The Confession, Page 25

  "Joey, call a cab. I'll reimburse you later. It's crucial that you get to Tanner's office as quickly as possible. We'll e-mail an affidavit, you sign it, and we'll get it filed in Austin. Can you do this, Joey?"

  "I'll try."

  "It's the least you can do, Joey. Right now Donte is in the holding cell in Huntsville, thirty feet from the little room where they kill people, and your lies helped put him there."

  "I'm so sorry." His voice cracked.

  "The office is at 118 Clay Street, you got that, Joey?"

  "I think so."

  "Get there, Joey. The paperwork will be waiting for you. Every minute is crucial, Joey, do you understand?"

  "Okay, okay."

  "Call us back in ten minutes."

  "You got it."

  After the call ended, Robbie barked orders and everyone scrambled. As he headed for the door, he said, "Let's go, Keith." They jumped in the van, with Martha Handler racing to keep up with them, and Aaron Rey sped away. Robbie called Agnes Tanner in Houston and urgently confirmed the details.

  Keith leaned forward and looked at Aaron in the rearview mirror. "Someone said it's a three-hour drive to Huntsville."

  "It is," Aaron replied. "But we're not driving."

  The Slone Municipal Airport was two miles east of town. It had one runway, west to east, four small hangars, the usual collection of old Cessnas in a row on the deck, and a square metal building for the terminal. They parked, ran through the tiny lobby area, nodded at a deckhand behind the desk, and stepped onto the tarmac, where a shiny twin-engine King Air was waiting. It was owned by a wealthy lawyer friend of Robbie's who was an avid pilot. He got them on board, locked the door, made them fasten their seat belts, then strapped himself in and began flipping switches.

  Keith had not talked to his wife in several hours, and things were happening so fast he wasn't sure where to begin. Dana answered during the first beep, as if she'd been staring at her cell phone. The engines started, and the cabin was suddenly loud and shaking. "Where are you?" she asked.

  "In an airplane, leaving Slone, flying to Huntsville to meet Donte Drumm."

  "I can barely hear you. Whose airplane?"

  "A friend of Robbie Flak's. Look, Dana, I can't hear you either. I'll call you when we land in Huntsville."

  "Please be careful, Keith."

  "Love you."

  Keith was facing the front of the plane, his knees almost touching Martha Handler's. He watched the pilot run through the checklist as they taxied away to the runway. Robbie, Martha, and Aaron were all on the phone, and Keith wondered how they could carry on a conversation amid the racket. At the end of the runway, the King Air did a 180 and pointed west. The pilot revved the engines, the plane shook harder and harder as if it might explode, then the pilot yelled, "Hold on," and released the brakes. They jerked forward, and all four passengers closed their eyes. Within seconds, they were in the air. The landing gear folded with a thud, but Keith had no idea what he was hearing. In the blur of the moment, he realized that he had never before flown in a small airplane.

  Nor had he ever been to Texas, chauffeured a serial rapist and murderer, listened to his chilling confession, witnessed the chaos of a law firm trying to save an innocent man, gone four days with virtually no sleep, picked up a speeding ticket in Oklahoma, or said yes to an invitation to pray with a man minutes before his death.

  They flew over Slone at two thousand feet and climbing. The old cotton gin was still burning, thick smoke boiling into a cloud.

  Keith closed his eyes again and tried to convince himself that he was where he was and doing what he was doing. He was not convinced. He prayed and asked God to take his hand and guide him now, because he had no idea what to do. He thanked God for this rather unusual situation and acknowledged that only divine intervention could be responsible for it. At five thousand feet, his chin hit his chest, the fatigue finally taking its toll.

  ------

  The bourbon was usually Knob Creek, but on special occasions the really fine stuff was pulled out of the drawer. A shot each of Pappy Van Winkle's, and all three smacked their lips. They were starting a bit early, but the governor said he needed a stiff one. Barry and Wayne had never said no. They had their coats off, sleeves rolled up, ties loosened, busy men with a lot on their minds. They stood near a credenza in a corner, sipping, watching the rally on a small television. If they had opened a window, they could have heard the noise. One long-winded speaker after another delivered scathing attacks on the death penalty, racism, and the Texas judicial system. The term "judicial lynching" was used freely. So far, every speaker had demanded that the governor stop the execution. Capitol security estimated the crowd at ten thousand.

  Behind the governor's back, Barry and Wayne exchanged nervous glances. If the crowd could see the video, a riot would break out. Should they tell him? No, maybe later.

  "Gill, we need to make a decision about the National Guard," Barry said.

  "What's happening in Slone?"

  "As of thirty minutes ago, they've burned two churches, one white and one black. Now an abandoned building is on fire. They canceled classes this morning at the high school after fights broke out. The blacks are marching and roaming the streets, looking for trouble. One brick was thrown through the rear window of a police car, but so far there's been no other violence. The mayor is scared and thinks the town could blow up after the execution."

  "Who's available?"

  "The unit in Tyler is getting ready and can be deployed within an hour. Six hundred guardsmen. That should be enough."

  "Do it and issue a press release."

