Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 22:40:08 -0400
From: William McBride <williamtylerking@hotmail.com>
Subject: Reclaiming Austin chapter 30

Ok, I know a lot of you had assumed I was ending the story, a few others
were just pissed it was taking so long.  The truth is, I was stumped at
first and was writing and rewriting the legal parts of this never ending
story.  Finally, Scott Turner offered his assistance and vast knowledge of
the Law and legal processes for my help. So if anyone wants to thank him
for being the reason this is finally out, write him at
scotty.13411@hotmail.com And you really should read his excellent story: A
fork in the road at /nifty/gay/college/fork-in-the-road/

I'd also like to apologize to several of my generous helpers like Jerrie
who edits this work and makes me seem literate. I'd also like to thank
Amanda for her work, and T-Mo for his attempts to help me.

Anyways, after I got the help from Scott, I began writing like mad as I was
so late... And then my lap top dove off the counter and landed on its
screen. OOOOOPS!!!! So I bought a new computer and was kind of going as
fast as I could because of Vista's awful, awful, awful, horrid, overly
complicated crap programming, which, as soon as I got up to speed on it,
told me my Limited time offer was over and I had to now buy a permanent
copy of works to use the word possessor. So the story which was almost
done, sat on my computer for two months while I tried to raise the money
for the new copy of word. It wouldn't let me use the copy of XP I had, it
wouldn't let me send myself the copy over email, I was screwed, So I
finally got my current copy if word kind of working, except it ate several
pieces I had written for the story.  I hate Vista, really a lot. This was
done on my old computer using XP.

So, enjoy this chapter and there will be two more chapters... soon...ish.

Oh yeah, don't read blah blah blah. Don't copy any of this or ten million
lemmings will mistake your ass for the Pacific Ocean.  And for gods sake,
if gay material bothers you, how the hell have you gotten this far???

Hugs

Billy



From the moment we walked into the sparse room, a room that reminded me
much more of a collage classroom than one would imagine a true courtroom to
be like.  I registered that the walls were bare with a simple patterned
wallpaper on them. All the Law and Orders and Perry Mason's I had ever seen
growing up, had been more formal wood paneled courtrooms; dark and
official.  This though, was Spartan and sterile by contrast with hanging
fluorescent lights over the ceiling. Our lawyer was the district attorney
to Orange County, Mr. Mitchell Gravelin. On the opposite team were Jesse
and his coterie and a defender named Mr. Luis Stuggs.  In their dark suits,
they at least fit my image, and so too did the judge when she got there.

We were all asked to stand as the Honorable Judge Evelyn Turner walked in.
She was a woman with graying blond hair pulled tight in the back. Her dark
robes hid a body I imagined was in excellent shape for a woman in her 50s.
She was intimidating to say the least, but one got the impression that she
should never have played poker, her moods and thoughts were written all
over her face.  It was clearly evident though, that she was the wrong lady
to ever cross.

 I was called up almost immediately, and asked a series of questions by the
Defense attorney; most of the questions were meant to make me come off as a
flamboyant sexual predator, only late in his examination of me did he ask
for recollections of that awful night.  Mr. Stuggs asked me about my social
activities, making sure to bring out the fact that I was gay and frequented
gay establishments.  In the end of his examination of me he had a strange
series of questions.

"Were you ever bullied in school Mr. Johnson?" he asked.

"Yeah..." I answered cautiously.

Is it safe to say that you were a regular target for bullying?

I paused a moment to try and see where this leading, "Yeah, on a pretty
regular basis I'd guess."

`So describe some of the bullying you endured, was it just verbal?" Stuggs
asked.

"Most of it, but I was beaten up and physically attacked quite a few times
as well." I cautiously answered.

"So fill us in, what kinds of things did the other students taunt you
with?" The too smug Stuggs asked.

"Regular cliché' insults, `fag, sissy, gayboy, cocksucker, butt pirate,
Homo...' things like that."

"And were you?" Mr. Stuggs asked.

Mr. Gravelin stood up, "Objection your honor- Relevance."

"Mr. Stuggs, try another line of questioning." The judge ordered as upset
by Mr. Gravelin's objection as she was the line of questioning Mr. Stuggs
was on.

"Did the `bullies' have any reason to suspect you were all those awful
things they were calling you? Were you out then?"

"I-I- No, I didn't come out till my second year of college." I maintained.

"So you never once ever hit on any of the taller, more muscular boys in
your school?"

Mr. Gravelin shot up, "Objection your honor, Facts not in evidence and
prejudicial, "

Judge Turner knocked on her gavial, "Counselor???" She warned Mr. Stuggs.

Mr. Stuggs smiled a dark wicked smile.  "Withdrawn your honor."

The DA. Mr. Gravelin focused more on my views about the attack. On several
occasions Mr.  Stuggs objected to questions by Mr. Gravelin, mostly on
grounds of relevance, toward his client.

Finally, Mr. Gravelin asked me about the Bullying I had endured in Junior
and Senior High school.

"We-well like said, About 60% of the bullying was verbal, including rumors
and handmade signs they used to post throughout areas I had class or
retreated to. " I said honestly.

Mr. Gravelin paused a moment then in a softer voice asked, "And the other
40%?"

I paused to, to try and dig up some of the horror that was my high
school. "

"On an almost daily occurrence, I got tripped, thumped on the back of my
head, pushed into lockers, I had my books knocked out of my hands at least
once a week, things like that, I HATED going from class to class, it was a
constant nightmare."

"Was that it?" Mr. Gravelin asked.

"No, that was just the regular daily routine, Sometimes a group of the "in"
crowd would surround me and push me back and forth until I cried because I
couldn't get away.  Sometimes they'd steal things from me, food, money,
books... On several occasions one of the better looking guys would `come
on' to me, and start acting like I was his boy bitch.  I once had my face
painted with magic markers to look like lipstick and eye shadow and was
forced naked into my schools hallway.  I was sprayed with cheap girls
perfume; They somehow broke into my locker and left a bunch of playgirls
and male porn mags so that when I opened my locker, all these naked men
poured out.  After school They'd real-" I was cut off as Mr. Gravelin said
that was enough, everyone got the message.

"I haven't said anything about the actual times I was beat up." I said.

"I'm not sure you need to say more Mr. Johnson, I think we all see what
kind of hell you went through.  So, did you ever tell anyone about this?"
Mr. Gravelin asked.

"In Jr. high I did.  But by high school, I learned that complaining only
made it worse in the long run, and it never stopped them."

"So how did this daily barrage affect your schooling, you appear to be a
very bright young man?" Mr. Gravelin said.

"Thank you, I guess I am, but brains mean squat in high school.  If
anything, they're a liability, having brains is equivalent to being gay in
the high school mindset."

"So how did you cope?" Mr. Gravelin asked.

"I stayed home a lot, I skipped some, I got classes close together, I
missed an awful lot of school through the years. " I admitted.

"And what effect did that have on your grades?"

"I went from being on the honor rolls my first semester of both Jr. And
Sr. High, to passing with Ds."

"SO would you say you have a keen understanding of Bullying?" Mr. Gravelin
asked.

Mr. Stuggs shot up, "Objection your honor, relavence."

"I intend to establish Mr. Johnson's frame of mind that night when faced
with a larger, aggressive bully."

Mr. Stuggs shot up again and whined, "Your Honor!"

Mr. Gravelin withdrew his statement and was given permission to continue
with his line of questioning as long as he stopped his snide remarks.

"What gave you the idea that Jesse and his friends were trying to bully
you?" Mr. Gravelin asked.

I thought a moment, "Jesse asked if I was a faggot, he jutted his jaw and
chest out in typical macho posturing, and he swung at me.  I don't know for
sure if the others were just reacting to what I did to Jesse, or to my
being gay, but I have no doubt what so ever about Mr. McMurphey."

"Objection your honor, The witness isn't qualified to make such wide
accusations." Mr. Stuggs said in an almost whiney voice.

"Your Honor," Mr. Gravelin said in his best southern drawl, "We've already
established the years and years of torment and bullying Mr. Johnson went
through, surely that makes him qualified to recognize bullying and
aggressive posturing."

Judge Turner paused a moment then nodded to Mr. Gravelin, "I'll allow it,
but stay on a narrow edge Mr. Gravelin."

Mr. Gravelin thanks the judge then turned to me, "So was there any point
during this fight that things could have gone differently?'

"He could have just ignored me." I said plainly.

"Anything else?" He asked.

"After I threw him the first time he could have just backed away, or fled,
After I knocked him out a moment he could have stood down or fled instead
of trying to Ambush us with a shotgun."

"Objection your honor, grossly prejudicial." Mr. Stuggs complained.

"The jury will disregard that last statement" Judge Turner amended.

"I have two related questions your honor." Mr. Gravelin said.

"Mr. Johnson, Did you ever fight with any of those bullies from High
School?"Mr. Gravelin asked.

"no I-I tried to get away, I never actually fought with any though, several
got knocked down trying to block me from retreating." I said with a small
amount of humiliation that I had allowed this to happen.

"Very good, so why did you take up Judo in college?"  He asked.

"I got tired of running and cowering, as a small guy, I was even the target
for abuse by gays.  Judo seemed to be a good bet for protecting myself."

"So how often have you used it in situations like that night?"

