After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 33

December 17, 1992. 12:57 PM.

Nobody in the gallery of Courtroom 4 at the Chatham County Juvenile Courthouse was surprised that prosecutor Dana Barnes spent most of Thursday morning wrapping up the list of witnesses she had to testify to Captain Benson's good character.

After hearing from Benson's sister, only daughter, elderly mother, coworkers, friends, and just about everyone else in his inner circle, Ralph was certain that he knew Captain Benson far better now than he ever did when the man was alive. It was an eerie thought, really, to know someone better in death than you did in life. It felt to Ralph like the part of him that knew Captain Benson as just another authority figure in military uniform died out on the island with the man. And in that part's place grew a new part of himself; a part that knew a plethera of things he wasn't supposed to know. It made Ralph feel dirty, sneaky, like he invaded someplace he wasn't invited. Except, it wasn't a physical place he invaded but the intimate details of another person's life; a person who died under Ralph's watch.

Before court was dismissed for recess that morning, the last witness on Dana's list called to advocate for Captain Benson's moral character gave their testimony and underwent Jeremy Reynolds' brief cross-examination. Given that it was a close family friend of the Benson family, Reynolds didn't have much to ask him before Judge Eldeson adjourned the court for their usual one-hour noon recess.

Things were still tense between members of the Langley family, Laurie and Ralph especially. The latter felt conflicted about how to handle the situation. He knew that he probably owed both his parents a more formal apology for his actions over the past weekend, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. It wasn't that Ralph was afraid of his parents, or even that they wouldn't forgive him. What Ralph Langley was afraid of was that if he apologized to his mother first, he'd be the only one apologizing. Ralph worried that Laurie may not apologize for her actions on Sunday morning if he apologized first. So he waited. And waited, and waited, and waited. The tension betweened them remained as he wrestled with the conflict in his mind. He wrestled, and wrestled, and wrestled. All recess long.

The Langley family returned to the courtroom before one o'clock that afternoon, along with the other boys and their families. Ralph didn't know why he even bothered to look over to check on the Merridew family at this point. It had been almost two weeks since Evan stopped showing up. Ralph didn't know why he was expecting to see Evan with them next time they entered the courtroom.

Until he did realize why he was expecting it. If Laurie had been the one who left over what Ralph did, she surely would've been back by now. Ralph expected better of Evan because he expected better of his own parents, even when they weren't happy with him. No matter how many times Ralph was slapped in the face by the realization that Jack's life wasn't like his, he was still shocked by it. That's what privilege is, he considered as he stared up at the empty judge's bench in the last few minutes of the recess, the privilege of being surprised by domestic injustice; to be able to widen your eyes and drop your jaw when you hear about it instead of knowing what it's like to experience it.

"All rise" Ralph's train of thought was interrupted by the bailiff. On command, the whole room stood in perfect unison. It was starting to feel like a scene they'd been rehearsing everyday for weeks. And perhaps in a strange way, it kind of was.

After the usual post-recess proceedings were completed, the floor was turned over to Dana Barnes for the introduction of her next witness.

"The State of Georgia calls Ronald Bailey to the stand" Dana Barnes declared.

Ralph felt his heart spike at the sound of the Head Officer of Bainbridge Military Academy's name. It was the first witness called to testify whose name Ralph actually recognized with certainty; whose name he could immediately put to a face. All heads turned as the courtroom doors opened to allow the officer to enter down the aisle. It was always one of the most tense and quiet moments during court; the silent stare as the witness walked down the aisle, through the wooden gate, and up to the witness stand. This one was especially tense given that Ralph and every other defendant in the room knew this witness rather well.