Mother Load (6 page)

“Then I guess that job falls to me,” Anna said with an indulgent sigh before striding around her desk to give her old friend a congratulatory hug. “Does this mean you’re going to write mysteries full time?”

“When I’m not too busy being retired,” Carmen said over her shoulder as she started out. When she reached the doorway, she stopped. “Speaking of your mother…I saw a lot of her in the way you handled this downsizing. She always tried her best to put people first too.”

“That’s nice to hear. It makes me proud.”

“You’d make her proud…which is exactly what all of us want from our kids.”

Judge Maynard “Rusty” Evans, his orange hair and black robe looking like holdovers from Halloween, scanned the docket before him, his face flashing annoyance. Periodically he frowned down from the bench over his half-glasses, first at Lily and her client, then at Pete Simpkins and his.

“I see the Esperanzas are back with us. Has anyone looked into getting these two assigned parking in the garage?” He glared at Miguel, then at Maria. “What’s this? Ten times? Twenty times? I see you two more than I see my wife.”

Lily bowed her head to hide her smirk. By her count she had appeared in court nineteen times in all with Maria Esperanza as her client, over half of those in Rusty Evans’s court. He nearly always sided with Maria when it came to the welfare of the children, but the other judges were less dependable. At least Judge Halden had seen fit to grant an emergency restraining order last month barring Miguel from coming within a hundred yards of Maria.

“I can hardly wait for the next thrilling chapter. Why don’t we begin with you, Ms. Stewart?”

Lily cleared her throat and looked at him awkwardly. She appreciated that old habits were hard to break, but she had married and changed her legal name nearly three years ago.

“My apologies. Ms. Kaklis.”

She had carefully crafted her opening statement to hit all of the arguments most likely to sway this particular judge, even adding a few to inoculate against the counter arguments Pete was likely to make on Miguel’s behalf. “Your Honor, three weeks ago on October twentieth, my client, Maria Esperanza, sought and was granted a temporary restraining order against her ex-husband, Miguel Esperanza, who is here in this courtroom today.” As she submitted her document into evidence, she picked up what she thought was a hint of disdain on Judge Evans’s face as he looked at Miguel. That would work in her favor.

“The cause of that order, detailed in an official report to the Los Angeles Police Department, was an allegation that Mr. Esperanza had appeared at her home, brandished a gun and threatened—in his words—to make her sorry for all the trouble she had caused him.” She submitted this report also, along with Miguel’s numerous arrest records. “On four occasions, Mr. Esperanza has committed violence against my client, each time resulting in arrest. He has two convictions for domestic battery and eight months incarceration in the county jail, for which he was paroled one week prior to the alleged incident.”

The judge cast another scolding look at Miguel.

“Today we are asking the court to make the restraining order permanent, to bar Mr. Esperanza from coming within one hundred yards of her residence, her workplace or those of her family members. We also request that he be barred from contacting her by mail or delivery, by phone, by e-mail or by any other means. In addition, Your Honor, we are seeking permanent revocation of Mr. Esperanza’s visitation rights with their two minor children, Sofia and Roberto.”

She held up the paper Sandy had given her at lunch, hoping to drive home her point that Miguel was a violent man who could not be trusted with the welfare of his children. “I submit to this court a sworn affidavit from Ms. Sandra Henke, the children’s social worker, who documents interventions pursuant to each arrest, two of which resulted in visitation restrictions for Mr. Esperanza pending completion of parenting and anger management classes. Though no physical abuse against the children was alleged, Sofia and Roberto subsequently received therapeutic services for psychological and behavioral problems thought to have resulted from their proximity to violence in the home. Their most recent assessment, conducted during Mr. Esperanza’s incarceration, found both children to be healthy and well-adjusted, and performing satisfactorily in school. Given Mr. Esperanza’s past behavior in which he threatened and committed violence, we ask the court to permanently safeguard these children and allow them to continue their progress by granting Mrs. Esperanza’s request.”

She returned to her seat beside Maria, confident she had presented the best case against Miguel given the facts. There was speculation, but no actual documentation, that Miguel had very little interaction with his daughter and routinely dropped her at his parents’ home. His primary interest was Roberto—specifically to encourage machismo in his timid son. If she had been able to argue that his parental influence would likely result in another generation of abuse, her case would have been a slam dunk. Instead she had to hope Rusty Evans would read between the lines.

