by Sheila Agnew
The second witness was Holly’s former boss, the guy from the Peruvian restaurant, only too eager to talk about Karl’s knife attack on him. I think it was the only exciting thing that ever happened to him in his life. It was all so stupid… Scott has never even met Karl!
Next came the endless talk about the supposedly irresponsible state of Scott’s finances. It was so boring that I dozed off a lot. So did Scott. Finally, the Judge got almost as fed up as we were and said very sarcastically to Mr Tully, that he should bring the financial evidence to a quick conclusion because Scott’s veterinary practice was not a party seeking custody of the young lady in this case. (I HATE being called young lady. It’s so patronising).
Mr Tully, said, ‘Certainly, your Honour. I believe we have more than sufficiently shown that the petitioner, a successful music producer in Australia is in a much better position to provide this child with a secure, stable and privileged lifestyle.’
Next came evidence about my math test scores, but only the ones from the middle of the year, the ones that I had failed miserably. Mr Tully, didn’t, of course, mention the more recent tests, which, thanks to Finn’s help, I had pretty much aced. Rob kept reminding Scott and me that we would get our chance to cross-examine and also to put forward our own witnesses. I guess that kept us going. And anyway, the Judge couldn’t care less about my poor math scores. He said,
‘If math test scores were an appropriate barometer of parental fitness; most of the parents in America would lose their children.’
We were almost giddy with relief heading in to court on the sixth day because finally it was our turn to tell our side. The trial was scheduled to continue at ten. A few minutes before ten, just as the Judge entered the courtroom, Mr Tully handed Rob copies of his ‘Amended Witness List.’ ‘Two new witnesses,’ he said.
‘You’ve got to be kidding!’ said Rob, ‘you can’t give us notice of new witnesses at this stage, it’s far too late.’
There followed lots of arguing in front of the judge. He actually said, ‘Approach the bench counselors,’ just like on TV. We lost.
Mr Tully called the first new witness. The back doors of the courtroom creaked open and in walked … Camille, looking absurdly angelic with her braided white-blonde hair, her navy dress with a wide white collar and patent black Mary Jane shoes. As she reached the top of the courtroom, I stood up and stepped out from the desk, blocking her path.
‘CAMILLE, what are you doing here?’
She hesitated and looked at Mr Tully. He nodded encouragingly at her.
‘Sit down Miss Brooks,’ boomed the judge.
I sat down reluctantly on the very edge of my chair.
Mr Tully was all solicitous concern in his questioning. After saying her name and address, Camille looked downwards coyly at her feet as if too shy and overwhelmed to speak. The judge smiled at the pretty picture she made. I thought I was going to puke.
‘Take your time, Camille,’ said Mr Tully; ‘I want you to tell the Court about the events of March fifteenth of this year.’
‘Evie, umm, Evangeline and I were the only two girls left in the locker room at school. As we were changing, I noticed she had these strange bruises on her arms.’
‘Exhibit 17 Your Honour,’ said Mr Tully, handing around photographs of me with clearly bruised arms. It was me alright in the pictures. Camille must have taken them on her phone when I wasn’t looking. So creepy.
‘Camille, did your friend, Evie, say how she got those bruises?’ Mr Tully asked.
‘She’s not my friend,’ I said, standing up.
‘It’s true that hasn’t been established,’ said the judge, ‘move on Mr Tully.’
Camille smiled a tiny smile at me before raising her squinty little eyes to the Judge.
‘Evie told me that the night before, her Uncle Scott lost his temper and grabbed her by her arms and shook her because he was so mad that she had burnt something in the microwave.’
‘What?’ Scott and I both yelled, jumping to our feet.
‘Judge, that’s not true, it’s a big fat grotesque lie. I got those bruises from trying to learn to skateboard,’ I said.
The judge looked down at me.
‘Off the record,’ he said to the stenographer.
‘Evie,’ said the judge, ‘Was anyone with you when you fell of your skateboard.’
‘Just Ben,’ I said.
‘Who is Ben? Is he a classmate at school?’
‘Your Honour,’ said Mr Tully, ‘Ben is the respondent’s DOG.’
