Clifford Irving's Legal Novels - 04 - BOY ON TRIAL - A Legal Thriller

by Clifford Irving

  The brick wall looked good. There were all those pits, scars, and dents. And then, not too far up, the bars of the second floor windows. I knew I’d have to be silent when I got to that second-floor level. Stevie and Jimmy were sleeping up there.

  I slung the ropes over my shoulder, clipped the plate to the harness, and chalked up while Duwayne spread the crashpad. This would be the hard part, the first part, the free climbing. Duwayne studied my equipment, making sure everything was in place. My feet sank comfortably into the foam of the crashpad. I dug into the first handhold and began the climb. Slow and steady. One limb at a time. Plan ahead. Stay centered. I used the inside edge of my left shoe and found a good foothold on top of a slab of rock that formed a foundation for the brick. Fingers bent at the middle joint, thumb pressing hard over the index finger to make the grip strong. One more inside-edge foothold where the bricks were broken, and I wrapped my fingers around a window bar. Just in time. The ropes slung over my head and shoulders felt like they weighed a hundred pounds. I hauled up, and I peered in.

  I was looking into the little living room, where Amy had slept on the convertible sofa before she ran away with me and got jailed on the third floor behind the locked gate. No one was there. The room was empty. I needed good luck today and this was it.

  One of my ropes was already clipped to my harness. I looped it around the bars of the window and lowered it to Duwayne. He attached it to the plate and clipped that to his own harness. I was on belay.

  I still needed a way to get higher. I needed help. That’s what I had tried to tell Amy the night before. Climbing up this far I’d had good holds in the old stone, but above me now there was only yellow brick. There were ridges between the bricks, but the wall was straight up. If I tried to climb it, I would fall. If I had a rope to hang on to, I could do it. I needed Amy.

  Bracing my feet against the wall, I held to the bar, dug into my pocket with the other hand, and pulled out a pebble. I tossed it up toward Amy’s window.

  I must have missed. Tom Egan could have done it, I thought. Better yet, Duwayne, because it was more like a hook shot than a fastball over the plate, but for me this wasn’t easy. I shifted the ropes to my left shoulder. I tossed another pebble up, harder this time, and overshot.

  The next shot struck home. And the next. The pebbles flew through Amy’s open window.

  I waited a full minute more, and then, pale and sleepy-looking, she leaned out, staring down at me, wide-eyed.

  “Billy!”

  “Shhh.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Come to get you.”

  “How’d you get up there?”

  “I climbed. I told you I’d do it.”

  “You told me what? Hey, you know you hit me with a rock? I was asleep. It hit me in the ear.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Great shot, I thought. Perfect. This was working just the way I’d planned it.

  “You’re not bleeding, are you, Amy?”

  “No, but it kind of shocked me.”

  “It was only a pebble. I wanted to let you know I was here. I said I was coming. Yesterday I said it. With my friend Duwayne. I said at first light.”

  “You said what?”

  “Amy, I can’t shout, I don’t want to wake anyone. I can’t do this alone. You have to help me. Okay?”

  “How?”

  “I’ll tell you.”

  “Well, okay.”

  She didn’t sound very enthusiastic.

  I told her what I wanted her to do. It was called toproping. And I wanted her to hurry, because I was getting tired hanging on to the bars. The trouble was, the bars didn’t feel as strong as I’d hoped. They felt loose in the concrete they’d been set into when the old jail had been built.

  I got a good grip on one of the ropes and reached it up to her, and she reached down for it. But not quite far enough. She couldn’t grab hold of it.

  “Can you lean out more, Amy?”

  “I’ll fall.”

  “Is there something you can hang onto with your other hand?”

  “There’s a bed. My bed. An iron bed.”

  “Cool. Make sure you hold tight.”

  I didn’t want her leaning out so far that she fell on my head and got us both killed.

  She leaned out and down, got her fingers on the rope, and pulled it up.

  “Awesome. Now, here’s what you do.” I told her to pull her bed snug up against the window, slowly and as quietly as she could, try not to scrape the legs on the floor, then loop the rope around the leg of the bed and lower the end of the rope to me.

  “Can you do that?”

