“Yes, Your Honor,” Jalen responded.
“Why is that?” Judge Davis inquired.
“Valerie has never been much of a parental figure. She would come and go as she pleased. Even when she was there, I raisedmy sisters. So, when I was eighteen, I petitioned for full custody of all five of them. Valerie never responded to the summons, and I was given custody when I was nineteen.”
Jalen watched as Judge Davis wrote some notes, nodding at her response before he turned his attention to Valerie.
“Is this true, Mrs. Hollis-Edwards?”
“Your honor, I was the best mother that I could be to my girls. Did I need a break now and then? Yes, but what parent doesn’t?”
Jalen refrained from rolling her eyes because here Valerie was, outright lying to the judge. She may have needed a break, but those breaks spanned months and then a year or more at a time. Valerie was also in no way the best mother she could be when she was around. Her good parenting was only extended to them when she wasn’t around.
“We’ll circle back to this. Ms. Hollis, I hear that you have quite a few character witnesses here on your behalf?”
“Yes, Your Honor,” Jalen responded.
“Counselor, you have the floor,” Judge Davis informed Meila.
“Thank you, Your Honor. I’d like to call Lauren Henley to the stand.”
Over the next forty-five minutes, Jalen listened to Ms. Henley, Vega, Trent, Vivian, and Maria give their character statements and answer questions Meila and Valerie’s lawyer posed to them. Jalen knew what he was doing when he kept trying to trip them up or ask them questions where he thought the answer would make her look bad.
“Your Honor, I’d like to call my final character witness to the stand, Kodi Hollis,” Meila said. A moment later, her little sister walked into the courtroom and took a seat. “Kodi, will you state your relation to Jalen and Valerie?” Meila asked.
“Jalen is my older sister and guardian. Valerie gave birth to me.”
“She’s your mother?” Meila confirmed.
“She gave birth to me,” Kodi repeated.
“Can you tell us how long Jalen has taken care of you?”
Jalen watched Kodi shrug. “Since I was old enough to remember.”
Meila nodded. “Can you tell us what it was like growing up in a household with Valerie?”
“I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy,” Kodi started. “Jalen and I were always screamed at about something. Hit for one reason or another. For a child, not knowing if breathing in the wrong direction was going to get you slapped across the face was terrifying.”
“You’re saying it was an abusive environment?” Meila questioned.
“Yes.”
“For all of you?”
“No,” Kodi responded, shaking her head. “Just Jalen and me, mostly. Landon got yelled at sometimes, but Valerie didn’t put her hands on anyone but the two of us.”
“Why do you think that is?” Meila asked.
“I don’t think. I know it’s because we protected them from it. Jalen protected us from it.”
“How long did this go on?” Meila inquired.
“Until I was nine.”
“And why did it stop?”
Jalen watched Kodi glance at her, and she gave her sister a reassuring smile. She didn’t regret what happened because it let Valerie know she wouldn’t take her shit and allow her to keep putting her hands on them, to keep abusing them. It turned the situation in a new direction because it caused Valerie to stay away.
