Chapter Text
Jay shifted from one foot to the other while waiting for his parents to be called to the schoolhouse. He hoped it would be his father that would end up coming down to see the Principal. If he did then Jay figured that he had a shot at getting his punishment lightened. Jay knew that his father secretly took pride at seeing his sons rough it up a bit; especially when the fights were just. Well, at least Jay thought that he'd been well within his rights to bust Nathan Leadbetter in the head this morning.
As the blond waited for his parents to make it to the Hazzard High School, he thought back to how satisfying it had been to see Nathan's nosebleed. With a grin creeping across his face Jay knew that he'd broken the freshman's nose. Good. He deserved it. He could already picture his father trying not to show his approval while hearing of his son's latest fight. Jebb Duke had been a Duke Boy at Jay's age and remembered full well that sometimes nothing could settle an argument but a solid connection of a fist on flesh.
"Duke." Jay looked up when he heard that he was being called by the secretary. "The judge is here."
Jay bit his busted lip. Great; his mother, not his father, had come to pick him up. Jay followed the secretary into the Principal's office where he was giving Judge Kira Duke his version of what had prompted him to call in the mothers of both Jay and Nathan. It didn't help Jay's cause that Nathan's mother, Rebecca Ann Leadbetter, was there screaming that she demanded that Kira should be responsible for her son's medical bills. After all, as a single mother, she couldn't afford unnecessary trips to the hospital. In fact, it was bad enough that she had to take off from work to come down to the schoolhouse because of the fight in the first place.
As Jay heard the woman go on about it, he wanted to tell her that it had been her son that had started the whole thing, but he knew better than speak up. Principal Hill almost always took the side of who ever had the bad luck of finding themselves on the wrong end of a Duke Boy's fist.
"Just take Nathan over to the clinic and it'll be taken care of," Kira could see from her place that Jay must have gotten a solid hit this time.
"That's more like it," Rebecca Ann started to steer her son out of the room while making sure that she gave the younger Duke a wide berth. "Now I suggest that you rein that wild youngen of yours in. Really! There was no reason for-"
"I'll take care of him. And I assure you that the punishment will fit the crime." Kira crossed her arms as she glared at the other woman. Jay saw the set of his mother's jaw and swallowed. She was mad.
Kira had been in the circuit court over in Chickasaw County when she was called by the school to let her know that one of her sons had been in a fight. Kira was grateful for the fact that her caseload of the day was nearly non-existent, and she had just finished for the day only moments before the call had come. She knew that the men were all out in the field bringing in the cotton harvest so they wouldn't have been able to be easily reached when the school called about Jay and his fight with the younger boy. Kira was well aware of the fact that Nathan Leadbetter was the class bully; the Freshman class bully. What Kira wanted to know was why her son who was a junior in high school had fought with him.
"Judge Duke, as I said on the phone with today's fight, I have no choice but to pass down a ten-day suspension," Principal Hill said sternly. "That means I expect that your son will not be on school grounds for any reason for the next two weeks. That includes driving his brothers or cousins to school."
"I understand," Kira replied as she eyed her son. She had a sneaky suspicion that he had no plans to tell her the reason behind the fight; especially with Hill standing right here. "Does Mikey have the keys to the van so he and the others can get home?"
"Yes'm."
"Let's go." Kira then turned on her heels since she wasn't about to ask Jay what had happened right here in front of the man that obviously didn't hold any love for the name of Duke.
Jay followed his mother as she left the office. All the while he was trying to guess just what type of punishment he could expect for breaking Nathan's nose in today's fight. At least he didn't have to worry about getting switched. His parents had given up that particular punishment right around the time he'd passed his mother in height. Of course, that just meant that they started getting more creative instead. He could rule out mending any fences, too, while he was on his Break from school. That particular punishment was usually reserved for when a pair of the Duke Boys had gotten into trouble together; not when one had done so solo.
