Gravity Don't Mean Too Much to Me

Bandit yawned as she made her way downstairs. She had woken up incredibly early that morning, as she hadn't got much sleep the night before. She had been tossing and turning all night long, and had eventually given up at around six in the morning. She had then just decided to plug in her headphones and listen to some of her father's music to calm her nerves.

Usually, his music would sooth her, but that night it hadn't worked at all. She couldn't stop thinking about it, no matter what she did. The main thing that worried her was the fact that she would have to stand up in front of everyone and present her case. She didn't even know what she was going to say, although her mother had run through it plenty with her.

Bandit entered the kitchen and noticed that her mother had left food all over the table, and she smiled at the sight of it. She couldn't wait to meet her brother or sister, and seeing the food made her even more excited.

Not only that, but the food made her hungry. She made her way over to the cupboard, deep in thought. Her mom had told her that Ross would be attending the court hearing to show his support, and although her mother had thought this would comfort her, it actually made her even more nervous. What if she messed up and ruined everything? What if that made the judge believe she was lying because she couldn't get her facts straight?

Ross wasn't the only one who was coming. His father, Ray, would be coming too, along with Mikey. Mikey wouldn't be bringing Elena and James along, as they had school. Bandit had asked her mom why Ross was allowed to come if he had school, and she had told her that Ross' school was closed for the day as there was a problem with the heating. Apparently this was a health and safety issue.

Bandit grabbed a chocolate cake and felt slightly guilty as she devoured it in seconds. Her mother had been storing these and hiding them from both Bandit and her father, clearly she was becoming obsessive with her new cravings. Well, at least she wasn't still drinking all the ketchup.

Bandit jumped as someone cleared their throat from the doorway. "What do you think you're doing, B?"

Her mom looked annoyed, yet she grinned as she walked over to her. "I'm sorry, I was hungry."

"Next time, ask." Her mom shook her head. "You shouldn't be eating junk food for breakfast."

"You do!" Bandit cried, as her mom made to open the cupboard again.

Lyndsey fake gasped as if she had been offended. "I do not!"

"Then what were you reaching for?"

Her mom smirked and grabbed something from the cupboard randomly. She looked at the tin in her hands. "I was.. eating beans."

"Beans for breakfast?" Bandit frowned.

Her mom laughed. "I'm making you a fry up of course!"

Bandit could tell she was lying, but she wasn't about to tell her. She wanted a fry up. "Yay!" She squealed, and Lyndsey began looking through the cupboards and fridge, obviously trying to find the right ingredients.

Bandit sat down at the table and noticed a newspaper had been left open. She went to pick it up, but then spotted her father's name. Just as she was about to read it, her mother grabbed it from the table.

"Hey!"

Bandit noticed her mother looked rather worried. "You don't want to read this, do you?"

"Yeah, it looked interesting." Bandit paused, and decided to tell her mother what she had seen. "I saw Dad's name on it. What was it about?"

Her mom looked shocked. Or maybe she was worried, Bandit couldn't tell. "Oh, just the usual band interview." She forcefully chuckled. "You don't want to read all that. It's always the same questions time and time again. These interviews ought to be more creative."

Bandit decided to leave the questioning for now, and just watched as her mother prepared the food. She licked her lips as she smelt the bacon being cooked. She noticed her mother's face was screwed up and she was stood as far away from it as she could. Bandit stood up, feeling guilty that her mom should have to stand there and cook something that made her feel so sick.

"Mom, I'll do it-"

"-n-no, it's f-fine-"

"Mom, you look like you're going to be sick, please let me-"

"-I c-can handle it, I-" Her mom raced from the kitchen, and Bandit could hear her loud breathing as she tried to compose herself.

Bandit quickly took hold of the pan and began flipping the bacon over so that it wasn't too burnt on one side. It felt extremely hot against her skin, she had never cooked anything before. She had watched her mother do this hundreds of times though, so she knew what she was doing.

She heard her father walk into the living room and begin comforting her mom. She smiled, grateful that he had come down to help. She couldn't leave the bacon alone, otherwise it would be burnt, and although she cared about her mom she knew she was going to be okay. This happened a lot recently, especially in the mornings. 'Morning sickness', her mom had explained.

Bandit had to admit her stomach wasn't feeling too good either, but only because of the events that were about to take place. Her father walked in and panicked, running over to her and taking the pan.

"Bandit!" He cried. "What were you doing? You could have hurt yourself!"

