One Saturday morning, after I've stayed with the Fosters for about a week, Stef wakes me up at the crack of dawn, I'm surprised I manage to sleep. She's whispering.
"Hey sweetie, get dressed and come downstairs."
"Okay, is everything okay?" I whisper back, getting up.
"Yeah it's fine, I'll explain when you get down there."
"Sure, give me five minutes." She leaves, and I rush to get off Callie's pyjamas and put on her clothes from yesterday again, I brush through my hair with my fingers and rush downstairs. Stef and Lena are both dressed and waiting in the kitchen for me.
"What's going on?" I stand in the doorway.
"We got a call from your social worker, the judge got in contact with her and there was an opening today to begin your trial."
"Today?"
"Yeah, but if you're not ready, we can wait," Lena says.
"No, I want to get it over with." I walk closer to them. "I want to put him away for good."
"If you're sure?"
"I am, one hundred percent sure."
"Well alright then, let's go." Stef and Lena get out of their seats and lead me to the door, they've left a note for the others to let them know where we are. In the car, Stef tells me about their lawyer and how I should act when I get in there. Then she brings up John.
"He's going to be there, but you won't have to talk to him. He's entitled to a lawyer too, so they might ask you some awkward questions, might try to catch you out."
"So, they're going to try and make it look like I made it up?" I'm shocked that anyone would ever think someone could lie about this.
"Yes, but I believe that if we all stick together then we can win this trial and get him sent down." Suddenly something comes to my mind. Stef and Lena said they would look after me until this trial was over. Maybe it's all going to be over soon, and I'll have to go back to another group home. I push aside my fears for the future and decide to focus on the trial. What's important right now is that this doesn't happen to anyone else. We're about to get out of the car when Stef tells me there's a jacket for me to wear in the seat next to me. "You need to look smart for this." I put on the plain black blazer over Callie's panda shirt. We go inside together.
We sit in a hall outside a small courtroom for a little while, people in black suits carrying briefcases walk past us, some of them look mad, some average, no one looks happy to be in this building. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the glow of bleach blonde hair, I turn my head and see Rachel and Mary walk in with someone in a suit. They're both crying. They walk past us, almost in slow motion, Mary doesn't notice me, but Rachel does, she stares at me. I can't understand how she feels towards me, her eyes convey a mixture of hatred and sorrow, for me. I'm almost in a trance looking at what this has done to that family. It's not my fault though, it's his. Stef and Lena each take one of my hands to pull me out of the moment I'm in. Anita turns up, along with Stef and Lena's lawyer, who introduces herself as Janice.
A bailiff comes over to us to tell us that it's time. He escorts us into the room. There are a few rows of seats, two desks at the front and the judge's podium was high up at the front of the room. On the left, there's the stand, and on the right is the jury. Mary and Rachel are sat on the left side of the aisle, just behind the desk where a man in a suit sits. The lawyer leads me to the right desk and we sit down.
"We'll be right here okay?" Stef and Lena sit behind us. A few other people come in, I don't recognise anyone until Sophia and her parents walk in. She spots me immediately. I get out of my seat and run to her hugging her tightly.
"I'm so happy you're here. I know for sure I can do this now." I say just before we break apart. I greet her parents, they wish me luck and I go back to my seat.
A door at the front of the room opens. I see the man I've been dreading to see. He walks in wearing a stereotypical orange jumpsuit, with his hands cuffed in front of him. He stares at me, with pure fury in his eyes. I look down at my hands. I can do this. He takes his seat next to his lawyer. The bailiff walks to the front of the room.
"All rise." We all stand together. A lady in a black cloak wales in and takes her seat. We all sit down.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, calling the case of Gracie Cooper versus John Stevens. Are both sides ready?" The judge says.
"Ready, Your Honour." Janice stands up.
"Ready, Your Honour." John looks at me from behind his attorney.
"Will the clerk please swear in the jury?" The judge asks a man sat near her. He stands to face them. He makes them all swear and then allows them to sit back down. "Opening statements please, I'd like to hear from Gracie's side first." Janice stands.
"Your Honour, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, on the night of September 23rd, Gracie Cooper was sexually assaulted by John Stevens. Early in the morning of the 24th Gracie arrived at the Adams-Foster family home to seek help in her vice principal and her wife, Lena and Stef Adams-Foster. Evidence points in the direction of John and his home being where this took place. The accused's DNA was found in Gracie's examination and on her clothes. The evidence I will present to you today will prove Gracie is not lying." The judge nods to her and sits down again."
