Black or White Page #8

Shut your mouth!

Today is not the day

for you to lose sight of what's real.

This is a little girl's life

we're talking about.

She has a family.

She has a father.

And unless you let her know right now

that she's worth fighting for,

she'll never feel in her little heart

that she's worth a damn.

You understand?

All of you.

You're all precious and perfect,

and every one of you would be worth

whatever the fight was to keep close.

We don't want anything else

out of this cranky-ass old man,

not one cent, not one concession,

you hear me?

We just want our blood close.

Your blood, Reggie.

Now she needs to be good with you.

She needs to be in your life, baby,

making you whole.

That's why you're so sick.

That's why you're so broken.

I love you. OK?

Now pull yourself together.

Pull yourself together!

You got a job to do.

Probably should've been doing that

a lot more while you were growing up.

We wouldn't be in this situation.

Mr. Davis, when was the last time

you saw your daughter?

About a month or two ago.

How did she seem to you at that time?

She seemed good.

A little lonely.

Kinda lost, maybe like she wanted

to say more, but thought she couldn't.

Say more about what?

I guess about living

with her granddaddy or something.

Uh, Your Honor? Your Honor, if I may?

Eloise has had nine sessions

with the state's child therapist

and the Jeffers' stipulated

psychiatrist.

Not one of those reports came back

that Eloise was a child

who didn't feel safe enough to

say what was on her mind on any subject.

Move along, Counselor.

Thank you.

Mr. Davis,

just so the court has it straight,

you do have a criminal record,

is that correct?

Yes, sir, I do.

Now you have been convicted of:

Robbery, drug possession, assault,

drug possession with intent to sell.

Did I leave anything out?

No, sir. That's... that's about it.

Mr. Davis, at one point,

you were smoking crack every day.

- Is that correct?

- Yeah. Yeah, pretty much.

And why do you think that was?

What do you think led you

to taking all these drugs?

I think I...

I guess I just...

I don't know, man. I don't know.

Emotional pain. Emotional...

He was in pain, Your Honor.

He let his family down, he lost his way.

The drugs were a way for the boy

to hide the pain of losing his daddy

and letting his family down.

Ms. Jeffers?

You open your mouth like that again,

you'll leave this room.

You may even have handcuffs on.

Counselor, I'm not kidding, not one bit.

As impossible as the task may be,

you're gonna have to figure out

a way to control her, OK? Go on.

How long have you been

clean from drug use, Reggie?

About two years.

I've been up in Seattle,

rebuilding my life.

Building a path back to my girl,

to my family.

And you have a job now, is that correct?

Yeah. Yeah, I do.

I work with my mother now.

She, uh, she has a real estate business.

She does some ad sales.

Plus, she got a website business.

Actually, she's got like six businesses.

So, Reggie, at this time, do you feel

that you are able to take over

the care and guidance of your daughter?

No.

I mean...

I mean, not yet, Your Honor.

I think if she lived with my mother,

and I get some help from my sister

and her wife across the street

while I continue my rehabilitation,

I can slowly grow into a relationship,

be the daddy and all that,

that I need to be.

Thank you, Reggie.

That's all for now, Your Honor.

Little man, come here.

One second, Your Honor, please?

Call for a lunch break.

He looks... like he needs some air.

He looks a little fidgety.

We can't do that now. It's too early.

If we call for lunch,

it'll just underline to the judge

- how hard all this is on him.

- He needs a break.

- We can't do that.

- Call for a break.

Rowena, you are damn hard to take.

Your Honor, we were wondering

if we could break early for lunch now

before counsel takes

its testimony from Mr. Davis?

Mr. Reynolds, any problem with that?

We want to cross now.

All right, I'm worried the judge is

gonna see that as you being belligerent.

Now is not the time

to go light on this guy.

I have a question I want him to answer.

He wants to go with this.

No, Elliott, no.

No, not after lunch.

Now. I want to ask him now.

Uh, Your Honor, seeing as how thorough

Mr. Davis' lawyer has been,

we only have a couple of questions.

So if we can just

move ahead of schedule,

we feel we can get to Mr. Anderson's

testimony after lunch.

That's fine. Go ahead.

Mr. Davis, you have a tenth grade

high school education.

You can read pretty good, is that right?

Yeah. Yeah, I read fine. I just...

I don't have time and all, but...

And how is your spelling?

I'm OK with my spelling.

OK, so, how would you

spell the name... Eloise?

Your Honor, please, this has

nothing to do with why we're here.

I want to hear him spell it.

Go ahead, Mr. Davis,

spell your daughter's name.

OK.

Um...

L... Right?

L-O-E-Z-E.

Eloise.

- OK, Mr. Reynolds, anything else?

- No, Your Honor. Thank you.

That's lunch.

All rise.

- How old are you, Mr. Araga?

- I am 19.

And you are Miss Anderson's tutor?

Yes, I tutor Eloise.

Basic mathematics, division, Algebra,

introductory grammar skills.

And I understand you speak languages.

How many languages

do you speak, Duvan?

Currently, uh, there are nine languages

that I would call myself fluent in.

I have four others

that I struggle through.

Your Honor, I have written a paper

on language learning

as a system of tension release

for the North American

Board of Mental Health Physicians.

OK.

Thank you.

So, Mr. Araga, when you tutor Eloise,

where's her grandfather?

- Is he in the other room?

- Oh, no. He is with us.

- He is being tutored as well.

- He's right there with you.

Yes, I have a combination package

on tutoring two people at once

that I have worked out

with Mr. Anderson.

So would you say that he is very

involved in Eloise's studying?

Extremely involved.

Would you say more or less

than the other parents

- whose children you work with?

- Oh...

I would say much, much more.

Thank you.

That's all, Your Honor.

Mr. Araga, what other services

do you provide for Mr. Anderson?

I tutor Eloise, piano lessons,

and I am also sometimes his driver.

Oh. Why does he need a driver?

Sometimes, he will call me

to come and drive for him and I do.

It is not on any of the lists

that I have given you,

because it is not

a standard service that I offer.

What condition is he in

when you are required to drive for him?

I suppose maybe he is tired or...

has a lot on his mind?

Does Mr. Anderson

have a drinking problem?

I am not an expert on alcohol

or substance abuse detection

or even addiction control issues.

It is not something that I have

gotten into as a field of study

for either work or recreation.

Obviously not.

You haven't written a paper on it.

Mr. Araga, have you ever

seen Mr. Anderson intoxicated?

Mr. Araga?

Yes, I have.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes