Published: 10 Aug 2023

From The Previous Chapter:

“Phillip … those are great questions. I’ll see if your grandmother knows anything about that, if I can. In the meantime, you need to focus on your studies and guitar playing, young man. And, don’t forget you have a sleepover this Friday night … and I bet it will be something you will remember for a long time. Now go drain that dragon, and go to bed,” finished the foster dad.

The two finished up their conversation and then Mr. Ken told the boy to go and drain his dragon and to have a good night’s sleep. They shared a hug and Mr. Ken went down to his retreat to unpack and get a good night sleep himself, in his own bed, that night.

It was all quiet in The Cove that Wednesday night.

Mr. Ken got up at his usual time when the boys had school. He did his morning routine and then sat down to read the morning newspaper. Momma Maria brought the man’s coffee cup over to the table and then filled it with hot coffee before he could take the newspaper out of the protective sleeve.

The man still hadn’t gotten his paper out of the plastic sleeve when Momma reminded him that if the weather was good tonight, they would be having dinner up at the Pavilion that evening. Mr. Ken thanked her for the reminder. He in turn told her that he and Bill had to be at the courthouse by nine that morning, so they might be back early if all went well.

As the owner of The Cove then proceeded to slide the paper out of the sleeve, he noticed the headline. He stopped separating the sections, as he normally did, and took Section A, put the rest aside, and began to eagerly read:

Mr. Ken was so engrossed in the story that he didn’t even hear the three boys come into the Kitchen Noon for their breakfast that morning. Charles called out to him to get his attention.

“Oh, sorry boys … there is a good story in this morning’s newspaper that I wanted to read before Bill and I go to the courthouse this morning. Just eat up and remember, Momma is having dinner up at the Pavilion tonight,” responded ‘dad’ Ken, who went right back to reading the article.

The three boys looked at one another, chuckled, and went back to finishing their breakfast.

Mr. Ken continued to read:

Mr. Ken continued to read how Kaden talked about the fight that happened after a new student arrived at Alvin York and a few of the varsity football players, who were some of his clients, took an exception with him and picked a fight with the new student. Kaden went on to tell how the new student knew how to defend himself and was able to take on four upper classmen sending three of them to the hospital to get bandaged up. Mr. Ken laughed at how the teenager described what happened.

As the owner of The Cove read on, Kaden talked about how he became friends with that student and subsequently learned that he was in the foster care system. Kaden told how his friend’s step-dad was killed during a shoot-out with Sheriff Deputies and his mother was sent to prison for holding and dealing drugs for one Larry ‘Smokey’ Masson. The article went on to say that Kaden told his supplier friends that and they in-turn told him to get more information about his friend to see if he was the person who ratted the man, ‘Smokey’, out.

The story went on to say that Kaden learned as much as he could about his friend and then his drug dealing acquaintances had him hide drugs in his friend’s bedroom because he knew that if his foster dad found them, he would send his friend away, which was what the men wanted. It was because they wanted to exact some revenge for his ratting on ‘Smokey’ and taking down the lucrative drug trade that the man had established.

Mr. Ken went on to read that on the night of the 4^th of July, during the fireworks, he snuck into the house and hid a good amount of marijuana behind a panel in his friend’s walk-in closet. Kaden then said one of the men left an anonymous phone call that led the man to the drugs and his friends was sent away that very same day.

The story continued:

Mr. Ken was so absorbed into the story that, again, he didn’t recognize that the two older teens had come into the Kitchen Nook to have their breakfast. He didn’t even acknowledge that Momma had continue to refresh his coffee cup as he continually drank sip after sip and that the cup was never empty.

“Dad … what are you reading that you didn’t even notice that we came into the Nook?” asked Robert.

“Boys … Kaden … he testified at the trial and … well, I am reading what the reporter has written about it. It is so … so intriguing to read back at what happened from Kaden’s viewpoint as he told the court. Bill, when I go to get cleaned up, you might want to read this, too,” offered the man, who then thanked Momma Maria for keeping his coffee cup filled. The man then went back to reading.

Mr. Ken stopped reading and then looked at the time. He jumped up and quickly gave the newspaper to Bill and told him to read the article about Kaden, while he went and got ready so the two of them can be at the courthouse by nine.

