Bring on the Blessings (28 page)

I
t rained the day of the hearing, and for Bernadine the bad weather wasn’t a good sign. They’d driven the short distance to the county courthouse in a caravan, and the lawyers were scheduled to meet them there. The kids looked scared, the parents did too, but no one was more scared than Bernadine. If this hearing didn’t go their way, many lives and hearts would be shattered.

Inside they were all whisked away to a courtroom to wait for the judge. The lawyers arrived. Bernadine had hired one of the best defense trial lawyer teams in the country. The lady in charge was named Andrea Scott. A representative of Scott’s firm had also handled Bernadine’s divorce. Andrea took a moment to meet all the kids and their parents and to assure them things would be okay, then she and her people set up to get ready.

The judge entered and they all rose to their feet. His
name was O’Hara but it might as well have been O’Hell the way he treated them. It was apparent from his first question that his mind was already made up. “Which one is Brown?” he snarled.

Bernadine stood. He reminded her of an evil little elf from a fairy tale. He was short, bald, crotchety, and looked old enough to have been the late Morton’s Prell’s daddy.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t send these juveniles back to where they came from?”

Surprised by the venom in his voice it took her a moment to respond. “They’re not bad kids, Your Honor. They just used poor judgment.”

“Carjacking is a bit more serious than poor judgment.”

Andrea Scott interjected, “Your Honor, a carjacking involves a weapon and—”

“Did I ask you to speak?”

“No, sir, but—”

“Then quiet down until I do.”

Andrea’s jaw tightened but she stayed silent.

“Now,” he looked through the papers in front of him. “Which one is Emery?”

“That’s Amari, Your Honor.”

“Don’t correct me.”

Amari looked down at his shoes.

“You got a pretty extensive record here, young man.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Six arrests for stolen cars in the past year. Reason?”

“I want to be a NASCAR driver, sir.”

The judge eyed him with surprise.

Trent did too. It never occurred to him or anyone else
that Amari might have a reason for stealing the cars that he had.

“NASCAR, huh? How’re you going to do that if you’re in jail, because that’s where it looks like you’re heading.”

“Not anymore sir, Ms. Bernadine and my foster—”

“That’s enough. Take your seat.”

Bernadine shared a look with Andrea.

“Where’s Malachi July?” He pronounced it
Maleekee.
“Where do you people get these names?”

Malachi stood. “It’s from the Bible, sir.”

“Really? Why didn’t you press charges when they swiped your truck?”

“They’re kids and one is being fostered by my son.”

“Son. Stand.”

Trent got to his feet.

“Which of the juveniles is yours?”

“Amari, sir.”

He looked over at Amari again, and said to Malachi, “You’re not doing him a favor by coddling him. Kansas state prisons are full of kids coddled by folks like you two. Take your seats.”

The July men were seething but they sat.

“Preston Mays. Stand up.”

Preston stood.

“Where’s his foster parents?”

The Paynes stood. Barrett had on his full dress uniform.

“Name?” he asked Barrett.

“Col. Barrett Montgomery Payne. United States Marine Corps. Retired.”

“This your boy?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’d expect more from a boy being raised by a marine. All three of you, sit.”

Bernadine took a look around at her people. Devon was holding Lily’s hand and had a look of terror on his face. Zoey was sitting in Roni’s lap, and Mama Roni looked like she was about to jump up and kick somebody’s ass. Beside her, Reg appeared quietly furious.

“Crystal Chambers.”

She stood. O’Hara took one look at the gold weave and asked coldly, “And who do you belong to?”

“Ms. Bernadine.”

He eyed her, then Bernadine, and said, “Take a seat.”

Crystal pleaded “Your Honor, this is all my—”

“Sit. Down. Now!”

Fire shooting out of her eyes, she viewed him for a long moment, then sat.

He stared around for a moment. When his eyes settled on Zoey seated in Roni’s lap he asked, “And you are?”

Roni and Reg stood. “Mr. and Mrs. Garland, Your Honor.”

“And the child?”

“Our foster daughter, Zoey Raymond.”

O’Hara looked down at his papers then glanced at Zoey cringing by Roni’s side. “Sit.”

He gave the faces in the courtroom one last look over. “Come back in an hour. I’ll render my decision then.”

Andrea Scott protested, “Your Honor. I’d like to present my case.”

“Not necessary, counselor. I’ve heard all I need to hear. One hour.” He banged the gavel, picked up his files, and swept from the courtroom.

Bernadine looked over at the bailiff, who offered a chagrined shrug of his shoulders.