"Out side the dojo?  I- I've used it twice, once when I thought Nate... I
mean Mr. Piper came to my door and I assumed I was being attacked, and the
other time in that bar."

"Can you tell me why? I mean if you had been picked on so badly, that you
suddenly stopped being targeted?" Mr. Gravelin asked.

"Self confidence, it's not just a line they use to promote martial
arts. Bullies know when someone is willing to protect themselves; they know
who they can pick on. Just like Lions and wolves know which animals to
predate on."

"Thank you Mr. Johnson, No further questions at this time, you may be
seated."  Mr. Gravelin said.

 It was evident that Mr. Stuggs was a quick tempered and angry man and the
tempo of the questioning was going against what he'd planned.  In
appearance, the two men were sharply contrasted, Mr. Gravelin was a good ol
boy, plain and simple, he was a middle aged white man on the plus side of
6' tall and weighed about 245 lbs, his salt and pepper hair was combed
meticulously across his head. His accent was soft but distinctly southern;
I was surprised at how at ease he seemed among the majority of gay men on
our side.

Mr. Stuggs Asked the judge if he could cross examine me a few moments, so I
was seated back in the witness stand.

"If Bullies have some instinctual spider sense about who they can and can't
pick on, doesn't that negate your claim that my client is a bully?"
Mr. Stuggs asked.

"Not really." I said then added, "Mr. McMurphey knew for a fact I was gay,
and assumed due to my size and lack of strong musculature, that I'd be an
easy mark.  He was wrong."  I said confidently. Mr. Stuggs by contrast to
Mr. Gravelin, was a shorter, dark ebony colour, thin, with a tight neat
hairdo, his style was distinctly big city and he could almost be called
"smarmy". I had been the first witness, and had been asked to recall every
small detail by both lawyers.  It had become pretty clear that the defense
attorney was trying to paint a gay-panic case, painting me as a sexual
predator while giving the image that the pious Jesse was only trying to
protect his manhood from my alleged advances.  Mr. Gravelin though was very
good at countering those pleas to the jury.  He'd get in front of the jury
and ask them to "imagine themselves in that particular situation".

For instance, when Stuggs had the jury believing that a small guy would
leave the protection of his group to go off and hit on a guy in a red neck
bar away from his friends, Mr. Gravelin had the jury imagine themselves in
that situation, had them going to the bathroom, and walking through a group
of strange men smoking cigarettes that you were allergic too. Men whom no
one would ever have assumed were gay.  Mr. Gravelin had made a good point,
but Mr. Stuggs then reminded the jury of my martial arts training.
Mr. Gravelin paused a moment and then reminded the court that I had never
once been in trouble before, and if I were in the habit of going around to
red neck bars hitting on straight men, it would have certainly caused a
great number of fights.

In his cross examination, Mr. Stuggs asked me if I'd ever used my Karate
training on anyone else. I said I hadn't, to which he smiled and said, "I
have sworn testimony that you actually attacked Mr. Piper (Nate) with your
karate after you assumed he'd been the cause of the breakup between you and
Mr. Cable. Isn't that correct?

He had an air of smugness which needled me, "Not exactly" I said simply
with a slight smile, which threw Mr. Stuggs a moment.

"I have a sworn statement that you nearly killed Mr. Piper," Mr. Stuggs
stated.  "Are you trying to deny to the court that you've used Karate in
the past to attack others?"

I sighed, "I'm not saying that." I said simply.

"Your Honor..." Mr. Stuggs practically whined.

"Mr. Johnson, please answer his questions!"

"I'm trying to your honor, He's just asking really inaccurate leading
questions."

Mr. Stuggs looked angry, "Let's start again, ISN'T it TRUE that you
attacked my clients using the same Karate moves that you used on Nathan
Piper?

"No sir it isn't." I said simply, I had a small smile aimed at Collin who
was loving this word play.  "But you did study martial arts for many years
didn't you? He asked,

"Yes Sir." I stated quite honestly before adding the qualifier he had
neglected to ask about, "However, I studied Judo, not Karate

"Is there really a differences?" Mr. Stuggs asked with forced resolve.

"You asked if I used Karate, and I didn't, I've never studied Karate."

"Could you please enlighten us as to what it is you did study?"

"I'm a first degree Black belt in Judo, I also spent a year studying kung
fu, and a semester of fencing, but mostly it's been judo I've stuck with."

Mr. Stuggs looked flustered, "Aren't you relying on technical semantics
here Mr. Johnson?"

"No Sir, no more than if you were trying to call a Colt 45 an Uzi, or a
double barrel shot gun a bee bee gun."

As pissed as Mr. Stuggs actually was, he maintained his composure. "Would
you kindly illuminate us about the differences between Judo and Karate
Mr. Johnson?"

"Well, Judo is a passive art, like Aikido, they rely on the attacker making
bad moves and being off balance during an attack, you can't initiate an
attack with either Judo or Aikido. All the force is generated by the
actions of the attackers." I neglected to bring up the fact that I had
kicked Mr. Galtree's knees and that was kung Fu not Judo, but if he didn't
bring it up I certainly wasn't going to.

I was again asked to retake my seat in the audience.

The Defense attorney called Jesse McMurphey to the stand and had him sworn
in.  "Mr. McMurphey, would you please explain in your words what happened
that night?"  Jesse told a similar story to the rest of us until we got to
a certain point where he began adding his own imagination as to what
happened.

 " SO when Mr. Johnson came out of the bathroom he was making eyes at me."
Jesse said.

 Mr. Stuggs pressed him, "No one else can verify this point, are you sure
he was flirting with you?"

"I'm positive!" Jesse said which struck me as odd I just couldn't get it in
my mind that he'd have ever say, "positive" without coaching.

"After he took you down the first time, why didn't you just quit?"
Mr. Stuggs asked.

"Where I grew up, you never left a fight, you won or took your punishment.
I wasn't going to let a little faggo...err. I mean gay guy, push me out of
my bar, They'da turned it to a gay bar if'n they'da chased me out." He said
in practiced terms.

"So after you'd been knocked out and come to, why didn't you just leave the
bar once and for all?" Mr. Stuggs prompted.

"I tried, before I could get my truck started, the whole lot of them guys
spilled out with Alex leading them."

"Thank you Mr. McMurphey, now could you explain some of your feelings about
gays to us?" Mr. Stuggs asked.

 Jesse maintained that his religion was totally against homosexuals,
Mr. Gravelin gave Jesse more and more leeway to establish his case against
me for religious reasons. At some point, after a harsh statement by Jesse
that Mr. Gravelin had elicited, Austin and I were looking at each other
wondering what side Mr. Gravelin was actually on, what he was trying to do.

The truth of the matter is that we should have trusted him, after all of
Jesse's proselytizing about how much Jesus hated gays and his churches
stance on these issues, Mr. Gravelin handed him a bible and asked him to
find those passages and read them for us, he then paused for a few moments
before asking him if he could recite the ten commandments, when he
faltered, Mr. Gravelin then asked him what the first book of the bible was
called, He then asked who wrote the four gospels, And finally, he asked
when the last time he was actually in a church actually was.  At one point,
Mr. Gravelin asked Jesse what Jesus had actually said about homosexuals.

Jesse thought for a moment then said, "A man shall not lie with a
homosexual together."  Mr. Gravelin Smiled warmly at Jesse who thought he
had made a point.

"Is that it?" Mr. Gravelin asked.

"Well that and "thou shall not be a homosexual." Jesse added "I'm pretty
sure that's like number two on the ten commandments."

Mr. Gravelin still smiled, it was a sickly saccharine smile.
"Mr. McMurphey, neither of those lines are in the Bible, would you care to
guess how many times Jesus even mentions homosexuals?" Mr. Gravelin asked.

 "A whole bunch, god hates homosexuals, especially gay men." Jesse
proselytized.

 Mr. Gravelin lost his smile and turned to the Jury. "He never mentions it
one time in all the gospels, Mr. McMurphey. NEVER."

Jesse was caught in his lie and was angry as a piss storm; he glared at
Mr. Gravelin and maintained it was in the Bible even if he couldn't recall
the exact passage or verse. Mr. Stuggs was shaking his head as if he could
rewind the past five minutes.  Mr. Stuggs attempted to object, but when the
judge asked him on what grounds, he threw his arms up and sat down.

         I noticed a smaller black woman in the jury seats, that would
smile when Mr. Stuggs or Jesse would make a point, or when Jesse seemed to
be making a case with Mr. Gravelin's help, but when the tables turned on
Jesse and he was made out to be the hateful, lying bully that never went to
church, she stewed.  I noticed also that most of the jury would
occasionally make eye contact with me; this woman though never once looked
at any of us. As if eye contact could contaminate her with the AIDS virus
she evidently assumed we all had.  After taking the air out of his sails on
the religion issue, Mr. Gravelin Asked Jesse if he'd ever been in trouble
with the law before.  Mr. Stuggs shot up and said, "Objection your honor,
relevance?!?"  Judge Turner looked over at Mr. Gravelin and raised her
eyebrow questioningly.

"Your Honor, Mr. Stuggs broached this subject when he painted his client as
a misunderstood saint. We've already established that he doesn't go to
church, we ask your honor to allow us a certain leeway to explore this
further." He said in his nicest smile. She sat back a moment, and I had the
distinct impression that good southern manners didn't have one iota of
relevance here.  "I'll allow it as long as the D.A. can make a relevant
point quickly."

