Chapter 9

Within a few weeks, the DA was back in touch with Jane about following up on the trial of Jack Upson for rape of a minor. Upson had been arrested and was due for arraignment on Monday. The DA wanted Jane to be there in court to testify, if necessary. It was highly unlikely, but it was the first case of rape of a minor by someone not a relative in the town's history, and the DA wanted every base covered.

Jane showed up, escorted by Tag, and they waited in court for the arraignment. Precisely on time, Upson was brought in, chained and dressed in the customary prisoner's orange jumpsuit. Both newspaper and TV cameras were all over the place because of the unique nature of this case, and Upson had no way to hide his face. He did sneer at the cameras, but that was stifled by his lawyer as very bad PR (public relations). After all, he eventually would have to face a jury, and his lawyer wanted to retain any goodwill that might be out there among the public.

The court appearance by Upson was no longer than usual. He pled "Innocent," and bail was set at $50,000. Jane did not have to testify, but Upson did see her, and his malevolent stare was noted by Jane and Tag. Tag was concerned about what might happen if Upson made bail, but he had no input into that decision.

They went back to school and resumed what was hardly a "normal" day. Tag started escorting Jane to and from school now that he no longer had football practice to bother with. Tag was not interested in other sports, so he was finished with that sort of thing for the rest of his high school career. Jane found that she just could not go outside to wait for Tag when the time came that Upson was able to post bail. She waited for him in the school office so that they walked out of the school together to his car. By the way, he now had his red Cadillac back.

Jane heard nothing from Upson, and he had returned to his job at the gasoline station. Nevertheless, she was fearful of going anywhere without Tag, but he never got tired of her company, so this was no hardship on him beyond being concerned about her emotional state. The trial had been scheduled to start in May, and that was somewhat inconvenient for Tag, since he expected to be interviewing for a football scholarship at that time.

Tag had been approached by colleges all over the country wanting his services, but, for some strange reason, very few wanted him as a Quarterback. Most wanted him for his running ability and wanted him to play Halfback or Wide Receiver. Two were interested in him for the defensive backfield. Thus, Tag eliminated a lot of possibilities out of hand. He only wanted to play Quarterback, and three SEC schools were interested in him for that job. Michigan State and Oregon were the two schools outside of the SEC that were interested in him, but both wanted a standard drop-back passer from the pocket, and Tag wanted to scramble.

Two of the SEC schools were interested in a scrambling Quarterback. Their coaches were used to coaching that kind of game, and the Alumni Association liked them because they were exciting and sold a lot of tickets. The final choice came down to LSU (Louisiana State University) and UGA (University of Georgia). Tag was leaning toward UGA because of Coach Harkness, but he wanted to see what LSU had to offer.

A trip to each school was set up for the month of April. He did not want to miss the trial of Upson that was scheduled for May. Jane didn't care where he went, she just wanted to be with Tag. It happened that Tag first went to talk to the people at LSU and to see the campus and football facility. It certainly was a first class operation all round, but it did not turn him on. Nevertheless, he was polite and friendly to everyone he talked to; there was no point in him burning proverbial bridges.

Tag's trip to UGA was much better because Jane went with him. Coach Harkness strongly hinted that UGA had better make a play for Jane's affections if they were serious about bringing Tag into their program. Apparently they were that interested, because Jane was shown around by the wife of an assistant coach and had to chance to see what she and Tag would be facing as a couple. Furthermore, she was given the royal treatment at the School of Business Management, as that was what she intended to major in. Of course, Tag was to major in football, but he had to register for formal classes, so he was offered Business Management, Sports Medicine, or Coaching for the high school level. He chose Business Management so that he could have some classes with Jane.

The UGA coaches did not care what major he signed up for because they knew that he could keep his grades up in whatever course he took. At least, his grades as a high school Junior and Senior showed that. UGA put on the best face for Tag, and he decided to go with them. Coach Harkness was very relieved, and he figured that his Alma Mater would never regret having Tag attend there.

Tag and Jane returned home in plenty of time to make Jack Upson's trial. While they were waiting, Tag informed each college what his decision was. He immediately received all kinds of advice from the University and from the

Alumni Association about what to expect from living in Athens, Georgia. The most important information he got was directed toward how to keep his eligibility for football up to standards. With the way the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) had been handing out sanctions, they all wanted to make damned sure that Tag knew what he could do and what he couldn't do. Tag was not worried about that. He had always been scrupulous about following rules, and this situation was no different.

Tag and Jane returned to classes and tried to maintain a normal life while they waited for the Jack Upson trial to begin. At last! The trial began on a Monday after a jury selection that had been somewhat tumultuous. Upson's lawyer wanted as many men as possible on the jury, and the DA went after women and mature family men. Neither side was completely satisfied with the jury: both sides were aware of the fiasco of the first OJ Simpson trial. The Upson side wanted that, and the DA's side feared it.

After the opening statements in which the DA admitted that there was no DNA evidence because of the peculiar situation with Jane's family, he went on to call Jane to the stand. Jack Upson stared malevolently at Jane throughout her testimony, and he managed to frighten Jane, nay, almost to petrify her. The DA made note of that and planned to use the fact in his closing remarks, but he did manage to lead Jane through her testimony against Upson. She was embarrassed by the detail with which she was cross examined, but Jane stuck to her story and could not be swayed by the snide remarks and innuendos of the defense lawyer.