For the remainder of the weekend Nathan was very quiet, as he rarely spoke to anyone expect to ask a question or help with something around the house. He did leave the house a few times, but only to go for a walk rather than joyride in Sonya’s van again. This was a slight improvement, but Sonya was hoping to ground Nathan for what he had done. Peter felt it was a bit redundant since he didn’t his own room yet and the young man still had to deal with Ray. It was pretty much like this all weekend, and Peter had no idea how or when the young man’s brooding was going to expire. Sure, it was nice to have the house quiet and Nathan wasn’t doing anything to provoke anyone, but things were about to change when the weekend ended.

It was close to eight am Monday morning when Ray showed up in his truck to pick Nathan up for his first day of community service. Nathan wore something that was work appropriate but still cool to not die of embarrassment from. Ray was waiting by the truck as Nathan walked up to the truck and was ready to start paying his debt to society. Ray didn’t say a word and only motioned for the young man to step into the truck. The two sat there and really didn’t say much for most of the ride out there. Ray asked a few questions Nathan’s previous work experience, what kind of weight he could lift, among other things. These were the kind of questions made Nathan a little nervous to what kind of back breaking work Ray had in store for him. Ray instead drove out to his station, and standing out front waiting to be to picked up were three other kids around Nathan’s age. There were two boys and a girl waiting for Ray to show up and they all hopped into the back seat after he pulled up. After everyone was all settled in and seatbelts were fastened, Ray pulled out and tore off in the direction of where their labor was going to take place.

The sheriff was a true supporter of community service, as he thought having kids work off their debt rather than giving them a criminal record. There were not that many college grads in the town to begin with, so townhall and the judge were cool with what Ray was doing with these kids. If they busted every kid and tarnished their record every time someone did something stupid, then no one in this town would ever get a chance to good post-secondary institution.

When they reached the intended destination, Ray pulled the truck over. As the kids filed out of the truck, they got a good idea of where they were and what the grump Sheriff had in store for them. They were on the side of the highway, and along with side of it going as far back as fifty feet from the road was scores of trash littered all over the place. Ray went into the back of his truck and produced four bags and four bright orange jumpsuits. The kids all groaned when they caught sight of the jumpsuits. Not only did Ray want these kids picking up trash for the town, he wanted them to stick out so that anyone who passed by to also understand. He wanted every drive passing by to be made aware of what was being made for the benefit of mankind. Ray was the kind of person who believed in being perfectly upfront most of the time, but manly when it suited him and the fair people of his small town. The big man waited very patiently as all four of the teenagers put their jumpsuits on over the clothing they had chosen to wear that day. They would soon begin to regret that choice as combined with the orange suit was going to build up a lot of heat as they worked through the day. This was a mistake Ray was positive they would not make tomorrow, but he had water, ice, and oxygen in the back just in case. When they were all dolled up and ready to go, Ray stood up and handed each of them a small rake and a bag to sweep trash into. There was also a small spear like spike at the end so they could stab the garbage if it was too light to sweep up. Ray took a deep breath and then chucked when he saw the four of them looking like oranges that had fallen from a rather large tree. A moment he didn’t hesitate to take a picture of with his cell phone.

“Okay, Sunkist kids,” Ray started, as he couldn’t help himself. “I’m going to watch as you pick up every single piece of trash on the side of his highway. We’re going to keep moving in that direction until we hit town or lunch, which ever comes first. After lunch, we’ll do the other side of the road. Any questions?”

“Yes, how do I get out of here?” one of the smaller kids asked.

“You did the crime, Tropicana,” Ray chided back, his voice cracking like a whip, “So, now you’re going to do the time! And just in case any of you is thinking of even trying to scamper away: when I catch up with you, and I will catch up with you, all four of you will be punished as I will cuff you together like a chain gang. We clear on that?”

None of the kids in orange kids said anything and just nodded to acknowledge.

“Very good,” Ray said, smiling at them, “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get to work… pitter patter, people!”

There were a few grumbles, but the four teens parted ways in search of trash by the side of the highway. Ray took a pose standing in authority over the teens as he watched them do their thing for the community. It looked like a scene out of a movie, and cars were honking their horns and waved to Ray which was their way of showing their approval for his brand of justice. People liked the idea of making kids work off their debt rather than sit on their asses in jail. Ray couldn’t agree more as he also believed that society shouldn’t give on the young as they were capable of change and had a higher rate of rehabilitation. He knew most of them were capable of changing their ways, so this was where they needed to be to make up for their mistakes now so that they were not repeated in the future. The kids didn’t lollygag and hustled as they picked up trash promptly and were making good time for what they were asked to do.

