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Casey pulled at his tie. “Yeah, it is,” he agreed.
Tyler stood at the front of the room next to his lawyer in his “lucky suit”– he claimed his team always won when he wore it, and he needed a win today. Tyler and I drove separately because he wanted to arrive super early– like three hours early. I’m not sure if he slept at all last night, and he couldn’t sit still all morning, so if arriving early made him feel better, who was I to say anything about it?
The other side of the courtroom remained empty, and I knew it was a naive hope, but I hoped anyway that Rhonda and Earl would just skip town and not even show up today.
“That’s John,” Casey said, nodding to Tyler’s lawyer. “Played hockey with him back in the day.”
I should’ve known John was a hockey player; he carried himself with the same ease and confidence the rest of the guys did.
“He’ll get it straightened out, I’m sure of it,” Casey added with determination, but the way his throat bobbed with a hard swallow told me he was nervous as well.
With two minutes left until the designated hearing time, Rhonda and Earl walked in. Rhonda, dressed in jeans and a tight T-shirt like going to court was the same as stopping by the grocery store every day, practically snarled at the sight of me. Earl wouldn’t make eye contact with anyone. Looking at Earl, the only word that came to mind was gray. He was just a gray man, devoid of any and all emotion and hope.
“Piece of work, that one,” Casey whispered, nodding his head toward Rhonda. “Lot of nerve to come after her granddaughter when her daughter wanted nothing to do with her.”
I scoffed in agreement. That was most definitely true. And what Rhonda said in the parking lot popped back in my mind–Fiona was an ungrateful little bitch. We’re owed a do-over.No. She really wasn’t owed anything.
At 11am, the judge, who had pin-straight graying blonde hair and hawk-like eyes, finally looked up to view the courtroom over her black-rimmed reading glasses. Right when she was about to bang her gavel to commence the trial, the doors at the back of the room opened up again…
And that’s when a long line of sharp-looking men dressed in pricey, eclectic suits came striding into the courtroom. Garcia shot me a wink and Hassik did a little salute my way. My dad shuffled in at the end and tipped his hat to me, and the sight made me tear up.
The judge must’ve been a Crewmen fan because she said, “Aren’t you all supposed to be on a plane to South Carolina right now?”
“Some things are more important than hockey, your honor,” my dad answered. “Family first,” he said, giving Tyler a firm nod.
Tyler nodded back, but his face faltered and he clenched his jaw, like he was trying to cover up the fact that he was breaking down a bit. I knew my dad’s words had a double meaning, and I hoped Tyler knew as well. My dad always wanted his men to know they should value their family over anything or anyone else, and he wanted to lead by example, but my dad also considered his team his family. And one thing my dad would always do is show up for his family when they needed him.
The Crewmen all quietly took their seats, practically filling up Tyler’s side of the courtroom, and I think I was more proud of my dad in that moment than during any Stanley Cup Championship game.
It was just unfortunate that we had no clue we were about to listen to Tyler get absolutely shredded with lies.
The Haleys’ lawyer spent what felt like the next hour trying to prove that Tyler was an unfit guardian because he was violent.
“Take a look at his girlfriend’s face last month.” The smug lawyer said at one point while punching a few buttons on a clicker. A screen in the corner of the room suddenly displayed a picture of me from a couple weeks ago with my black eye and split lip. I audibly gasped. How the hell had they taken that photo? I could practically feel eyes landing on me and I felt like a deer caught in headlights. “Can’t be a coincidence,” the lawyer added dryly.
My dad shot up from his seat. “Jettersen had nothing to do with that, you smug son of a–”
The judge banged her gavel and glared at my dad. “Take a seat Coach, or I’ll have you thrown out of my courtroom.”
I held my breath for my dad to listen. Griff thankfully pulled him down by his sleeve.
Tyler kept his head down, but when he peeked at the screen, it looked like he’d just been slugged in the stomach.
Bile rose in my throat because I knew this was killing him. He’d spent his whole life trying to prove that he was nothing like his father, and here these two were, trying to make him out to be an abusive boyfriend.
Casey next to me wasn’t holding up much better. His eyes were rimmed in red, like he was about to cry. He angled his jaw to the side and took in a shaky breath.
“How can they spew all these lies?” I hissed.
Casey’s throat bobbed again. “Don’t worry yet. Look at his lawyer. He’s prepared for this.” Which was thankfully true, Tyler’s lawyer’s head was bent down as he shuffled through papers in front of him.
But the Haleys’ court-appointed attorney was on a roll. “And look at what happened at his workplace,” he drawled sarcastically. The screen in the corner of the courtroom now lit up with footage of Tyler punching Garrett, then of him putting Garrett through the glass.
“Objection!” Tyler’s lawyerfinallyspoke up. But the damage was done. Stevie’s grandparents sat back in their chairs like this whole case was taking candy from a baby.
And I felt like it was my fault.
I couldn’t control getting hit in the face at work, and Tyler wasn’t ever a fighter on the ice– he foughtonetime. Because ofme.
