In The Eyes of Gracie - Unedited Version - Being Rewritten

Chapter 17

"Is that so? So you have enough income to feed an extra mouth, keep power on, and afford any extra expenses?"

Yes sir. I have been taking care of her. I don't see why it would be any different now."

"Mhm, now when you and Ansley were called into the station it was said, in order for you to obtain legal custody of Ansley that you must first turn the power on in your house, have you done that?" 

"No sir," Sammy answers, "I called them and they said they would be out in a day or two to turn it on though." 

"I see, and did you provide legal documents to prove this?" The judge asks. 

"Yes," our attorney stands, "We have them here." 

"Bring them up. Continue." 

The state attorney paces around searching for a weak link to attack, "Miss Clark, would you say you have the maturity, being only of the age of 18, to be her legal guardian?" 

"Yes sir," Sammy nods, "that I do." 

"Emotionally," the attorney adds, "could you handle it?"

"Of course."

"I realize that at a very young age you were left by your parents, correct? They simply abandon you without a care in the world. Now, say you were to follow in your families footsteps... if you were to find Ansley to be a 'waste of time' such as how your family thought of you, would you leave her the same way?" 

Sammy grimaces and let's a tear roll down her face. This is something even I didn't know about. It is also completely unnecessary. 

The attorney walks up to the stand beside Sammy, "Are you going to answer Miss Clark? I'll repeat, would you leave Ansley just as your parents left you?" 

"Objection! Your honor this is irrelevant!" Our attorney stands. 

"Sustained." The judge says, "Get where your going or drop it Mr. James." 

"Yes your honor. I need the defendant to answer first." 

"Miss Clark, do you have an answer?" The judge asks nicely.

"Yes, your honor, "the answer is no. I could never leave her. Not only would I be her legal guardian but she is my best friend as well. Almost like a sister to me. No. She is a sister to me. In fact, that experience only makes me more of a woman to be able to take responsibility for her. See, I have been through that and because of that experience I would NEVER put anyone else in that position." 

"That's very kind and a very intelligent answer," the judge replies, "See Mr. James, if you had been more polite she might have answered the first time. Continue." 

".....your honor, i'd like to strike the next question." The attorney hesitates. 

The judge nods, "I'm sure you would." 

"Now Miss Clark, you seem to be a sweet young lady and I'm sure you are an intelligent and honest woman--" 

"Thank you sir. If I weren't under oath, I might return the compliment." Sammy snaps. 

She's definitely getting irritated. 

"Your honor," our attorney stands, "this is getting ridiculous. Can we please get to the end of this? My client has proven herself perfectly capable of handling custody if Miss Berrodo. Not only emotionally, but financially." 

The judges sits quitely for a moment and doesn't say a word as she looks around at the court room. 

She stands up from her podium with the mallet in her hand, "I agree. I call for a 15 minute recess and I will have the results of this case when we return." 

She bangs the mallet on her podium and everyone stands up and exits the room. I walk over to Sammy and hug her as Gracie comes up and stands with us. 

"What do you think?" Gracie asks, "You think we won?" 

Sammy nods her head, "Yeah, that attorney was an idiot." 

We walk out of the court room and pour ourselves some water from the water jug. I take a gulp and lick my lips. I just hope that we pulled it off. 

As we finally enter the court room again and I watch anxiously as the judge returns to the podium. 

"Everyone rise." The bailiff says. 

"The case is now back in order."  The judge slams her mallet down again. 

She pulls out a sheet of paper and quickly looks over it then looks at us. 

"The results of the legal guardian case between Sammy Clark and Ansley Berrodo verses the state are in my hands. The jury finds Miss Clark..... Capable of being Miss Berrodo's legal guardian. So therefore, in the name if Court house 111, district 7 of Alabama, and through the power of the United States Judaical System I grant that Ansley Berrodo's legal guardian is now Miss Sammy Clark. This case is now closed." 

She slams the mallet down again and steps away from the podium and pats me on the back as she begins to walk out. 

"Congratulations girls." The judge says. 

Gracie and Sammy run over to me and we squeal. I hug them both as tight as I can as the biggest smile comes across my face.