Trial 2
Famke took her seat back next to Royal shaking with unbridled rage. The next several witnesses were the doctors and nurses and even the cop who once looked for Prince as a favor to his nurse wife on behalf of Famke. Yet she couldn’t stop the fury in her belly. Being accused of fooling around with a married man wasn’t sitting well with her.
By the time the court recessed, she was a quivering mess. Royal pulled her to a quiet corner of the lobby and cupped her cheeks.
“Breathe, baby girl.”
“How fucking dare, he outright suggest, I was screwing around with Prince? Your mother put this nonsense into everyone’s head and it’s insulting.”
“Yes, she did. We knew this shit was going to be thrown out there though. I know it hurts your feelings and your pride but they’re grasping at straws. They need to prove Mom wasn’t part of the kidnapping and they’ll fight dirty. I love you,” he didn’t look away from her. “No matter what the outcome in there is today, I love you.”
“I love you too.” She closed her eyes as he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight.
Jubi and Cliff approached quietly and then Cliff wrapped them all in a tight hug.
“It will be okay, honey.” Cliff rubbed her back. “I know it. The cheap theatrics of her lawyer isn’t going well with the judge. The judge looked ready to smack him upside the head for his parting comment to you. You handled yourself well.”
“Thanks,” she whispered, grateful for the love of the people holding her.
“Cliff?” Imani’s voice spoke softly behind them. “You’re really not going to speak to me ever again?”
He turned slowly to face her and shook his head. “I have nothing to say to you. I don’t care what the outcome of this trial is, I know you’re guilty. You put it in his head to take the baby and run. Whether you were part of it from day one or not, doesn’t matter to me. What matters to me is I know what you did and instead of making it right, admitting what you’ve done wrong and apologizing, you’re dragging out this bullshit.”
She blanched. “You’re acting like you hate me.”
“I don’t particularly like you,” he glared at her. “I put up with a lot of your shit over the years, Imani but this lack of remorse for your actions isn’t anything I can look past. You have no guilt or shame. You disgust me.” He pushed past her stomping off towards the men’s room his fists clenched tight at his sides.
“Royal,” Famke pushed him, “go after him and make sure he’s okay.”
Royal paused in front of his mother. “I never thought you could go any lower than you have but you don’t get it do you? He loved you,” he waved to his father. “He loved you so much he would have done anything for you, and you kept this kind of secret from him for six years. You might not want to apologize to me or Famke but him? You should be on your feet groveling for the pain you’re causing him. I will never forgive you for hurting him. Even if you get off free and clear in there,” he motioned to the doors of the courtroom, “you will never be part of our family again.” He looked to Jubi, “keep an eye on Famke so this psychopath who birthed us doesn’t try to cause her more pain.” He kissed Famke’s forehead.
“You did this,” Imani accused Famke the minute Royal was out of earshot.
“Actually Mom, yet again, you’re wrong. You did this but Famke was the only one who said we shouldn’t press charges. All of this is Dad and Royal’s doing with a hell of a lot of my support. For the record, after the way you’ve continued to push the narrative of blaming everyone but yourself, I want to make sure you understand how ashamed I am to be your daughter. I echo everything Royal said. You’re not my mother. Not today and not ever again.”
“Jubilee.” Imani’s bottom lip trembled.
“Save your crocodile tears Mom. They’re not going to serve you with me.” She pulled Famke closer to her and started to walk away when Imani called out.
“Famke, I need to know.”
Famke turned around and looked at her. “What?”
“Did you love Prince? Tell me truth. Were you in love with my son?”
“No. Not even for a moment. He was Mindy’s husband and so my heart never once went there.”
Any further conversation was stalled as the court was called back into session.
Thirty minutes later, Imani was on the stand and Famke needed to give her credit. She appeared collected and poised as she sat there. Her lawyer was painting her as a strong matriarch who worked tirelessly to support her children and drive them to success. She possessed strong moral values, was a good Christian woman who never missed a Sunday of service and put her children first.
However, the prosecutor was up now, and he stood staring at Imani for several seconds before he finally spoke. “Mrs. Robinson, you consider yourself a strong family-oriented woman, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“You would do anything for your sons, your daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Even lie?”
Imani didn’t respond.
“Answer the question. Would you lie for or to your children if you felt it benefitted them?”
“Yes, if the situation warranted it.”
“Like, for example, when your son Royal dated a girlfriend, you didn’t approve of in high school, you lied to him about seeing her with another boy. Didn’t you?” When she stalled, he waved to the gallery, “they’re all aware of it.”
“She came to my house high and reeking of marijuana. She wasn’t good enough for him.”
“You lied though. Right?”
“Yes.” She straightened her spine.
“You couldn’t control Royal as well as Prince though. Right? Royal was, still is, much closer to his father than his mother. They have more in common. You couldn’t interfere as much in his life as Prince’s? He would send you home when you tried to interfere. In fact, the situation with the girl came to light in senior year of high school and Royal opted to stay on campus for college. Right?”
She shrugged wordlessly.
“But Prince, he liked you taking care of him and handling all of his problems?”
“He relied on me, yes.”
“You lied to Prince’s teachers when he didn’t do well on his finals in senior year of high school. In fact, you were so concerned his grades were not enough to get him into the college of his choice, you went so far as to get a doctor to write him sick notes outlining a significant illness and he got to retake all of his exams.”
“He was sick.”
“He was drunk. Your son had a drinking problem in senior year, and you not only covered for him, but you also created an elaborate scheme to get him off.”
“Relevance?” Imani’s lawyer called out angrily.
“The defence has created a wholesome version of Mrs. Robinson however I intend to establish there is a pattern of toxic parental behavior which enabled Mr. Prince Robinson to rely on his mother to help him get out of his messes.”
“I’ll allow it,” the judge nodded and when the defense lawyer raised his arms, “you started this by bringing her character into the conversation. It’s now up for debate.”
Famke almost snickered at the judge’s comment but looked at her feet instead and bit her lip. Jubi grunted her satisfaction.
“Yes. I asked a physician to write me a letter to outline Prince needed to retake his exams because he was ill. Alcoholism is a serious disease. It wasn’t a lie.”
“And he got to retake all of his exams?”
“Yes.”
“He got into his good school?”
“Yes. The same one Royal attended. He wanted to be close to his big brother.”
“How often did you visit your son on campus at university?”
“A few times a semester.”
“It was weekly, Mrs. Robinson. You visited your son weekly. You talked to him every single day, multiple times a day and in addition to insisting he come home for dinner once a week, you went to his dorm and later his apartment once a week. Isn’t this a bit of overkill in terms of a helicopter mother for her college-aged kid?”