Chapter 2
The following day the lawyer called. The hearing date had been set. It will be in two days on Thursday at 9:00am in court room number 2. I called Joe at work and told him the date of the hearing. He told me that he had talked to a few people on his job about what was going on with us and that I needed to prepare myself for what might happen.
"What do you mean, "What might happen"?"
"I am just saying that D'wayne might not be coming home right away".
"I am not even going to think about that. I am trusting in God that everything will work out for the better". "Have you asked for the time off so that you can go with me to the hearing?"
"Yes, I'll be there". "I have to go, I'll see you later".
The day before the hearing we had to go and talk to the Assistant DA. She was very polite and she gave us every indication that everything would be alright. We went over everything that was going to happen the next day. She told us that since D'wayne was not in possession of the gun that she was just going to ask the judge for probation and community service. She said that since he gave the names of the other kids that were involve, she would go easy on him. We had no reason not to believe her. We left her office feeling that everything was going to be ok.
Thursday morning we got up and got the other kids off to school. Kissed them goodbye and promised them that we would bring D'wayne home with us today. Joe and I got ready and went down to the Juvenile courts. When we got to the court room, D'wayne was already there. He was sitting at the table with his lawyer. The judge read the charges, and then the Assistant DA started talking. She started with "since the defendant is under 18, we cannot try him as an adult".
"But because these kids terrorized this family and a gun was involved, we need to make an example out of them. If anyone had been killed, we would be having a totally different trial right now."
I don't remember all of what she said, but she ended by saying "we cannot continue to let these kids go around doing this kind of stuff, and that they need to take responsibility for their own action".
"I am asking the court to give them the maximum sentence allowed by law. Since Mr. Gowen did not possess the gun and he has no history of ever being in any kind of trouble, he should be given at least one year not to exceed two years in juvenile."
This was a totally different story then the one she gave us just the day before. Two years in jail, oh my God, oh my God! I began to cry!
Then D'wayne's lawyer started to talk. He explained that unlike the other kids, D'wayne has never been in any kind of trouble before and that he was living at home and going to school. He was not making the best grades, but he was in school every day. And he had loving, caring parents that were there for him. And his father was getting ready to retire from the Air Force. He felt like D'wayne just got caught up with something that he could not handle, and that he was basically a good kid. After he finished, the judge said, "Mr. Gowen please stand up and face the court".
After the judge went over the charges again, he said, "Mr. Gowen I am taking in consideration that you have never been any trouble of this kind before. I am also taking in consideration that you are living at home and going to school and acting in the capacity of a child".
"But I want you to understand that what you did was wrong!"
"With that I am ordering you to be placed in juvenile at Spring Mountain Juvenile camp for up to 6 months"!
With that the bailiff handcuffed D'wayne and started to lead him out of the court room. When he got to where Joe and I were standing, he let D'wayne pause long enough for us to give him a hug. We were all crying at this point. I think that I even saw a tear roll down Joe's face. It was so hard to see our son in handcuffs and being lead off like a common criminal.
"Is there something that you want to say to your parents, Mr. Gowen?" asked the bailiff.
"I am sorry mama and daddy! I love you", was all that he could get out before they took him away.
"Oh my God! What just happened"?
The Assistant DA had flat out lied to us the day before. She sat right at her desk in her office and told us that she was not going to throw the book at our son, and that is exactly what she did!
Joe and I stood in the courtroom holding each other for what seemed like hours. After a few minutes, we gathered our wits and walked out. The drive home was long and strained. Neither one of us said a word. After we got to the house we sat in the car in the driveway dreading going into the house. Just this morning I had promised the boys that we would be bring D'wayne home with us. As soon as we walked in the door, DeJay started with the questions.
"Where is D'wayne?" "Is he coming home?" "Did they put him in jail?" "You said that you were going to bring him home with you today". Then he began to cry. "I want my brother to come home". Donnell and Fredrick were just standing there not saying a word, anticipating the answer to at least one of DeJay's questions. I looked at them and started the water works again. They both turned and walked away without saying a word. Joe had already retreated to the bedroom. I heard Donnell and Fredrick knock on the bedroom door.
"Come in," said Joe
"Daddy what happened in court today" came the question that Donnell had been waiting to ask?
"Your brother is going to have to spend a little time away from us". "The judge thought that it was best that he went to Spring Mountain camp for boys".
"How long is he going to be gone" asked Fredrick?
"Up to six months".
They both dropped their heads and walked out of the room.
DeJay cried until he fell asleep. I laid him in his bed and got up and tried to start dinner. No one was hungry and no one was talking. Everyone just retreated to their rooms and went to bed. So I put everything away and went to bed myself.
The next morning I got up with such a headache, that I called in to let them know that I was not coming to work. The boys did not want to go to school because they did not want to have to answer questions from their friends about D'wayne. So I let them stay home. Besides, we needed to talk.
Joe got up and got ready for work. He grabbed a piece of toast on his way out the door and mumbled a "see you later".
"Will you be late tonight?" I yelled after him,
"I am not sure, I will call you later", he said as he got into the car and drove off.
I went back into the kitchen and continued to fix breakfast. DeJay came in rubbing his eyes.
"I'm hungry", he said with a yawn.
"Sit down and I will give you something to eat". "Here, take this", I said handing him a glass of juice. "Breakfast will be ready in a sec".
After I finished cooking breakfast, I fixed DeJay a plate and called the other boys to come and eat. I knew that everyone would be hungry since no one had eaten the night before after the news about D'wayne.
Donnell and Fredrick came into the kitchen, fixed their plates and sat down to eat.
"When you guys finish eating, we need to talk", I said as I grabbed a cup of coffee and walked into the family room. I was glad to have a few minutes to myself before I had to sit down with the boys. I needed to think about what I was going to say to them. As soon as they finished breakfast they came into the family room and sat on the sofa next to me.
"Do you guys understand what happened with D'wayne?" "Why he had to go away?"
"I know that he did something stupid, and I am mad at him", said Donnell.
"I had talked to D'wayne about those guys that he was hanging around with. I knew them from school and they were always causing problems" "I told him that they were up to no good, but he just told me to mind my own business". "I wanted to tell you and Mr. Joe, but he said he would beat my butt if I got into his business" said Fredrick looking like the nerd that everyone thought him to be.
"Well, D'wayne did do something wrong. He should never have been with the kids that he was with, but they did not make him do what he did. And now he is going to have to pay for it". "They are taking him to Spring Mountain camp for boys; it is not that far from here, maybe about 35 or 40 miles." "After he get settled in, he can have visitors." "He will be going to school every day just like normal, and we will be able to go see him on Sundays".
"I don't want to see him!" shouted Donnell angrily. "He is always causing problems." Then he stormed off to his room and slammed the door.