Bandit laughed at her father's over protectiveness. "I was doing fine, dad. Mom felt ill and I didn't want it to burn."

"Next time, let it burn." Bandit made to answer but her father interupted her. "Go get dressed into that dress we brought you. We have to leave in half an hour, and I want to get there early before everyone else arrives."

Bandit sighed and stomped up the stairs. Why were parents so overprotective?

The dress was hung up in her room and was black with no sleeves and a high collar. It had a small pink bow around the waist that Bandit detested. She hadn't wanted this dress, but her parents had insisted she wear it.

Once Bandit was dressed and had combed her hair and brushed her teeth, she made her way back downstairs. The bacon smelt wonderful, and from what she could smell her parents had cooked egg, toast and sausages too. She had to hold back the water threatening to escape her mouth.

The meal was extremely awkward, as both her parents remained silent throughout. She noticed neither of them had gotten dressed yet, and that they were rushing their food. Bandit made to do the same, but Lyndsey had told her to slow down and enjoy it.

They both finished at about the same time and excused themselves. They had gone to get ready.

She made her way to the living room when she had finished and turned on the television. Nothing good seemed be on, but she left it on anyway as she liked the background noise.

It was not long until the doorbell rang, and Bandit answered it quickly. There stood Ray and Ross Toro, looking quite happy compared to her parents. She was surprised to see that Ross had straightened his hair and tucked it behind his ears, and she head back a laugh at the sight.

"Goodmorning, sweetheart." Chirped Ray, ruffling her hair.

She groaned patting it back down with her hands. It had taken her forever to brush. Ray laughed, noticing how annoyed she looked.

"Hey, Bandit." Said Ross shyly, looking at the floor as he walked in after his father.

Bandit felt the familiar stomach ache she got whenever she was with him. "Hi, you're here early."

"We only have ten minuets, B." Ray smiled, sitting down on the couch. "Where's your parents?"

"Upstairs getting dressed."

"Still?" Ray looked at his watch. He was wearing a suit and a tie, which looked odd on him. "They need to hurry up."

As if on que, Lyndsey and Gerard walked into the room. They were both smiling now, hand in hand, and Bandit wondered what had improved their mood. Whatever it was, her mother was blushing like she had months ago when they had both been trapped in the living room.

"Ray!" Gerard cried, hugging him. Ray looked over his shoulder and winked at Lyndsey. Bandit was confused as to what the inside joke was.

"H-how long have you been here?" Lyndsey directed this at Ross.

"Only like a minuet." He replied, standing up and standing next to Bandit. "You ready to go then?"

Bandit was about to answer because he had been looking at her when he said it, but her mother obviously thought he was asking her; "Yeah, shall we go?"

Everyone nodded and followed Gerard and Lyndsey out of the house.

**************************************************************************

Lyndsey clenched her fists as Gerard pulled up outside the court. Paparazzi were already surrounding the car, yelling at them, asking questions and banging on the window. A camera was just outside her window and she cringed away from it.

Gerard honked the horn and attempted to move forward, but five men were stood in front of the car, filming. Lyndsey didn't see what they hoped to achieve by standing in front of the car, if they continued to just stand there then all they would film would be five extremely irritated people talking to each other in the car. Did they expect them to get out of the car when they were blocking the doors? Or did they want them to unroll the windows and answer all of their questions until they felt fit to move?

Gerard took hold of Lyndsey's hand. They glanced at each other, and saw only love and understanding for each other. See, when a celebrity would say that there was a chance of them dating a fan, it's true, they don't mean it. It was situations like these where you needed someone who was used to it, who understood what it felt like to be constantly followed by cameras.

Lyndsey had been okay with the cameras and attention at the beginning of her career, she had even found it entertaining, and she felt important. However, as her career had moved on she had grown tired of the constant attention. She understood that they were only trying to do their job, and that without publicity both Gerard's and her music wouldn't be sold, but it was hard to think about that at times like this.

Lyndsey turned in her chair to face Bandit. She was sat staring at the men at her window in terror. This was exactly why Lyndsey hadn't wanted this life for Bandit. This was why she and Gerard had decided to keep Bandit away from the public eye.

"B, honey, are you okay?"

Bandit turned to face her. "I'm alright. How are we going to get in?"

"Oh, we'll just wait until they move a bit and then your father can hopefully manage to park the car." She wished she had a better answer for her daughter, and she could see that Bandit was still terrified.

"But, how do we get out the car?" She squeaked.

