by Alison Mello
“Yes! I’m going to see if DJ and Mason can do it too.” He’s full of excitement. The rest of us tell her we enjoyed the class, and we are dismissed until we return next week to make breakfast. I’m not sure Vincent enjoyed cooking as much as he enjoyed his time with us, but overall it was a great evening.
I can’t believe the month of January has completely flown by. Between practices, games, and our cooking classes things have been insane, but in such a good way. All those things were the distractions we needed to get us to today.
No one has heard from Laney in a while. Today is her day in court, and we want to be there to see what she’s going to do. Judge Mackey is going to meet us at the courthouse to sit with us like last time. Ethan begged me to let him go, but I’m really not sure that’s a good idea. This is his mother, and Lord only knows what will come out about her in court.
“Please, Dad. I’m thirteen. I can handle it!”
“I’m sorry, son, but you’re going to school.” He doesn’t know this, but I’ve emailed his teachers to let them know the situation and that he isn’t happy about going to school. He really wants to be there, but I can’t in good conscience let my son see his mother in that situation.
“It’s not fair! You’re treating me like a baby!” Ethan shouts angrily.
“No, I’m not, and if you keep yelling at me, you’re not going to like how this turns out.” I give him a stern look and cross my hands over my chest, showing him I’m serious.
He takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m just frustrated.” He runs his fingers through his hair. I want to pick on him and tell him if he keeps that up he’ll be bald like me, but I can’t. It’s not the time to be silly. He’s being disrespectful.
“I understand that, but first off, I am your father, and you need to respect me. Second, you have a test today, and you’re not missing it. Not to mention, a courtroom is no place for a child.” He hooks his backpack onto his shoulders and heads to wait for the bus. “Have a good day, Ethan. I love you.”
He looks over his shoulder with a slight grin. “Love you too, Dad.”
“He is a lot like you.” I turn to see Amber leaning on the archway to the kitchen.
“You think so?”
She nods. “He has some of Laney too. He has been arguing his points for days now. He’d make a heck of a lawyer.”
I nod. “You’re probably right. Hopefully he’s able to juggle his life better than his mother.”
She chuckles. “He has a good teacher.”
“You are a pretty awesome teacher,” I say, stepping in front of her.
“I was referring to you.” She rolls her eyes.
“Thank you. It’s not easy sometimes. I want him to be happy, but I have to remember to be his father, not his friend.” So many parents today just want to be friends with their kids in hopes they’ll talk to them and be up front with them, but there’s a line, and kids need parents. They have plenty of friends at school.
“You need to be both, but at the right times. Today you were his father, and that’s what he needed.” She runs her fingers over my beard. “Hopefully tonight we can sit and talk about it over dinner, and he’ll be in a better frame of mind. I think it’s important that you tell him how it went today.”
I nod. “I agree.”
“Good, because we need to get going.” She gives me a quick kiss.
“Are you ready?”
She nods. “I am.”
We make our way to the courthouse. It’s a bit busier today, so we have to circle a few times before we manage to find a parking space. Her hearing is at ten, but they say to be there early in case they call you early.
It’s pretty cold today, so we told Judge Mackey that we would meet him inside by the doors to the courtroom. When he gets there, we greet him and head in to take a seat. We have to sit in the back, but he ushers us forward each time a row clears.
The judge is running a little behind, but they finally call her name. “Laney Wilder.”
“Here, Your Honor.” She steps forward wearing her typical court clothes, but something is off.
Judge Mackey and I look at each other. He sees it too. “Is it me…”
“No,” he says. “I think she’s wasted.”
I sigh. “I can’t believe she would show up for a DUI hearing drunk.”
He shrugs. “Are you sure she’s drunk? Maybe she’s just nervous.” Amber tries to defend her.
“Laney has never been nervous entering a courtroom. This is her life. She’s always been a confident lawyer,” Judge Mackey explains, and he’s right.
