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soulofapatrick · 1 year

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Freckles and Sketches - Tommy Miller x reader

Summary: The reader lives in Jackson and she's an artist so she draws Tommy all the time because she has the biggest crush on him. One day he finds her sketch's and compliments her on it and they kiss

Words: 1.7k

Warnings: None

Notes: @roscqk came up with this awesome idea and I just had to write it

Y/N’s POV

Drawing was how I got through the crappiness this apocalyptic world, I hate talking about what I see everyday so I draw it. I have sketchbook upon sketchbook filled with faces of those succumbed to the virus and they will always haunt me but at least they will be remembered in the crumpled pages of my books.

Ever since coming to Jackson my drawings have become tamer, less and less clickers and runners appearing within the pages and more living and breathing faces. The towns folk are worn and weary and each one has their own story, some bloodier than others but every one is saved to be able to come back to on those days the nightmares take over. Every single sketchbook is stuffed under my bed in three old suitcases, all six years on the road and the year here.

Two people had become the focus of my drawings over the last year both for different reasons. First was the loud and sarcastic girl who welcomed me with surprisingly open arms when I arrived, despite being four years my younger: Ellie Williams. Upon meeting her I fell in love with her face from an artistic point of view as it was so soft and drawable but there was a maturity beyond her years sharpening every feature. Her freckles smatter her rosey skin and despite the sharp curve of her jaw she’s all soft features and her eyes. They’re so satisfying to draw but I’m never able to find the exact colour pencils to get them right. They’re clover green but there’s something else behind them, like she’s carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders despite being nineteen.

Then there’s Thomas James Miller aka. Tommy. He was the first person I met, finding me lost in a blizzard and offering me a safe haven. In retrospect I was stupid for agreeing so quickly but my pack wasn’t fully waterproof and I wanted to get my life’s work out of the foul weather before they were damaged beyond being saved. The man atop the beautiful russet horse was also breathtaking, the dark curls and dark eyes drawing me in like a magnet. Then the feel of his firm body underneath my hands that were splayed across his chest as he cantered back to town to get us out of the whipping wind and the saturating snow.

That was a little over a year ago and now I’ve found myself a place in the bustling community that is Jackson. Tommy and Maria gave me a small place to myself and Ellie let herself in one day, being my new neighbour and that was that. I joined Ellie on patrols and spent the free times we had sketching, either her or my surroundings. Ellie’s father figure, Joel, would invite me to dinner every Monday and Thursday and we spent the rest of the evening talking and they pair would leave me to the sketchbook in my hands. Neither mentioned it if they caught me glancing between my book and them over and over again as I imprinted them to some part of history that would last longer than any of us.

The Monday meals were also with Maria; Jesse; Dina and Tommy. It was after one of these meals I began to draw my hearts’ deepest desire, curled up in the armchair with my knees up so my sketchbook could lean on them and Tommy was smiling so wide as he listened to some of those ghastly puns Ellie was making. She was sat on the floor by my feet as if knowing I needed to see his face to etch it to my memory. I wanted to hug her right there and there as I never had to speak around her for her to understand everything. This was my first drawing of Tommy and by far not my last one. His freckles and the creases around his eyes when he laughed quickly becoming my favourite things to sketch, his curls coming up a quick second. His eyes always gleam with hope and promise of a better tomorrow and I cling to it like it’s a secret between the two of us except only one is aware of it.

I hate using my voice. I don’t speak if I don’t have to and everyone in town knows it. I don’t see the point in talking if there’s nothing worth saying as words are powerful things and in the wrong hands can do so much damage. I think it’s why I started drawing, pictures can’t hurt as much as words. No-one in town has heard me speak except Ellie and maybe Joel once and that’s how I like it. I’ll speak if I need to but that’s it.

Ellie knows of my sketchbooks as she walked in on me one night. I was on the floor with multitudes of the little black books scattered around me and I was cradling one to my chest. She had never said a word, instead moved a few aside to settle on the floor next to me, gently prying the tear stained one from my death grip. It was open on the last drawing I had ever done of my older brother and it wasn’t my favourite revelation. It was of him on the floor, eyes empty and a gun in hand, bite mark evident on his forearm and his brains… everywhere. Ellie didn’t say anything but put the book down and pulled me into the arms where I spent the rest of the night crying everything I had bottled up in the pages.

