Laughing in the Dark by Chonda Pierce

Author:Chonda Pierce
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Howard Books
Published: 2007-04-04T04:00:00+00:00

* * *

I was so glad to see that the driver was not my dad, but my father’s second wife—not the third wife with the children, but the wife he’d left my mother for. The district attorney had called her in for questioning too. I’d heard about her divorce from my dad. Apparently, she was more of a fighter than my mother. She even took the seats off the toilet when she left!

We hugged and swapped pleasantries. She hadn’t seen my kids for at least ten years, so I showed her pictures. Any resentment or ill feelings from the past seemed to melt away. Maybe it was because we had a common link, a common story, a common cause: We both had survived the same storm.

On the long drive home, David and I discussed all the possible legal scenarios of the case—like we really knew what they were. We’d only learned the word deposition that week. Several days went by with no word from the DA’s office. We passed the time by taking turns asking, “What do you think he’s going to say?”

Finally the attorney called. He said he had decided that my testimony about my father was too old. It would be too easy for the defense to have it thrown out or dismissed. “But would you be willing to come to the trial anyway?” he asked. He explained that my presence would be “unwanted” there, and he could use that discomfort to his advantage.

“I want you to wait in a room in the courthouse. When I put your dad on the stand, you walk in and sit right behind me. I don’t know if you know this, but your dad pretty much hates you. I’m hoping your presence will trip him up, and the judge will see what he’s really made of.”

It sounded like an old Perry Mason episode to me, but I agreed.

The night before the trial, David and I checked into a hotel room near the courthouse. But we never made it into court. In the morning the district attorney called and said, “Don’t waste a trip. Your dad just walked into the courtroom and pled guilty. It’s over.”

And I was relieved. Truly relieved.

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