On March 2nd, Mom got a call from the DA while she was at work. When she got home that night, I was asleep. I had started trying to get to the hospital by 8:30 every morning, which meant that late night reading sessions weren't happening. I usually was wiped by ten and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I woke early the next morning to the smell of frying bacon. I found Mom and Seth in the kitchen. Mom was stacking blueberry pancakes fresh from the stove on a plate.

"Good," she said when I walked in. "I need to talk to you."

"Whassup?" I sat down and helped myself to the eats.

"The DA called. He said that they have decided to try Jake and Marlow together after all. Marlow's public defender was in a boating accident. He has bowed out for now. Jake's lawyer got together with the DA because Marlow and Jake want a speedy trial. They aren't happy with their living situation. The two boys are using the same defense. They had separated the cases to try to get them to roll on each other, but once you agreed to testify, that was a moot point. The judge has an opening on his docket. I guess a defendant had a heart attack. Anyway, all that to say that the case will probably start the week of March 13th."

I almost choked on the drink of milk I'd just taken to wash down my pancakes.

"March 13?" I sputtered. "But ODWG is on the 18th. Will I have to miss the camp?"

Mom laughed. "Don't get all bent out of shape, CW. The camp is on Saturday. Trials don't usually extend into the weekend."

"Oh. I guess I wasn't thinking."

"Anyway, the DA wants to see you for prep on Monday. You'll have to let BJ know that you may be out a lot the next couple of weeks."

"No, problem. Our joint tutoring starts next week. He can use the mornings to study. He's behind me in all the classes anyway. He can do catch up while I'm in court. I'm sure the tutor will understand if I have to miss some classes."

Seth spoke up. "You do realize that court is not going to be easy. Jake and Marlow are going to be sitting there staring at you while you testify. The jury is going to be analyzing your every move and facial expression. The defense lawyer is going to try to make you look like a juvenile delinquent who's trying to get away with breaking the law by fingering his comrades in crime."

"So I've heard." I tried to look unconcerned. "I'll just have to take it as it comes."

"We'll be praying for you," Mom said.

"That God will give you the words you need, wisdom, and strength," Seth added.

"I hope He's listening and willing to lend a hand," I said ruefully.

"Just believe," Mom said.

"Easy for you to say."

"How about we pray right now," Seth said. I looked down at my half-eaten pancakes. "By right now, I mean once we finish eating the wonderful pancakes Patsy made," he amended.

We all dug in. When the last morsel was swallowed, Mom held out her hands. Seth took one hand and held out his other hand to me. I reluctantly took both their hands. It was one thing to talk to God when I was alone, but I wasn't sure I was down with this holding hands and praying out loud thing.

Seth started. "Father," he said. "We're all your children here. You said that when two or three of us agree on something in your name, then it will be done. Now, I know that by in your name, you mean things that are in your will. And I believe that you want CW to tell the truth in court without fear. So that's what I'm asking. Take his fear away. Bring the facts to his mind and help him to articulate them clearly."

He squeezed our hands. I guess that was the cue for Mom to add to the prayer. "Yes, Jesus," she said. "The Bible says that you are truth. If you're in CW's corner, as he so aptly puts it, then I know that you will let nothing but truth cross his lips as he testifies in court. Help him to focus on you and the strength you will provide instead of on the lies the lawyer will tell and the falsehoods that his clients have generated. This is my son that I'm trusting you with God. You haven't let me down yet. Thank you for loving him."

She squeezed our hands. I figured that was my cue. I hadn't ever prayed out loud with anyone, but I decided to try. "God," I said hesitantly. "Jonah ran away from you, and you chased him down until he did what you wanted. I guess that's sort of what you've done with me. I might not have ended up in the belly of a fish, but two 3-day comas sort of had the same affect. I guess I'm denser than Jo. He only had to stay in the fish for three days. Anyway, God help me not to forget the things I've learned about truth and telling it not making me a rat. I know Jake and Marlow want me to feel like a lousy, no good rat, but I know it ain't so. Don't let me forget that and help me to make sense when I talk. Thanks. Amen."

