by: Kristy Duke

An awkward silence lingers heavily over the small room that I share with my cousin as I stare silent at his muscular back, watching him getting dressed for a silent moment. My mind has been lit a fire with emotional and fear filled thoughts ever since I had returned home and heard all that my uncle had to say. How could anyone believe that I am capable of killing? I allow a ragged sigh of worry to escape me as my thoughts turn to Bo, of all that he was forced to witness last night. Watching him silently tuck in his red button up shirt, I fight back tears of worry and fear for him, of all the discriminating evidence he had described to the FBI agents, of all that he had seen. His body trembles uncontrollably as he yanks at his shirt, forcing it to be tucked into his tight denim pants and I silently say a prayer for him, for him to be OK. For someone who had looked death in the face for his first fifteen years, he has never seen someone die not alone being killed as he had witnessed last night. He has lost several friends in the pediatric floor of Tri-County Hospital to death, but Uncle Jesse had always protected him from seeing it.

“Boys!” my uncle’s angered voice booms through the house, his voice quivers in fear and worry to send my mind rushing. They’re here. Damn it. I fight back my own tears of fear as I glance around the small room that I have spent so much time at and my heart tightens in anger and frustration at being forced to leave the one place I wish to be.

I dreadfully begin to move towards our closed door as Bo quickly beats me to the door and slowly opens it with a shaky hand before walking out into the naturally lit living room. My heart races quickly within me as four large men stand near to Uncle Jesse, wearing thin dark blue wind breakers with thick bold yellow initials that reads “FBI”. My thoughts dart quickly within me from the events that happened last night to the future that looms threatenly ahead of me. Abruptly two of the four men quickly take a few steps up to me as they see me walking out of the hall way behind Bo, their eyes are filled with determination and anger.

Without giving much thought, Bo shoves the small set of shelves that holds a couple of plants and several pictures from it’s place in our small hall and in front of the two agents just as they reach us. “Run Luke!” he yells as the two agents harshly trips over the old shelves to roll heavily onto each other and onto the hard wooden floor.

After a moment of clouded thought, I bolt to the wooden door that leads to the side of the house, and quickly throw it open and run out into the bright late winter day. Loud set of cussing hisses out through the door of the agents which is quickly followed by the door being thrown open and the two agents, mad as ever, runs out. Fear explodes within me as they quickly catch up to me, tackling me onto the muddy grassy ground. “Nice try, Duke,” one gruffs as they force my hands back and tightly locks metal handcuffs over my wrists. They force me up and mud drips from my clothes as they walk me back to the house.

Anger rushes through my body as he forces me back into the house to find the other two muscular men shoving Bo harshly into the thick wall, cussing angrily in his ear. I glance back at Jesse who’s face is etched with his own anger and worry as he stands protectively close to Bo, fighting back the urge to fight with the two larger men. “You wanna mess with us, boy?” one of them angrily yells in his ear as Bo abruptly begins coughing forceful and wheezily, his thin chest heaves in and out as he fights for air. Shoved against the wall, Bo struggles to grip his inhaler from his jeans pocket and as he drags out his inhaler, the agent finally sees what Bo is doing and harshly shoves Bo’s arm and hand into the sharp corner of the wall. Bo lets out a breathless yell of pain as he loses his grip upon his inhaler and it falls to the floor, “What the hell you thinkin’? You wanna a ride to the state pen with your cousin, don’t you? It can be arranged! You dumb jackass!”

Silence fills the room as we are left to hear Bo’s wheezy coughing that fights to escalate as he struggles for air, only to cause the large man to strengthen his grip onto Bo. “But. . it,” Bo struggles to say through his coughing, “it wasn’t. . .him.”

“So you have said,” the man hisses into Bo’s ear as Bo slowly loses fight to his struggle to allow the agent to tighten his grip on him again, “though if I were you, I’d stop defending the murderer you call your cousin! Stop denying what you saw!”

“Enough already!” I suddenly snap to force everyone’s attention back to me, “You have came here for me…and you got me. Not him. Can’t you see he can’t breathe? He needs his inhaler! Abusing him, won’t help matters any.”

“Oh?” the agent holding Bo gives me an amused look, “You wanna see me abusing him? This ain’t nothin’!”

