When Bishop still didn’t respond, Luke said, “Didn’t you in fact tell my client to keep quiet, and just let her poor husband continue to think that the child was his?”
Gasps were heard across the courtroom as the onlookers listened to the unthinkable.
“Aren’t men of God supposed to repent when they’ve done something wrong? But if they have you playing God on earth, covering up their actions, why do they need to repent to the God in heaven?”
“I’ve never tried to play God. And under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have tried to cover that up either.”
“Ah, but why wouldn’t Pastor Thomas have been treated like any other pastor within your fellowship?” Luke paused as Bishop squirmed. He then turned and spotted Cassandra and pointed at her. “It’s because of her, isn’t it, Bishop?”
Cassandra saw the look of horror on Bishop’s face. She had no idea how Diane’s attorney found out that she was Bishop Turner’s daughter, but she knew where he was going with this line of questioning. And she couldn’t let him do it. Yes, she wanted her father to admit that she belonged to him, but not like this… not being forced like this. She stood up, and for the second time in a month, interrupted another judge’s courtroom. “Stop! Leave him alone!” she screamed.
“Sit down, Baby-Girl. It’s high time that I atone for my sins,” Bishop said as tears flowed down his cheeks.
“Don’t do it. You don’t have to,” she told him. She didn’t want to be responsible for him losing everything, which is surely what would happen if he admitted in open court that she was his daughter.”
Bishop sat up straighter in his seat, wiped the tears from his face and said, “You are right. Cassandra was the reason this situation was different. She’s my daughter and I didn’t want her hurt by what JT had done.”
“Don’t you mean, your illegitimate daughter?”
Gasps went around the courtroom again. Several reporters jumped up and quickly left the room, having received their scoop for the day.
“How long have you been married, Bishop?”
“Forty-two years,” he announced proudly.
“And how old is your illegitimate daughter?” Luke asked with an emphasis on illegitimate.
“She’s thirty-six.” He ran his hand from his forehead to the back of his neck. “Look, I’m not proud of what I did. Yes, you’re right. I had a daughter by another woman, but my wife and I love Cassandra. I’m just sorry it took me this long to publicly acknowledge that she’s mine. Because it has been a blessing to my soul every day she has been alive.” He turned to Cassandra, and without caring about hidden secrets or the consequences that were sure to come, he said, “I love you, Baby-Girl. That’s a fact.” He then lowered his head and his shoulders shook as his heart released years of unshed tears.
Watching her father break down like that was heart wrenching for Cassandra. She had worshipped this man for so long, adored him and sought only to please him. But that had been when she thought he was her godfather. Once she found out that he was her father, she’d been struggling to forgive him for all the years of denial and deception. But seeing just how much his own deception had hurt him also, broke something in Cassandra and she found that she no longer had the strength to hold a grudge against her father. She wanted him back in her life… needed him.
Luke appeared shaken by the apparent broken man before him. He stepped back and told the judge. “I have no further questions.”
Judge Landon brought the gavel down. “We will adjourn this case until tomorrow.”
Cassandra stood up and ran to Bishop. The bailiff held out his hand, stopping her from entering the witness box. Bishop stood and came to her. They hugged and cried in one another’s arms. Just as they were breaking apart, Cassandra whispered, “I love you too, Daddy.”
Twenty-Nine
“I hate to break it to you, but you’re getting your hats handed to you in that courtroom. Now I see why Mrs. T wanted that money,” Lamont said as he sat at the kitchen table with JT and Bishop.
“She hasn’t won yet. There’s a whole other side that the judge hasn’t heard yet. Just wait, our turn is coming,” JT said confidently.
“You say that like you’ve got a trick up your sleeve.” Bishop said.
JT looked back and saw Cassandra sitting with her mother in the family room. He turned back to Bishop and said, “I do, but I don’t want to say anything right now. I don’t want Cassandra to overhear and then get excited, just in case things don’t go the way I expect them to.”