  She did it. I clipped the loose end of the rope to my harness along with the other end, gave it a slow tug, and when it was almost taut, so that I still had slack, I climbed the wall. It wasn’t far, but my blood was beating bongos in my ears.

  I wriggled in through the window and into Amy’s room.

  There was nothing in that room except a single cot with iron legs, around one of which my rope was tightly looped, and a bridge table, a cardboard box with clothes in it, a basin, a pitcher full of water, and a chamberpot. And Amy.

  “Billy, I can’t believe you got up here.”

  Neither could I now that I was there. “Amy, this is terrible. This is a prison cell.”

  “Gross, isn’t it?”

  “It’s like The Count of Monte Cristo. And The Man in the Iron Mask, except you’re not being tortured. How could he do this to you?”

  “He’s punishing me.”

  “For running away?”

  “And for the other.”

  “What other?”

  “You know.”

  “No, I don’t. What other?”

  “Come on, Billy.”

  I understood. I lost my breath for a few seconds. I felt myself flushing. “You told him?”

  “Yeah. I was pissed off at him.”

  “But — you—”

  “And he kept asking me if we did it. So I told him, yeah, we did it.”

  I couldn’t think about that now. “Amy, we’re getting out of here.”

  “How?”

  “Down the rope. The way I came up.”

  “No way.”

  “You can do it, believe me. I’ll show you.”

  “No.”

  “Don’t be scared.”

  “But I am scared. And what then? Billy, what do you want to do?”

  “I told you. I have a plan. Listen.”

  I explained it all to her.

  Amy frowned. “But that’s the same as the last time.”

  “Yes, except now I won’t tell my parents where we are. And I’ll only e-mail them. You can’t dig an e-mail out of the garbage. Amy, you said you’d do it.”

  “Did I?”

  “Are you telling me you want to stay with him? That you want to go to Florida?”

  “No,” she said, “except… what’s so terrible about Florida? He says it’s nice. He says he won’t lock me up down there.”

  She didn’t get it. Or maybe it was me who didn’t get it.

  “He’ll ruin your life, Amy. You’ll never grow up right. Don’t you see that? This is your last chance.”

  She began to shake. I held her in my arms. My clips and ropes and harness all got in the way, but it didn’t matter. She needed to shake and cry and she needed someone to lean against while she did it. She cried low, soft sobs; now and then a shudder. I began to worry about the time. The sun had risen. The sky was turning from pearly gray to blue. But she needed to cry and I didn’t have the heart to stop her.

  When she stopped, I said, “I have all your stuff in the car. Your clothes. And your frog pen. And your camera. And those dumb lips.”

  “They’re not dumb,” she said.

  “You’re right. Not dumb. I’m sorry. Put this harness on. You step into it. See?”

  I showed her. She let me cinch it on her and clip on the ropes.

  “Don’t be scared, Amy. It’s safe, as long
as you hang on to this rope. Duwayne and I will lower you down. It’s not hard.”

  She let me do it. She was brave. You have to be brave if you’ve never been in a harness before, and you’re on your first belay. “It’s a good idea to look up, not down,” I cautioned.

  I signaled to Duwayne, and he signaled back. Between the two of us, we lowered Amy to the ground. Not a murmur from her. Then I went down after her.

  Halfway down, I heard the sound of feet pattering on dirt, and then fat Daisy came waddling around the corner of A-1 Storage, with a frightened-looking Pablo trailing behind.

  Daisy stopped short as soon as she got close to Duwayne, who told me later: “I gave it a look, man. I gave it The Look, like my old man gives to me. That dog chilled out quick.”

  Daisy didn’t attack, but she began to growl through clenched teeth. Not really loud, but apparently it was loud enough.

  A minute later, just as my feet touched the ground, the blare of the horn of Duwayne’s car split the silence of the dawn.

  Chapter 38

  I could narrate what happened next, but it might be clearer to quote from the transcript of the fact-finding inquiry in the Family Court. I’ll just do bits of it — you wouldn’t want to read the whole transcript. Trials are boring, except for the parts that are terrifying.

  From the testimony of Mr. Patrick Finley, Athletic Director of East Hampton High School.

