CHAPTER VIII:
It was about 9:00 a.m. in the morning when Jace got a phone call from his mother. He’d just gotten to bed at 7, after being out all night, which was normal for him on a weekend. He wondered what he’d be getting a phone call for at this time of day.
His mother was in tears and right away he knew it wasn’t good news.
“It’s Seth,” she said. “He’s at County General. He’s been beaten up really bad. Me and your dad are on our way there now.”
“All right, I’ll be there right away.”
FUCK! thought Jace. What happened now?
He saw his parents in the waiting room when he arrived at the hospital. All his brothers, Grant, Kirk, and Winston were there too.
“What the hell happened?” Jace asked.
“Some guys going to work this morning found Seth on the side of the road, way out on the edge of town," explained his brother, Grant. “Beat up so bad he could barely talk! They drove him here and dropped him off. The nurses found his ID and the hospital called Mom.”
“What in hell was the goddamned kid doing out there?” Mr. Lowell grumbled.
“Who the fuck knows?” said Grant. “But someone worked him over good. He’s got some broken ribs and a cracked collarbone, his nose is busted and the doctor figures he’s got some internal bleeding.”
“Can we see him?” asked Jace.
“Not just yet,” Kirk spoke up. “They’re still working on him.”
“I’ve got a feeling I might know who did this,” Jace whispered to Grant. “I’ll tell you about it later.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
They all waited anxiously for about another half hour, when finally, a doctor showed up.
“How is my son?” Mrs. Lowell quickly asked.
“Seth is going to be fine,” the doctor assured her. “He was in pretty rough shape when he was brought in, but we’ve got him stabilized. He’s got some broken ribs, a cracked jawbone, a cracked collarbone, some broken teeth, and possibly a concussion. He did have some internal bleeding, but I think we have it under control now. We were a little concerned about permanent damage to his left eye, but I think it’ll be all right. He’s going to be pretty sore for a few days, but he’ll pull through.”
“When can we see him?” asked Jace.
“We have him on some painkillers right now,” the doctor explained, “and he’s sleeping, but as soon as he wakes up, you can go in.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It wasn’t until later that afternoon that Seth finally awoke. His family was allowed to enter his room and see him.
His brothers were shocked to see the state their little brother was in. His face was a mass of bruises and abrasions. Both eyes were nearly swollen shut. His family barely recognized him.
It was obvious he was in a great amount of pain.
“Holy shit, little bro’, you look like shit!” Jace exclaimed.
“Whoever did this, they did one fuck of a number on you!” Grant commented.
“It-it…w-w-was… J-Jake,” Seth croaked, weakly. “a-and his…g-g-goons.”
“Jake Bowers?” Jace snapped. Seth nodded, wincing in pain. “They.. they…”
“Just relax,” he said to Seth. “We’ll talk more when you’re able to.”
After spending some time with Seth in the hospital room, they all decided to leave and let him have some rest.
As they left the hospital, Grant said to Jace, “I think we need to be finding this Jake Bower. He and his buddies are gonna get some payback.”
“No!” Jace said, firmly. “Just let it slide for now. Seth acted like he wanted to tell me more. I want to hear the whole story from him before we do anything.”
“Okay,” said Kirk. “We’ll wait. But I’m with Grant. Someone needs their head kicked in.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The next day, they went back to the hospital to see how Seth was doing. A police officer was just leaving the room as the brothers walked up.
“Hello,” he said. “I’m Officer Douglas with the Port City PD.” He showed his badge to them. “I take it you’re family members of Seth’s?”
The Lowell boys were well-known to some of the Port City police and were usually a little apprehensive to see them.
“Yeah, we are. We’re his brothers,” Jace said. “And what do you want?”
“Well, I was just asking him a few questions, trying to find out from your brother who did this to him. But he wasn’t offering too much information. I’m afraid if he won’t tell me anything, there’s not much we can do to find the guys who assaulted him,” the officer explained.
“You probably wouldn’t do much anyway even if you did know,” Kirk commented, with a tone of sarcasm.
“Why would you say that?” Officer Douglas retorted, looking a little annoyed.
“We figure it was some kids from Lexington Heights,” Grant snapped.
“Have you got some info you can give me?” the cop asked. “Some names?”
“No,” Jace said. “Like we said, it’s just a theory.”
“It’s hard to work on theories, boys. If that’s all you’ve got.” The officer handed Jace a business card. “But here’s my number. If you…or your brother, decide you want to talk, give me a call.”
The policeman pushed his way past them and continued down the corridor. Jace and his brothers entered the hospital room. Seth’s face brightened as he saw everyone.
He was looking better than he had the day before, although his face was still badly swollen.
“Hi guys!” he said, his voice still a hoarse whisper.
“Hey, little bro’!” Jace smiled. “Feeling better?”
“Well, kinda,” Seth replied. He wanted to smile but his jaw was still quite sore.
“We saw you had a visitor,” Winston smirked.
“Yeah,” Seth answered. “But I didn’t tell him anything. I don’t need to get the cops involved.”
“What’s going on?” Grant prodded.
“Is this to do with Cassidy?” Jace asked.
Seth nodded. “She told Jake … I raped her… and she told him to beat me up. Him and some of his losers… they grabbed me…took me… out of town.”
“Those jock motherfuckers!” Kirk fumed.
“Did you seriously rape her?” Grant asked.
Seth shrugged. “If you wanna call it… that.” He coughed and winced. “I look at it… more like… I was just getting something she owed me.”
Jace nodded. “She was being a stuck-up cunt - was just playing games with him,” Jace explained to the others. “Seth got pissed and, well, he had to teach her a lesson.”
“Goddammit,” Grant shook his head. “I had a feeling she was bad news for you, Seth.”
“Can’t say as I blame you, if that’s what you did,” Kirk remarked. “Some hot little slut won’t put out, you gotta do what you gotta do.”
“True,” Jace agreed. “But taking a beating like this just because he wanted to get his dick wet, that’s a fuck of a price to pay.”
“Well, I say we find this Jake Bowers and his buddies and give them a good ol’ tire-iron beating,” Winston snapped. “Show those preppy fucks what happens when you mess with the Lowells.”
Seth held up a hand. “No – no, just leave it be, guys – for now.”
“Come on, Seth,” Winston scowled. “You don’t let these assholes get away with this! We’ll fuck ‘em up for ya!”
Seth shook his head. “No, Winston. Just – leave it be. I’ll deal with it.”
“Listen to him, Winston,” Jace said. “If he doesn’t want us to do anything, we won’t, okay?”
The doctor came into the room just then. He informed them that he’d probably be able to release Seth the next day. The brothers left soon after, telling Seth they’d be there the next morning to pick him up.
“Mom is coming by later today to see you too,” Jace told him, as they prepared to leave.
“All right, guys. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Seth replied.
+++++++++++++++++++++
The next morning, just as the doctor said, Seth was released from the hospital. He was walking carefully as they helped him down the front entrance over to where Jace’s car was parked. The swelling in his face was going down, though, and he was able to talk a bit better.
On the way home, Jace said to Seth, “You know, I was doing some thinking, and you need some revenge. You know, to get even!”
“You got a plan?”
“Give me a few days and I’ll let you know.”
“You don’t have to do this, Jace.”
“Seth, I know you wanna get even with these fuckers, and we’ll help you! We’re your brothers and family helps family!”
“Okay, then.”