“All right, son,” Bishop said as he patted JT on the shoulder and stood. “I’ll see you tomorrow in court, but right now I need to go talk to Mattie.”
JT stood up. “Are you sure you want to do that? I mean, yeah, she’s been a lot easier to deal with since the stroke, but I’m not sure if she’s mellowed any towards you.”
“I’m tired of hiding from it, JT. I owe Mattie an apology that’s thirty-six years late in coming,” Bishop said and then left JT and Lamont in the kitchen as he went into the family room.
JT turned to Lamont and said, “I need you to be on time tomorrow.”
“I got this,” Lamont said while slapping his chest. “Don’t worry about a thing.”
JT then turned toward the family room and watched Bishop say something to Cassandra. Cassandra then left the room and came into the kitchen with him.
“What’s going on?” she asked JT.
JT couldn’t take his eyes off Mattie and Bishop Turner. “He said he’s going to apologize.”
“What? I’ve got to see this.” Cassandra turned toward the family room and invaded her parents’ privacy.
“What’s the big deal? I apologize to people all the time,” Lamont said.
“Yeah, but you never got on Mattie Daniels’s bad side,” JT said.
They were all gawking into the family room now. They each watched in amazement as Mattie sat up and stretched out her hand to Bishop. He shook it and a truce between the two of them, although almost forty years late, had finally been forged.
JT turned to Cassandra and said, “Did you see that?”
“I see it. I just don’t believe what I’m seeing,” she replied.
“Just think, Sanni. If God can bring a truce between those two, imagine what He can do for us.”
The next day in the courtroom, JT and Cassandra witnessed a bit of what God could do for them. Their attorney, Tom quickly cross-examined Bishop Turner and then let him get off the stand without any more damage to his reputation.
Then Diane took the stand, she raised her right hand and swore to tell the truth. She then sat down, and the judge, her lawyer and anyone else listening heard that she and her husband had a happy marriage before JT seduced her.
When it was Tom’s turn to cross-examine her, he reviewed his notes as if he hadn’t already read the information numerous times. He then turned to Diane and said, “Now, Mrs. Benson, you stated that if it hadn’t been for JT, you and your husband would have a perfect marriage. Is that correct?”
“Well, yes, I love my husband and would never have cheated on him if JT hadn’t manipulated me into the whole affair,” Diane said in her poor-me-I’m-an-innocent-pawn voice.
“You also stated that JT is the only man you’ve ever cheated on your husband with. Is that correct?”
“Didn’t I already say that?” Diane was becoming defiant now.
Tom turned his back to Diane and faced the outer court as he said, “Mr. Johnson, would you please stand up?”
Brian Johnson stood up and waved at Diane.
Tom turned back to his witness and asked, “Do you recognize Mr. Johnson?”
Diane glared at Tom.
“Can you answer the question, Mrs. Benson? And please remember that you swore to tell the truth.”
“Of course I know Brian. He used to work for my husband.”
“When you left your husband last year, didn’t you leave with Mr. Johnson?” Tom asked.
“Objection!”
Luke said as he jumped from his seat. “Your honor, he’s trying to villainize the victim.”
“The witness opened the door when she claimed that she had only cheated on her husband with Mr. Thomas. I should, therefore, be allowed to cross on her sworn testimony.”
“Overruled, the witness may answer,” Judge Landon declared.
Diane rolled her eyes as she said, “I most certainly did not leave town with the likes of Brian Johnson.” Diane’s voice elevated to the point where it was obvious to everyone that she was irritated by the line of questioning.
Tom walked back to his table, opened a file folder, pulled out a document and walked back over to Diane. He held the document in front of her. “What is this document?”
Diane reviewed the document and then answered, “It’s a lease agreement.”
“And can you tell us the names of the tenants on the lease agreement?” Tom asked.
Rolling her eyes again, she leaned back in her seat and said, “Diane Benson and Brian Johnson.”
Oohs and aahs could be heard throughout the courtroom. Judge Landon banged his gavel. “Quiet in the courtroom.”