  Barry darted from the office. Wayne took another sip and with hesitation said, "Gill, should we at least have the conversation about a thirty-day stay? Let things cool off a bit."

  "Hell no. We can't back down just because the blacks are upset. If we show weakness now, then they'll get louder next time. If we wait thirty days, then they'll just start this crap again. I'm not blinking. You know me better than that."

  "Okay, okay. Just wanted to mention it."

  "Don't mention it again."

  "You got it."

  "Here he is," the governor said and took a step closer to the television.

  The crowd roared as the Reverend Jeremiah Mays took the podium. Mays was currently the loudest black radical roaming the country and was quite adept at somehow wedging himself into every conflict or episode where race was an issue. He raised his hands, called for quiet, and launched into a flowery prayer in which he beseeched the Almighty to look down upon the poor misguided souls running the State of Texas, to open their eyes, to grant them wisdom, to touch their hearts so that this grave injustice could be stopped. He asked for the hand of God, for a miracle, for the rescue of their brother Donte Drumm.

  When Barry returned, he refilled the shot glasses, his hands visibly shaking. The governor said, "Enough of this nonsense," and hit the mute button. "Gentlemen," he said, "I want to watch it one more time." They had watched "it" together several times, and with each viewing all lingering doubts were erased. They walked to the other side of the office, to another television, and Barry picked up the remote.

  Donte Drumm, December 23, 1998. He was facing the camera, a can of Coke and an uneaten doughnut on the table in front of him. No one else could be seen. He was subdued, tired, and frightened. He spoke slowly, in a monotone, his eyes never looking directly into the camera.

  Off camera, Detective Drew Kerber said, "You've been read your Miranda rights, correct?"

  "Yes."

  "And you're giving this statement of your own free will, no threats, no promises of any kind, right?"

  "That's right."

  "Okay, tell us what happened on Friday night, December 4, nineteen days ago."

  Donte leaned forward on his elbows and looked as though he might pass out. He picked a spot on the table, stared at it, spoke to it. "Well, me and Nicole had been sneaking around, having sex, having a good time."

  "How lon
g had this been going on?"

  "Three or four months. I liked her, she liked me, things were getting serious, and she got scared because she was afraid people would find out. We started to fight some, she wanted to break it off, I didn't want to. I think I was in love with her. Then she wouldn't see me anymore, and this drove me crazy. All I could think about was her, she was so fine. I wanted her more than anything in the world. I was obsessed. I was crazy, couldn't stand to think that somebody else might have her. So that Friday night, I went looking for her. I knew where she liked to hang out. I saw her car at the mall, over on the east side of the mall."

  "Excuse me, Donte, but I believe you said earlier that her car was parked on the west side of the mall."

  "That's right, the west side. So I waited and waited."

  "And you were driving a green Ford van, owned by your parents?"

  "That's right. And I guess it was around ten o'clock Friday night, and--"

  Kerber said, "Excuse me, Donte, but you said earlier that it was closer to eleven."

  "That's right, eleven."

  "Go ahead, you were in the green van, looking for Nicole, and you saw her car."

  "That's right, I was really wanting to see her, and so we were driving around, looking for her car, and--"

  "Excuse me, Donte, but you said 'we' were driving around, you said earlier--"

  "Yeah, me and Torrey Pickett were--"

  "But you said earlier that you were alone, that you had dropped Torrey off at his mother's house."

  "That's right, sorry about that. At his mother's house, right. And so I was by myself at the mall and I saw her car and I parked and waited. When she came out, she was alone. We talked for a minute, and she agreed to get in the van. We used the van a few times on dates, when we were sneaking around. And so I drove and we talked. We both got upset. She was determined to break up, and I was determined to stay together. We talked about running away together, to get out of Texas, go to California, where nobody would bother us, you know. But she wouldn't listen to me. She started crying, and that made me start crying. We parked behind Shiloh Church, out on Travis Road, one of our places, and I said I wanted to have sex one last time. At first, she seemed okay with it, and we started making out. Then she pulled away, said stop it, said no, said she wanted to get back because her friends would be looking for her, but I couldn't stop. She started pushing me away, and I got mad, real mad, just all of a sudden I hated her because she was pushing me away, because I couldn't have her. If I was white, then I could have her, but because I'm not, then I'm not good enough, you know. We started fighting, and at some point she realized that I was not going to stop. She didn't resist, but she didn't give in either. When it was over, she got mad, real mad. She slapped me and said I'd raped her. And then, something just happened, I snapped or something, I don't know, but I just went crazy. She was still under me, and I, uh, well ... I hit her, and I hit her again, and I couldn't believe I was hitting that beautiful face, but if I couldn't have her, then nobody else could either. I just went into a rage, like some kinda wild man, and before I realized what I was doing, my hands were around her neck. I just shook her and shook her, and then she was still. Everything was very still. When I came to my senses, I just looked at her, and at some point I realized she wasn't breathing. [Donte took the first sip and only sip from the Coke can.] I started driving around; I had no idea where to go. I kept waiting for her to wake up, but she didn't. I'd call back there, but she wouldn't answer. I guess I panicked. I didn't know what time it was. I drove north, and when I realized the sun was coming up, I panicked again. I saw a sign for the Red River. I was on Route 344, and--"

  "Excuse me, Donte, but you said earlier it was Route 244."

