WATCHING BRAD
Part 89
Most of what happened immediately following was explained to me afterward. I don't remember any of it. Warren collapsed into uncontrollable tears. Both Bill and Terry rose to their feet and followed Nancy and the Bailiff out the door. Lindsay, too, was crying hysterically and Bernice grabbed her up in her arms and hurried her out the opposite door through which the twins had been taken. Brad grabbed me in his strong arms and caught me before I slumped to the floor. He set me in my seat.
I remember hearing the Judge's gavel pounding into the small wooden disc on his bench. I remember hearing Judge Carrington calling my name. I remember not being able to react to any of it until I heard Brad saying, "Your Honour, may I have a moment with him?"
"Quickly, Mr. Hayes."
I felt Brad's hands on my shoulders, turning me to face him and shaking me to my senses. My eyes turned to his and I saw him through blurry eyes.
"Listen to me, Ted," he said softly, but roughly. He shook me again. "
Listen to me!"
I blinked hard against the tears and I saw the fear and seriousness in Brad's face.
"Pull yourself together, Ted," he said forcefully. "The boys need you now. Whatever it is, you have to fight for them."
I simply looked at him. I was still too stunned to react to what he was saying.
"Damn it, Ted! Don't give up on them! They need you! Now, get off your ass and fight!"
Brad's last words made the adrenalin kick in once more. Within seconds, my mind cleared and I knew what I had to do. I had to fight and fight hard. Whatever it was, I would face it head on and do everything I could to keep my promise to my boys. I could still hear them crying and screaming somewhere in the distance. I had to get them back with me.
I pulled my shoulders back as Brad wiped the tears from my face. I smiled at him in thanks.
"Go get ‘em, Pops," Brad said quietly, and then he smiled back at me.
I stood up, straightened my suit jacket, and turned to face Judge Carrington. I didn't like the unkind look on his face, but I met it head on.
"Are you ready, Mr. de Villiers?"
"I am, Your Honour," I replied. "I apologize to the Court for my inexcusable behaviour."
The door opened once again behind me and the Bailiff returned. He approached the bench, whispered something unheard to the Judge, who nodded, and the Bailiff returned to his usual spot beside the bench.
Judge Carrington looked at me sternly, his eyes squinting and challenging me. "I want a simple ‘yes or no' answer, Mr. de Villiers. Have you slept with and bathed with the twins?"
"Yes, Your Honour," I said calmly and immediately, "I have."
"And you think that behaviour is appropriate?"
"Yes, Sir, I do."
"Then kindly explain it to me," the Judge said as he sat back in his seat. "I'm dying to hear how you could possibly think that."
I took a deep, calming breath and began my explanation. "I slept with my father when I was young, and he bathed with me. I have slept and bathed with my daughter when she was young. I saw no reason to treat the twins any differently."
The Judge sat forward quickly. "You don't think it's inappropriate for a grown man to sleep with and to bathe with two young boys?"
"Yes, Sir, I do," I replied, "but I don't think it's inappropriate for a father to do so."
"Let me remind you that you're not their father yet, Mr. de Villiers."
"No, Your Honour, I'm not. However, since the day they moved in with me, they have never called me anything other than ‘Daddy', and I have always treated them as my sons."
"And what about Mr. Hayes?"
"Brad sleeps in my bed. When the boys sleep with me, they sleep with Brad as well, but he's never bathed with them.
That would be inappropriate."
"And the fact that you're gay doesn't make it inappropriate as well?"
"I beg your pardon, Your Honour, but my sexuality is irrelevant."
"It
becomes relevant, Mr. de Villiers," the Judge continued angrily, "when I must decide the safety and security and well-being of these children!" He turned toward Ron Sparks. "Mr. Sparks, were you aware of this behaviour?"
Ron stood. "Yes, Sir, we were."
"Then why wasn't it included in your reports?"
"Mrs. Stillman learned about the bathing only last week during her final home visit," Ron explained. "The boys offered her the information freely and without request on her part. We're very careful about this sort of behaviour, Your Honour, but it is our experience that we must trick the children into revealing the truth. Abused children never volunteer the information."
"Please explain," Judge Carrington said.
"In the past, we have encountered several cases of children being abused by prospective parents. Case workers such as Mrs. Stillman are trained to get the children to admit things to us which the adults don't want us to know. One of the methods we use is to simply ask the children, ‘What were you told not to tell us?' In most cases, the children, if they're young enough, tell us. They never volunteer secrets they are supposed to keep, but they reveal them when they don't think they are. In this case, Justin and Jeremy volunteered the information. Had they been abused and warned by Mr. de Villiers not to say anything about it, I doubt they would have done so."
Judge Carrington's gaze returned to me as Ron Sparks sat down again. His eyes asked the questions.
"Your Honour, may I speak?" I asked.
The Judge nodded.
"I know why the boys didn't say anything for over two years."
"Continue."
"When their father was murdered, the murderer, the man who had been their father's lover, told them that, if they ever said anything to anyone, he would come back and hurt them."
