The next morning was grueling. I had to watch Mom sort of wilt as we went over my list. She told Cory and Brock what she knew, how she knew it and when she found out for certain. Even though Cory and I had gone over the list the day before, he made me tell Mom the details. I guess he wanted to make sure she could say I told her about them.
We started with smoking and my e-cig.
"I knew Jake and Marlow smoked. You couldn't miss the stench on their clothes, and their teeth had tobacco stains." She looked sad but resigned. "I didn't know about the e-cig, though. CW swore he didn't smoke, and I didn't even think about him vaping."
"Okay," Brock said. "If the defense attorney asks you about the boys smoking, you cannot answer that way. You simply say that you are aware that Jake and Marlow smoke, it's kind of hard to miss. You add that you assumed if CW was friends with them, you imagined he had tried it, so you were relieved when you found out that he was vaping, which is a much healthier alternative. You could even throw in something about being a nurse and reading studies about vaping vs smoking, if you want to. The impression will that you were aware that CW uses an electronic cigarette."
"That's fine," Mom said. "I can do that honestly. I have read studies, and if CW must do one, I much prefer vaping. But if they ask me how I found out or when, I am going to tell the truth."
"That's fine," Brock said. "I can handle that in cross."
"How?"
"Mrs. Braisford, you said that you found out during discovery that CW owned an electronic cigarette. Were you surprised?"
"Not, really. I knew the other boys smoked. I knew what peer pressure is like. I even talked to CW about the dangers of peer pressure and teens who think they're invincible. I knew that if he was hanging out with them, he would be pressured into something."
"See," Brock said. "You could answer that question honestly. You weren't surprised, even though I imagine you were disappointed."
"True," she said. "And by the way you worded the follow-up question, I now know that I can say that I found out during discovery instead of saying on Saturday. That gives him the chance to narrow it down, but he may not."
"True," Cory interjected. "And if he asks when discovery started, you can say truthfully, 'As soon as CW agreed to testify.'"
"I don't know," Mom said. "It all seems so complicated."
"It's not really," Brock said. "The general rule is to answer the question truthfully but give as little information as possible. Make them fish for the fine details."
"Don't you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"
"Yes, but you don't promise to tell the whole truth all at one time. You are telling the truth. You are answering the question the way it was asked. Don't read between the lines. Answer only what is specifically asked," Brock said. "Discovery did start the day that CW agreed to testify. You were kept apprised of the discoveries as they were made throughout the process. Do not make assumptions that the defense attorney doesn't voice. Do you see the difference?"
"I do. I even see the reasoning behind the instruction. But it still feels like I'm being deceptive."
"Well, I can't control what you feel, but I can assure you that what you are doing is well within the law. As long as you answer succinctly and without looking guilty, you should be okay."
Mom sighed. "Okay. You've got a long list there. We'd better move on."
Mom admitted that she didn't know that Marlow brought a tablet so we could play forbidden games. "I do know that CW has played WOW and similar games at friend's houses and sometimes even on his phone. He's a boy. Most boys seem to be fascinated by war. I wish I could keep him from those kinds of games, but I know I can't."
"So you can say, I didn't know about Marlow's tablet per se but I did..." He paused. "Then lead into what you just said. That's a perfect way to field that question if it's asked."
"The next item says, 'Jake using church youth group as cover,'" Cory said. "You might need to explain that, CW."
"You said to write down anything that the guys might try to use. Jake suggested that I could pretend to go to youth group and meet them instead. But we never did that. I just included it in case he remembered it and tried to lie about it."
"That would be easy," Mom said. "I talk to the youth pastor every Sunday at church. Friday night youth was canceled from Thanksgiving through New Years. Unless CW told them that, they could trip themselves up by lying about it."
Three pairs of eyes focused on me. "I didn't tell them anything about youth group except that it met on Fridays. It never came up again after Jake's initial suggestion."
"Okay," Cory said. "How about playing hooky from school?"
"I only did it once, on my birthday. I erased the message on the machine. That was before I started hanging with Jake and Marlow. My friendship with them started as a result of my discovery that Mom had been sending letters back to Dad for six years. Jake and Marlow, though, skipped school several times. They got expelled for it. I just thought their lawyer might ask Mom if she knew about it. They wouldn't claim I cut out early, because it would be too easy to check."
"Well, I did know about Jake and Marlow skipping school. We talked about it when you started tutoring them."
"Good," said Brock. "Moving on. This says you used tutoring as a cover up and lied to the VP about homework."