"Thank you, your honor." Mr. Gravelin bowed slightly before
continuing. "You were a boy scout weren't you Mr. McMurphey?"

Jesse's eyes narrowed, "Yes Sir."

"Wonderful, that's a fine place for a young man to be.  How far did you go?
Did you ever become a scout master or join the eagle scouts?"

"No Sir."

"Well, why not?"

Jesse clamed up and stewed as he glared at the affable Mr. Gravelin. "Your
honor, will you please instruct the witness to answer?"

She had a look as deadly as Jesse's, "Mr. McMurphey?"

"I was kicked out, alright?" He finally said loudly, "Cause those fags
wouldn't let us older guys drink a little."

"I see." Said Mr. Gravelin. "Was that it?" After Jesse was finished glaring
at Mr. Gravelin, he hung his head and said, "No" softly.

"In fact your honor, I have a list here of the charges that were made to
the police. I'd like to submit them as State's exhibit 24."  Then he turned
back to face Jesse, "Please, tell the court and the jury what you were
arrested for."

"I stabbed Mr. Pennington in the neck with his scout master's knife." A
murmur went though the court.

"Well, why on earth would you do that? Did he try to molest you?"

Mr. Stuggs shot up, "Objection your Honor!"

Mr. Gravelin withdrew his statement and apologized.

Jesse fidgeted until the judge asked him for an answer. "He was trying to
take my stuff. And he wouldn't give it back."

"Stuff?" the D.A. asked.

Jesse closed his eyes and shook his head; the snake he thought he could
control was turning around and biting him hard.  "My pot and cigarettes."

Mr. Gravelin turned to face the jury, "I seem to recall a rule prohibiting
a scout from doing either of those, or drinking underage.  Those rule are
there aren't they?" Mr. Gravelin asked.

"I don't know." Jesse pleaded through an angry visage,

"You don't know like you don't know the Bible or you don't know like you
don't know right from wrong?"

Mr. Stuggs shot up, "Objection your honor!"

Mr. Gravelin amended, "Withdrawn your honor."

"The Jury will disregard that last statement." The Judge said before
adding, "Watch it Mr. Gravelin."

Mr. Gravelin was a master of suspense, he walked back and forth a few
times, seemingly lost in thought before he finally said, "So, was that it?
Was that your only brush with the law?"  Jesse wasn't even trying to look
like a good boy now, that battle had been lost.

"You already know it ain't." He said as he glared contemptuously at
Mr. Gravelin.

"So fill us in on some of your charges, if you forget any, I have a copy
you can borrow; I know there were an awful lot to remember." Mr. Gravelin
waved a very large file at Mr. McMurphey.

"Your honor???" Mr. Stuggs pleaded.

"Please watch your remarks Mr. Gravelin, they may have worked in the past,
but I'll not tolerate any passive aggressive indulgences."

What followed was a long list of fights, assaults, car accidents and one
case of domestic abuse against an ex girl friend.  Twice the police had
been called to break up fights between Jesse and Nate that had become
violent.  Mr. McMurphey was through finally, But before he could limp back
to his seat with his tail between his legs, Mr. Gravelin `suddenly'
remembered something and asked Jesse what he had seen when he was in his
truck.

"I saw that group of guys," he said pointing at us, "lead by Alex Johnson
coming out after me." He said this proudly, like he was glad to finally get
an answer right.

"Your honor, if I may have your indulgence for a moment, I'd like to
recreate things for a moment.  She said to make it quick but acquiesced.
So Mr. Gravelin had all the guys who where there that night from our group
stand up.  "Mr. Johnson, would you please step up front for the jury to
see?"  I wasn't sure what was happening, but I did as he asked.  `SO
Mr. McMurphey, is this what you saw?"

Jesse looked for a moment and then had Glen and Jason step a little
forward, at that point he turned to Mr. Gravelin and nodded, "I think
that's about it."  So Mr. Gravelin did a long slow walk around us, stopping
in front of me and turning back to him, "Are you certain?"  Jesse was
starting to realize he was being set up, but didn't see how yet.

"Well I'm right confused then," Mr. Gravelin admitted with a confused
scratching of his head.  "If Mr. Johnson were right up front like this, why
didn't you just shoot him instead of Mr. Piper?"

 Jesse thought a moment before saying, "Well, Nate got in front of Alex."

"According to the bar tender, the police and the testimony of most of the
gentlemen sitting near me, Alex was the last person out of the bar, Isn't
it true that most of these men were already waiting by their van when you
shot Nathan Piper in the face?"

Jesse faltered, "I-uhh-I I don't know, maybe."

"So isn't your assertion that Mr. Johnson lead them toward you a lie?"
Mr. Gravelin asked the deer in the headlights Jesse.

Jesse just stammered, "I-uhhh-no-well yeah--- I don't know."

"That's all Mr. McMurphey, you're excused now."

Austin was called next and While Austin was seated, Mr. Stuggs strode up to
him,

"We've talked a lot today about Alex Johnson being gay, What is your
orientation Mr. Camble?

"I'm bisexual."

" Interesting, Isn't that just a fancy way of saying you're gay but
sometimes sleeps with women?"

"No Sir." Austin said with obvious annoyance.

"But Isn't it true that you entered the fight to protect your gay lover?"

Austin looked perplexed, "I-I-uhhh"

"It's a yes or no question Mr. Camble." Mr. Stuggs interjected quickly.

"I don't know how to answer that? Neither answer is right."  Austin said
softly.

"Well, Mr. Johnson is your lover isn't he?"

"Yes."

"And you wanted to protect him didn't you? I mean he's your `future
husband' Isn't he?" Mr. Stuggs asked with a dismissive roll of his eyes
toward the Jury.

"yes." Austin answered.

"And a big guy like you would obviously want to protect your {fiancé},
Isn't that accurate?"

"Yes" Austin replied though he was obviously distressed.

"The other gentlemen you were with night, are any of them gay too?'
Mr. Stuggs asked.

"All but Glenn Rosen, he's straight."

"I see, so would all the men who were present that night stand up please?"
Everyone was curious but complied.

"Everyone with the exception of Alex is of equal height or significantly
taller than all of the native group Isn't that correct?" Mr. Stuggs asked a
bewildered Austin.

"Uhh-uhhh I guess so."

"Yes or no Mr. Camble?"

Austin hung his head, he hadn't yet seen the pit fall he was being baited
into, but after Mr. Gravelin's treatment of Jesse, He knew enough to see a
trap coming.

"Yes..."

"So, the lot of you are bigger AND outnumber the locals, why on earth
didn't any of you just stop this?" Mr. Stuggs asked simply.  Austin hummed
and hawed, not sure of what to say and not wanting to implicate Michael who
had stopped them from getting involved.

"Ok Mr. Camble, let's move on since you can't give us an answer.
Mr. Cardino's given testimony about the injury he sustained that night.
The injuries he suffered because of your actions.  Do you deny that you
caused his injuries as a way to assist your gay lover in his fight with
Mr. McMurphey?

Austin looked perplexed, "Gabe was grabbing the pool cue, I thought he was
going to...?"

Mr. Stuggs interjected quickly, " It's a yes or no question, Mr. Cambell.
Did you cause Gabe's injuries during that fight or didn't you?"

Austin tried to remain composed, "Yes sir, I did."

Mr. Stuggs gave a small predatory smile, "And you did so to allow Alex
Johnson to continue his beating of Jesse McMurphey, isn't that right?

"No, I did it to protect Alex. It looked like Gabe was going to grab the
cue to fight Alex." Austin said.

Mr. Stuggs paused a moment before asking, " To protect Alex Johnson?  The
same Alex Johnson who, with all of his martial arts expertise, was wailing
the living daylights out of Jesse McMurphey?  The same Mr. McMurphey who
had rejected Alex's advances in a men's restroom?  So you inflict what may
well be permanent injuries on Gabe Cardino because he was trying to come to
the aid of his buddy and you're trying to assist your gay lover?

Mr. Gravelin stood up, "Objection!  Argumentative multiple questions your
honor!

Mr. Stuggs turned away from Austin dramaticly and waved his hand
dissmisively, "Withdrawn.  I have nothing further for Mr. Johnson's
s'fiancé'!

Mr. Gravelin was next to question Austin, I only hoped he'd be kinder to
Austin since we were on the same side."

"I only have a few questions Mr. Camble" He said as he strode past the
witness box.  "Do you think there's any chance that Mr. McMurphey is right
in asserting that Alex Johnson tried to flirt with him?"

Austin scrunched up his face, "No way, absolutely no way on earth."

"How can you be so sure Mr. Camble?"

"Well, first of all he's got me, why on earth would he go after a greasy
low life?" Austin said puffing out his chest.

"So would you describe your relationship as exclusive than?"

"Yes sir, I would." Austin beamed.

"Any other reason you can mention that would contradict Mr. McMurphey's
testimony?

"Yes Sir, Jesse smokes and was smoking when Alex went to the bathroom."
Austin said solemnly.

"So???" Mr. Gravelin asked.

"Alex is not only very allergic to tobacco; he's fervent about avoiding any
smoke anywhere. The previous owner's of our house smoked and we have to
steam clean every surface and remove every scrap of rug so remove any smoke
filled crap. There's no possibility that Alex would have given Jesse the
time of day, much less flirted." Austin said proudly.