Nathan was not enjoying the work, but realized it was what he had to do. For him there clearly was no choice, and as he was picking on one piece on of the other teens was trying to get his attention.

“What is it?” Nathan said, as he wasn’t yelling at the person, just raising his voice because the cars zipping by were so loud.

“There’s a big piece by your foot,” she called over to him. “I’m not trying to be bossy, but better hearing it from me than the highwayman over there.”

Nathan laughed as he got the joke. “No kidding, thanks.”

“No problem,” She replied before quickly getting back to work herself before Ray could notice that they were conversing. Every now and then she would point out something that Nathan almost missed, and he appreciated her assistance. They worked throughout the morning in the blazing sun and every hour or so, Ray would allow them to take water break in the shade before putting them back to work. The four kids collected a lot of trash to the point where Ray had to hand out some new bags to replace the ones they had already filled. The big sheriff was rather impressed with their work ethic, and when they reached a certain part of the highway he called out to them all to stop what they were doing.

“Alright, that enough for now!” Ray bellowed to no one in particular. “Get back to the truck. It’s time for lunch.”

The four kids walked back to the truck, tossed their bags and rakes in the back, and looked like they wanted to get out of their jumpsuits. Ray, however, was having none of them.

“Not so fast,” Ray barked at them, “Those suits don’t come off until the day is done. We’re just breaking for lunch so keep them on and start walking in that direction. Hop to it!”

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The kids groaned as they started to walk, not realizing that Ray had them working a specific part of the highway for a reason. The place he wanted to take them to lunch at a joint that was less than a block from where they were working. This was also the sheriff’s personal favorites, as he walked the four teens into the place and sat them down at a corner booth where he could keep a close eye on them from his favorite stool at the main counter by the register. As he took a seat, Ray removed his cliché sunglasses and had a wide grin when his favorite waitress slowly walked over to came to take the big man’s order.

“Hey Daphne,” Ray said with a warm smile.

“Raymond.” She said without looking up. “What’ll it be?”

“Well doll,” Ray said, gesturing to the four orange kids in the back. “You see those four wearing their very fashionable jumpsuits?”

“I noticed,” Daphne said, “Troublemakers?”

“They won’t be by the time I’m done.” Ray said with a twinkle in his eye.

“Fair enough.” Daphne confirmed. “So, four chain gang specials?”

“Sounds good to me, doll.” Ray said, as he approved, “Four chain gang specials and an iced tea would do these kids just fine.”

“Any fixings?” the waitress asked.

“Just ketchup, relish, and cheese,” Ray answered, “We’re not savages.”

“And what will the big law man have?” Daphne asked.

Ray paused for a moment. “I’ll take a Ruben, with extra sauerkraut.”

“No salads for the kiddies?” Daphne asked.

“Fries will do,” Ray said, amused by the though. “They’ve suffered enough. I’ll save the greens for if they misbehave.”

“And what about you?” Daphne inquired.

“I’ll have a Dr. Pepper and coleslaw with my sandwich.” Ray said, as he was a sucker for a nice homemade coleslaw and this place served the best.

Most of the kids were quiet, as if they were waiting for Ray to give them permission to speak. Yet once Ray’s back was turned and he was speaking with the waitress again, they finally started to talk and mingle. Two of the boys who were already friends kept to each other and left Nathan to chat with his new friend which seemed alright by him. She had been a great help and he wanted to express his thanks for that help.

“My name is Nathan.” He said to her.

“Cheryl,” the young lady replied as she shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet finally meet you, Nathan.”

“Same here.” Nathan said, as she couldn’t understand a single thing the other two teens were saying to each other. “So, what did you do to land hard time with the Highwayman?”

“I stole something that wasn’t mine,” Cheryl answered. “I really shouldn’t have done it, but it was something I really wanted. I got lucky because the store agreed to drop the charges as long as I returned it and agreed to community service.”

“I guess what’s one way to land service to the town.” One of the other boys answered, “but I’ve got a lot more days lined up for this douche.”

“Better than serving real time,” Nathan admitted.

“True,” Cheryl agreed, “Way better. This torture is far better than having it on our permanent record. No one us want that, and we know nothing in this day and age is ever sealed anymore so I want nothing in my record at all that can be hacked into later by someone else. Know what I mean?”

Nathan hadn’t really thought this far ahead but nodded anyway just to agree with her and keep things going. “I understand. I wouldn’t want that either.”

“So, what about you?” Cheryl asked, “What did you do to get here?”

“I stole something too,” Nathan answered.