Once in his mother's truck, Jay held his tongue as she drove them back out to the old farmhouse. Had it been his father he would have been pleading his case already and doing his best to have his father fighting back a fit of laughter long before they'd finished their long drive home. Not with his mother. When he had to deal with his mother, he knew that she would drive in silence no matter what he said. She would deal with the matter at hand only once they were home and sitting in her office. Jay suspected that it was to give his mother time to decide how she'd handle each of her sons whenever they'd crossed one line or another. The longer it took to head into the office the madder each child knew that their mother was since she always waited until she could speak with her children in a calm manner. Sometimes, in Jay's opinion, too calm.
The closer to the farmhouse the pair got the more Jay wondered just how he was going to explain the day's fight to his mother. After all, he couldn't tell her the truth. Matt would never forgive him if he did. Once more Jay wished that it had been his father that had come down to the school. At least he was easier to read. His mother's face could become a blank slate when she wanted it to be which meant he wouldn't know if he was digging himself a bigger hole or not as he tried to two-step his way out of trouble. Looking back, Jay was convinced that he and his brothers had inadvertently confessed to a lot of crimes that his mother had never even known about until one of them had said the wrong thing over the years.
All too soon, the old pick-up that had to be older than he was pulled up in front of the family home which prodded Jay into hoping that his mother would send him up to his room or out to tend to the animals in the barn. That would give him more time to come up with a story that he could tell his parents about the fight. Today there would be no such luck. Instead, Jay was motioned to follow his mother back into the office that was just off of the kitchen. Knowing that he couldn't tell his mother the truth, and not exactly having enough time to come up with anything else at the moments, Jay figured that he just wouldn't be able to tell her anything at all.
Kira watched her son out of the corner of her eye the whole time she had been driving and she could already see that he had no intention of telling her just what had sparked the brawl that had ended up with the Leadbetter boy sporting two black eyes and a broken nose. Still, she had to try. She unlocked her office door and stepped aside to let her son pass by her. She then stood in the doorway for a few moments while watching her son's back as he squirmed in the chair that she knew her four boys had dubbed The Hot Seat. After what she figured was long enough, Kira walked around in front of her son and sat behind her desk. Kira put her hands in front of her on the desk while tenting her fingers and cocked an eyebrow before she finally spoke.
"Alright, now that we're home, would you like to tell me just what happened today to cause you to fight a boy more than two years your junior?"
Jay suddenly felt like he was twelve years old again and began to stare at the laces of his sneakers. "Not really."
"Is that so?" Kira was surprised that her second-born hadn't at least come up with a story that he'd figured would cause her to go light on him. The fact that he hadn't made her suspicious. Kira tried to read her son but frustratingly found that she couldn't. She knew that Jebb would tell her that Jay had learned how to hold his own thoughts close to the vest from his mother. Of their four boys it was Jay that could hide the most of what he felt when he wanted to. So of course, he was the one that had to be dealt with right now. "Alright, we'll set that aside for right now. Instead let's talk about what you'll be doing for the next ten days while your brothers are in school."
Jay peeked up at his mother in surprise. That was it? She wasn't going to ask any more about the fight? "Uh… Okay."
Kira knew that the other men could use some help out in the fields while trying to pull in the cotton harvest but she and Jebb had never used working out in the fields as punishment. They wanted to instill a sense of pride in their heritage of working the land; using that same land to punish them would seem to go against that desire. That meant that she needed to come up with a different way to keep her son busy during his ten-day suspension. But Kira didn't know the whole story behind the fight just yet either so she didn't want to be too heavy handed only to learn later that wouldn't have sent down the same judgment on her son.
"Obviously, you won't be sitting around the house watching television while your brothers are in school." Kira knew that bit wasn't any surprise to her son and continued, "Since your father and uncles will be out in the fields and I'll be in court, which means that-"
"I could help them out in the fields," Jay suggested real quick figuring that it'd earn him some points if he tried to be helpful.
"Yes, you could, but you won't. Instead, I'll leave a list of chores that I'll expect to be done each day," Kira figured that idea would give her the most wiggle room in the severity of Jay's punishment. "In fact, you can start today. I planned to run some errands and get some groceries before I came home after court. While I'm out I expect you to head upstairs and clean the upstairs bathroom from top to bottom."
