Brother to Brother: The Sacred Brotherhood Book I (31 page)

“And what do you base that opinion on?” the Judge asked.

“Over thirty-three years of being a medical professional, fifteen of which have been spent in one of the area’s busiest emergency departments; I’ve seen a lot of negligence and abuse cases in that time, and I can tell you right now, Melody Turner’s case wasn’t one of ‘em.”

“Okay, thank you. I think I’ve heard everything I need to. Mr. McNulty, who’s your next witness?”

“Carina Washington.”

The Judge looked over to where Ms. Washington held my son who’d fallen asleep and said, “Well, I don’t see a problem with you giving your testimony from right there, Ms. Washington. I’ve had you in my courtroom before, why don’t you tell me how you became involved in this.”

“Your Honor, my office, the department of children’s health services, received a call from the plaintiffs in this matter stating that Noah Beswick had been kidnapped from their care and was currently with his mother, Melody Beswick, who was supposedly negligent, abusive, and according to the call, a substance abuser.”

“And you went to investigate I imagine?”

“I did.”

“And for the record, what did you find?”

“I found Ms. Beswick and her son moving out of a one bedroom apartment that very day. Ms. Beswick informed me that she was now Mrs. Turner, and not only offered to take any drug tests we asked for, but asked me if I would like to see the home that she and Mr. Turner were moving their son Noah –”

My mother got up shrieking, “My grandson is
not
that man’s son! That boy’s father died! How dare you, madam!”

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The Judge banged his gavel and glared at my mother, “How dare
you
, madam. Sit down! Mr. Price, one more outburst like that from your client, I’ll hold her in contempt. Do I make myself clear?”

My parent’s lawyer stood up hastily, “Understood, Judge. My apologies to you and the court.”

He sat down and started whispering furiously to my mother who practically wailed into my stepfather’s shoulder. Archer gave my hand a squeeze as Phil just glared at me like this was somehow all my fault. My mind, not for the first time, was absolutely boggled.

“You were saying Ms. Washington?” the Judge asked.

“Yes, Your Honor, as I was saying, I took them up on their offer and I have to say I was suitably impressed. Not only had they completely baby proofed the house by having child locks on every cabinet, they also had socket covers installed in every electrical outlet. The boy’s uncle, Logan Fisher, had even constructed a rather impressive race car shaped bed from one solid piece of wood citing that there would be no nails or screws for the child to become injured by, nor were there any parts of the bed joined together to pinch little fingers or toes.”

“Ha,” the Judge said in disbelief, “Now that’s dedication.”

“Yes, Your Honor. There should be photos included in that report of the steep measures taken to keep Noah safe in the home. Quite frankly, I wish every household adhered to the same example.”

The Judge swept through the files in front of him and took long moments pondering over both notes and photographs.

“So I take it you found the allegations the plaintiffs alleged to be false in one visit?”

“Yes, Your Honor, however, to be safe I asked Mr. and Mrs. Turner for a return visit inside a three month window.”

“And how did they respond?”

“Favorably, Your Honor, they invited me to come into their home whenever I liked.”

“That’s different,” the Judge muttered.

“Agreed, Judge.”

“And you made a return visit?”

“I did, Judge.”

“And how were things then?”

“Much the same if not further improved, Judge. Mr. and Mrs. Turner maintain a beautiful home, and I found Noah to be one healthy and very happy little boy.”

“You have anything you’d like to add, then Ms. Washington?”

“Yes, Judge. In all my time as a social worker in this county, I’ve never seen anything quite like this. I truly believe that the plaintiffs in this case are using the system to terrorize Mrs. Turner with the threat of taking her child away as a form of some kind of twisted punishment because Mrs. Turner doesn’t hold the same family views as the plaintiffs. I see absolutely nothing wrong with how Mrs. Turner is raising her child, and I feel sick watching the fear and agony she has had to go through as a result of this debacle.”

“Alright, thank you, Ms. Washington.”

“You’re welcome, Judge.”

