Coach by Walt Sautter (most difficult books to read txt) đ
- Author: Walt Sautter
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âYesâ-replied Flash appearing to be relieved by the simplicity of the question.
âThank you. No more questions.
Your Honor, I would like to call Mr. John Crane,â announced Hartly.
The words shot through me like bullets. My knee felt weak as I lifted myself from the chair and approached the stand. I could feel the sweat break out across my forehead and under my armpits.
âMr. Crane, did you accompany Mr. White on the Mischief Night, October thirtieth of this year to Coach Carterâs house with the intent of playing a practical joke on the Coach?â
âYesâ I stammered.
âHave you heard the testimony of the witnesses about the evening?â
âYesâ I again stammered.
âDo you believe all their statements to be correct?â
âYes, but I donât believe Ricky, I mean Mr. White ever killed Coach. I just know he couldnât,â I spontaneously blurted.
I immediately heard the sharp crack of the gavel and the judgeâs voice.
âThatâs not the question and you are not to give opinions unless asked. Only facts are required,â he bellowed.
âYes sirâ I murmured in timid reply.
âNo more questionsâ said Hartly and he turned away from me towards the judge.
âMr. Gerity, do you care to cross examine the witness?â
âYes, thank you Your Honor.
I have a question for Mr. Crane.â
I sat fidgeting with the button on my shirt cuff, hoping that my question would the same as the one asked of the others. It was.
âMr. Crane, are all the statements made by you in this court correct and uncoerced?â asked Gerity.
âYesâ-I answered.
âThank you. No more questions.
Gerity then addressed the judge.
âI have no more cross examination Your Honorâ and he reseated himself.
âDo you have any additional witnesses, Mr. Hartly?â asked Somers.
âNo, Your Honor, I have no more witnesses at this timeâ Hartly rose and answered.
The judge then looked at his watch.
âAt this time we will conclude the dayâs session. Let me remind the witnesses and the jurors that they are to speak with no one about these matters.
Court will reconvene today at six oâclock.
Court is adjourned!â and with that he cracked the gavel.
Chapter 10
It sure didnât look like much of a defense, not to me anyway. Rickyâs lawyer hadnât even asked one question of the prosecutionâs witnesses except if they were telling the truth. What did he expect them to say, that they had lied?
Even the judge seemed to have been confused by Gerityâs questioning.
As I left the courthouse all I could do was hope that he had something better to offer at tomorrowâs hearing.
The next evening the firehouse and tent annex were again filled to capacity. Again, Judge Somers made his regal entrance at six oâclock sharp and the trial resumed.
âMr. Gerity, would you like to call your witnesses?â asked the judge.
âYes, thank you Your Honor. I call Mr. Richard White, the accused to the stand.â
Ricky arose, walked to the chair next to the judge and was sworn in.
âMr. White, did you kill Coach Carter?â
âNo, I did not,â asserted Ricky forcefully.
âDo you know who did?â
âNo!â
âDo you know of anyone who might have a reason to kill Coach Carter?â
âNo, most everybody I know liked Coach a lot.â
âDid that include you?â asked Gerity.
âI didnât really like him and I didnât really not like himâ answered Ricky.
âDid you go to Coach Carterâs house on Mischief Night to soap his windows as a Halloween prank?â
âYes I did.â
âDid you go alone?â
âNo, Beamy went with me.â
âBeamy?â
âJohn Craneâ Ricky answered.
âDid you soap the windows?â
âNo, we never got to do itâ
âWhy not?â asked Gerity.
Ricky paused for a moment and looked over at me.
âWe chickened out.â
âYou mean you got scared?â added Gerity.
âYeah, we got scared.â
âWere you wearing a hat that night?â
âI was always wearing my hat.â
âWhat kind of hat was it?â
âIt was my Cleveland Browns hat.â
âWhatâs so special about that hat?â asked Gerity.
âWell, thatâs my favorite team and Jim Brownâs my favorite player, so I always wear that hat to show thatâ, replied Ricky enthusiastically.
âDid you have the hat when you left Coachâs house that night?â
âIâm not sure.â
âWhat happened after you left the house?â
âWe started walkinâ back to town. Flash, I mean Mr. Wheeler drove us up there but he wouldnât wait, so we hadda walk backâ explained Ricky.
âSo you walked all the way back?â
âNo! When we was about a quarter way back, Moose, I mean Mr. Marvich picked us up and drove us back.â
âDid you have your hat when he picked you up?â
âI thought I did. I donât know.â
âWhen you got back to town, what happened then?â
âWe kinda hung around Snookieâs for a while and then we rode with Mr. Wheeler for a while.â
âDid you have the hat then?â
âNo. Thatâs when I realized I lost it. I looked all over the back of the car and I couldnât find it,â answered Ricky excitedly.
âYou didnât know you lost it until then?â
âNo. With all the excitement of running away from Coachâs house and all I didnât even know it was gone.â
âYou know that Coach Carter was killed on the Sunday afternoon of November twenty seventh, right?â asked Gerity.
