorry for causing all this trouble," she said.
Charlie immediately shook his head. "Don't apologize, hon. You didn't do a thing wrong."
He glanced at her and saw the doubt in her eyes.
"No matter what. You didn't do anything wrong at all, sweetheart."
Author's note: I realize this meandered all over the place. I'm just so incredibly angry about the way this author perceives fatherhood and the way she wrote this entire situation as "humor."
Dr. Custerbeck is the name of our vet-for some reason, hers was the first to come to mind when I was writing.
Author: Quicksilvermad
Fandom(s): The Twilight Series
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1228
Inspiration: Eclipse Chapter 15 - Wager
Warnings: Language, triggering subject matter, my somewhat iffy interpretation of police procedure regarding arrests (blame TV)
Summary: Jacob learns that he is not above the law. And "No" always means "NO."
As the resident "I-pretty-much-only-write-Charlie-stuff" spitefic-er, I had to write this. It's my duty.
The screen door slammed open and the angry footsteps of an eighteen-year-old practically shook the house. The father of the household turned away from the television to rebuke his daughter for storming into the house like a toddler having a tantrum but felt the words die in his throat when he saw her face.
Bella's mouth was swollen, she had slight whisker burn on her chin, and her eyes were about ready to overflow with the tears she was holding back.
She was also cradling her right hand against her chest. The knuckle was split and bleeding down the front of her shirt, and the skin surrounding it was already puffed up twice its normal size and turning the color of an eggplant.
Charlie was on his feet in seconds and grabbed an icepack out of the freezer. "Come here," he gently ordered. "Bells, can you tell me what happened?"
"She punched me and broke her hand."
Bella flinched at the interrupting voice and Charlie's heart clenched.
"You did this to my daughter."
"She hit me, Charlie."
The father saw red. The cop stepped between Jacob's imposing frame and Bella's trembling body. "And why did my daughter hit you, Jacob?"
"I don't know what her problem is. I just kissed her. She liked it-"
"I told you to stop!" Bella shouted. "I didn't like it because I didn't want you to kiss me!"
Charlie wet a dishtowel in the kitchen sink and moved closer to his little girl, letting them run their mouths so he could get a better handle on the exact situation. He carefully held the cold cloth against her lower lip where the skin looked like it was split.
"I didn't hear you complaining at the time."
The father saw spots dancing in his line of vision and felt blinded for a moment. The cop lost control. Charlie made Bella sit at the dining room table and took two long strides in Jacob's direction. He grabbed the boy's wrist, pinched his thumb backwards, and pulled Jacob's arm behind his back. He shoved the huge teenager into the wall and gave a wordless shout of anger.
"Don't you dare talk to her. You've just committed a class A felony, Jacob Black. Indecent liberties by forcible compulsion. 'No' means 'no.' My daughter hit you because she didn't want you to touch her. If you can't get it through your head that you've fucked up, I'm going to have to arrest you, charge you, and you'll be sentenced to two to five years. Now," Charlie eased up the pressure he was placing on the joint in Jacob's thumb, "do you understand that Isabella didn't want you to touch her?"
"But I love her! She doesn't know any better-I mean, Edward is dangerous for her. I love her!" Jacob snapped. He tired to meet Bella's eyes over his shoulder, but Charlie tugged on his arm again and put himself in his line of sight.
"Bells, get my radio and call Jimmy Taylor. Tell him I've got a one-four-one and this is a code two, ten-sixteen," Charlie started reading Jacob his rights.
Lewd conduct, urgent-no light or siren, pick up prisoner.
With her good hand, Bella twisted her dad's radio on and depressed the talk button. As she repeated the ten codes, her voice shook. The adrenaline of the moment-of actually punching someone-was wearing off and leaving her body weak and aching. She wanted to blurt out all of the truth of the situation (vampires, werewolves, kidnapping, near-death experiences, emotional and mental abuse) but couldn't bring her voice into play.
There was white noise for a few long seconds from the radio as the deputy got paperwork ready for an official report. "What's your ten-twenty, kiddo?"
What's your location?
Bella went through the list of ten codes she memorized as a kid and pressed the button again. "Ten-ten-'A,' Jimmy."
Off duty, home.
"Ten-four, kiddo. ETA five minutes."
Bella turned off the radio and watched her father. Charlie finished cuffing Jacob and smiled at his little girl. She remembered "home."
She weakly smiled back and returned the cool cloth to her lips when it tugged too much.
"We're taking you to the ER once Jimmy picks him up," he said to her.
Charlie was about to frog-march Jacob outside to wait for Jimmy's cruiser when he heard the quiet humming of a familiar car engine.
Edward.
Charlie sighed. He couldn't deal with two of them. He shoved Jacob into a seated position on the porch steps and motioned for him to stay put.
Grumbling under his breath about the injustice of the universe, Charlie tapped on Edward's window and whirled his finger in the classic "roll 'er down" mime. The kid glanced at the porch and pushed the button for the window. He opened his mouth and exhaled a lungful of that sweet-smelling "I-need-some-insulin" breath of his. "What is-"
"Get off my property in the next five minutes and I won't arrest you for trespassing, Cullen," Charlie warned. He was so very tired of teenaged boys and just wanted to get Isabella to the hospital before the she started fading any more. At the rate they were going, she'd pass out before he could drive up to the hospital doors.
Cullen was, for once, properly intimidated and immediately threw the Volvo in reverse.
Charlie watched him drive off and counted the minutes it took Jimmy to arrive. He was wondering what his deputy didn't understand about the "urgent" part of a code two response when he saw the headlights of a blue and white Crown Victoria flash just up the road. Jimmy took no care in parking and probably tore up a third of the sod on Charlie's lawn, but the Chief of Police didn't care. He just wanted Jacob Black in custody and processed so he could take his daughter to the hospital. He said as much to Jimmy when the man asked him what Jacob did and showed him Bella's face and hand. Doctor Custerbeck would take photos for evidence, but Charlie didn't feel he could be a calm arm of the law with Jacob and he passed the collar on to Jimmy.
The younger man nodded and gave Jacob a wilting look when he tried to put the blame on Isabella again.
Charlie watched Jimmy inform Jacob Black of his rights again and almost had to physically shake himself to get back on track. Bells. Hospital. Now.
As he helped his daughter buckle her seat belt, Charlie couldn't help but wonder what the hell Billy was thinking to lead his son into thinking that forcing a girl to kiss you was any sort of good idea.
"Dad?"
She sounded like she was little again-pigtailed and chubby-armed with a Snoopy band-aid across her skinned knee-and Charlie felt like the air was being sucked out of the car. He glanced at her face and pressed the gas pedal a little harder. "What is it, Bells?" he asked.
She sighed brokenly and seemed to shrink in the seat. "I'm sorry for causing all this trouble," she said.
Charlie immediately shook his head. "Don't apologize, hon. You didn't do a thing wrong."
He glanced at her and saw the doubt in her eyes.
"No matter what. You didn't do anything wrong at all, sweetheart."
Author's note: I realize this meandered all over the place. I'm just so incredibly angry about the way this author perceives fatherhood and the way she wrote this entire situation as "humor."
Dr. Custerbeck is the name of our vet-for some reason, hers was the first to come to mind when I was writing.