It had been a couple of days since Claire had met her brothers and moved in with them. Claire noticed how strict her older brothers were with the twins. She was used to her mother not caring where she went when she came home. Claire didn't have to follow rules or answer to anyone, so she found the strict rules of the house to be annoying, not to mention that no one had actually sat her down and discussed rules with her. She just saw what it was like for the twins.
Claire was sitting in the living room watching TV when Caleb came sneaking in the front door. He saw Claire and froze.
"What?" Claire asked him shrugging her shoulders not knowing why he had a guilty look on his face.
"I'm late. Did anyone notice?" He whispered as he joined her on the couch.
"I don't think so," she assured him. Thomas walked into the living room
"Caleb you're late, I told you to be home 20 mins ago" he scolded the teen. Caleb knew how much Thomas hated when he was late, and this was the second time this week.
"I..." Caleb started to talk when Claire jumped in.
"What do you mean he's late he's been here for at least a half-hour" Claire lied.
Thomas narrowed his eyes at her and crossed his arms. This made Caleb uneasy he knew lying was a huge, huge no-no in their house.
"Really? Then how come I just heard the front door open and close? We do not lie in this house young lady" Thomas scolded her. Caleb was about to beg for both their sakes but to his surprise, Claire didn't back down from Thomas
"It's rude to call someone a liar without proof. Caleb has been here. I opened the front door to throw my gum outside. So, you can apologize to both of us" Caleb's eyes got big and, neither he nor Brett ever talked back like that to their brothers, they knew what the consequence was for being disrespectful.
"That's enough. Claire, you do not speak to anyone like that in this house. Caleb look at me and tell me when you got home?" Zach had come into the room and was not happy. Caleb was wrestling with his conscience, if he told the truth Claire would get into trouble for lying, if he went with her story he would be lying too, something he really didn't want to do, however getting Claire into trouble after she stood up for him seemed cruel.
Zach saw the struggle in Caleb and realized why he was being quiet. "You know what, let me make this easy on you. I was in the garage working on my bike. I saw you come in the house 20 mins late." Zach saved Caleb from a difficult choice.
Zach told Caleb to go upstairs with his brother "Thomas since Caleb was 20 mins late, and this is the second time this week triple that with his punishment" Zach instructed him.
Caleb knew "triple that" meant a spank for every minute he was late X3.
"Let's go Caleb" Thomas called him over
"Yes sir" Caleb respectfully told Thomas with his head down. Thomas guided Caleb up the stairs. Claire rolled her eyes at them and ignored the hard stare Zach was giving her. She turned around and plopped back on the couch. Zach went around the couch and stood right in front of the TV.
"Rude much? Move out of the way" Claire raised her voice at Zach now completely annoyed with him. Zach snatched the remote out of Claire's hand.
"Young lady, I will not put up with this kind of disrespect. First of all, You do not speak to adults in that manner. Second, we will not tolerate lying in this house ever. Do I make myself clear" Claire didn't want Zach to see how much he scared her with his stern demeanor? She had never had real discipline, so this kind of chastisement was not something she was used to.
"Ya whatever" she replied, rolling her eyes again. Zach sat on the coffee table right in front of Claire, he didn't back down on his stern look because he was going to make sure she understood who was in charge there and it wasn't Claire.
"Let me go over some rules for you so you will know what is expected and what won't be put up with" Zach poignantly growled at her
1. No disrespectful talk to anyone in this house, from today on you, need to address me, Glen, and Thomas with "Yes Sir or No Sir" whichever is the appropriate response
2. No lying, it will not be tolerated period!
3. When you go out, you will be given time to be home also you do not leave this house without permission, you will have your phone on at all times so we can reach you
4. No rolling your eyes, it's disrespectful
5. You will do as you are told to do without arguing and without the attitude
6. When you start school Monday your bedtime during school days is 9:00 pm on weekends and on vacation days bedtime is at 10:30 pm, also you will be expected to have decent grades, and to complete all assignments and homework given
7. No fighting
8. No foul language
9. You will be expected to keep your room clean as well as pick up after yourself if you make a mess elsewhere in the house
10. You will be given daily and weekly chores to do and they will be done before you can do anything else.
"Do you understand these rules?" Zach waited for Claire to answer but the 12-year-old was being defiant and wouldn't answer him.
"Since you don't want to answer my question let's discuss punishments that will be given if you choose to disobey the rules. The biggest and most used punishment in this home is spankings. You can pretty much guarantee that you will be spanked, in addition to that you could also have privileges taken away, spend time standing or sitting in the corner, or be grounded for a period of time. Now I will ask you one more time: Do you understand the rules and punishments if you break the rules?"
Claire glared at Zach but of course, the man was a police officer, so he was un-waivered by her anger. Claire folded her arms and with a smirk sat there refusing to answer Zach.
"Fine, have it your way. Go stand in the corner until I say you can come out." Zach pointed to a corner across the room.
"FUCK YOU!!" Claire shouted at Zach, she had gotten up acting as if she was going to listen to him before shouting those words at him and running out the front door. It took Zach a few seconds to register what had just happened before he started chasing her. Claire was a very fast runner and managed to get out of Zach's site. Zach went back to the house; he rushed inside to get his car keys.
"Zach, what's going on?" Thomas asked as he was coming downstairs after spanking Caleb.
"Claire took off. I need to go find her" Zach tore out of the house and pulled out of the driveway quickly. Brett came downstairs
"What's all the shouting about?" Thomas wasn't sure since he had been in Caleb's room the whole time.
"I'm not sure Zach said Claire took off and he was going to find her" Brett looked upset with that news
"Why did she leave? We haven't gotten to know her yet?" Thomas pulled Brett in for a hug
"It's going to be okay, Zach is a good detective he will find her"
An hour later Zach wasn't back, and the boys couldn't reach him. Caleb kept crying thinking it was his fault because he was late, and Claire tried covering for him. Thomas was getting stressed when Glen walked into the house. Brett and Caleb bombarded him about Claire. Glen grabbed his phone and put it on speaker.