Chapter 20 #3
Lorraine took a deep breath as if she was winding up to give a lengthy answer, but Reno forestalled her, saying gently, “I would remind you you’re under oath, and your daughter will testify today, if necessary.
Oh—” He snapped his fingers as if he’d almost forgotten to mention something but recalled it at the last second.
“—and Madison’s grandparents are sitting outside this courtroom in case I need to call them to testify. ”
Lorraine deflated all at once and scowled at Reno, who said a bit less pleasantly, “I asked you if you spoke with your daughter, tried to speak with her, or passed along any message for her, Ms. Stanley.”
“No.” Lorraine’s tone bordered on surly.
Reno nodded, and said briskly, “On February 20th, you finally sent Madison a text message.” He read it aloud. “Baby, come home.”
“I was missing her—”
“You were missing her on February 20th, but not enough to call or text her any other day between November 29th and February 19th?”
“I was giving her space. Sometimes mothers and daughters need space.”
“Eighty-four days’ worth of space? She was thirteen. You ignored her . . . or gave her the silent treatment . . . for almost three months!”
“I was angry, okay? She took off and made me look like a—” Lorraine broke off.
“Like a what?” Reno asked kindly. “A bad mother? Why did you text her on February 20th, Ms. Stanley?”
“It was her birthday.”
“It was her birthday,” Reno repeated. He let the words hang there and walked back to the witness table to pick up the second folder.
“People’s Exhibit B, Your Honor.” Reno laid copies of a letter from the Steele family’s trust lawyer in front of Lorraine’s Lawyer, the judge, and Lorraine.
“This letter arrived at your home on February 20th about thirty minutes before you texted your daughter, did it not, Ms. Stanley?”
“I don’t remem—”
Reno cut her off. “You had to sign for it. I have a copy of the time-stamped and signed receipt if you need me to jog your memory.” He picked up a sheet of paper from inside the folder and held it out to her.
Lorraine scowled.
“Tell the court what was in that letter to your daughter, Ms. Stanley.”
“I’m sure I don’t know—”
“In the thirty minutes between signing for the letter and texting your daughter out of the blue, did you open this letter and read it, Ms. Stanley? Will you tell the court its contents, or shall I?”
Felton jumped up and blustered an objection at the judge. The judge told Reno to rephrase his question.
“I withdraw the question, your Honor.”
Reno, unflapped, picked up the third and final folder and passed out its contents.
“These are transcripts of texts between you and your daughter from the afternoon of February 20th through May 28th of this year. To save your lawyer the effort of jumping to his feet to object, they were also obtained on the warrant I gave Judge Ramos. There are over a hundred texts from you to your daughter, and six from your daughter to you, all of which are identical. They all read, Please stop texting me.”
Reno walked the judge through the texts.
They started out with Lorraine texting that she missed her baby, loved her, and wanted her to come home.
By February 22nd the texts started to turn angry.
By the 24rd, the texts were getting ugly.
By the 25th, they’d become threatening . . . and only got worse from there.
As Reno quoted a few of the worst attacks on Madison, Lorraine interrupted, exclaiming, “I would never say such things to my sweet daughter! You’re making up this trash to make me look bad!”
“Are you claiming you didn’t write these texts?” Reno asked her.
“That’s right. Well, I wrote the nice ones the first two days. The later ones are obviously from a different person—”
“You wrote every last one of those!” Madison burst out from beside Hank. “The only difference among them is the ones you wrote sober were spelled better than the ones you wrote drunk—or high or stoned on whatever you were on that day. But they were all from you.”
Silence echoed loudly through the courtroom as every gaze turned to Madi. She sat there beside him, her back ramrod straight, her chin held up defiantly. But Hank saw her hands trembling in her lap.
Reno said kindly to Madison, “You’re not allowed to interrupt someone else’s testimony, Madi, but I’ll give you a chance to say that exact same thing to the judge in a minute, okay?”
She managed a tiny nod to her uncle. Hank saw her fighting to hold back the tears that filled her eyes, and he was so proud of how strong she was being that he could cry himself. Silently, he passed her his handkerchief as Reno turned back to Lorraine.
“It seems Madi disagrees with your assertion that you didn’t write any of the cruel and hateful texts, Ms. Stanley.”
Reno’s voice changed register and became icy.