When Mr. Wayne and Mr. Chris arrived at The Cove, they were surprised to see Billy sitting in the Kitchen Nook and not at school. It wasn’t until the teenager told them that he and Mr. Ken needed to be at the courthouse by nine that the Estate Master remembered that the teen was testifying today at the trial of Bennett Grafflers and Weston Thrumble.

Mr. Ken hurried into the Kitchen Nook and said hello to the two men and then apologized to them for not staying to talk, but he told them he and Bill needed to get to the courthouse. On the way to the garage, the man told them there was an interesting article in the morning’s newspaper about Kaden’s testimony that they night want to read.

Ken Thomas and Bill Dirketson arrived at the courthouse with ten minutes to spare, but DA George Morris was furious that his day’s star witness was not there earlier for him to prep before he went on the witness stand.

Ken Thomas told the man that ADA John Greene told him to be there for nine o’clock and he was out of town the past two days and hadn’t heard anything different. George Morris said he couldn’t do anything about that now, so he asked Billy if he was ready to tell how he was sent to live at the Golderson’s, and what happened the day of the home invasion.

Billy told the District Attorney that it was ingrained in his mind what those men did to him and that there was no way he would ever forget what he had to endure that Sunday night and that those three men almost killed him.

Once inside the courtroom, Billy and Mr. Ken took seats in the back corner as to not be too noticeable. But that was not to be, as the man was very well known in the area and with Kaden Stylers mentioning his name during his testimony, everyone in the courtroom was on the lookout for the man and the teenager who they knew would be the star witness at today’s trial.

“All rise,” called the bailiff, as the judge entered the courtroom.

“Is the prosecution ready to proceed?” asked the judge.

“Yes, your honor,” replied DA Gorge Morris.

“Then call your first witness,” returned the judge.

Billy Dirketson was called to the witness stand and sworn in, ‘To tell the truth; the whole truth, so help you God’.

George Morris started his questioning off to establish who Billy Dirketson was, how he was associated with the trial and why he was there as a witness.

“Mister William Dirketson, may I call you Billy?” asked George Morris

“Yes, please,” replied Billy.

“How old are you?” asked the district attorney.

“I’m sixteen,” replied Billy.

“And how old were you when you were living with the Goldersons?” was the district attorney’s follow-on question.

“I was fifteen, sir,” said Billy.

“Thank you. Billy, it was asserted in previous testimony that you knew certain people, so I want to ask you about them. OK. So … do you know a Jody Franks?” asked the DA.

“Yes, sir, he was my step-dad,” answered Billy.

“And, do you know what happened to him?” asked DA George Morris.

“Yes, sir. He was killed in a shootout with sheriff deputies about three years ago,” answered Billy.

“And, do you know a man named Larry Masson?” was DA Morris’ next question.

“Well … I know who the man is, err was,” began Billy, but was interrupted by the defense counsel.

“Objection. He either knows the man or he doesn’t! Which is it?” demanded the defense counsel.

“The witness will answer the question,” directed the judge.

“Well, I never personally met the man, but I’ve seen him. I know who he was. He’s dead now. He was pointed out to me by my step-dad and my mom. They told me … they told me they never wanted me to be around the man,” responded the teen Cover.

“And why was that?” now asked the DA, when given the opening by Billy.

“My step-dad … he told me that ‘Smokey’, oh sorry, that Larry Masson was … that he was a very bad man to know, that he had a mean streak in him, and that he couldn’t be trusted around young boys,” answered Billy.

“And do you know what happened to him?” now asked DA Morris.

“Yes, sir. He was in that same shootout when my step-dad … when my step-dad was killed, but the man got away somehow. He was later found in a stolen boat out on the lake. He was supposedly going around in circles. He’d been shot during the shootout and had collapsed at the wheel. He later died in the hospital,” was how Billy answer the district attorney.

“Billy, who is Amelia Franks?” asked the district attorney.

“She’s … my mom, my mother,” replied Billy.

“And what happened to her after your step-dad was killed?” asked the district attorney.

“Well … the police … they served a search warrant on our house … the day after the shootout. And … and they found all the drugs my mom and my step-dad held and delivered for ‘Smokey.’ And they also found … they also found a lot of money and many guns with their serial numbers filed off. They arrested my mom and … and after her trial … well, she is now in prison serving a fifteen-year sentence,” finished Billy Dirketson.

“Thank you, Mr. Dirketson,” offered the district attorney.

