by BJ Mayo
Momentarily, I stopped speaking and allowed that statement to sink in. All of the cheerleaders had their heads down.
“The autopsy report indicates Jenna died by strangulation by hanging. It also indicated she was approximately two months pregnant. We took samples of blood from the deceased in both accounts and those are being held at our crime lab in Spring for further forensic testing as necessary—possibly to assist in determining who the father of the unborn child may be.”
The Couch family all had their heads down.
“Now, the next thing in this hearing is from an eyewitness account the day before Ms. Couch passed away. That account would come from her grandfather, affectionately known as Pap Couch, seated in our presence today. Pap lives in a small travel trailer on the two-acre Couch property, north of town. Pap observed a certain type of vehicle come to Mr. and Mrs. Couch’s home in the late evening the day before Jenna’s death. Pap saw this vehicle parked under an elm tree in the yard. He has indicated that all of the folks in the vehicle were young females, dressed alike, with what appeared to be a certain type of lipstick applied to their mouths.”
At that point, a visibly angry Mrs. Phelps jumped to her feet. “Are you trying to say our girls were involved with this somehow? You better have good evidence before you go to running off at the mouth like that. You have got a big bit of nerve, to think—”
“Ma’am, I will remind you that any statements made are recorded and all are voluntary.”
Mrs. Phelps looked at her husband, disturbed and staring at the floor. “Ain’t you going to say something, or you just going to do your normal thing and sit there like a little mouse?”
She sat down with her arms crossed and said something under her breath to the woman next to her.
“Now, I will continue. I was able to locate the vehicle described by Pap Couch, as apparently this is only one of that kind in Spring. It is a late-model, two-tone blue, large Ford Bronco with white lettering on the tires.”
There were audible gasps in the hearing room. Britanee Phelps put her head in her hands. All of the other cheerleaders turned and looked at Britanee at once.
“That Bronco is owned by one of the folks attending this hearing. I have the license plate number here as well: BWG-1400, Texas plate. We have gathered samples of the syrupy mass on top of the vehicle, and it matches the samples of the elm tree at the Couch home. Pap Couch indicated they never park under this type of tree, as it emits a syrupy type of mist, if you will, that will literally stick to anything it lands on.”
I stopped speaking and turned to look up at the photograph of Jenna Couch on the projector screen.
“We know a lot of things,” he said, “the only thing we don’t know is exactly what happened at the lake house.”
Britanee Phelps slowly stood. She looked around and started to speak.
Mrs. Phelps stood and screamed, “You sit down! You sit down now!”
Britanee slowly let go of the girl’s hand next to her and turned to look at her mama. “No, Mama, just please sit down. You are not going to ever tell me what to do again.”
The judge spoke to Britanee. “Young lady, I want to remind you that anything you say in this hearing is without a lawyer or counsel and will in fact be recorded. You are not required to say anything without counsel. Do you understand?”
Mrs. Phelps stood and screamed, “She ain’t saying nothing without a lawyer. This ain’t no damn trial.”
Britanee walked to the front of the room and looked at the audience, the Couch family in particular, then looking up at the photograph on the screen and back to them. “I am so sorry for Jenna’s death. It was an accident. I am more than willing to testify under oath with or without a lawyer.” She turned and looked at her mama. There was no shakiness in her voice. “Mama, you wanted me to always be a cheerleader. I never wanted to be one, and I am never going to be one again. Your stupid idea that we should ride in a van because we were special makes no sense. I am done with cheerleading, as of this moment. You wanted me and Efron to be together. You wanted him to get a division-one scholarship and somehow I would go to the same school, following along like a little puppy. That allowed you to get to go and be the head whatever to fulfill your own selfish dreams.
“You never were a cheerleader and you pushed me all this time to be one so you could be one through me, I guess. I really cannot stand who we are and what we have become. We are the most vicious of the vicious. You said we were the elite, the chosen group, and therefore deserving of special treatment over all other girls.
