*
The bailiff announced Lilly's name, and she walked into the courtroom, down the aisle of the gallery, through the swinging gate, and to the witness box with the air of confidence and sophistication. She had Susie's long, auburn hair, but it was curly, not wavy like Susie's. She wore it in a high ponytail and tendrils of curls popped out around her face. Her green eyes were huge, shaped like almonds, and she had beautiful lips that were full without being overly large. She had Susie's nose, although it could have been Rodney's, too because his was narrow and regal.
Luke asked Lilly all the typical questions about name, age, where she lived, what she majored in at LSU. She answered clearly and looked at the jury when she told them she was going to be a doctor so she could save people who were shot, like her parents.
Luke set up the wedding and how Lilly was the first one out of the church behind her parents.
"What did you see?" Luke scratched the side of his face and ran his hand through his hair.
"When I walked out, I saw a flash out of the window of an old blue truck. I saw the truck speed off, and my parents fall to the ground, which was actually a concrete porch."
"What else did you see?"
"There was blood everywhere. On Susie's face, on the concrete. I didn't know who was bleeding, whether both of them had been shot." Her eyes grew to the size of silver dollars, but she held back her tears.
"How did you know someone had been shot?" Luke put his hands behind his back to act casual and help Lilly to relax.
"I heard the shots and saw my parents fall."
"You heard shots? How many?"
"Two."
"Did you see anyone in the truck?"
"Not clear enough to identify them, but there was a man with sandy blonde hair and a goatee." She glanced at the defense table, and I watched a shadow fall over her eyes, then it disappeared when she looked back at Luke. "His hair looked shaggy and unkempt. The driver had dark hair, but I only saw the side of his head."
After a few more questions, Luke tendered the witness, and Perkins walked to the podium. He made small talk with Lilly and asked her simple question, then he got serious.
"How could you see a flash and a blue truck if your parents were in front of you." Perkins stood on the side of the podium with his feet about a yard apart, hands on his hips. "Didn't they block your view?"
"I can't tell you exactly; you'll have to ask my dad, but it seems like they moved, and I had a clear view of the truck."
"Have you seen pictures of my client in newspapers or on television?" Perkins spoke softly and respectfully. I had heard Luke warn Lilly that Perkins would do that to set her up, build her trust then go for the kill.
"Yes, when they were first arrested." She sat with her hands in her lap. "Do you think you might believe the person you saw that day looked like my client because you saw the pictures, not because you actually saw him?" Perkins’s voice raised a little.
"That's possible, except that I have continued dreams, you could call them nightmares, and I can see the guy." She looked directly at Perkins as though he didn't intimidate her in the least.
"Is it possible that the dreams are clear because of the pictures in the newspapers?"
"Actually the person in my dreams is not clear." Lilly paused and thought for a few seconds. "I can't see the man's face or make out features in my dreams. And I can't look at your client and say, with complete certainty, that he is the person I saw that day, although he has similar features." Lilly's last sentence threw Perkins off, and I watched Luke bend down and say something to Peter Swan.
*
The State called Susie Burton Thibault to the stand. Susie looked like a beauty pageant contestant: exceptionally stunning and regal, with long strawberry blonde hair that leaned towards red, huge blue-gray eyes, and alabaster skin. Her eyelashes were so long and thick that they touched her eyebrows when she looked up. Besides her face, her best assets are her legs, long and shapely with thin ankles, which contribute to her five-foot-eight-inch height.
When she walked into the courtroom, there was a gasp in the gallery. She was dressed in a royal blue, two-piece suit with a skirt that touched the tops of her knees and a white silk blouse that had a cravat type front. She wore nude low heels and carried a matching leather bag. She followed the bailiff, took the oath, and sat in the witness stand. The courtroom was so quiet I could hear some sort of insect buzzing near the ceiling.
Luke asked Susie all the set-up questions and dove into what she saw on her wedding day. She said almost the same thing Lilly had testified to: an old blue truck, a guy with a goatee and sandy blonde hair, a driver with dark hair.