Many lawyers are freaked out over their cases, not Laney. She has always had the confidence she’s needed to get the job done.
The judge looks at Laney and instantly picks up on it as well. “Ms. Wilder, are you drunk?”
“What? No, of course not!” She stumbles on her words and begins fidgeting.
“You’re lying. You come into my courtroom wasted when you’re here for a DUI case.” She sighs. “You promised me you weren’t going to drink and drive again. Clearly you couldn’t keep your promise.”
“Your Honor, we request the defendant be taken back into custody,” the District Attorney speaks up.
“Your Honor, I do not need to be taken into custody,” Laney demands, trying to keep it together.
“Ms. Wilder, it is ten-thirty in the morning, and you’re drunk. How did you get here?”
“I had to rent a car when I landed, Your Honor.” Laney sounds like she’s on the verge of tears. This is a side of Laney I’ve never seen. She’s always been so strong. I’m not sure what’s changed, but she is not the Laney I once knew. It breaks me to see her this way.
“You have two choices, Ms. Wilder. Jail or court-mandated rehab, which is it?”
“But this is only my first offense.” She collapses into her chair and runs her fingers through her perfect hair.
“Second. You show up here drunk which means you drove under the influence. What will it be?” Laney doesn’t reply at first. I’m sure she’s trying to figure out how to talk herself out of this one, but seeing she’s so wasted she has no idea what to say right now. “You have ten seconds before I send you to jail, Ms. Wilder.”
“Rehab!” she shouts.
Judge Mackey drops his elbows to his knees and rests his head in his hands. It’s clear he’s devastated that his daughter is going through this.
“Fair enough. I order you to court-mandated rehab here in the state of West Virginia.” She slams the gavel down. Two men stand beside Laney and take her into custody.
“Are you okay?” I ask my father-in-law once we’re out of the courtroom.
He closes his eyes. “Where did I go wrong?” His words are pained.
“You can’t blame yourself for this. She’s a grown woman. She somehow got herself into something she couldn’t dig herself out of.”
“She’s been a mess ever since her mother died. I kept saying she would come around, but clearly, she never did. I should have gotten her help.” He continues to beat himself up.
“Listen, we’re going to grab some brunch. Wanna join us?” I ask him, hoping we can help him through this.
He shakes his head. “Thank you for the offer, but I’m going to find out which facility they’re taking Laney to, and then I’m going to get some work done. I won’t be able to see her right away, but I’ll pull some strings to see her once she’s settled.” He sighs. “I hope I can get her to take this seriously and pull herself together. Maybe if she knows I’m there for her, we can fix all this.”
“Good luck. Let us know where she’s at.”
“I will. What will you tell Ethan?” he asks.
“The truth. He needs to know. Hopefully he’ll learn from it. I don’t want him to ever go down this path. There are better ways to deal with this situation.”
“I’m sorry, Judge Mackey. If there’s anything we can do, please let us know,” Amber offers sincerely. He thanks Amber and walks off to his
car. “I feel so bad for him. Maybe that’s why she’s been so nasty, though. Alcohol changes a person.”
“I feel bad too.” I take her hand. “Let’s go.”
We climb down the steps and head to the diner for some breakfast. We’re seated immediately. Misty and Stella come over. “Vincent, we’re so sorry to hear about Laney. The news has already been leaked.”
My eyes go wide. “How? We literally just left the courtroom.”
“Everyone is talking about it.”
“Here, look.” Someone next to us hands me his phone and shows me a headline.
‘New York is too much for small town lawyer.’ The story goes on to say Laney Mackey, daughter of Judge Mackey, comes back from New York an alcoholic and is forced into rehab today.
“This isn’t going to be good. I need to call Ethan’s guidance counselor. I grab my phone and speed dial the school. These kids all have phones. The last thing I need is for Ethan to find out from some kid who finds this funny. “I need to speak with Mr. Evans please.”
“One moment,” the secretary tells me.