“Treyton,” the man with the sandy brown hair that had remained silent so far finally speaks up, “that is enough! Let him go,” the man he had called Treyton slowly lets Bo go and Bo weakly slides down the wall, to sit upon the wooden floor. A brief silent moment everyone glares at Bo as Bo fights for air while he searches through watered eyes for his inhaler. Finding it, he triggers a couple sprays in his mouth and the coughing slowly eases into loud wheezing and a couple of tears escapes from his hold to slowly roll down his pale cheeks. “Treyton,” the sandy brown haired man speaks up, “I want you and Bradston to take him up to Atlanta and get him checked in properly and to usher him with the guard to his cell. Then report back to me and I will tell you what to do next. First of all, read him his rights.”

Treyton slowly nods as he runs a muscular hand through his crew cut before slowly telling me my rights without even looking at a card. Slowly the big black agent that had tracked me down out side pulls me ahead where Treyton grabs a tight hold on my other arm. I send a panic look at Jesse whose eyes glimmer in his own tears before he slowly says, “We’ll be up to see you as soon as possible.”

I nod before the sandy haired man speaks up, “He won’t be allowed any visitors until tomorrow after noon. It takes them awhile to get them processed.”

“As soon as possible,” Jesse speaks up, his voice is strong and stubborn as I am forced out the front door and slowly into the back seat of a black government car with tinted windows.

***KRISTY DUKE***

 

Tears sting my eyes as I glare nervously through the passenger window, watching the bright late morning’s sun kissing the earth’s muddy ground. My mind slowly wanders from thought to thought of the morning’s events, from the harsh fit Jamie had woke up having at two in the morning to the phone call we had received from Jesse; Luke being under arrest. Fear and worry slowly washes through me for my daughter and my cousin, for the future that waits a head of them. Slowly closing my eyes to block out painful thoughts of Jamie’s fit this morning, I slowly get lost into a silent prayer, for Jamie and Luke. Opening my eyes I sigh warily as surprise is ushered through my body as I silently realize that is the first time I have really sat down and prayed about anything in years. I haven’t even thought of stepping a foot into a church since dad had left me when I was six years old as my mom and William didn’t attend church. By the time, I had came to live with my dad last year for support, I refused to go or to think of going back to a church.

“Nervous?” Garrett slowly speaks up to break the silence that had evaded his muscle car ever since leaving our farm house.

I slowly nod before glancing down at my dressed up apparel which consists of shiny black dress shoes, thin black dress pants, a silky white blouse that is covered by a dark blue dress coat with an expensive gold dressy necklace. A set of white pearl ear rings rest in the lobes of my ears while my hair is neatly combed and curled, the sides pulled tightly back into a large barrette, and make up is lightly applied on my face. “A little,” I shrug as I think of all that may be asked, of what I should expect. Last week I had went around town filling out applications and handing them in with my resume, after we had finished moving our belongings into the new farm house. Then two days ago the local sheriff had called to make an appointment for the job I had applied for which was to be a secretary for the commissioner and the sheriff.

“Well you look great,” Garrett smiles at me as he abruptly turns his car onto the paved road into town, inching closer by the second, “he’d be crazy not to hire you…I’d hire you on looks alone if I were the sheriff.”

“Well too bad you ain’t him then,” I sigh sadly as I wipe at my tears, fighting to dry them before they smear my make up. Hesitantly I pull down the sun visor and open the small mirror that is on the other side and slowly check my hair and make up before I put it back up in satisfaction.

“Look Kristy …don’t worry about Jamie and Luke when you are in there. You need to concentrate on their questions and presume the image of wanting the job, of needing the job. Jamie and Shay are at the farm with Jesse and Bo, they’re having a good time, “Garrett puts on the voice of reason, “and as for Luke, he’s a big boy, he can fend for his self and I am sure the Dukes will do all that they can to defend him. He can’t possibly have killed that agent.”

“Yeah maybe,” I take a deep sigh as he pulls his car into an empty parking spot in front of the brick sheriff’s station before I turn to him, place a smile on my face and ask, “Well, how I look?”

“As I said, you look great,” he grins at me as I slowly open the door, “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” I smile nervously as I shut the door and begin to walk up to the side walk.

I am abruptly stopped as Garrett slowly manually rolls down the passenger window and calls out, “Kristy,” I slowly glance back and he continues, “just be yourself and you’ll get the job.”

