Broken // Michael Clifford [Finished For Now]

Chapter Thirty Two

Diana's POV

After my paranoid day at school I headed over to the police station to meet with the city's defense attorney who had been assigned with the task of trying to put my dad behind bars. Once again I was shocked at how crowded this small town's police station was.

"I can stay and wait until you're finished if you want." Offered Michael for about the third time.

"I already told you, I don't know how long this will take and I can just call you when I'm done so you can come get me." I chuckled.

"Fine. Just try not to take too long, yeah?"

"I won't, don't worry." I assured him as I got out of the car and closed the door.

Once inside the station I met up with Officer Landon who had decided to escort me to the meeting. We took a few turns and ended up in a room similar to the one I had been in when I told Officer Landon everything about my dad, plain white walls and all.

"Here it is. She should be in here any second. If you need anything just let me know; you know where my desk is." He smiled as he left me alone in the cold room.

There was a small table in the center of the room. It had one metal chair on either side of it. I took a seat in one of the chairs, setting my school things down next to me. I started to get nervous about running through trial questions, especially after the stunt that Sarah had pulled this morning at school.

I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself as the door flung open. I jumped a little at the suddenness of it before laughing when I realized it was only the defense attorney. She had a small pile of folders balanced in her arms along with two bottles of water, a tape recorder, and a purse slung loosely over her shoulder.

"Hi! I'm Jennifer Fritz." She introduced herself as she dropped her things onto the table and offered me her hand to shake.

I shook her hand and gave her a shy smile. "I'm Diana."

"We honestly don't have a lot of time so, I'm going to get right to it. You know that your dad has paid his bail money correct?" I nodded my head. "He is pleading not guilty on the charges of negligence and abuse; did you know that?" I nodded again.
"He got one of the best lawyers in Riverbell to defend him. Luckily you have me to help you; the best defense attorney for miles around." She gloated.

I smiled at her confidence. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can." She replied softy.

"What is the maximum amount of time my dad can go to jail for this?" I wondered.

Her happy features faltered for a moment before she answered me. "In your case, probably six years at the most. We have enough evidence for at least one year if things don't work out."

"Only one year?" I said in shock.

"There are a lot of factors that go into to this, many of which can be used against you." She must have seen how surprised I was at all of this because she continued to say, "I am here to help you put your father away for the things he did to you. I know that you've been through a lot, but I'm not going to sugar-coat any of this; it won't help you in the long run. I'm going to be honest with you and you are going to be honest with me."

I nodded my head. "What do you need to know?"

"Well, I have Officer Landon's written statement that he took when you told him all of this; he will be appearing in court as a witness as well because he took your statement and was one of the arresting officers who interrogated your dad. I have the medical reports from the last time you were injured. And I have your dad's interrogation information. We are going to start by running through all of the things you said in your statement, then move onto what happened when your dad was arrested because I know you were there for some of it. After that I will ask you simple things about your life and your past relationship with your dad. That's all we will do today, but next time we meet I will act like your dad's lawyer so you can prepare yourself for whatever he says to you, okay?" She explained with a straight face.

"Okay." I sighed. "Let's get this over with."

***

I texted Michael a few minutes ago letting him know that I had finished meeting with Mrs. Fritz. I waited outside in the cold air, my breath puffing out in front of my face. I was leaning on the side of the building. It was getting dark out so most people didn't notice me standing there. One of those people being Mrs. Fritz. I saw her walk out of the building, carrying all of her files while she spoke on the phone.

I couldn't stop myself from eavesdropping. "Yes, I just finished my meeting with her." She must have been talking about me, although I wasn't sure who she was talking to.

She paused, listening to the other person speak. "She seemed calm about most of her answers. Her confidence wavered a bit, but we can work on that. Her retelling of everything matches up with all of the files I have so I know she isn't lying."

There was a longer pause this time and her face took on a look of shock. "What?! Please tell me that you're kidding!" I started to get worried. She was so confident that we would win this in case court and whatever she was just told was enough to worry her.

"This poor girl has been through so much and now her old best friend is testifying to help her father? I don't understand why someone would do that! Hopefully the jury doesn't buy anything that this girl will say. She's probably just looking for attention." I felt my breath get caught in my throat as I realized she was talking about Sarah. I know she hates me for not telling her about all of this, but does he really have to testify against me to prove a point?

"I'm going to have to tell Diana about this when we meet in a few days. Hopefully they won't speak to each other at school about anything." Said Mrs. Fritz as she hung up the phone and descended the steps at the front of the building into the parking lot.

As I watched her walk away I saw Michael pull in and up to the front of the steps. I raced to the car and as soon as the door closed behind me I let all of my bottles up emotions come pouring out of me, crying until I couldn't anymore as Michael parked the car so he could comfort me until I was able to calm down.

****

(A/N):

I don't really know a lot about court and what happens in court so this is kind of just how I would imagine things going so far.

I'm also hoping to update tomorrow so be prepared!

Love you all!

~Lizzy