Hope

[Ollie]

So here I was, outside of the court and nervously staring blankly at my opponent, I can't believe I was ever with that sick freak anyway.



Cody was speaking to his lawyer very confidently, which made me even more nervous.



I manage to catch up with my lawyer and Zach before the court session.



Finally, it was time to go in.



Soon, everyone involved (except for Cherry herself) was in.



"This court is now in session with the case of Gracie Hope versus Cody Velez in a battle of custody over a Cherry Hope," The judge began. "Everyone may now rise... You may now be seated."


"Now to get started, Cherry Hope is an Illegitimate child, is this correct?"

"I prefer not to use the term illegitimate, but it is true that Cherry was born out of wedlock," I answered.



Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Cody smirking and relaxing as if there was no doubt he would win this case.



So the custody battle continued, with Cody and I attempting to persuade the judge as to why either one of us should take custody of Cherry.



Thankfully it was my time to shine with Cody's sexual harassment performed on me being brought up for discussion.


"You didn't report this incident to the police, did you, Ms. Hope? Why?" The judge questioned.
"I didn't report it to the police because I was in a very dark place at the time and I didn't want the stress of the police bothering me to be added to that, nor did I want Cherry to think of her father as a creep," I replied, hating being put on the spot.





"Cody, can you please remind us what you were doing at their house on the day of the accusations?" The judge pondered.
"Well on the day of these 'accusations' I was forwarding a letter that I had received from where we both used to live, might I mention that this letter came from her father, whom I might also mention is supposed to be DEAD." Cody spoke in such a way that chilled me, I was honestly scared, shaking in my own skin, it made me feel as if I was losing this, but I put on a brave face.


The entire court room was silent for a minute or two.

My lawyer attempted to reassure me that Cody was going down, so I hid my fears away in a slight smile.



"Well, that's beside the point, Mr. Velez, we aren't here to discuss wether or not Gracie's father is alive or not, but we are here to discuss Cherry Hope's future," The judge pointed out. "Now back to the point, Ms. Gracie can you please explain the events that occurred during the period?"


So off I went describing every little detail that I could remember from that time.

It wasn't long before I was interrupted by Cody, mumbling a jumble of words, "That's not true!"



After I finished my statement, Zach was called up to state what he remember from the day.



After Zach's statement, a recess was called, after it we would know who had custody of dear Cherry.



My lawyer seemed convinced we would win.



Before I knew it, the recess was over and it was time for a verdict.



"This has been quite a difficult decision to make, but I believe that it is clear that both Gracie Hope and Cody Velez have problems that need to be sorted out and until they are sorted, the both of you are unsuitable parents," without hesitation the judge declared. "For the time being Cherry Hope shall be placed in a foster home until a new court date roughly around two weeks from now, until then you two have problems that need to be sorted out. Gracie, I'll give you around 24 hours to say good-bye and help your daughter pack before she'll be taken away.


Both Cody and I were shocked. We had nothing to do or say, it was all just silence.

Later that day I arrived home with Zach. It was a sad day indeed.



I immediately hugged Cherry after arriving home.



It wasn't long before my darling girl was taken away.



I had to do something to calm my nerves, and there was only one thing I could guarantee would.