The Trial (7 page)

19

Samantha and Jackie Sutherland, a classmate, stumbled out of the fraternity house a little after midnight. Two members of the fraternity chased them down the sidewalk.

“Samantha, you and Jackie can’t leave. We’re tapping another keg and have five more bottles of tequila. Besides, the band’s going to play until two.”

“Sorry, guys,” Samantha slurred, “I’m already in too much trouble. I’m an hour past curfew as it is.”

“Yeah,” Jackie giggled, “and if I drink any more, I’ll be barfing all over the lawn. Thanks for a good time.”

When they got to Jackie’s Chevrolet Malibu, Jackie handed the keys to Samantha. “Here, Sam. You drive. I’m too drunk.”

Samantha hesitated. “My dad made me wait until I was seventeen to get my license. I don’t want to risk getting it suspended.”

“Dammit, it’s only a few blocks to our neighborhood. You can do it. I’ll watch out for cops.”

The two girls got in the Malibu with Samantha in the driver’s seat. “Jackie, I can’t even get the key in the ignition.”

Jackie grabbed the keys and pushed one into the ignition and turned it. The engine coughed once and then started. Samantha checked all her mirrors and pulled slowly out into the street. As they cut across campus, she made sure she drove five miles under the posted speed limit. She knew that she shouldn’t be driving but was pleased that she seemed to be sober enough to obey the traffic signs and keep on the right side of the street. When they approached the edge of the campus, Jackie suddenly leaned forward and threw up a full night’s worth of beer, tequila, Doritos, and cheese dip. Samantha looked over to try to help. “Hold on, Jackie, I’ll pull over. Then we’ll find a filling station to clean out the car before we get home.”

Distracted by Jackie, Samantha never saw that the light at the intersection was red as she went through it, not until she got to the other side and saw a state trooper stopped at the light.

“Oh God, Jackie, I just ran a red light and a trooper saw us.”

“Make a run for it, Samantha. He’ll have to turn around, and we can cut down a side street.”

Samantha looked in her rearview mirror and saw the trooper’s lights come on at the same time she heard his siren. “Not gonna do it, Jackie. Maybe I can sweet-talk him out of a ticket.”

Samantha pulled over to the curb, and the trooper stopped behind her. He got out of his car, carrying a large flashlight, and approached the Malibu. Samantha rolled down her window. “Evening, Officer.” She gulped. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Yes, ma’am. That light was red.” The trooper sniffed the inside of the car. “Whew, that’s a powerful smell. Why don’t both of you young ladies step out.” He stepped back to confirm that no traffic was coming as Samantha exited the car. “Oh, and bring your purse so I can have a look at your driver’s license.”

The phone rang only once before Luke picked it up. “Sam, where the hell are you? Are you all right? Your cell phone’s not working.”

“I’m okay, Father. They took my cell phone away from me.”

“Who’s they?”

“I’m in jail,” Samantha mumbled.

“For God’s sake, for what? It’s a mistake, right?”

“Er, I was driving Jackie’s car and ran a red light.”

“And they took you to jail for that?”

“There’s more. They also charged me with DUI.”

“DUI! You were drinking again and driving,” Luke sputtered.

“I’ll try to explain. Can you come down here and bail me out? I think it’s something like a thousand dollars,” Samantha pleaded.

Luke didn’t reply. Instead, he slammed the phone down and walked to the bar, where he poured himself a double Scotch.
Now what do I do? This has got to be the last straw. I’ve done the best I can to be a good father. And I’ve failed.
“I know,” he said to Cocoa, who could see he was upset, “I’ll let her stay in jail a few days. Maybe that’ll shape her up. What do you think, Cocoa?”

Cocoa whined and went up the stairs to Samantha’s room, where she took her place on her side of the bed and waited for her roommate.

Samantha again burst into tears as she was led back to the cell. Then the tears turned to anger at a father who would do this to his daughter.

20

It was five o’clock before Luke managed to fall into a restless sleep. A ringing woke him at eight. He grabbed for the phone. “Hello.”

“Luke, Sue Ellen here. I’ve got the weekend duty. Samantha’s in jail.”

“I know, Sue Ellen. She called me a few hours ago.”

“Why aren’t you on your way down here to bail her out? It’s usually only a thousand dollars. In fact, I can probably get her released to your custody with no bail.”

“Thanks, Sue Ellen. I’ve been wrestling with this all night. I’ve done all I can. Let the system deal with her.”

“Luke, you can’t abandon your daughter,” Sue Ellen pleaded. “It’s not like she robbed a bank or assaulted someone. Kids her age end up here every weekend. That doesn’t make them bad kids.”

