Jodee

Chapter 41 - Family Court

In less than thirty minutes I was sitting in a courtroom. Nervous as ever.

Caleb went in first as usual and checked us all in and then we all waited for about five minutes before someone came to collect us, saying that the judge was ready now, if we were. From there my brothers and I met with Mr. Stephens who went through exactly what was going to happen:

My father and his lawyer — Mr. Wu — were going to give their opening statements first as they are the ones who enacted this whole thing. Then they will bring up their witnesses. From there Mr. Stephens will question those witnesses. Then he will give Ace's opening statement and our witnesses. Mr. Wu will cross check our witnesses and then both lawyers will give closing statements. There will be a short recess and the final verdict will be released.

Easy ... Right?

It sounded easy and quick, like everything would just happen and then the judge would give their final verdict and it would either be one of the best or worst days of my life. But at the same time, I knew it was a lot more complicated and took a lot of planning which I was very grateful to Ace and Caleb and even Mr. Stephens because they did all of that planning.

I was trying to take in as much information as I could about everything right now so when the court case finally started I would actually understand somewhat of what was going on so I could tell if Ace was winning or losing. Both of my brothers just nodded along to whatever Mr. Stephens said which led me to assume that they had already done their research — which I should have — and knew what the heck was going on here. But I had absolutely no clue.

About five minutes ago, we were all led into a room by Mr. Stephens said it was right outside of the court. That made me even more nervous.

"Chambers family?" The same lady who led us into this room called. When we all looked at her, she nodded. "The Judge will be ready in about five minutes, so now I am going to lead you into the courtroom."

"Thank you, Maryam." Mr. Stephens nodded to the lady.

How many times does he come to this court?

Maryam nodded her head at the lawyer's acknowledgement and led us through a short hallway and to the door. "Here you are. You know where to go, Richard." She laughed slightly at the end before turning on her heel and exiting the room.

Mr. Stephens smiled at my family and I before opening the door and leading us in. The courtroom wasn't huge, and there were very few people in the visitors gallery, but it did look very nice and modern. Polished.

"Mr. Chambers and I will sit up here." Mr. Stephens said, pointing to the desk and two chairs in front of the wooden gate. "Mr. Warner, you and Jodee can sit in the first row behind the bar." Caleb and Ace both nodded their heads and we all took up our positions. "So. Now we just wait."

I looked around the courtroom, biting my lip, to see that we were the first ones in there, minus a couple who were sitting in the rows behind the bar. No Tobias in sight.

"Hey, Jodee. Wanna know something cool?" Caleb nudged me, grinning like an absolute fool.

"Sure, Cal. Why not?" I humored him.

"This thing" — he pointed to the wooden fence — "is called the bar. You know how to become a lawyer you have to pass the bar exam" — I nodded my head — "Well the exam is called the bar because when you pass it, you get to pass this bar in the courtroom."

Ohhh. That actually is kinda cool.

I smiled at him, a soft laugh passing through my lips. "How do you know that?"