Chosen Family (Adopted By Scarlett Johansson)

Chapter 10

ONE WEEK LATER:
I was discharged from the hospital two days ago, and Adley and I have been staying with Scarlett since then. Due to the severity of our situation, the police and DHHS wanted to resolve our case as soon as possible. Over the last week, I've been interviewed countless times by a myriad of different people. Scarlett has no legal guardianship over me so she's been mostly left out of the loop, and I can tell it's stressing her out. But today is the court date, and it will all be over soon.

Today, the judge will hear testimonies from myself and the DHHS workers, and then determine Mr. Blake's sentence. Adley has been interviewed, too, but they don't want her to testify in front of Mr. Blake in court because she's so young.

From there, I will most likely be staying with Scarlett until they find safe foster homes for Adley and I. At least, that's what my social worker said. I doubt it will go that smoothly.

I do up the buttons on my white shirt and tuck it into my dress pants. I check myself in the mirror one last time, fix my hair, and take a few deep breaths. Grabbing the paper folder off my bed, I open the bedroom door and walk downstairs.

Scarlett is standing in the kitchen, staring blankly into a mug of coffee. Her head perks up as she hears me walk into the kitchen. She gives me an encouraging smile and asks, "Are you ready?"

"No, but I don't really have much of a choice, do I? Let's do this," I say with a curt nod.

"Let's do it." She turns around and dumps out the coffee in the sink before grabbing her purse and keys off the counter. "What's in the folder?"

"Just some stuff I might need," I answer dismissively.

"Okay," she says softly, not pushing any further. "Come on, we can't be late."

...

The courtroom was bustling; that much was obvious from the congested traffic outside the elegant brick building. Luckily for us, however, they let us in the back door to avoid being spotted by paparazzi—not that anybody has any idea I exist.

I stayed close to Scarlett as we walked through the hall. Our steps clicked on the tile floors and echoed through the large space. To other people, we were a perfect picture of grace, exuding confidence with our heads held high. But on the inside I was terrified, and I could feel the anxiety radiating off of Scarlett, as well.

The security guard at the door of the courtroom checked Scarlett's ID as my social worker, Jenny, ushered me through the tall wooden doors. Jenny sat me down in the front of the room and took her seat next to me. There was no jury; only the judge, social workers, police, and relatives (which was only Scarlett, if she even counted). I turned around and glanced around the room, trying to find Scarlett. She wasn't allowed to sit in the front with me, and my eyes eventually found her in one of the back rows. She gave a small wave and I smiled back nervously.
Shuffling and hostile voices on the other side of the room caught my attention, prompting me to turn back around. I saw Mr. Blake being escorted to his seat by police officers. I swallowed thickly as he sent me a murderous glare from his seat.

The judge took his seat and banged his gavel. Here we go.

...

Several hours later, we'd barely gotten anywhere. We'd established the basic conditions of the house and the way Mr. Blake treated the foster kids. Now, Jenny was approaching the stand to ask me questions and get the ball rolling.

"Arthur Blake is not fit to care for a child," she began. Oh, so that's his name. Arthur. "We can clearly see the effect it has had on Y/N. So I ask, why are we hesitating so much? This man should already be imprisoned for his crimes. Y/N, would you say that Mr. Blake is verbally abusive?"

"Yes, ma'am, I would. He'd often manipulate me and call me derogatory names," I replied into the microphone with a shaky voice.

"Could you give an example?" the judge asked.
"Um, w-well, I'd rather not- I don't know if I should repeat some of those things...in court," I trailed off.

"It's alright, it will help your case," another lawyer whispered from beside me.

I nodded and said, "He would cuss me out constantly. Call me a 'selfish little bitch' and stuff like that. He liked to call me a dyke, too. Um...he would tell me that it's my fault my family is dead...that I'm the reason they were driving that night, and I killed them. He would threaten to call over his 'buddies' if I misbehaved."

"Why would he threaten to call them over? What would they do?"

"They always looked at me weird, I guess. They're all really creepy. They had never actually done anything, though. Not until...well, I don't know."

"Not until what, Y/N? What did they do? It's okay, you can tell us," Jenny encouraged.

"About a week ago, I had been out of the house all day. I was planning on spending the night somewhere else with Adley. When I went back into the house to get our stuff, he got really mad. Called me disrespectful and stuff. His friends, they, um...I'm sorry, I- I can't do this. It doesn't matter. He beat the shit out of me— all of the time. He almost put me in the hospital countless times. About a week ago, he did put me in the hospital. He almost killed me. He never bought food. I had to work two jobs and do horrible things just to protect my siblings and keep them fed. His friends are bad people too, yeah. But that's not what I'm here for." I could feel Scarlett's eyes burning a hole in the back of my head, and Jenny was giving me a look that said 'what the hell are you doing'.

I ignored them and continued. "Can everyone here do something for me? I want you to stick out your arm, palm down, and rotate it so your palm is facing up." Everybody did as I asked, despite all of them being utterly confused. "That movement is called supination. I can't do that anymore," I said as I stuck out my left arm and tried to do the movement. "My bones can't rotate around each other because Mr. Blake smashed my arm with an empty bottle of Crown Royal and it didn't heal right. So ask me whatever you want, but Mr. Blake is the worst person I've ever had the misfortune of encountering. Satan himself still looks like an angel compared to Arthur."

His name was bitter in my mouth, and I was sure to send him a harsh glare as I said it. What's he gonna do about it now?

"This is all the evidence you'll need," I said as I opened the folder and handed its contents to Jenny, who handed them to the judge. "Your Honor, these are pictures of most of the injuries Mr. Blake has caused me. Everything from a bruised face to a shattered arm."

The judge sighed and closed the folder. He cleared his throat and announced, "I hereby sentence Arthur Blake to ten years in federal prison. Court is adjourned."

Mr. Blake was immediately cuffed and taken out of the room, despite his yelling and spitting profanities. I stood up and spun around marching to the back of the room.

Scarlett was already standing from her seat. I threw my arms around her and bit back the sob threatening to escape. "It's okay, you're okay now," she reassured me.

I pulled away and looked down at the floor, trying to discreetly wipe my tears. "I wanna go home now, please," I mumbled. Immediately after saying it, I felt a stabbing pain in my heart. I don't have a home. "Well, I mean-"

"Of course, hon. Let's go," she said at the same time
.
"Home?"

"Home," Scarlett repeated with a nod and a warm smile.

a/n: I'm so so sorry for how long this chapter took. I'll try to speed things up but school (and life itself) is really kicking my ass right now. aight peace out homies✌️