"Thank you Mr. Camble, you may sit down.

Michael was called next, his testimony was essentially the same as Austin's
and mine, that was, up until Mr. Stuggs began asking about why such a large
group of large men would allow the smallest guy in the bar, to take on four
larger opponents.

Michael wasn't the least bit phased.  "I held our side back and told
everyone that it was a one on one fight with no weapons.  That man,"
Michael said pointing at Jesse," was being a royal ass, and I knew Alex
could teach him a lesson."

Mr. Stuggs didn't expect such a straight forward answer, he didn't know
Michael at all. "I see, so why didn't you try to stop Alex when he was
choking the life out of Mr. McMurphey?"

Michael looked like he was bored, "Because that loudmouthed ass..." At that
point Judge Turner told Michael to watch his language in her courtroom.
Michael nodded and rephrased his answer, "I thought that man needed to be
taught a lesson, and I knew Alex could do it.  Hell, he's even thrown me
over his shoulder. He knows what he's doing."

Mr. Stuggs stepped back a moment, "He's thrown you?" He questioned because
of Michael's size.

"Yes, and he's never so much as ruffled my hair, His training is smooth and
easy on his partners, as long as he didn't hold the choke hold for two
long, I knew that guy would be alright."

Mr. Stuggs hadn't expected such a forthwith witness, he was taken back a
moment. "And what if Jesse McMurphey had had Asthma or a breathing
problem?"

"In that case I suppose the cigarette hanging out of his mouth was doing
more damage than a choke hold than. "

Mr. Stuggs looked pissed. "No more questions!"

Mr. Gravelin had Only one set questions, "How long have you known
Mr. Johnson?"

Michael thought a moment then said "Almost ten years."

Mr. Gravelin smiled, "And in all that time, have you ever witnessed him
flirting with any straight men?"

"No, he gets embarrassed when I do." Michael admitted.

"And did you flirt with any of the men present in the bar that night? Is it
possible that Jesse mistook you for Alex?"  Because of our size difference,
it was an absurd question, Michael towered over me, at a 14" difference no
one could have ever confused us.

"No, there were no men on that side of the bar that would have even have
caused either of us a second look." Michael said.

"Have you ever seen Alex with a smoker or anyone smoking?" Mr. Gravelin
asked.

Michael thought a moment, "In the last few weeks of his previous
relationship, his Ex Jake began to smoke, drove Alex crazy."

"Thank you Mr. Limoin, you may sit down."

The bar tender J.J. Becket was called next, he told them the facts as he
recalled them, including what he had seen, the rivalry between Nate and
Jesse.  And what his impression was of Jesse McMurphey.

"He was a regular, drank a lot, liked to make rude comments to women.  He
and Nate fought a lot, both wanted to be top dog of that little group."
J.J. said.

"Did you see Mr. Johnson when he was flirting with Jesse McMurphey?"
Mr. Stuggs asked.

"Nope, sorry, I just figured it was Jesse starting some of his shit again."
J.J. said matter of factly.

"Objection your honor!" Mr. Stuggs said.

"Mr. Stuggs, the court reminds you that `you' asked the witness the
question."

Mr. Stuggs looked pissed, he dismissed the bar tender he had hoped would
support his claims.

The police were called up next, Lt. Corbin, who had been the smallish woman
who had stayed with me in the ride to the hospital, gave her account, she
told about my passing out from insulin shock, and what the police had found
when they arrived.  Although Mr. Stuggs didn't have questions for
Lt. Corbin, Mr. Gravelin wanted to have a full account of all the legal
troubles Mr. McMurphey had been in.

Finally Gabe, the poor guy who was still in a wheel chair with his head
bandaged up was wheeled in next to the honorable judge Turner.  Although it
was clear that while she held Mr. Stuggs and Jesse in the distain she held
Mr. Gravelin, she looked on Gabe with sympathy. She didn't give either
party a reason to question her impartiality though, indeed, she was almost
perfectly indifferent to what was occurring, she ruled in favor of both
parties when the case was made. Although I wanted to believe she was on our
side, I had no reason to believe that if the case was made, she wouldn't
have ruled against us.

Mr. Gravelin brushed his well-coifed salt-n-pepper hair over his ear before
continuing.

At that moment, I realized who he reminded me of: Matlock!  He'd play the
simple polite southern gentleman until he had the prey hooked, and then
he'd reel it in at his leisure. And smile politely as they thrashed and
squirmed.

 "Jesse's defense attorney wants us to believe that Mr. Camble is at fault
for hurting you. Is that how you feel?"  Gabe looked over at Austin, Austin
had his eyes lowered but looked up to meet Gabe's.  "Ausin threw the ball.
Bu' ih' were Jesse's fauld wha' happen' da me." Gabe paused a moment and
took a long breath before continuing. Certain letters and sounds were hard
for him to make, no "t"s and some Ds were hard to hear too.  "Jesse shoulda
never sarted da fite, he coulda jus' backed away or ignored dha' guy." Gabe
said referring to me.  Gabe was struggling for breath, so the judge called
a brief recess to allow Gabe time to rest and catch his breath.

 A small female court officer wearing a gun walked up and gave Gabe a glass
of water and we waited until he'd set it down before we continued.

Mr. Gravelin walked back up to the table Gabe sat at and stood next to him
and asked, "Do you feel better now Mr. Cardino?" Gabe nodded, "yes, thank
you."  It seemed to me he wanted to say more but was afraid he
couldn't... his self esteem had to be in tatters by the public nature of
this hearing. "Good, we'll do this at your pace, if you need a break, just
say so ok?" Gabe had his eyes closed but nodded.  "So, Mr. Cardino, you
were telling us whom you blamed for your injuries, would you elaborate
please?"  Gabe looked down and then raised his head and said, "I blame
Jess.. Jesse McMurvey... 'f he hadn' s'arded that fite, nonna dhis
wouldn'd've happen'."  "So what do you personally think of Mr. McMurphey
assertion that he was hit on and was scared of homosexuals?"

 He left the question open so Gabe could finish it.  "I –I thin' it's a
crock of... he'd sdar'ded the fite... before we all knew that that was the
gay guy."  Mr. Gravelin waited for Gabe to pause then asked, "The gay guy?"
which made Gabe stutter as he pointed at me, "A-Al-Ales Johnson."
Mr. Gravelin looked almost pleased, "Well how did you know he was gay?"

 Gabe took a deep breath and said, "Cause Na'e tol' us, frien's of his was
com'n in and da' dhe liddle guy was gay, but we bedda' no' sdar'
nuddin. Cause we'd regre' ih'."

  Mr. Gravelin asked him to repeat that last part again, and then he turned
to the jury, "So, Mr. McMurphey KNEW a gay man was coming and what he
looked like; is that right Mr. Cardino.

Gabe sat defiantly looking at Jesse, "Y-yes sir."

Mr. Gravelin walked around a moment, letting the fact marinade the jury.
"One last question Mr. Cardino, Why were you reaching for that pool cue?"

Gabe closed his eyes a moment than looked at Austin with the strangest
look, "I was trying to sdop Jesse from grabbing id, He likes to grab pool
cues in a fite."

"Objection your Honor." Mr. Stuggs said standing up. "Facts not in
evidence"

"Your Honor, this is Mr. Cardino's reference, his opinions based on what
he's seen in the time he's known Mr. McMurphey.

"I'll allow it." She said.

"Have you ever witnessed Mr. McMurphey and Mr. Piper having a fight
before?" Mr. Gravelin asked almost as an afterthought.

"Yes sir, Like eve'y other week." Gabe said,

"Did it ever get physical?" Mr. Gravelin asked.

"About every other week, they'd jus' yell on mos' nites."

Mr. Gravelin thanked him and sat down as Mr. Stuggs stood up. "Did you know
for sure that Jesse was going to grab that stick?"

"Yes Sir." Gabe said.

The cross examination was brief, Mr. Stuggs had Gabe admit to his drunken
brawls and DUIs before he was excused.  In Mr. Stuggs statements he
mentioned how unreliable a witness Mr. Cardino was.

Mr. Gravelin stood up and stopped the man from taking Gabe back to his
seat, "Your Honor, a momentary Cross for Mr. Cardino?"

Judge Turner looked pissed a moment then acquiesced, "Please make it brief
Mr. Gravelin."

Mr. Gravelin walked up to Gabe, "Mr. Cardino, what has my office provided
you in turn for your testimony?"

Gabe looked confused, "I-I don' unders'and?"

Mr. Gravelin was smiling, "Have I or anyone from my office promised you
anything in exchange for your testimony?"

Gabe sat still a moment, "No sir."

Then why have you come forward with your version of what went on?

Gabe sat still a moment, gathering his thoughts, "Cause I didn' wan' Jesse
da ge' away with Murda, Na'e was my friend, I know he liked Auwsin and his
friends, I had da do wha' I could.  I-I-I didn' even ge' da see Na'e's
funeral, all becausa Jezze."

Mr. Stuggs shot up, "Objection your honor, Prejudicial."

"Your Honor," Mr. Gravelin explained, "Defense has disparaged Mr. Cardino
as unreliable, that he might somehow be benefitting from his testimony. I
wanted the jury to see he lost a great deal more than he may have gotten."

"Objection over ruled." She said as she banged her gavel.

