I Get A Kick Out of You

Chapter 27

Cassie sat and watched nervously as Ethan was practically shaking at the witness stand. The poor boy was crazy nervous. He made it obvious by tugging at his tie. Cassie was nervously tapping her fingers on the desk and Ben had to put his hand over her's to make it stop.

Joel's lawyer's were trying, but failing, to make Joel seem like the good guy. Ethan was doing exactly what he was supposed to and that was tell the truth. Obviously, they thought he would crumble under pressure. Cassie was proud he didn't crack.

It was Ben's turn now and Ethan seemed more at ease seeing him approach. "Hey, buddy," Ben kindly greeted. He fixed Ethan's tie, then asked, "You feeling alright? Need water or anything?" Ethan nervously croaked out, "Water."

Ben went over and poured a small cup of water, then gave it to him. "Now, Ethan," Ben started, "I'm just going to ask you a few questions and I need you to answer them as honestly as possible. I promise, you won't be in trouble for telling the truth. Okay?"

Ethan nodded. Ben smiled as he told him, "Good. Now, Ethan, do you know why your parents are getting this divorce?" Ethan cleared his throat, then said, "My—my dad hurt my mom." Ben asked, "How did he hurt her?" Ethan answered, "He had sex with another woman."

The court seemed to be shocked that he knew that. "How do you know that, Ethan?" Ben asked. Ethan told him, "I heard my dad say it. He was yelling at my mom saying that he had sex with another woman."

"Does your dad yell at your mum a lot?" Ethan thought for a moment, then told him, "Kind of. It's usually if she forgets to get him a beer." The court started to murmur amongst themselves. "How often is this?" Ben asked.

Ethan looked as if he were doing some math in his head. "Whenever he came home. If he ever came home." He could see Joel put his hand up to his face in disappointment. Cassie, on the other hand, was trying to hide how proud she was. She didn't need to influence him.

"Has your dad ever yelled at you?" Ben asked. Ethan nodded, then told him, "But not as much as my mom. My dad usually tells me he's disappointed." That got the court to murmur again. "If you were to choose," Ben said, "who would you like to live with?" Ethan didn't take a single second to confidently answer, "My mom."

Ben gave a soft smile to Ethan as he said, "You're doing an amazing job, bud. I just have one more question. Did either of your parents influence you to say any of this?"

Ethan confidently shook his head. "No, sir," he told Ben, making him crack a smile. "My mom told me to tell the truth and to not say what I think she or my dad want me to say." Ben looked at the judge with a small smile as he said, "That's all the questions I have, Your Honor."

Joel's lawyer's didn't have any cross questions to ask, so Ethan was dismissed. As soon as he got down from that frightening pedestal, he ran over to Cassie and gave her a big hug.

"Son," the judge softly called, "you can't be in this courtroom any longer." Cassie kissed Ethan's head and encouraged him to go with the officer that had escorted him out. Once he was out of the room, the judge continued, "Well, custody cases like these are typically difficult. Usually, the child can't decide who they want to stay with. In this case, I can see Ethan loves his mother very dearly and would much rather be with her. At the end, I will ask Ethan his preference once more."

"Now, with all this being said, from what I have heard...Joel Edgerton, you have been neglectful and emotionally abusive. I realize this case was to argue equal parent rights, but Ms. Moretti has decided to want more custody of Ethan than originally intended. For that...I don't blame her. I am going to bring Ethan out once more to ask him his decision, and then we will take a short recess. During that recess, neither you, nor Ms. Moretti, will be able to see Ethan in fear of changing his mind. Personally, I will be looking over notes and re-reading statements to decide where his best interest lies. This is about him. Not you."