Lyndsey saw Ross squeaze her daughter's hand in comfort. That was nice for him to do, and Lyndsey grinned at the fact that Ross seemed to have a little crush on her. Or at least, he was being a very good friend to her. That's exactly what Bandit needed in her life.

"Don't worry, Lady B, we'll be able to get out. Just let me and your mom get out first, okay?" Gerard said through gritted teeth as he continued to slowly move forward.

Bandit nodded. Lyndsey turned back to face the front and was shocked to see that a few more men had shown up.

"Oh, this is ridiculous!" She cried, letting her anger get the best of her. "Move!"

Gerard patted her hand. "Don't let them get to you, sugar. We have to stay calm whilst those cameras are on."

"Screw the damn cameras, I'm telling these idiots to move!" Lyndsey knocked on her window at the man who had his face pressed against it. He flinched. "Move! Move, move!"

The man stepped back ever so slightly and gestured for the other's to do the same. One followed his actions, whilst the others took the opportunity to move into the spaces they had left. Lyndsey gritted her teeth.

Gerard continued to honk and eventually they managed to park. Not very well, but they had managed nevertheless. That was a start.

Gerard turned off the engine and turned to face Ray. "Okay, we're going to get out now-" He gestured at Lyndsey. "-and when we've cleared some space, bring Ross and Bandit out too. Make sure to hold their hands and make sure they don't get lost in the crowd."

"Will do." Ray replied, readying himself.

"Alright, let's do this." Gerard said, sending a quick reassuring smile to Bandit.

They opened the doors and pushed their way through the crowd to the front of the car. Lyndsey grabbed Gerard's hand and ducked her head down. She didn't like all those cameras being pointed in her face. They walked up to Ray's door, shoving a photographer out of the way.

"Ow, ow!" Cried the man, dramatically. Lyndsey rolled her eyes. They were always trying to make the celebrities seem like the bad guys.

Ray climbed out of the car with Ross close behind him, but as they both got out, a photographer knocked into the door and it flew shut. Bandit banged on the window, really scared now that she was alone.

Lyndsey shoved the man out of the way and opened the door, grabbing Bandit's hand. When the car was locked, they all slowly made their way to the courtroom.

It had been hard to get in of course, but once they were in Lyndsey felt immediately better. Only selected reporters could enter now, and now they legally had to have privacy. They walked up to the front desk, where a blonde woman in her twenties smiled at them.

"Ah. You must be the Way's judging by that lot." She laughed, and Lyndsey was grateful for her light hearted humour. It helped calm her nerves.

"Yes, thank you." Chuckled Gerard as he took the forms that needed signing.

"If you'd just fill these in and go wait in the room to your left up the hall then you'll be able to talk to your lawyers and anyone else briefly before the trial begins."

"Thank you." Ray and Lyndsey said, as they followed Gerard down the hall.

The hall was plain and only had a few decorations such as the dull photos hung up. The photos didn't make any sense to Lyndsey, but Gerard seemed to be nodding his head in approval. She smiled at him, she loved that he was so into his artwork. She'd never understand the compassion he held for it, but it made her happy to see that he loved it do much.

They passed a door on the right and Lyndsey froze as she heard a familiar little girl's voice. Gerard had heard it too, but he just grabbed Lyndsey's hand and led her forward. They walked up to the door on the left and entered.

The room was small and dimly lit, with the blinds down. Lyndsey assumed this was because they were trying to keep news reporters from getting any footage, and she smiled at the precaution. She knew they'd be safe from the public eye until the actual trial.

A bald man swivelled in his chair which made her jump. She hadn't realised he had been sitting there. He gave a knowing glance at her and then stood up to shake her husband's hand.

"You must be Mr Iero-"

"Oh, no. I'm Gerard Way, you can call me Gerard."

"Oh;" The man smiled and sat down. "When will Mr Iero be along?"

"He should be here in around ten minuets." Gerard replied, looking at his phone.

"Well, do sit down we have much to discuss."

Ray, Ross, Bandit, Gerard and Lyndsey all went to sit down, but only Lyndsey, Gerard and her daughter managed to grab a seat. Ray and Ross were left standing and Lyndsey sent Ray an apologetic smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't think we'd need many seats;" Explained the man, standing up and leaving the room briefly whilst calling; "I'll just go get two!"

Lyndsey took this as an opportunity to question her husband. "You and Frank are sharing a lawyer?"

"Since we're on the same case and up against the same lies, I thought it seemed appropriate."