Pete Simpkins took the podium and pensively viewed his notes as if delaying his remarks for dramatic effect. She had known Pete for seven years, since his early days in the public defender’s office. Now he worked for one of the smaller downtown firms, but continued to represent Miguel Esperanza as a pro bono client. At nearly six and a half feet tall, he towered over her, which usually brought a chuckle from the judge whenever they approached the bench side-by-side. These days he was sporting a stylish beard that squared his jaw and made him seem less mild-mannered. Though she generally thought of him as a friend, she rarely saw him outside their adversarial meetings in the courtroom.

“Today, Counselor?”

“Yes, Your Honor. I’m sorry. Thank you for hearing this case today.”

Judge Evans lifted his hands in the air. “What can I say, Mr. Simpkins? It’s my job.”

Pete chuckled uneasily, as if realizing he had scored no points for his polite gesture. “Your Honor, as you know, the LAPD and the Department of Corrections take the terms of one’s probation very seriously. Subsequent to these allegations by Mrs. Esperanza, my client’s probation officer and the LAPD initiated a comprehensive search for a gun in my client’s possession, namely the one she reported to police. No such weapon was discovered at my client’s home, his parents’ home or in his motor vehicle. Furthermore, there is no record of a sale and we have discovered no other witnesses who can attest to having seen Mr. Esperanza in the possession of a handgun.” He cast a dubious glance at Maria before continuing. “Ms. Kaklis is correct that my client has been arrested four times for domestic disturbances, and convicted twice of criminal behavior. However, Mrs. Esperanza declined to press charges on one of those occasions, and in the other my client was cleared of the charges for lack of evidence.”

Lily shot to her feet. “Objection. Counselor’s claim misstates the facts. Charges were dismissed on one occasion against Mr. Esperanza, but he was not cleared.”

“Sustained.”

“Apologies, Your Honor. Charges were dismissed for insufficient evidence. We contend that Mrs. Esperanza has a history of making unsubstantiated claims. That seems to be the case here as well.”

She was frankly surprised that Pete had made such a rookie mistake in saying his client was cleared, and also that he seemed to be studying his notes as if seeing them for the first time. It wasn’t like him to come to court unprepared.

“As for the question of visitation, Mrs. Esperanza has made numerous efforts—some in violation of this court’s orders—to interfere with my client’s visitation rights. In the absence of irrefutable evidence that his presence in their lives is detrimental to their well-being, there is no justification for curtailing parental rights.”

It was by far the weakest case Pete had ever made, and she almost wondered if he was sandbagging. The Esperanzas would try anyone’s patience, and it wouldn’t surprise her if this was Pete’s way—even subconsciously—of washing his hands of Miguel.

Judge Evans took a long time to respond and when he did, he sounded flummoxed. “You’re right, Mr. Simpkins. In the absence of corroborating evidence it would seem only fair to dismiss these allegations. Yet when I look at the whole picture I see a man who has been convicted twice of abusing his wife, proof positive that he is capable of such behavior. While I would like to give Mr. Esperanza the benefit of the doubt that he has been sufficiently rehabilitated by his incarceration, I can also understand why Mrs. Esperanza fears for her safety. As they have no further business with one another that would require direct contact, I see no harm in granting her petition for a permanent restraining order.”

Lily patted Maria’s hand underneath the table, though she feared from the judge’s frustrated tone that their hope for revocation of visitation request was on thin ice.

“I am hesitant, however, to arbitrarily end the relationship between a father and his children. While I am pleased to see that Sofia and Roberto have progressed under their mother’s exclusive care, I would like to give Mr. Esperanza an opportunity to prove he can now be a positive influence in their lives.” Judge Evans removed his glasses and shook them at Miguel. “You cannot do that, sir, if you are making threats and possessing weapons in violation of your probation.”

Miguel nodded meekly without looking up, a sign that Pete hadn’t prepped his client any more than he had prepped his case. The lack of eye contact wouldn’t sit well with a judge like Rusty Evans.

