Sidelined (14 page)

“I can’t talk about this with you.” Jude sighed, he looked like the older of the two brothers, lines around his mouth and eyes spoke of the stress he was under. The stress of his job or the life he’d lived. “But it’s not good. She’s underage. She says he got her drunk and took her back to his place and raped her. Right now, I can’t even question her. So no, he’s not out. They’re holding him for arraignment in the morning. The circus outside put a rush on that, or we’d be waiting for the circuit judge to get here around Wednesday.”

“A girl? As in a girl not a woman…from this town? And let me guess, her parents want money or … You know he’s gay, right? This has got to be a fucking joke. When was this supposed to have happened?” Tracy gripped the beer bottle tight. The urge to throw it at the television growing stronger by the second.

“I can’t say. I shouldn’t have told you that much. They’re trying to keep this as quiet as possible for as long as possible. To protect the young woman.” Jude didn’t sound thrilled. So maybe that was something. “I didn’t know until last weekend. He sprang it on me. Guess he’s telling everyone now.”

“You sound bitter, Jude. Seems to me maybe he didn’t know how to tell you. He talks about a mother and a father, but you seem to be the only family he has around here. Maybe he didn’t want you turning on him. Like you did.” Tracy knew it wasn’t his place to point this detail out, but Jude and his injured party tone of voice just rubbed him the wrong way.

“Yeah, we have a father. A deadbeat asshole who hated Levi. And our dear sainted mother. I lived with her. I cleaned up behind her while Levi was off at college fucking guys and becoming a football hero. Some fucking hero right. If they only knew about him. The real Levi, they wouldn’t like him. But you know, whatever it is he told you and whatever it is he thinks of me, I’m not bitter. He was all the family I have ever really had. He gave up his chance at a college degree to go into the NFL so that I could go to school. I was sixteen, too damned young, with a GED. I went to get the hell away from her and her drinking and her hoarding. Our father never came around except to take, the last time I saw him was when I was thirteen. He beat the shit out of Levi, took his car, and that was it. He never came back. Mother lost it then. She’d been on the verge for years. She just couldn’t cope. So Levi went to school, and I stayed here. And as much as I hate him for leaving me in this shit hole, I’m grateful for what he did to get me out. He thought of me first. Full ride with a dorm and a car. He’s my brother, and I owe him. So yeah, the gay thing sent me reeling. It explains a lot, but it doesn’t mean I had to just smile and say
well, good for you
last weekend.” Jude slurred his words, the whiskey talking as much as the lawyer. Tracy sighed. Another drunk Brody he’d be taking home. At least this time he wasn’t in danger of losing his fucking heart.

“Well, I’ll say this much, you talk about as much as your brother. All the time. Okay, Chatty Cathy, looks like you’ve had too many. Give me your keys, and I’ll drive you home.” Tracy reached over and took the beer from Jude’s hand and signaled Jack for the bill.

“I’m not drunk. And unlike my brother, I’m not an easy lay, so I think I’ll pass, Coach.” Jude took his beer back and sat slumped over the bar, patently ignoring him.

“And I’m not going to let you wreck on your way home, which will destroy any hope of Levi getting out of this mess, because his team has turned their backs on him, and I doubt any high-priced lawyer will leave him with a penny to his name. Nope sorry, I’m a selfish bastard, and you’re not my type anyway, so get the hell up, and let’s get you home.” Tracy tossed down a couple of twenties on the bar and took the beer away again. “Let’s go.”

“Fuck you,” the younger Brody twirled on the stool, throwing off Tracy’s hand.

“That position is taken, but thank you for offering. Come on, Jude, I’ll compromise and follow you home,” he said against his better judgment, but unless he’d stopped off somewhere between the courthouse and here, the man had only the one whiskey and most of a beer.

“I’m not drunk. I can drive myself.” Argumentative usually meant otherwise, but hell, the man was a lawyer.

“Hence, the reason I said I’d follow you. It’s late. You’re exhausted. What time is the arraignment in the morning?”

“Nine. And yeah, I’m exhausted. I drove for two hours and then sat in the damned waiting room because those fuck heads wouldn’t let me see my own brother. I’m not going to lie to you, Coach, this looks like a railroad type deal. They’re hiding evidence from me. Not looking good at all.” Jude fumbled in his pocket for his keys as they stepped out into the humid night air.

