The Boaz Scorekeeper, written in 2017, is my second novel. I'll post it, a chapter a day, over the next few weeks.
Almost immediately, Matt and I started taking depositions.
Nyra Sue Gibson Ellsworth now lives in Montgomery. She was one of the four cheerleaders who were at the Graduation Party. Attorney Gil Burns, a friend of Matt’s, allowed us to use his conference room.
She arrived without an attorney and before she was sworn in she looked at me and said, “Micaden, I am sorry I did not help you back in 1973.” I started to respond but Matt said this all needed to be on the record. After the court reporter swore her in and after he laid out the general rules for depositions, Matt began:
Matt: What did you say to Micaden when you first walked in this morning?
Nyra: I am sorry I did not help you back in 1973.
Matt: What did you mean?
Nyra: I did not tell all I knew.
Matt: Let’s go back to that day, May 25, 1972. You agree you were at the graduation party that took place at Club Eden?
Nyra: I do, at the time I didn’t know what the place was called. I learned that later.
Matt: Who else was at the party?
Nyra: Gina Culvert, Rickie Bonds, Darla Sims, two girls I didn’t really know named Wendi and Cindi, Micaden, and the Flaming Five.
Matt: If you will, name the Flaming Five.
Nyra: Wade Tillman, James Adams, Randall Radford, Fred Billingsley, and John Ericson.
Matt: How did you get to the party?
Nyra: I rode with the Flaming Five.
Matt: Where did they pick you up?
Nyra: At a barn off Martin Road.
Matt: Can you be a little more descriptive?
Nyra: It was a place John’s father owned. We had met there before. Anytime we went to their Club we would drive there and one of them would pick us up.
Matt: Are you referring to Gina Culvert, Rickie Bonds, Darla Sims?
Nyra: Yes, we drove my car that night and James, Randall, and John were already there.
Matt: Do you know where the Hutchinson’s live on Martin Road?
Nyra: Yes, if you’re talking about Whitesville on the hill?
Matt: For the record, why did you call it Whitesville?
Nyra: That’s a nickname. What I always heard it called. Everything is white, the house, the barns, the fence.
Matt: Where was the Ericson’s barn in relation to the Huntchinson’s place?
Nyra: Just beyond on the right. Go past for about a half-mile and it’s on the right. I haven’t been out that way in 25 years. There was a gate and the barn was way back beyond a grove of trees down a little narrow lane. The road or path kept going a long way to the back side of the property. John and I had walked back there a few times before that night.
Matt: So, you left your car parked at the barn and all seven of you went to Club Eden?
Nyra: Yes
Matt: Who drove?
Nyra: John drove his red Blazer and James drove his van. All the cheerleaders rode with John.
Matt: So, Randall, James, and John were there in two vehicles?
Nyra: Yes.
Matt: You mentioned that there were two other girls present at the party. How did they get there?
Nyra: Oh, I forgot. We followed Randall and James to the Dairy Queen where they picked up the two girls.
Matt: Had they driven there?
Nyra: I assume so. They were sitting in a little blue car waiting on us when we arrived.
Matt: Give me an overview of what happened at the party.
Nyra: We arrived and grilled out a cooler full of steaks. I remember Micaden and Wendi, she had introduced herself. The two of them went walking and, inside the tent. It was like they already knew each other because they stayed paired up all night. We all hung out by the fire and started playing spin the bottle. I’m sure you know what that is.
Matt: Tell me please.
Nyra: You sit in a circle and spin a bottle. Whoever it points to goes to the tent. And the next person spins the bottle. The person of the opposite sex that the bottle points to goes to the tent. It’s up to the two people in the tent to decide what they want to do. I’m pretty sure we all made out with each other that night. Except for Micaden and Wendi. Like I said, they stayed paired off to themselves all night.
Matt: Did anyone force you to do anything you didn’t want to do?
Nyra: No. Absolutely not.
