7th Heaven

That man was Richie.

Part Three. HOME COOKING

Chapter 49

JASON TWILLY SAT in the front row of the gallery in Courtroom 2C, right behind the elfin Junie Moon, taking notes as Co

As he looked at the governor and Yuki together, Twilly felt a shift in his thinking, and a new structure for his book appeared in his mind. Yuki was Michael Campion’s defender, and she was the underdog; feisty and shrewd and at the same time endearing. Like now. Yuki was using the former governor’s celebrity and heartbreak to both move the jury and block the defense.

Twilly would start the book with Yuki’s opening statement, flash back through time using poignant moments in the boy’s life as told by the governor, flash forward through the trial and the witnesses. Focus on Davis ’s maternal defense. Linger on the vulnerable Junie Moon. Then end the book with Yuki’s closing argument. The verdict, the vindication, hurrah!

Twilly turned his attention back to the governor.

“Mike was born with a conductive defect in his heart,” Campion told the court. “It was being managed medically, but of course he could die at any time.”

Yuki asked quietly, “And what did Michael know about his life expectancy?”

“Mikey wanted to live. He used to say, ‘I want to live, Dad. I have plans.’ He knew he had to be careful. He knew that the longer he lived, the more chance -”

Campion stopped speaking as his throat tightened and his eyes watered.

“Mr. Campion, did Michael talk to you about his plans?”

“Oh, yes,” Campion said, smiling now. “He was training for an upcoming world chess tournament, on the computer, you know. And he’d started writing a book about living with a potentially fatal illness… It would’ve made a difference to people… He wanted to get married someday…”

Campion shook his head, looked at the jury, and addressed them directly.

“He was such a wonderful boy,” he said. “Everyone has seen his pictures, the interviews. Everyone knows how his smile could light up the darkness, how brave he was – but not everyone knows what a good soul he had. How compassionate he was.”

Twilly noted that Diana Davis’s face was pinched, but she didn’t dare object to Campion’s meandering testimony about the pain of losing his son. Campion turned and looked squarely at the defendant, spoke directly to her, sadly but not unkindly.

“If only I could have been there when Michael died,” Co

Chapter 50

“THE PEOPLE CALL Mr. Travis Cook,” Yuki said.

Heads swung toward the double doors at the back of the courtroom, and a young man about eighteen years old, wearing a gray prep school blazer with a crest over the breast pocket, walked up the aisle, came through the gate.

Cook’s bushy hair looked patted down rather than combed, and his shoes needed a polish. He looked uneasy as he swore to tell the whole truth and nothing but. Then he stepped up to the witness stand.

Yuki said good morning to her witness and then asked, “How did you know Michael Campion?”

“We went to Newkirk Prep together.”

“And when did you meet Michael?”

“I knew him in our freshman year, but, uh, we became better friends last year.”

“In your opinion, what caused this friendship to grow?”

“Uh, Michael didn’t have many friends, really,” Travis Cook said, meeting Yuki’s eyes briefly, then looking down again at his hands. “People liked him, but they didn’t get too close to him ’cause he couldn’t play any sports or hang out or anything. Because of his heart condition.”

“But you didn’t have the same problem becoming friends with Michael?”

“I have severe asthma.”

“And how did that affect your friendship?”

Travis Cook said, “What he had was worse, but I could relate. We talked about how bad it sucked living with these things hanging over us all the time.”

“Now, did there come a time when you told Michael about the defendant, Ms. Moon?”

“Yeah.”

“Travis, I realize this may be a little uncomfortable, but you’ve sworn to tell the truth.”

“I know.”

“Good. And what did you tell Michael about Ms. Moon?”

“That I’d been with her,” he mumbled.

“Please speak up so the jury can hear you,” Yuki said.

The boy started again. “I told Michael that I’d been with her. A lot of us had. She’s a nice girl for someone who… anyway. She’s not crude or anything, and so…” Travis sighed. “And so she’s a good person to break you in.”

“Break you in?” Yuki asked, turning away from the witness, looking at the jurors. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Do it for the first time. You’re not worried about what the girl’s going to think of you or anything. I mean, you get to be yourself, have fun, pay her, and leave.”

“I see. And what did Michael Campion say when you told him about Ms. Moon?”

“He said he didn’t want to die a virgin.”

“Travis, did you see Michael the day before he disappeared?”

“I saw him on the lunch line.”

“And how did he appear to you?”

“Happy. He said he had a date that night with Junie.”

“Thank you, Travis. Your witness,” Yuki said to L. Diana Davis.

Davis was wearing a blue double-breasted suit with two rows of four large white pearl buttons and a triple strand of pearls at her throat. Her silver hair was crisp, almost sharp.

She stood up and spoke from the defense table, saying, “I only have one question, Mr. Cook.”

The boy looked at her earnestly.

“Did you see Michael Campion go into Junie Moon’s house?”

“No, ma’am.”

“That’s all we have, Your Honor,” Davis said, sitting down.

Chapter 51

TANYA BROWN WAS ENJOYING HERSELF, giving Yuki a headache at the same time.

Ms. Brown smiled at the bailiff, tossed her hair as she swore to tell the truth, and modeled her orange jumpsuit as if it were designed by Versace. She was the third of Yuki’s three jailhouse witnesses, all “in the system” for dealing drugs, prostitution, or both, and all of whom had met Junie Moon within the walls of the county jail. And while the testimony of jailhouse snitches was generally considered suspect or useless, Yuki was hoping that the virtually identical statements of these three women would together substantiate Junie Moon’s confession.

Yuki asked Tanya Brown, “Did the prosecution offer you anything in exchange for your testimony?”

“No, ma’am.”

“We didn’t offer to get you transferred, or get you time off or better treatment or more privileges?”

“No, ma’am, you said you weren’t going to give me anything.” Tanya Brown wiggled her fa

“All right then, Ms. Brown,” said Yuki. “Do you know the defendant?”

“I wouldn’t say I know her, know her, but we were cellmates one night at the women’s jail.”

“And did Ms. Moon say why she was arrested?”

“Yeah, everyone gets a turn at that.”

“And what did Ms. Moon tell you?”

“She said she was a working girl and that she had a date with Michael Campion.”

“And why did that stick in your mind?”

“Are you kiddin’? It was like, Whoa. You did the dirty with the golden boy? And like what was that like? And by and by it came out that he died when they were doing it.”

“Is that what Ms. Moon told you?”