Alright, if asked, Kira would admit that she usually saved the bathroom that her four sons shared for just such an occasion. No woman in her right mind would look forward to cleaning that room. As such it was usually one of the first things that came to HER mind when she handed out punishments; especially when one of her Duke Boys stepped out on their own and pushed their luck while flying solo. Jebb had his favorite punishments to hand down, Kira had hers.
"Yes'm," Jay replied then swallowed. When his mother didn't say anything else he then asked in surprise, "Is that it?"
"For now; unless you've changed your mind and decided to tell me just why you gave Nathan's face a makeover." Jay shook his head. "Then go ahead and get started. I'll be back in about an hour."
~01~
Kira stepped out of the market and headed toward her truck when she spied Thomas Hart with his three granddaughters (Faith, Hope and Joy) over at the ice-cream parlor. Not only that but Kira could see that Crystal Duke along with Daisy's two daughters (Violet and Rose) were with them. True Daisy's girls were a couple years younger than their cousins, but they were all still very close. Six teenaged girls all in one place; the general was a brave man.
And other folks wondered how she managed four Duke Boys of her own plus her brother's son and her cousins' boys when they all got together at the house. She'll take the young men gathering at the house any day. She could handle broken furniture after the boys had gotten a little too rough a lot easier than hearing who was crushing on who and all the other girly stuff that she never had been able to really get into. Maybe that was why the girls all got together either at Jo and Luke's or Daisy and Darcy's for their makeovers, gossip sessions and many other things that Kira's own childhood hadn't exactly made time for.
Kira knew that the girls were all planning a sleepover tonight and none of them would go home until after Joy and Hope's party was over tomorrow afternoon. It was hard for Kira to believe that they were about to turn fifteen. It seemed just like yesterday that they had surprised both of their parents by showing up instead of the son that they had been expecting. Of course, when the family thought back to that day everyone liked to focus on the girls being born rather than the trauma that Bo's wife, Kim, had been put through on that same day.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Kira started to put her purchases in the truck. When she finished, she turned to see Roxie Strate walking up to her while her brother Seth headed on toward the Courthouse; no doubt to see if he could go on a ride along with their father Sheriff Strate. It was already clear that the young man would follow in his parents' footsteps, and will no doubt go into law enforcement once he was old enough. As for Roxie, she came up to Kira and looked quite distressed.
"Judge Duke, Jay's not in any trouble, is he?"
Kira raised a brow at the teen's question. She knew that the young brunette had a crush on Jay, but he didn't return the affection. For one, he considered the freshman to be too young for him. Another, Kira was well aware of the fact that Matthew had been eyeing Roxie every Sunday at church since before his twin brother, Ben, had even discovered girls. Kira knew that none of her sons would put a move on a girl that one of the others had a thing for so it would seem that Roxie was just out of luck; despite the fact that she hasn't exactly been subtle in her hints that she'd like for Jay to take her to the upcoming Homecoming Dance.
"Should he be?"
"Nuh-uh. Nathan deserved everything Jay did; he had it coming to him. He and the others have been horrible to Matt," Roxie informed the Judge. "Though they try not to go too far when Ben's around but still… Anyway, Jay was just puttin' Nathan in his place after he cornered Matt on his way to English class."
English class, the only class that Matt and Ben didn't share. Though Aaron did but would just meet Matt in class since he was coming from the other side of campus. Thus, it would have been the only time that Matt would have been without any of his brothers or cousins with him.
Kira had homeschooled Matt for his younger years and then allowed him to enroll in a special school for the deaf in Atlanta for one semester. That had been a hard several months for both him and the rest of the family. Matt had stayed with John and Pauline (which they had loved since they were missing having children in the house once both Emma and Emily had gone off to college), but he had missed his parents and brothers. Not to mention his cousins.
Kira hadn't liked her son being so far away either. So, she and Jebb had brought him back home and did the best they could with Matt's schooling, but he'd begged to go to regular school with his brothers once he'd hit his High School years. Something that Kira hadn't really been sure had been a good idea but (as Jebb had pointed out) he'd have to get used to being around other kids his own age eventually. Besides, it wasn't like he wouldn't have anyone around to help him when he didn't understand the teachers. Either his brothers or cousins could interpret for him when it was necessary.