I give him a smile of confidence that I don’t feel before I slowly turn around and begin to follow the sidewalk up to the cement stairs in the front of the building. Opening the heavy glass doors I am welcomed by a brightly lit hall way and a wave of heat. Forcing my shoulders back as I fight to recall Garrett’s words of wisdom while I retrace my steps I had taken down the hall the other day. Reaching the closed door that reads “SHERIFF’S STATION” in big bold letters upon the clouded window, I slowly say another silent prayer before I open the door with a wobbly hand. Stepping into the open room, I slowly glance around to take in my surroundings as I fight to control my rapid heart beat. Taking a couple of steps past a couple of wooden chairs that is pressed against a wooden railing to an opening in the railing that holds a small step up to a small floor that holds an empty jail cell on the left and right wall, while a large scarred wooden desk lies in the middle, a couple of file cabinets stand tall against the right wooden railing. To my right lies two flight of wooden stairs that I predict leads to more jail cells while an empty wooden desk lies against the wooden railings to my right and two closed doors lie on the opposite wall facing me, resting next to one another and the empty jail cell.

“How may I help you, ma’am?” comes a caring soft voice that is filled with a southern accent. I jump slighting in surprise as I glare up at the desk to find the sheriff sitting there with his hat on, looking at me with a pair of bright crystal blue eyes.

“Hi sheriff,” I slowly speak up as I step up the step and walk to his desk and he respectfully takes off his black hat to show me his thick graying brown hair that is cut neatly and over his edgy eyes, “I’m Kristy Duke. You called me the other day about a job interview and I am here for the interview.”

“D- Duke?” he stutters as a door closes shut and I glance back to see a short round man dressed in white walk out smoking a fat cigar, thick blue smoke follows him.

“Yes sir. Kristy Duke,” I confirm his question as I glance down to find his name plate that reads “Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane”.

“Rosco!” a loud voice booms behind me and I jump in surprise to find the round man standing behind me before walking around to stand an half foot in front of the sheriff, “What am I hearing here? You set up a job interview with a Duke?! What in tarnation were you thinkin’?! Oh never mind, don’t answer that.”

“We-well,” Rosco stutters looking over at me and back to the fat man, “you tol’ me to put the ads in the paper and I did. I can’t deny her to apply for the job or a job interview due to her name. She seems fit for the job by her application.”

“You dumb numbskull!” the man dressed in white yells angrily, waving his cigar and smoke engulfs me, “I won’t have no Duke working for me! You catch that Rosco? I will NOT have NO Duke working for me! End of story.”

“Excuse me sir,” I slowly step up, fighting for courage, “are you telling your sheriff there, that you won’t even consider a job interview due to my last name?”

He glares at me with angered brown eyes before he steps away from me and looks over at Rosco for help. “That’s right,” he answers confidently as he looks back at me, “I have no clue who you are. I know all the Dukes in town and you are one I don’t know or recognize. But it is no secret that me and your family don’t get along and I find it in my policy to not work with any Dukes.”

“I am sorry to hear that,” I slowly answer, my voice remaining calm despite the storm of anger rushing through me, “because if you will not give me a job interview or a job on the basis of my last name, I will be forced to bring legal action against you.”

He laughs for a brief moment before glaring at me and says smugly, “You wouldn’t do that, because me and Rosco here are the law around these here parts and I control the courts and trials in this here county. So your legal action wouldn’t last too long, now would it?”

I lend him a slow shrug while I slowly think of my response, fighting for the right words. “Who said I’d bring it here in Hazzard,” I look confusedly at him, “Atlanta is only an hour drive from here…I am sure they’d love to hear that you are discriminating me by my last name.”

“You wouldn’t,” the fat man says matter of factly.

“I would and I could,” I remain calm, “it would only take a phone call. You see, my step dad is a big time defense lawyer in Atlanta. You may remember the Bondler case in Atlanta…the man accused of burning down his bosses house after a heated argument, killing the whole family? How all the evidence pointed directly at him, but when the verdict came in, it came back as innocent?”

“I heard of it,” the man says warily, “the jackass shoulda been in the pen for life if not more! He musta had a damn good lawyer to -” he goes silent and gives me a worried glare.

“That’s right. Bondler’s lawyer, William Thortan,” I pause for affect, “is my step dad and he wouldn’t think twice of coming down and nailing you down for discrimination. Perhaps I could give him a few examples of what you had done to my family as evidence of who you are.”

Fear crosses his dark brown eyes for a moment before he fights to shield his fear as he puffs deeply onto his cigar. “You expect me to believe that, that fancy talkin’ lawyer is your step dad?” he gives me a challenging look.

“You wanna find out?” I return his challenging look with my own as I take a step to the old phone on the sheriff’s desk and rest a hand on the receiver, “It’ll only take one phone call and he’d be here without a second thought. He’s over protective…my half brother is a highly respected police officer in the city, also over protective of me, perhaps he could ride along with my step dad…take you with him on his way back to Atlanta.”

