After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 74

June 17, 1993. 4:48 PM.

Ralph Langley presently sat in the fifth row on the left aisle of Courtroom 4, anxiety running through his veins like a drug. Barnes' case against Rapper was well underway. The prosecutor spent the first Friday and Monday pushing the physical evidence and placing Rapper at the scene before introducing the witnesses who spoke to his behavior during the rescue efforts. Ralph had no doubt that Barnes would succeed at convincing the jury of Rapper's involvement. He was at the front of the pack that killed Simon, along with Jack and Roger. If his character didn't prove that, the amount of Simon's blood on his stick would.

On Tuesday, Barnes had portions of the tapes played from the Flag State interviews again. Surprisingly, most of the tapes played were of little ones who were asked about the relationships between the other boys on the island. Not knowing it was supposed to be a secret, many of the little ones shared with the interviewers that Jack, Roger, and Rapper were thick as thieves on the island. They had no clue that they were incriminating the three older boys. The interviews proved that Rapper ran closely with Jack and Roger, and participated in their cruel antics from early after the crash up until the rescue.

On Wednesday, Barnes started pulling records of disciplinary reports against Rapper. His rap sheet wasn't nearly as long as Roger's was, but Rapper Jones was no angel, not before or on the island.

In time, teachers, principals, and other authority figures took the stand to share stories of having to talk to Rapper repeatedly about his behavior. He was a class clown, constantly making a joke out of everything. He picked on other kids. He deliberately distracted students around him at the academy when teachers were talking. There wasn't much a stern talking to or a trip down to the principal's office could do to improve Rapper's behavior.

Although, what separated Rapper from Roger was the fact that Rapper didn't make a habit of resorting to violence. Only two of the dozen reports against him included elements of physical violence. Unless provoked to his breaking point, Rapper was never much more than frequently disrespectful and unkind. He was a bully without a doubt, an instigator and a button pusher. He had little respect for authority, and had almost no interest in learning or his grades.

One crucial thing Barnes was able to prove about Rapper was that he wanted to fit in, to belong to the crowd, to stay as far away from the outside as possible. He needed to have friends like Jack and Roger, to be accepted by the popular, strong, and intimidating kids; the kind that decided who was in and who was out. Falling in with Jack and Roger on the island made perfect sense, so much so that even Rapper's own mother couldn't deny that he would've aligned himself with alpha males like them.

Former classmates took the stand and made allegations against Rapper for bullying them back in elementary school. And to the surprise of the court, Barnes brought in current classmates of the now eighth grader who reluctantly admitted that Rapper still made friends by picking on them, by making them the butt of cruel jokes. Barnes argued that the boy's learned nothing from the events of the island, that killing Simon and watching Piggy die hasn't had any real impact on the development of his character.

Rapper's younger brother was the only member of his immediate family Barnes didn't call upon. The youngest Jones boy was merely eight years old when his eleven-year-old brother disappeared on that flight in 1990. Barnes didn't think it wise to jeopardize her own rapport with the jury by forcing a ten-year-old to speak ill of the big brother he looks up to.

Ralph was surprised that Rapper's parents weren't all that keen on trying to deflect blame away from their son. His father sat up in the witness stand and told the court that they believe in accountability. Mr. Ronnell Jones explained that he encouraged his son to make amends by doing the right thing and admitting that he made a mistake. The boy entered a not guilty plea on the basis of self defense back in October of 1992, but the Jones family made no effort to outright deny his involvement in what happened to Simon. Barnes called it admirable, and insisted that the Bennett family will appreciate their honesty and integrity. Still, Rapper's parents did insist that he had a good heart and would never have participated in killing Simon if he had known. He was only defending himself against a perceived threat. He was never a violent kid, and never would've hurt Simon on purpose. But hurt him he did, and for that the family was publicly remorseful.

On the afternoon of June 17th 1993, Barnes concluded her case against Rapper. His close connection to both Roger and Jack did unfortunate damage to his case, making his defense relatively weaker than the other boys who merely attacked in self-defense. But still, compared to others like Roger Conroy, Rapper looked pretty decent.

The days in June felt rather long for Ralph and the Langley family. They started arriving at the courthouse half an hour before than they did earlier that spring, and staying almost an hour later everyday. Rapper was number fourteen on the roster. Ralph was not far behind him at number sixteen. Given how close Barnes was getting to introducing her case against Ralph, the family was forced to spend a lot more time preparing before and after court.

Jeffery could clearly see how the progression of time was affecting his son. Ralph was growing more and more anxious with each passing day. Before June hit, Ralph spoke confidently about his own case. His lawyer, Zoey Berman, was confident too. Ralph had something going for him that the other boys didn't; the absence of his DNA on a hunting stick used to kill Simon. Earlier in the trial, that was a great comfort to Ralph. But now, as they were only a couple weeks away from his turn in the spotlight, the things that used to comfort him were less comforting.

At the end of the day on the 17th, Zoey met with the Langley family in a deliberation room inside the Chatham County Juvenile Courthouse, as usual.

"Okay" Zoey began with a tired sigh, "so as you heard today, the prosecution has concluded its presentation of their case against Rapper Jones. Tomorrow, she will introduce the DNA fingerprinting report on the roster's fifteenth defendant; Maurice Kent. Given that Maurice is your age and was one of the boys who ran with Roger and Jack, his case will probably take about two weeks. After that--"

"Its me" Ralph finished for her.

"Yes" Zoey gently confirmed, as Laurie took her son's shaky hand from where she sat to his right. "Remember, she won't have evidence of a stick with the deceased's blood on it matching your DNA fingerprinting report from the Virginia hospital."

"So what will she have?" Jeffery interjected to ask.

"She will argue that the stick was lost or disposed of somehow. She may even go as far as to say that Ralph disposed of it to get rid of the evidence---"

"But I didn't! I wouldn't do that" Ralph defensively cut in again to argue.

"We know, Ralph" Zoey gently agreed. "And your character witnesses will share testimony that supports that. You have no pattern or even a history at all of lying or acting out. We can disprove Barnes' theory that you would deliberately get rid of evidence. Right now, its her story. But when our turn comes along, you will take the stand and the jury will be able to get an idea of who you are just in the time that you're up there. You're clearly a good kid, Ralph, I saw that as soon as I met you. And the jurors will see it too."

Ralph nodded weakly as he stared aimlessly ahead of him at the table. Laurie rubbed his hand gently, a gesture that didn't provoke a reaction from him. Both parents could see that he was scared to death now that it was getting closer and becoming more real. It hurt their hearts knowing that there was nothing they could do to stop it from happening, or even to make it easier. All they could do was weather the storm, and hope to see a rainbow at the end.