A Time for Mercy (Jake Brigance #3) - John Grisham Page 0,196

the stand.” There was a rustling through the crowd at this unexpected move. Lowell Dyer shot Jake a wary look.

Drew rose and marched to the court reporter, took his oath, and settled into the witness chair. He was startled by the entirely different view of things. Jake had told him this would happen, said it would be shocking at first to see all those adults staring at him. His written instructions read: “Look at me, Drew. Look me in the eyes at all times. Do not look at the jurors. Do not look at your mother or sister. Do not look at the other lawyers, nor the people out there in the audience. Everyone will be looking at you, so ignore them. Look me in the eyes. Don’t smile, don’t frown. Don’t speak too loud, nor too soft. We’ll start with some easy questions and you’ll get comfortable. You’re not in the habit of saying ‘Yes sir’ and ‘No sir,’ but DO IT EVERY TIME when you’re on the stand. Start practicing now with me and the jailers.”

In his cell, late at night, Jake had shown him how to sit and keep his hands still, how to stay six inches from the mike, how to frown at a confusing question, what to do if the judge spoke to him, how to sit passively if the lawyers got into an argument, and how to say, “Sir, I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.” They had practiced for hours.

The easy questions and answers did indeed settle his nerves, but then Drew felt oddly at ease to begin with. For a day and a half he’d sat between his lawyers as witnesses came and went. As Jake had instructed, he watched them carefully. Some were good, others were not. Kiera had been visibly frightened, but her fear had connected with the jurors.

He had learned a lot about testifying just from being there.

No sir, he had never known his father, nor his grandfathers. He did not know any of his uncles or cousins.

Jake asked, “Now, Drew, how many times have you been arrested?”

It was an odd question. Youth court convictions were off-limits. The State certainly couldn’t mention them. But, as with Josie, Jake wanted transparency, especially when it benefitted the defense.

“Twice.”

“How old were you the first time?”

“Twelve.”

“What happened?”

“Well, me and a buddy named Danny Ross stole two bicycles and got caught.”

“Why did you steal bicycles?”

“Because we didn’t have one.”

“Okay, and what happened when you got caught?”

“We went to court and the judge said we were guilty, and we were. So they put me in a juvenile detention center for about four months.”

“And where was this?”

“Over in Arkansas.”

“Where were you living at the time?”

“Well, sir, we were, uh, livin’ in a car.”

“With your mother and sister?”

“Yes sir.” With a quick nod, Jake invited him to continue. Drew said, “My mother didn’t object to me goin’ to the juvenile jail because at least I would get somethin’ to eat.”

Dyer stood and said, “Objection, Your Honor. Relevance. This trial is about capital murder, not a stolen bike.”

“Sustained. Move along, Mr. Brigance.”

“Yes, Your Honor.” But Dyer did not ask for the response to be stricken from the record. The jury heard that the kids were hungry and homeless.

Jake asked, “And what was the second arrest?”

“When I was thirteen I got caught with some pot.”

“Were you trying to sell it?”

“No sir. It wasn’t much.”

“What happened?”

“They sent me back to the same place for three months.”

“Do you use drugs now?”

“No sir.”

“Do you drink alcohol?”

“No sir.”

“Have you been in trouble with the law in the past three years?”

“No sir, other than this.”

“Okay, let’s talk about this.” Jake stepped away from the podium and looked at the jury. If Jake did so, then it was okay for Drew to have a quick look too. At that moment, the jurors were watching Jake.

“When did you first meet Stuart Kofer?”

“The day we moved in. I don’t remember when it was.”

“How did Stuart treat you in the beginning?”

“Well, we sure didn’t feel welcome. It was his house and he had a lot of rules, some he made up on the spot. He had us do a lot of chores. He was never nice to us and we knew right away that he didn’t want us in his house. So we, me and Kiera, tried to stay away from him. He didn’t want us at the table when he was eatin’ so we took our food upstairs, or outside.”

“Where did your mother eat?”

“With him. They