‘I see,’ said the judge, ‘continue Mr Tully, I’ll allow you a couple of more questions.’
Mr Tully turned to Camille.
‘Can you remember anything else Evie said to you in the changing room?’
Camille screwed her face up very tightly as if trying to remember each specific detail exactly.
‘I think she said it was rice that she burnt in the microwave but I’m not one hundred percent sure,’ she said.
‘Could I have a glass of water,’ she added.
The security guard gave her a little plastic cup.
She sipped the water with trembling hands. The judge looked sympathetic.
‘Are you ready to continue?’ asked Mr Tully.
‘I’ll do my best,’ said Camille sweetly. ‘I told Evie to tell one of our teachers or the school nurse about what her uncle Scott had done to her but she was too afraid.’
‘How do you know she was afraid Camille?’ asked Mr Tully in a pseudo gentle tone.
‘Because she said that if anyone found out, her uncle Scott would make her pay.’
‘YOU DISGUSTING SICK LIAR,’ I yelled jumping to my feet again.
‘Your Honour,’ said Mr Tully, ‘I think we can all appreciate how difficult it is for Evie to relive this. Perhaps it would be wise to excuse her from the proceedings.’
‘No, No,’ I said, clenching my fists ‘I’m not reliving anything. It didn’t happen. Scott never shook me. He’s never hurt so much as a flea in his life.’
‘Your Honour,’ said Mr Tully, ‘I have here police records from South Carolina detailing Dr Brooks past record of violence.’
‘Are you for real?’ said Scott, ‘this is a farce! That was just a brawl at a college game more than a decade ago. Everyone was arrested.’
‘Control your client,’ the judge said to Rob and Rob tugged on Scott’s sleeve.
‘Mr Tully,’ said the judge, ‘you are treading in dangerous territory. Is this all you have? The evidence of a teenage schoolgirl and some obsolete police reports.’
‘No, your Honour, I have another witness,’ said Mr Tully.
‘Call your next witness,’ said the judge, ‘and be quick about it. It’s nearly lunchtime. You may excuse your witness but you will need to have her back in court next week for cross-examination assuming I don’t throw this whole sideshow out.’
Camille stepped down from the witness stand and began to walk towards the door. About halfway, she stopped, and turned and looking directly back at me, said,
I’m so sorry Evie to betray your confidence but sometimes we need to have the courage to help our friends even when they don’t want it.’
I glared at her so stunned by her deviousness that I couldn’t speak; the only sound that came out of my mouth was a small choking sound.
The next witness sauntered into the courtroom. Coltan! He said that I had told him that Scott frequently locks me into my bedroom at night when he is drinking. Unlike Camille, he never made eye contact with me. He spoke clearly and without emotion, looking only at the judge and Mr Tully. He scared me. I wanted to jump up and fight but I was too dizzy to move. My legs had stopped working. It was like having the most excruciating case of pins and needles. I sat slumped in my chair, my mind whirring painfully. LEELA! I thought. She’s the one behind this. She put them up to it. She’s getting her revenge.
I tried to focus on what the judge was saying.
‘It’s getting late. We’re going to adjourn unt
il Monday morning. Some very serious allegations have been made and while I appreciate that the respondent has not yet had the opportunity to cross-examine or to answer those allegations, I’m going to err on the side of caution in the interests of the child’s safety. I’m going to make a temporary order making the subject child of the proceedings a ward of the State of New York. Social services will take her into custody for the weekend and I’ll see everyone back here on Monday morning. And, I’m going to make a stay-away as part of the order. Dr Brooks, you may not see or communicate with your niece until Monday morning. If you breach my order, the consequences will be very serious.’
Scott was whispering to Rob who got up.
‘Your Honour, I respectfully request that you amend your order to allow Evie to reside with Dr Joanna Barratt for the weekend. She is a veterinarian in Dr Brook’s practice, a close family friend and I can personally vouch for her character.’
‘Get her on the phone,’ sighed the judge, ‘if she agrees, I will allow it.’