She hadn’t told anyone about the suitcases but would stop by after almost every patrol taken without me and I’d let her grab a sketchbook, flip to a page and would listen to the story of that person. If I never knew them I’d make it up, wanting every memory of these clickers to be human ones not the mindless monsters everyone became after.

Today felt wrong, the nausea in my gut had me drawing the nightmare that plagued me. It was Ellie in Elliott’s place but her throat had been cut and I felt like I was going to throw up. It has me throwing on the first clothes I find and running next door, knocking on Joel’s door until I realise no ones opening it so I sprint down the road to Tommy’s. This time the door swings open and there he is, curls messy and face softening when he sees me, asking what’s wrong but I’m turning and walking away as it’s not Ellie. Tommy calls my name and I stop walking, pacing back and forwards in the snow waiting for him to get his shoes on and close his door behind him.

His touch is soft and electrifying all at once when he lightly grabs my hand to stop me pacing him and face him so he can ask, “What’s wrong?”

I don’t reply, gripping his hand tighter and leading him back to mine. I need to show him my worries as I don’t want to word my fears as it’ll make them more real. Tommy doesn’t utter a word, just following me inside mine and tilting his head slightly in question when we stop in my room. I reluctantly drop his hand, grabbing the sketchbook that was haphazardly dropped on my bed and flipping through it to show him my fears. He takes it and then is pulling into a surprising hug that has a small sound escaping my lips but I melt into it, resting my head on his chest and letting my eyes slip shut as I breath in that sweet and familiar scent of burnt coffee, hay and vanilla is everything Tommy.

“Ellie will be okay baby girl,” He coos, carding his long fingers through my hair and I want to open up everything to him. He hasn’t ever called anyone else ‘baby girl’ and it’s not like I haven’t seen the sweet and longing looks sent my way it’s just I’ve never been able to believe I’m not imagining them but the way he’s holding me shows me everything I need.

I’m breaking away, sitting on the floor and he follows suit when I look up at him in waiting, Then, after a deep and shaky breath, I’m heaving the suitcases from the safety of under my bed, unlocking them and watching his face. Surprise is the first emotion then something gentle as he glances over at me, whispering a quiet, “Are you sure?”. He waits for my approval and I nod so his umber eyes skim over all three suitcases before he’s reaching for a new sketchbook. I can feel my heart in my chest as he flips through it, panic building when he stops on a certain few pages. I reach for his arm, unable to see what has him so suddenly breathless then he’s turning his face to watch me an unreadable emotion in those gorgeous eyes.

“Do you mean everything it?” He’s asking, the book in his hands lowering enough for me to see he found my admittance to my feelings for him. I feel my chest constricting and I can’t meet his stare, preparing myself for the inevitable rejection. Instead, soft lips press against mine and I’m gasping, eyes flying open to see his freckles in high definition with more visible at this closeness, “You don’t know how long I have dreamt of this. I have been love with you since Ellie introduced you.”

“You love me?” I ask, my voice rough and quiet from not being used and his eyes widen again before they soften even more than ever before.

“Your voice is beautiful, you should speak more. You’re beautiful and I am so in love with you baby girl.”

“I love you too.”

He’s kissing me softly again and right then and there I know I’ll be okay. The world might have ended but mine is just beginning and maybe he’s right: maybe words are worth it. If it makes him smile like that maybe it wouldn’t hurt to use my words as well as my drawings. Maybe everything will be okay.

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bzalma · 4 years

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Surety Must Pay Bond to State When Defendant Fails to Appear

Posted on October 7, 2020 by Barry Zalma

Incarceration in Different State no Excuse for Failure to Appear

Bail bonds are a form of surety insurance. The insurer promises that the person for whom they issued a bail bond will appear as required by the court or will provide a reasonable excuse – promptly – for the failure to appear. If the defendant fails to appear and his surety fails to produce him to the court or a peace officer in the state, the bond will be forefeited and must be paid to the state.

In State Of Montana v. Chalon Michael Kinholt v. ASAP Bail Bonds, 2019 MT 64N, DA 17-0749, Supreme Court Of The State Of Montana (March 19, 2019) ASAP Bail Bonds (ASAP) appealed to the Supreme Court from an order denying its request to discharge a judgment of forfeiture.

