She leaned the shotgun against the house next to her.
"Boys," she told the two teenagers on the ground, "don't get any ideas about running. It's right here where I can reach it."
"Yes ma'am," she heard one of the boys say, his voice muffled because his face was buried in the grass.
One cop car cautiously pulled up the front of the house. The cop stepped out of the car.
"Where's the gun?" he asked.
Charlotte jerked her thumb toward the gun leaning obviously against the wall of the house.
"Step away from the gun, ma'am," he told her. She complied.
He came over to where the shotgun was, and worked the action several times to eject all of the rounds from the gun. He pulled the microphone attached to his lapel close to his mouth and told the other officers that the location was secure.
Quickly, four other cars pulled up and more cops got out.
"You're probably going to need some ambulances," Kevin said matter-of-factly.
The cop glanced around at the scene. The lanky boy was sitting in the lawn holding his wrist. The boy whose elbow was broken was laying on the ground, crying, trying desperately to keep his mangled arm from moving and causing him further pain. The boy with the broken ribs had managed to pull himself up into a sitting position, but was obviously coughing up blood. Clearly one of more of his broken ribs had punctured a lung. Mark was still unconscious, having passed out with his hands clutching his balls.
"Jesus, did these guys get in a fight here, or what?"
"No, they came here to attack me, and threatened one of the ladies here with sexual assault, Kevin explained.
"So who did all this?" the cop asked.
"I did," Kevin said simply.
"You did all this?" the dumbfounded cop asked.
"Yeah," Kevin said.
"Jesus!" the cop whispered.
The cop picked up his microphone again.
"Dispatch, we're gonna need at least two ambulances at this location," he told the voice on the radio."
"Roger," the voice said.
"So what happened?" the cop asked.
Kevin began telling what happened.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Kevin
Kevin answered all of the cop's questions, and gave a graphic and descriptive narrative about the events of the evening.
"So you had reason to believe that you were in danger as well as these ladies," the cop asked him.
"Well," Kevin said, "when Mark yelled that after they finished taking turns kicking my ass that they intended to take turns with Crystal, that pretty much told me what they intended to do."
"You have any injuries?" the cop asked.
"I got hit in the face once, but it didn't do any damage that I can tell. I might have a shiner in the morning, but no big deal," Kevin told him.
The cop laughed.
"You did all this, and all they managed to do was hit you one time?" he asked.
"Yeah," Kevin told him.
"Well, either they're the worst fighters in the history of the world, or you're just real good," the cop said with a chuckle.
"Well, I've studied martial arts a little bit," Kevin said.
"A little bit?" the cop asked.
"Yeah," Kevin said simply. He didn't feel a need to elaborate on the level of his skill unless directly asked.
"So do you want to press charges?" the cop asked.
"You're damn right I do. That's the second time that asshole has caused a problem," Kevin said, jerking his thumb in Mark's direction.
The cop looked over at Mark, who had been awakened by the paramedics. He was holding an icepack against his crotch.
"The one holding his balls?" the cop asked, with a chuckle.
"Yeah, his dad is some sort of hot-shot here in town, I hear," Kevin said.
"Yeah, he is, but his son, Mr. Balls over there, is a real prick. He's a member of what the local police here calls our "Frequent Flier Club," the cop explained. "He causes a lot of trouble."
"Anyway, I don't see anything that you or the lady did that is a problem. Firing a shot in the air was technically a Class A Misdemeanor, but I'm not going to make an issue of that," he told Charlotte.
She nodded.
"What I'm going to do," he explained conspiratorially, "is say that you fired at one of the suspects and missed."
"Why would you do that," she asked.
"This is going to sound strange, but state law has no provision for firing a warning shot. Deadly force is deadly force. A warning shot into the air is considered reckless. It's strange, but if I just say you missed, nobody will give you any crap about it," he explained in a low voice.