Joanna did more than get on the phone. She jumped on the subway and came down to the courthouse in a little less than half an hour. The judge, keen to get to his long delayed lunch, didn’t waste much time questioning her. A little later and I found myself standing with Joanna outside on the grey steps of the Courthouse, shielding my eyes from the garish sun. A shadow approached me and reached out a hand as if to touch my shoulder. I shrank away.
‘Don’t you dare touch me,’ I shrieked, ‘this is all your fault. I HATE YOU. I WISH YOU WERE DEAD! YOU’RE THE ONE THAT SHOULD BE DEAD, NOT MUM!’
Mr Tully pulled Michael away and as the sun slid behind a white puffy cloud, I caught a glimpse of the haunted stricken look on his face. I didn’t care.
Chapter 32
I watched Joanna expertly lock her apartment door – three separate locks and a long pole, one end of which fit neatly into a hole in the floor and the other slid into the middle lock. It feels just like prison, I thought gloomily. Joanna, catching sight of my face, gave an apologetic little laugh.
‘Habit! When I moved into this apartment, the neighborhood was still called Hell’s Kitchen and nobody had even heard of “gentrification.” Anyway, make yourself at home.’
I nodded and gazed around her small apartment. It didn’t take long. There was a sagging white futon, an old-fashioned, bulky TV and a solitary chair. It didn’t have a kitchen, just a beaten up toaster oven. Joanna led me into the small bedroom and switched on the air conditioning unit in the window. It spluttered for a few seconds and then died. Joanna picked up a large tome, ‘The Veterinary Bible,’ and gave the unit a couple of hard whacks. It cranked noisily and reluctantly into operation.
‘You get used to its quirky ways,’ said Joanna, ‘would you like to lie down on the bed before you fall down. You look so tired.’
‘No, I’m ok. And no way am I taking your bed. I’ll be fine on the futon.’
Joanna tried to insist that I take her room but I refused to budge and eventually she reluctantly relented. What I wanted to do was go into the bathroom and cry for a long time, maybe hours, but the apartment was so tiny, there’s no way I could that without Joanna hearing me. Only a terribly rude, inconsiderate guest would throw a crying fit, I realised.
I sat on the futon and flipped on the TV, just to create some sound to try and drown the noise in my head. Sure, I’d been a little scared of losing the custody case, but I hadn’t believed it would happen. Not really. Now, I felt that I would very likely be on my way to Australia with Michael before school even finished for the year. He’d probably let me visit Scott for a week or so at Christmas. For the rest of the time I would be alone. I didn’t know anyone in Australia. They’d make me learn Australian English and I would start calling sunglasses ‘sunnies’.
I heard Mum’s voice in my head as clearly as if she were sitting on the futon beside me.
‘Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Evie!’
I tried to talk to Mum in my head but she didn’t say anything else.
I don’t care what Michael does, he will never get me to eat kangaroo steaks, I thought defiantly.
My phone beeped – anxious text messages from Kylie and Greg.
‘Are you going to answer those?’ asked Joanna walking into the room.
‘Later,’ I said, ‘I’m too tired now.’
‘Would you like me to call Kylie and Greg and let them know where you are and what’s happening?’ Joanna asked softly.
I nodded.
‘I could invite them over to keep you company.’
I shook my head violently. ‘I’m too tired,’ I repeated, and I was. I felt like I could sleep for the rest of my life or at least a week.
When I woke up, it took me a couple of minutes to figure out where I was. The TV was on low, a Wonder Pets cartoon. Joanna was in the bedroom speaking quietly to someone on the phone. It was hot in the living room and the futon covering was made of some kind of scratchy material that made my legs itch. I felt an intense profound loneliness. And, I was afraid. I kept seeing Coltan’s smooth blond hair and his privileged, sneering voice.
A loud buzzing reverberated through the apartment. Joanna came out of her room, spoke into the intercom and began to unlock the series of bolts. When she finally finished and flung open the door, I heard the familiar tread of snowshoe paws and Ben jumped up on the futon beside me and licked my face enthusiastically. His tongue felt rough like sandpaper but I welcomed it all the same.
