The Hitting Zone-Chapter 1207: V4 ch55 Punishment

Dad was waiting in the dining room as we walked into the house. He sat at the head of the table like normal, like he didn't just catch us sneaking out.

None of us spoke. I shifted from foot to foot, scared that we'd be in big trouble. Noah and Dave weren't pleading for mercy though, so maybe it's not so bad? I pulled at the hem of my shirt, about to admit fault.

"Well? How did it go?" Dad asked, looking specifically at Dave.

I saw Dave relax his shoulders. "It went rather well. They were much better than Kyle and I when you had us try to get out of that spot."

"You made them try the spot next to the bushes and curb?" Dad asked, looking a little surprised.

"Well, yea. That's what you did for us." Dave said. "It's good to get the hard part of the way first. You said you rather have us hit the curb instead of another car so that lesson really stuck."

Dad slowly nodded. "Anything else?"

"They just took turns driving around the lot." Dave said. "They practiced diagonal parking spots and that tough one. I tried explaining the blinker, but we didn't use it much. Or the windshield wipers."

Dad showed a small smile. "You can't teach them everything in a night." He let out a long sigh. "Even you still have a lot to learn, Dave."

"Me?" Dave was surprised. As was I.

"Permit drivers need someone 25 and older with a license in the car. At all times." Dad stood up from the table. "As much as I appreciate your efforts in wanting to teach them how to drive, this wasn't the right way. You personally can show them some things while you're driving, but you taking them out late at night could have gotten all three of you in trouble."

"But I thought I was allowed since I'm their brother? Isn't there a family rule?"

Dad shook his head. "We can look into that later. But if that wasn't enough…their driving permits aren't valid until they have their first training lesson with a driving instructor. Plus, they aren't allowed to be driving after 11pm."

I cringed, knowing that it was well past midnight now. "Sorry?" I offered up in a small voice, scared that we were heading to the scolding part of the conversation.

"Yea, Dad, we're sorry." Noah added, taking a small step forward. "We didn't think that much about it. We were just excited to pass our permit tests."

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Dad sighed again. "That's no excuse. We're going to have consequences. You boys are getting older. Heck, Dave you're legally an adult now. But as long as you're here, under my roof, we have to follow the rules. And sneaking out with your younger brothers, allowing them to break curfew is going to be a big one."

"Would it have been a different story if I woke you and told you?" Dave asked.

"I would have gone with and you boys wouldn't have been breaking so many rules." Dad told him.

Dave showed a look of distress. "So what now? Are you going to take the car away? Ground us? How bad is the punishment going to be?"

Dad slowly shook his head. "That car is yours. I have no right to take it away. You can use it as you wish, I can only hope you'll be responsible with it. Letting your uninsured brothers drive it around is not very bright. If they had crashed your car, you wouldn't have been covered. Meaning, you would have had to pay out of your own pocket."

"Oh. I didn't think about that." Dave said sheepishly., rubbing the back of his head.

"As for grounding, I don't think that's necessary." Dad went on. "You boys aren't out of control, nor do you regularly cause trouble. Instead I'm recruiting you boys to clean up the house, inside and out before Saturday. Your mom wanted to have a July 4th bbq here and I didn't think we would have the right amount of time to put it together seeing as we just got back from Omaha. But now she'll have three strong, hardworking young men."

"Uh. That only gives us tomorrow and Friday. The Fourth is Saturday." Noah spoke up. "What kind of cleaning are you expecting?"

"The best kind." He started to elaborate. "Clean up the backyard. Move things around so you can mow the yard properly. The deck needs to be washed down completely. No spiderwebs or dust. I'm going to let your grandfather tell you how to clean the grill so it's ready to go. Inside, I want the sweeping and mopping done Friday. Don't forget the baseboards. The kitchen needs to be prepped and ready for the grocery shopping tomorrow so maybe do that first." Dad spent a good ten minutes talking about the chores that needed to be done before the weekend.

Noah and Dave started to bring up a few objections towards the end, but Dad was quick to shut them down. "Resistance is futile. You either do as I say or we'll have to have a harder conversation." The boys zipped it. Dad looked to me. "Jake."

I took a deep breath. "Yea?"

"I don't want you thinking I'm mad at you, okay? Not directly. I'm disappointed for how you guys went about it, but I'm also happy that you do normal teen boy activities." He glanced at the other two. "You guys need to use your head a little more. Don't think of just small consequences like me or your mom catching you doing something you shouldn't be doing. But think if a cop caught you. One who didn't want to let you kids off with a warning. What would your coach say? How would this reflect on your brothers: Zeke, Kyle, and even Jeremy. Jeremy's little brother breaks the law could be a headline on an article."

I grimaced.

"Next time, we'll take your or Mom or even Grampa." Noah told Dad.

He nodded. "I know. You guys have some sense of responsibility. Just add some more maturity. I don't want to be too hard on you, but the futures that you want…there'll be stricter in the court of public opinion." He clapped his hands together. "Alright, it's getting late. You three have a long day of hard work tomorrow so get to bed."

We nodded and marched up the stairs one after another. Dad turned the lights off as he trailed behind.

Once in bed, in the dark, Dave whispered, "Sorry, guys. I didn't think it would be so serious."

"Nah. Dad's just stressing that it could have been more serious." Noah rejected his apology. "It was fun. And a good learning experience."

I shifted over the ledge so they could hear me better as I whispered back. "It really helped me have more confidence about driving. Before this, I thought Noah would have to drive the whole time between the two of us. But now, I feel like I can do it too. Thanks, Dave."

Dave chuckled. "We'll see how thankful you feel when we're cleaning up tomorrow."

Noah sighed. "Guess it'll be a replacement to my normal run and workout."