“That’s not exactly encouraging news, coming from his lawyer.” Tracy resisted the urge to shake the man.

“Fucked up small town politics. Someone higher up wants to make an example of Levi for whatever reasons. I’ll figure it out tomorrow. We can’t proceed without full disclosure.”

“Will the girl be in the courtroom?”

“He has the right to face his accuser. But she’s sixteen and protected. So I don’t know. Most likely not. I have to be there early to go over the case. Guess it is time to go home.” The slurring suddenly gone, Jude just looked tired. “I’ll go out to see how badly they trashed the trailer in the morning before I leave.”

“And will the courtroom be open to the public? I’d like to come if I can.”

“Right now to the public and the media, may as well hold it on the courthouse steps so the world can see.”

“Fuck.” Tracy palmed his keys and tried not to panic. He’d find out tomorrow how to help Levi. Right now, he just needed to not panic.

“Yep. Fuck. What are you driving, so I know who it is that’s following me?” Jude opened the door to a new model Mercedes.

“Black Cherokee.” Tracy answered absently as the lack of sleep and the long day threatened to catch up with him.

“That was you leaving last Saturday, wasn’t it? You’re the one Levi is fooling around with?” He didn’t know why the accusation in the man’s voice cut him so deeply, but it did.

“I’m the one he’s currently fucking, yeah. So what of it?”

Jude seemed to deflate. He looked everywhere but at Tracy. “This might get personal. Just…if you feel anything for my brother…don’t throw him under the bus. That’s all I ask. He’s had a lifetime of that.”

“Yeah, I don’t intend to throw him under anything.”

“Even if you are dragged into this?”

“I guess we’ll have to cross that bridge if and when we get to it.”

Jude nodded and climbed into his car. Tracy closed the door and walked over to his Jeep. It would be a long time before he stopped the
what ifs
from plaguing him. Hours after Jude turned into his drive without incident, he finally fell asleep only to dream about cameras and prison and going to jail for loving someone he shouldn’t.

* * * * *

He ached all over, but he moved because he’d be dragged if he didn’t move. Wearing orange scrubs and soccer sandals with his arms cuffed behind him, Levi shuffled into the courtroom. The noise immediately stopped. He didn’t want to look up. The floor served as a moving focal point as he was led to the seat beside Jude and then turned to face the audience while they uncuffed him. The only face he saw was the only one he wanted to see. Blond stubble just made him look more Viking-like. He wore a gray suit with a blue shirt, which set off his eyes.

“All rise…” Levi turned to face the judge, doing exactly what the bailiff or whoever the guy was giving the orders, ordered. And then he sat and looked at the floor. The tile was large squares with small specks of color in the slate grayness. Not much there to count without giving himself double vision.

He didn’t listen as the assistant district attorney read off the list of charges. All bullshit. He’d never even kissed a girl when he was in high school, or a woman. Raping one was completely not a thought he’d ever entertained, sober, drunk, or stoned, just never thought about it. And he didn’t even know which little bitch it was who said he did. But she sure knew enough about him to ruin his life.

“Mr. Brody, please rise.” He did. Because automatic pilot was all he knew at the moment. Do what the voice tells you to do, and it won’t hurt…much. “How do you plead?”

“Not guilty, Your Honor,” he said and sat when told he could sit, then went back to trying to make shapes out of the floor splotches.

“Your Honor, the state recommends that Mr. Brody be held without bond as he has no ties to the community and is a flight risk.”

“I object,” finally Jude spoke up. About damned time someone told these assholes they had the wrong man.

“On what grounds, Mr. Brody?” The judge seemed amused, but Levi didn’t really care to look up to find out why.

“The state has brought charges against my client based on no evidence. They have conveniently forgotten to share details of this case pertinent to clearing Mr. Brody, such as the name of the alleged victim. They have not called any witnesses to corroborate Mr. Brody’s version of the events of Saturday night. And Your Honor, in the rush to judgment, the police enforced a search warrant on Mr. Levi Brody’s residence. Instead, they searched my house, breaking down my front door when I wasn’t there to let them in. I might add that my brother does not reside with me and does not have a key. He claims that he left the party with a friend and spent the night alone. Yet the police never brought the friend or any of the adults at the party who witnessed Mr. Brody leave in for questioning, Your Honor.” Jude shuffled through a few sparse papers that held the few notes Levi had been able to give him. The past nearly twenty-four hours had all blurred together. He didn’t even try to rub feeling back into his arm.

