Family Ties (21 page)

CHAPTER FIFTY

The polished wooden bench I wait on outside the courtroom is a contradiction. It looks inviting, begging passersby to sit for a spell when it is in fact cold, hard, and uncomfortable.

It’s less crowded than the revolving door of family court. Jason holds my hand and strokes the back of it with his thumb. Andrew and Rose sit on another bench down the hall. Everyone else is inside for the opening arguments.

My heart skips along. I take some deep breaths, but my heart beats faster and faster. Jason squeezes my hands and searches my eyes. He kisses my cheek softly and my heart slows a beat.

“What was I thinking?” I ask, kneading my hands. The anxiety is higher than it has been in months, making it hard to capture and box up. The Terrible Dogfish is about to swallow me whole and I have no way avoid it.

“You were thinking you want your parents in prison, paying for what they did to you,” he reminds me.

“Right.” I scan the hallway, tapping my foot. “Maybe for Mother’s trial, I won’t be so anxious.” 

The door to the courtroom opens and a petite female sheriff’s deputy with short, black hair comes out. “Sara Parker?”

I stand and she re-opens the door, gesturing for me to go first. She follows with Jason behind her. Everyone in the room stares at me. The short walk from the door to the stand is interminable. Each step seems to take me further from my destination.

I allow myself one glance at my father. He wears a dirt brown suit, white shirt, and yellow tie. His hands clasped together on the table in front of him and his lips are held together in a grim expression.

He doesn’t deserve more attention from me than that. What he deserves is to spend the rest of his life behind bars in an orange jumpsuit. I hear rapists and child abusers become an alpha’s prison bitch. The once powerful turned powerless. Justice.

Len approaches me as soon as I’m sworn in and seated, then begins with questions about the abuse. I retell my story to him in front of a roomful of strangers. He wasn’t joking about it being worse. I don’t know these people and they don’t know me. The ones in the box on my left will decide my father’s fate. The rest are spectators, gawking at a drama that will make them feel better about their lives.

Len gathered my medical records from the multiple emergency rooms and doctors my parents took me to in order to prevent suspicion, including the records from Dr. Black indicating the bruising to my cervix and vagina. He reminds the jury that a medical expert will organize the records into one big picture for them, and presents each piece of evidence to them as I recount the injuries, pregnancy, and abortion.

I don’t know how much time has passed when Len finishes, because the clock is behind me and I dare not sneak a peek at my watch.

Father’s lawyer, Gary Prescott, stands, smoothing down his green and white striped tie. A charcoal gray suit and light green shirt fit with a little give.

“Miss Parker,” he starts. “How long have you been dating your boyfriend?”

“Since the night before the Jerichos found my father beating me outside.” 

“You two were friends before you dated?”

“Yes.”

“And you never hooked up with him before that first date?”

“No.” 

“Not even when he came to the house asking your father’s permission?” 

“No.” 

“Tell us again what you did on your first date.”

What does this have to do with my father? “We went to the football game, then Joe’s for pizza. My best friend and her boyfriend joined us.” 

“No sneaking out to the car or into the bathroom?”

My body temperature elevates. “No,” I answer, pursing my lips as his insinuation sinks in.

“What about since then?”

“I don’t understand your question.” He’s going to have to say it.

“Are you and your boyfriend sexually active?”

I glance at Jason sitting between Mike and Alana, each with a hand on his arms. His face red, jaw set, and fire in his eyes like when Rick wouldn’t leave me alone.

Hunter clutches the wooden dividing wall while Damian’s arm bars him from getting up, both of them wearing their outrage like Jason.

“No.” I glare at Father and he averts his eyes to his hands. “He knows exactly what my father did to me and that I’m not ready for sex.”

“You expect us to believe a healthy teenage boy is willingly engaging in abstinence?”

“Yes.” 

“You claim that your father sexually abused you for two years. How can we know you weren’t a virgin before you claim the first incident happened?”

My blood boils with rage and my fists clench automatically. It’s like being trapped in the same room with the Lloyds, Blake, and Irving.

“Objection,” Len calls out. “Relevance, Your Honor.”

The judge’s gaze shifts to Gary.

“Prosecution claims Miss Parker was a virgin when my client allegedly began sexually abusing her. Subsequently causing the damage documented by Dr. Black in the medical records they introduced into evidence,” Gary answers.

I want to claw his eyes out.

“Overruled,” the judge states, then glances at me. “Answer the question, Miss Parker.”

I press my lips together and then take a breath. “My parents were so controlling I couldn’t do anything without their permission. Where was I going to have sex with a boy that they didn’t know about?”

“What about at school?”

“They knew when I wasn’t in class. In fact, they grounded me one time for walking out of class before it even started because I was so upset. And it happened to be the morning after one of the
incidents,
” I say, throwing one of his terms back at him. 

“Are you taking birth control pills?”

I stare at him hard and furious. I already answered this. “Yes.”