After some more questioning during which Gabe admitted that he had lost all
his friends either for testifying against Jesse for a fag, or because they
were now dead, Gabe was wheeled back to his place in the witness's
aisle. Because of his testimony, the others moved away from him, I was glad
to see our Dennis and Korma go and sit with him.

Jesse was finally called back to the stand.  He was brooding and looked
ready to snap if much more happened to him.  Mr. Stuggs asked a bunch of
basic questions then asked, "So Mr. McMurphey, would you please tell the
court why you feel the way you do about homosexuals?"

Mr. Gravelin shot up, "Objection your honor!  Relevance."

Mr. Stuggs said, "Mr. McMurphey defense is based largely on his feelings
about homosexuals your honor. And Mr. Gravelin has spent a great deal of
time trying to disparage these feelings."

Judge Turner looked at Mr. Gravelin and raised her left brow, "He has a
valid point Mr. Gravelin."

 "I was... trying to let the jury know what his mind set was your Honor."
Mr. Stuggs said.

 "Your Honor," Mr. Gravelin said in his saccharine politeness. "I was
unaware that the defense was trying to plead on an insanity defense.  His
state of mind is irrelevant.

 Judge Turner nodded her agreement. "Is defense trying to change the plea
in the middle of a trial?" She asked.

 "No your honor." A visibly deflated Stuggs said.

 Most of the trial had gotten boring, things seemed to pick up for everyone
since Jesse had been called up.

 In reflection to some inquiry by Mr. Stuggs, Jesse began spouting some
basic skinhead diatribe then said, "And we was taught in church that God
hates fags."  I was rolling my eyes when I happened to see Mr. Gravelin
smile when he heard that.  Mr. Stuggs had Jesse spout some more almost
mandatory homophobic rhetoric, and then asked him if he felt bad for
killing Nathan. "Well yeah, I was aiming at that little fag... at
Mr. Johnson." He said trying to back pedal slightly.

After Mr. Stuggs was done, Mr. Gravelin sat still a long time.  Finally the
judge cleared her throat and motioned for him to start. "Yes, excuse me
your honor... I was... trying to wrap my head around that last statement.
You see, I was always taught in church that the Christian God is a loving
and compassionate god, beneficent and forgiving of sins, I'm intrigued to
know which church, indeed which god Mr. McMurphey worships?" That began a
long series of poignant questions and objections by both sides.

 After the district attorney had cut enough holes for a horse to walk
through in the opposition's case, both parties rested.  We were instructed
to go home and rest and that court would resume the next day at 10 am for
closing statements.  The Honorable Evelyn Turner thanked the jury and the
witnesses, and said we were recessed until 10am the following day.  We
regrouped after that and Mr. Gravelin said we were doing great, he said his
only worry was juror number nine. The old black woman I had noticed.  He
explained that it was possible even though the judge would tell these
people to vote on the testimony, that she might think God's law supersedes
Jurist prudence. He said that no matter how good a case is presented, there
will be the occasional juror that votes against the majority, and rarely
for the logical reason's Henry Fonda did in "Twelve Angry Men."  He
suggested to Nate's family and us, that he might be able to plea bargain,
if we wanted.  He said we might have a case for murder two, but that that
woman juror would never give a man life for shooting at
homosexuals. Mr. Gravelin suggested we all think about taking a plea
bargain of manslaughter one. He pointed out that if we went for murder and
the jury went against us, he'd serve no time, but he could demand jail time
as a condition of the plea.

Mr. Gravelin told us to think about it and get back to him before court the
next day. Ryan told us that he was being generous and didn't have to take
the families and other victim's opinions into account. We all agreed to
think about it that night and get back to him the following morning.

 Once we all exited the court house, we were all quiet on the ride home,
none of us even wanted to eat out.  Austin had me call Ryan and see if we
could all meet up there. I then called Michael and Jason, and then called
Glen, and invited him and Dennis over to Ryan's place to sit back for a few
beers to unwind. We then called Pizza Hut and ordered a few hand tossed's.
As an afterthought he handed me his phone and asked me to use his speed
dial and invite Benji and Megan over too; they were Nate's cousin and
sister respectively and we had met at the Seattle scene when I sang Sweet
Home Alabama.  They accepted and about an hour later the whole group of us
were eating pizzas and drinking beers.

"So What do you guys think about Mr. Gravelin's comments about taking a
plea?" Austin asked Benji and Megan.

"I don't know, I think he's made an awful good case against Jesse." Benji
said, Megan agreed.

"But there's that one woman in the jury- she clearly hates homosexuals -
she'd go against us on sheer principal. "  I said.

"Yeah, I'd like to see that shit behind bars learning all about gay sex the
hard way for the rest of his miserable life, But some jail time is better
than him walking away Scott free." Ryan said.

Benji and Megan agreed readily.

Thor, Loki and Thunder were wound up and excited that so many people had
shown up, but we were all drained.  We said we'd show our new house to the
gang that weekend, Collin had seen it all already, but the others hadn't
seen anything but the outside.  Austin and I had agreed that after seeing
some of the kids we'd seen hanging out on the street, we'd be getting
Thunder a few Brothers and sisters.

Collin said, "Shit, with that black panther what do you need more dogs
for?" He had been referring to Tempest as a panther recently, though aside
from his 26-pound size, when he was nuzzling Austin like a kitten, he
didn't look too scary even though he still had a full set of claws.

Benji told us about a neighbor of his with thoroughbred Pit bulls, Austin
turned to him all interested when I said, "NO; more dogs yes, guard dogs
fine, but not pit bulls." Austin started to object before I said "Maybe
they are misunderstood, but how many children, old women, and innocent
bystanders have to be ripped apart because their sweet dogs suddenly turned
on them?  If you want Rottweillers, chows, Mastiffs, Doberman pinchers,
fine... but no pit bulls!"  before adding, "or Chihuahuas, they're all
nasty little dogs who love to bite. " I had said my piece; Austin though
looked up surprised, "That's it? I don't get a say? What if I want a pit
Bull?" I knew after the day's stresses, none of us were up to being pushed
around. So I held his gaze and said softly "You turn and ask Ryan and
Michael if they'd leave Thor and Loki with us if we had a pit bull... then
you ask our friends with children if they'd visit" Austin pouted.  As big
as he was, he just pouted. I had to meet him halfway on this; otherwise
this was going to be bad "Tell you what hon, why don't you pick out the non
pit bull pups for us?"

 "You said we could do rottweillers though right?" He asked finally. "Yeah
hon, I've met some rotts that thought they were teddy bears.  I can trust a
rottweiler, but pitbulls are just accidents waiting to happen.  Ask Dawn
about the scar on her leg from a PET pitbull."

 The dark storm had been redirected and everyone was appeased.  Austin was
getting his big macho dog and he all was right.

 Benji and Megan left about 10:30 as they had to drive back to Volusia
county, Collin left last and told us he'd be coming by the next morning to
pick us.  I helped Austin clean up and then we just walked arm in arm to
the jeep. "Hey sweety?" I asked him as we pulled out..

 "Yeah babe?"

 "You need any help with this whole wedding planning stuff?" He put his
hand over mine.

  "No, I have good help," he said meaning our Moms, Mrs. Tremere, Korma and
the girls and of course, Natasha and Marika, those two had become way too
close as friends.

 "I do have one question though, well several, but ummm, what are we doing
about names?" I knew he meant our last names but I acted dumb and said "I-I
like Alex and Austin."

 Austin rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean, nimrod. Normally I'd ask
you to take mine, but, the way my father was, I'm not sure I'd want
that... and you weren't close to yours either... so?"

 I thought for a few and said, "well, we could do the whole hyphenated
thing... Johnson-Camble.  Or we could pick a different name all
together... And you know it won't matter anyways, it's not a legal marriage
baby."

"I already made a court date the day before the wedding so we could get our
names legally changed." Austin said with an award winning smile. He liked
to be in charge and he loved to surprise me.  "My Mom made a good point
though when I told he I didn't want Dad's name.  Growing up, I was always
real close to my Dad's father, my paternal grandfather, we really hit it
off and it drove my dad nuts.  I think that made it all the better for
Grandpa, he and dad never got along.  I could take his name with no
trouble." Austin said.

I thought a moment, "Cool with me, but you'll have to tell me why he was so
cool before I agree to share his name." I said smartly.

 Austin thought a moment, "as soon as the trial is over, I'll tell you all
about my grandpa."

 "Cool!" I said.

 Austin said.  "That's cool I like it..."

Then I added, "Or hey, we could use our nicknames..." Before I could finish
my thought Austin snarled, "You will NOT say one fucking thing about
`Mr. Floppy' at our wedding, do you hear me?!?!" He demanded.

 I gave a demure, "You're no fun."

 Natasha and Cole were already asleep when we pulled in and went right to
bed.  Inside, we went immediately into our bed time routine.  Part of that
was Austin holding Tempest like a baby and walking around rubbing his chin
and playing with his belly.  I was glad Tempest had stopped growing, if
he'd gotten much bigger I could have ridden him.  I was also glad Tempest
and thunder got along... I felt sorry for anything that got on Tempest's
bad side.

After we both brushed our teeth and I'd done my shot, I crawled into bed
and Austin asked, "So, if there's something that we don't agree on, it's
always automatically your win?" He asked.

 "Not always hon, but it's just an issue I have with that breed, they are
bread to be fighters and killers, that's what they were designed for.  Is
it any wonder so many people have been mauled or killed by them?"