Then facing the judge, George Morris said, “Your honor, I believe I have established that my witness is the person who was identified by a previous witness and is qualified to continue to give his account of what happened during the home invasion that occurred at the Goldersons last summer.”

The defense counsel stated that they had no objections to Billy being there as a witness.

“Mister Dirketson, Billy, will you please tell the court how you came to be living with Levi and Miriam Golderson and their son, Mark. And will you then tell this court what happened the night that their home was invaded by the defendants Bennett Grafflers, Weston Thrumble and Santiago Sanchez, who is now deceased.”

Billy took a deep breath and started telling how he was brought to Three Finger Cove by Ms. Judy Turner, the Director of Children’s Protective Services, and became the foster son of Mr. Ken Thomas. He told how he made friends with Kaden Stylers and four other high school friends and how they all met at The Cove on the weekend before school was over for the year and every day until he was sent away to live with the Goldersons.

Billy then had to explain, for the defense counsel, that The Cove was the shortened version of Three Finger Cove that people began to use, as it was simpler and easier to use to describe the estate.

DA Morris then asked the Cover to tell the court how it was that he was sent away from where he lived at The Cove, before he began living with the Goldersons.

Billy told the court what happened that day, when he was called to Mr. Ken’s Study. He explained about listening to a stranger’s voice tell his foster dad that he had drugs hidden in his bedroom. Billy then went through the process Mr. Ken used to identify that the bag that Mr. Wayne and Mr. Chris found where the mysterious man said it was and looked like it held marijuana was actually the illegal substance.

Mentioning Mr. Wayne and Mr. Chris, without their last names and revealing in what context they played in the story, caused the defense counsel to object. Defense counsel demanded that the witness explain who those people were and to what part they played in his being banned from where he lived.

Billy had to stop his story to explain who those two men were. Then the defense counsel had him tell the court what those men did at The Cove and then why it was they who found the bag of drugs instead of his foster dad.

After finishing his explanation of the Estate Manager and Master’s jobs at The Cove, and how it was they who found the drugs, after they listened to the answering machine, the teen told how his foster dad had his friend, Sheriff’s Lieutenant Dan Fischer, bring a drug dog over and search his office for the bag to see if it was drugs. The defense counsel objected again and wanted the witness to explain who this Lieutenant Fischer was and how he was involved in his being sent away.

Billy became exasperated at the defense counsel’s continuous objections every time he mentioned something, or someone new. He told the court that he didn’t know Lieutenant Fischer very well, but he told them what he knew and that the Lieutenant had a drug dog come to The Cove to search for the bag that Mr. Ken had hidden, and that the dog found it right away.

Billy then asked if he could continue telling the court how he became living with the Goldersons.

George Morris looked over at the defense counsel’s table to see if the attorney was finished with his objections and to get his approval for his witness to continue. The defense counsel waved his hand as an indication that Billy Dirketson could continue his story.

Billy saw what the defense counsel did and he went right back to telling how he was sent away from The Cove. He told how Mr. Ken, when he saw how quickly the drug dog had found the bag told him to pack his bags as he was calling Ms. Judy to come and move him before the day was over. Billy had tears form in his eyes as he relived that time in his life during his telling, that wasn’t missed on anyone in the courtroom.

Billy continued and told how he was taken to the Goldersons and they warmly welcomed him into their home. He told the court that he went to Mark’s baseball game that first night, and that afterwards they all sat down and talked about why he was sent away.

Billy continued his story about his time at the Goldersons up until the night of the home invasion. The teen talked about how much Mark loved baseball, their playing the game at the local ballfield, his building a home plate and pitcher’s rubber for Mark to practice being a pitcher and the other things they did as a family, like when they all went to the shooting range.

The teen then fast forwarded his story to the day of the home invasion. He told the court about their going out to dinner that evening and when they returned, he described what happened when someone came to the front door.

The teen detailed what transpired that evening when Miriam sent her husband to find out who was at the front door. Billy stated that Mark decided to tell him then that the person at the front door might be his friend who called earlier in the week. The teen told the court that he was mad at his ‘little’ brother for not telling him that someone called his cell phone and sent him up to the home’s Safe Room, and told him not to come out until either his mom or dad or he came to get him.

When Bill used the term ‘little’ brother, the defense counsel again objected. The defense’s attorney wanted to know who this ‘little brother’ was the witness just mentioned, and he also wanted to know where that person came from.

