The courthouse was small and too quiet. It wasn't at all what Eddie was expecting. His lawyer, a man Eddie only ever referred to as Mr. Williams, had met him briefly in the hallway outside of the courtroom where a judge would be hearing his case. He shook hands with Eddie, Wayne, and Steve before excusing himself to find out where they would need to leave Lucy during the proceedings.
"I'll go wait outside," Wayne announced as Mr. Williams rounded a corner. "Make sure the girls don't get lost trying to find us when they get here."
Eddie nodded. He knew that was an excuse. The Hawkins courthouse was barely larger than most people's houses. Only two court rooms, a restroom, a small waiting area, and a few other doors that led to rooms that Eddie had no idea about. But he also knew that his uncle probably just needed to get away. Get some fresh air and another Camel in his system before their day started. So he simply nodded and watched him walk through the glass doors.
"How are we feeling?" Steve asked quietly.
"I'm fucking scared, man," Eddie answered, moving Lucy from one arm to the other.
"Hey," Steve whispered. He put his hands on either side of Eddie's jaw, his fingers tucking behind his neck, under the ponytail his lawyer had insisted he pulled his hair back in. "It's gonna be okay, yeah? I'm not gonna let her take Lucy."
Eddie appreciated how sure he sounded. Both he and Wayne had been by his side over the last month. Neither of them would let Eddie think about what would happen if things didn't work out, if they could help it. They were both so confident that Billie wouldn't win. That Lucy would come home with him when it was all said and done. He didn't always know if they were right, but their never ending certainty and moral boosts did not go unappreciated by Eddie.
"Want me to hold her?" Steve asked.
Lucy seemed to understand. Her arms reached out to him as soon as the question left his lips. She let out an excited squeal once she was in his arms. Both Eddie and Steve smiled along with her. For just a moment it would have been easy to forget why they were here. Why they were dressed in stupid suits bought for the occasion. Standing in a too quiet hallway while they waited for the day neither of them wanted to be happening to end.
But then, as quickly as she'd appeared at the truck stop a month ago, Billie was standing down the hallway. She looked, for the first time since he met her, like the money she came from. Her matching skirt and blazer were tailored. The expensive looking jewels on her neck and wrists put Eddie's clearance rack outfit to shame. She wore a wide smile as she walked towards them, her arms extended.
"Lucy!" She cried too loudly. "Come to mama, baby!"
Lucy shrunk into Steve's chest. Her giggles died as she wrapped one arm around Steve's back, her other hand tangling tightly into the lapel of his jacket. She rested her head against his chest, her eyes never leaving Billie. Steve's hand on her side moved to wrap around her back, his large hand almost covering her torso completely as he held her even tighter to himself. He was letting Billie and everyone else know that he was not going to hand Lucy over to her.
"Really, Eddie?" She asked, her arms dropping as she turned her attention to him. "You turned my own daughter against me?"
"She isn't against you. She just doesn't know you."
"Oh," she scoffed. "And she knows…him?" She finished, her tone sharp as she gave Steve a once over.
Before either of them could answer a man that Eddie assumed was her lawyer was at her side. He placed his hand on the small of her back, ushering her away with a whisper of her name. Eddie and Steve turned in unison to watch them disappear through a door, waiting for the lock to click behind them.
"You smell it, too?" Steve asked, his eyes not leaving the heavy wooden door they'd walked through.
"You mean the whiskey hiding under a bottle of gardenia perfume? Yeah," Eddie sighed. "I smelled it." For the first time since he got the news that Billie was taking him to court, he relaxed. He hoped, maybe naively, that things would work out.
~~~~~
"Let the record show that we are here today to hear the case regarding the custody of Lucy Claire Munson, aged ten months, current residence, Hawkins, Indiana." The older man in black robes sat behind his pedestal, hands flat on the surface in front of him. He nodded to Belinda's lawyer, "Mr. Cartwright, you have the floor."