 "No... you're right... I was just making sure it wasn't the girlfriend
ultimatum."

 "Huh?" I questioned.

 "It's the, 'you can argue all you want and make all the valid points you
want, but ""I'M" always right and you have to live with it.' Shit"... It
gets real old, and all girls use it because as long as they hold sex over a
guy's head, they can and will." He said rolling to spoon me.

 "Oh, that... Yeah man, sorry, I'm calling that too. Sucks to be you
. . .'" And that's all I got out before he began tickling me fiercely. I
was spooned against him so he had total coverage over me.  I thrashed and
rolled and squirmed as I tried to get away from my torturer.

 "That's what I thought tough guy!" He said as his fingers relaxed.  "So,
are you ready? I mean, do you have the ring done and the vows memorized
yet? "He asked as he lay back against our head board.

 "The ring's being finished up... deep in the heart of Mordor by a dwarf
with a gimp leg. And I'm improvising my whole speech up on the spot." I
said breathing hard to what I assumed was a scowling Austin.

 "Cool, I'm getting the ring of power?" Austin said relishing in my
apparent surprise that he knew the reference as this was a decade before
the lord of the ring movies had come out, but many of us had had a chance
to read the stories in high school.  Then he pounced and began tickling me
again. "Cause if I have the ring of power, I get to have my pit bulls and I
can do this all I want."

I finally bucked off his legs onto the floor and scrambled
away. "Apparently you don't need a ring to do that, you do it all the
fucking time anyway captain sadist."  I breathed hard getting out.

 He got an evil smirk, "My Precious, come back to bed my Precious!"  After
ten minutes I was finally lured back into bed, he made several fake lunges
at me that made me recoil, but we were done for the night.

 Finally he asked bluntly, "Ok, I don't get it. You can beat a room full of
rednecks, you can take Collin down, hell, I've even seen you make Michael
jump, so why do you let me get away with tickling you?  You could stop me
anytime you wanted."

I nuzzled back against him, "But then you'd stop.  Part of the mystery with
me that even I can't explain properly, is that with the right guy, I like
to lose.  That's what got me and Collin together, most guys in our judo
class were scared to go against him, but I'd wait until he was free. One
day we were doing mat work- like wrestling, and he had me pinned and I was
struggling to get up and he learned over next to my ear and whispered, "I
don't think you're struggling very hard to get free, I'm beginning to think
that you like to lose."  It was like that line I used on you, ""I'm getting
you drunk so you'll take advantage of me."  I just got so hard right there
in the middle of class. But he was right.  We went on a date two weeks
later."

 Austin had been gently stroking me while I said this, "You really do love
him don't you?"

I turned over to face him, not that we could see anything, "Yeah, Of course
I do... you love some of your ex's too don't you?"

He chuckled and said, "Yeah, of course I do. I'm not jealous if that's what
you're thinking."

 "Good, you have nothing to worry about." I said as I leaned up to kiss
him.  "I'm not worried; I'm just confused about why he's being so good to
you and to me... If anyone should be jealous, it's him."  I rolled back
over and looked at him. He'd noticed it too... I would have to confront
Collin, no way were two of us both wrong about this.

 We were in court early the next day and seated promptly at 10am,
Mr. Gravelin finally found us before court started and apologized for being
late, but said he'd been meeting with Mr. Stuggs and if we agreed later, he
was ready with a plea, but we'd continue as if we weren't until the the
closing statements are read.

The bailiff stood and asked us to stand for the honorable Evelyn Turner.
First, she had the stenographer reread a few of the ending notes from the
last day, and then she told us that both sides would finish with closing
statements.

Mr. Gravelin was first, he sauntered up to the jury and said, "Good morning
ladies and gentlemen.  I'm sorry all `a y'all have to be inside on a
beautiful day like today.  First off, I'd like to point something out that
the opposing side has neglected to bring up, they are so busy trying to
indict that man there," he said pointing at me" for being gay, and making
homosexuality the foremost issue, they've neglected to say that the victim
wasn't gay, Jesse McMurphey claims to have been aiming at Alex Johnson when
Nate stepped in the way, did Jesse stop?  No. We learned that Jesse and
Nathan Piper had had a long rivalry and had had the police called several
times to break them up.  If gays were so antithetical to Mr. McMurphey, why
didn't he just leave when he found out that Alex was on his way there?"

" As to his assertion that Mr. Johnson was flirting with him, well, Alex
denied it, Jesse's friends denied it, Alex's friends and lover said it was
impossible. Jesse's chain smoking makes it nearly impossible and I for one
agree with him that it wasn't very likely, but only those two know for sure
what happened.  I will point out that even Mr. McMurphey's closest friends
said he hadn't seen the alleged flirting and that Jesse should have just
left.  We've heard from an indifferent bar tender that Nathan had called
Mr. McMurphey out and told him to get lost shortly before his head was
blown off.  And that they had fought many times in the past, and twice the
police had to be called to break it up. There's no question as to what
happened here. They don't deny that Mr. McMurphey shot and killed a man, or
that he had tried to kill another.  They present the case that he was
justified.  JUSTIFIED in shooting a 23-year-old man in the face with a shot
gun?  JUSTIFIED in trying to kill another man simply because he's gay and
allegedly may have made a pass at that man.  JUSTIFIED for shooting a
shotgun into a crowd of people?  JUSTIFIED after hearing that there will be
gay men arriving at the bar and then CHOOSING to stay and CLAIMING he was
flirted with by a man who by all accounts only wanted to get back to his
friends and lover.

 Mr. McMurphey says his church hates gays, and I have no delusions that
those churches are out there. But he's a southern Baptist, a southern
Baptist like me and many of y'all, Our church is certainly not open minded
on this issue, but I've never heard one word about God hating anyone, From
the foulest murderer to Hitler himself, anyone could be pardoned for their
sins because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  Jesse claimed he had a
religious imperative to protect himself from the evil sodomising
homosexuals.  Yet this Knight Templar in the battle for Christianity and
his heterosexuality, can't even recite the Ten Commandments, can't even
recall the first book of The Bible, called the four gospels, Mary, Mark,
Luke and John."

He paused a moment to let the information sink in. "Where in the Gospels
does God command killing a person for a sin?  It doesn't, you simply can't
use the Bible as an excuse to kill someone.  It didn't work with the
segregationists in the fifties and sixties who were executing blacks and
claiming they had religious authority to do so; it certainly makes no more
sense now.

"It doesn't matter "why" he did it. THAT man," Mr. Gravelin said indicating
Jesse, "Shot and killed that man," He said pointing to a picture of Nathan
from his graduation that had been used several times by both sides.  "He
`claims' he was aiming at him." He pointed at me, "and scared Austin
Camble's face with a pellet that missed Nathan.  We all heard from the
Lt. Corbin that Mr. McMurphey has a long violent record, he's been in
numerous bar fights, he's battered a girlfriend, and he's had numerous
driving violations.  This man has had the police called twice to break up
fights between the deceased and Jesse McMurphey. This isn't a God-fearing
man, ladies and gentlemen; he's a career criminal trying to find an angle
out from what he's done.

Mr. Stuggs is going to try and convince you that the true criminal is Alex
Johnson, a man with absolutely no criminal record, I repeat, "NO CRIMINAL
RECORD." He's going to try and convince you that a small, diabetic boy who
had been in a coma only a few weeks prior; a homosexual not prone to any
aggressive acts, a man allergic to the smoke that Mr. McMurphey was spewing
into the air, was going to ignore his healthy, fit, athlete to hit on a
scraggly chain smoking obviously aggressive unshaven man in ragged
clothing.  I find it incomprehensible to believe that Alex Johnson would
make an advance toward Jesse McMurphey.  Mr. Stuggs will try to imply that
Mr. Johnson is a bully who used his skills as a fighter to beat up Jesse
for spurning his advances.  I don't know about any of you, but in all the
cases of Bullying I've ever seen, the larger man bullies the smaller one,
especially one who's gay or assumed to be gay.

You may ask yourself whom bullied whom, but if you take into account all
the other witnesses statements, there's only one conclusion you can
make. Find Mr. McMurphey guilty of murdering Nathan Piper; find him guilty
of trying to murder Alex Johnson and guilty of endangering the lives of
those around Nathan and Alex.  And lastly, find him guilty of using a
firearm in the commission of a felony.

There is one proverb from The Bible that's relevant here.  Proverb 13:24
says, `He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him
disciplines him diligently.'

There is no doubt but that Mr. McMurphey is guilty of murder. The only
question is how guilty you find him.  I would ask you to consider this; one
man is dead because of him, another was his alleged target, and he scarred
another. All those present had their lives ripped apart as well as Nathan's
family and other friends.

Please don't find Mr. McMurphey guilty as a warning to others not to do
this, don't do this as a way to get back at him for what he did to an
innocent young man. DO THIS as a way to help him learn that actions have
consequences.  That's the truth of God's law and our state's law."

Mr. Gravelin thanked the jury, thanked Judge Turner, and thanked the
audience.  Then he turned around and sat down.

