Pavane for a Lost Boy (Or Rather, How to Survive Loss after Rejection)

Chapter Five

"Order, all rise! The honorable Judge Dianne McGillivray is presiding."

Sure enough, the day where I would learn of my fate in the foster-care system had finally arrived. And while Gianna and Jose were certain that I was going to find a nice and stable home to help me get on the road to recovery; my nerves were saying otherwise and the pessimist in me was ready to point out the negatives that were soon coming my way.

They'll only use you as a servant around the house.

They're only doing this for the money, bot because they want you to think that they care.

You shouldn't let anyone get too close to you, Demario. Your birth family and the relatives didn't bother wanting to take you in. So why should anything change?

Wouldn't it be best to finish your plan to end it all in the first place? Save the foster family some trouble and take the lethal and quick way out.

Ladies and gentlemen, my subconscious- all cynical and fatalistic no thanks to the words of my mother.

"You're going to do okay," my lawyer Ms. Burney, a statuesque blonde in her forties, told me reassuringly. "The judge and DA know what happened to you and your upbringing."

I only nodded, not feeling a bit confident despite her support as well as those from the Tuckers who decided to make an appearance alongside Gianna, Jose, and Dr. Nguyen.

"Please be seated," the judge, a plump, fiftyish-year-old woman commented as the spectators took their seats. "I assume this is about Mr. Bader and his status in being placed in the foster system."

"That is correct, Your Honor," commented the DA (a youthful and well-dressed man in his thirties) as he stood up and approached the center of the courtroom. "Your Honor, we have Mr. Demario Bader who hasn't had a pleasant upbringing thanks to an emotionally toxic household. His mother basically hated him while his father just let her do whatever she wanted as both of them played favorites with his siblings- the mother loving the older brothers while the father doted on the younger sisters. And when they died of a car wreck several days ago, Mrs. Bader dictated in her will that Demario was to be disowned and cut off from the family while the extended relatives wouldn't bother to take him into their homes. And that just propelled him to attempt to commit suicide."

"I see," Judge McGillivray hummed. "And I take it that the extended family members from both sides were known of what happened?"

"Yes, Your Honor," my lawyer replied. "Unfortunately, they never bothered to show up at the hospital and provide support. From what I heard from one of Mr. Bader's uncles, and I quote you, 'Everyone agrees that Demario should've shot himself and not let anyone stop him from killing himself."

There was a small murmuring from the crowd.

"Order," commanded the judge, banging her gavel. To the DA, "And none of the relatives are even here?"

The DA shook his head no. "I just got off the phone from one of the paternal aunts," he said tersely. "She said that as long as he's out of our lives, we don't even care."

The judge narrowed her eyes at the comment.

For the next hour or so, the judge interviewed Mr. and Mrs. Tucker, Dr. Nguyen, and even Gianna and Jose as they talked about my stay at St. Luke's and how I was recuperating. The judge was starting to grow more livid at my late mother when she learned that I wasn't being fed properly or given the same amount of attention and love like my brothers and sisters were given by Mom and Dad. "If it hadn't been for me and my wife making sure that Demario had some of the necessities, things might've been more tragic and Demario might have ended his life earlier," Mr. Tucker said morosely as he gave his testimony. "Demario is a good soul who got a raw end of the stick and was treated like old furniture for most of his life."