“And how did she feel about this?” Jesse said.
Kevin shrugged.
“I don’t know,” he said.
“How did she act,” Jesse said.
“She was crying,” Kevin said.
“When Bo did it she tried to push
him off, but she couldn’t.”
“Did she say no?”
“I guess so, she was yelling help and stuff.”
“And with you?” Jesse said.
“She just laid there,” Kevin said.
“Was she still crying?”
“Yes, but that’s all. It was like she decided to go along with
it.”
“She have any other options?” Jesse said.
“I don’t know.”
“So then what happened?”
“Troy did her. Then we held her down while Bo took her picture.
Bo told her if she said anything we’d show everybody in school the
pictures.”
Mrs. Feeney continued to moan and rock. Mr. Feeney continued to
sit immobile with his head back and his eyes closed.
“I’m really sorry,” Kevin said.
“Mom, I am. I’m
sorry.”
“I tried,” Mrs. Feeney said into her clenched hands. “I tried
and tried to teach you to respect women. Didn’t I?
Didn’t I drum
that into you since you were little. To disrespect one woman is to disrespect us all. In shaming that poor girl, you shamed me.”
Mr. Feeney opened his eyes, and without lifting it, he turned his head toward his wife.
“You know, Mira,” he said. “This
really is much more about Kevin
and that poor girl than it is about you.”
“Oh, God,” Mrs. Feeney said and pressed her hands to her face
again and began to cry.
Jesse reached over and shut off the tape recorder.
“I’m going to have that
transcribed,” Jesse said. “Then I will ask you to sign it.”
“Okay.”
“Mr. Feeney, you’ll need to sign it too, I think, since Kevin is
not of age.”
Feeney nodded.
“If he testifies against the other boys,”
Mr. Feeney said, “can
he get a break?”
“When you have a lawyer,” Jesse said,
“your lawyer and the DA
can negotiate that.”
“Will you put in a word for him?”
“Yes.”
“He’s never been in trouble