The Judge sat back and I swear, I felt the first ray of hope peeking through the clouds since I first took Noah and ran from Arizona. He turned to my lawyer and said, “I think I might like to hear from Mrs. Turner herself, now,” his steely gaze shifted to me, “Mrs. Turner, would you come up here please?”

I rose, shaky, and with feet that felt like lead, I plodded to the witness box, and climbed the two steps. I woodenly went through the motions of swearing in and what have you and sank into the chair, focusing on Archer and studiously ignoring my parents. I was giving it everything I had just trying not to hyperventilate.

“Mrs. Turner, why did you leave your parent’s house?” he asked me, “Why did you pick up in the middle of the night and drive all the way here, across several states, without having any assurance that you’d have a place here for you when you got here?”

I looked over to my sleeping boy and the fractured ache in the center of my chest throbbed anew, “Because I could see it,” I said and sniffed, unable to stop the tears from slipping free. I looked up at the Judge, and said, “Because they were killing my little boy’s spirit just like they did mine and he wasn’t even out of diapers yet. He still isn’t. Because I realized the longer that we stayed there, the more they would just keep emotionally beating me down and keep stripping my little boy’s sparkle and shine away.”

“Was there something specific that happened to make you leave?”

“Phillip hit me, in front of Noah. It was bad enough they were screaming at me in front of my son, but when he back handed me, I was done. I didn’t want my son raised in an environment where he thought that that was
okay
or
normal
. I want my son to grow up to be like his father now, like Archer – excuse me, Charles Turner, my husband.”

Archer’s look softened as he gazed at me from across the room and I sighed. The Judge asked me
a lot
of questions, and I told him everything. About how I’d been trying to save money. About how my parents kept changing the rules mid-game and how it was impossible to keep up. I told him how I’d brought Noah into this world alone, and how I realized that if I could do
that
, that I could take care of him myself too.

I told him about how when I arrived, it was to find out Noah’s biological father had died. I told him the truth, all of it, and then I tearfully begged him not to give those monsters my baby.

The Judge thanked me quietly and let me get up to go back to my seat. When I got there, Archer stood and pulled me in tight, kissing the top of my head while I bawled all my bitterness and fear onto his nice but so-wrong-on-him suit. He got me into my seat and rocked me back and forth while the Judge called a recess to deliberate.

It took me the whole fifteen to twenty minutes to calm down and get ready to hear his decision. When he came back, it was with a grim expression on his face. He sat down and waved all of us down to sit, too. I sank into my chair and watched him.

He scoffed and took off his glasses, rubbing a hand over his eyes and then the rest of his face. He sighed before saying, “I’ve been in family law for almost fifty years, and I’ve been sitting on this bench for more than thirty-five of ‘em and I have
never
seen anything come across my desk like this right here.”

He looked over at my parent’s table and leaned heavily on his bench in their direction, “First off, your case for kidnapping has no legal standing whatsoever as your daughter is your grandson’s custodial parent. Always has been, and to put her mind at ease, I’m telling you right now, she
always will be.
” I sagged into Archer, the wind sucked clear from my lungs, gasping to reclaim it.

“Second of all, I quite
agree
with Ms. Washington, your blatant attempt at using the system to terrorize Mrs. Turner and her son, are quite probably, the most disgusting abuse of the legal system I have ever seen and that is saying a lot. I don’t think you realize what
could
have happened and it horrifies me that one of those things that could have happened would be that your grandson landed in your care.

“I can tell you straight off that that
isn’t
going to happen today, or any other day for that matter. I am denying your petition for custody, and what’s more, I am issuing an order of protection against you in favor of Mr. and Mrs. Turner, that way your attempted abuse of the system is on record.”

The Judge shook his head, “I don’t know where you people get off,” he said and turned to me, “Mrs. Turner, I am so very sorry that you had to be here today, and that you’ve had to live with your fear for this long. You have, by all accounts, been doing a marvelous job as a mother and I wish you and your family all of the best.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” I said faintly, still in disbelief.