Tom then asked, “If you didn’t leave town with Mr. Johnson, how did your names get on the rental agreement just four days after you left Cleveland?”
Her eyes were focused on the ceiling. With tight lips she said, “I don’t know.”
Benson stood up and yelled at Diane. “What do you mean you don’t know? You told me you left town to think. You swore to me that you hadn’t left with Brian.”
Luke stood up and grabbed Benson’s arm. He leaned over and whispered in his ear. “Sit down, man. You can’t do this in court.”
Benson yanked his arm out of Luke’s grasp and then sat back down.
“What about Darryl Mills?” Tom asked when things quieted back down.
“What about him?” Diane asked defiantly.
“Did you start having an affair with the very married Mr. Darryl Mills after Mr. Johnson left you in Jacksonville, Florida?”
“Is there a point to this line of questioning?” Lukeasked, back on his feet again.
Judge Landon squared his eyes on Tom and said, “The counselor does have a point. I don’t know how many more men I’m going to allow you to bring up in the courtroom today. Because it is beginning to appear as if you’re trying to make Mrs. Benson the villain.”
“No, sir,” Tom hurriedly said. “I don’t believe that Mrs. Benson is a villain, but I don’t think she’s a victim either. She and JT were two adults who willingly decided to do something they knew was wrong. And furthermore, Mrs. Benson hasn’t stopped, so how traumatized could she be from her affair with Mr. Thomas?”
In true dramatic form, Luke stood back up, threw his pen across the table and bellowed, “Objection! Your Honor, how much more of this does my client have to endure?”
Tom looked toward the door, hoping that it would swing open and the person he was waiting on would run into the courtroom. When the door didn’t open, he turned to Judge Landon and said, “Your Honor, I do have one more thing to ask the witness, but I need a ten minute recess before I can continue.”
It was ten o’clock and Lamont was nowhere near the courthouse. He had stopped at a copy center so he could download the pictures from his camera and print them out. Once he paid for his computer usage and the printing, he jumped back in the 2007 Buick LaCrosse that JT talked him into buying. He needed to be at the courthouse in twenty minutes so that he could give the photos he’d taken to Tom Albright, but the car wouldn’t start.
He popped the hood, got out the car and slammed the door. “See what being cheap does? I bet that Escalade would have started right up.”
Lamont didn’t have much experience under the hood of a car, so he tinkered with a few of the plugs and then closed the hood. He got back in the car and tried to start it again, but it didn’t turn over. He tapped his fingers on the dashboard as he tried to figure out what might be wrong with the car. The battery… it’s the battery, he thought as he got back out the car. He looked around wondering where he would find some cables to jump his battery.
“Are you waiting on a witness?” Judge Landon asked while looking at the notes in front of him. “You don’t have another witness logged for today.”
“No, Your Honor,” Tom said. “I don’t have another witness for today. I need to present the court with evidence for my next line of questioning.”
“Objection,” Luke said. “I wasn’t informed about any evidence that council wants to present to the court.”
“I was just made aware of this evidence last night,” Tom informed Judge Landon.
Judge Landon looked at Tom as if he were getting ready to deny his request.
Tom raised his hand and said, “Your Honor, here is the bottom line. I believe this case needs to be dismissed because of collusion.”
“What are you talking about, Mr. Albright?” Judge Landon asked with a scowl on his face.
Tom took a deep breath and plowed ahead. “I believe that the defendant and her attorney have cooked up this case for the sole purpose of extorting money from my client’s former church.” He pointed at Diane as she sat in the witness chair looking like a tiger, ready to pounce on her prey. “Because if the court believes that this woman was manipulated into have sex with my client, then it would stand to reason that Mr. Watson also manipulated her, since he is a man of authority as well.”
Judge Landon leaned his elbows on his desktop and fixed Tom with a look that had caused a multitude of men to confess to their misdeeds. “Are you accusing Mr. Watson of sleeping with his client?”