"I saw a flash in the passenger's window as though the sun glanced off a metal object. Then there were popping sounds, and I heard Lilly scream." Susie did not blink or shift her eyes from Luke as she spoke. The jurors were riveted.
"What else do you remember?" Luke knew what she would say because they had practiced several times.
"I remember feeling Rodney on top of me." She closed her eyes as though the memory was difficult to talk about. Lilly squeezed my hand, and I put my arm over her shoulder. "I remember a warm liquid running down my face and into my hair, and I opened my eyes and saw that it was blood, and that it came from Rodney. I thought he was dead, but when I closed my eyes and concentrated, I felt his heartbeat against my chest. It wasn't very strong, but I knew he was alive. Then everything went black."
"What's the next thing you remember?"
"I sort of remember lying on my back with seat belts around me and feeling my head pound as I was pushed on something that dipped and plunged into holes. I heard the crunching of gravel and footsteps." Her voice was clear but riddled with emotions. I looked at the defense table, and even Thevenot and his two lawyers were captivated by Susie's testimony. "I remember trying to scream, but no sounds came out of my mouth. Lilly was begging someone to let her inside the place they'd put me. I later discovered it was an ambulance. She held my hand, and everything went black again."
"Do you remember anything else?"
"Pain." She automatically put her hand to the back of her head, her eyebrows raised, and furrows appeared across her forehead. "So much pain; I could feel my eyes bulge and fill with tears. Pounding pain." She put her hands back in her lap and looked up at Luke, her expression back to normal.
Luke asked her about her transfer to Ochsner, her recovery, physical and occupational therapy. She talked about being in a wheelchair, then a walker. She explained about how wonderful it was to be in the same hospital as Rodney because as soon as she got into a wheelchair, she could go to visit him twice a day. She looked happy and grateful to be alive and to have Rodney and Lilly with her.
"Are you angry with whoever did this?" Luke had been building up to this question, and I knew he and Susie had talked about it.
"Yes, I was plenty angry at first; especially when I thought I would lose Rod." She looked serious and contemplative, then she began to smile, slowly, at first. "And I wanted someone to find out who did it. Thankfully, my younger sister took that on, and here we are. Once we have some closure, and now that I know Rodney will survive, we will all be grateful and ready to move on with our lives."
"I tender this witness, Your Honor."
"Mr. Perkins?" The judge looked at John Perkins, who leaned back in his chair, engrossed in Susie's testimony. He temporarily got lost in her charm and generous spirit and was stymied. I wanted to laugh because I was amazed that he had lost his composure after being such a hard-ass through the entire trial.
Perkins sat up, looked at the judge, glanced at his partner, and rose.
"Judge, would you give us a few minutes?"
The judge called for a ten-minute recess and told Susie she could remain in the witness chair or leave the room for ten minutes. She chose to leave so she could check on Rodney. Luke followed her out of the room, and I was sure he would go over some of the questions Perkins m
ight ask her.
When the trial resumed, Perkins walked to the podium and placed his legal pad on the surface. He asked Susie if she was sure of the description of the person she saw and she said almost the same things Lilly had said.
"But you saw a gun; your daughter didn't mention seeing a gun." Perkins was grasping at anything to discredit Susie, but he didn't know he was up against a brilliant, composed, thoughtful woman.
"No sir, I didn't say I saw a gun." She sat back in the chair, her legs crossed, her hands in her lap. "I said I saw sunlight glance off metal. I couldn't say what the object was."
"Would the clerk read back Mrs. Thibault's statement about what she saw?" Perkins looked at the judge and he nodded to his stenographer, who pulled up a ream of paper that looked like a wide roll of adding machine tape. She found the section and read.
"I saw a flash in the passenger's window as if the sun glanced off a metal object. Then there were popping sounds, and I heard Lilly scream."
"Thank you." Perkins wrote something on his pad and paused. Susie never took her eyes off him. "I have no further questions, Your Honor."