  "That's right: 244. I drove onto the bridge, it was still dark, no other car lights anywhere, not a sound, and I got her out of the back of the van and tossed her into the river. When I heard her splash, it made me sick. I remember crying all the way back home."

  The governor stepped forward and punched the off button. "Boys, that's all I need to see. Let's go." All three straightened their ties, buttoned their cuffs, put on their jackets, and walked out of the office. In the hallway, they were met with a security detail, one beefed up for the occasion. They took the stairs down to the street level and walked quickly to the Capitol. They waited, unseen by the crowd, until the Reverend Jeremiah Mays finished his incendiary remarks. The crowd roared when he signed off, vowing revenge. When their governor suddenly appeared at the podium, the mood changed remarkably. For a moment, those present were confused, but when they heard the words "I'm Gill Newton, governor of the great state of Texas," they drowned him out in an avalanche of boos.

  He yelled back, "Thank you for coming here and expressing your First Amendment right to assemble. God bless America." Even louder boos. "Our country is great because we love democracy, the greatest system in the world." Loud boos for democracy. "You've assembled here today because you believe Donte Drumm is innocent. Well, I'm here to tell you he is not. He was convicted in a fair trial. He had a good lawyer. He confessed to the crime." The boos and whistles and angry shouts were now continuous, and Newton was forced to yell into the microphone. "His case has been reviewed by dozens of judges, sitting on five different courts, state and federal, and every ruling against him has been unanimous."

  When the roar became too loud to continue, Newton stood and smirked at the crowd, a man with power facing those with none. He nodded, acknowledging their hatred of him. When the noise subsided slightly, he leaned closer to the microphone and, with as much drama as he could muster and knowing full well that what he was about to say would play on every evening and late newscast in Texas, said, "I refuse to grant a reprieve to Donte Drumm. He is a monster. He is a guilty man!"

  The crowd roared again and pressed forward. The governor waved and saluted for the cameras and stepped away. He was swarmed by his security team and whisked away to safety. Barry and Wayne followed, neither able to suppress a smile. Their man had just pulled off another beautiful stunt, one that would no doubt win every election from then on.

  CHAPTER 24

  The last meal, the last walk, the last statement. Donte had never understood the significance of these final details. Why the fascination with what a man consumed just before he died? It wasn't as though the food gave comfort, or strengthened the body, or postponed the inevitable. The food, along with the organs, would soon be flushed out and incinerated. What good did it do? After feeding a man gruel for decades, why pamper him with something he might enjoy just before you kill him?

  He could vaguely recall the early days on death row and his horror of what he was supposed to eat. He'd been raised by a woman who appreciated and enjoyed the kitchen, and though Roberta relied too heavily on grease and flour, she also grew her own vegetables and was careful with processed ingredients. She loved to use herbs, spices, and peppers, and her chickens and meats were highly seasoned. The first meat Donte was served on death row was allegedly a slice of pork, and completely devoid of taste. He lost his appetite the first week and never regained it.

  Now, at the end, he was expected to order a feast and be thankful for this one last favor. As silly as it was, virtually all condemned men gave thought to the final meal. They had so little else to think about. Donte had decided days earlier that he wanted to be served nothing that even remotely resembled dishes his mother once prepared. So he ordered a pepperoni pizza and a glass of root beer. It arrived at 4:00 p.m., rolled into the holding cell on a small tray by two guards. Donte said nothing as they left. He'd been napping off and on throughout the afternoon, waiting on his pizza, waiting on his lawyer. Waiting on a miracle, though by 4:00 p.m. he'd given up.

  In the hallway, just beyond the bars, his audience watched without a word. A guard, a prison official, and the chaplain who'd tried twice to talk to him. Twice Donte had rejected the offers of spiritual counseling. He wasn't sure why they watched him so closely, but presumed it was to prevent a suicide. How he
might go about killing himself wasn't clear, not in this holding cell. If Donte could have committed suicide, he would have done so months earlier. And now he wished he had. He would already be gone, and his mother could not watch him die.

  For a palate neutralized by tasteless white bread, bland applesauce, and an endless stream of "mystery meats," the pizza was surprisingly delicious. He ate it slowly.

  Ben Jeter stepped to the bars and asked, "How's the pizza, Donte?"

  Donte did not look at the warden. "It's fine," he said softly.

  "Need anything?"

  He shook his head no. I need a lot of things, pal, not a damned one of which you can provide. And if you could, you wouldn't. Just leave me alone.

  "I think your lawyer's on the way."

  Donte nodded and picked up another slice.

  ------

  At 4:21, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans denied relief under Donte's claim of mental illness. The Flak Law Firm immediately filed in the U.S. Supreme Court a petition for a writ of certiorari, or cert, as it's known; a request that the Court hear the appeal and consider the merits of the petition. If cert was granted, the execution would be stopped, and time would pass while the dust settled and briefs were filed. If cert was denied, the claim would be dead, and so would the claimant, in all likelihood. There was no other place to appeal.