“It’s when you have to go back to your homeroom and they take attendance and lock all the doors and keep everyone there.”
“Do you know why the school gets put in a lockdown?”
“Because there’s some kind of danger.”
“What did you think when you heard the school was going into a lockdown?”
“Columbine.”
“You thought somebody was at the school with a gun?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you have any idea who?”
“No.”
“Were you afraid?”
“Yeah, of course. Everybody was.”
“Do you remember how the defendant reacted when the principal announced the lockdown?”
“He didn’t say anything. He just kind of smiled. There wasn’t much time. We just heard it and everybody ran.”
“Did the defendant seem nervous or frightened?”
“No.”
“At the time, did anybody know what the lockdown was about?”
“No.”
“Did anyone connect it to Ben Rifkin?”
“No. I mean, later that morning they told us, but not at the start.”
“What happened next?”
“We just stayed in our homerooms with the doors locked. They came on the intercom and they told us we weren’t in any danger, there were no guns or anything, so the teachers unlocked the door and we just kind of waited there. It was like a drill or something.”
“You had practiced lockdowns before?”
“Yeah.”
“What happened next?”
“We stayed there. They told us to take out our books and read or do homework or whatever. Then they canceled school for the rest of the day and we went home around eleven.”
“Nobody ever questioned you or the other students?”
“Not that day, no.”
“Nobody ever searched the school or the lockers or any of the students?”
“Not that I saw.”
“So when school got out and they finally let you leave the room, what did you see?”
“There were just a lot of parents waiting outside the school to get their kids. All the parents came to the school.”
“When did you see the defendant next?”
“We were texting that afternoon, I guess?”
“By texting, you mean you were exchanging text messages on your cell phones?”
“Yes.”
“What did you talk about?”
“Well, at that point all we knew was that Ben got killed. We didn’t know, like, exactly what happened or anything. So we were just both like, Did you hear anything? What did you hear? What’s going on?”
“And what did the defendant say to you?”
“Well, I was just like, Dude, isn’t that the way you go to school? Did you see anything? And Jake just said no.”
“He said no?”
“That’s right.”
“He didn’t say that he’d seen Ben lying on the ground and he tried to revive him or see if he was okay?”
“No.”
“What else did he say while you were texting?”
“Well, we were just kind of joking because Ben had been kind of picking on Jacob for a while. So we were all like, ‘Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy’ and ‘Your wishes came true’ and stuff like that. I know that sounds really bad now but it was just, like, joking.”
“When you say Ben Rifkin had been picking on Jacob, describe what you mean. What exactly had been going on between those two?”
“Ben was just like, he was in a different group. He was just-I don’t want to say not-nice things about him after what happened and everything-but he was not very nice to Jake or to me, or to anyone in our group.”
“Who is in your group?”
“It was pretty much me, Jake, and this other kid, Dylan.”
“And what was your group like? What was your reputation in school?”
“We were geeks.” Derek said this without embarrassment or bitterness. Did not bother him. Just the way it was.
“And Ben, what was he like?”
“I don’t know. He was handsome.”
“He was handsome?”
Derek flushed. “I don’t know. He was just in a different group than us.”
“Were you friends with Ben Rifkin?”
“No. I mean, I knew him, like, to say hello, but we weren’t friends.”
“But he never picked on you?”
“I don’t know. He probably called me a fag or whatever. I wouldn’t call it bullying or anything. Somebody calls you a fag, it’s just like, whatever. It was no big deal.”
“Did Ben call other people names?”
“Yes.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, fag, geek, slut, bitch, loser, whatever. It was just the way he was, it was kind of the way he talked.”
“To everyone?”
“No, not everyone. Just kids he didn’t like. Kids he didn’t think were cool.”
“Was Jacob cool?”
Shy smile. “No. None of us were.”
“Did Ben like Jacob?”
“No. Definitely not.”
“Why not?”
“Just didn’t.”
“For no reason? Was there some kind of beef between them? Anything specific?”
“No. It was just like, Ben didn’t think Jake was cool. None of us were. He said stuff to all of us.”
“But it was worse for Jacob than for you or Dylan?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I think he just kind of saw that it got to Jake. Like I said, for me, if somebody calls you a fag or a geek or whatever, what can you do? I just kind of didn’t fight back. But Jake got all bent out of shape, so Ben just kept on doing it.”
“Doing what?”
“Calling him names.”
“What names?”
“ ‘Fag’ mostly. Some other things, worse things.”
“What worse things? Go ahead. You can say them.”