  MR. FINLEY: … I’ve seen the Braverman boy climb on the indoor wall at the school. He almost always climbs within his abilities. He’s not a hotdogger like some of the other boys. He’s a bright kid, but it doesn’t seem to me like intelligence is the issue here…

  … I’ve followed your instructions, your honor, and gone over the terrain out at this storage place. Climbing the wall the way the boy did it was definitely dangerous. It was reckless. You’d have to be an experienced climber to make that kind of ascent. If you’d asked me ahead of time, I would have said, “No, this boy can’t do that. He could never get up there. If he tries, he’ll fall and break his neck.”

  Well, I would have been wrong. He had the guts, and he proved he had the ability, at least on this occasion.

  Bringing the girl down wasn’t nearly as dangerous. The boy did all the right things. He put her in a harness and he attached the ropes properly, and the other youth, Williams, who’s a fine young athlete, was belaying. On the whole, of course, I wouldn’t say that bringing the girl down was as safe as crossing the street when the light’s green. But the Braverman boy took reasonable care.

  My conclusion? I know he’s a Jewish boy, but I’d have to say that Jesus was with him.

  From the direct examination of Amy Bedford by James C. Hull, Assistant District Attorney, Juvenile Division, County of Suffolk:

  MR. HULL: Amy, you’re under oath. You understand what that means?

  MISS BEDFORD: Yes, sir.

  Q: You’ve been interviewed before, by Ms. Dury, and by Mr. Fox, and by the court-appointed psychiatrist, Dr. Skurla. Those interviews were important, of course, but you weren’t under oath.

  MISS BEDFORD: Can I ask you something?

  Q: Yes, you may.

  MISS BEDFORD: What if you ask a question and I don’t want to answer it. Will I get in trouble if I don’t answer?

  Q: Well…

  THE COURT: I’ll comment on that.

  Amy, this is a Family Court proceeding, and you’re a minor child. No one can force you to answer a question. So the answer is no, you won’t get into trouble. If you were an adult, yes, you could get in trouble. But you’re a juvenile. However, I hope you’ll try to answer Mr. Hull’s questions, so that I can reach a proper decision in this matter, which is a very grave matter. A boy’s entire future is at risk. He’s the one in trouble, not you. Do you understand?

  MISS BEDFORD: Okay. I mean yes, sir.

  THE COURT: Mr. Hull, you may continue.

  MR. HULL: Thank you, your honor.

  MISS BEDFORD: I don’t want anyone to get in trouble.

  THE COURT: Amy, try to get it through your head that Billy Braverman is already in trouble. It’s not you who put him in trouble. He took care of that himself. The trouble will sort itself out. It always does. Your only obligation here in this court is to tell the truth.

  MISS BEDFORD: What if the truth gets Billy in more trouble?

  THE COURT: Amy, for acts, there are consequences. That’s the most important thing you’ll ever learn, so remember it.

  MISS BEDFORD: Okay, go ahead… your honor.

  From the cross-examination of Amy Bedford by counsel for the defense, Ginger A. Casey:

  MS. CASEY: First, Amy, let’s start with something easy. You first met Billy Braverman in school, isn’t that right?

  MISS BEDFORD: Right.

  Q: And did an incident occur on a school bus, where he tried to touch you in the area of your breast? And where you slapped his face?

  MISS BEDFORD: [laughter]

  Q: Why is that so funny?

  MISS BEDFORD: Because you don’t know Billy. He just tried to help me get on to the bus. Not my breast. I guess he grabbed my arm. In those days, I freaked when someone touched me. I always thought —

  Q: Yes?

  MISS BEDFORD: So I hit him. I did that, yeah. He didn’t deserve it. He —

  Q: Please go on.

  MISS BEDFORD: I got over that. Billy helped me to get over doing things like that.

  Q: … You’ve told the story of how you and Billy went off to New York City five days before the end of the school term this past June. I’d like to ask you some questions about that trip.

  MISS BEDFORD: Sure. Go ahead.

  Q: You told Mr. Hull that it was Billy’s idea that you and he go off to New York City. Isn’t that correct?

  MISS BEDFORD: Yeah, I guess it was basically Billy’s idea.