âYes.â
âWhere were you at that time?â
âI was where I always am on Sunday afternoon during football. I was home listeninâ to the Browns on the radio.â
âWho was with you?â
âNobody, just me.â
âWhat about your mother and father?â
âMy mama goes to the church on Sunday and Dad, heâs no Brownâs fan like me. He goes down to Haroldâs Place to watch the Giants on TV. Our TVâs been broke for about a month now, a tube or somethinâ, so heâs goes there.â
âWhat about your brother? Was he around?â
âHeâs little. He goes over his friend Jasonâs house on Sundays and Jason comes over to our house on Saturdays.â
âSo you were there by yourself most of the afternoon?â
âYeah, thatâs right,â answered Ricky.
âThank you Mr. White. Thatâs all.â
âMr. Hartly, would you like to question the defendant?â announced the judge.
âYes, Your Honorâ as he walked towards Ricky still seated in the witness chair.
âMr. White, when you and Mr. Crane went to Coach Carterâs house on Mischief Night did you witness anything that caused you to have animosity against the Coach?â
âWhat does that mean?â asked Ricky.
âDid you see anything that made you hate Coach Carter?â
âHate? No not hate himâ, Ricky answered.
âWell, what did you see?â
Ricky glanced over at Gerity for an instant and then replied.
âIâd rather not say.â
âYouâve got to say young man,â the judge ordered.
A long silence filled the room.
âI saw him doinâ queer stuff with one of the guys in his basement.â
A loud gasp issued loudly from crowd.
Suddenly, a man stood up in the audience, red faced, with spittle spraying from his lips as he shouted.
âThatâs bullshit!
Thatâs bullshit!
Thatâs a lie!
Coach is in his grave because of you and now youâre calling him a fag!
We ought to hang you right now!â
Then another jumped up, equally enraged.
âCoachâs wasnât no queer!
He wasnât no queer just cause some nigger kid that killed him says soâ he yelled.
The gavel pounded incessantly while the cops wrestled the two men from the court and within a few minutes, the crowd quieted.
âMr. White, continue,â ordered the judge.
âWe saw it just when we were gonna soap the windows. When we saw that, we ran and never did soap any windows. We were scared,â answered Ricky in a low, almost inaudible voice.
Then he continued, âI didnât like what I saw but I didnât hate him. I just felt embarrassed and ashamed for him. Thatâs about all I can say.â
âEmbarrassed and ashamed enough to kill him if you had the chance?â
âI could never be a embarrassed or ashamed enough for no one to wanta kill âem.â
âWhat about the day when you went back to get the hat you had lost that night?â asked Hartly.
âI never went back to get no hat!â
âAccording to Mr. Marvich he picked you up the day of the murder walking down the road from the house towards townâ stated Hartly loudly.
âIf he picked up somebody that day, it wasnât me. I already said, I was home listeninâ to the Browns game on the radio.
Moose always use ta tell me he was a big Giants fan and they played that Sunday too. I know, cause like I said, my dad went to Haroldâs to watch the game. So why wasnât Moose watchinâ the game like he says he always did? Why would he be out drivinâ around like he said?â answered Ricky.
âIs it possible that he was listening to the game on his car radio? You told us that you listened to your game on the radio, didnât you, Mr. White?â questioned Hartly
âI been in Mooseâs car lots of times and his radio never works, only once in a while, and even then you canât hardly hear it. It keeps goinâ in an out. He wouldnât never take a chance on hearinâ the game on that, especially when it was a big game like the one that day against Green Bay.â
âSo youâre saying that Mr. Marvich isnât telling the truth?â responded Hartly.
âI know heâs not,â answered Ricky sharply.
âWhy would he lie about picking you up? He was your friend. Youâve ridden with him many times before hadnât you? He certainly couldnât have mistaken you for some else. Youâre one of the few colored kids around here.â
âI donât know why heâs lyinâ but he isâ came Rickyâs again sharp retort.
âWell, I donât think he is lying. Heâs got no reason to lie.
No more questions.
Thank you Your Honorâ said Hartly and he dismissed Ricky from the stand.
âMr. Gerity, your next witness please,â asked Judge Somer.
âYour Honor, my next witness could not be here today. He has agreed to travel a great distance to come testify for my client and there has been a delay in his arrival.
I beg the courtâs indulgence and ask that court be adjourned until tomorrow when he is sure to be here.â
âIs this witness vital to your clientâs defense Mr. Gerity?â asked the judge.
âMost vital!â he replied.
âIn light of that fact then, court will be adjourned until tomorrow at six oâclock.â
âA witness for Ricky coming from a âgreat distanceâ?â I thought to myself.
âI never heard of Ricky knowing anyone outside Highburg and Henderson Town except maybe a few people from the city. Even then, he had left the city when he was just four, so how many people could he know there and how could they possibly help his case?â
Again, I left the courtroom perplexed by the actions of Mr. Gerity but praying for his success.
Chapter 11
Six oâclock, the next evening and once again Judge Somers entered the courtroom to begin the third day of testimony.
âCourt is now in sessionâ he spoke and the gavel sounded.
âMr. Gerity, has your witness arrived?â
âYes, Your Honor and I will call him to the stand in a moment but first I would like to present to the court some additional evidence in behalf of Mr. Whiteâ and with that he stepped forward and handed a large manila envelope to the judge.
âYour Honor would you please examine the seal on the envelope and then its contents?â
Somers adjusted his glasses and carefully perused the seal.
âThis is the seal and signature of a notary dated the day before yesterday,â he announced as he read.
He
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