After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 120

CONTENT WARNING: graphic description of trauma involving death. Paragraph will be marked with asterisks and the acronym (*CW*) for anyone who would prefer to skip.

November 19, 1993. 11:03 AM.

Ralph Langley anxiously bit down on his bottom lip as he kept his gaze glued intently on Jack Merridew. The latter sat upon the witness stand, and the primary defense attorney stood just outside it. So far, Jack's testimony day was going reasonably well. After the unproven accusation that was released into the air yesterday about the morning of the rescue, Ralph wasn't sure Jack's case would recover. But as the morning went on, hope began to climb its way back up to the forefront of his mind again.

Jeremy Reynolds spent the first hour and a half of Jack's testimony asking the latter about his childhood, and the profound impact of his father's neglect in his mother's absence. Brett had warned Jack in advance that Reynolds would likely hyperfocus on Jack's childhood because it made him sympathetic, made the jury see him as a victim in lieu of a guilty delinquent. His improper childhood, as Brett put it, would shift some of the blame away from Jack for his ghastly track record of bad behavior.

Even though Jack told Ralph all of this the night before in an effort to prepare him for the horribly sad stories Jack would have to tell, listening to them now wasn't any easier for Ralph. Jack told Reynolds in a small voice he must've practiced with Brett about the time he got 100% on a spelling test, the only one in the class, and his father wouldn't even look at the thing or the 1st place ribbon it earned him. He told the story about how he spent over an hour working on a Father's Day card for Evan in the second grade and Evan threw it in the garbage next to his home office desk without even opening it. He talked about the countless nights he asked his father to give him a goodnight hug as he crawled into bed, and was rejected every single time. He talked about writing letters to his absent mother in the fourth grade, asking her if she had his blue eyes, if she still remembered him, if she left because of him, if his father ever loved him back when he was too young to remember.

It went unnoticed by most, but Ralph cried through each story like that Jack told. But Jack didn't. He looked like he wanted to, but he didn't. He also didn't look at Ralph, not once, not even a brief glance in his general direction. And Ralph knew why; if Jack saw Ralph crying like he knew he would be, he'd lose his strength too.

Reynolds subtly shifted gears by asking Jack about his transfer to military school. The blond boy shared that his father lacked the willingness and the ability to make any an effort to get through to his misguided son, and so military school was his way of getting Jack the help he so clearly needed, and as far away from Dalton as possible.

The defense attorney prompted Jack to share some of his key experiences at Bainbridge Military Academy. His accomplishments in the JROTC military training program and his academic achievements ranked high on thst list. Jack was also good at making friends when he wanted to be, and so he'd had a handful at the academy. Though, the vast majority of his free time was spent ping-ponging between Ralph and Roger. In the end, military school did help Jack in different ways. Getting him out from under Evan's thumb was one, and his success in military training was another. His long-term, positive friendship in Ralph Langley also shaped Jack's life, and in a way, it helped him to see how not right his own family was in comparison.

Or at least, that's what Jack told the court.

Reynolds asked Jack to share his own side of the story regarding the plane crash. All the boys before him were also asked to relive the moment the plane started going down. It served to remind the jury that this terrible tragedy was done to them, not because of them. That if it wasn't for the academy's lack of regard for adequate safety precautions, all three of the deceased victims would still be alive. The blame wasn't the boys' to shoulder alone.