Famke took her seat back next to Royal shaking with unbridled rage. The next several witnesses were the doctors and nurses and even the cop who once looked for Prince as a favor to his nurse wife on behalf of Famke. Yet she couldn’t stop the fury in her belly. Being accused of fooling around with a married man wasn’t sitting well with her.
By the time the court recessed, she was a quivering mess. Royal pulled her to a quiet corner of the lobby and cupped her cheeks.
“Breathe, baby girl.”
“How fucking dare, he outright suggest, I was screwing around with Prince? Your mother put this nonsense into everyone’s head and it’s insulting.”
“Yes, she did. We knew this shit was going to be thrown out there though. I know it hurts your feelings and your pride but they’re grasping at straws. They need to prove Mom wasn’t part of the kidnapping and they’ll fight dirty. I love you,” he didn’t look away from her. “No matter what the outcome in there is today, I love you.”
“I love you too.” She closed her eyes as he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight.
Jubi and Cliff approached quietly and then Cliff wrapped them all in a tight hug.
“Thanks,” she whispered, grateful for the love of the people holding her.
“Cliff?” Imani’s voice spoke softly behind them. “You’re really not going to speak to me ever again?”
He turned slowly to face her and shook his head. “I have nothing to say to you. I don’t care what the outcome of this trial is, I know you’re guilty. You put it in his head to take the baby and run. Whether you were part of it from day one or not, doesn’t matter to me. What matters to me is I know what you did and instead of making it right, admitting what you’ve done wrong and apologizing, you’re dragging out this bullshit.”
“Actually Mom, yet again, you’re wrong. You did this but Famke was the only one who said we shouldn’t press charges. All of this is Dad and Royal’s doing with a hell of a lot of my support. For the record, after the way you’ve continued to push the narrative of blaming everyone but yourself, I want to make sure you understand how ashamed I am to be your daughter. I echo everything Royal said. You’re not my mother. Not today and not ever again.”
“No. Not even for a moment. Hewas Mindy’s husband and so my heart never once went there.”
Any further conversation was stalled as the court was called back into session.
Thirty minutes later, Imani was on the stand and Famke needed to give her credit. She appeared collected and poised as she sat there. Her lawyer was painting her as a strong matriarch who worked tirelessly to support her children and drive them to success. She possessed strong moral values, was a good Christian woman who never missed a Sunday of service and put her children first.
However, the prosecutor was up now, and he stood staring at Imani for several seconds before he finally spoke. “Mrs. Robinson, you consider yourself a strong family-oriented woman, don’t you?”
“You would do anything for your sons, your daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Even lie?”
Imani didn’t respond.
“Answer the question. Would you lie for or to your children if you felt it benefitted them?”
“Yes, if thesituation warranted it.”
“Like, for example, when your son Royal dated a girlfriend, you didn’t approve of in high school, you lied to him about seeing her with another boy. Didn’t you?” When she stalled, he waved to the gallery, “they’re all aware of it.”
“She came to my house high and reeking of marijuana. She wasn’t good enough for him.”
“You lied though. Right?”
“Yes.” She straightened her spine.
“You couldn’t control Royal as well as Prince though. Right? Royal was, still is, much closer to his father than his mother. They have more in common. You couldn’t interfere as much in his life as Prince’s? He would send you home when you tried to interfere. Infact, the situation with the girl came to light in senior year of high school and Royal opted to stay on campus for college. Right?”
She shrugged wordlessly.
“But Prince, he liked you taking care of him and handling all of his problems?”
“He relied on me, yes.”
“He was drunk. Your son had a drinking problem in senior year, and you not only covered for him, but you also created an elaborate scheme to get him off.”
“Yes. I asked a physician to write me a letter to outline Prince needed to retake his exams because he was ill. Alcoholism is a serious disease. It wasn’t a lie.”
“And he got to retake allof his exams?”
“He got into his good school?”
“Yes. The same one Royal attended. He wanted to beclose to his big brother.”
“How often did you visit your son on campus at university?”
“A few times a semester.”