“You were wrong. We are nothing. We are better than no one. Jenna Couch’s only problem was that she was poor. She was just poor, Mama. Something we are not, or maybe we are, because of all the credit card debt you run up that Daddy has to pay for. For what, Mama? Clothes? She did not live up where we live and shop at LaVelle’s like all of you do for us. Who cares? Who really cares but you?”
She pointed in a sweeping gesture at all of the cheerleader moms and Samantha Divine.
“Just look at you. You are all in your forties and you are still wearing a ponytail, for gosh sakes. Blowing your stupid foghorns and waving your stupid spirit kerchiefs. Do you think that mattered to Jenna? No, it did not. You told me yourself, Mama, you told me she had to go because she had tagged up with Efron. That was probably his ring she had on when they found her, and I bet it was his baby she was carrying. Efron was your ticket to the big time. Some division-one school with some even stupider football program that is more focused on jocks than it is on academics. Some of those guys cannot even count to one hundred without a math coach. Why don’t you check into who does Efron’s homework for him every night? It ain’t him.
“And there you would be, at some college, head cheerleader mom, blowing your dumb foghorn, hooting and hollering with your spirit kerchief and sticking your nose in everyone’s business. Trying to be the center of attention, like always. Blowing your temper when you don’t get your way. Never changed since I was a little girl. Well, one thing is for sure. That ain’t never gonna happen. It is over.
“We drove over to the Couch’s house. Me, Shiloh, Amber, and Wiley. We told Jenna that she was gonna be let into the cheerleading squad next year if she passed the cheerleading test at the Moore lake cabin. We left the house and stopped down the road a bit and waited. She snuck out after dark and met us down the road. She trusted us.” Britanee began to weep. “We went to the lake cabin and I took that rope with me. All we intended to do was scare her. We tied the rope around her neck as she stood on the stool. We told her that if she could stand the pain without screaming, she might just get to be one of us because you have got to be tough to be a cheerleader. Britanee paused and caught her breath, looking up at Jenna’s picture and wiping away tears and already runny makeup.
“I lit up a Marlboro. You did not know I smoke, did you, Mama? I touched her on top of her left hand with the cigarette. She did not scream. Then we all passed the cigarette around and took a drag. I made Jenna take a drag as well. She began violently coughing, as I guess she never smoked before, being an athlete and all.
“Then, after a minute or two, when she quit coughing, I took the cigarette and touched her on the back on the left calf. It was then that her left leg buckled with the pain, I guess. She never said a word or made a noise. She just lost her balance and fell off the stool.
“We grabbed her legs but it was too late. Her neck and head were at an odd angle, like her neck was broken. We all turned and screamed and ran out the door. I guess I threw the cigarette butt down when we left, and that is where the lipstick came from we had on.”
Throughout the hearing room were muffled cries and gasps.
Britanee looked at the Couches. “I am really sorry. I did not mean for it to happen. She did not deserve to die. She was a much better person than any of us will ever be. I do not know what else to say. If they put me in jail, I deserve it. For the rest of my life. I simply do not care. No person deserves to die like she did even if it was accid
ental. I caused it.”
With that, Britanee sat in the front row, alone, looking straight ahead.
Mr. Couch stared at the picture of his daughter before rising slowly. He walked to the center of the room and looked at Britanee for a long while.
“Britanee, I am just a refinery worker. That was my only daughter. I do not hold any animosity towards any of you,” he said between tears. “What you said today lifts my heart above where it has been for the last sixty days. Now I can put it to rest. She is gone, never to return, that is true. But at least now we know what really happened.
“We did not know what happened. Everybody makes mistakes. Especially when they are young. Really stupid mistakes. Some of those mistakes ruin their lives for the rest of the time they are on this earth.”
Mr. Couch faced the Judge. “My daughter is gone from this world. And apparently a grandchild as well that she was carrying. That grandchild, no matter who the father was, had my blood running through its small veins.