So, the fight today had just been Jay defending his younger brother?
"I see."
"So, Jay's not really goin' to be in trouble, is he?" Roxie asked in a hopeful tone.
"I'm afraid that's still for his father and I to discuss. But I am glad that you told me."
"Will he still be allowed to go to the party tomorrow? You know, considering…"
Kira fought a grin. "Well, the family will have a get together for the girls' birthday, but I don't think Jay will be going to the one that you and the other girls are going to." Kira saw Roxie's face fall just a bit, but she then covered it up with a smile.
"Oh, well maybe next time then."
"Maybe." Kira then climbed into her truck feeling a bit better about not being heavy handed with Jay's punishment when she and Jay were in her office. Still, she wished he would have told her for himself. Just further proof that her little boy that used to tell her everything was growing up.
~01~
On her way home Kira stopped off at the main family farm to speak with Jesse. When she pulled up outside of the Duke Heritage Farm Kira saw that, as expected, Jo was here with Jesse. Six months ago, Jesse had given the whole family a scare when he had been found in the kitchen after he'd had a stroke. Granted, his recovery was going far better than it had first been expected. With the exception of being a bit unsteady on his feet at times a casual outsider would never know that the Duke Patriarch had been so ill so recently. Which really came across well as she stepped through the kitchen door and heard him and Jo debating on whether or not he really needed the medicine that Kim had left for him to take in the afternoon before she would make it home.
"And I said that I feel just fine. I don't need that blasted pill!" Jesse Duke's voice could be heard from the living room. Kira chuckled and shook her head. Jesse was a worse patient than even she was. Kira doubted that anyone other than Kim or Jo could get the old man to follow the regimen that had helped him to bounce back after his stroke.
"Jesse, I've heard you say that you plan to live to be a hundred. Now if you plan to follow through then you're just going to have to suck it up and take your medication. That is unless you'd rather I get the men to hold ya down so I can give it to you!"
Kira knew that the threat was empty; just like Jesse did. Jo slipped into her old fallback routine as a tough Marine whenever she felt she needed to. After the medicine had all been taken the two would joke about how Jo could still pull off being a hard Marine when she needed, and Jo would come back saying that Luke and his stubbornness has always kept her in practice. Jesse would then smile and say that Jo was the only woman on Earth that he knew could have managed his oldest nephew.
Still, the two would go through this same routine nearly on a daily basis; ever since Jo had taken it upon herself to care for Jesse so that Kim could go back to work at the clinic and hospital. On Jesse's good days he would go out to the senior center to hang out with his old Ridge Runner buddies as well as J.D. and Rosco; that then in turn gave Jo time to work on her paintings. Kira had heard that Jesse and J.D. tended to liven things up at the center by having races in their motorized scooters. That just went to show that a Duke will race anything on wheels.
Kira waited for today's performance to finish before she made her way into the living room just as Jo left an affectionate kiss on Jesse's forehead that almost always signaled the end of their Confrontation. She then greeted both of the other Dukes and sat across from Jesse.
"You're home a bit early aren't ya?"
"Just a bit," Kira answered her uncle. "I was called out to the schoolhouse though so…" Kira shrugged.
"The schoolhouse? Which one was it this time?" Jesse asked with a chuckle.
"Jay. He broke Nathan Leadbetter's nose."
"Good, that boy is just like his father was," Jo chimed in. "Would you believe that he had the nerve to ask both Hope and Joy out for the same weekend?"
"I wouldn't doubt it. The thought that the two girls would discuss their dates probably never even entered his mind."
"Well, what was the fight over this time?" Jesse asked. "I didn't think that Jay or Mikey had much dealin's with freshmen."
"I'm pretty sure that Jay went out of his way for Nathan. Jesse, did you ever have to punish Bo and Luke for fightin' when you agreed with their reason?"
"I think every parent probably has at least once. Why? What was the reason?" Kira took a deep breath before explaining what Roxie had told her about Nathan and his friends harassing Matt. She then confessed that she wasn't sure if it had been a good idea to let her hearing-impaired son to go to a regular school. After all, already it would seem that he was being targeted by the school bullies. "Well, I'd say the only one that will be able to get these other boys to back off will be Matt himself."
