Leave The City (Book 8 of Adopted by the Josephs)

21. Samantha

The next few days of the trial were sort of boring. Mom and Dad testified. Mark's lawyer asked dumb questions that Mr. Kravitz objected to and usually won the objection.

"Probably a Legal Aid lawyer," Dad whispered to me.

"What's that?" I whispered back.

"A lawyer who works for free. The State pays them."

"Oh," I said. That was sad if he was using a free lawyer.

On the third day, Carol testified. I forced myself to concentrate.

"Mrs. Solman," Mr. Kravitz started.

"Ms. Braithewaite, I go by my maiden name now," Carol said. I smirked. I knew that. So did Mr. Kravitz. Carol was sending Mark a message. I glanced over. He was looking at his hands. I smirked and returned my attention to Carol.

"I apologize, Ms. Braithewaite," Mr. Kravitz continued. "When did you become aware of Samantha as your ex-husband's niece?"

"Oh. About four years ago or so, Mark called from Detroit while he was in America for a business trip. He'd found out that his sister had died and that she had a daughter. He was able to find her and he'd met her. He told me a little about her. And that her parents had agreed to allow him to talk with her on video chat when he arrived home."

"And did he talk to Samantha frequently?"

"They spoke about once a week. Usually on Saturday afternoons their time. Around supper time for us. We, that is our children and I, often joined in the conversations as well."

"How was Samantha with her cousins?"

"They got along well," Carol said. "My daughter is a big fan of Samantha's father's band so they bonded over that. It was very sweet."

"You said 'was'. Do they not speak anymore?"

"They do," Carol said. "But there was a time where they didn't."

Carol continued telling the story of what happened when I went to visit them one summer, and then his failed attempt to get custody of me and up to his abducting me.

"That's when we reconnected with Samantha and her family. We could explain what had happened and slowly rebuilt a relationship. We're still working on it, but Samantha does her best to keep in touch with us, even if it's an email instead of a video chat. With her being in California, sometimes the time doesn't work, but we can always count on an email from Sam. She's been very good at keeping in touch with us."

Carol spoke more about how her marriage with Mark was already in trouble before he found out about me, and how she'd found out how much she liked having me around, and that it would have been fun to have me stay for a semester in England but how it was never her intention or desire to keep me against my will. She hadn't known at first that Mark had told Benji to take my passport and ticket. She thought it was just a seven-year-old who adored his older cousin, not wanting her to go home.

Mark's lawyer asked questions about their relationship, when it started to break down, and what was the final straw.

"Why didn't you support your husband's desire to gain custody of his niece? His last living blood relative?"

"First of all, ex-husband, and second, in case you've forgotten, Mark has two children who are also his blood. So by saying that Samantha is his last living blood relative is insulting to me and my children."

"I retract and apologize," the lawyer said. "I'll reword; why didn't you support your ex-husband's campaign to gain custody of his niece, the last living member of his sister's family."