“No need for a phone call,” the fat man wipes the sweat from his forehead with an old handkerchief before he puts out his cigar in the sheriff’s metal garbage can, “you’re a Duke and the Dukes I know, don’t lie.” He looks over at the sheriff for a short moment, “Sheriff Coltrane will take the job interview here. If you need anything, I am Commissioner J.D. Hogg.”

I nod before he slowly makes his way behind me and climbs down the step before walking back to his back office. “We all call him Boss,” Coltrane speaks up bringing my attention to him and he motions me to a wooden chair in front of his desk, “why don’t you take a seat.”

 

***LUKE DUKE***

 

My body trembles with harsh fear as I sit upon an old wooden bench seat besides several hardened looking men as my mind races within me. I fight to ignore the men and women that are lined up besides me on the bench as well as the loud noises that echoes off of the hollow stained walls. Ahead of me, Treyton and Bradston stand in front of a metal scarred desk, talking to a large lady with thin grayish blond hair that is tightly pulled back into a bun. I sigh warily at the reality of the nightmare as I glare down at the loose fitting bright orange jumper that reads PRISONER across my back in big black bold letters. My hair is still slightly wet from the cleansing shower they forced me to take with their shared bar soap and hair soap in a large room, filled with several open showers. Luckily for me, there were only a couple big men occupying a shower and I had gotten a little space.

“Duke,” Treyton hisses at me as he yanks me to my feet from a tight grip onto my upper arm where he leads me to where Bradston stands next to the guard who wears a tannish brown uniform. The guard throws me a hard glare with rough green eyes before he slowly turns around to unlock the metal bar door and Treyton forces me through the door. Dread quickly joins my fear as I am forced to walk down the wide isle that lies between two rows of large jail cells that are crowded. Men hiss and yell from within the bars while other men cusses at me, their yelling echoes loudly off the cement floors and the brick walls.

After a long moment that seems to last an eternity, they come to an abrupt stop in front of one of the barred in doors. Fear escalates within me as I scan the five men that occupies the cell as the guard methodically unlocks the door. “Enjoy your stay,” Treyton grins evilly at me as he slowly unlocks the tight handcuffs, “your new room mates will enjoy your company.”

The two agents laugh before he harshly shoves me into the moldy smelling cell and the metal door clinks heavily shut as I turn around to find the guard re-locking the door. “Well, well,” a mimicking voice laughs roughly in my ear as a heavy arm is slung tightly around my neck and I slowly glance to my left to find a man standing two inches taller than I with a light brown complection, his wiry black hair is cut and shaved closely to his head with piercing dark brown eyes, “who we got here?”

I swallow hard as I force myself to look out through the bars to find other prisoners looking greedily at me and I fight for courage. I yell out in pain as the standing next to me slams my head into the bars with his arm that is slung over my shoulder. Pain quickly throbs through my head as he forces me to look at him and says, “When I ask you a question, you answer! What’s your name?”

“Luke,” I slowly answer.

“What you in for?” someone behind me asks and I glance over to find a man with a pale complection with icy blue eyes, his thick blond hair is cut raggedly short. A thick scar trails down his left eye.

“Murder,”I whisper.

“Join the club,” another one speaks up to my side right side who sits upon the lower cot with buzzed brownish red hair, tattoos trail up and down his muscular arms, “we’re all murderers. But let me guess…you didn’t do it?”

I glare angrily at him before glancing up at the cot that hangs over his cot to find an older man with dark gray hair and scans me over with piercing gray eyes. “Warning,” the man with his arm around my shoulders speak up, “you don’t mess with us, you will be fine.”

I silently nod before I step away from his heavy arm and slowly turn around to take in the small cell, two cots are nailed to the three walls while an old molded and rusty toilet hangs on the far right corner. “There’s your cot,” the tattooed man snorts as he points to the top cot on the right wall where a man around my size sits upon the lower cot, hiding in the shadows that my cot creates. The man stares at me with wary dark greenish blue eyes as he runs a muscular hand through his thinly cut brown hair that holds inch long thin side burns.

For a short moment an thick air of silence lingers in the small cell as the five men stare harshly at me, sending silent threats towards me with hardened eyes. I sigh heavily as I slowly bend down to grab the rolled up blanket Brandston had threw in after me and hesitantly move towards my cot. It takes me a long minute to throw the thin blanket over the thin cot’s mattress before I slowly sit myself on top of the cover, glaring out through the bars in disbelief. Never in my life had I imagined myself sitting here, in jail, accused of murder.

