Chapter 6: Prove It

The hearing was short, and I lost it quickly.

Brice's lawyer stood in front of the family court judge and said my son had run away from home "to reach an unstable parent."

He said I had forced my way into a house the day after my release.

The judge looked at a printout of the police report and did not look at me.

"Temporary custody remains with the father," she said. "The mother may have supervised visits on Saturdays at the county Family Center."

"Your Honor," I said, "I was invited in."

"Mrs. Pennington, you'll have your hearing," she said. "Not today."

The gavel came down.

I walked out through the heavy doors into the courthouse corridor with Roz one step behind me.

It was crowded.

Brice had called the press, because Brice always called the press.

Three cameras and a woman with a notepad stood by the window.

Brice was already in the middle of them, with his hand on his heart.

"I love my wife," he was saying. "I want what's best for her and for our son."

Cassidy sat on a bench against the wall, small and pale in a gray dress.

Milo sat next to her.

He wore a clean white shirt buttoned to the neck and held his hands flat on his knees.

Cassidy's hand rested on the back of his neck.

I stopped walking.

Milo looked up and found my face.

He glanced at Cassidy's hand, and then he looked down at the floor and kept looking.

"Mrs. Pennington!" the woman with the notepad called. "Do you have a comment on the ruling?"

Brice's head turned.

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