SIDEBAR CHAPTER 5: JUSTIN HAD IT RIGHT Part 2

An hour after Perkins had exited the conference room, Shavonne, Charles, and Lawrence re-entered. Melanie had the bailiff play the tail-end of Perkins’ recorded deposition so that they were on the same page when it came to their next witness.

“So the next monkey with the too long tail is up next. How should we play this?” Shavonne asks.

“The next monkey with the too long tail? What the hell does that mean?” Mel chuckled.

“My grandmother used to say that when she’d just finished whipping ass playing Spades. Their tail- meaning their egos- were too big and she always took great pride in chopping their metaphorical asses off. I think that’s an excellent description for what we’re doing here, don’t you?”

They all laughed, agreeing that Shavonne was absolutely correct. But their humor was short-lived as a Dixon sauntered confidently into the room. Taking in his appearance, Mel thought he reminded her a little bit of Brian. The tall athletic build; the perfect brunet hair; the arrogant my-shit-don’t-stink attitude, but that’s where the similarity ended for her. Whereas she knew that Brian would never admit to having remorse for anything he’d done, she also knew that Brian had his own moral code he lived by. This man had none. And it was that realization that brought extreme pleasure in tearing him apart.

“Where should I sit? I would like to get this over with as soon as possible,” his gravelly voice filled the air.

“Hot date?” Shavonne replied, just as forthright.

“Yeah, one with my attorney. I plan to not only sue St. James for Wrongful Termination, but your client and his perverse lover for Defamation of Character as well. The way I see it, they should be the ones in here and shelling out money, not me!”

“Well that’s an interesting stance you’re taking, Mr…”

“Dixon. Kevin Dwayne Dixon, Ms…”

“Fuller. Acting District Attorney, Shavonne Fuller, Mr. Dixon, and I will be handling most of your interrogation today. Beside me are Melanie Marcus and Charles Sands, attorneys for the plaintiff, Justin Taylor, and I believe you are well acquainted with Mr. Lawrence Spokes, acting attorney for St. James, as well as a per diem prosecuting attorney with the DA’s office. In this case, he’s my personal assistant.”

“A conflict of interest for you, isn’t it Spokes?” Dixon sneered.

“No. Although a bit unusual under the circumstances, Dixon. My interest in this case by way of St. James Academy has already been fulfilled, and since there is no known exclusivity clause in my contract, your innuendo doesn’t apply. St. James Academy is not on trial here, and since you are not a member of the faculty, my presence stands.”

They all could see the anger flash across Dixon’s face as Lawrence’s verbal volley hit its target. “Be that as it may, I still think it inappropriate for you to be present.”

“And I think you’re full of shit. So we’re even.”

Dixon stared for a moment before rolling his eyes. “Can we get on with this farce?”

“As you wish, Mr. Dixon. Tell us what prompted you to target Justin Taylor,” Shavonne cut right into the question to Mel and Charles’ surprise.

“I didn’t.”

“But you did target him, didn’t you? According to Dr. Perkins testimony at the trial of Christopher Hobbs, he stated that you told him you had walked into the classroom during a confrontation between Justin Taylor and Christopher Hobbs, is that correct? And when taking attendance, when you spoke Justin Taylor’s name- or should I say sneered it like your lip is curled to do now- Christopher Hobbs yelled out ‘Queer’ in place of Justin confirming his presence, is that correct? And while Justin complained to you about the inappropriateness of the remark, you denied hearing that, but ordered Justin to the principal’s office after he said, ‘The Queer is here, the Queer is gathering his things, the Queer is leaving the room.” And after a cursory ‘That’s enough’ from you, Justin Taylor called you on your selective hearing, stuck his middle fingers up at you and said to you ‘This Queer says fuck you’.” Do I have all of the events of that afternoon’s calculus class correct, Mr. Dixon?”

He looked flustered at Shavonne’s rapid fire questions. “I don’t recall…”

“Sure you do. But I asked those questions as a warm-up to get you to focus on this one. What did Chris Hobbs get for beginning the contretemps in the first place? Was he sent to principal’s office? Did he get a phone call home? Did he get detention for being a disruption even before class began? What were his grades like that he was able to remain on the football team? And before you answer that last question, know that we have pulled Chris’ academic records from the school’s database and know that he was flunking every class, except Advanced Calculus before his grades were changed in the system. Would you care to explain how and why they were changed, Mr. Dixon?”