He answers the phone within seconds. “This is Mr. Evans.”
“Mr. Evans, this is Mr. Wilder, Ethan’s father.”
“How are you?”
“Not good. Listen, I’m not sure what to do, but Ethan’s mother didn’t make out so well in court today, and it’s already been leaked. I’m afraid Ethan is going to find out from social media. Can you help me out?”
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” he says with sincerity.
“Thanks.”
“Even though the kids are allowed to use their phones from time to time, social media is strictly prohibited. That said, it doesn’t mean they listen. I’ll get the school counselor in here with me, and we’ll call him down. I’ll talk to Ethan and let him know that you’ll go into more details with him later, but we wanted to make sure he found out from us instead of the news. Do you want to be on the phone with us when we talk to him?”
“Please. I would like to tell him. He can speak with the crisis counselor after if need be.”
“Okay, give me a little bit, and I’ll call you back on this number.”
“Thanks.” I cut the call. “He’s going to call Ethan to the office and then call me so we can fill him over the phone.”
“Oh good,” Stella says, “that poor boy.”
“We’ll get him through this,” Amber says, “He has so much support. We just need to teach him to lean on us.”
We order our breakfast so hopefully it will be done when I get off the phone with the school. Misty delivers us each a cup of coffee while we wait. I’m so nervous my leg is twitching under the table. It feels like forever before my phone rings. I answer it and tell Amber I’ll be back. I decide to take the call in the car.
“Hey, Dad. What’s going on?”
“Son, Mom didn’t do well in court today, and given she’s a lawyer and a judge’s daughter, the news has already gotten out on social media. I didn’t want you to find out from some kid at school who happens to pick up on it.”
“Will she be okay?” There’s panic in his voice.
“She will, but we need to give her some time. I’ll fill you in on the details after school. Amber is going to make dinner, and we’ll talk.”
He sighs. “Okay.”
“Are you okay?” I ask my son. I’m on the verge of tears. I know this can’t be easy.
“I guess.” He sighs. “I can’t do anything about it.”
“No we can’t, son. We have to get through this together.”
“Okay, I have to go. The bell is going to ring, and this is the class that I have the test in.”
“I wish I had realized that. Listen, you just focus on your test. We’ll deal with everything else later,” I encourage him.
“Will do, Dad.” He goes silent for a second. “Oh and, Dad.”
“Yeah, son.”
“Thanks.” His voice croaks slightly.
“You’re welcome.”
I cut the call shedding a tear. I’m so proud of my son and how he is handling this. Life sucks sometimes, but as we say, you must rise up.
I head into the diner. “How’d it go?”
“He took it like a champ. I just feel bad, because that test he has…” I slip into the booth. “He hasn’t taken it yet.”
“Oh no.”
“He seems okay. I told him to focus, and we’ll talk tonight.”
Misty comes over with our food and refills our coffee. “I overheard. If there’s anything you guys need, just ask?”
“Thanks, Misty.”
She nods and walks away, leaving us to our meal.
After our meal, we stop at the store so Amber can fix Ethan’s favorite, fried chicken, for dinner. She’s so sweet. It was the first thing she said when we got into the car.
“Dad, I’m home!” Ethan calls out, walking into the house.
“We’re in the kitchen.” He comes in. “How did you do on your test?”
He smiles. “Aced it!” he shouts, proudly pumping his hand in the air! “Since my teacher was aware of the situation, he called me to his desk and told me to focus, but if I didn’t do well, then he would allow me to take it again given the situation.”
“That was nice of him.” Some teachers are great and others are complete jerks. I know at least two of his teachers who couldn’t care less what he is going through. He’s expected to push all that aside, focus, and do well.
“I have an A in that class, so it’s not like I don’t know the material, and I think he knows that.” His history teacher is a great guy.
“I’m proud of you.”
“Me too,” Amber says, “It’s great you were able to focus and get done what you needed to do.”
Ethan’s eyes go wide. “Is that fried chicken you’re making?”
