Just Picture It

Chapter 1- A Judge's Decision

Friday, January 27th 2:30 pm
Courthouse in Dallas, Texas

A strong gust of wind slapped the rain against the windows, causing streams to distort the picture outside. Jamie Seymour couldn't help thinking that could represent her life. Everything in it had distorted last October, and nothing was the same. Jamie noticed that the storm had darkened the window enough for her to see a shadow of her reflection in it. She almost didn't recognize herself. She was wearing a conservative dark skirt and nice shirt. She even put on some heels and had put up her hair. It was much different from her usual workout clothes and loose braid. Her hazel eyes narrowed as she tried to peer closer. It looked like something was running down her face. For a second she wondered if the unfamiliar makeup had somehow been smeared down her cheeks, then she realized it was just the streams of rain water running across her reflection. It made her reflection appear to be crying. She shifted uncomfortably as all the feelings she so carefully had hidden the last few months seemed to be exposed.

The rough noise of a cleared throat drew her attention, and Jamie was relieved to have an excuse to turn away from the too revealing reflection.

She looked at the large older man sitting behind the desk. With the glasses sliding down his nose he didn't look too scary now, but she had seen him in action earlier. He hadn't tolerated any back talk and had made a grown man burst into tears. His decisions weren't unfair though, and when she had entered his chamber he had been careful to use a voice to put her at ease, but it was taking a lot of effort to appear calm. How could she relax? He had the final say on what would happen in her life.

Judge Rheinholdt looked up from the folders that told her whole history and peered at her before he stated. "I see that you have been at the youth shelter quite awhile now."

Jamie nodded and started to respond when another voice cut in smoothly,"If you read further you will see that the youth shelter was the only option. Very few people were interested in taking her in after the unfortunate incident, and we couldn't guarantee that there wasn't a risk. The only ones interested in taking her were her father's business partners, and they had trouble passing the background checks."

Jamie's head whipped around and she couldn't help but glare. The DHS worker sat looking down at his own folder. His manicured hands went well with his styled hair and dressy suit. Jamie couldn't help thinking that a human service worker should care about humans instead of focusing on covering his own ass. There was no way she was going to let him run down her uncles and imply they weren't fit.

The fury that Jamie felt was clear in her voice as she answered coldly, "That is only because you believed the rumors that my foster parents started. I know you were friends, but shouldn't you have listened to me instead of a guy that was being charged with abuse?"

Her DHS worker spared a quick glance at the judge as a red flush crossed his cheeks. His eyes flashed, but he gave a patronizing smile as he reached forward and patted Jamie's arm. Jamie sucked in a breath and flinched at his touch, but stopped herself from slapping his hand away in front of the judge. They had had this argument before, and Jamie knew his next line by heart. He would say that she just didn't understand the procedures. It was more like he was trying to find evidence to clear his friend. He still refused to believe that he had been friends with a pedophile. Instead, he chose to think it was an elaborate cover up by Jamie and her uncles.

Before her worker could give his standard answer, Judge Rheinholdt cleared his throat and leaned forward as he snapped impatiently, "I have questions that I want the girl to answer, and you are just wasting my time by interrupting. You can stay only if you can keep your mouth shut. Is that clear?"

"But,"

"IS THAT CLEAR?" Judge Rheinholdt cut in impatiently.

This time a quiet nod was his response. Judge Rheinholdt gave a brief nod of satisfaction. He glanced at the hand still patting Jamie's tense arm before adding, "You can sit in the chair by the door."