“But you’re not sexually active?”

“My mother made me take them after the abortion so my father couldn’t get me pregnant again.”

“Why not stop taking it now?”

“I did when I moved in with the Jerichos, but the nausea and cramps from my period were debilitating.”

“Why didn’t you fight your father off when he allegedly sexually abused you?”

Yes, blame the victim once again because holding the perpetrator responsible is illogical. “I tried the first time, but he had me pinned. Fighting made him more brutal.”

“So you willingly let him rape you repeatedly?”

“I didn’t
willingly
let him do anything,” I say, raising my voice. “I’ll rephrase for you. Trying to defend myself only made the beatings and the rape more painful.” 

“Can you tell us why you never reported the alleged rape when the Jerichos took guardianship of you?” 

“I was embarrassed after my father told me I was damaged goods over and over again, because I believed him. I thought if they knew, they wouldn’t want me anymore.” 

“And your therapist thinks you are mentally stable?”

My stomach churns. He’s trying to tear me down right here. I can’t let him. “Yes.”

“How long have you been in therapy?”

“Since going to live with the Jerichos.” 

“Did they force you to go?”

“No. I needed help adjusting and moving on from the abuse.”

“Did your father physically or sexually abuse your sister?” he asks with no segue. Probably trying to throw me off, looking for an opening to pick apart with semantics.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“How am I supposed to know? I wasn’t privy to their decision making.” 

He ignores my comment. “Did she witness any of the alleged abuse?”

“I don’t know. I was too busy being beaten,” I say, lacing my words with disdain. “And it’s not something that was discussed openly in the house.” 

“That’s all I have for now,” he says, returning to his seat next to my father.

The judge peers down from his perch. “You are excused, Miss Parker.

I rise with all the grace I can muster and make a beeline for the door. I can’t sit in there after that. It’s stifling. Jason follows me as I pass the bench where his parents, Arissa, Damian, and Hunter sit. Rose passes me on her way to the stand, concern marking her face, but I continue on.

Jason engulfs me in his arms in the hallway. I grab his button down shirt in my fists as I scream into his shoulder.

I hate Father.

I hate Gary.

His hands run up my back and into my hair, crushing me into his chest. My anxiety releases through a flurry of tears and my energy rushes out of me like a wave charging the shoreline. My knees buckle and Jason sits on his haunches, rocking me back and forth.

He kisses me and rests his head on mine. “You did it,” he murmurs.

Andrew kneels next to us and strokes my shoulders. “I’m so proud of you, Sara.”

The three of us remain on the floor until the doors open and a surge of chattering people spills into the hallway. Jason wipes my face dry and I release his shirt, attempting to smooth it out.

“Sweetie,” Rose says.

I glance at her with bleary eyes.

“They’re taking a lunch break. Andrew and I have to stay in case they call us after lunch. Do you want to stay?”

I shake my head.

“I’ll take her home, Rose,” Jason says.

“What about your parents?” I ask.

“We’ll take them home,” Rose answers. “I want you to take care of yourself.” She hands me a tissue.

Jason pulls his toes under him, then stands, bringing me up with him. He keeps an arm around me as we leave.

My father stands with Gary in front of the bank of elevators. I stop in my tracks as Father’s gaze locks on mine. I slip my arm around Jason. “Let’s take the stairs,” I mutter, not breaking eye contact with Father.

I wake with a start, clutching Jason’s shirt. He caresses my shoulder, talking in hushed tones with his arms wrapped around me.

My eyes open to Andrew sitting in the overstuffed chair with a beer in his hand. I prop myself up and look at Jason. “I slept all afternoon?”

“Yeah.” 

“Wow,” I say, rubbing my face. I focus on Andrew. “Did it go okay?”

“It was more of the same. Len was good about getting the facts from us and Gary tried to tear it apart.” 

I rest against Jason again. “I know he’s just doing his job, but he was an ass.” 

Jason and Andrew break into hearty belly laughs.

“I don’t know if I can go back and watch.” 

“You don’t have to. And you certainly don’t have to decide tonight,” Andrew says. “I’m going to see if Rose needs help with dinner. It’ll be just us. Damian and Arissa are having dinner with his parents tonight,”

“Okay. Holler if you two need help,” I offer.

“Sure thing, sweetheart.” He steps over and kisses my head, then tousles my hair.

I place my hand over Jason’s heart, steadily thump-thumping. I sit up, hand still on his chest. “You must need to get up and walk around.” 

“Probably, but I liked holding you while you slept. It made me feel better.” 

“I saw your reaction while I was on the stand. I haven’t seen you like that since the first party we went to at Damian’s.” 

He sets his mouth in a straight line. “I didn’t like how he was twisting everything. Most of all, I didn’t like that I was right there and couldn’t do anything for you while you were up there.” 

I stroke his face with my palm. “You don’t have to worry about me so much. I told you that before.”  