"Then why did they speak to you?" Judge Carrington asked.
"Because they knew I wouldn't let him hurt them. They told me that."
"And what's the point of all this?"
"The point is, Your Honour," I continued, "if I had told them not to say anything, I don't believe they would have. They would have remained silent."
The Judge considered this for a moment. "That still doesn't make your behaviour acceptable to me."
"Your Honour!" This was from Judge Henderson.
I spun around to face her. Our eyes met and I shook my head ‘no' in barely-noticable shakes. She understood my silent request to remain quiet. This was my fight and I had to win it by myself.
"I apologize, Your Honour," she said as she sat down again.
I turned back to Judge Carrington. "Your Honour, if you talk to them again. . ."
The Judge shook his head ‘no'. "I think they have been through enough already, don't you?"
"Your Honour, please," Ron Sparks begged. "May I speak?"
"I doubt if there is anything you can say which will influence my decision, Mr. Sparks."
"No, Sir, it won't," Ron pressed forward, "but it may prevent you from making one too quickly."
Judge Carrington thought for a few moments, then motioned Ron to the podium.
When Ron was in position, he began his plea. "Your Honour, we can only speculate on the lives of the twins before they came into our custody, but we suspect they lived in an absolute and abusive Hell. We have no information to tell us what their lives. . ."
"I do," a voice called from the back of the courtroom. I looked back. Jacob McConnell was rising to his feet.
"Who are you?" the Judge asked. "And what makes you think it's okay to interrupt these proceedings?"
"My name is Jacob McConnell, Your Honour," Jacob said. "I'm a private investigator hired by Mr. de Villiers. I apologize to the Court, but I have the information Mr. Sparks wishes he had, if Mr. de Villiers will give me permission to present it to you." Jacob looked at me and held up the envelope he had shown me so many months ago.
"Why would you need his permission?"
"Because the information belongs to him, Your Honour," Jacob explained. "He asked me to gather as much information on the twins as I could. When he read it, he asked me to destroy it. I didn't. I thought it might come in handy some day, and I was right."
"Mr. Sparks?" the Judge asked.
"No objections, Your Honour."
The Judge looked at me. I was still standing. It helped me keep my mind on what I had to do. "No objections," I said.
The Judge nodded to Jacob, who came forward.
"If you don't mind," Judge Carrington said, "could you give me a brief outline of what you have there?"
"Not at all, Your Honour," Jacob said as he stepped to the podium. Ron stood close by. Over the next six minutes, Jacob presented a brief yet horrifying account of the lives the boys had with their father and his abusive lover. He explained their abandonment at birth by their mother and even added her blackmail attempt. The room was deadly silent except for the sound of Jacob's voice and there were audible gasps from the gallery when Jacob spoke of the boys being stuck in their playpen for two days with their father lying dead on the floor within arm's reach of them.
"And you have everything there with you to substantiate your statements?"
"It's all here, Your Honour. Police reports, court transcripts, everything."
The Judge nodded to his bailiff who retrieved the envelope.
"Thank you, Your Honour," Jacob said, and he returned to his place at the back of the gallery. The Bailiff carried the envelope to the bench as Ron returned to the podium.
Ron Sparks picked up where he left off. "The twins obviously had a horrifying life before their father was murdered, Your Honour. They never had a mother, which is probably why they attach themselves so strongly to males. They've had a horrifying life since then, at least until Mr. de Villiers came along. No child deserves a life such as the one they have endured. For the first time in their young lives, Your Honour, they have a real home and a real family. They have a father who loves them very much - a father they both adore and depend upon. I beg of you not to take that away from them again so hastily. I implore you, Your Honour. Please, speak with the boys as Mr. de Villiers has requested."
Judge Carrington turned to me. "What would you have me ask them?"
"Only what happened when we bathed together, Your Honour," I replied simply.
"Why don't
you tell me what happened?"
"Because, Sir, I would tell you what I want you to hear. Justin and Jeremy will tell you only what they know."
The Judge looked at me for a few long, nail-biting moments, then shook his head back and forth. "Mr. de Villiers, you're either very wise, very devious, or very stupid."
"I'm doing what any father would do to fight for his children, Your Honour," I answered honestly. "I promised my boys I would do everything I could to keep them with me. I've done everything I can except to convince you to talk to them. If I fail in that, I am out of options."
Again, the Judge stared me down, then shook his head again. "You amaze me, Mr. de Villiers. I'll talk to them." He looked toward his bailiff. "Bring them in, George."
The Bailiff left immediately to do so.
"Your Honour, please," I begged. "They're frightened and they need me. May I greet them?"
Judge Carrington stared at me once more, heaved a deep sigh, and nodded.
Ron stepped through the gates, but stayed nearby. I turned to face the door. After an eternity, George opened the door and stepped through. Nancy came in with Terry and the Bailiff while Bernice and Lindsay entered through the other door. Bill followed Nancy and Terry into the courtroom. He carried the twins. I held out my arms and Bill set the twins on the floor. Ron opened the gates for them as I knelt down. They ran down the aisle and were in my arms seconds later and I was smothering both of them with hugs and kisses. They grabbed onto me harder than they ever had before, their fingers gripping my jacket in their vice grips.
