Levi
Mylegbouncedaswe sat on the bench outside the judge’s chambers, waiting for our hearing.
Arizona’s palm came down on my knee, her touch soothing but not enough to quell its restless motion.
“What if he decides I can’t keep her?” I voiced my worst fear aloud.
“That’s not going to happen,” she promised.
“But Hilda—”
“All Hilda saw when she came to check on Maisie was a happy, well-adjusted girl who adores her father. There is simply nothing she can say that will make the judge believe that putting Maisie back in foster care is better than letting you raise her.”
I wanted to believe her. I really did.
But still, I’d plotted out the fastest route to Mexico, just in case Maisie and I had to go on the run in order to stay together.
Under my breath, I muttered, “Where the hell is the lawyer?”
Almost as if on cue, the nearby elevator dinged before the doors slid open, and a frazzled Jonathan burst forth.
Breathing heavily, he panted out, “Sorry I’m late. They didn’t call us back yet, did they?”
“If they did, we’d have been shit out of luck, wouldn’t we?” I snapped.
“Levi,” Arizona chastised.
“Sorry, I’m just—”
“Nervous, we know,” my wife and my lawyer said in unison.
Shoes squeaked on linoleum, and I lifted my head to find Hilda on approach, her scowl firmly fixed in place.
“Mr. Nixon,” she greeted me, unable to hide the disdain in her voice.
Unable to stop myself, I blurted, “What is your problem? Why are you trying to keep me from my daughter?”
Hilda didn’t bat an eyelash. “It’s my job to protect Maisie.”
“From her own father?” I cried.
She scoffed. “You never wanted to be a father.”
My temper began to rise. “Listen, lady—”
I didn’t get a chance to finish that thought before she spat, “You athletes are all alike. You chew women up and spit them out like they mean nothing. And God forbid you get one pregnant; all you do is throw money at them to ‘make it go away.’”
There was so much venom in her voice that I reared back. That sounded almost personal.
“Whoa, Hilda.” I held up both hands. “I don’t know who hurt you, but I’m not him.”
The woman’s eyes went wide, like she was just realizing she’d given us insight as to exactly why she was so biased toward me.
“Judge Jeffries will see you now.”
All of our heads turned to find that a clerk had opened the door, and the look of displeasure on the judge’s face from within his chambers betrayed that he’d heard the entire altercation.
We filed into the room. Arizona and I took up the same seats as the last time we’d been here.