“You will have supervised visitation only for the next six months, at which time I’ll review the recommendations of social services. Miss two sessions or violate this restraining order and I’ll terminate visitation altogether.” He slapped his gavel. “We’re done here.”

Anna was met at the door by Chester’s deep bark and the lingering smell of a dinner she had probably missed. Following her nose to the kitchen, she found Lily and Andy still seated at the small breakfast nook in the bay window. The family ate most meals here, since Anna had commandeered the dining room table three months ago for her spreadsheets and ledgers.

“We tried to wait, but you know how this guy is about his macaroni and cheese,” Lily said, tipping her head in the direction of their son, who was happily wolfing down his favorite dish.

“That’s okay. Sorry I’m late.” Had she known about the macaroni, she would have lingered at the office for another hour or so. It was possibly her least favorite food, but she had to eat some or lose the moral high ground in convincing Andy to eat vegetables. “Yum, asparagus.”

Right on cue he made a face, though he plucked the stalk on his plate with his fingers and gamely took another bite.

“There’s glazed salmon in the oven,” Lily said. “I’ll get it.”

She sat patiently as Lily prepared her plate, which included a spoonful of the dreaded macaroni. “Thank you so much,” she said drolly.

“What was going on at work? You sounded cranky when you called.”

“Carmen’s leaving. And if that’s not bad enough, Brad Stanley came into my office just when I was walking out the door at a quarter till six to say he was taking the early retirement offer too. Now I have to find a new operations manager for the BMW dealership and I don’t have a candidate with enough experience.” Anna downed the macaroni in two bites and followed it with a large gulp of sparkling water. “And to think I almost got through this without losing anyone critical.”

“I thought you always meant for Holly to move up,” Lily said, a reference to the BMW sales manager, a close friend of Anna’s who kept Chester for them whenever they went out of town.

“I did, but not for another two or three years. She’s only thirty-two years old.”

“And you were what? Twenty-three?”

“I was a prodigy, just like Andy here.” She mussed his hair, smiling at his confusion over the new word.

“What’s a progidy?” he asked.

“A prodigy. It’s someone who’s very smart at a young age. When I was in kindergarten I knew all about cars, just like you.”

“BMWs are the best!”

Anna gave Lily her “I told you so” look, and held up her hand to ward off another spoonful of macaroni. “Not for me. Give it to the boy genius.”

“But I’ve heard you say Holly knows all about cars too.”

“She probably knows all the new specs better than I do, but she’ll have to understand the business side too if she’s going to run operations. She’s never done a budget or a work schedule, she doesn’t deal with personnel, and she doesn’t get off the lot to network with other businesses. You can’t just throw somebody into a job like that head first. The only one I have in the company who’s ready for that is Marco.” Except that Marco, her sales manager at the Premier Volkswagen dealership loved VWs, not Beamers. She was hoping to move him up to head the VW operation when her father decided to call it quits for good, and it would crush him to switch brands.

Lily shrugged and began clearing the dishes. “So make Marco the operations manager for the VW lot and bring George back to take Brad’s place.”

She opened her mouth to object, but couldn’t think why. It was the obvious solution. “I think that’s a…I’m really embarrassed I didn’t think of that myself. It’s perfect.”

“Except that you have to work with George every day, and I bet he won’t like not being the boss.”

Anna’s head was already racing with ideas about how to implement the change. “He’ll love it once he realizes his real job is to train Holly. That means he gets to sit in the VP desk and hand off everything he doesn’t want to do, like the advertising runs, the Chamber of Commerce, firing people, customer complaints…it’ll be the best job he ever had.”

“In which case your biggest problem will be getting him out the door when you’re ready for her to take over.”

“May I be excused?” Andy asked, already squirming from the padded bench that lined the bay window on one side of the table. He hadn’t yet learned to tell time, but knew he had only a short while to play after dinner before his bath and bed.

“You may,” Anna answered, swinging her legs sideways for him to crawl under. “I’ll be in there in a minute.” This was also her time with Andy, the few minutes she usually set aside every day to play with him before bed. As soon as he was gone, she carried her plate to the sink and set it down to wrap her arms around Lily from behind. “What would I ever do without you? You cook. You clean. You give me all your great ideas.” She dropped her hands to Lily’s belly and whispered, “And you even have our baby.”