"Amen," Mom and Seth echoed. When I opened my eyes, Mom was dabbing hers with a Kleenex.

"Aw, geez, Mom," I said.

She laughed.

Mom switched with someone so that she didn't have to work on Monday. She wanted to be there for my first session with the DA. When we got there, Mom asked if she could sit in.

"You're not going to try to coach him, are you?" the DA asked.

"No. I just thought maybe it would be good for him to answer questions in front of me. I'll be sitting in court that day. Practicing in front of me should train him not to look at me before he answers, isn't that what you want?"

"Okay," the DA said.

He told me we would start with the questions he was going to ask me. "Those will be the easy ones," he said. "Then I'm going to act like the defense attorney and ask you the hard questions."

"Like the ones you asked at the hospital?"

"Somewhat, only I'll be even more belligerent. I'll probably say some nasty things to try and get you riled. If he can get you mad, he figure's he'll get you to say things in anger that he can trap you with."

I took a deep breath. "Okay."

The first questions were easy. The DA worded the questions is ways that made it no problem to answer honestly. Then he switched roles. As he got nasty, all of my doubts about doing the right thing came rushing back in. I had to struggle not to look at Mom for strength. When I did allow myself to glance her way, her head was bowed. I knew she was praying. Suddenly my doubts vanished. I knew that I was telling the truth and that God had my back. I started answering firmly and confidently. Finally the DA called a halt.

"What happened half-way through?" he asked. "I saw you glance toward your Mom, but it didn't look like you were asking for help or anything, just glancing that way. But afterwards, you were a whole different witness."

"When I glanced over, she was praying. Suddenly I remembered that God had my back."

The DA looked at me in surprise. "Whatever rocks your boat," he said. "It sure was effective."

He turned to Patsy. "You just go ahead and pray in that courtroom."

"You can count on it." She turned to me. "I might not have my head bowed like I did in here when we're in court because the jurors might think I'm looking down in despair or something. But when you do see me, CW, know that I'm praying whether I'm in a prayer stance or not."

"Just remember today," the DA said. "We could do this every day this week, but I don't think we'll need to. I'm going to have one of the other lawyers put you through the paces again on Friday. His name's Cory Tanner. He'll have listened to today's proceedings. I taped them. He'll come at you a little differently but the outcome should be the same. Just field the questions the way you did after you saw your Mom praying."

On Friday, my new prep partner, Cory, said that my testimony was sincere and believable. "It's apparent that you're telling the truth. If the jury sees what I just saw, they'll believe you."

He then filled me in on what would happen next week. The jury would be selected on Monday. "You don't have to be at the court house, as long as you're close enough that you can get there quickly if jury selection takes less time than expected. You have to be there once the jury is selected. I'll text you when it looks like the selection process is almost done, and you can head on over."

"You'll be there on Monday?" I asked.

"I'm second chair," he said. "Sort of the DA's flunky on this case. I'll be there until the trial is over. Anyway, once you get there, you will have to sit outside and wait to be called. You're not allowed to hear the testimony of other witnesses. For some reason the defense put you on their list too. They probably did it so they can recall you if they need to. They could do it without you on their list, but this way it keeps you out of the courtroom for the duration of the trial. They don't want the jurors watching your reaction if they put Jake and Marlow on the stand. You could be sitting outside the courtroom there for a day or two before we call you and then for the rest of trial. It depends on how long it takes the DA to get to you. I imagine you'll be his last witness, sort of the clincher."

"So we go first?"

"Yeah, they're innocent until proven guilty. They don't have to prove anything. All they have to do is convince the jury we're full of..." he suddenly coughed. "You get my drift. Anyway, they get to go last."

"Who else is on your witness list?"

"A lot of people. The policemen who responded to the crime. Anyone who can give information about that night, like your neighbor who saw you three leave on the motorcycle. Even though she can't ID any of you, she can ID the helmet and where the helmeted person was located on the motorcycle. Forensic people who will testify that your injuries were consistent with being on the back of the bike. The tapes from your helmet mike will be put into evidence so there'll be someone from Livecam. Maybe even your doctor. And we're going to ask the court to let us do a remote interview with BJ."

