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With that admission, I took backward steps from her before returning to my office. Paris was already waiting for me. She stood and extended her hand to shake mine. I took in her demeanor… the swollen eyes, red lips, and nose. I didn’t know much about her case, just that it involved her family. Family law wasn’t my specialty, so I wasn’t sure why she wanted to retain me, but since one of my clients recommended me to her, I agreed to hear Paris out.
“Good morning,” I greeted, releasing her hand. “Paris?” I confirmed, motioning for her to have a seat.
“Yes, sir. Thank you for meeting me. My godfather told me you don’t usually handle cases like this, so I’m glad you decided to hear me out.”
As I sat down, I asked her, “How can I help you?”
“I need full custody of my newborn niece.” She took in a deep breath. Her eyes had already started to water. “My sister, Asia, promised me that she was going to get an abortion. Instead, she disappeared and popped back up with a baby two weeks ago.”
“What makes you believe she wouldn’t be able to properly care for your niece?”
“Asia and I… we were abused. Literally out of the womb. We were born into a very strict, religious family who took not sparing the rod literally. Abuse was used to break a person’s will in our family to gain control. Asia and I fought like hell to be emancipated from our parents when we were sixteen, and that’s when we went to stay with our godparents.” Her tears began to fall, so I grabbed the box of tissue from behind my desk on the bookshelf and handed it to her. “Our parents… they had too much of a hold on Asia, and she went back. Now, she’s basically under their control. I know she’s going to raise my niece the same way she was raised, and no child deserves that.”
“Was an outcry ever made about your parents’ abuse? Is there public record of it?”
Her head shook rapidly. “No, no record. The only people I felt safe telling was our godparents, and that was after they left the church and detached from my parents. A part of the emancipation was that I could never speak of their abuse publicly in a way that would taint the image of them or their religious organization.”
Nodding, I released a hard breath and sat back in my seat. I was starting to understand why her godfather, Phillip, wanted her to meet with me. I may not have handled custody cases, but I had a very successful record of going against and beating large corporations and organizations. If this went beyond her sister and affected their parents, they would need more than just a small-time family law firm.
“And do you have any proof that your sister is abusing or plans to abuse your niece?”
“When she came back, I asked her why she didn’t have the abortion. She said it was too late. I offered adoption as a suggestion, and she declined. I asked her how she planned to raise her baby while she still lived with our parents and had nothing really going for herself, and she said she was going to raise her just like we were raised.”
“Do you know who the father is? Is there a possibility of him seeking full custody?”
Paris shook her head. “She won’t tell me who it is. I think it’s someone my father knows. Someone in the church.”
“Okay.”
Rubbing the pads of my fingers together, I thought over all she’d shared with me so far. This certainly wasn’t a case I wanted to take on so close to leaving HGP2, but I couldn’t not help her out. I understood what it felt like to feel as if you were so under your parents' control you had no other options. While my parents were never physically abusive, I could honestly say the choices I made with my life came from their guidance or desire for me.
Even the decision to become a lawyer was made for me. My parents wanted me to walk in my father’s footsteps. When I began my career as a lawyer, I quickly realized I preferred being in a managerial position. That’s why becoming managing partner was so high on my goal list. Eventually, I began to love and grow passionate about what I did, but if I had it my way, I would have gone to school for engineering.
The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if I was setting myself up to have even less freedom when it came to my parents. Though my father said he planned to let me run the firm on my own, would that really be the case?
Needing to get out of my head, I told Paris I would have my assistant get a few more facts about her and her family before making my decision. If I didn’t handle the case personally, I promised someone from the firm would. I needed some fresh air, so I had my assistant reschedule all my appointments for later in the day. This meeting with Paris had given me a lot to think about.
Twenty-Six
Maritza
I was concerned.
Jeremy spent a lot of time inside of himself for the last couple of days, to the point his sister called to speak with me about it because she was worried. I told her that I believed the weight Jeremy was carrying was starting to get to him, but that it was also more than that. He hadn’t opened up to either one of us about what happened during his meeting with Paris, but that was when he began to shut down.
Amelia asked me to meet her at his place, and I agreed. I admired her desire to make sure he was okay because from what I’d heard they hadn’t had the best relationship in the past.
“Are you sure he’s going to go for this?” I asked as I rang his doorbell. “You know him better than me.”
Amelia chuckled and shook her head. “I don’t believe I do. I don’t think anyone knows my brother better than you do.”
I appreciated that and could admit, in a short amount of time, Jeremy and I had gotten to know each other in more intimate ways than we’d allowed others in. At the sound of the door unlocking, I held my breath. I felt like I hadn’t seen my man in an eternity. Just seeing him at work had been torture for the last two days. He was dressed in a V-neck t-shirt and sweats, which wasn’t his usual at all. Even if he didn’t want to admit something was going on with him, it was clear that it was.
“Two of my favorite ladies. What’s going on?” The smile he gave us was genuine, and that made me feel good.
Jeremy stepped to the side, allowing us space to enter.
“We need to talk,” Amelia said, leading the way toward the living room.