Again, Billy had to stop his train of thought and explain to the defense counsel that he called the Golderson’s son, Mark, his ‘little’ brother, as the boy was only nine-years-old at the time. When the defense counsel was satisfied with his answer, the judge had the teenager continue his story.

The teen continued and he told the court how, just after Mark got to the top of the stairs, the three men, two with guns, pushed Levi into the room where he and Miriam were standing. His story mimicked what the court heard the day before when Kaden Stylers had given his testimony.

Billy identified Bennett Grafflers, Weston Thrumble and Santiago Sanchez as the three men who invaded the home that night. The teen then described what happened to Levi Golderson when Grafflers wanted to know where the Golderson’s guns were kept. The teen continued telling how Grafflers told Kaden to find something to tie the Goldersons up with and that they tied Miriam up and then Bennett took Levi into the home office.

Billy continued saying that when they came back from the office it looked as if Levi had been hit once again. Billy mentioned that Grafflers had Levi tied up and they placed him and Miriam on their bed and then the three men took him up to his bedroom and began to interrogate him about ‘Smokey’.

Billy told the court how Bennett continued to ask him why he called the police on ‘Smokey’ and when he didn’t give the man the answer that he wanted he beat him, and so did the other two men. The teenager told the court, and spectators, that the beatings went on for what felt like hours.

The Cover also told the court how Grafflers also told him how they got Kaden to go into the house and stash that bag of drugs in his room during the 4^th of July fireworks, so they could get him banned from where he lived and sent away. Billy told everyone that Grafflers told him that they celebrated Kaden’s successful dirty deed by going over to Mr. Ken’s Kreamy Kone, an ice cream store that his foster dad owned, and had banana splits.

Billy continued and told everyone that he didn’t know what happened downstairs, but that all of a sudden one of the men he could hear had run down the stairs and soon thereafter he heard gun shots. Billy told the court that another of the men quickly ran down the stairs. He told the court he was hurting from the beatings and that he could barely see, so he didn’t know which man went when.

The teen continued telling what happened to him and said that after the second man went downstairs, he heard another gun shot and then some more and then the last man went running down the stairs and then a few moments later he said he heard a whole lot of gunshots. Billy then told the court he was afraid that the men had shot and killed Levi and Miriam, as they had told him they had intended to kill them all before they left the house.

Weston Thrumble stood up and immediately yelled out, from behind his defense table, that they said no such thing, when he heard Billy say that they were going to kill them all before they left the house.

The judge instantly banged his gavel and told the defendant to sit down and that he would not speak out unless he is spoken too first. He then chastised the defense attorney to keep his clients in their seats and under control or he would keep them out of the courtroom.

After the short distraction, Billy testified that when the gunshots stopped, he thought he heard the front door slam and then a car start up and drive off, as his bedroom faced the front street. He then testified that it then got eerily quiet. Then, before he knew it, Billy said that Mark had come out of the Safe Room and had come to him in his room and they talked.

Before the Cover continued telling what happened next, Billy knew he now had to be careful about what he said. He knew he couldn’t talk about the coin. Billy next told the court that he told Mark not to go downstairs. He said that he didn’t want his ‘little’ brother to go down there because he was afraid of what the boy might see and he didn’t want him to find his parents dead.

Billy continued and testified that he told his ‘little’ brother to go back into the Safe Room and to wait for someone to come for him. He then said he must have passed out because the next thing he remembered he was waking up in the hospital.

DA George Morris asked Billy a few questions concerning his testimony, but the Cover teen was able to handle them with ease.

The defense counsel was next and it was his responsibility to poke holes in Billy’s testimony and discredit it, so the jury would find his clients not guilty.

“Mister Dikretson,” began the defense counsel, and he was immediately stopped by Billy.

“Get my name right will you! It’s Dirk … Dirk-et-son!” demanded Billy. The spectators in the gallery chuckled, and had to be gaveled to be quiet by the judge, who also had a slight smile on his face.

“Yes, yes, my apologies. So … so, you want this court to believe … that you weren’t part of Larry Masson’s drug distribution network and because you weren’t … everything you told us this morning is … is the truth? How convenient!