  Q: But Billy didn’t force you to go with him, did he?

  MISS BEDFORD: No way.

  Q: Did he pay you any money?

  MISS BEDFORD: He gave me forty dollars. Mad money.

  Q: Did he give you presents?

  MISS BEDFORD: We bought clothes at Macy’s, because we’d lost our suitcases in the railway station. And he bought me glasses so I could read better.

  Q: Do you mean prescription reading glasses?

  MISS BEDFORD: Right. He figured out that that’s why I wasn’t reading, because I needed glasses.

  Q: Were you grateful to him for that?.

  MISS BEDFORD: Absolutely. Until then I was a quarter blind.

  Q: Did Billy seem to expect anything in return?

  MISS BEDFORD: Oh, I think he sort of expected that I would try and speak better English. Like, not say “like” and “goes” all the time. He was always at me about that.

  Q: That’s all he expected from you?

  MISS BEDFORD: Well, I think he expected that I would read books and not watch so much wrestling and dumb stuff on TV.

  Q: You’ve admitted being intimate with Billy. I’m sorry to be so formal. We’re in court, and I have to use these words. He penetrated your vagina with his penis, didn’t he?

  MISS BEDFORD: Right.

  Q: Did he force you in any way when he penetrated your vagina with his penis?

  MISS BEDFORD: It was sort of the other way round.

  Q: You mean it was you who forced Billy?

  MISS BEDFORD: Not exactly forced. He didn’t say no. But… it was my idea.

  Q: You mean that you suggested it and he agreed?

  MISS BEDFORD: Not exactly.

  Q: Well, if that wasn’t exactly what happened, please tell us exactly what did happen.

  MISS BEDFORD: I was stoned. We were both stoned. I jumped on top of him.

  Q: So that he could penetrate you?

  MISS BEDFORD: Now you got it.

  Q: Billy had an erection?

  MISS BEDFORD: Sure. That’s the only way you can do it. It was a boiling hot night. New York is really hot. He took off his clothes because it was so hot. Me, too. And we
were really stoned.

  Q: Both of you.

  MISS BEDFORD: Absolutely.

  Q: What did you smoke? Did you smoke something or sniff something?

  MISS BEDFORD: Smoke. I bought some dope. Marijuana. The best, from Humboldt County, California. Billy didn’t know I’d bought it until I showed it to him. I said, “Come on, try it, it won’t hurt you.” He didn’t want to, but I made him. We smoked it, and I got a little crazy. I thought I was going to die — freeze to death. Billy got me warm. He talked me out of freezing. He saved my life.

  Q: And then?

  MISS BEDFORD: I told you, I jumped on him.

  Q: Are you saying you had sex with him because you were grateful that he saved your life?

  MISS BEDFORD: I was grateful. But I did it because he was my friend. I wanted to make him happy. I thought that would make him happy.

  Q: Would that life were so simple. And did it make him happy?

  MISS BEDFORD: Hard to say.

  [The court reviewed Miss Bedford’s prior statements to Suffolk County CPS Case Workers Dury and Fox, relative to an invasive shoulder injury received by the witness in October of the previous year, and to a recent report filed with CPS by the respondent, William R. Braverman.]

  THE COURT: Miss Bedford, I believe you know what Billy Braverman says in that report to Child Protective Services. He claims you told him that your father had done certain things to you that he should not have done. Intimate things. Sexual things. Amy, do you understand what I mean?

  MISS BEDFORD: Yes.

  THE COURT: Did you tell those things to Billy that he talks about in his report?

  MISS BEDFORD: Yes.

  THE COURT: You told him that your father, Carter Bedford, had done intimate, sexual things to you?

  MISS BEDFORD: [inaudible]

  THE COURT: Please speak up, Miss Bedford.

  MISS BEDFORD: Yeah, I did.

  THE COURT: You did tell him. You told Billy.

  MISS BEDFORD: Yes.

  THE COURT: And what you told Billy, was it true? Was it true that your father did those things to you?

  [The witness did not answer for a period of about a minute.]

  THE COURT: Please answer the question. Did your father do those things to you?

  MISS BEDFORD: If I say yes, will that help Billy, or will it hurt him?