"Oh, right. I guess that makes sense." Lyndsey looked shamefully at her lap. She needed to think more practically if they were going to win.

Gerad noticed this and kissed her cheek. "It'll be fine. Don't worry."

Before they knew it the guy was back with two more chairs. He set them down as Ray thanked him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." Gerard said in sudden realisation.

"Oh, I'm Dan." He smiled, sitting back down behind his desk in front of them. "Now, we all know what we're doing today, right?"

"Yeah, we have a pretty clear idea."

"Good, good. Well, basically your trial is going to start very shortly, and I'm afraid Mr Iero needs to show up soon or else the court will believe he's done a runner." Gerard went to say something but Dam continued. "Not to say that he has, but we really do need him to speed along. Now, my first witness I'm going to call to the stand is this little one other here."

He nodded at Bandit. She nodded back, looking sheepish. Lyndsey frowned and held her hand reassuringly. "And, she'll just have to tell them her story from the beginning?"

"Yep, all she has to do is explain how and what Vicky has done to her over the past year, and where of course, that's important, and she can't spare any details. We need to know everything. Can you do that, sweetie?"

Bandit gulped and nodded. At that moment Frank burst through the door very out of breath.

"Sorry.." He started, catching his breath. "Traffic.. Was bad. I tried to get here on time.. then there were reporters outside.. wouldn't let me in."

"It's fine Mr Iero, we were just discussing the plan for the trial. Bandit will go first as witness, stating everything that's happened before and after the accusation, and then it'll be Lyndsey."

"I don't really have much to contribute-" Lyndsey started.

"Oh, but you do. You can account for how hurt Bandit was when Vicky was bullying her. You can give dates and times of when you dropped Bandit at the Iero's so that we know exactly when they went to the park. You have a pretty big role too, don't doubt that." He smiled. "Then we shall have Mrs Iero, then Ray Toro-"

"-that's me." Everyone turned to Ray and he blushed. "Sorry, continue."

"Then we will have his son, then Gerard and then Frank. Then, if anyone else wants to talk, they will be given the opportunity too. During this, of course, the opposing side will also have witnesses and strategies, but not to worry. This is one of the easiest cases I've dealt with. You will we for certain."

***************************************************

This was it.

It was time to prove that they were innocent. Bandit stepped up to the front of the courtroom and at down at the bench in front of Dan. She was so nervous that she wasn't sure if her voice would even come out at all. Her throat felt tightened somehow, and her stomach was churning. Dan sent her a smile to try and calm her down.

"Miss Bandit Way here, is one of the main witnesses to my case." Dan began, pacing in front of her. "Bandit, do you swear to give only the truth and nothing but the truth?"

"I do;" Bandit squeaked as she lay her small hand onto the Bible placed in front of her.

"Then we may proceed."

Bandit could see her parents looking at her worriedly, and she tried to send them a smile. It came out a little odd however. He had said that she was the main witness, and this had only made her more nervous. This meant that she'd have to get all her facts right.

"So, Bandit. Could you please tell the courtroom about the first time Vicky started bullying you. Was it physical or verbal abuse first?"

"It was verbal." Bandit had difficulty pronouncing 'verbal' but she continued as if nothing had happened. "It started about six months ago. I was sat outside my classroom waiting for Frank to come and pick me up. The rest of my class were still learning because I always went home earlier because of the paparazzi." Dan nodded for her to continue. "Vicky came outside, and I asked her where the teacher had gone. Vicky's two other friends had come out too, and they all started to laugh and taunt me. I remember Jenny had said; "What's wrong? Your famous daddy not here to protect you?"'

"I see. What was the other girl's name?"

"Gwen." Bandit waited for him to nod for her to continue. "I had thought Jenny as going to hurt me then because she looked really angry and got closer to me, but Vicky stopped her. But then Vicky told me that she didn't like the way I was looking at her though the classroom window before, but I had only been doing that because I was scared that she was going to come out."

"So, Vicky had verbally abused you before this?"

"Not really, she had just shoved past me a few times and I heard that she spread rumours about me. She'd called me 'spoilt' once or twice, but that was all. So Vicky had then grabbed my wrist and squeaked really hard, and I'd cried out in pain." Bandit felt her wrist, remembering. "Before she could do anything else though, Sam, one of my best friends, had come outside and tried to help."

"What exactly did Sam say to her?"

"She said; "Let go of her." and then Vicky pushed me over and I hit my head against a desk outside the classroom. Sam helped me up."