Mr. Stuggs waited a moment, assuming Mr. Gravelin might suddenly stand back
up and have more to say, He didn't so Mr. Stuggs began.  "Thank you, your
honor.  Ladies and gentlemen, this is a tragic case on many levels.  On
behalf of my client, let me express once more his remorse for the untimely
death of Nathan Piper.  It clearly was not his intent to end Mr.Piper's
life that night.  And, despite Mr. Gravelin's assertions, his intent does
indeed make all the difference in the world under our state's laws.

Simply put, his intentions when he pulled the trigger that night was to
defend himself from a crowd of men, led by Alex Johnson and his gay lover,
Austin Cambell, all of whom were marching toward him when the fatal shot
was fired.

Mr. Gravelin has made much ado about Jesse McMurphey's religious beliefs on
homosexuality.  And, he is quick to question the veracity of Jesse's faith
because he can't recite all Ten Commandments, or because he can't cite
chapter and verse of Biblical teachings on the sins committed by
homosexuals.  While it's not a matter of law, I'll respectfully submit that
if the Good Lord is going to judge us by our ability to memorize specific
scripture, most of us would, I fear, be damned to hell on our day of
reckoning.

Now, you may or may not have any personal feelings about homosexuality or
homosexuals, but you must understand that an awful lot of us have very
strong feelings on the subject.  And such feelings my have any number of
origins. Those feelings might be rooted in religion, they might be rooted
in social conventions, they might be rooted in the teachings of our
parents.  These feelings are what they are, whether or not they are
rational.  Each of us has the right to fear such things, especially when
those fears have been preached to us all of our lives.

So, why then, did he do it.  Well, put yourself in Mr. McMurphey's place on
that awful night.  You're at a bar in which you are a regular.  You're
comfortably mixing it up with your good friends in an establishment you've
frequented for a good, long time.  You feel at home there.  You feel safe,
a sense of fellowship and camaraderie, relaxing and minding your own
business after a long week's work.  Then, a group of strangers come in and
make themselves at home.  You've been warned that one of them is gay.

So, you're in Mr. McMurphey's shoes and now you know that a homosexual has
joined you and the other regulars in `your bar.'  Once the gay man is done
in the bathroom, he exits and makes statements and gestures that you
interpret as a flirtatious come on.  At a minimum, you'd be justified in
being terribly offended by his words and his behavior.  Like many of you, I
imagine I might feel afraid, even threatened.

Then you make it clear to Mr. Johnson that his advances are most unwelcome.
A decent person, gay or straight, would desist.  He would apologize for the
offensive behavior.  A really decent person would take his leave,
embarrassed by his actions.

Not Alex Johnson.  What Mr. Johnson did, instead, was to engage
Mr. McMurphey in physical combat.  Using his skilled martial arts
techniques, he laid waste to the man who had just rejected his sexual
advances.  How would you feel, ladies and gentlemen?  And I don't mean just
the physical pain of being brutalized by a well-trained fighter.  Beyond
that, I mean being taken down in front of your friends, in an establishment
you frequent often; being debilitated, humiliated and injured by a stranger
whose homosexual advances you had spurned.  How would you feel?

And then...and then...just as one of your trusted friends attempts to come
to your aid and your defense, your attacker's gay lover...his alleged
`fiance'...lays your buddy out cold with a pool ball to the head.  Poor
Gabe Cardino might have permanent physical disabilities because of the
melee that Alex Johnson and Austin Cambell wrought on the clientele of the
bar that night!  Mr. Cardino might still begrudge Jesse for engaging in the
fight with Mr. Johnson.  Nonetheless, it was Mr. Cambell who delivered the
potentially fatal blow to his head.  Mr. Cardino's testimony that suggests
his injuries are somehow Jesse's fault simply defy all logic and reasoning.
Gabe was acting to assist Jesse from being attacked further, and another
gay man who isn't even part of the original fight smashes Gabe's skull!
And this is somehow Jesse's fault?  I believe the testimony is clear: it
was Austin Camble's strong arm that caused Gabe's injuries.  There is no
indication that Jesse asked for Gabe's assistance against Mr. Johnson; only
that Gabe acted on his own in Jesse's defense, and Mr. Cambell nearly
killed him for his efforts.

So, what do you do?  You've been attacked by one gay man, and another gay
man has laid your friend on the floor unconscious, maybe dead!  You do what
any sensible person would do in order to defend yourself.  You leave.  You
remove yourself from the threat of a further beating...if not worse
degradation at the hands of Mr. Johnson and his gay lover.  Mr. Gravelin
conveniently ignores one of the most salient facts in this tragic course of
events.  After being attacked...after seeing his friend Gabe knocked out
cold...Mr. McMurphey LEFT THE BAR!!  He removed himself from the premises.

At this point he should finally feel safe...safe from further molestation.
Alex Johnson has already injured him, and Mr. Cambell has done untold
damage to his friend.  But now Jesse was safely outside the bar.

But then Jesse looks up, and out of the back door of the bar there appears
a small mob coming toward him.  A group of seven men, led by Alex Johnson,
Austin Cambell and Nathan Piper.  He'd already tried to defend himself in
the restroom.  Then he tried to defend himself near the pool table.
Finally, after being beaten, after seeing his good friend knocked cold, not
knowing for sure if Gabe was still alive or not, Jesse retreated to the
parking lot and the supposed safety of his truck.  But still, they came
after him.  They just wouldn't quit.  They refused to let him escape their
brutal threat of a further attack.

I'll ask you again...what would you have done?

Yes, sadly, tragically, Nathan's life was cut short, far too short.  But,
ladies and gentlemen, it is quite obvious that the injustice could have
been avoided at numerous points that night.  Indeed it would have been
avoided had Mr. Johnson kept his lewd ideas to himself while in front of
the men's restroom.  It would have been avoided if Alex Johnson had not
antagonized and threatened Mr. McMurphey further in front of his friends.
It would have been avoided had Mr. Johnson not have beaten Jesse.  It would
have been avoided if Mr. Cambell had not irreparably injured Mr. Cardino.
It would have been avoided if they all had not followed the fleeing Jesse
McMurphey into the parking lot.

By the time this grotesque episode spilled into the back parking lot Jesse
McMurphey was their prey!  Alex Johnson, Austin Cambell and their friends
were clearly on a mission!  Austin had already left one of them on the
floor in the bar, but the man who'd offended Alex apparently hadn't been
dealt with to the satisfaction of this mob!  It just wasn't enough that
Alex Johnson beat the tar out of Jesse inside the bar, causing him to flee
for his life.  It was time to finish the job and teach this supposed
homophobe a lesson! A lesson he wanted to teach all those bullies that
harassed him in school.

Finally, with due respect to my client and his religious beliefs, what
matters in this court of man-made law is not how well any of us can recall
the exact words, or whether we can adequately interpret the various
passages found it The Holy Bible.  What matters here, in this courtroom, is
how a reasonable person would interpret the words and the actions of
Mr. Alex Johnson, Mr. Austin Cambell, Mr. Nathan Piper and all of their
friends on that awful, fateful night.  So, as reasonable people, when you
gather to deliberate Mr. McMurphey's fate, ask yourselves and one another
honestly: under these horrendous circumstances, what would you have done?

I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, very much, and I am confident that when
you weigh all the evidence, you will do the right thing and return with a
verdict of `not guilty.'

We were given a brief recess after the closings; Mr. Gravelin and
Mr. Stuggs went off to plea with each other and see if they could come to
an agreement.  After twenty minutes the two came back acting like old
school buds.  When all the people who had been milling around, getting
drinks or going outside to smoke began to filter in, court was called back
to order.

The bailiff did his intro for Judge Turner, and after she was seated and
the court was resumed the judge asked the two lawyers if a plea had been
reached, when both answered yes, the judge asked Mr. Stuggs what that plea
was.

"Your honor, We agreed after some discussion that we'd opt for a plea of
Man 1 with a mandatory term of 25 years with no possibility of parole that
would include the time for his using a fire arm and the charge of attempted
murder on Alex Johnson."

"And do you understand and accept these terms Mr. McMurphey?" Judge Turner
asked.

Jesse looked awful, like a man who just realized he'd thrown his life away;
he raised his low hanging head and said, "Yes your Honor." His mother broke
out crying hysterically a moment later.

Judge Turner then looked over to Mr. Gravelin and asked if he agreed with
what the defense attorney stated.

"We do your honor."

The judge then hit her gavel and said "So ordered, the bailiffs will escort
the prisoner to the Prison van."  Then she thanked all those present and
said, "Court is adjourned."

 After the awesome tribulations and harrowing time of the trial, all of us
were drained, despite the sentence that Jesse got.  Although Austin and
Collin could go home to rest, Tiago and I were on stage that night, and as
we had missed practice the past two days, we called up everyone and had
them all agreed to come in early to go over routines.  Marika and the gang
had been told to rely mostly on Marika's songs as I wasn't sure when or if
I'd be available.

As soon as I walked in, mobs of people came up to me to hear what the
verdict had been and how I was.  As good as I was with being the MC on
stage, I was equally bad at being surrounded and mobbed, Marika saw me
starting to panic and getting anxious, so she made people back up and give
me some breathing room. Henna suggested I get on stage a little early and
just work it into my opening.  So as it was early afternoon still, we just
practiced our material, a few customers came in early so they got an early
taste of the music. One gay couple were so enthusiastic about our show, I
wrote them out a pass for that evening so they could get in.  Otherwise
they would have had to wait in line and chance not getting in we had become
so popular.  The one number we didn't cover that day was going to be
Marika's show stopper.