"Redirect, Mr. McMath."
"No, Your Honor."
"Thank you, Mrs. Thibault." The judge looked at Susie and smiled a wide smile as though to communicate how much he admired her testimony as well as her beauty. I'd seen untold numbers of men look at Susie that way through the years, but she never noticed. "You will not be called again, and you are free to remain in the courtroom if you like."
"Thank you, Your Honor." She stepped down from the witness stand, smiled at the jurors, and walked towards the gallery. She nodded and smiled at Perkins, then at Luke. She saw Lilly sitting with me and winked, then she walked out of the courtroom.
*
"The State calls Major Rodney Thibault." Luke stood up and looked towards the courtroom door. The bailiff repeated Rodney's announcement, the courtroom door opened, and Susie pushed Rodney's wheelchair into the gallery, through the gate, and parked it in front of the witness stand. The bailiff brought a stand-up microphone and put it on the side of Rodney's chair. Susie secured the brakes on the wheelchair, kissed him on the cheek, and came to sit with Lilly and me.
Luke was respectful of Rodney, called him Major, thanked him for his service to his country, and asked whether he was comfortable. Rodney smiled constantly, his eyes a-twinkle, almost like Santa Claus, and his demeanor was calm and respectful. He was a gorgeous man—huge, hazel eyes with green specks that danced in the light's reflection. He wore his hair short, but it wasn't nappy, more curly like Lilly's. His skin was light; people in Louisiana referred to his race as Mulatto, a mixture of white French and African American. Both of Rodney's grandfathers were white and Rodney's dad, Ray, was very light skinned.
Rodney wore a dark suit, white shirt, and red tie with tiny white dots. He had an American flag pinned on his lapel.
Luke went through Rodney's service in the army, and his retirement in May, 1984, just before his wedding. He asked Rodney how he and Susie had met, how long they'd known each other, and some of their history.
"The first time I met Susie was at my dad's gas station." He looked into the gallery at Susie and smiled. "She was in her father's car when he pulled in to get gas. He went into the office to talk to my dad, and I filled his car up. When I washed the windshield, I talked to her. I was only sixteen, but I think I fell in love with her then. I knew there was no hope for me to have a relationship with Susie Burton, but through the years we became friends, and fell in love. We tried everything to be together, but it was hopeless."
I watched the jury. Every one of them stared at Rodney without blinking. They were mesmerized by his story and his delivery. He was soft spoken but intelligent and had a gentle masculinity about him. There's something humbling about a man who will admit to the whole world how much he loves a woman.
Luke asked Rodney probing questions, and he explained how the Klan had tried the kill his dad and burned down their family home when Rodney was seventeen. He said that, ten years later, they hung his brother in a tree, that Jeffrey almost died, and that it took two years for him to recover completely. Rodney described how a group of men he called a "posse" had kidnapped him in Baton Rouge, but he was saved by state troopers who stopped the kidnappers for speeding. He described the weeks he spent hiding in Jackson, Mississippi, unable to call Susie, who waited for him to show up in Washington DC to marry her. He said he finally gave up and went home and was drafted into the army.
"How much time passed before you and Susie got back together again?" Luke asked.
"Another ten years." He looked at Susie again and smiled. Several of the jurors followed his gaze. "That was when I found out about Lilly, our daughter."
Luke let Rodney explain how he'd visited Susie in New York after she turned eighteen and how it was the first and only time they'd made love. He told how Susie didn't tell him about the baby, how she allowed a mixed-race couple to adopt Lilly, and how he'd met his daughter when she was fourteen.
"It was the most amazing day of my life to that point." He looked at Lilly and winked. Again, the jurors followed his glance and saw Lilly break into a smile and wink back at her dad. I had chill bumps and presumed everyone else did, too.
Luke finally moved on to the shooting and asked Rodney if he knew the defendant.
"Sure," Rodney looked at Thevenot, nodded and looked back at Luke. "Know Tucker… since high school."
"Would you say you two are friends?" Luke asked.