Matt: When did you leave the party?
Nyra: It was late, probably 1:00 or 2:00 a.m.
Matt: Who did you leave with?
Nyra: All six of us girls left with James, Randall, and John, in James’ van.
Matt: So, Micaden, Wade, and Fred stayed at the Club?
Nyra: Yes. James drove us back to the barn.
Matt: What about Wendi and Cindi?
Nyra: James didn’t drop them off at Dairy Queen. He just drove straight to the barn on Martin Road.
Matt: What happened when you all got there?
Nyra: Gina, Rickie, Darla, and I got in my car and we left. We went to Darla’s house and slept for hours.
Matt: So, when you four left the barn on Martin Road, Wendi and Cindi were there with Randall, James, and John?
Nyra: Yes.
Matt: Do you know why James didn’t drop them off at Dairy Queen? Wasn’t that where they had left their car? Ya’ll had to pass it on the way from the Club to the barn, didn’t you?
Nyra: That’s right. I remember Wendi saying, “you missed the turn” or something like that. She seemed upset that James didn’t stop and let them out.
Matt: What did James say?
Nyra: He said something about wanting to show Wendi and Cindi where the barn was so they would know where to meet next time.
Matt: Is there anything else you can remember about what happened at the barn before you and your three friends drove off?
Nyra: Wendi asked if she and Cindi could go with us.
Matt: What did you say?
Nyra: I said sure, but we’ll have to cram inside my car.
Matt: Why didn’t they?
Nyra: The guys wouldn’t let them. They kept saying that was out of the way and that they would drop them off.
Matt: What happened next?
Nyra: I drove me, Gina, Rickie, and Darla back to her house.
Matt: Leaving Wendi and Cindi alone at the barn with Randall, James, and John?
Nyra: Yes.
Matt: You of course realize that this is not the story you gave at Micaden’s trial?
Nyra: I do, and again Micaden, I am so very sorry that I lied.
Matt: I have a copy of your trial testimony. In it you say that Micaden was the one who drove all the girls home from the party dropping you, Gina, Rickie, and Darla off at Boaz High School, and then leaving with Wendi and Cindi.
Nyra: I know that’s what I said but now you know what really happened.
Matt: Why did you lie?
Nyra: I was pressured to lie.
Matt: By who?
Nyra: By the Flaming Five and their fathers.
Matt: Please be more specific.
Nyra: The day after the party, John came to see me and told me that the two girls, Wendi and Cindi, were missing. He said there was going to be trouble for all of us. He said we needed to go for a ride. He drove us back to the Ericson’s barn. Everyone was there.
Matt: Please name everyone who was there.
Nyra: Of course, me and John, his father Franklin, Randall and his father Raymond, Fred and his father Fitz, Wade and his father Walter, James and his father David. Also, Gina Culvert, Rickie Bonds, and Darla Sims were there.
Matt: Please continue.
Nyra: Walter and David were kind of the ring leaders. They said that the Flaming Five could likely wind up in prison unless we got our stories straight. Walter said that Randall, James, and John had dropped the twins off at the Dairy Queen early Saturday morning and that’s the last they saw them. He said no one knew what happened to them but the truth would raise too much suspicions for the Flaming Five. David then told me and the other girls what we were to say when we were questioned. None of us liked the idea. Darla and Gina refused. Fitz said that they had an offer that would change our lives forever. He said that each of us would receive a fully paid education at either Auburn or Alabama and that we would be paid a monthly payment of $200.00 for ten years. Walter then handed each of us an envelope containing $1,000.00. The Flaming Five and their fathers all made us promise that we would never say anything about this meeting or our agreement. They threatened us and our families if we ever said anything.
The deposition ended and Matt and I drove back to Boaz thankful for the helpful evidence we had discovered but both knowing that it was far from what we would have to have to win Bill and Nellie Murray’s wrongful death case.
The Pencil Driven Life 