At 8:00 it was still light out, but we closed the blinds and turned on the
spot lights to signal the show was starting.  The new place we were going
to be moving to had a totally indoor stage area that was perfectly indoors
with no windows.  The spots came down on me and Marika as usual with a
variety of smaller lights illuminating the band and Maki and Vinda.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, before our show, which will be as
astounding as you've come to expect, I've been asked to share my recent
legal troubles with you.  As most of you know, two months ago Austin and I
with a few friends of ours were involved in a bar fight that ended when one
of the redn... I mean, customers, shot at us and killed a friend of ours.
The past few days we were at his trial.  We landed up taking a plea bargain
in order to guarantee he served some jail time.  Because he used a gun and
it was an obvious hate crime, he landed up going down for Man one for the
maximum term with no chance for parole.  That being the case, I'd like to
get back to work." I said with a few breaths.

We seem to have a thing for doing theme music , and tonight we'll be
stretching our repertoire to bring the music of Eric Burden and the
Animals.  But first I would like to perform a piece most of you know from
occasionally hearing it on oldies stations, this is Buffalo Springfield's
"For What It's Worth."

Robert did an extraordinary job on his key boards and Vinda and Maki did an
excellent job on back up.

There's something happening here

What it is ain't exactly clear

There's a man with a gun over there

Telling me I got to beware

I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound

Everybody look what's going down

There's battle lines being drawn

Nobody's right if everybody's wrong

Young people speaking their minds

Getting so much resistance from behind

I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound

Everybody look what's going down

What a field-day for the heat

A thousand people in the street

Singing songs and carrying signs

Mostly say, hooray for our side

It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound

Everybody look what's going down

Paranoia strikes deep

Into your life it will creep

It starts when you're always afraid

You step out of line, the man come and take you away

We better stop, hey, what's that sound

Everybody look what's going down

Stop, hey, what's that sound

Everybody look what's going down

Stop, now, what's that sound

Everybody look what's going down

Stop, children, what's that sound

Everybody look what's going down

With all that had happened recently, I thought we needed a good cathartic
elegy.  The girls backing made it a whole new song worthy of our
performance.  In the next few numbers, we did a selection of the more
popular numbers by Eric Burden.  Our last number in the first set was a
Marika-Williams Solo.  She dug deep into her down south Blues and belted
out the most religious version of "House of the Rising Sun," I had ever
heard. It made the walls shake and the air thick with fetid Bayou swamp
air.

Marika's Gospel trained voice reached into every part of every soul, every
fiber in your body, every bit of free space in the room and commanded it to
obey her.  When she was done the sweat was pouring off her, the audience as
one stood and drowned her in applause.  To say the she had the audience in
her hand was a gross understatement; she dominated all of us and took no
prisoners.

We took a much needed 15 minute break and we did a slower second set and
then repeated our first set for the ending.  Much of the audience had
stayed right on through, knowing we'd be doing the set again and not
wanting to miss it.  Collin came to pick me up after the show was over, he
said he'd called Austin and told him he was going to drop me off after we'd
had a chance to talk.

Collin strode in on our last set and was there for Marika's insane
rendition of "House of the Rising Sun." I only had a few things to take
care of after the show, so while I was getting ready, Collin was flirting
with Marika.  When I came out in clothes that were almost instantly wet
from my sweat, I found Vinda, Maki, and Marika all sitting with Collin
fawning over him.

"I'm serious girls, we don't have many black performers, you'd be queens
down under!" They were eating him up.

`Baby Doll, we are QUEENS up here." Marika said with a double snap of her
fingers. Maki and Vinda just laughed.

"Nice, first you steal my boyfriend slash husband, NOW you try and steal my
fellow singers???!!!" I roared with mock annoyance.

"It's not like that at all Ma Puce, I was saying that when you are ready to
travel, you'll be gods in Australia."  Collin said with a sweet smile as he
rose.

"Honey, you done got your dream man, you go on and leave this one for us."
Vinda snapped with a head roll.

Collin laughed, "Girls girls, no need to fight... Plenty of me to go
around." He said with a smirk as he held his arms wide.

"Yeah, he's right there..." I said as an aside.

"Do you Mind?!?" Collin said as all eyes had suddenly turned to him.
"Really Alex, bloody hell!!! Is dispensing personal information an American
obligation?"

Before I could answer Marika brushed against Collin, "Don't you worry none
about him Mr. Tall, Tan, and Hunky. Ain't like that's a secret with them
tight jeans and shorts you wear."

Collin actually blushed, in all the time I had known him, I had only made
him blush once before.

"Are you ready Alex?" Collin asked as the girls all began to fawn over him.

"Now don't you go running away, Ain't nothing that little white boy can
offer you that I can't." Maki said to her cousin's laughter.

"I believe you there!" Collin said with a suave grin. "Still though, I'm
beat and I promised to get this one back."

The girls complained a few minutes but hugged us and sent us on our way.

"What were you thinking flirting with those girls?  Pandora's box much???"
I asked as we climbed in his mustang.

"Can't help it, I don't turn it on and off at will... I flirted, they
flirted back and it just spiraled." Collin pleaded. "I was just
complimenting Marika's cover of "House of the Rising Sun."" Collin said.

"Well, I'd be real careful around them from now on... Judo is all well and
good, I think I'd still put odds on the angry black Diva if something went
wrong though." I said as we pulled into a Mr. Donut.

"Yeah, I think your right." Collin said before saying he wanted some jelly
donuts and we could get some coffees and maybe a plain donut since my sugar
was starting to get low.

"So whachya wanna talk about?" I asked once we were back in the car heading
to his hotel.

"Nothing in particular, we just haven't had much time by ourselves to
talk." Collin said.

"Are you gunna try and steal me away from Austin?" I teased, though it
struck me a moment later that that had been a nasty thing to say.

"Maybe, if Austin wasn't such a great guy. I'm really happy for you Alex,
for both of you." My spider-sense began to tingle again.

"Is there a `BUT' coming? I asked.

He paused a moment. "No, I'm very fond of you, you know that, and Austin's
like a younger brother I never knew I had...  I'm just happy you found
someone." Collin said magnanimously.

"Alright captain vague and mysterious, are you going to tell me what's
going on?  I know it's something, even Austin can tell something's up.

Collin stopped the car in his hotel driveway and turned to me, "It's
nothing we have to discuss now, it'll wait until after you're married.
It's nothing you have to worry about little flea." Collin said in English
to emphasize his point.

"Have we met?" I asked him in annoyance, "My name is Alex Johnson and THAT
won't work on me." I said to him. Collin was getting out of the car then so
he just leaned down and said, "It'll have to babe, cause I'm not talking
more about it until after wards." And with that he smacked the top of the
car twice and began heading in.

"Will you wait up?" I asked as I fidgeted with the seat belt as I tried to
get out.

I caught up top Collin by the elevator and before I could speak my mind,
Collin said, "You Yanks do Jelly donuts better than anyone else in the
world." He said as he licked his fingers.

"Fascinating, but don't change the subject dingo boy." I said annoyed.

"Alex, the subject has already changed; you're just too damned stubborn to
realize it." Collin said over his shoulder as he got on the elevator.

"You know, I'm not the only one who's picked up on whatever this is. Other
people have been asking me why you're being so over the top special too?!?"
I said, Collin turned and looked me in the eyes,

"A, I already said it wasn't that important, and could wait until after
your wedding, B, do you think I give one flying bloody fuck about anyone
else here? And C, have I not always treated you as special and taken care
of you?"

I hung my head, he'd gotten me there, "Of course you have baby." I said
before sighing, "Ok, I'll wait, but you know I'm not forgetting." I said to
his back as he opened his door. He swung his arm and bade me enter.

"Actually, there's another matter I wanted to bring up with you too." I
said as he was stuffing another jelly donut in his mouth.

"MMMM?" He wondered with his mouth full.

"Austin and I would like you to come stay with us in our spare room." I
said to him as I handed him a napkin.

"No way, I'll get in the way, and I get full service here whenever I want."
He said before wiping his mouth.

And a newspaper." I said as a tease.

"Mr. Johnson, are you trying to lure me with your boyfriend?" Collin asked.

"AND we'll buy those expensive 1000 count sheers you like and a new bed." I
offered.

"Ohhh, now I get it, you just want me to furnish the room!" Collin laughed,
I was a little hurt.

"No Collin, I just want you near me, God knows when I'll get to see you
again once you leave."

Collin looked ashamed, "I know baby, I'm sorry, but really, you already
have so much to get ready for the wedding, I'll just be in your way." He
said with a casual glance over to the small bag on his spare bed.

"You can never be in the way Collin, so much of this wedding is because of
you." I said placing my small hand on his cheek.

"I appreciate that Alex, but you did this all on your own, besides, I get
room service here, and the room is paid for until I leave." Again I caught
his eye darting over to that small suitcase.

I reached over and before he could stop me, I flipped open the lid, I saw a
million small medicine bottles, I only made out a few before Collin had
jumped over and angrily closed the bag and went off about impudent American
arrogance.  I saw several bottles I knew, delavirdine, zidovudine,
indinavir, nelfinavir, they were the newest protease inhibitors and anti
virals available. My mind closed down, I began shaking uncontrollable as I
looked up into his eyes, his anger giving way to something else.

"How? How could you not tell me?"