"Your Honour and ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have evidence to prove that on the night of September 23rd, the accused was at a baseball game with his friend. To prove this, I will allow Joe Henry to take the stand." He sits down.
"The attorney of the accused may call their first witness." She says.
"The court calls Gracie Cooper to the stand." I didn't think I'd have to talk so soon. I follow the clerk where he makes me swear to tell the truth and I sit down, shaking with fear just from being looked at by John and his family. "Ms Cooper, you've spent over half of your life being in and out of foster homes, correct?"
"Yes, my mother died giving birth to me and my father killed himself when I was seven."
"It was your third home when you lived with the Collins family, yes?" I haven't thought about them in years.
"Yes."
"Why were you removed from that home?"
"I was being abused by their older son. Their biological son."
"What exactly did he do?"
"He hit me and kicked me almost every night I stayed there."
"Did you ever go to court for this?"
"No."
"So Mr Collins was never charged for this?"
"No, he told everyone I lied."
"Your Honour, I have reason to believe that Ms Cooper did lie and is doing the same thing to my client."
"Present your evidence." The attorney walks to his desk and picks up a familiar looking notebook, my childhood diary, I thought it had gotten stolen.
"This is Ms Cooper's diary from when she was a little girl, on one page she talks about how she wants to get out of a particular home she was in. This is a quote directly from Gracie." He flicks it open, my palms get sweaty. "'One of the girls in my last home told me she lied about getting beat up to get out of her last home. Maybe if I did something like that, I could go somewhere else too.' Does that sound like an honest girl to you?" He asks the jury.
"Your Honour if I may?" Janice stands up.
"Yes. You may speak." Janice approaches but turns to him.
"This book went missing when Gracie was only 9 years old. She would have had to be very young and very frightened at that time in her life, she wouldn't have taken a risk so big in such a scary situation." She sits back down, impressed with herself.
"Do you have any more evidence?"
"No, Your Honour."
"Then you may be seated, you too Ms Cooper." I sigh with relief looking over at Sophia. She looks proud of me. I wait until he's sat down before I go and take my seat next to Janice. "The attorney of the alleged victim may call their first witness."
"The court calls Joe Henry to the stand," Janice says. A man from the seats behind John gets up and takes his seat in the stand, the clerk makes him swear. Janice approaches him.
"Mr Henry, you went to the baseball game with Mr Stevens correct." He nods back to her. "I'm going to need verbal confirmation."
"Yes, that is correct."
"And you've known Mr Stephens, for how long?"
"Since we were in college, we played baseball together in our freshman year, and now we work together in finances for the Padres."
"Has Mr Stephens ever showed interest in a younger girl before?"
"Well, not exactly uh-"
"You're under oath, Mr. Henry."
"When we were in college, we went to a few high school parties and at one there was a young girl there that had taken a liking to him."
"This girl is called Rachel Garcia, correct?"
"Yes."
"Thank you, you may return to your seat." He does so. Why would John name his daughter after some high school he met when he was in college? "Your Honour may I call another witness to the stand."
"I'll allow it."
"The court calls Rachel Garcia to the stand." A pretty woman stands up from a few rows behind Stef and Lena, she swears the oath and sits down. "Rachel, you met John when you were how old?"
"I was 14." Same age as me.
"And how old was he?"
"He was in his third year of college, so about 21."
"And you told him you were 17?"
"Yes, at first."
"As Mr Henry said, did you take a liking to him?"
"I did."
"Did you act on your feelings?"
"I danced with him and I kissed him."
"Then what happened?"
"He took me upstairs, he said he wanted to talk, but we kissed more. I decided to tell him my real age. He didn't react. Then after a while, he started trying to take my clothes off. I told him no, we kept kissing and he tried again. I called him a pig and left him there on his own. He followed me downstairs and cornered me in a bathroom. He grabbed my neck and told me I would regret turning him down. Then he left."
"You came to me with this information, I didn't go looking for you, yes?"
"Yes. My daughter goes to school with Gracie, her friend told her about what happened, as soon as she said the name, I knew I had to say something." It takes me a minute to figure out who her daughter is, then I realise it's Taylor. She and her mom have different surnames.
"Thank you, Mrs Garcia, you may return to your seat." Janice sits back next to me.
"Thank you," I say quietly, the room is so silent I'm scared I'll get in trouble.
"Considering what I've seen today, I'd like to adjourn until tomorrow." The judge says.