"Other than ribbing me for being the worst shot in the world! Anyone that misses at that range with a twelve gauge shouldn't be allowed to own a gun," Charlotte said with a laugh.
"And also, from the reports of the witnesses, nobody actually saw you fire the shot. They just heard it," the cop said continued in a hushed tone. "So whatever you say is going to go."
"Officer, upon further reflection, I guess I was nervous or something, but when I shot at that boy right there, I just flat out missed," Charlotte said, having clearly listened to the officer's well-intentioned, but clandestine advice.
The cop looked down at the tow-headed oaf with the piss-soaked jeans.
"Well, it doesn't look like you missed by much. You made him piss himself!" the cop said laughing.
Kevin and Charlotte both laughed.
"As for these guys, they're going to face some pretty serious charges. The three with the bats will face felony charges. The three who attacked with fists only, will probably just be cited for simple assault, which is only a Class C Misdemeanor.
"This is all in addition to four of them getting a trip to the hospital," he finished with a chuckle.
As the last of the boys were taken off either in police cars or ambulances, the cop looked at them.
"You folks have an enjoyable rest of the evening. Call us if you have any more trouble," he told them.
"Thank you, Officer," they both told him.
The cop extended his hand to Kevin.
Kevin took it.
"And thank you for the public service you rendered tonight," the cop whispered.
Kevin laughed.
"My pleasure," Kevin said. "Anything for the boys in blue."
The cop waved away to his car, shaking his head in disbelief.
"I'm tired," Kevin said to Charlotte. "I think I'll go to bed."
I'd love to go to bed," Charlotte answered. "But I'm not in the least bit tired."
Kevin smiled.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Charlotte
Several months later, things were still going along swimmingly. Charlotte was graduating from high school and was making plans for college. She was considering going to the local school where Kevin taught, in addition to considering some out of town schools.
Mark and his posse were no longer in the picture. Mark, with his daddy's money, had avoided jail time, but left town to avoid the stigma attached to his actions. His two companions who joined him in attempting to attack Kevin with baseball bats were convicted of a felony charge of Assault with a Deadly Weapon. Both served jail time, but had been paroled with strict guidelines about their future behavior. The other three were convicted of simple assault and paid fines. However, Kevin's smooth presence in court, and his skillful testimony had insured convictions for all of them. It was one more factor in Mark, and his entire posse, deciding to let bygones be bygones. They hadn't so much as seen a single one of them in months.
Kevin continued to "room" at their house, although the financial aspect had pretty much gone by the wayside. He no longer paid rent, but without even being asked, he was paying for quite a few of the expenses of the house. He also largely had taken over the cooking duties since he was the best cook in the house.
The night before her graduation, Charlotte and Kevin took Crystal to a really nice steak restaurant in Dallas, a two hour drive away. It was there that they were going to present their graduation gifts to Crystal, but neither had confided in each other what they had done.
At the restaurant, as their meal was concluding, Charlotte handed a small gift box to Crystal.
"Crystal, I love you very much and I'm very proud of you," she told her. "This is my present for you graduating from high school."
Crystal opened the box. She pulled from it a key.
"Mom, this is a car key! A Ford!" Crystal said excitedly.
"Yes, it is. I couldn't carry the car. It was too heavy and wouldn't fit in my purse, "Charlotte said with a smile. "It's in the garage at home."
"But I do have a picture of it," Charlotte continued.
She pulled from her purse a snapshot of a cherry red Ford Mustang convertible. Around the middle of the car was a foot wide ribbon capped by an impressive bow.
"Mom! This is amazing! Thank you so much!" Crystal squealed, jumped up and hugged her mother. Other patrons in the restaurant looked over at the hubbub.
"Quick, let's go home so I can see it!" Crystal said excitedly.
"Don't you want to know what my present is?" Kevin asked.
"You got me something too?" Crystal asked.
"And like your mom, I didn't bring it with me," he told her. "You'll have to wait and get them later."