“Thanks for your advice, Sue Ellen, but I’ve made up my mind.” Luke returned the phone to its cradle.

Sue Ellen stared at her phone, not believing what she had just heard. Then she dialed the jail. “Omar, have you got an empty cell?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Then would you get Samantha Vaughan out of the drunk tank and into that cell? She’s a personal friend of mine.”

“Will do, Sue Ellen.”

On Sunday morning there was a rap on Luke’s door. He went down the stairs in his bathrobe to find Sue Ellen and Whizmo standing on his porch.

“Can we come in, Luke?” Whizmo asked.

“Sure. Coffee’s made. Come on upstairs. I’ll grab some jeans and a T-shirt.”

Luke poured his third cup of the morning and joined his friends in the breakfast alcove. “I know what this is about. I’m not changing my mind.”

“Luke, I’ve got it all arranged. All you have to do is go with me to the police station and sign some papers saying that you’ll guarantee she’ll make her court appearance. Please, please, don’t do this to yourself and to her, please.”

Luke remained silent as he sipped his coffee and finally spoke. “All right. I give up. She’s had two nights in jail. Maybe that’s enough. Let me grab my keys.”

Three weeks later Luke and a frightened Samantha sat on the front row in Judge Nimitz’s court.

“The State of Texas v. Samantha Vaughan,”
the clerk called.

Luke rose with Samantha, who instinctively grabbed his hand as they approached the bench.

“Good morning, Mr. Vaughan. I presume this is Samantha.”

“Morning, Judge. I’m here as Samantha’s father and her lawyer.”

Judge Nimitz leaned over his bench and peered into Samantha’s eyes. “Young lady, do you realize that you could have killed someone that night?”

“Not at the time, no, sir. I guess I wasn’t thinking.”

“Well, you’re damn lucky someone wasn’t walking across that street, aren’t you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I could lock you up for a year for what you did.”

“No, sir. Please,” she begged. “I want to go to college this fall.”

“I understand. I’ve checked with your school and find you’re a very good student. Here’s what I’m going to do. Your fine for running the light is one hundred and fifteen dollars, which I presume your father will loan you. As to the DUI, I’m putting you on probation for one year. If you get in any kind of trouble with the law during that year, you will be locked up. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, sir. I understand.”

“Mr. Vaughan, I presume that you will accept custody of her during the year of her probation.”

“Of course, Your Honor.”

“Very well, then. And one more thing, Samantha. I don’t like these goths. They’re troublemakers, if you ask me. As a part of your probation, you are not to mingle with any of them and you are to burn all of your goth outfits. Understood?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“I understand you have beautiful red hair. The next time I run across you in town, I want to see your red hair, not that awful black with the pink streak.”

Luke listened to the additional terms of probation and thought that maybe something good would come out of this after all.

21

Even though it was spring and flowers were blooming in San Marcos, there was still a chill in the air at the Vaughan house. That chasm that Whizmo had discussed when Samantha was in jail was even wider now. Luke and Samantha rarely talked. It was as if they were two roommates who shared the same house but nothing else.

Since Samantha could no longer associate with her goth friends, she spent more and more time with Whizmo, who always seemed to be working in the garage when he was home. Samantha had been rocking on the front porch when she heard Whizmo’s Harley rounding the corner. When he turned into the driveway, he waved at her. As soon as he cut the engine in front of his apartment, Samantha motioned to Cocoa, who bounded down the steps and around the corner. By the time Samantha caught up, Whizmo was sitting on his steps, scratching Cocoa.

“Hey, Sam. How you doing, girl?”

Samantha sat on a step below Whizmo and replied, “Not so good, Whiz. I’m counting the days until I get to spend my last summer at Camp Longhorn and then head away to college. I’m ready to get out of this house.”

“Yeah, I’ve been hearing from your dad that things are pretty frosty in there. Still, I don’t know why the two of you can’t talk. From where I stand, there’s plenty of blame to be shared.”

“Come on, Whiz.” Samantha’s eyes flashed. “All I did was have one problem with driving.”

“Sorry, Sam, but I gotta disagree. That one problem was a DUI, and you’ve been close to stepping out of bounds ever since I’ve known you. By the way, I like the color of your hair. That’s one thing that Judge Nimitz got right.”

Both remained silent as they listened to two mockingbirds chirping to each other. Then Whizmo spoke. “Speaking of college, you still making good grades?”

“I haven’t made a B in all of high school.” Samantha smiled.

