In the Family Page #9

while you were in the foster care system?

No, sir.

Im sorry Mr. Williams,

that file refers to you, yes?

Yes.

And it describes fights, yes?

Yes.

Could the court reporter please

read back the original question?

So, Ill ask you again, did you have a violent record

while you were in the foster care system.

Mr. Williams, is your answer still no?

Its still no.

Okay, maybe Im not being clear. I-

This is about fights I had when I was 12 and 13,

in the orphan home. You know, after

that they moved me into foster care.

I didn't have any fights when I was

in foster care, or living with the Williams, or after.

But you did change your name?

Yes.

To separate yourself from this history of violence.

Mr. Robinson, I was 16.

I don't remember all that much from then, but

Im pretty sure I wasn't spending a whole lot of time

regretting punches I threw when I was 12,

or thinking about the future, you know.

Im pretty sure changing my name had

something to do with my mom and dad just dying.

Your foster mother and father.

My foster mother and father.

A lot of people seem to die around you,

don't they Mr. Williams?

And a lot of people seem to puke around you,

don't they Jefferson?

Can we move on?

Im just trying to understand some history.

Alright. Let's keep it to that.

Mr. Williams, you entered

the orphan home when your

biological family, your father,

mother and sister died.

Is that correct?

Yes.

And then your foster mother

and foster father died too. Yes?

Yes.

And did you know Rebecca Hines?

Yes.

So Rebecca and Cody Hines too

have died since you've known them.

Yes.

That's a lot of people to die in someone's life.

Yes.

And you think Chip would be safe with you?

Yes.

Mr. Williams, how long were

you at the Williams' home?

Uh... two and a half years.

That's it?

Yes.

Seems like they made quite

an impression in two and a half years.

Yes, they did.

And how old were you when

your biological family died?

Three.

So, other than about 5 years of your life,

you've not had a father and a mother.

That's right.

And you in fact did not have

any family outside those 5 years.

Well that's not right.

No?

There's Cody and Chip.

Okay.

And Dave and Eileen and Blake...

Ah, sure.

Sally and Darryl.

Let's talk for a minute about Cody Hines.

How exactly did you seduce him?

Excuse me?

How did you seduce Cody Hines?

I did not seduce Cody Hines.

Cody Hines did not engage in any deviant

sexual behavior before he met you, did he?

I object. On behalf of the civilized world.

Can we keep away from conjecture

and compound questions?

Mr. Williams, as far as you knew, did

Cody Hines sleep with men before he met you?

As far as I know, no.

But he slept with you?

Yes.

And this started when

Rebecca was pregnant with Chip?

No.

Oh this happened after Chip was born?

Yes.

After Rebecca died?

Yes.

Right after?

No.

How long after?

Uh... about seven months.

Mr. Williams, is it possible to get over the death

of a loved one in seven months?

I guess.

Have you gotten over the death of Cody?

No.

Been about seven months, right?

Yes.

And you, you're not over him yet?

No.

You don't have another boyfriend?

Nope.

Mr. Williams,

Cody Hines had never been with a man

before you. Why did he choose you?

I don't know.

How did you seduce him?

I didn't.

You didn't take advantage of his, his confusion of his

mourning his recently deceased bride.

No. I listened to him was all,

when he needed it. I talked to him.

And I didn't ask him for anything.

Oh, except a paycheck.

No.

No? You were working for him, right?

Yes, but I didn't get a paycheck.

You know, when Rebecca died,

I just felt awful for Cody.

And I really liked Rebecca too, you know. And

I had these other jobs at the time that were paying me fine,

so I, I just billed through other folks' costs on Cody's project.

I didn't take any money

from him during that time.

And did he know this?

I don't know. I can't speak for him.

And you don't seem to be

able to speak of him either.

You didn't say anything at Cody Hines'

service did you, Mr. Williams?

No, I-

Now Mr. Williams, you...

you're not a pedophile, are you?

No.

If I were to look through your criminal history,

I wouldn't find any charges?

Under your name or any

other name you've assumed?

No.

Well thank you, Mr. Williams.

That's all the questions I have.

Joey, you may only have had a mother and father

for a couple of years, but

it looks like they at least taught

you some manners in that time.

Yes, they did.

Now Joey, Im going to back us up a little bit

to where Mr...

Robinson started the deposition.

Do you remember him talking about a document

you signed and about you giving up the house?

Yes, I do.

And it seems like

you gave up your claims to the house

and to your accounts with

Cody in exchange for a deposition.

Now,

I love a good deposition

as much as the next lawyer,

but this is a surprising trade. And it sounds like

Mr. Robinson was surprised too.

Could you tell us why you decided to do this?

Okay.

Its a big question.

Yeah.

But

I think it'll help Jefferson and Eileen

and Dave understand why they're here.

Okay. Yeah, okay.

So uh... Ive been thinking.

You know, being on my own now. With

the house so quiet. With, with all this time.

Ive been thinking, how'd we ever get here.

You know, how'd things

ever get to the point they did.

And how'd they happen so fast, you know. It seems

like one day I was Chip's dad, Blake's Uncle Joey.

Then all of a sudden Im Mr. Joey Williams on a police form.

Ive been trying to think what exactly happened.

Sorry, it'll probably take me a while to get at your question.

That's fine, Joey. That's fine,

you take all the time you need.

Well at the beginning,

all I wanted was to get Chip back.

And I was angry, so I wasn't one to think straight.

Now I look back, and all the times I tried

to get through to Dave, Eileen or Sally...

I was pretty much screaming my head off.

Even that first night Eileen told me

about Cody's will, I got a little hotheaded.

And that night I took Chip away.

Right or wrong, it didn't help things. It didn't exactly

make me someone they wanted to come up and talk to.

So I guess the first thing I wanted to do

is tell Dave and tell Eileen I know I had my part

in the way things went bad so fast.

Im not just mad at you, I know I had my part.

Okay, I think they heard you, Joey.

Okay, now about why

I traded all the stuff for a deposition.

Good.

You're right, it's not for love of the thing.

I get that feeling.

Am I doing that bad?

You're doing just fine, Joey. You're doing just fine.

Okay, well uh...

when you first said you'd be my lawyer,

you asked me a question.

You asked me what was really important

and what would I give up to get there.

And you figured it out.

Yeah, I figured it. It took me

a while, but I figured it out.

Cody kind of helped me figure it out.

Thinking about me and Cody.

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