“I am asking the court, in this hearing, not to prosecute these four girls. We are not going to press any type of charges. My daughter is gone. I don’t want these fathers out here to lose their daughters. So as far as I am concerned, there will be no trial. This is it. It is over.”
With that, he walked over to Britanee and held her in a long hug. She wept as he held her.
I stood slowly, looked at the parents of the cheerleaders, and walked slowly over to the Couch family.
“Judge, in light of the unexpected outcome of today’s evidentiary hearing, I would like to make a couple of recommendations to the court, if I may?”
Judge McGee said, “You may indeed, Mr. Carter. Please proceed.”
“Well, number one, I am strongly recommending no charges be brought against these girls, as the family refuses to bring charges.
“Number two, I respectfully ask all of the girls involved to be removed from the Spring cheerleading squad immediately and never allowed to be in that role again. Their roles can easily be fulfilled by the pep squad for the remainder of the games, and for all time, as far as that is concerned.
“Number three: I request that each of the girls on the squad involved in the death of Jenna Couch be assigned one thousand hours of community service each at the senior citizens’ home, cleaning, changing sheets, mopping, cleaning bathrooms. Basically anything needed and permitted by the staff to assist in the maintenance and upkeep of those facilities.
“And lastly, for their respective families to pay for all of the funeral expenses the Couch family endured, including the cost of her grave plot. That is the least they can do. That is all, Judge.”
Judge McGee looked at Jenna’s picture reflectively. Slowly, he turned and faced Jenna’s parents. “Do you see any reason not to impose what Mr. Carter has asked? You know charges can easily be filed.”
Mr. Couch stood slowly and wiped away tears from his eyes. “Judge, we will not file charges against these girls. I have no problem with what Mr. Carter has proposed.”
Judge McGee turned to the weeping cheerleader mothers. “Parents of the girls involved. Most do not get a second chance in life, after such a heinous action against another human being in a court of law. You understand that, I assume. This is a real crime with real consequences, though it was unintended, according to Ms. Phelps. However, the courts’ hands are somewhat tied, as the Couch family, to their credit, does not want to press charges. I believe in the strongest terms that a human life was totally wasted, due to the actions of four girls who thought more of themselves than they did of others. Clearly not a good life precedent, I am sure you will all agree. And you,” motioning to the cheerleaders’ parents, “for whatever reason, pushing them to believe they are better than other girls is a travesty and you should be ashamed of yourselves. You and they have wreaked unfathomable harm and hurt to other human beings that have the same rights to be here, breathe the same air, participate in every opportunity in life that your girls have. Understand?
“Now, I am going to ask each of you to stand up that believes the requests asked for by Investigator Carter be granted by the court with immediate effect. Your actions will be noted by the court clerk, and will be enforceable by the court in light of today’s results.”
Each of the four girls stood, then their parents.
“Please let it be noted by the court that all of the requests asked for by the investigating officer, Mr. Carter, are agreed to and affirmed by the act of standing in this courtroom by all of the cheerleader parents, not just the four girls involved. In addition, this is enforceable by the court and will assign personnel to monitor the requirements set forth. If these requirements are not met, the young ladies assigned the requirements will be brought back before the court, and the court will make an assessment of the next steps forward. This hearing is adjourned. Mr. Carter, please see me in my chambers along with Captain Burris.”
I made my way to the judge’s chambers after watching the audience file out. Samantha Divine was ghostly white and clearly distraught. Her beloved cheerleaders were no more, only the lowly pep squad. Britanee sat alone in thought at the front of the hearing room. Mr. and Mrs. Couch appeared to be working their way to speak with her. Mr. and Mrs. Phelps quickly exited the hearing room, her in the lead, him following like a puppy.