"Matt?"
"Hear me out. The longer you or his brothers try to fight his battles for him the longer Nathan and whoever else will be doing their best to get one over on him. Besides, Matt will have one advantage over these other boys. He's grown up with Mikey, Jay, Ben, Aaron and Jake and they ain't always taken it easy on him. He knows how to roll with the punches just fine."
"I know that but still-"
"Seems to me your doin' one thing that you've always bucked when others did it to you," Jesse said with a grin. "You're actin' like he can't take care of himself just because he can't hear. You don't happen to remember how much you hated being treated like glass when you were sick before you got your transplant, do ya?"
Kira gave her uncle a sour look. No, she hadn't liked folks thinking that she needed their help; first when she had cancer, then her issues with her pregnancies, and finally when her kidneys had shut down. But this was different; wasn't it?
"That's not fair, Jesse."
"Why not? He learned by watchin' both his parents just how to fight and be stubborn. Not to mention, he's a Duke. Hearin' or not he'll likely whoop up on any poor sap that has the bad taste in crossin' him. Let him be a Duke. If he can't here in Hazzard, then just where can he?"
~01~
Jay was on his hands and knees in the bathroom that he shared with his brothers. He knew that having her sons clean this particular room was probably his mother's favorite fallback punishment simply because it meant that she wouldn't have to be the one to do it. Every time he ended up being the one to have to clean the bathroom Jay fully understood why. Simply put, his brothers were nasty. Jay had out the brillo pads and was scrubbing the toilet when the lights flickered overhead. Jay looked up and turned toward the doorway where Matt stood looking remorseful.
Matt signed then gestured toward the toilet, I'm guessing this means Mom was the one to come down to the school.
"How'd ya guess?" Jay wiped his hands on his jeans before signing in return. Matt shot his older brother a look which made Jay laugh. "Yeh, I guess you're right. If it'd been Dad, I'd be out mucking out the stalls instead."
You know, I could have handled Nathan on my own.
"You were takin' too long. I figured two months since the first day of school was long enough to let you try it your way."
I didn't see Mikey butting in where I didn't need him.
"Who do you think was watching out for you yesterday and got those punks to back off?" Jay asked with a grin. Both he and his twin had been waiting for Nathan and his cronies to go too far for the last week. He just happened to be the one that was around today.
What? You know, I can take care of myself. I-
"Maybe, but you know as well as I do that if you were the one to get into a fight and if Mom knew the reason behind it, she'd likely yank ya back out of school." Jay stood up from his place on the floor by the toilet as he spoke. "The rest of us know that you don't want that so…" Jay shrugged. "Look, I'm sorry. I thought it was best this way."
Matt thought about his mother's wariness in letting him go to the regular school. She'd been afraid that the fact that he couldn't hear would cause him trouble with the other kids in school and for once his grandmother had agreed with his mother. And the two of them never agreed on anything. Though his grandmother most likely would be happiest if Matt went back to the school over in Atlanta but Matt just hadn't liked it. He wanted to be home and he couldn't do both. But Jay was right, if his mother thought that he was having a hard time at school she just might decide that letting him go to a regular school was a mistake.
I know. But you could have at least waited to see if I couldn't handle it alone.
"Matt, don't you know one thing? When you're a Duke here in Hazzard, you're never alone," Jay said with a sly grin. "Now grab a sponge. You can get the shower." Jay then turned his attention back to the half-way cleaned toilet and got back to work on it.
Matt laughed but went ahead and grabbed the can of tub cleaner and walked toward the shower and started to shake the can. Getting an idea, Matt gave his brother's leg a slight kick to get his attention. When Jay looked back up Matt pressed the button and started to spray him.
"Hey!" Jay reached around blindly for another can of cleaner and returned fire. By the time the two teens were finished the walls, ceiling and floor were all covered in a white foam. When both cans were empty Jay looked around and knew that his cleaning job just got a bit harder. Still, Jay had to laugh as he slipped trying to walk over to the linen closet to get a towel. "Well, Mom did say that she wanted this room cleaned from top to bottom."
The End