FACTS

On July 15, 2016, the District Court issued an arrest warrant for Chalon Kinholt (Kinholt) for violation of his bail conditions and set bail at $15,000. On August 8, 2016, Kinholt failed to appear at a final pretrial hearing, which the Court had ordered him to personally attend. Consequently, the District Court issued an additional arrest warrant for failure to appear at the hearing and for failing to maintain contact with his attorney. Bail was set at $25,000 to ensure Kinholt’s appearance and compliance with the Court’s conditions of release on bail. On December 22, 2016, Kinholt posted a surety bond in the amount of $40,000 and was released from custody. The bond was issued by ASAP and underwritten by United States Fire Insurance Company (USFIC).

Despite an order requiring Kinholt to personally attend, Kinholt failed to appear. The State filed a petition requesting the District Court forfeit the $40,000 surety bond. That same day, the District Court entered its Order and Notice of Forfeiture declaring the $40,000 bond posted by Kinholt and his sureties forfeited for Kinholt’s failure to appear at the April 24, 2017 final pretrial hearing.

Ninety-two days after the petition to forfeit was filed and after the District Court received no response from either ASAP or USFIC, the State moved for a default judgment and mailed the motion to ASAP and USFIC. Neither ASAP nor USFIC responded to the State’s motion. The District Court entered a Judgment of Forfeiture in favor of the State and against ASAP and USFIC for $40,000, noting that “no basis for discharge has been provided by the defendant, his bondsman, or his surety.”

ASAP filed an objection to the entry of judgment and forfeiture and requested a hearing after the period to respond had run. The District Court denied ASAP’s objection and request for a hearing.

ANALYSIS

Sections 46-9-501 to -512, MCA, set forth specific substantive and procedural requirements for bail forfeiture. If a defendant fails to appear before a court as required and bail has been posted, the judge may declare the bail forfeited. If at any time within ninety days after the forfeiture the defendant’s sureties surrender the defendant, or appear and satisfactorily excuse the defendant’s failure to appear, the forfeiture will be discharged without penalty.

According to ASAP, because Kinholt was incarcerated in Colorado on September 9, 2017, ASAP would have been able to excuse Kinholt’s absence within those three additional days.

Because this action is criminal, ASAP’s argument it is entitled to an extra three days to respond was unpersuasive. Furthermore, not only was Kinholt’s September 9 incarceration outside the statutory ninety-day window, it was also outside the ninety-three days to which ASAP asserts it was entitled. Kinholt’s incarceration occurred ninety-four days after the forfeiture was entered.

The defendant or surety has the burden of demonstrating a satisfactory excuse before any discharge may be ordered. Because ASAP failed to present a satisfactory excuse and it did not appear within the ninety-day window, the bond was forfeited.

The statute explicitly provides “any peace officer” of this state. The fact that he was incarcerated in Colorado had no effect on the bond. Incarceration by a foreign sovereign is not a per se satisfactory excuse for failure to appear and a defendant cannot avail himself of his own wrong to escape accounting with the State. In addition the surety may not avail itself of an excuse not available to the defendant.

ASAP cited no authority entitling it to notice of such a hearing. ASAP was notified of the order and notice of forfeiture and the motion for default judgment. ASAP failed to respond to either. The statute imposes two conditions on a surety to discharge a forfeiture: (1) appear within ninety days of the forfeiture; and (2) satisfactorily excuse the bail-jumper’s failure to appear as ordered by the court. Here, ASAP failed to meet either requirement.

ZALMA OPINION

Bail bonds, a type of insurance, require claims people to protect the insurer from the failure of the defendant to appear as required by the order allowing him to leave jail with the bond as a surety for his appearance. When he failed to appear the surety was required, to protect itself, to either find the defendant and present him to the court or a peace officer, find a reasonable excuse for his failure to appear within 90 days or pay the $40,000 to the court. In this case the surety did nothing to protect its funds until 94 days after the failure to appear. Poor claims handling cost the surety the $40,000 plus the cost of fees to counsel to bring this unsuccessful appeal to the Supreme Court.

Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE, now limits his practice to service as an insurance consultant specializing in insurance coverage, insurance claims handling, insurance bad faith and insurance fraud almost equally for insurers and policyholders. He also serves as an arbitrator or mediator for insurance related disputes. He practiced law in California for more than 44 years as an insurance coverage and claims handling lawyer and more than 52 years in the insurance business. He is available at http://www.zalma.com and [email protected].

Mr. Zalma is the first recipient of the first annual Claims Magazine/ACE Legend Award.

Over the last 52 years Barry Zalma has dedicated his life to insurance, insurance claims and the need to defeat insurance fraud. He has created the following library of books and other materials to make it possible for insurers and their claims staff to become insurance claims professionals.

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