The Judge cleared his throat and I leaned my head back to look at the boys. "Now, I want you to listen to me very carefully. This is very important." They nodded. "I want you to talk to the Judge again, okay? He wants to ask you a few more questions and I want you to answer them. Will you do that for me?"
Their eyes were still full of tears, but they both nodded their heads.
"Promise me you'll tell the truth," I said.
"We promise, Daddy," Justin replied.
"I love you, my Sonskyns," I said. I wiped their faces and kissed them again and stood up, the boys still in my arms.
"We're ready, Your Honour," I said assuredly.
"Would you rather talk in my chambers?" Judge Carrington asked.
"Here is fine, Your Honour. We have no secrets to hide."
The Judge indicated the chair in the witness stand beside the bench. I stepped into the well and sat down. The boys still clung to my jacket.
"I warn you not to say anything unless asked," the Judge said to me. "No prompting of any sort or I will end this immediately."
"I understand," I said, and I fell silent.
The Judge turned his attention to the twins. He looked at Justin in the blue shirt. "You're Justin, right?" he smiled.
Justin nodded.
"Can you say ‘yes' or ‘no' like you did in my office?" the Judge asked. "Remember, the lady here has to write down what you say, and she can't write it down if you don't say anything."
"I forgot, Judge," Justin said. "I'm me."
Judge Carrington smiled amiably. "Okay, Justin. That's good. Now, I want to talk to you about the baths you had with. . . your father. Do you know how many baths you had together?"
Justin held up two fingers. "Two," he said.
Jeremy added as he held up his index finger, "And we showereded with him one time. The water tickled, but it was fun."
There were giggles from the gallery, and even Judge Carrington cracked a smile.
"Did your father wash you?"
Justin nodded his head. "Yes," he said as he patted his head. "Here."
"He always washes our hair," Jeremy added.
"Does he wash you anywhere else?" Judge Carrington asked.
Justin leaned forward and wiggled his finger to call the Judge forward. He whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. "Sometimes he washes our bums when we go poopie."
The gallery burst into chuckles once more. Judge Carrington, grinning, turned to the stenographer. "Did you get that, Debbie?"
With a smile, Debbie nodded.
He turned back to the boys. "Anywhere else?"
Justin thought hard, his finger tucked between his teeth. He looked up and said, "No."
Jeremy immediately leaned into him and whispered into Justin's ear.
"Oh, I forgot," Justin exclaimed. "Our hands and arms when we get them really yucky."
Judge Carrington smiled and nodded. "Did you wash your father?"
Justin nodded. "Yes." He turned to me and touched my head and chest with the palm of his hand. "Here and here," he said.
"Why did you wash him there?" the Judge asked, pointing to my chest.
"Daddy has hair there," he said. His hands pushed my tie aside and pulled a small space open between two buttons of my shirt. "See?"
"He stopped us," Jeremy added.
"Why did he stop you?" the Judge asked.
"I forget the word," Jeremy said and looked at me.
I looked at the Judge, who nodded.
"Improper," I said.
"Yeah," Justin said. "He told us it was improper."
"Do you know what that means?"
Jeremy responded. "No, but he doesn't want us to wash him there so we don't."
"Did you wash him anywhere else?"
"No," Justin replied.
"Daddy isn't like the bad man," Jeremy said.
"What bad man is that?"
"The one who hurt our other Daddy," Justin answered. "He was mean."
"He made us touch him here," Jeremy said, pointing at my crotch. "It was froze."
"This conversation is finished!" Judge Carrington said abruptly and loudly as he sat back in his chair. He said it so loudly, in fact, that the twins recoiled against me and grabbed at my jacket. "Mr. de Villiers, would you return to your seat, please? You may keep the twins with you while I deliberate."
I finally released the breath I had been holding for so long. "Thank you, Your Honour."
I rose from the chair and returned to the table. Brad pulled it out for me and slid it beneath me as I sat. The twins renewed their hold on me.
"This court is in recess," Judge Carrington said. With a bang of his gavel, he rose from his chair, taking his notes and Jacob's envelope with him. Everyone else stood up as well. As the Judge stepped down from the bench, he stopped beside his bailiff and whispered in his ear. The Bailiff looked at him and nodded. The Judge whispered something else and George whispered back. Finally, Judge Carrington nodded once and went to his chambers, closing the door behind him.
"Are they going to take us away again, Daddy?" Justin asked.
"I don't know," I replied. "The Judge will tell us in a few minutes."
They would turn out to be the longest few minutes of my entire life.
To Be Continued
Okay, I'll wait until Monday with all of your other devoted fans! Thanks again for a great story!
](/images/smilies/bang.gif "Brick wall ](*,)")
(But, I have to admit, a Good One, at that!!)