“So, where are you going, Texas or A&M? Both first-class schools. Personally, I’d like to get you to Texas State, but I know you’re ready to get out of San Marcos.”

“Whiz, there’s no way I’d go to Texas. That would mean I would be following in my father’s footsteps, and that’s not going to happen. I’m going to be an Aggie, hullabaloo, caneck, caneck and all that stuff.”

“You told your dad?”

“Yeah, we had that discussion a couple of months ago, after I did my weekend in jail. He’d rather have me going to Texas, but he’s okay with A&M.”

“You thought of a major?”

“Nope. I figure there’s time for that. One thing for sure is that it won’t be prelaw.”

22

School ended, and Samantha graduated second in her class of two hundred. Luke attended the graduation, and in spite of his problems with Samantha, he teared up when she crossed the stage. Then it was off to Camp Longhorn for one last time.

When he got back to the house after dropping Samantha at camp, he went to the kitchen for a Bud Light. Beer in hand, he and Cocoa went outside, where he sat in a rocker on the porch while Cocoa chased squirrels in the yard. As he sipped his beer, he sized up his life. Not exactly what he had anticipated when he graduated from law school. He’d made a decent living in Houston but never got rich. In hindsight, his ulcer was probably a good thing since it slowed him down and likely added twenty years to his life. He loved San Marcos. Looking back, he couldn’t fathom why he ever left in the first place. His law practice was okay, and it didn’t require him to work nights and weekends as a trial lawyer regularly did. Sue Ellen was now more than just a friend. He conceded he was in love and relished the emotion. Since Samantha was going to be off on her own, he vowed to focus on his relationship with Sue Ellen. They were on the road to a lasting relationship, yet for some reason he had avoided talking marriage. Sue Ellen didn’t seem to mind, but he knew that once Sam was in college it would be time for a commitment. Then there was Whizmo. What a character, and what a delightful person to sit around and swap stories with.

Luke’s face grew somber as he thought about the major failure in his life, his daughter. How could that have happened? He loved her. He always wanted to do what was best for her. He wanted nothing but happiness for her. In spite of all that, he recognized that he had failed her. Maybe it was best that she move away. Maybe the distance would mend the gap between them. He could only hope.

As he finished his beer and watched Cocoa trying to coax a squirrel out of a tree, he heard a familiar rumble, and Whizmo turned into the drive. He stopped beside the porch and took off his helmet. “You got another one of those I could buy off you?”

“Come on up, Whizmo. I’ll go retrieve a couple more.”

He went inside as Whizmo climbed the steps and settled into the second rocker. Cocoa abandoned her squirrel hunt to beg Whizmo for some scratching behind her ears. Luke kicked open the door and came out with a small cooler, containing six beers.

“I got nothing better to do, so I figure you and I can sit out here and get a little mellow.”

“You missing Samantha already? I saw you loading her up for camp this morning.”

“I couldn’t admit it to her, but the answer is yes.”

“Well, counselor, just why can’t you admit it to her?”

“Good question, Whiz. When I come up with an answer, you’ll be the first to know. I’ve been sitting here, contemplating my life. My law practice is pretty good, but I’m bored. I guess I need a hobby. Maybe I should take up woodworking.”

“If you want to learn, I’m your man. Spending a few hours in a woodshop is guaranteed to clear the mind.”

Cocoa had retrieved a stick from the yard and dropped it at Luke’s feet. He picked it up and pitched it almost to the street. Cocoa bounded down the steps, retrieved it, and was back in fifteen seconds. Luke threw it again. “Now look what I’ve started. She wears me out every time. You know, Whiz, what I really think I’d like to do this summer?”

“Not a mind reader, Luke. Tell me.”

“I think I’m old enough to ride a Harley. If I buy one, will you teach me?”

Whizmo gulped down the last of his beer and popped open another. “I’ll go you one better. I’ll tune up that blue Harley and you can learn on it.”

Luke shook his head. “I can’t do that, Whiz. That was your wife’s. What would you do if I wrecked it?”

“Don’t worry, Luke. Cheryl’s gone and I’ve accepted her death. That bike’s just sitting there. She’d probably like it if someone would ride it on occasion. We’ll start in the school parking lot, and when you’re ready, we’ll get you a license. We can explore the Hill Country.”

Starting with the parking lot behind the history building, in three weeks Whizmo had Luke riding the streets. Once he got his motorcycle license, Whizmo started leading him on weekend rides into the Hill Country, where Luke discovered that once he spent an hour maneuvering the hills, valleys, curves, and low water crossings he forgot everything but the pleasure of the ride.
I should have done this years ago,
he thought.