He was good, Eddie had to admit. His sharp suit and even sharper words had Eddie's own mind working against him. He stood before the judge and laid out Eddie's past. His run-ins with law enforcement in the city, his use of party drugs and alcohol after shows, the fact that Eddie never had a stable income while he was in New York. Eddie felt his body begin to sweat beneath his clothes as he listened.
"Thank you," was all the judge said as he took his seat beside Billie. "Mr. Williams," he spoke once more, nodding towards Eddie's own lawyer.
"Your honor," he started as took a few steps to the center of the floor. "I'm not here to argue that my client doesn't have a rough past. Or even that he's never been arrested. I'm here to argue that he's turned all of that around, and that he's a good father to his daughter. He's been here, taking care of her every day since May of this year while the plaintiff was nowhere to be seen. And we have evidence that she didn't see her daughter for three months before my client made the decision to come home, back to Hawkins, to raise his daughter surrounded by family and with a support system that would make single parenthood just a little easier."
Billie's team went first. His lawyer told him that it was standard practice for the plaintiff to present their case first, and then he would "work his magic" to argue against them. Her lawyer called her to the stand and had her state her name, age, and relationship to the case.
"Belinda Holbrook," she said with a smile. "Twenty-four, and I'm Lucy's mother. And, um- I'm Eddie's former girlfriend."
"And when you say 'Eddie' you are referring to the defendant, Edward Munson?"
"Yes, sir."
"Thank you," he nodded. "Ms. Holbrook, when was the last time you saw Mr. Munson?"
"I visited him at his job last month."
"And what happened on that visit?"
"I asked him to see Lucy. He refused, and told me that I'd never be allowed to see her. He told me to go back to New York and to leave him alone."
"And when had you last seen him before that?"
"I don't know the exact date," she answered.
"Just a rough estimate will do."
"It would have been right after Valentine's day. I remember dressing Lucy in the cutest little red onesie for the day."
Eddie had to clench his jaw almost painfully to stop a scoff. It hadn't been "right after Valentine's Day." It was February 8th. It was a Friday. She went out for the night with her friends, kissed Lucy on her way out, and then never saw her again.
"And you hadn't seen them again until last month?" Her lawyer continued. Belinda nodded her head. "I need a yes or no, Ms. Holbrook."
"Sorry," she stammered. "Yes."
"And why was that?"
"Because Eddie wouldn't let me see her."
Eddie's hands balled into tight fists beneath the table he was sat at with his lawyer. Williams noticed. He placed a soft hand on his arm, silently telling Eddie that he understood, but that Eddie needed to keep his cool.
But he couldn't help it. Anger coursed through him as he listened to her. She was sitting there, in her expensive suit with her expensive lawyer lying about him to a judge. He hadn't kept her from Lucy while he was in New York. He'd actually gone out and tried to find her more than once with every intention of begging her to come home. To be there with Lucy.
After a few more questions, her lawyer rested. Eddie's lawyer took the floor and Eddie did everything he could to remain calm as he watched him question her.
"Where were you from February to May of this year, Ms. Holbrook?"
"I've been in New York all year," she answered. "Well, other than now and when I was here last month."
"More specifically, where were you living during those months?"
"I lived with a roommate in the city."
"Not with your daughter?"
"No."
"And why was that?"
"Eddie wouldn't let me into the apartment."
That was a lie. A blatant and outright lie. Eddie knew it. Belinda knew it. It made him even more angry, his hands gripping tightly at his thighs beneath the table.
"Did you have a key to the apartment?"
"Yes."
"So you could have gone in, with minimal resistance, if you wanted to?"
"Well, Eddie-"
"That was a yes or no question, Ms. Holbrook."
"Yes." She finally answered after a long pause.
"So why didn't you?"
"Eddie wouldn't let me," she repeated.
"So, he wouldn't let you into the apartment but he let you keep a copy of the key?"