“Oh, really?” Cheryl said, sounding intrigued. “What did you swipe?”

“A mini van,” Nathan answered.

The moment Nathan said those three words all three kids stopped eating their meal, and looked back at Nathan with stunned looks on their faces. Before anyone could say anything or ask a question, the waitress was there with an armful of burgers for each kid. The burger was quite good and after all the back breaking work they did, it was something they earned. This is why lunch was on the Ray, or at least his expense account. Most of them had nothing to say as they ate their food, but Nathan had no idea if he had impressed them with his confession or if he sounded lame, which was clearly his worst fear since he was starting to like Cheryl. After they finished their lunch and waited for Ray to finish his, the tall cop tipped his cap and watched as the teens made their exit and back out to the street they came from.

“Now we are going to do the other side of the highway.” Ray called out as they walked back to where the truck was. “If you do just as good this afternoon, I might be tempted to give you all tomorrow off.”

Ray wasn’t so sure, but his offer seemed to work as they were doing double their usual pace. The four kids went to work with their new bags and picked up every small or large piece of trash they could find. Ray was reading a book on the hood of his truck, looking back to make sure all four were still there and working hard. He was again impressed with how hard they were working, but Nathan was staying close to Cheryl so he yelled at him a few times to make sure they spread out a bit so they would cover more ground. When it was all said and done, Ray was a very please with the work these kids put in that day. The highway leading to the only off ramp to his town looked amazing and was clear of garbage for now. After he dropped the first three teens off at the station for their rides to get them from there, Ray had a smile on his face as he pulled out and started to drive back to the summer house.

“You kids worked very hard,” Ray said, sounding rather proud, “I do appreciate anyone who’s willing to work their hands to the bone to pay their debt to society. That’s stands for something around here: it’s called character.”

“How much longer do I have to do this?” Nathan asked.

“Since what you took was never damaged and you never damaged anything that belonged to the city, probably in about a week,” Ray honestly answered. That lack of damage was in truth the only reason the Judge was alright with slapping the young man on the wrists. That and the recent passing of the kid’s mother. Ray pulled into the drive and looked over at Nathan.

“Good job today, son.” Ray said, as he pulled to a stop, “Now take that jumpsuit in with you and make sure Sonya gives it a good scrubbing before tossing it in the laundry machine. Understood?”

Nathan nodded as he stepped out and started walking back to the house. Peter was on the front porch, and he watched Nathan stroll past him in his orange jumpsuit and entered the house without saying a word. Peter looked back at Ray with a look that judged the Sheriff.

“What?” Ray called out.

“Orange jumpsuits?” Peter asked a shrug, “Isn’t that a little cliché?”

Ray took a look down at himself and then back at Peter, “Can you name a single thing on he that isn’t clichéd”?

Peter thought about it for a moment. “Well played, sir.”

“Relax,” Ray called out, still smiling. “It builds character.”

“We’ll see about that.” Peter called back. After he watched Ray pull away from the driveway and back towards his own fortress of solitude, Peter walked into the house and could tell how exhausted Nathan was as he was pealing the jumpsuit off to reveal how sweaty and ruined the clothes underneath were. Peter walked over to the other side of the room and grabbed an empty laundry hamper. “Throw them in here, all of them. I’ll wash them out tonight.”

Nathan looked at him, a little confused. “You do the laundry here?”

“Not all of it,” Peter retorted, “Just my own and sometimes I do the girls. I’ve been doing my own laundry since I was twelve. Your grandmother was a nurse and she worked very long hours, so it seemed very unfair to make her do all that work when she came home. I asked her to show me so I could do it myself and it was one less thing for her to handle. I actually enjoyed the ability to do it myself because I tinkered with the machine until I knew just how the right combo would make my clothes feel just right. Funny part is when I went to college I was one of the only people moving in that knew how to do their own laundry. I thought it was a lot of fun showing a lot of new co-eds how to wash their delicates.”

“Nice one,” Nathan said with a grin. He paused for a moment. “Could you show me how to wash my clothes? I mean I would like to know how to clean this jumpsuit by myself so I can do it whenever I get home.”

Peter tried his best not to grin and nodded. “Of course, I’d love to. I think this is something every kid around your age should know. You never know when you’re going to need to use it. Like if you need a specific shirt for an important date you go and wash it yourself. Or if there is a huge mess of towels after cleaning up the mess from a big party and you want them clean before our parents come back from their long trip. That’s stuff you don’t want your mom or dad handling in the laundry room.”

“Duly noted,” Nathan said again as he followed his father into the laundry room to learn something rather essential.