Princess Love

Princess Love - Chapter 26          "Jenny? Are you okay?" Nick lightly hit her cheeks in hope of waking her up. She opened her eyes and looked at Nick.
         "Where is she?!" She jumped up and nearly fell over again.
         "Sweetie, you are going to have to sit or you might not be able to stay in the courtroom." Nick whispered in her ear, and she nodded.
         "Okay..." She frowned and closed her eyes, bending her head down and then looking back up. From the back of the courtroom came a brown-haired little girl with a pink dress and black patent leather shoes. Her hair was in bows and she looked like she always had to Jen. When the little girl passed her she didn't even seem to notice the sister that had missed her so much.
         The little girl got up on the podium and sat, swearing to tell the the truth like any grown-up would do.
         "May I ask who your daddy is?" Robert Smith, on the defense side, asked.
         "Him." She pointed to the guy without glasses, who winked at her and she smiled brightly.
         "Is he a nice daddy?" The lawyer asked.
         "OBJECTION!" Jeremy stood up and looked at the judge in disgust.
        "This has nothing to do with the murder..." Jeremy said and looked at the judge.
         "I am getting there, I want to show the court what kind of man James is." Robert said.
         "Over-ruled, continue Mr. Smith."
         "Please answer my last question."
         "He is a very good daddy, I love him." She smiled.
         "Does he take care of you?"
         "OBJECTION!" Jeremy stood up again. "He is leading the witness, and may I remind you that she is only six..." Jeremy said, annoyance on his face.
         "Sustained, Mr. Smith, this has nothing to do with murder." The judge said.
         "I am trying to show the court what kind of man that he is!" The lawyer said and the judge nodded.
         "We already heard that, now continue. With a new question."
         "Man this lawyer is a dummy." AJ whispered in Jasmine's ear.
         "Yeah, you mean the defense?"
         "Yeah, our lawyer are good." Jasmine smiled.
         "Have you ever seen your daddy hurt anyone?" Mr. Smith asked.
         "OBJECTION!" Jeremy yelled and a groan was heard throughout the courtroom but he didn't seem to notice. "Why would he hurt someone in front of her?!"
         "Mr. Robertson, please take a seat. Over-ruled, continue Mr. Smith.
         "Thank you. Have you ever seen your daddy hurt anyone?"
         "No, my daddy is a nice man."
         "Has he ever hurt you?" The lawyer asked and the little girl paused, looking over at her father. She looked behind him and saw the pleading look on her sisters face, she recognized her and knew that she was a person on her side. "Darling, answer the question."
         Jeremy moved around in his seat, he wasn't going to stop until he made his point across. He was going to object again soon, he knew it.
         "Um..." The little girl said and the lawyer rolled his eyes and sat down, then stood up again.
         "Answer the question!" He said, fiercly, and the girl visably shook.
         "OBJECTION! He is trying to frighten the witness into telling what he wants her to say."
         "Over-ruled. I want to hear what she has to say." The judge said.
         "Has he ever hurt you." The lawyer was mad, this wasn't what he had told her to say.
         "Mr. Smith... I sweared on the bible, I have to tell the truth." She pointed out to him and Nick coughed to control his laughter.
         "This is weird..." Nick said and held onto Jen.
         "You're tellin' me..." She said and stared at her sister.
         "Yes, tell the truth." The judge said and the little girl looked up at him and gave a toothless smile.
         "My daddy hits me sometimes, but he doesn't mean it."
         "SHIT! Okay, I'm done." Mr. Smith said, in more ways than one, he thought to himself.
         "Would you like to cross-examine?" The judge asked Mr. Robertson, who nodded.
         "Yes, thank you. Sam, do you like to be called Sam?" He asked and gave her a little smiled.
         "No, Sammi." She smiled back at him.
         "Okay Sammi. Now you are doing a really good job and I want you to continue, don't be afraid of anything, or to say anything. Nothing will happen if you say the truth." He said and she paused, then nodded. "Has your father ever hurt you?" He asked.
         "Yes." She said in a little voice.
         "How? Take your time... no rush." He said.
         "He hits me sometimes, and it hurts. I don't have anyone to go to, or anyone to help me." The little girl began to weep on the stand. Brian got antsy in his seat.
         "Are you okay?" Elizabeth asked and he nodded.
         "Has he ever said he was going to do bad things to you?" Jeremy asked.
         "Yes, he says he wants to kill me." She said and cried. He handed her a tissue and the judge shushed the courtroom that had begun to stur.
         "Okay, let's talk about something else. Do you know your Uncle John?" He asked and she nodded.
         "Yes, he is a meany."
         "How is he a meany?" He asked the six year old, using her vocabulary.
         "He sells drugs and guns and other bad stuff." Jeremy couldn't believe his ears, this case was huge.
         "Has he ever hurt someone?" Jeremy asked and she nodded.
         "Yes, Daddy says he likes to kill people in his free time." Sammi said and Jen nearly fell out of her chair.
         "Like who?" Jeremy asked.
         "Daddy always tells me that if you are going to kill someone you should kill someone with money; then you would get attention." The court murmered and the judge rapped his gavel once to silence them.
         "Where is your mommy?" Jeremy asked, he wanted to wrap this up before the girl became to emotional.
         "Mr. Robertson, right?" She asked and he nodded. "Mr. Robertson, Daddy says she is in Hell. But when I see pictures of her I think she is an angel, she is an angel in heaven and she watches over me everyday. She protects me from them and that is why I am still alive, if I didn't have her
maybe I wouldn't be here." She said, with self-confidence in her voice, far beyond any six year old.
         "How did she get to heaven?" He wanted to know how she died.
         "Daddy killed her." She said and the court murmered again.
         "I think that is enough for today, let's be here tomorrow." The judge said and stood up.
         Jen ran to her sister and hugged her. "Do you remember me?" She asked Sammi, who nodded.
         "You look just like mommy." She said and Jen cried.
         "Yes, I am your sister, Jen."
         "Yeah, can you take me home?" She asked and Jen paused.
         "Let me talk to someone."
         They went to a social worker in the court who said it would be good if she spent time with her sister, it would be far better than staying in a home or foster care.
         Jen had wanted this moment for so long. With her sister by her side she walked over to Nick and smiled a smile that was bigger than the sun.