“I will leave it up to you, on if you want to show your parents the love, mercy, and compassion they have seen fit to withhold from you by allowing them to be a part of your life and your son, their grandson’s life. I am still going to put forth this no contact order against your parents. If you wish to have your parents be a part of your life again, you will need to have that vacated before any visitation can take place, lest you find yourself in violation of the order. Restraining orders, no contact orders, orders of protection – whatever you would like to call them, are a two way street. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Your Honor. Thank you, Your Honor,” Archer said for me. I was too stunned. My mother was howling and wailing. Her church ladies trying to console her, and Phillip was whispering furiously with their lawyer.

“My decision is final, so entered, so ordered, this hearing is adjourned.”

He banged his gavel and my side of the courtroom erupted in whoops and cheers, along with applause.

“We won?” I asked stunned, it hadn’t quite sunk in.

“We won,” my lawyer confirmed. I held tightly to Archer, and stared at my son who Ms. Washington was bringing to me.

“I don’t understand” I said, “Good things just don’t happen to us without something going horribly wrong.”

Archer barked a laugh, “That may have been the way of things before, but not anymore, Baby. I promised you that I’d protect our family and I meant it. You, me, Noah, and our little bean you got growing in there. Now let’s get out of here.”

I took Noah from her who was just
out,
slept through the whole damn hearing, which I was so grateful for.

“You have a beautiful family, now go on and get out of here, Melody. You have much better places for y’all to be.”

“Oh you wretched girl!” my mother cried when I turned around to leave. The Judge was long gone and I didn’t even remember him leaving.

“Me?” I asked incredulous, “Take a look in the mirror, Mother. Jesus, I can’t even with you,” I said and let Archer lead me out through the gallery. His club brothers, and my club sisters forming a human blockade between me and my former family.

“Head to the club,” Revelator called out and I marched right out to the parking lot and my car, my son in my arms. I put him carefully in his car seat and strapped him in.

“Come on, Baby. I’m driving,” Archer declared.

“Good, because I’m so not fit to do it.”

Without a single backwards glance, we left this whole damn nightmare behind.

Chapter 36

Archer

The party was in full swing back at the club and Rev and Mandy had been kind enough to take Noah for the night so that I could try to destress my wife. She hadn’t wanted to let him go, which I got, but I’d explained to her that one night wasn’t going to kill her and that she needed a rest.

We were sitting around a fire out back, Melody sharing one of the lounge chairs with me, laying on me, staring at the flames, a blanket over the both of us. She had lemonade in a glass on the ground next to us, but I had a beer perched on my knee. I sort of felt bad I couldn’t get her drunk.

Summer had hung on into fall and it felt like it was
finally
starting to wind down, the night air holding that crisp edge to it, hence why Dani had laid a blanket over the both of us. I’d nodded my appreciation and had murmured thanks for the both of us, but Mel just wasn’t here with me. A million miles away with her thoughts, which hey, let’s face it. That was okay.

“What ‘cha thinking about,” I asked her and she roused a bit, her hands caressing her stomach, her baby bump starting to show but not really, probably more wishful thinking on my part.

“What do you want to name it if it’s a boy?” she asked me, her voice holding that dreamy quality.

“Well, I kind of would have liked to name my first boy after Grind, but you took care of that for me.” I kissed her hair and she swallowed hard.

“I don’t like the name David,” she murmured.

“I don’t either, I always kind of liked the name Chandler for a first name.”

“Chandler…” she murmured, hypnotized by the flames, “Chandler,” she murmured again and closed her eyes.

“Yeah,” I said.

“I like it,” she said, “It fits, I mean, he did bring us together.”

“Yeah?”

“I named Noah, you should name your first son, especially if it
is
a son.”

I snorted and took a drink of my beer, “Noah
is
my first son, Mel. Always will be.”

She dragged herself up so she could look at me, searching my face, “You really do love him as your own, no difference, don’t you?”

“No difference,” I agreed.

She pulled herself up so she could straddle my hips, both of us still in our court clothes which was slightly awkward, and she kissed me. I set my beer down on the cinderblock next to the chair where her alcohol-free lemonade sat, getting watered down by its melting ice. I let my hands gently frame her face as I teased the seam of her lips with my tongue. She opened her mouth to me, plunging her tongue past my lips and I moaned slightly.