***
“Thanks, man, I appreciate your help,” Lamont said to the guy who had just jump started his car. He got back in his car and raced to the courthouse. JT had done so much for him. He just wanted to help JT out in his time of need. And he had found a way. Lamont had googled Diane Benson and found her address. He staked out the house for several nights, following her whenever she left the house.
A few nights ago he hit pay dirt. Diane met a man in a hotel room and Lamont was there to photograph it.
“I can prove it, Your Honor. I just need a few more minutes.” Tom looked toward the door with a longing expression on his face. Come on, Lamont.
As if he’d heard Tom’s plea, the door to the courtroom opened and Lamont walked in with a manila envelope in his hand. He looked at Tom and nodded.
Tom stepped away from the bench and signaled Lamont to approach. Lamont handed him the manila envelope and then sat down and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Tom turned back to the judge and said, “Mr. Lamont Steven’s informed my client of these pictures yesterday. I viewed them on his camera, but asked that he print them out so that I might present them to the court.” Tom handed the photos to Judge Landon. “As you can see, Your Honor, the photos clearly show Mr. Watson and Mrs. Benson in bed together.”
The courtroom erupted. Benson stood up and punched Luke in the face. “How dare you take my money and sleep with my wife, too.”
“Joe, it’s not true,” Diane yelled from the witness stand.
“I don’t want to hear another word from you. I’m done,” he told her as he grabbed hold of Luke’s shirt and hauled off and punched him again.
Luke fell to the ground and quickly crawled away from Benson. “They’re lying. I didn’t sleep with your wife.”
“I want my money back,” Benson said as two bailiffs grabbed him and hauled him out of the courtroom.
Judge Landon tried to regain order. He banged on the gavel several times. Once the noise had subsided, Judge Landon told Luke to get off the floor. When Luke stood up, Judge Landon held the pictures out to him and asked, “Can you explain this?”
Luke wiped the blood away from his lip with some tissue and then grabbed the pictures. He began sputtering, but no real words escaped his mouth.
“You shouldn’t be her attorney in this case and you know it. I’m granting the defendant’s motion and dismissin
g this case.” Judge Landon brought the gavel down one final time and then stood. But before stepping down from the bench he told Luke, “I want to see you in my chambers at nine in the morning.”
Cassandra jumped up, put her arms around JT’s neck and pulled him close to her. “You did it! You did it!”
JT whispered in her ear, “I told you we didn’t need Lamont’s money.”
“No, just his camera,” Cassandra said as she turned to find Lamont. When she spotted him she mouthed, “Thank you.”
Her spirits were lifted until she watched Diane storm her way over to them. With one hand on her hip and the other pointing in JT’s face she said, “It’s not over. Oh, I promise you that.”
JT lifted his hands. “Look, Diane, I’m tired of fighting. You, me and Cassandra may never see eye to eye on everything, but I’m hoping that we can agree to parent together.”
With the sista-sista neck going, Diane said, “How are we going to parent together when you’re trying to take my parental rights away?” She pointed at her chest. “I birthed Lily, JT. Me, not Cassandra.”
He squeezed Cassandra’s hand as he said, “We realize that, Diane. And I’m willing to work out visitation rights with you.”
Cassandra looked at JT as if he’d lost his mind.
He simply patted her hand and said, “It’s the right thing to do… for Lily.”
Cassandra nodded. She knew he was right. If they kept Lily away from Diane, she would always blame them for her lack of a relationship with her birth mother. Better to let Lily figure out for herself whether or not she wanted Diane in her life.
Diane looked toward the door where Benson had been escorted out after he punched Luke. “It might take a while before I can visit with her. I think I’m going to be looking for a place to stay.” As she walked away, sadness clung to her eyes.
JT turned to Tom, shook his hand and thanked him for everything.
“You did the work, man.” Tom laughed and then said, “I can’t believe it; Luke and Diane handed us such a gift. I thought we were going to lose.”
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