Fighting to ignore the few hard stares that are implanted on me I slowly grab the old picture that they had allowed me to keep. Cooter had taken the picture the day I had returned from war, I stand in the middle of Daisy and Bo, while Jesse stands in the back of Daisy and I. Smiles are stretched widely across everyone’s faces in excitement while a few feet back in the picture stands the old Duke farm house. My heart tightens with emotions as I silently recall the events that had happened through the two months since I have returned home, from the terrible attitude I had towards my family to the events that had led me in this jail cell. Glaring into the glossy picture I silently begin to think of the horrid future that lies ahead of me in jail, if I’ll ever be able to return home to be with my family.

 

 

***UNCLE JESSE***

 

Silence captures the aging farm house as I sit silently in my rocking chair, watching Shay play with a couple of matchbox cars that Bo had found in the back of his closet. Besides the small baby, Jamie lies on her stomach while she carefully colors in a coloring book with a purple crayon. A brief smile reaches my face as I take in the two young children, silently remembering watching Bo, Luke, and Daisy playing on the farm house’s wooden floor. Watching Shay mouthing a blue car, I am instantly reminded of Bo with his thin bright blond hair and the bright blue eyes. I sigh sadly as I wonder where time had went to, it seems like only weeks ago since they were their age, playing with cars, coloring, and crawling from place to place. And yet the youngest of the kids I watched grow is twenty- two years old, a couple more months he’ll be twenty-three. Time flies.

I am slowly brought back into reality as Shay lets out a small cry as he tiredly rolls over onto the floor. “I know the feelin’,” I smile as I get up and slowly bend down to pick him up and Jamie instantly gets up and runs into the kitchen. “Here, let me show you how your Uncle Bo use to fall asleep to,” I gently tell him as I sit back down on my wooden rocking chair.

“Here Uncle Jesse,” Jamie runs back to me, carrying a baby blue soft blanket and a clear blue pacifier, “he likes these.”

“Thank-you Jamie, you are a big helper,” I smile at her and she gives me a broad smile as she nervously grabs onto her denim jumper outfit that holds Tigger and Pooh on her stomach, under a chest pocket.

“Huh huh,” she nods in agreement before she slowly returns to her open coloring book and lays down so she can face Shay and I. For a moment, I watch as she searches for a new crayon before dragging out red crayon and begins to color on the same page she had been coloring. Slowly I glance down at Shay who fights against sleep with heavy eyelids and I am once again lost in the past, holding Bo while I gently rock him to sleep. Watching Shay slowly cave into sleep, I am reminded once again, reminded of Bo’s painful past, of watching him suffer greatly with nothing I can do to help. A tear slowly runs down my right cheek and before I can catch it, Jamie asks, “What’s wrong Uncle Jesse?”

I try to give her a brave smile before I glance down at Shay while I struggle for what I should tell her. Looking up I slowly respond, “Nothing is wrong sweety. Shay reminds me a lot of Bo when Bo was his age.”

“But you were-”

She is quickly interrupted as the front door slowly opens before closing, a slow moment passes before Kristy and Garrett slowly walk into the living room. “There you all are at,” Kristy smiles as Garrett yanks off his dark sun glasses and hooks it onto the collar of his black shirt.

“Mommy!” Jamie yells as she runs up to Kristy, hugging her in excitement.

“Did you have fun?” Kristy smiles as she picks Jamie up for a moment before setting her back down.

“Huh huh,” Jamie nods, “I colored you a picture and Uncle Jesse told me I was a big helper, and Uncle Jesse was crying.”

I glance down at Shay as I am filled with embarrassment as Jamie explains to Kristy that I was crying where he sleeps silently, continuing to suck on his pacifier. “Well honey, he is going through a hard time right now,” Kristy answers taking a step in to take in her son and her face brightens at seeing him, “Ooh you got him to sleep…thank-you for watching them. I hope they weren’t too much of a bother for-”

“Of course they weren’t…I enjoyed their company,” I smile at her as she protectively takes Shay from me, he opens his eyes slightly before falling back to sleep, “Jamie was a big helper.” I grin down at Jamie before looking up at Kristy, turning serious, “So how did the job interview go?”

“Well…I got the job,” she shrugs silently, “that Hogg guy tried to deny me the interview when he heard my name, he thought else wise when I told him that I would call William.”

“Good for you,” I smile fondly at her as I force myself to stand up, “you should have your fair shot at the job.”