When I entered the judge’s chambers. Captain Burris was already seated, drinking a bottle of water. “Sit down, Mr. Carter, please,” gesturing with his hand to a leather-bound chair. Collapsing in the chair, I looked at the judge. “Investigator Carter, you took a huge chance. A monstrous gamble. Yes, sir, a monstrosity of a gamble, for which we all and you especially could have paid a great price. I have to hand it to you, you played your hand craftily and without fault. I commend you. You need to be an attorney. I have attorneys that cannot do what you did today. I guess in our world, sometimes it is run a great bluff, if you will. We will never play cards together, sir. Now, you are dismissed. Please never try that again. Get out of my chambers.”
I cast a parting glance at Captain Burris on my way out. The captain lifted his water bottle in a toasting fashion with a smile. “Good job, Bulldog. Take the rest of the day off.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Jackaleena could feel the low whirring of the ship’s propellers as it glided along. She had never been in a boat before, much less a ship. It had been a short time since Rufus had left her locked in her room. She could smell herself and felt she needed to wash off with soap.
She stripped out of her dress and turned on the water. There were two handles. Not knowing which one was which, she turned both of them on. To her surprise, one was warm and the other was cold. She stepped under the showerhead and began to wash off and rub the white bar of soap on her body. She could not remember anything so refreshing. She scrubbed her hair well. Her head was itching badly and the soap made it feel better. She dried off with a towel on hanging on a rod on the wall. She could really smell the clothes she had taken off.
She turned on the water again and washed them with the water, then hung them to dry with the towel. She opened her pillow sack, took out the only other dress she’d brought, and put it on. At least she no longer smelled.
She sat and looked at the food that Rufus had brought from the galley. She broke off a piece of bread and ate it slowly. There was a cup in the sack. She turned on the cold water and filled it to the top. The bread tasted very good. As long as it had been since she ate, she tried to eat slowly and chew it well. She was so hungry she wanted to gulp it down, but resisted the temptation. Then she ate a banana.
When she was through, she sat on the bed. There was a comb on the sink with a mirror above it. She stood and took the comb and began to comb her hair. She heard footsteps approaching the door. She froze. Then the two taps came. Then two more light taps. “Jackaleena . . . Jackaleena,” Rufus said. “It is me, Rufus. It is okay, unlock the door. Can you hear me?”
She moved to the door and unlatched the lock, peeking through the crack
. “How are you doing?” he asked. He opened the door and brought his massive frame through the opening that did not seem big enough for his body. “How are you doing, young girl? Everything okay? I see you have washed yourself. Have you eaten any of your food?” Jackaleena nodded. “Good, good, good. That is wonderful. Now, you cannot come out when the sun is out, only with me at night in my basket, understand? So every night I will come by and pick you up. We will put the towels on your head.” He laughed as he talked. “Just like last night when I found you. You stay under the towels, and then we go to the top deck and you will get fresh air. I call that a good plan, don’t you?”
Jackaleena looked at him with her beautiful black eyes looking into his. She nodded. She quietly thanked Jesus Man for putting her with a man like Rufus. He would not hurt her. She somehow knew he would really do what he said he would do, and she could trust him. He was big enough to be a fierce protector if someone bothered her, she thought. She wished he had been in her village when the soldier boys came, and Mingas and the others. Maybe her people would still be alive.
“Okay, now, when I come by, I will give my tap-tap and then tap-tap. Then, like just now, I will say quietly that it is me, Old Rufus. Okay? Yes? I will bring you food and something to drink every day or so or, whenever you need it. We are going to be at sea for twenty days, including the days we make port calls. So, in about this many days,” holding up all ten fingers and pointing to all ten toes through his sandals, “you will be in America. I do not know where you will go in America. But God does. He surely does. He just has not let me know where that is. But I bet wherever it is, it will be for your purpose, don’t you think? And if he is letting you cross the ocean on a ship, it sounds like it is a pretty big purpose. Come give Rufus a hug.”
He opened his mighty arms. Jackaleena, having never hugged another human being, went into his arms. He felt like a mighty beast. Strong but very gentle.
“There, my little one, come see Old Rufus. I will take care of you like a lion. Like a mighty leopard. Like a mighty elephant. Nothing is going to hurt you now, little one.”