“I just want your pain to end.” He brings my hand to his lips.

“J, I’m going to live with it the rest of my life. It may not be quite as agonizing in the future, but it will still be there.”

The corners of his mouth drop down and his forehead wrinkles.

“It’s okay, you know,” I add. “If I hadn’t been through all of that, I couldn’t appreciate you as much as I do.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

The verdict is in.

It’s my first time back in the courtroom in two weeks. I had no desire watch the rest of the trial. 

Deliberation took two hours. 

The judge hands the written verdict back to the tall blond bailiff, who then hands it to the jury foreman. “Please read us the verdict.” 

The foreman’s ginger hair is slick from too much hair product. He clears his throat and reads the paper in his hand. “In the State versus Simon Parker, we the jury find the defendant guilty...” His voice is lost in the haze as he lists the counts and charges.  

Relief floods my body and soothes the tension in my muscles. I cover my face with my hands as I hunch over, letting the tears fall freely and quietly. The judge orders, “Take the defendant into custody.”  I bring my head up, watching as the metal cuffs grind and snap into place around his wrists. He does not look in my direction once.

Jason and Rose hug me and hands rub my back and arms from all directions. Len spins around and steps up to the wood barrier separating the main courtroom from the spectator benches.

I wrench myself away and throw my arms around Len. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” 

His arms circle around me. “It was my pleasure, Sara.” His eyes gleam as he lets go. “With all the medical records we gathered and my medical expert, I knew I had enough to convict. Your testimony helped immensely, showing the jury that your father was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” He grasps my shoulder. “I’ll be in contact about your mother’s trial.” 

Andrew and Rose take turns shaking his hand before he leaves the courtroom.

“I think we need to celebrate,” Andrew says.

“Yes!” Damian exclaims.

“Definitely,” Arissa agrees.

Jason tips his head down to Mike. “Do you feel up to it, Dad?” 

“Hell yes, I do,” he answers, his eyes gleaming. “I don’t think I’ve felt this good in a long time.” 

Jason pushes Mike’s wheelchair while Damian calls his parents to join us.

“Sweetie,” Rose says, handing her phone to me, “call Hunter and ask if he wants to come.”

“Are you sure?”

“He’s your friend and he’s been supporting you. I think he deserves a seat at the celebration.”

I smile at her. “Thanks, Rose.” I call Hunter and he agrees to meet us at the restaurant.

An hour later, we’re gathered around three tables the restaurant pushed together for us. We spend dinner regaling each other with jokes and stories, the trial forgotten for the moment. At the end, Andrew, Felix, and Mike argue over the check. Felix wins by snatching it from Andrew and rushing off to find our server.

Jason rests his arm over the back of my chair and leans in. “Do you want to do something when we leave?” he whispers. I nod and the corners of his mouth turn up.

“Rose, would it be okay if I take Sara out after I drop my parents off?” Jason asks, smiling at her.

“Home by midnight, young man,” she answers, stern but returning his smile.

“Midnight it is.” He stands and pulls my chair back. “Let’s go for ice cream.”

Hunter gets up and hugs me, whispering in my ear, “I’m happy for you, Sara.”

“Thanks for being here,” I say in low voice. “It’ll always mean a lot that you chose to be my friend. I’ll never forget it.” It’s the fundamental difference between my friends. He faced adversity with his own friends, knowing what I was up against, while Arissa, Jason, and Damian didn’t. 

Jason and I sit on the concrete planter outside the ice cream shop.

“We need more you and me time,” he says between licks of his chocolate ice cream.

“We see each other every day, J,” I remind him. The mint chocolate chip is cool on my tongue.

“Most of the time we’re with Arissa and Damian. Or my parents. Or the Jerichos.” 

“You and me time,” I say mulling it over. He’s right, this is one of the rare times we’re alone.

“Maybe before the cookout on Saturday we could go out and bowl or something, instead of hanging out at my house." He stops eating and covers my knee with the gentleness I’ve grown accustomed to. “How are you doing? No one’s asked you since the verdict and you’ve been pretty quiet.”

“I’m always quiet,” I remind him.

“More than usual.”

I drag the coarse paper napkin across my mouth, weighing my feelings as I do so. “I’m relieved. He was the one who did the most damage. No matter what happens with Mother’s trial, I’m glad he’s going to prison.” 

“Me too.” He touches his ice cream to my nose.

“Jason!” I raise my hand with the napkin and he catches it.

His eyes glimmer in the twilight and his half-cocked grin appears for a second. He swoops in and licks the ice cream off in slow motion. I inhale a sharp breath from the combination of cold ice cream and his hot tongue. He takes the opening, his mouth covering mine. His sweet, chocolate-coated tongue brushes the roof of my mouth, sending off sparks in my throat. I gasp and he captures my bottom lip, sucking on it. The sparks travel through me as I groan.

What’s going on with my body?