“Yeah that’s what I – ” she cuts herself off as she glances back at Garrett who remains in the kitchen entry before looking back at me, “I just thought of something. You were planning on going to that new guy in town? To defend Luke?”

“Yeah…I was going to go meet him when you got done,” I answer skeptically, wondering what she has in mind.

“OK it may be the dumbest idea and if you don’t like it, then that is fine,” she answers, excitement enters her green eyes, “I don’t know how you feel about William after how mom had acted towards dad, but he is a great defense lawyer. I could call him up and see if he has any open cases and if not -”

I smile understandingly at her before I slowly interrupt her, “I don’t hold any hard feelings towards William nor your mom, what she did is over with and your dad isn’t the perfect angel himself,” I pause, “our problem is, is that we don’t have any money to be giving to a city lawyer as your step dad. We can’t even afford this local guy, but I am not just going to stand by and watch him being charged without any defense.”

“Money isn’t exactly the issue with William any more…sure he loves getting the money and he has plenty of money,” Kristy slowly answers, “but if I were to call and ask him to do this, that he would do this for you for next to nothing. Trust me.”

“That is a nice offer of you, even if he wouldn’t agree with that,” I sigh as I look back at Jamie who has returned to her coloring, “but I have never taken any charity no matter how poor or how much trouble I’ve been in, I am not gonna start now.”

“It wouldn’t be for charity, call it family helping family when in need,” she slowly shrugs as she glances down at Shay who’s head rests upon her shoulder, “Like I said, it is your choice, but of all I know about law and lawyering, if you want to get Luke off, you’d go with someone with experience and not some new guy. William has plenty of experience, he even has a few cases that went public under him. He has won several battles in the court room…even when the evidence is stacked up on the defendant…like that Bondler case. William was his lawyer.”

It goes silent in the room as I glare down at my old scuffed work boots before I glance back at Garrett as he takes a step forward to join Kristy. “Trust me…if Kristy says it’s important to her, William will do it,” Garrett backs Kristy up as Jamie runs up to her mom, excitedly showing her picture she has colored.

“Well I guess,” I sigh in resignation, “if he is willing to do it at a price I can afford, he seems to be the better choice.”

“He is,” Kristy smiles, “I will give him a call this afternoon.”

 

***LUKE***

 

Pain is quickly ushered through my trembling body as I slowly watch the man’s thin lengthy scuffed black boots slowly walking back to one of the back cots. From somewhere behind me, a few of the men I share a cell with, begins to laugh evilly while their words slowly begin to haunt me. My heart races tightly within me as my ragged breathing is slow and forceful while my thoughts rush rapidly within me. Tears sting in my eyes due to the harsh pain that circulates through my body along with fear of what the future will bring to me if I am forced to stay here. Their haunting words seems distant through my buzzing ears as I harshly wipe at my eyes to find blood trailing down my right forearm, soaking into my rolled up sleeves.

I slowly sit up from lying in a tight ball on the old smelly cement floor to slowly examine the inch long and deep cut that oozes out thick blood, watching it drip onto the floor for a brief moment. A wave of nausea rushes through me as I slowly grip onto the cold metal bars to pull myself to my feet, sending more pain rushing through me. “Here,” comes a soft southern male’s accent and I flinch in pain as a muscular hand gently reaches across my back to help steady me. I slowly glance over to find it to be the thin brown haired man that occupies the cot below me. His greenish blue eyes are brightly lit up with concern and worry before he throws a threatening look at the two large men that had attacked me. “Rest here on my cot for a moment,” he speaks up as he sits next to me.

“Thanks,” I slowly spit out as I continue to breathe heavy and my heart races quickly within me. For a short moment I send a brave glare up at the tall muscular black man and his companion that is streaked with black ink before I glance down at my arm for a short moment. My head continues to throb lively within me as I fight back the blackness that had threatened to cover me only moments ago.

“Don’t give them no bother,” the man sitting next to me slowly speaks up, “they think it’s their business to welcome new comers in with their ugly graces. They spent a few nights locked up in a small closet for worse attacks than that…even ask Scar.” He motions to the sun bleached blond haired man sitting on the lower cot on the wall a head of us and he slowly nods, “As he tol’ you yesterday, you leave them be, they’ll leave you be for the most part.” I nod to allow silence to drift between us for a long moment before he speaks up once again, “By the way, I’m Derrick Roaps…call me Erick.”

“Erick,” I nod to send the pain accelerating within me, “Luke.”

