Secrets

Did you know?

The day came sooner than Jazmine wanted. The day she would see her mother for the first time in a long time and her new boyfriend.

The amount of different thoughts and feelings going through Jazmine's mind was unsettling. She wondered how long they had been together for her mom to want to introduce the two. Nothing was predictable from that woman anymore so she had to prepare herself for anything.

A part of her didn't want to go and her parents had full support of it, even though they were intentionally not happy about her sudden appearance. Cori looked her deep in her eyes and said:

"If you want to see your mother, go ahead, we won't stop you as you're old enough to make those types of decisions. Whatever happens next, we're here too. She may be your mother but remember you still deserve a level of respect, don't let her overstep. If he tries anything, I'll be right behind you with a hammer in hand."

For a teacher, she was ready to fight at any moment. Tom had to remind her that he was a lawyer so acted as if he didn't hear the could be assault confession.

All of this just made her think back to the custody hearing that did not go over well.
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12 year old Jazmine sat in the witness stand nervously after swearing to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. She thought it was a little extreme but it was something that had to be done as they put it. She had sat out in the other divorce hearings because her father said it wouldn't be good for her mental health and Huey agreed. She wouldn't be able to handle all the little information that was going to be brought to light during it.

Speaking of which. She looked behind her father and his lawyer (which she saw as irronic) to see Huey sitting there with his typical scowl next to his grandfather who had Riley on the other side of him. The Freeman family had come out to show their support and she appreciated it dearly, especially from Huey. If she ran out crying, she knew he would be the one to go after her.

Her fathers Lawyer, Miss North, stood from her seat and walked to the front. "So Jazmine, you're a very competent 12 year old so I'm going to ask you a couple of questions you can easily answer alright." Jazmine nodded so she moved forward. "Describe your home life for us. Things you did with each parent, quality time together, that sort of thing."

"Well, my parents are... my parents. They've always made me feel comfortable even when their relationship was not doing well. Some people would call me a daddy's girl because he would spoil me a lot, probably because I take a lot of his traits. I share a love for Usher just as much as my mum. She would play his music ever since I could remember, I grew up listening to his songs. When we got to meet him 2 years ago, it was honestly the best moment of my life." Jazmine slightly laughed but paused when she really had to think about her home life. "But it wasn't always good times, as you could guess, they are getting a divorce. I would hear them arguing for years. It started off as whispers in the kitchen, then passive aggressive comments at the dinner table, when we did have dinner together, to full on screaming when they believed I was sleeping. I would pretend to be a deep sleeper but I could hear them. I always heard them. Just before I was told they were getting a divorce, it was too much for me so I ran across the street to the Freeman house who let me stay the night. I love my parents for everything they have done and continue to do for me but together, they're a mess. It may have worked in the beginning but not anymore. Not many kids can say this but I'm glad they're getting divorced, I'm tired of the shouting."