"Yeah," I said. "I told the VP that I hadn't been doing Jake and Marlow's homework, but I was. I told him, and the guys that I used to hang with, that I was tutoring Jake and Marlow. That was kind of a stretch. I had been trying to tutor them, but they weren't much interested. But once they got detention, I really was tutoring them for their English test."
"So, yes I know that CW did Jake and Marlow's homework. If he asks, I found out after the fact," Mom said. "I did know that he was tutoring them."
"Why did you put cheating at laser tag on here?" Cory asked. "Why would they ask your Mom about it?"
"I don't know. You told me to write down anything that we tried to put over on Mom. I chose laser tag as a way to introduce Jake and Marlow to Mom with some of my old friends around. I didn't want her to suspect that I had abandoned all the guys I used to hang with. I knew she wouldn't like Jake and Marlow. We did sort of cheat at laser tag so that the three of us could beat the other three guys."
"So that covers six and seven," Cory said.
Mom sort of rolled her eyes. "I figured out that CW was using BJ and them as a buffer so he could introduce Jake and Marlow. He knew I wouldn't like him hanging out with guys that age. He had already told me about them and offered to introduce them earlier, but I told him the day of the party would be fine."
"Piece of cake," Brock said.
"The next item might not be," Cory said. "CW wrote drinking brews and hiding trash."
"Did you know that the boys were drinking beer in CW's crib?" Brock asked.
"I suspected that Jake and Marlow were. I found six empties in our trash when it got knocked over. I didn't figure a drunk had wandered down the alley, stood by my garbage can, and drank a six pack."
"Okay. Don't say Jake and Marlow. Either say they or the boys. Let the jury read between the lines this time," Brock said. "Did you confront CW?"
"I told him about it. He just rolled his eyes at me."
"Okay, that sounds like a teenager. Only go there if you have to, though."
Cory looked at his list. "The next item says 'finding hidden stash and showing to J&M but not to Mom.'"
"He didn't tell me about the stash when he found it, but he did tell me later when his uncle cleaned it out. He specifically told me that Jake and Marlow knew about it."
"Why did he tell you that?"
"I asked him."
"Is there anything else I need to know about the incident in case I need to cross?"
"You already know that it was recorded on camera by Livecam. You have the video feed."
"And so do they," Brock reminded.
"It's the incident that triggered CW's anger and determination to go joyriding," Mom clarified.
"Why did that particular incident get CW's goat?"
"We had told him there were no camera's in his space. The company asked us to test drive the little hidden camera so we put it in there while we were on vacation. I didn't tell CW because I didn't trust his friends. I knew he thought I was being unfair. I figured I could remove it as soon as we go back, and CW need never know. But then he saw me watching the camera feed of Clarence in F2. CW trusted his uncle. When he saw him emptying his stash and mumbling about having to hide the key to the motorcycle, he sort of lost it."
"According to the next entry, Jake and Marlow broke into CW's crib and hung out there during cold weather," Cory said.
"They weren't exactly simultaneous," CW corrected. "They broke in the first day that we were going to hang out. They cut school and snuck in to surprise me. After that I started locking the windows every night. They could still break in, though. I didn't find out about that until way later. Evidently once they were expelled from school, they broke in after Mom left for work and stayed there until just before I got home. They'd go out and come back in like they'd just arrived. On the days she was home, they broke in once she was in bed and bounced early. I didn't tell Mom they had been expelled from school and refused to attend the alternative school, so we hung out for that hour. On the days Mom was home, we'd meet at McD's and chew the fat."
"I suspected Jake and Marlow weren't on the up and up," Mom said. "I even told CW that the series of B&Es in our neighborhood started after he became friends with them." She sighed. "I guess if they ask me if I was aware of the boys expulsion, I could use the during discovery line again."
"Use it if you must, but if you use it too often, a red flag will go up in the mind of the defense lawyer."
"Maybe they won't be thinking time line," I said.
"Boxes of stuff in the trunk?" Cory asked.
"One night when I was putting the trash in Jake's trunk so Mom wouldn't find the empties, I saw a couple of boxes in the trunk," I said. "There was a computer monitor sticking up out of one box. The guys told me the boxes contained their stuff from when they moved out of the house and started living in the car. I took their word for it. I just put it on the list because I know Jake and Marlow claimed I was part of their theft ring. They claimed that before I realized that one of the robberies was on the night that I played games with BJ until 9:30."
"I don't think they'll bring that up," Brock said. "We already have discussed it with your Mom, though, so she knows about it. The robberies will be covered during the trail, but you two will only be asked about them if they try to implicate CW. With BJ awake and able to testify, I doubt that will happen."