“It is. I wanted to make you something special.” Her hands are covered in batter.
“You are the best.” He runs over and wraps her in a hug. “Thanks. I love your fried chicken.”
“Do you have homework?” she asks him.
“Just some math.” He pulls it out of his backpack. “It’s this one worksheet. There are six questions.”
“Get it done, and you can help me,” she tells him.
“Sweet!” He started helping Amber cook and took even more of an interest after we took him to the cooking class with us. It was really a great experience for all of us, and I feel like it helped Ethan and Amber grow closer. Not that she can ever replace Laney, but it’s nice that they get along, and he truly respects her.
Ethan gets to work on his math, and Amber slows down so he can help her out. Her chicken is a bit of a process, so it’s nice he wants to help because at this point I know how to make a few things. I can actually follow a recipe now, but I still have no he desire to cook meals.
“Done!” Ethan shouts, shoving everything into his bag and running to his room to put it away.
He’s about to pick up a piece of chicken when Amber shouts, “Hands!”
“Oh yeah, sorry.” He quickly washes his hands and dives in following her steps. We have an amazing air fryer that allows her to cook about nine pieces of chicken at a time. It’s plenty for us for one meal, but she never makes one meal of anything, seeing that we’re on the go so much.
She shows him how to set the air fryer. He presses start. It’s pretty quick, but it’s still going to be about twenty minutes before they’re done. Amber looks at him with an adorable smile as he washes his hands. It’s clear her love for him has grown, and it’s wonderful to see.
“Ethan, have a seat,” I say.
Ethan and Amber take a seat at the table so we can keep an eye on the chicken. “Is this going to be the mom talk?”
“It is.” I nod. “Your mother was taken to rehab today.”
His brows furrow. “She’s a drug addict?” he asks, confused.
“No, son, she’s an alcoholic. Rehabs are for alcoholics too. Apparently, she has
a major drinking problem that no one knew about. She showed up to court drunk, and the judge picked up on it. She offered her rehab or jail. Your mother was smart and picked rehab.”
“So where is she?”
“I’m waiting to hear from your grandfather,” I tell him.
“Can we see her?” he asks, picking at his fingers. A nervous habit he’s had for years.
“Probably not right away, but eventually we should be able to. Your grandfather is going to pull some strings to see if he can get in to see her. Unfortunately, being a minor, you probably won’t be allowed to visit her for a while. She’s going to have to be a little bit better first.”
Ethan sits quiet, trying to take it all in. No doubt it’s a lot for him. He’s not only just discovered his mother is an alcoholic, but he doesn’t know when he’ll see her again. That thought isn’t so bad when it’s by your own choice, but when that choice is taken away, it’s harder to swallow.
“Do you think that’s why she was being so mean?” he asks sadly.
“It’s possible.”
“You know, Ethan. You may not be able to see her, but maybe you can send a note with your grandfather. Maybe that will help her stay strong because this won’t be easy for her to overcome,” Amber suggests.
Ethan shrugs. “I don’t know, but I hope she gets better.” Ethan bites his cheek.
“We know, son, and we do too. Your mother and I stopped getting along, but that doesn’t mean I have any ill will toward her. Actually, it’s quite the opposite. I wish we could all get along, so she can be a positive part of your life.”
The timer on the air fryer beeps, letting us know that the chicken is done. “Do you have any questions?” I ask him, while Amber gets up to tend to the chicken.
“No, not really.” He shakes his head.
“Well, know that if you do, we’re here for you.”
“Thanks, Dad.” He hugs me and then helps Amber make the remainder of the chicken so we can eat dinner.
We have an extremely busy day today. Ethan has a game at eleven, and then we have to come home and clean up because Judge Mackey is coming over this evening for dinner. Ethan and I are going to cook together. He told me he wants to make his grandfather a meal, and I think it’s an awesome idea. I’m so glad he enjoys helping me. It’s a really good life skill to have.
