Chapter 20

The tension in the air felt like the beginning of a thunderstorm. The family members sat around the hotel room looking at each other; none of them were able to conceal emotions they felt. The muscles in his face pulsed as Ed Biggers clenched and unclenched his jaw in anger. Terrified at what was going to happen next, Linda and Kelly were sitting as far back in their chairs as possible. Leroy and Dan looked at the door wondering if there was any excuse that would allow them to leave the room. Claire was staring at William wondering if he had suddenly become suicidal.

Ling glared at William unable to believe what her son had just said to her. Crossing her arms, she asked, "Are you fool enough to repeat that?"

"I am not a fool, but what I said bears repeating. You are out of control," William said looking at his mother. When she started to rise out of her chair, he added, "If my father were alive, he would be very unhappy with you at the moment. You push the rules to their very limits. One day you will cross the line and Daddy Ed will be forced to kick you out of the family."

"He wouldn't do that," Ling said dropping back into her seat while glancing at Ed. Seeing the anger on his face, some of her anger had been suddenly replaced by doubt.

In a tight controlled voice, Ed said, "Yes, I would. While your behavior in San Francisco could be called self defense, you could have chosen to fight your way out rather than fight to be the last one standing."

"You are teaching Betsy to resolve her problems with the same lack of restraint. She's in trouble now and it could get worse," William said jabbing a finger in the direction of his mother. Kelly and Linda held their breaths expecting an explosion any minute.

"She's young and exuberant," Ling said in defense of Betsy's actions.

"That's not an excuse," Ed shouted. He took a deep breath to calm down. Once he had control over his emotions, he gestured in the direction of William. He said, "William is probably more dangerous than any one of us, but he's never gotten into trouble with the law. He stays well away from that line of bullying people into changing their behavior from harmful to helpful. You bullied his bodyguards into accepting marriage as a partnership that can include more than a couple."

"Look, they are physical kind of people. They know how to take a blow. We were just talking in a language that we all understood," Ling said crossing her arms.

William shook his head in disappointment despite the fact that he had known the bodyguards wouldn't have let the problem escalate out of their control. He rose from his chair. Turning to his mother, he said, "You don't get it. My father was not afraid to use force, but only in response to force. John Carter fought evil, not bad attitude. Your first response to any challenge is to use intimidation and, if that fails, force. That is wrong."

"My willingness to use force has saved lives," Ling said.

"And put lives in jeopardy," William replied.

"Whose life did I put in jeopardy?" Ling asked.

"Betsy's life," Ed answered. He glared at her; daring her to disagree. When she looked like she was about to say something, he added, "That little stunt with the gang leaders could have escalated into violence. Walking into their den and challenging them like that has to be the most stupid thing I've ever heard you do."

Ling paled at Ed's admission that he knew about her little visits to the gangs. She had hoped that he wouldn't learn about them. Rather than admit that she had used bad judgment she said, "We could have handled any problem that came up."

"It doesn't require skill to kill someone, only luck. There were more than enough guns there that one person could have gotten lucky. Rather than being here to watch our daughter go to trial for sexual assault, we would have been here visiting her grave," Ed answered. He had just learned about what Claire, Ling, and Betsy had done in San Francisco and was still furious about it.

The reminder of why they were all sitting around in a hotel room in San Francisco caused Lucy to look at her watch. Seeing that it was getting close to the time when they had to leave, she said, "It is time that we went to court."

"I'll get Betsy," Ling said and stomped out of the room.

The hallway outside the courtrooms was crowded with people. Some had finished their business with the court and were discussing the consequences of the actions that had occurred inside. Others were waiting their turn with the judicial process. All kinds of cases were pending; most were minor, but a few were serious.

The tension among the members of the Carter Clan had broken them into little groups. Betsy, Ling, and Claire were together talking about the likely outcome of the case. Ling and Betsy were upbeat, but Claire looked worried. She knew that a judgment against Betsy would have long term consequences.