“Your Honor, Mr. Brody, the older Mr. Brody is a product of the culture that thinks they are above the law, and that he will not be held accountable for his actions because he is rich and famous. Famous, I might add, for nothing more than playing a kid’s game. He came home, found a young woman, who maybe flirted because she’s a fan, he took her home, promised her money, fame, and had his way with her. Three witnesses place the young woman leaving the party during the fireworks, in Mr. Brody’s car. They described the car and what he was wearing. That he was drinking at the time. Mr. Brody claims to have left with a friend yet he never provided the friend’s name. He claimed that he went home alone…” the ADA’s voice held a touch of vindictive malice that Levi felt compelled to finally look up. When he did, movement in his peripheral made his blood run cold.

“He was with me Saturday night.” Tracy stood, his hands on the railing behind Levi, his knuckles white. “Levi Brody left the end of summer athletic barbecue with me. Around nine thirty, shortly before the fireworks. He did not return to the party.”

The entire room seemed to hold its collective breath. Time slowed down. Every heartbeat sounded like a bass drum in slow motion. Boom….tick tock…boom.

“And your name, sir?” The judge asked before Levi could tell Tracy to sit down and shut up. That there was another way.

“Tracy Wright—I’m the head football coach at East County High, Levi graciously volunteered his time to mentor my players. I invited him to the party that is held on my family’s property each year. And at nine thirty, Levi left with me. And just as Jude…Mr. Brody said, the police have not questioned me or any of the chaperones at the party.”

“Your Honor, I object, this man is in contempt at the very least.” The ADA shouted as the courtroom burst into blazing red hot noise. Levi flinched with every pound of the gavel. His head hurting now as much as his arm.

“I’m going to let Mr. Wright speak, counselor, I don’t like the smell of this rush to get me down here. If counsel for the defense was never given a list of the charges or provided with access to the alleged victim…well, we’ll discuss this further.”

Levi swung his head to look up at Tracy. The stubborn set of his jaw. Tracy wouldn’t meet his eye. “Don’t,” he said finally. He’d plead if he had to. “Don’t, Tracy. There is another way.” He stood up. His arm hanging limp at his side.

This time, Tracy met his gaze. The ice cold reality of his predicament pinned him to the spot. “Why didn’t you tell the police where you spent the night?”

“Because there is another way. What will this accomplish?”

“You would rather go to jail while they prosecute you for something you didn’t do than admit even for a second that you were with me. All night?”

“If you have something to say, Mr. Brody, please address the court. Mr. Wright, are you saying… What are you saying exactly? I don’t understand.” The judge landed the gavel one more time, and Levi jumped.

“Your Honor, Levi Brody, did not go home Saturday night. He did not return to the party. We watched the fireworks from my boat on the lake. Shared a few beers. When the show was over, Levi spent the night with me. In my bed. I’m his alibi even if he doesn’t have the guts to stand up for himself. He’s afraid of coming out. Of what it will cost him. Sir. With all due respect.”

The room erupted around them. Camera flashes popping. People shouting. The gavel banged again. Six, seven, eight times. The judge yelling order just like on television.

“Son, you should have said something, if this would have had you home last night and saved me a trip down here, you should have spoken up. Your career isn’t worth…”

“You don’t get it, do you? Tracy, you stupid son of a…you just don’t get it,” Levi shouted over the judge. Whatever sanity he had was long gone. “I didn’t lie for me. I don’t matter. Jude would have gotten me out of this. I wasn’t protecting my secret. I was protecting yours. Look around you, Coach, look at the small town you live in. Look at the way they’re looking at you. You just outed yourself to every major news outlet in the country. When we could have avoided that.”

“Guards, return Mr. Brody to his cell. Counselors, join me in quarters. Mr. Wright, I’m holding you in contempt for the moment. I want everyone out of this courtroom now.” The gavel was all that Levi heard as the officers who’d escorted him in shoved him down on the desk and pulled his arms behind his back. Cold steel circled his wrists. Pain shot from his shoulder up his neck into his brain. Tracy’s face, as they cuffed him, was the last thing he saw before the entire world went black. His voice, his lifeline fading away into the cold floor as it sucked Levi down into obscurity.