Around Our Heads

I had to take the day off from work for our hearing. Avery went to spend the day with Chris’s sister. Chris wore a suit with a white shirt and a black tie. I just wore a pinstriped business skirt and white maternity shirt that Diane got me because I told her I didn’t have any professional-looking clothes. I looked like a businesswoman. Fruitful businesswoman. Nothing about my appearance said I had a collection of special edition Spiderman comics in my bedroom closet, or the landscape painting hanging in my kitchen was actually of Tatooine’s binary sunset. I was a nerd in disguise. Eat your heart out, Clark Kent.

When I came out to meet Chris in the living room, he looked me up and down while he tied his tie.

“When we get home later, we should play naughty secretary,” he said. I laughed.

“That sounds like a plan,” I told him.

“You’re not scared, are you?”

“Just nervous.” He got his tie adjusted and took my hand.

“I’ll be with you the whole time. So will your dad.” He never once called him my dad before. Neither did I, for that matter. I usually just called him Gazarra. I liked hearing the word ‘dad,’ though. Even though Avery Johnson is who I usually thought of when I heard that word.

“I feel safe then,” I assured him.

We got in the car and drove to the courthouse to meet with Gazarra, but he was on form and wasn’t up for much small chat. He was working, even though we weren’t paying him, so he went right into the basics and told us everything that was going to happen. Then he led us into a room to sit down. Chris got me some water from the cooler and held my free hand as I used the water as a distraction. I didn’t really want to see Trent again. But I knew I wanted to take the precaution. I knew if he really wanted to kill me, a little thing like a piece of paper wouldn’t stop him, but it still felt more productive than just letting him think we’d moved on. He needed to know there was no chance we could make up. Just in case he ever got that idea in his head again and then wigged out when proven wrong.

Finally, they called us into another room. It was a big giant room with one big large table. Not like an actual courtroom like I thought it would be. There were already people there, so I kept my head down and followed Gazarra to the front. He went right to the judge.

“Judge Kroger, nice to see you again,” he said, shaking the older man’s hand.

“You too, Gazarra. What are you doing here? Restraining orders aren’t your normal thing,” he replied. He was a tall old man with white hair and a wrinkled face. He seemed friendly enough, but I didn’t know anything about him.

“This one is personal. This is my daughter Marley and her fiancé Chris.” The old judge shook our hands.

“Nice to meet you, Marley, Chris.” Then he turned back to Gazarra. “I didn’t realize you had a grown daughter.”

“She’s come back into my life fairly recently.”

“Oh, I see. Go ahead and have a seat, and we’ll get started.”

There were some legal-sounding office noises, and we sat down. I glanced across the table and realized they’d decided to sit Trent directly across from me. His lawyer sat across from Gazarra, and his mother was across from Chris.

He looked completely different. He had thinned out, but his shoulders were broader. His hair was lined with gray, and he seemed worn out and almost defeated. He also kind of gave me the creeps. I kept my eyes averted and folded my hands on my lap.

They did some talking and some announcing before they got down to business. The judge asked why we wanted the restraining order. Gazarra explained our previous case. Our relationship, how it ended, the attack, the charges filed against Trent. Then he showed the pictures of my bruises and injuries. I hadn’t seen them in years, so I winced when I realized how bad they looked and that Gazarra had seen them.

Then they let Trent’s lawyer do the talking. It was the same guy from the last time, so I knew he wouldn’t be very kind to me. He said the request was unprovoked. Trent was a changed man and had done his time. Apparently, he’d found Jesus and wanted to get his life back together. Finally, he stopped and let the judge think it over.

“Miss Johnson, to be honest, I don’t find your request valid,” he said. “I understand what you’ve been through and that you’re trying to take precautions against another such incident. But Mr. Moring has done his time and has not contacted you in over three years. So I really can’t find any reason to go through with the order.”

“I understand,” I told him.

“Marley,” Trent said from across the table. His voice caught me off guard, but I finally looked at him. He gave me a pleading expression. “I’m so sorry—for what I did to you and your family. I don’t know what I could do to ever make it up to you. But I promise you I’ve changed and regret what I did. I have no intention of harming you or your family ever again. If you want to go through with the order, I’ll understand completely. But you don’t have to worry about me anymore.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that. But Chris decided to take care of it for me. He moved to pull something out of his pocket. He pulled out his wallet and removed the picture of us with Avery. Then he reached over as far as he could and smacked the picture down on the table for Trent and everyone to see.

“Do you see that little girl?” he asked. Trent looked it over, and it made me really uncomfortable that he was looking at my daughter’s face.

“Yes,” he replied quietly.

“That’s the little girl that you almost took from us. That’s the family that you almost destroyed. Now, do you understand why we’re here? Now, do you see why we’re doing this?” Trent looked at the picture for a long moment before looking back at me. But then he turned to Chris.

“I understand,” he said. “And you’ll never know just how sorry I am for hurting you and your family. If I were in your place, I would do the same thing. I promise you that I won’t hurt her again. Either of them. But I know that this restraining order will bring you peace. So please, Judge Kroger, give it to them. Just give them what they want.”

“Trent,” his lawyer said as he grasped his arm.

“I don’t mind. I’m not here to dispute it. I know what I did was wrong. I know I hurt them, and as a parent, I understand what they must be going through. All I want is to bring Marley and Chris some peace of mind. Just give them the order, and I’ll obey it.” The judge examined him for a long moment.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“I’m positive.”

“Then I’ll have the paperwork sent to your attorneys. From the moment you leave this building today, you are no longer allowed within fifty yards of Marley Johnson, Christopher Mclean, Avery Mclean, or the unborn child for any amount of time. Doing so will violate your parole agreement, and you will be sentenced and returned to county state prison. Is that understood?”

“Yes.” Then he smacked his gavel.

“Then court is dismissed.” We all stood up, and the judge left through a side door. Chris reached across the table to get the picture back.

“Thank you,” he told Trent with a sincere expression.

“It’s the least I can do,” he replied. “Just be good to them. She always deserved better.”

“I know, and I will be.” Chris took my hand again, and Gazarra put his hand on my back to lead me out of the room.

Since we were having a decent day and I was feeling a lot less stressed and nervous, we decided to go out to eat. I was still uncomfortable after seeing Trent, but a part of me kind of pitied him. He just barely got out of jail. Had no wife to return to. Had minimal contact with his kids and lost his pilot’s license. All he wanted was to be free and get his life back on track, but he had been compliant with us. He WANTED them to give us the restraining order just to make us feel better. I guess I was kind of thankful for that. I imagined it going a lot worse.

Later that night, when we finally got home, Chris went into the bedroom to take off his suit. I took a moment to go to the bathroom and then walked into the bedroom with my fingers folded together and my spine straight.

“Mr. Mclean, your nine o’clock meeting canceled,” I said in my best imitation of Angie, the magical fairy secretary. He looked up at me from where he was sitting on the bed, taking his socks off. He smiled and then tossed his shoes into the closet.

“Go ahead and shut the door, Miss Johnson. I’d like to have a word with you about your recent performance,” he said. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“We are so bad at this.” He laughed too.

“Seriously, though. Shut the door.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Mclean.”