Battered

Chapter 7

Driving home from court I turn the radio off and sigh in frustration. It is official; this week has been one of the longest of my life. Thank God it's Friday afternoon.

All week I have been caught up in the middle of a nasty custody hearing between an alcoholic father and an ex-addict mother who is shacking up with her junkie boyfriend. The two kids involved are aged five and seven, and honestly they would probably be better off without both of their parents.

But the alcoholic father is the lesser of two evils and I was sure that the judge would rule in his favour. Especially because his new fiancé is practically a saint; she's a school teacher who volunteers at the local church in her spare time.

I thought that between the two of them they could have provided a suitable home for the kids. The dad isn't a bad guy really; he just has a habit of consuming too much whisky on the weekends. But if I was a high-flying stock broker working fifty hours a week, I think I'd need a drink once in a while too.

But after a long and very messy 4 day long court hearing, the judge ruled in favour of the mother. He seemed to completely disregard the fact that she is living with a known drug addict and actually used to be an addict herself.

What was he thinking? Honestly, the only sensible thing that judge did today was order the mother to take some parenting classes and assigned a social worker to monitor the children's progress.

I have no doubt that I'll be sat back in that court room again in a few weeks hearing the exact same arguments all over again. I just hope the next judge has more sense than this one did.

Arriving home, I fling my bag down in the hallway and head straight for the kitchen. After the long day I've had, I need a cup of tea as soon as possible.

Just as I'm filling the kettle with water, my phone starts ringing. Typical!

"Hello" I answer

"Hello, is that Kimberley?" a quiet Geordie voice asks

"Yes. Who is this?" The voice sounds familiar but for a few seconds I just can't place it

A soft chuckle comes down the line, "I thought you said you weren't going to leave me here and then forget all about me"

"Cheryl!" I smile, recognising the voice at last

"Oh so you do remember me?!" she asks, although I can tell by the tone of her voice that she is joking

"Of course. I was just a bit surprised that you were calling me. How did you get my number?"

"I asked Nicola and she gave it to me. I hope you don't mind?" she says, a note of panic in her voice

"Not at all." I answer, "What can I do for you?"

I'm expecting her to tell me that she has made a decision regarding giving evidence in her husband's upcoming trial. Due to my busy schedule, I haven't had time to pop by the shelter since last week when I first mentioned it to her.

"Umm well I kind of need a favour..." she begins, "I start my new job on Sunday and I need to get some new clothes to wear, so I was wondering, if you're not too busy, would you be able to come shopping with me tomorrow?"

Before I can answer her, she goes into full-on ramble mode,

"I know it's a Saturday and you don't work at the weekend, and I understand if you're busy or whatever, but I'd be really, really grateful if you could just spare an hour or two. You know what it's like when you go clothes shopping; it always helps to have a second opinion, and I'd ask Nicola but she's got stuff to do at the shelter, and Laura is leaving soon so she's busy packing......"