Living With the Choices We Make (Domestic Violence / Abuse) ✔️

9 - Brent's Brilliant Idea

"What are my chances of winning?" I asked.

"Pretty good as long as you play hardball."

I didn't like the sound of it. "What does that mean?"

He and Brent exchanged a look. "Well, Brent told me that your father works a lot. If push comes to shove, we will allege neglect."

I almost started to cry again. "Isn't there any other way?"

"Not if your dad opposes the petition. Judges are reluctant to pull children out of a stable home, even adolescents your age. The burden is on you to prove that it will be in your best interest."

This sounded complicated. I would hate having to accuse my father of wrongdoing.

"You may even have to go a step further," Brent remarked.

"Like what?"

He took my hand, I knew straight away that this was going to be hard. "You may have to tell the court about your father's drinking."

I gasped. "That was only after my mother's death. He has been dry for years."

"That won't matter. The judge will consider that he could always relapse."

I clutched my hand to my mouth, realizing what I was doing. I would destroy my father. "I don't know if I can do this."

Brent rubbed my shoulder. "Dave will talk to him and it may never get that far."

I hoped so. My father would never recover if I threw all that mud at him.

"Hey," Brent kissed my palm. "Remember, it was him who was so unreasonable. It is your right to make those decisions for yourself."

I nodded, still hesitant. "And there is no other way?"

"Not if you want to be with me."

That did it. I needed him, like air or water. I could never have imagined being without him.

I didn't go home after my appointment with Dave but spent the evening with Brent. At least until my dad crossed the line. That's when I knew I made to right decision and I would fight him to the end.

We were snuggled in bed after having made love when there was a sharp knock on the door of Brent's dorm room just after midnight. The late visitors were two cops from my father's unit.

"Brent Parks, you are arrested for the rape of Rena Cooper," he was advised coolly.

I almost had a heart attack. "What are you talking about?" I screamed. "You can't do that."

"Sorry, Rena, but your father filed a complaint for statutory rape. In Illinois, the age of consent is seventeen and your boyfriend here is already over eighteen."

I swore at them and phoned my dad and called him some very unpleasant names. He took it in strides, assuring me he had only done it for my own good. Brent and I were dragged down to the station where he was booked and I was examined by a doctor. Luckily, we used a condom and those idiots didn't check the waste basket to secure the evidence. The one cop was beside himself that there were no DNA traces.

By the time, he got a warrant and went back, Brent had used his phone call to instruct one of his buddies to get rid of the garbage and get a lawyer. Dave showed up an hour later and got him released on bail. Brent kept his mouth shut and so did I, one of the few things you learn as the daughter of a police officer - never talk to the cops after being arrested.

While he was at it, Dave also served my dad with the emancipation petition. My father's furious roar had to have echoed through half of Chicago. When we got home, he actually locked me up in my room.