"Isn't BJ on your witness list?" I asked.
"He is," Cory said. "He will testify to you shouting, 'no' to Jake. That's the main reason he's on the list, but he can impeach any accusations they make. I don't expect them to pursue a line of defense that will make them look bad to the jurors. I imagine that's a moot point." He looked back at the list. "Warning about cameras," he said.
"I told Jake and Marlow that cameras had been put in so they wouldn't try to sneak in while we were gone and get caught on camera."
"I assumed you would," Mom said. "You three were tight. Your insistence that I didn't catch them doing anything on camera during the holidays pretty much clinched it."
"Panty raid." Cory turned red. "Oops slip of the tongue. It says pantry raid."
"Jake and Marlow broke into the pantry and raided my snack supply the day before Seth installed the cameras," I said. "Remember the note you left that you weren't going to restock before Mexico?" I looked at Mom. "I didn't think I ate that much. They doubled back the day that Uncle Clarence took me to Angel Tree. Jake told me about it to cover for something he thought Marlow was about to say. He had noticed that I didn't go in and set the alarm. I suspect that they stole the Oxy that same day and put it in the saddlebags. We talked about that earlier, too, so it was during earlier discovery that you found out. Not today."
"Okay," Brock said. "I think we've covered that before."
"The next item is the Christmas tablet. It's in evidence. You've explained how you got it and even that you asked Jake if it was hot. Is there anything else your Mom needs to know? She's been privy to all that," Cory said.
"No," I said. "Just being thorough."
Cory held up the list. "Almost done. The last item says, 'Mom turning Dad in to cops'."
"You said to include anything I told them that they might try to use," I said. "I told them that Mom ratted Pop out to the cops. I found out later that she didn't do it, but I never told them that she didn't. They could tell their lawyer that Mom was the one who got Dad in trouble. I don't know how he could use it, but I figured I should include it."
"I'm not sure either," Cory said. "But it's helpful that your Mom knows so that if he decides to bring it up, she's not surprised."
"How can their lawyer question Mom about something Jake or Marlow said if they don't take the stand?" I asked. "Isn't that hearsay or some such."
"It is if he were to say, 'Jake told me.' If he wants to introduce it, he would probably do so when crossing you. You have first hand knowledge, and he doesn't have to tell the court how he knew to ask the question. He would then follow up with your Mom," Brock said. "But I'm not sure that it would be worthwhile. I can't see that he'd gain anything."
"I told you to be thorough because the more your Mom finds out now, the less likely she is to be surprised on the stand," Cory added. "Even if he tries to use something that we haven't thought of, she has a lot of information that may cushion what he hopes will be a surprise blow."
Brock turned to me. "I know this has been difficult, having to tell your Mom all the ways you conspired to deceive her, but it's better that she hears it now than in the courtroom."
I looked at Mom. "I'm sorry Mom. When I started listing everything, it sort of overwhelmed me. I knew I was doing things behind your back, but when I was doing them one thing at a time, I didn't see how they were stacking up."
"No one ever does. For my part, I didn't see how my actions towards your Dad were stacking up and causing you to feel unloved, either."
Brock stood. Cory cleared his throat. "Is there anything else either of you can think of? Anything at all that the defense attorney might throw out there."
"We've already looked at the texts between me and the guys," I said. "The police got those off my phone. That's the only other thing I can think of."
"We've been over those. No surprises there," Brock said.
Mom shook her head. "If you had ask me to make a list, a few of the things CW listed would have been on there, but it would have been shorter. I can't think of anything else."
"Then, we'll see the two of you on Monday. You have to check in with the person who will be in charge of notifying witnesses. There will be a room at the courthouse where you can hang out. There will be coffee and cold drinks. There's a vending machine in the hall where you can purchase snacks. You can also give her your cell number and go across the street to the coffee shop or down to Subway. You can even window shop, as long as you're close enough to get there within five to ten minutes. She'll text you when you're one of the next two witnesses. We let her know the first two witnesses at the start. Then as a witness leaves, Cory will give her another name. She will always be a few witnesses ahead of the game.
"Do I have to be there every day listed on my subpoena?" Mom asked.
"You have to report in every morning by 9 am. Since you're only on the defense list, they will probably just tell you on Monday to come back the next day. I'll let the witness coordinator know every morning if she can dismiss defense witnesses. When I'm getting close to resting, I'll let her know so she can call in all any defense witnesses that aren't there."
"And me?" I asked.
"I'm still going to hold you for my last witness," he said. "You'll have to sign in every day too. Cory will let you know if you need to stay or if you can go somewhere with your Mom."