"Oh, so she did get physical early on, then?"

Bandit gulped. She was fully aware of her parents' presence. "Yes. Then Gwen and Jenny were laughing at me, and-" She remembered that Sam had pushed Jenny over then, but she knew she couldn't lie. "-then Sam had pushed Jenny."

"Well, that's understandable. Although, she shouldn't have retaliated. Continue."

"Jenny's mom then came and took home Gwen and Jenny. When they were gone, Vicky pushed Sam and said; "How dare you push my friend like that?" and then Sam had to leave. I told her to go because I knew Frank would be there soon."

"Frank Iero, this is?" Dan already knew this but it was 'part of how it worked' he had told her.

"Yes. Then Vicky started calling Frank short and he couldn't protect me. She tried to hit me so I closed my eyes." Bandit sent Frank an apologetic look as she remembered the rest. "When I opened them, Frank had hold of her hand to stop her. He told her off for trying to hit me, and then he asked her to apologise. Vicky started crying and told me she was sorry. Then she left."

Dan looked deep in thought, of course he wasn't but this was part of the plan too. "I see, so your honour, if I please call-"

"Your Honour I would like to question the girl." Vicky's lawyer stood up and Bandit cringed. She hadn't known that the other lawyer would want to talk to her too. The judge nodded and told her to 'proceed'. The woman was blonde and looked young.

"Miss Way, are you aware that you have just admitted to your Uncle physically touching a child?" Bamdit didn't know if she was meant to answer. "A grown man should never resort to that."

"He was only holding her hand-"

The lawyer raised her own hand. "Although Vicky was lightly teasing you, he had no right to do that."

"Objection!" Cried Dan, and the judge banged her wooden hammer. Bandit flinched at the sound.

"You do not know for sure that Vicky was about to hit you. She raised her hand, yes, but when you closed your eyes, how were you to know what she was doing? Perhaps you were merely overreacting?"

"I saw her clench her fist!" Cried Bandit. Why was this woman being so mean to her?

"She could have been yawning." The lawyer clenched her fist and stretched her arm out in front of her whilst yawning, and it was so close to Bandit's face that she couldn't help but flinch. "See? This girl just flinched, and all I was doing was stretching."

Bandit couldn't believe that the lawyer was trying to defend Vicky by saying that she was yawning. "But she told me that Frank couldn't protect me, why would she say that if she didn't want to hurt me?" Bandit didn't know where her confidence was coming from.

"I'll ask the questions around here." Growled the woman. "She was just stating a fact. Because he was short, she knew that he could be too strong either. Doesn't mean she was trying to hurt you."

"She grabbed my wrist really hard."

"Maybe she didn't mean to grab that hard?" Questioned the lady.

"She pushed me into a desk and I hit my head." Bandit said bluntly. There was no way to defend that.

"Or did she trip and fall into you?"

"No, she pushed me on purpose." Bandit stated. "And then her friend pushed Sam-"

"But Sam pushed her first. How do you know Vicky didn't trip, fall into you, and then Sam overreacted and pushed Jenny, who hadn't hurt anyone, which made Vicky upset."

"I object, your honour!" Dan stood up quickly. "If you'd let me please, present some evidence on the matter."

The lawyer looked annoyed as the judge allowed it. She went back to her seat next to Vicky and her parents. Dan came back up to the front with a video tape in his hands. "Here, is a school tape from the incident in question. There is no sound on it, but you can clearly see that Vicky and her friends were tormenting Bandit."

Everyone turned to watch as he pushed play. There stood Bandit, all alone, waiting for Frank. Dan paused the tape here, which she found odd. "As you can see from her body language, she is feeling nervous and possibly scared. She is fiddling with her thumbs as a distraction and keeps peering through the window at Vicky."

The tape continued and Bandit saw herself jump as Vicky snuck up behind her. She saw Vicky followed by Gwen and Jenny, and they began standing very close to Bandit with smirks on their faces. After a few brief exchanges, Vicky grabbed Bandit's wrist and began twisting it. Dan paused the tape. "Here, as you can see, Vicky is clearly trying to cause Bandit pain. You can see this from the look of concentration on her face, and you can see that Bandit is crying out for help. You can also see her two friends laughing in the background."

The tape continued and Sam walked out of the classroom. She noticed the pain Bandit was in and stepped in front of her. You couldn't hear what she was saying, but it was clear she was defending her. Vicky laughed and pushed Bandit over with both hands, and Bandit winced as she saw her own head smack against the table. She hadn't realised how hard it had actually been. Bandit stood up on the tape, holding her head and leaning against Sam for support. Dam paused the tape.