Silence floats between the two of us as we glance over to find the two large men that had attacked me, silently talking to one another while playing cards. “Duke,” a thick voice calls out from the door and I slowly glance over to find the guard.

 

After a half hour of getting my arm stitched, cleaned, and tightly wrapped up, the guard slowly leads me through a long and confusing maze of cells. After a long few moments of being dragged through a hall of closed doors, he slowly shoves me to a stop before giving several harsh knocks on a scratched metal door. A long few seconds pass as the guard keeps a harsh grip upon my upper right arm before the door is slowly dragged open and I am faced with an older man, an inch shorter than I with a head full of dark gray hair. His ragged tan face is covered in his thick dark gray beard and mustache, while he stares emotionless at me through green-brown eyes. “What happened?” the man hisses as he opens the door a couple of inches wider while motioning towards my arm.

A short moment of silence invades between the three of us as the gray haired man silently takes me in while the guard harshly unlocks the metal handcuffs. “You’ll have to ask your client,” the guard grins as he shoves me into the room and I find myself within a small room with cement flooring and thick brown walls. An ugly gray metal desk lies nailed down in the middle of the room and my heart leaps within me at finding Bo and Jesse sitting in a couple of wooden chairs.

“Luke,” Jesse speaks up first as he slowly gets to his feet and he slowly gives me a caring hug before stepping back to ask, “what happened?”

I fight to give him a shrug as I glance back at Bo who remains in his chair, glaring silently down at his feet before looking back up at Jesse. “Their way of welcoming new comers,” I shrug again, “I’m fine, really.”

“You don’t look fine,” Jesse is persistent before he turns to the man that stands an inch shorter than Jesse, “Luke, I’d like you to meet your new lawyer, Mr. Thortan.”

“William,” the lawyer forces a smile at me, “it is nice to see the face of the man I’ve been hearing so much about.”

I slowly take him in and his expensive three piece dark blue suit with an expensively thick watch upon his left wrist with an gold wedding ring. Slowly I glance over at Jesse to voice my concern, “This isn’t no Hazzard lawyer. . .we don’t -”

“Relax Luke we got it covered,” Jesse says as he places a protective hand on my shoulder as he leads me to the empty chair that sits between his and Bo’s, “William is Kristy’s step dad.”

I slowly nod as I take a seat in the uncomfortable scarred chair as I silently wonder how much pride Jesse had to swallow in order to take a favor as big as this. I force the thought out of my mind momentarily as I glance over at Bo who continues to look down at his boots while his hands grip onto the small arms of the chair. “Hi Bo,” I finally speak up.

“Hi,” he mutters as he continues to reuse to look up at me, ashamed to look at me.

Silence quickly builds up in the humid room and I look up as William slowly sits down in a metal chair on his side of the desk, slowly opening a folder, looking at some papers. “Well Luke, Bo has told me his story,” William cuts into the silence, “now I want to hear your story of what had happened the other night.”

I slowly nod before I slowly move through the events that had taken place, from leaving the farm, meeting Cooter at his house, to running shine in one of Cooter’s used and rebuilt cars. I finish by telling him how I had escaped and ran down the road, walking the rest of the way home.

“So then,” William speaks up when he is certain I am done, “how did your pocket watch and your pocket knife happen to be at the scene?”

“I had dropped the watch when I lost my footing in the mud and slipped down the hill, I didn’t want to chance going back for it,” I slowly explain, “as for my pocket knife, I don’t know. I had trouble finding it the other day, after that fight I had with Travis at The Boar’s Nest, but didn’t think much of it.”

William makes a few noises as he scribbles upon a yellow pad of paper before glancing up at me, taking everyone in. “Ok the fight,” he slowly nods, “tell me about the fight…everything.”

“I had several drinks before Travis had approached to say how sorry he was about Daisy and at the time,” I sigh warily as I fight for words, “I took it as him applying salt into an open wound. I mean if he had only stayed around at the accident, Daisy wouldn’t be -” I interrupt myself before I slowly explain all that I had said, what he had said, and what all had happened.

Silence once again follows my story as William writes all that I had said upon his pad of paper before asking, “Is there any way it could’ve fell out during the fight? That your pocket knife fell out when your belt got caught on the table?”

“It very well could have,” I sigh, “at the time I hadn’t noticed, but that was around the time I couldn’t find it.”

William nods slowly once again as he writes something down on his note pad once again before tiredly throwing the pen down to look up at us once again. “What you think, William?” Jesse slowly asks looking at William and then back at me.