“I don’t understand what any of these questions have to do with the civil trial, Ms. Fuller.”

“Of course you do, but evasion and deflection of the questions will not work here. The longer you take to answer these questions, the longer it will be before you can meet with your attorney. And let me assure you, that until I release you, you won’t leave. Unless it’s by you being placed in a jail cell for contempt of court. Also be advised that you can plead the fifth, but based on prior testimony and the records from the hearing of the St. James Disciplinary Board, which have been released to us, our conclusions have already been drawn. So you might as well come clean with all of it, since you already have been ordered to pay the fifty grand to Justin Taylor. Right now, it’s just a matter of if I decide there is enough evidence to charge you as an accessory to Chris Hobbs’ crime. Truthfully there is, based on hearsay alone, and I would be happy to dig into all of your past dealings with not only Justin Taylor, but Craig Taylor, and a host of other students you’ve ‘taught’ throughout your tenure at St. James; those students who were tortured upon your whims, and those of their controlling parents by your merry band of mindless muscle, otherwise known as the football team. There isn’t a statute on any murder charges- attempted or completed, so you would do well to keep me from digging, Dixon. Consider this your plea deal. Now, answer the questions.” She narrowed her eyes at him as he swallowed hard under her watchful eyes.

Mel, Charles, and Lawrence sat there in amazement as Shavonne continued to stare Dixon down. They all marveled as his look of entitled arrogance became one of fear instead. It was then that they all knew she had the right of it and that they would finally get what they needed to bring the big dogs- the Hobbs Family- in.

“Alright. You are correct in saying that while I targeted Justin Taylor, I protected Christopher Hobbs. You have to understand though, that I owe my loyalty to Hobbs and his family.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re family. In fact, Kinney’s boss, Marty Ryder’s wife, is my aunt. She’s a Hobbs by birth. So whereas I was being paid by Craig Taylor, I was also being paid by my cousin, Samuel Hobbs. Samuel bought shares into Taylor Electronics for me, and so this was my way of paying him back.”

“Were you made aware of the transfer of ownership of Taylor Electronics to Justin Taylor about two years ago?”

“If we held shares, yes we were all made aware. That was part of the reason we needed to re-educate Justin. He’s what was called a legacy student, in fact we all are, or should I say, they are. I was from the wrong side of town, much like Kinney, until I went to Dartmouth and met Craig Taylor and Samuel Hobbs, only they didn’t really know it. My own mother was estranged from her family. So imagine my surprise when I found out that my aunt- her only sister was a Hobbs by birth, the result of an affair- and married well when she aligned with Ryder and voila, there’s my family history in a nutshell.”

“So basically you’re saying that because he was a ‘Legacy’ student, your job was to de-fag Justin Taylor?”

“In a sense, yes. But the sissy brought it upon himself. If he had just stayed in the closet and respected the rules…”

“And just what are those rules, Mr. Dixon? To be mindless, unhappy, dumb down your quality of life, due to the ideals of others?”

“Yeah. In the WASP nest, you go along to get along; it’s that simple. You do what you’re told and then what you’re expected to, otherwise you reap the consequences.”

“So Chris Hobbs taking a bat to Justin Taylor’s head was completely justified in your book? The fact that he was in a coma and stopped breathing several times was okay, because he is openly gay and flouted your society’s trumped up rules? It was okay for his locker, with all of his belongings, to be set on fire because he is gay, is that what you are saying? It was okay for you to give the orders which led to the hell Justin Taylor endured his entire high school career because he’s gay and therefore needed to be taught a lesson about where his loyalty should lie?”

“YES!! To all of it, yes! And I don’t regret any of it!”

She smiled wide, resembling a shark. Mel felt the action straight down to her toes, as did the rest of them, Dixon included. “Thank you, Mr. Dixon,” she purred. “We’re through here, but I’m afraid that your portion in this drama is just beginning.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, his voice trembling slightly.

“You admitted to hate crimes on tape, under oath, and during this deposition. Bailiff, please be so kind as to arrest this man. Don’t forget to read him his Miranda rights.”

Shavonne walked back to the table with a self-satisfied smirk on her face. “Well, I’ll say that his monkey ass has just gotten chopped off!”