"Objection." Her lawyer called out suddenly.
"Sustained," the judge announced.
"Withdrawn," Mr. Williams said. "Is this the same apartment that had your name on the lease?"
"Yes."
"So, if you could, please explain how my client was keeping you out of an apartment that you had a key to, and every legal right to be in."
"He just wouldn't let me in."
"Thank you," he said. Eddie suddenly felt like maybe this guy was on to something. Maybe things would work out. Belinda couldn't even come up with a good lie.
She was dismissed from the stand after a few more questions in which she lied about Eddie and his character. Next Eddie was called forward and asked to give the same information that Belinda had given.
"Edward Munson," he said, having to clear his throat. He hated having to use his full name. "Twenty-five. I'm Lucy's father."
"And your relationship to Ms. Holbrook?" Her lawyer asked.
"Former boyfriend, I guess."
"You guess?" Her lawyer asked. "You were either in a relationship or you weren't, Mr. Munson."
"Well, we were sleeping together." Eddie said flatly. "But that was basically the extent of our relationship."
Her lawyer nodded and thanked him for his candor. The questioning continued with her lawyer asking Eddie more or less the same questions he'd asked her. When did you last see Ms. Holbrook? Why had it been so long? Why did you refuse to let her see her daughter when she asked?
"I was protecting Lucy," he answered to the last question.
"Protecting her from her own mother?" Her lawyer asked, his tone disbelieving.
"Yes," Eddie said. "Lucy doesn't know her."
"You've got four different character witnesses lined up to speak on your behalf, is that correct?"
"Yes."
"So it wouldn't be far fetched of me to assume that each of them has met your daughter?"
"They all know her."
"Why do you feel the need to protect her from her own mother, but not a handful of strangers?"
"Billie- sorry," he stammered, his eyes closing as the nickname slipped from his mouth. "Belinda already left us once. I don't want Lucy to end up hurt if she leaves again."
"But you're the one who left New York, isn't that correct?"
"Yeah, but-"
"Thank you, Mr. Munson." He interrupted. "No further questions, your honor."
Eddie lawyer stood from his seat, buttoning his suit jacket as he took a step into the center of the room once again.
"Why did you move back to Hawkins, Mr. Munson?"
Eddie took a breath, steadying himself as he thought through his answer. "I was really struggling in New York by myself," he said finally. "I knew it would be easier to raise Lucy here."
"Why were you struggling so badly?"
"Uh, well, it was hard for me to find a steady job, since I didn't have anyone to watch her."
"What did you do for money?"
"Mostly just odd jobs when I could find them. And, uh, and I pawned a lot of stuff."
Mr. Williams nodded, his brows raising as if to say that Eddie had a point. "And were you right? Is it easier here?"
"Yes, definitely."
"You have a steady job, a car, people to look after your daughter if needed?"
"Yes," Eddie answered. "I work as many hours as I can, a decent car. And uh, my uncle watches Lucy when I'm at work. Or, uh, Sarah watches her sometimes."
Eddie started to relax as he answered his own lawyer's questions. He had been told beforehand that her lawyer would ask difficult questions, or questions that were worded in a way to try to trip him up. To try and make him look like a bad person, a bad father. But he'd been prepared for those. And Mr. Williams was asking questions that they had practiced in his office the day before. Eddie was beginning to let himself feel confident.
After Eddie's lawyer announced that he was finished with Eddie as a witness, the courtroom broke for lunch. After the break his lawyer called his uncle and his friends individually to the stand. They each testified for him, telling the judge that he was a good father. That he loved Lucy more than anything and was doing his best by her.
Eddie found himself getting emotional as they all spoke on his behalf. Listening to people say that he was good. That he was kind and loving. It felt like the Hawkins he was currently in was not the same Hawkins he'd left when he was a kid. Like suddenly the town that had hated him five years ago was now standing behind him, ready to fight for him.