Free Lost in Clover by Travis Richardson Page A

not even acknowledging Lawrence. It seemed like his chances for manslaughter were as thin as the day he was arrested.

21. WYNONA
    On Monday afternoon Lawrence brought out his final witness: Eddie’s sister, Wynona. Maybe he was banking on her testimony to sow doubt in the jurors’ minds. But when she sauntered up to the stand in a short black skirt and ill-fitting high heels, Jeremy could tell even through the television that Lawrence lost hope. During the swearing in, she chewed gum while her polished neon-pink nails touched the bible. After the judge had her spit out the gum, she described the fear she felt on that night.
    “When those boys showed up, drunk and all, shouting and cursing at Eddie, I was scared. We all were.” 
    “How did your brother take all of the threats shouted at him?”
    “Poor Eddie didn’t know what to do. He was trying to defend the family property. And they were standing right there in the middle of it.”
    “Some have been saying that it was too much, what Eddie did. Do you believe it was too much?”
    “You have seven or eight twenty-year-olds showing up in trucks in the middle of the night, shouting and making noise. Who isn’t going to overreact, you know? I mean, they were the ones who attacked us first. They were the ones who trespassed.”
    Carson was gentle with Wynona, though he managed to paint her as a conspirator in the massacre after she admitted to previously “being with” a couple of the boys. 
    “I definitely didn’t like them, not the way they treated me after…”
    “After what, Miss Cooper?”
    “After I gave them something better than they’d ever had before.”
    Laughter erupted from the audience and in the classroom. Crazy Eddie stood and glared at the audience. 
    “Ya’ll better shut up. You hear?” he said in a deep voice.
    Lawrence put his hand on Crazy Eddie’s shoulder.
    “Now just sit and—”
    Crazy Eddie shoved Lawrence to the floor. He glared, standing over his lawyer.
    The audience gasped. Everybody in Jeremy’s classroom stood to watch closer. Two sheriff deputies grabbed Crazy Eddie and tried to set him back into his chair. Even though he had on cuffs, he pushed and kicked them away. Lawrence got up and tried to help hold Crazy Eddie down as he struggled, swearing and bucking. Lawrence caught an elbow in the mouth and fell to the floor a second time. The audience was in an uproar, standing on their feet and blocking the television cameras.
    *
    “Sit down!” students in Jeremy’s class yelled at the TV.
    Although nobody could see her, Wynona was yelling, “Eddie, Eddie!”
    The judge banged the gavel. “Order, order!” The handle broke off of the gavel.
    The deputies tased Crazy Eddie three times before he went down. 
    “I want him out of here, now!”
    The deputies dragged Crazy Eddie out the back door. People in the audience were on their feet, some taking pictures with their cell phones. Lawrence, pale and shaking, pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed blood from his lip.
    “Sit! Everybody!” the judge yelled, slamming the broken gavel down. Reluctantly the audience sat down. Reinhardt surveyed the room. “Mr. Elliot, are you okay? Can you continue or do you need another delay?”
    Lawrence seemed to be considering several things, but said “I’m fine, Your Honor.”
    “Mr. McKinney, you may proceed so we can get this…” The judge stopped for a moment as if holding back a profanity. “This case over with.”
    Carson stood. “Absolutely, Your Honor.” His chin was up and shoulders drawn back as if he had some rooster in him.
    “Excuse me,” Wynona said, talking into the microphone. A black mass of tear-streaked mascara surrounded her eyes. “I just want to make it clear that I didn’t want those boys to be killed or nothing, okay? I just didn’t like a couple of ’em. That’s all.”
    The judge looked as if he wanted to strangle the witness.
    “I have nothing more, Your Honor,” Carson said