“To be honest…the prosecution seems to have an open and shut case. They have the weapon as being identified as being yours, you have motive and opportunity,” he pauses, “which is the one thing they look for, motive and opportunity. They have the fight at the bar with plenty of witnesses, their witness,” he looks silently at Bo who continues to fight to ignore everything, “to the murder, describing you, or someone who looked to be you, killing him. If that isn’t enough, they also have knowledge of your military past with the Marines, placing you as being a trained killer.”

“This is what I get for signing up to defend our country? I get it used against me?” I yell as my temper rises within me, “I signed up to do what I thought was right!”

“Relax Luke. At the moment that isn’t the issue,” William cautiously says, watching me with dark green-brown eyes, “you signed up for the Marines, one of the roughest branches in the Military, where they train you to fight to kill. You were sent to several wars where you had bravely defended your country…which included killing people. Then you were sent home, expected to forget about all that you seen and went through and expected to return to normal life. Which we all know is close to impossible. All that shows, is that you are capable of killing for one reason or another. Anger can be pretty damn powerful.”

“I did what I had to do when I was signed up and over at war, but that was war…back here…is home, not war,” I fight to remain calm, “I don’t care what they say, I didn’t kill Travis. Not out of hatred, not out jealousy, nor out of anger! I did NOT kill him!”

“Well then,” William speaks up in a calm voice, “I guess there is a lot of work that needs to be done…a long road ahead of us all. But I have faced harder cases than this before and can do it again. I was just telling you all, all that the state has to places you as the murderer. Not that I believe them or not.”

I slowly nod as I lean back into my chair to allow my thoughts to rush through me, fighting to control my temper. “Whatever it takes,” Jesse slowly speaks up, looking over my head at Bo with worry.

 

Silence continues to linger heavily over us in the stale aired room as William slowly closes the door, giving us a few minutes to be visit privately. My thoughts continue to rush within me of all that William had to say, his advise, and his reactions to me. Disbelief once again corses through my throbbing body as my thoughts focus on all he had said that the state had against me, pointing it’s finger at me for the crime. I slowly glance over at Jesse who silently glances around the room before looking back at Bo. “I’m sorry, I never meant for any of this to happen,” I slowly speak up to break the silence, “for the fight at the Boar’s Nest and for running shine. I admit to the shine, but the one thing I did NOT do, is kill him. I didn’t kill him.”

“I hope not,” Jesse slowly sighs before his attention shoots back down to the floor and back at me, “the truth will come out sooner or later…William has promised us that much and when it does, I am sure you’ll be walking out of here. It is up to you to remain strong while you are here.”

“Yeah,” I slowly answer as I glance down at my outfit before looking back at Bo whose attention remains on his own boots, refusing to even look at me. Slowly, I place a caring arm around his tense shoulders before saying, “I know how hard this must be for you, especially since you have never seen any one die not alone being killed as you witnessed. Being forced to explain all that you saw, all that had happened to them, only makes things worse. You are going through a lot right now…but you are strong. ” I pause momentarily as he slowly glances up at me, “I guess what I am trying to say is, that I don’t blame you for anything. You did the right thing by telling them all that you seen and witnessed…you are doing the right thing. I am proud of you.”

Confusion thickly rolls across his face as he continues to look at me, searching for some answers. “Yeah but,” he slowly stops himself before glancing back down at his feet, “but if I didn’t say all that I did, you wouldn’t be here.”

“Maybe not as quickly as I made it here, but I am sure the blame would sooner or later find it’s way to me. I mean they still had my back ground, witnesses from the fight, to the wallet in the car I drove…plus the charges Travis was gonna charge me with, and my pocket watch. They had more than enough evidence pointing to me,” I slowly answer as my heart seems to swell in sadness for my cousin, “Bo look at me,” he slowly does, “you did what you needed to do, you did the right thing. No one can blame you for anything…not me, not anyone. So, please, don’t blame yourself for it.”

He slowly shrugs as he glances back at Jesse before leaning back into the wooden chairs. His dark blue eyes radiate in sadness, fear, and pain and I fight for some leverage to make him feel better, to help him stop blaming himself, but come up empty. Dread quickly rushes through me as the heavy door slowly opens to bring our attention to the door to find the guard walking quickly towards me. “Time for dinner,” he mumbles under his breath as he forces me up and back into his handcuffs and shoves Bo away as he stands up to say something. I sigh heavily as I fight to keep up with him before the door closes behind us, blocking any more view of my family.