Trial 3
“So what?”
“Those apron strings were hard to cut. You were angry when he married Mindy against your recommendations. Yet when he and his wife went through problems, he cried on your shoulder an awful lot, didn’t he.”
“Yes. There’s nothing wrong with relying on your family.”
“How many times did you say, ‘I told you so’ and make him feel badly for not following your advice?” He paused, “you would give him advice, correct?”
“Yes, as any good mother would.” She partially answered the question.
“Did you encourage him to take Mindy to Pittsburgh and source out a blonde, white woman to scam similar in size and posture to Mindy and steal their child from her?”
“Objection!” the lawyer for Imani was on his feet and the judge agreed.
The lawyer waved it off, “When did Prince tell you Mindy lied about being pregnant?” When she hesitated, the lawyer pushed, “you’re under oath, Mrs. Robinson and I’ll remind you, as the good Christian woman your lawyer swears you are, you put your hand on a bible.”
“He told me the same afternoon. I noted right away he’d been surprised by her announcement. I got him alone and he told me the truth. He found a surrogate back in Pittsburgh who was having his baby. He said he intended to introduce Famke as a friend they’d made in Pittsburgh, and she’d be part of their life but only as a friend. Mindy would be the baby’s mother and because of this, Mindy wanted to keep the secret.”
“You knew then from roughly the three-month mark.”
“Yes.”
“What was your advice to him?”
“I told him to let Mindy have her lie. If it was what she needed to feel good, then to go with it. Nobody needed to know the truth, but I expressed my concerns with Famke being part of the narrative. I told him to tread carefully.”
“When did your son first tell you he was falling in love with Ms. Noor.”
“The day of the ultrasound I knew something was off and he admitted he’d kissed her.”
“Did he say she kissed him back?”
“No.”
“As the pregnancy progressed at any time did Mr. Robinson tell you outright that he and Ms. Noor were in a relationship?”
“He said he was in love with her.”
“This wasn’t my question. Did he tell you at any time Ms. Noor reciprocated his feelings?”
“He said he was falling in love.”
“Did he explicitly, at any time, tell you he suspected even minutely, Ms. Noor was feeling the same way about him?”
She shook her head, “no but I knew my son. I knew he was engaged in behavior he wasn’t proud of because he was withholding information.”
“You mean he was keeping secrets from you?”
“He stopped taking my calls. Eventually, he told me he was thinking of moving to Pittsburgh permanently and it was then I knew he was in over his head.”
“You were angry he was moving away permanently.”
“He wasn’t going to!”
“Because you forbid it.”
“Yes, because he wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“Because you weren’t in control? You were going to lose your son and you panicked.” The lawyer was in her face.
“He was acting like a fool. He was talking about not drafting up adoption papers and coming clean to Famke about all the lies he’d told and confessing he loved her. He wanted to file a divorce from Mindy and raise his baby with this gold digger who used him to pay her brother’s medical bills. I told him it was too much of a risk! He was going to lose everything. Their prenuptial agreement gave Mindy most of his fortune if he left her, especially for someone else. I told him to get his kid and get the hell out of there before he made the biggest mistake of his life.”
“You told him to take his child and run.”
“I told him to take his child, like he was meant to all along, and bring her home.”
“Then he told you the problem. He couldn’t sign adoption papers because he lied to the woman all along and to do so meant he would have to tell her his real name. If he told her his real name, then she would likely refuse to sign, and she could keep the baby. You told him to take the baby from the hospital.”
“Objection! Conjecture.”
“I’ll allow it.” The judge waved Imani to answer.
“I’ll remind you Mrs. Robinson, your entire family is here. You’ve alienated them all with your shenanigans. Wouldn’t you like to clear the air for them all?”
“Yes!” Imani raised her voice, losing her cool. “Fine! I did it. He told me how Famke was all about honesty and telling it like it was and how she was so different from Mindy because she was honest to a fault. I realized if she found out he’d lied about everything from his name to where they were from, he’d likely have to fight her and lose Mindy and his life would be ruined.”
The lawyer shook his head, “we’ll never know because your influence over your son caused him to panic and made him take drastic measures. What I can tell you, Mrs. Robinson, the only person in your immediate family who consider Ms. Noor to be the kind of person who would be unforgiving is you. Even your deceased son, in all of his letters, still felt strongly he could have won her over and been a family with her. It speaks to the truth, the woman you encouraged him to continue duping and to steal her biological child from her life completely, robbing her from the opportunity to watch her grow up.”
“I did what I needed to do to save my son.”
“Are you suggesting your son, who was a grown man, was incapable of making his own decisions?”
“That’s right! He was. He was forever making emotional and stupid choices with his life.”