“How can we believe that … that when you yourself told the court that your mother … that your own mother, mind you, that your own mother and your step-dad … they were both holding hordes of drugs and delivering them for the drug kingpin, Larry ‘Smokey’ Masson … and YOU … and you weren’t involved? At all? How can that be? You were there every day … day in and day out … and they were your dad’s,” and again the defense counsel was interrupted by Billy.

“Step-dad’s,” corrected Billy.

“Yes, yes, your step-dad’s customers coming by and you … and YOU … you never handled the drugs, or the guns, or took the money, from them, NEVER? How can we believe that when you were there 24/7 and then believe what you just told this court? Tell us! Please, tell us!” Finished the attorney.

“Well, because you need to try to get those depraved men off, and you’d deny anything you heard, even if your mother said it, wouldn’t you,” countered the teenager. The courtroom burst out in laughter. The judge had to gavel the courtroom to be quiet.

“Young man, please hold your personal feelings against the defense counsel to yourself. What he wants to hear is why this court should believe your story. Now, please … give this court a good reason that tells this court that your testimony was the truth,” counseled the judge.

“Yes, your honor, sorry,” apologized, Billy. “I don’t know what any of the previous witnesses said, because I was at school up until this morning, but … if what I just told you mimics anything … anything close to what they said … then you … then you know … you know what I told you is the truth, the whole truth.

“I have no idea what they said in their testimony. But know this. I WAS there … I was there in the Goldersons house the night THOSE three MEN, two of them siting there (And Billy pointed to Grafflers and Weston.) invaded their home. I know what those men did to the Goldersons and what they did … what they did to me.

“I want you to know that I lived … that I lived through the embarrassment … of being banned from The Cove, the place I thought … would be my forever home. I lived through …that I lived through the shock … of a friend … of someone who I thought was a friend turning against me … and planting drugs … so HIS drug dealing friends could get a hold of me. Then, I lived … then I lived through the horror … the horror of being beaten … within an inch of my life … and being threatened of being killed before the night was over.

“Don’t believe me. That’s your choice! But know this. Those men … THEY did invade Levi and Miriam Golderson’s home and THEY … they did threaten to kill ALL of us, before they left the house that night.

“And from what I learned, after I was in the hospital, was that one of them picked up a gun and … and he sprayed the bullets left in it into the master bedroom hoping to do just that and … and that was to KILL … and that was to kill Levi and Miriam Golderson!” And with that Billy stopped talking and everyone could see some tears flowing down his cheeks.

The judge noticed the tears as well and said they would take a fifteen-minute recess and gaveled the court into that recess, and then he left the courtroom. Mr. Ken immediately hurried to Billy as the bailiffs led the prisoners to a holding room.

“Bill … are you going to be, OK?” asked Mr. Ken, as he grabbed the teen into a hug while the two were still at the witness stand.

“Yea, I’ll be OK, Mr. Ken, I … I just didn’t expect it to be that intense. Then … then at the end, I … my emotions … they came rising to the top as I thought … as I thought of those men shooting all those bullets into the master bedroom and trying to kill … and trying to kill the Goldersons

“Mr. Ken, I … I didn’t expect to shed any tears, but … it’s kind of hard not too when … when you think of what might have been,” finished the Cover teenager, who still had tears streaming down his cheeks.

The bailiff came back into the courtroom and asked everyone to settle down. That was his way of asking the people to take their seats. Mr. Ken hurried to where he was seated before the judge came back into the courtroom.

When the judge came into the courtroom, the bailiff called out, “All rise!”

Billy was still on the witness stand and the judge looked over to him. The judge looked to the district attorney and asked him if he had anything else for the witness. Hearing he didn’t, the judge asked the defense counsel if he had any questions for the witness. Hearing he didn’t, the judge told Billy he could step down from the witness stand.

“Mr. District Attorney, call you next witness,” called out the judge.

“Your honor … my next witness … he is still in school and … he isn’t scheduled to be here until after the lunch time break,” replied DA George Morris.

“I see. Seeing the next witness is still in school, and it is close to the lunch break, we will go to lunch a bit early this day. The trial will resume at one o’clock at which time the prosecution’s next witness will be called to the witness stand. This trial will resume at one o’clock,” stated the judge, as he banged his gavel on his wooden block and then stood up.

The bailiff quickly called out, “All Rise!”, and the people watching the trial stood, as the judge exited the courtroom.

The saga of Three Finger Cove continues. Let Chowhound know you are reading his story: Chowhnd at Gmail dot Com

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