John sat in a hallway outside of the conference room of attorney Alex Kelbert, who the family had retained as Alex's lawyer for his pending case against Robert Myers. Stef, Lena, Jude and Connor all sat with him — the boys would speak with Kelbert after John to tell their side of the story.
"It's going to be all right, Love," Stef said to John.
"I know," replied John. "Alex was great against Loomis. I only hope he can do it with Myers, too."
Stef pulled him into a one armed hug just as the conference door opened and one of Kelbert's law partners stood in the doorway.
"We're ready for you, John," he said.
John nodded and stood up as Stef and Lena patted him on the back. Jude and Connor stood up with him and each gave him a quick hug with nods of reassurance. John followed the lawyer into the conference room and another lawyer shut the door behind him.
The lawyer who retrieved John motioned for him to sit across the conference table from Kelbert, who had on his glasses and had a laptop open in front of him. He also had a notepad open next to him and had a pen in his hand, ready to take notes.
Once John sat down, Kelbert smiled at him.
"You don't have to be nervous, John," he said in a warm voice. "These guys are just here to help me take notes and review the facts of the case as we move forward. All you have to do is speak to me and answer my questions truthfully. Do that, and we can proceed as planned in this case against you. Are you ready?"
"Yes," John said.
Kelbert nodded to the lawyer to his left, who pressed a button on a video recorder.
"First, I need you to state your full name for me," Kelbert said.
"John Henry Foster," John said in a commanding voice.
"Can you tell me why you were at the beach on the day in question?"
"I was there to sign copies of my book, Survivor, as part of the last stop of my nationwide book tour, put on by HarperCollins, my publisher."
"And you were at the beach with your family, is that right?"
"Yes, I was there with my aunts Stef and Lena Adams Foster and with their five children, my cousins."
"Can you please tell me how you are related to Stef and Lena Adams Foster?" asked Kelbert.
"How do you mean?" John asked.
"Meaning, which one of them is one of your parents' sibling?"
"Stef is my mother's younger sister," John said.
"And, why do you not live with your mother?"
"You know why, Alex," John said in a hurt tone.
"I know, John, but I need you to tell me for the record."
"My parents were killed in a car accident two years ago."
"Can you tell me how you came to be placed into guardianship of your aunts?"
"After my parents were killed, I was legally emancipated, so that I would have the say of any guardianship. I moved in with my aunts after I was sexually assaulted and suffering from post traumatic stress disorder."
Kelbert nodded and made a note on his notepad.
"How long have you been living with your aunts?"
"About a year and a half."
"OK, John, we're going to go back to the day in question. You were on the beach for a book signing. What happened after the book signing?"
John sighed. "I decided to walk along the beach with my family because we hadn't spent much of the day together. I had appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show before the book signing, so we didn't get much chance to talk that day."
"How long did you walk with your whole family?"
"For about 15 minutes."
"What happened then?"
"My youngest cousin, Jude, and his boyfriend, Connor, and I decided to take a walk alone together, just to talk."
"Why did you want to talk together alone?"
"Is this really necessary?" John asked in an annoyed tone. "Does it really matter why we wanted to talk alone?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so," Kelbert said. "We have to establish the timeline of events accurately, otherwise we risk losing this case."
"All right," John said before sighing again. "We wanted to talk about my book and just spend some time together."
"Are you close with your cousin and his boyfriend?"
"As close as I can be," John said. "I love my cousin like a brother, and his boyfriend is a dear friend of mine."
"All right, so you walked over to some rocks and you were talking, is that right?"
"Yes,"
"What happened when Mr. Myers approached you?"
"He walked up to us and was yelling at Jude and Connor."
"What was he yelling about?"
"He was yelling for them to stop holding hands. He called them faggots. We all thought — "
"'I thought' not 'we thought,'" Kelbert said. "You can only speak to what you thought, not what your cousin and his boyfriend thought."
"All right," said John. "I thought he was just a homeless man who had gotten drunk and just needed to be calmed down."
"What did you say to him?"
"I asked him to leave us alone and that we should all mind each others' own business."
"How did he respond to that?"
John grimaced. "He said that he shouldn't have to watch two faggots holding hands while he's out in public."
Kelbert made a note on his notepad again. "How did you respond?"
"Calmly, I asked him if he would like to get away from what he was seeing and if he'd like to come get a drink with me."
"What happened next?"
"He said, 'Screw you, fag lover!' and pushed me to the ground, before he grabbed Connor and pulled out a knife?"
"What kind of knife did he pull?"
"I have no idea," John said, sounding annoyed. "I just saw a blade being pointed at my best friend's ribcage."
"All right, and what happened then?"
"I told Myers that he didn't want to do anything that stupid, that it would be a mistake."
"What did you mean by that?"
"That it would be stupid of him to stab someone," John said. "I meant that he shouldn't try any of that on anyone, but especially not a teenager."
"And then what happened?"
"Myers laughed and said there would be no problem and he stabbed Connor in the ribcage."
"What did you do then?"
"I lunged forward and started to wrestle with Myers. I managed to disarm him before I started to punch him in the face to subdue him. He eventually fell unconscious before I turned my attention to Connor and told Jude to call for help."
Kelbert finished making a note, while his partners continued typing out notes on John's statement.
"Is that all that happened on the day in question in reference to this case?" Kelbert asked.
"Yes."
"And you have made this statement truthfully, under no duress?"
"That is correct."
Kelbert nodded again to the lawyer on his left, who hit the stop button on the camera.
"Thank you for coming in and speaking with us, John," Kelbert said. "We'll need to speak with Jude and Connor, and then we'll speak with you and your aunts after we have reviewed all the facts."
John nodded, stood up and walked toward the door. He exited the conference room and walked back over to the group and hugged them before Jude was called in to speak.
The group waited in earnest after Jude and Connor spoke with Kelbert and his partners. Kelbert had come out and told them they would review the testimony of the three boys and would call them in when finished. After half an hour of waiting, one of the partners poked his head out of the conference room.
"We're ready for you now," he said. "You can all come inside."
They all stood up and followed the lawyer into the conference. John sat in between Jude and Connor, with Stef and Lena sitting to his left, before Kelbert looked up from his notes and spoke.
"You seem to have a good counter case here, John," he said. Stef and Lena breathed sighs of relief, while Jude and Connor patted him on the shoulders. "However," Kelbert continued, causing them to go silent again. "There's the matter of possible excessive force. While I can clearly see John had to do whatever he could to protect Jude and Connor, I can understand how his actions could be seen as excessive."
"What do you mean?" asked Stef, sounding shocked.
"Meaning that had he not continued to punch Robert Myers after Myers had fallen to the ground, we likely would not be here at all. But, since he did, his actions can be seen as excessive."
The group's faces all shrank. Jude and Connor each grabbed one of John's hands.
"I wouldn't worry, though," Kelbert continued. "It's clear that John was merely defending Connor and trying to prevent anyone else from being hurt. However, the degree of excess will be up to the court to decide. And, I'm afraid that if the court finds John's actions to be excessive force, John could face jail time."