“So, then you admit if you hadn’t told him to do what he did and steal the child while Ms. Noor was incapacitated then he likely would never have done it. Tell me, Mrs. Robinson, did you tell him, while Ms. Noor was bleeding out and dying on the table to take the child and run?” As Imani’s mouth opened and closed her eyes flitting to Cliff, Royal and Jubi as if terrified to let them know the answer, “answer the question and I’ll remind you again, you swore on a bible and your family is waiting for you, just for once, to tell the truth and set the record straight.”
Famke watched as tears welled in the older woman’s eyes as she stared beseechingly at Cliff. She heard him whisper, “just tell the truth,” and she squeezed his hand softly. She looked to Imani who nodded at his words.
“Yes. He called me when baby was hooked up to monitors and told me he was terrified Famke was going to die but he played it cool with Mindy because she suspected his feelings for her. I told him to take the baby and leave. He could airlift her to the New York hospital and get treatment there. It’s what he did.” She whispered her admission as her side of the courtroom gasped, clearly having believed Imani was wrongly accused since she’d been asserting her innocence all along.
“Did you ever feel even an ounce of remorse for your involvement?” When she looked away, the lawyer nodded. “No need to answer, Mrs. Robinson. I don’t think it matters too much to your family at this point.” He looked to the judge, “no further questions your honor.”
An hour later, they were called back into the courtroom as the judge reached the verdict ready.
“That was fast,” Cliff whispered as he wrapped an arm around Famke’s shoulder and patted Royal’s back.
The lawyer and Imani stood up to face the judge and the judge gave a sigh.
“Mrs. Robinson, there is nothing about this situation which is easy. I considered the amount of consideration and emotion it would have taken for your entire family to move forward in filing this complaint. The last several months for you have been quite difficult. Your son, daughter and ex-husband all wrote statements outlining how this situation and how your lack of remorse has caused them all deep distress. I’ve found the testimony of Ms. Noor to be compelling and despite counsel’s suggestion it took her forty weeks to realize what she wanted, I believe it’s human nature to realize what is most important to you in the moments before you lose it. While she may have still gone through with the plan to give her daughter up to your son and his wife, she was, at the very least, entitled to the verbal agreement she made in which she would be part of the child’s life as she grew up. This was stolen from her. The ability, even as a family friend, to watch this child grow, was brutally ripped from her. I cannot imagine the despair and the fear she would have gone through. From her physician’s accounts, she was physically and emotionally changed from the patient she initially knew.” The judge took a deep breath, “while your son’s choices were ultimately his, you knowingly put the bug in his ear and the plan in place. Your influence and affect over every detail of his personal life meant he valued your counsel. You supported and encouraged this decision. For six years you kept this crime a secret and harboured his illegal activities, and the outcome is nothing short of tragic. Mrs. Imani Robinson, I find you guilty of aiding and abetting in a third-degree felony of kidnapping. I agree with the prosecutions request for a six-month sentence in jail and a fifty thousand dollar fine.” He clanged his gavel. “I suggest Mrs. Robinson you take the time away from your family to learn to appreciate the impact your actions have caused on your family.”
Famke was stunned and she knew none of them thought she would actually get any jail time and fully expected she would only be heavily fined.
Imani was handcuffed and at the sight of her being taken away, her chin held high, Famke heard Cliff’s intake of breath. She gave them all a single nod before exiting the court room.
Famke reached out to Cliff as they all rose from their seats. “Are you okay?”
“No.” He whispered as he hugged her to his side. “But I will be. We will be.” He reached for Royal and Jubi. “It’s time for us to start healing.”
“You should be ashamed,” Amari spoke from across the aisle as they began to filter out. “She only ever wanted what was best for her children and now she’s going to jail!”
Cliff shook his head at Amari. “She told her son to kidnap his child away from her mother while she lay on the brink of death. It’s not me who should feel shame. All of this,” he waved around them, “could have been avoided if she even possessed an ounce of regret for what she did. Amari, she went too far. Surely you understand she went too far.”
“All I know is my sister is hurting. She lost her son ten months ago. She’s lost you, Royal, Jubi and Precious and for what?”
“For her own pride,” Royal spoke softly. “She lost it all on account of her pride. Secrets like these destroy families, not build them up. She didn’t have to lose us all. She simply needed to make it right and she refused all because of her pride.” Royal stared hard at his mother’s sister, “you need to sit down and think for yourself about how you would feel if the woman in Famke’s situation was your daughter. Think long and hard about whether or not you wouldn’t have demanded at the very least an apology and how far you would go to protect your daughter, Amari. I know for Precious, I’d fight to the death. My girls come first for me. They always will.”
He tugged Famke to his side and the quartet exited the courthouse with a sense of closure and the hope for a fresh start for them all. It was time to move on.