Kelly, Lucy, Ed, and William were gathered together discussing the likely outcomes of the case as well. William and Ed were both worried that no matter what was decided that the result would not be good. Lucy and Kelly were trying to deflect the men's concerns.

Linda, Dan, and Leroy were watching the two groups from a small distance away. They were not so worried about Betsy, but they were worried about the family as a whole. The discussion in the hotel room had not been pleasant. They were worried that Ed might find it necessary to kick Ling out of the family. It would require a majority of the family to agree to the action, but they doubted they would stand in the way if things escalated to the point where Ed felt it was necessary to take action. He wouldn't do it unless Ling did something really bad.

Unaware of the tension among the family, Betsy's lawyer walked down the hallway with a smile on his face. He stopped in front of Ed and said, "They dropped the charges."

"Why?"

"The victim refused to testify," the lawyer answered pleased that he had represented his client well. He had been pretty confident that the man wouldn't want to testify that a young girl had stuck her thumb up his ass. He had dropped hints that he would use the standard rapist justification that the man had been asking for it.

On hearing the news, Betsy jumped up and down. Excited, she said, "See, I told you it would all work out in the end."

William frowned at hearing his sister's comment. Ling said, "I knew you'd be okay. You did the right thing with that man. I would have probably hurt him a little more than you did, but you did good."

Giving a little victory dance, Betsy said, "You're always right, Momma. Maybe next time I'll squeeze the balls a little harder."

Glancing over at Ed, Lucy could see that he was about to explode. She put a hand on William's arm and looked at his face. His eyes had narrowed to thin slits. Speaking to no one in particular, she whispered, "This isn't good."

Taking a deep breath, William turned to face the two happy women. In a voice that brought chills to their spine, he said, "Momma Ling. Betsy. I am disgusted with you both. You are celebrating that you got away with using your strength to harm a weak man. You are celebrating the fact that you've violated both rules that John Carter gave his life to teach all of humanity."

Both women turned to stare at William with wide eyes. In a flat voice, he said, "You are banished from my house and my presence for a year. I do not want to see you or have you contact me in any way during that time."

Turning, William walked away leaving a stunned family behind. Lucy quickly caught up to him and took his hand in hers. She had expected to find his hand hard with tension, but the slight squeeze he gave her hand was gentle. He wasn't angry, just very sad.

Linda, Claire, and Kelly stood in the hallway staring at William open mouthed. Claire ran a hand over the swell of her pregnant belly. Even the child she carried had reacted by suddenly becoming perfectly still. She didn't relax until the child kicked her.

Unable to breath, Ling stared at William's retreating back. It felt as if he had managed to hit her in the stomach with a perfectly executed kick. She swayed for a moment and then collapsed to the ground. While Dan and Leroy were surprised by William's action, they were even more surprised by Ling's collapse. Concerned, they knelt down to take care of Ling. She had taken a very nasty fall and cracked her head on the floor. There was a small cut that bled far more than was reasonable.

Tears welled out of Betsy's eyes in response to her brother's actions. The brother that she adored had said she disgusted him. Her happiness at having escaped a trial collapsed into despair. She called out, "William!"

When he didn't turn around, Betsy knelt on the ground sobbing out of control. Her entire body shook. She let loose with a pitiful wail of anguish and curled into a fetal position.

Linda and Claire slowly turned to take care of the distraught young woman. There was no way for the pregnant woman to kneel down next to Betsy. When she started to say that William didn't mean it, Kelly stopped her with a quick wave of her finger.

Looking down at her daughter, Kelly said, "Betsy, you'll see him in a year. Until then, don't bother trying to talk to him. He won't answer your calls or open the door for you."

Ignoring Betsy and Ling, Ed smiled with pride as he watched the young couple leave. While the courts hadn't punished Betsy for her actions, at least William had. He hoped that both women had learned something from his son's actions. He turned to look down at Betsy. In a cold voice, he said, "Remember this day."