Bernadine turned to her people. “You all take the kids out in the hall. I want to talk to Ms. Scott.”

Their anger equaled her own.

Roni snapped, “He can rule any way he wants. I’ll take Zoey back to New York and tie his Rumpelstiltskin-looking behind up in courts for years. He is not taking my child!”

Crystal asked, “Is he going to send us away?”

“Not if I can help it. You all go on out in the hall.”

She saw Lily talking softly to Devon, and Barrett was on the phone. Bernadine hoped he was calling in reinforcements and that they’d come armed. When she met Malachi’s eyes he shook his head angrily as he and Trent and Amari headed toward the doors.

Once Bernadine was alone with Andrea and her team she said, “This is outrageous.”

“Tell me about it, but you’d be surprised how many judges there are just like him from sea to shining sea.”

She leaned against the table and said frankly. “We can get this cleared up on appeal, but while we wait for a spot on the docket, the kids are probably going to be placed on hold with the Child Welfare Office, and there’s no telling where they may wind up.”

“Oh hell, no. Not while I’m breathing.”

“Oh hell yes, unless you have a trump card that’ll blow
Rumpelstiltskin out of the water, we’re cooked for this round.”

Bernadine had no card, all she had was a direct line to the Big Sister up above, and so she prayed.

The one hour dragged into two before the hearing finally reconvened. Everyone was on pins and needles as they waited for O’Hara to enter the courtroom. Bernadine prayed.

Two seconds later, her prayers were answered.

As O’Hara entered the room, he had venom in his eyes, but as stepped up to take his seat, he tripped over the hem of his voluminous black robe, then uttered a sharp cry of surprise as he stumbled and fell behind the bench and disappeared. A loud
thump
followed, then came a moan, and finally silence.

Bernadine was to say later that it looked like something out of a bad Chevy Chase routine.

Judge O’Hara was out cold when the EMTs carried him from the courtroom on a stretcher. Needless to say, another judge had to be called in.

Judge Amy Davis came in about thirty minutes later.

She looked out at the people in the courtroom. “Can I have everyone identify themselves, please, so I’ll know who’s who, and then we can get started.”

Once that was accomplished, she addressed Andrea. “Now, tell me what happened.”

Andrea did, and as she spoke, the judge took notes.

“So, in reality there was no carjacking?”

“No, Your Honor.”

“Amari, Preston, and Crystal, will you step up here, please.”

When they reached the bench she stared sternly and asked, “Are you planning any repeat performances or has all this trouble you’ve caused everyone been enough for one lifetime?”

“Enough,” they responded contritely.

“I hope so. You have been given a unique opportunity to have a great future, especially if everything I’ve been reading about Ms. Brown on the Internet for the past few minutes is true.”

She looked out at Bernadine. “I saw the CNN piece. You’re doing good work.”

“Thank you.”

She turned her attention back to the Three Musketeers and said sternly and with force, “Do not. I repeat. Do not show your cute little faces in my courtroom ever again, or you will be praying for O’Hara to return. Got it?”

They nodded.

“Step back and go sit with your parents.”

She turned her eyes to Bernadine. “As for you, Ms. Brown, I know how dumb teenagers can be. I have three at home. That being said, I again applaud you for your work and your commitment to these children. Not many folks would do what you’re trying to do. However, if I don’t mete out some kind of penalty, my unconscious colleague is going to return and make life a living hell for both of us, so this is what we’re going to do. I’m going to place your program on court-ordered probation for the next calendar year
under my jurisdiction. If at the end of the probationary period there are no more stupid teen tricks, you’ll be free and clear of the order. Does that work for you?”

“Works for me.”

“Amari, Crystal, and Preston?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Good. Works for me too.” She brought down her gavel. “Court dismissed.”

After her departure cheers filled the courtroom. There were hugs, happy tears, and lots of relief.

As they rolled away, Bernadine looked up to the now sunny heavens and whispered softly, with all the joy she had in her heart, “Thank you for this blessing. Thank you so very, very much.”

After the caravan returned to Henry Adams, they threw a huge party at the rec center, and because the next day was Saturday, it went late into the night. There were toasts and dancing and more hugs than you could shake a stick at.

Bernadine was ecstatic. Sure there were still some loose ends: like would Crystal let go of her bad weave, would Zoey ever speak, would Lily and Trent get married now that they’d found each other again, and where in the world were Riley and Cletus, but she couldn’t worry about any of that now. All she wanted to do was revel in the happy realization that her dreams of hope had come true. She had all the blessing she needed and she didn’t need anything more.

Cover design by Mumtaz Mustafa

Cover photograph by © Macduff Everton