"Why don't you do all of that after they hear my testimony so they'll know my story before you give evidence to back it up?"

"The DA thinks that you come across as sincere and credible. He wants your testimony to be the last thing the jury hears."

"But isn't Jake's lawyer going to try to tear my testimony apart?"

"Sure, but if you keep things together like you have here, it won't do him any good. He'll just look like a desperate jerk."

"So it all hinges on my credibility?" I asked weakly.

"Look, don't go all weak-kneed on us now. Brock said to remind you to get that picture of your Mom praying firmly in your mind before you go in there. He said to tell you that the defense team added your Mom to their witness list. That means she won't be able to be in court so you can't look at her."

"Why did they do that?"

"We can only guess. We just got the amended list this morning. They served your Mom with the subpoena at work. She called shortly after 12. She couldn't get off work to come over here, but we calmed her down. Do you have any ideas why they might call her?"

I looked down at my feet. "Jake and Marlow nick-named her Wicked after the witch in the Oz take off. We snuck around behind her back so that they could hang out in my crib. I imagine they're going to try to use that against me."

"But I'd think they'd want her sitting there watching you squirm while they questioned you about the deceit. I can't see how keeping her out of the courtroom is to their benefit."

"They claim that I snuck out after she was asleep to meet them for the purpose of breaking and entering. Maybe they want to question her about my late night habits."

"Has she ever caught you sneaking out your window?"

"No, but they might claim that I told them she had or something."

He handed me a piece of paper. "I want you to make a list of every instance you can think of where you purposefully tried to put something over on your Mom after meeting Jake and Marlow. List everything, no matter how minor it seems and whether or not it worked. List anything you might have told them that they'll try to use against you, too. While you're doing that, I'm going to check in with Brock."

I took the piece of paper. I closed me eyes and thought about my time with Jake and Marlow, trying to remember everything I could about those few months. Finally I opened my eyes and started writing in my kindergarten script.

1.) Smokers and e-cig, 2.) Use of Marlow's tablet to play forbidden games, 3.) Jake suggesting using youth groups as a cover, 4.) playing hooky from school, 5.) tutoring as a cover up – lying to VP about homework, 6.) cheating at laser tag, 7.) using laser tag as cover for introducing Jake and Marlow, 8.) drinking brews and hiding trash, 9.) finding hidden stash and showing to J&M but not Mom, 10) J&M breaking into crib – staying there during cold weather, 11.) boxes of stuff in their trunk, 12.) warning about cameras, 13.) pantry raid, 14) Christmas tablet, 15.) Mom turning Dad in to cops.

Cory came in right after I put my pencil down.

"That looked laborious." I looked at him in surprise. He waved behind us. "Two way mirror."

"Oh. I didn't know you were watching."

"I was out there talking to Brock on my cell and keeping an eye peeled. I wanted to see if you looked like you were debating whether to put something on the list."

"And?"

"All I saw was a kid thinking hard and then writing."

"What you see is what you get."

"Good." His phone rang. He listened for an minute then said. "Will do." He held out his hand for the list.

Brock wants to meet with you and your Mom tomorrow morning before she goes to work. This monkey wrench they threw us needs exploring. Right now, though, you and I are going to go over this list and you're going to explain it to me in detail. Then I'm going to take you out for pizza before I take you home to get a good night's rest. Tomorrow morning starting at 7:30, we're going to go over the list with your Mom. That'll give us three hours before she goes to work. If that's not enough time, we'll continue on Sunday morning. We don't want any surprises in the courtroom."

"What if they ask Mom when she found out about those things?"

"How many of them is she in the dark about?"

"She knows something about a lot of them, like she guessed the guys smoked, but she doesn't know about the e-cig."

"Well by tomorrow night she'll know everything. Maybe they won't think to ask her how she found out." He sighed. "Jake and Marlow are going to try to make you look like a sneak and a liar. And no matter how hard you think, there is probably something you left out without realizing it. We might not ever figure out what they hope to ambush your Mom with, but maybe we can give her enough information that she won't melt down on the stand when she's finally confronted with it."