"You see, Vicky clearly was trying to inflict pain on Bandit. Same hadn't touched Vicky yet, so she had no reason to hurt Bandit. You can see that Bandit is struggling to stand, and a force like that can give someone a concussion."

Bandit glanced at her parents to see that her mom was crying, and her father looked livid. They hadn't noticed Bandit was looking at them. She gulped and put her head down in shame. She had never wanted them to find out.

The tape continued and Sam pushed Jenny back, although Jenny only seemed to stumble a little before standing next to Gwen again. Then, Jenny's mom arrived and took the other girls. It was just the two of them and Bandit felt the fear she had felt them return. Dan paused the tape again.

"See, from Jenny's body language you can see that her reaction to the push was a little exaggerated. A force like that would only have moved her slightly. As you can see, Jenny is much at taller than Sam, so she would've been able to handle it."

Bandit didn't dare to look at Vicky. She was determined to keep away eye contact for as long as she could. She knew Vicky would be angry, and she didn't want to make her even angrier by looking at her.

Dan pressed play once more and saw Vicky lift a fist up, it was clear that she was about to hit Bandit, and then Frank stopped her. The jury seemed to mutter to themselves at this. "So, as you saw, Vicky clearly intended to hurt this young girl."

Everyone looked at Bandit as if expecting her to say something. Bandit sunk in her chair, and then Dam instructed her to go and sit back down. This time Vicky's lawyer didn't protest, but just whispered to Vicky's parents.

Bandit didn't understand why they needed to prove that Vicky had tried to hurt her then, wasn't this about the claims Vicky had made against her father? Why couldn't they just prove that he hadn't hurt her in the hospital? Couldn't they prove that Frank hadn't touched her in the park first? It was killing Bandit to watch her parents' reactions to the torment Vicky had put her through.

After Frank's turn at recollecting the story, and giving his side to it, Vicky's lawyer walked up to Frank to ask him some questions. Bandit was now sat next to her mother, holding her hand under the table. She could tell Lyndsey was growing angry at Vicky more and more as the trial progressed, and she knew that she was holding back tears.

Her father looked confident, but still sickened by what Vicky had done. He was watching Vicky's lawyer carefully.

"Mr Iero, are you aware that whilst in a public area it is against the law to touch a child whom you are not related to?"

"Bullshit." Frank said, looking the woman in the eyes.

"Please, language Mr Iero." She smirked. "School teachers have the same rules to go by, hence why you must always fill out a form on school trips to give them permission to hug your child for comfort if they are feeling sick."

"I'm not a teacher, so the rules don't apply."

"Oh, but they do."

"Objection." Dan said for about the fifth time. "Mr Iero was defending his niece. He couldn't stand by and let her get hurt. Vicky shows no signs of being in as much pain as Bandit was when Vicky did it to her."

"That still does not make it acceptable."

"Oh, but if this were classed as self defence-"

"-Vicky is much smaller than Mr Iero, you are not telling me he was protecting himself against her?" Laughed the woman.

"No, I was suggesting that Frank was defending a small girl from being bullied. Bullying is against the law, and it is also law that if a situation is to get out of hand that involves bullying, and adult is allowed physical contact with the student."

The woman gritted her teeth and turned back to Frank. "You traumatised my client with your actions. From the tape you can see that she grows visibly paler and begins crying as she shout at her."

"I was not shouting, as I said earlier." Frank spat. "I was telling her calmy to stay away from my niece, and I told her that I didn't like the names she was calling me. Merely a fact."

Bandit could see that her father was panicking and the way Frank was acting. He was being extremely difficult and rude with Vicky's lawyer, and Bandit heard him mutter something about Frank being a fool.

"You still scared her so much that she was crying all the way home."

"And do you have evidence that she was? It's not a crime to make a child cry." Frank continued before she could speak. "My young daughters are wonderful, but when they do something wrong I have to tell them off. It's called discipline. This is good parenting in my eyes. They always cry afterwards, but that's because they are young and don't understand. Vicky was only doing what any other child would have done in that situation."

The lawyer grunted and went back to her seat, not even bothering to dismiss Frank. He came back over to Dan and whispered something to him before sitting back down. He had a content grin on his face.

Bandit knew this was going to be a long trial as she watched Vicky take the stand.