‘BEN,’ I called out and buried my face in his floppy ears. Attached to his collar was a note with ‘EVIE’ on the outside. I unfolded it.
‘Evie, I’m sorting this mess out. Everything’s going to be fine. Trust me. Miss you and love you. Look after Ben for me and hang in there. Scott xx
PS Don’t let Joanna persuade you to try any of her cooking. Anything produced in that toaster oven of hers is lethal.’
I felt the wetness of tears of my face but I was also smiling. Joanna handed me a bag, which Scott had packed for me – some clothes and a toothbrush and my favourite framed photograph of Mum. I placed it on the floor beside the futon.
The rest of the weekend passed by incredibly slowly. I kept meaning to get up and go meet Greg and Kylie and came up with a plan. We had defeated Leela before. We could do it again but I was just so very, very tired. It was like I had some kind of sleeping sickness. My arms and legs felt like they didn’t belong to me. I slept, watched a little TV, played with Ben, ate a little and then slept some more. Finally, on Sunday evening, panic set in and I forced myself off the futon.
‘I have to go Joanna,’ I said, ‘we’re back in court in the morning and I haven’t fixed anything. I haven’t done anything. I haven’t even started to do anything, like confront Camille and Coltan and get them to back down.’
‘Evie, trust in Scott. He’s got it under control. Sometimes, it’s harder to be the one being helped instead of doing the helping. You still look so pale and shaky. Go back to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.’
I slept.
Chapter 33
I stepped off the elevator on the fifth floor of the Court building. The first thing I noticed was the bustling crowd of people surging into Justice Hansen’s courtroom. As I got closer, I recognised a familiar lemon shaped bald head.
‘Stan,’ I exclaimed, ‘what are you doing here?’
Stan shifted from one leg to the other uncomfortably, looking about as out of place as possible. He fiddled uneasily with the knot in his tie as if he’d never worn a tie before. He probably hadn’t. I gazed around in confusion. All the faces in the crowd were familiar: Mr Fannelli, Eurdes, Virpi, Mrs Billington, our doormen, Frank and Juan, Velda, the waitress from our local diner and lots of pet owners who regularly visited the clinic. I felt hands clapping me enthusiastically on my back as I squeezed myself into the noisy, overflowing courtroom. All of the benches were filled and more people stood packed tightly against one another, taking up every inch of standing space.
‘
Could you please remove your elbow from my personal space?’ a familiar voice complained loudly to the tall man beside her.
I whipped my head around. Mrs Rubenstein! And the tall man was Scott’s best friend, Jake.
Scott stood at the top of the courtroom, right in front of the Judge’s desk, flanked by Greg and Kylie. They all waved at me.
‘Make space to let Evie through,’ a woman said without opening her mouth.
I whipped around.
‘Sonia!’ I said.
She smiled at me and gave me an awkward thumbs up sign.
I struggled through the crowd to reach Scott. He swung me up and around, as if I was a little girl but I didn’t mind although we did nearly knock Mrs Rubenstein over.
‘They all insisted on being here,’ Scott said to me, half-laughing, ‘when they heard we were in trouble, they just started turning up at the clinic and demanding to know where the judge lived!’
‘All rise for the Honourable Judge Paul Hansen,’ sang out the court clerk from under her desk, where she had taken refuge from the crowd.
The judge walked in, paused briefly in surprise at the size of the crowd and then proceeded to sit down at his desk.
‘What’s all this about?’ he demanded.
Rob answered. ‘Witnesses your Honour – witnesses to testify to the fact that Evie couldn’t possibly have a more loving home than the one she has now.’
The crowd burst out into raucous cheering.
The Judge, banged ineffectually on his desk with the case for his glasses, but nobody could hear him over the din. Finally, he shouted,
‘QUIET! THIS ISN’T A ZOO. IF I HEAR THE SOUND OF ANYONE’S VOICE BUT MY OWN, I’M THROWING YOU ALL OUT OF HERE. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?’
There was a hushed assent.
‘That’s better,’ said the judge grumpily.
With a few well-judged jabs of his sharp elbows, Mr Tully created enough space to get to his feet.