"No. Tucker … not the kind …person …friends with, uh, colored person." Rodney looked at Thevenot again.
"Object, Your Honor." Perkins stood up. "How would the witness know what kind of person the defendant is, especially after admitting they aren't friends?"
"Mr. McMath?"
"Your Honor, I'll ask the defendant how he would know that." Luke looked at Perkins, and then at the judge.
"Okay, but tread lightly, Mr. McMath." DeYoung looked at Perkins. "Overruled at this time."
"How do you know how the defendant feels about black people, Major?"
"Well, he was part of … posse tried to keep me… get to… Susie, uh, New York." Rodney spoke clearly but stopped every now and then to choose his words. His brain was still a bit slow in telling his mouth what his mind was thinking. "I saw him on train to… Memphis. The one I jumped from."
"Where else have you seen Mr. Thevenot?"
"He came to my dad's gas station, uh, a lot… in high school and college." Rodney picked up his knee by putting both hands under it and lifted, then moved it a few inches so his foot could land in a different place on the footrest of the wheelchair. He repeated it with the other leg.
"Your Honor, this witness is tired. It's six o'clock, and he's been testifying for three hours." Luke looked from Rodney to the judge. "I wonder whether we could stop now and pick this up in the morning."
"Do you have any objections, Mr. Perkins?"
"No, Your Honor." Perkins didn't stand up. He looked more exhausted than Rodney.
"Then we will adjourn until, uhm, let's say eight thirty in the morning." DeYoung banged his gavel and left the room.
Chapter Sixteen
***
Testify
LUKE SHOOK ROD'S hand and was talking to him where he sat in his wheelchair in front of the witness stand. I caught Luke's arm as he turned to walk towards his table.
"Can we please talk? I won't take much of your time." I looked up at him, and I knew, for the first time, that I loved this man.
He let out a deep breath of resignation. "Okay. I guess." He didn't move. "Where to?"
"My place?" I looked up at him, and our eyes finally met. There was a magnetism and an electricity in that stare.
He grinned, and I saw the old Luke in his eyes, the one who was not so caught up in the trial, the one who loved and protected me. I stood still, as though by moving towards the door, it might give him a reason to change
his mind.
He led me out of the courtroom with his hand on the small of my back, which made goose bumps gather on the back of my neck and the tops of my legs. I went down the stairs in front of him and felt his body heat behind me. He took my hand as we crossed the street and continued to hold it when he opened my car door for me. He was standing so close that I couldn't get to the door, so I stood still until he moved aside. I got the impression he was playing with me, or trying to remind himself why he had agreed to go home with me.
The driveway at Susie's house was full of cars, and I knew Rodney's family and Tootsie, and some of her family were at Susie's for dinner. I was invited, too. Luke followed me up the stairs on the outside of the garage to my apartment. He stood near the island and took off his suit coat and tie, unbuttoned a couple of buttons at the neck of his shirt, and sat on one of the bar stools.
"Wouldn't you be more comfortable in the club chair or on the sofa?" I poured bourbon into a glass of ice and set it in front of him, then poured myself some white wine.
"Let me get this first one down, then maybe I can move." He took a long pull on his drink. "It's been a long day, a long week; actually it's been a grueling month."
"I'm going to call Susie and tell her I won't be there for dinner." I went to the phone on the kitchen wall and called next door. Lilly answered, and when I told her I wasn't coming, she sounded disappointed. When I hung up, Luke asked me to play the piano for him.
"Anything special?" I got up and went to the piano, which faced the living room, and I sat on the bench where he couldn't see me unless he stood up.
"How about that Beethoven piece?" He sighed, and I played Beethoven's Emperor as though I were playing for a huge audience. I got lost in the music and didn't notice that he had gotten up and was standing at the back of the piano, looking at me. I stared at him while I finished the piece, then I patted the bench, and he came to sit next to me. I started to play My Girl, and he put his arm around my waist and sat very close to me, our thighs glued together.
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