“Shall we call in your parents to verify that Madison handed them her phone before bed every night, since your texts came in at all hours and disturbed her sleep? Shall we ask them to point out which texts they recall Madi’s phone receiving from you in the middle of the night? ”
Lorraine’s jaw sagged as she realized Reno had just caught her lying. Under oath. In front of a judge.
Lorraine exploded at Reno, “You think you’re so smart, don’t you, parading around in that fancy lawyer suit.
You’re nothing but a two-bit rodeo clown these days.
Where’s the high-and-mighty litigator now, huh?
Living in some hick town in the middle of this godforsaken state, coming into this court in some pathetic attempt regain your glory days? ”
Reno fired back, “Madison ran away from home to get away from your drinking, drug use, neglect, emotional abuse, and the steady stream of men passing through your bedroom, didn’t she?”
“How dare you!” Lorraine’s voice took on an edge of manic fury that Hank knew all too well. He couldn’t help but wince at the sound of her coming unhinged.
Reno’s voice took on a razor sharp edge.
“You didn’t even bother to text or call your daughter when she disappeared and didn’t come home for almost four days.
You never bothered to call the police and report her missing.
You wouldn’t have known where she was or if she was even alive if your parents hadn’t called you. ”
Reno’s voice went colder than Hank had ever heard it before.
“You didn’t bother to have any contact with your daughter at all until you opened that letter and found out your child stands to inherit a substantial amount of cash when she turns eighteen.
Then all of sudden, you put on a full-court press to get her to come home to her abruptly loving, concerned mama. ”
His voice rose a bit more with every sentence as he said, “When Madison ignored your efforts to sweet talk her into coming back to Florida, you let fly with your true feelings, didn’t you, Lorraine?
You told your own child you hate being her mother.
That you hate her. She told her she’s worthless.
You called your own daughter trash! Isn’t that right? ” he thundered at her.
Lorraine lost any vestige of self-control and commenced screeching at him, spewing invective at Reno, at Madison, at her lawyer for letting this happen, at Hank for raising Madison to be a spoiled ingrate just like him. She even turned her ire on the judge.
That was when the judge smacked her gavel loudly until the sharp noise stopped Lorraine’s shouting. The judge ordered Lorraine’s lawyer sharply to get control of his client.
Then Judge Ramos looked at Hank. “Your filings say you’re a practicing physician, you own a home that a social worker recently approved as safe and appropriate for your daughter, and a dozen character references say you’re a fine and decent man of sterling moral values and the highest character.
They also indicate you want full custody of your daughter. Is all of that true?”
Startled, Hank replied, “Yes, your Honor.”
The judge looked at Madison. “I understand you’re a straight A student, have never gotten in any trouble before, your teachers and guidance counselor all describe you as a terrific, responsible kid who would never run away from home unless the situation was dire.
I also understand you want to live full-time with your father. Is all of that true?”
“Yes, ma’am . . . uhh, Your Honor.”
The judge tapped her gavel. “Five minute recess. I’ll return with a ruling when decorum is restored in my court.”
The bailiff had to actually put Lorraine in handcuff and threaten to haul her off to a holding cell before she finally stopped flinging insults and curses at everyone in the room.
Somewhere in the middle of the ruckus, Madison reached out blindly toward Hank, and he threw his arms around her protectively, hugging her close.
She leaned into him, feeling very small and very fragile in the face of his ex-wife’s towering rage.
Madi huddled against his chest, shaking like a leaf, as Lorraine was finally marched over to the table beside her lawyer and rather forcibly shoved down into a chair, still handcuffed, by the bailiff.
Hank kept one arm protectively around Madi’s shoulders until when the judge came out, sat down, and nodded at the transcriptionist, who nodded back.
The judge looked down from her perch at Madison and smiled kindly.
Speaking directly to his daughter, the judge said slowly and clearly, “I grant full physical and legal custody of Madison Michelle Steele to Henry Bart Steele, her natural father. Lorraine Stanley is granted one supervised visit of no more than three hours’ duration each month in the presence of Henry Steele and a court-appointed social worker, to take place in a location of Mr. Steele’s choosing.
And if my social worker reports any more outbursts like the one in my court, Ms. Stanley, I will revoke all your visitation privileges so fast your head will spin. Do I make myself clear?”