Anxious glances were exchanged amongst the Loud siblings while the parents wore confused expressions. Judge Callahan instantly recognized Aunt Ruth as the other woman who accompanied Albert to the bail hearing and smiled warmly at Ruth.
"Hello again Ruth," Judge Callahan greeted, before saying, "I'll grant you permission to speak."
"Objection, I don't think whatever this lady has to say will be relevant to the trial," Mrs. Bolivar declared.
"Objection overruled Ms. Bolivar," Judge Callahan declared.
With a determined expression, Ruth walked confidently up to the podium and stood facing Rita and Lynn Sr. table.
"Ms. Bolivar even though Lincoln was convinced to wear that costume on the beach and making him sleep on the back porch as punishment for lying to get some free time for himself was a foolhardy decision on the part of my niece and nephew in law, you shouldn't condemn them as abusive parents. I know they regret doing it and won't take such extreme measures to punish any of their kids again. Even though they have too many kids in my opinion, at least Rita and Lynn Senior have never allowed them to go hungry and they never physically abused them," Ruth said emphatically.
The parents beamed happily at Aunt Ruth's words but all of a sudden her demeanor changed and proceeded to give Rita and Lynn Sr. a scolding.
"Don't think I'm going to be forgiving of your actions towards my grandnephew and for asking the girls to get involved," she told them.
Without another word, Aunt Ruth returned to her seat.
A few seconds passed before Ms. Bolivar said, "I'd like to call Marvin Bennett to the stand."
"Who the heck is that another neighbor?" Luan whispered to Luna. The Loud children turned their heads around and noticed a chubby boy Lincoln's age with chestnut hair making his way towards the podium. To their astonishment Lincoln, Lynn Jr. and Lori instantly recognized him.
The athlete whispered into Lori's right ear, "That's the boy we accused of bullying Lincoln."
"I know," Lori whispered back.
"Objection, your honor this witness has no relation whatsoever to this case," Mr. Shapiro declared once Marvin stated his name and got sworn in.
A tiny smile crossed Charlene Bolivar's face and she replied, "On the contrary Mr. Bennett has been affected by the wrong actions of the Loud family along with their neighbors."
"Objection overruled, proceed Ms. Bolivar," Judge Callahan responded.
"Do you recognize the Lincoln Loud and his sisters in this courtroom?" Ms. Bolivar asked.
"Y-Yes, they're sitting right in front of me, I used to be in Lincoln's class" Marvin replied nervously.
"Could you tell the court about your unpleasant encounter with the Loud children?" Ms. Bolivar inquired.
Albert thought exasperatedly, "What on earth did they do to this kid?"
"I was just walking home from school one day and this angry looking girl wearing a red t-shirt with the number one on it approached me, lifted me by the collar and asked me if I was bullying her brother Lincoln. I said I know Lincoln from school but I'm not bullying him which made her angrier. She then dragged me into her house where I saw the other girls glaring at me and Lincoln. She asked him if I was bullying him, then another girl with blonde hair told me only they were allowed to bully their brother. Lincoln insisted I wasn't the one bullying him and I was let go. While I ran as fast as I could down the stairs I heard Lincoln telling them a girl was the one bullying him," Marvin admitted.
"Oh my God," Rita muttered in embarrassment.
A woman raised her hand in the gallery, "Your Honor I'm Marvin's mother. When my friend Mrs. Francis spoke with me recently about being asked to testify against her neighbors the Louds I remembered Marvin telling me about the incident and asked if he wanted to come here and give his testimony. It's a disgrace that these parents allow their children to be a menace to others in the neighborhood. I should have marched over to their house and give their parents a piece of my mind."
"That's all Mr. Bennett you can step down," Ms. Bolivar asked. Whilst approaching the sisters Marvin walked pass them as quickly as possible.
Next I'd like to call Miss Lori Loud to the stand," Mr. Shapiro declared.
Lori rose with all the confidence she could muster and strode towards the witness stand.
"State your name Please," the bailiff asked
"Lori Marie Loud," she declared. After giving the oath on the bible, Lori sat down.
"Miss Loud you are the first born child in your family am I correct?" Mr. Shapiro asked.
That's correct Mr. Shapiro," Lori replied.
"Whenever your parents are at work, who's left in charge of you and your siblings until they come home?" Mr. Shapiro asked.
"They always leave me in charge Mr. Shapiro, that also includes whenever they go out to enjoy themselves once in a while, they also have date nights the second Friday of each month," Lori admitted.
"Well parents do need to recharge themselves occasionally," he responded.
"How are you able to manage babysitting ten younger siblings?" was his next question.
"I make sure they're kept occupied with various activities, I don't tolerate misbehavior," Lori continued.
"Would you describe your parents as perfect parents?" Mr. Shapiro questioned.
"Of course not, their decision to lock my brother out of his bedroom and make him wear the squirrel suit was just a misguided attempt to punish him for lying, Lincoln we shouldn't have gone to those extremes," Lori said.
"When your parents bought to your attention that your brother was pretending to be bad luck to avoid attending events you and your sisters were participating in, what was your reaction?"
"Naturally I was infuriated because in our family everyone's expected to support each other in their extracurricular activities, that's the reason I went along with my parents with their plan, I even suggested dad forbid Lincoln from coming to the movies with us because of his so called bad luck," she explained.
"You're dismissed Miss Loud,' Mr. Shapiro said but before Lori rose from the chair Ms. Bolivar declared, "I'd like to cross examine the witness," much to the Loud's family astonishment.
"Miss Loud how's it possible that you a teenage girl is capable of making your siblings behave but your parents cannot?" she asked pointedly.
Lori started showing a little nervousness and replied, "I have no idea."
"Your Honor we have a seventeen year old girl whose parents gave her the sole responsibility of babysitting ten rowdy siblings when there's three other teenage daughters who could have assisted her with the babysitting duties," Ms. Bolivar spoke.
Mrs. Bolivar paused to take a breath then asked Lori, "Do you have a social life Miss Loud?"
"Yes Ms. Bolivar I also have a boyfriend and sometimes we go on dates," Lori replied.
"Have you ever resented having to stay home and babysit when you could be on a date with your boyfriend or having fun with your friends?" Ms. Bolivar asked pointedly causing a little apprehension in the teenager.
Lori glanced at her siblings briefly then she allowed a few moments to pass then blurted out, "Sometimes."
Instantly her sisters except Lisa and Lucy became filled with silent rage while their parents glanced at each other with surprise.
I have no more questions, you can step down Miss Loud," Ms. Bolivar stated.
Relieved to be finally done being questioned Lori rushed back to her seat.
"Anymore witnesses to testify," Judge Callahan asked the attorneys.
"Not at this time," Mr. Shapiro replied.
"No Your Honor," Ms. Bolivar responded.
"Court dismissed until eleven a.m. tomorrow," Judge Callahan declared before bringing her gavel down in front of her.
In the parking lot after bidding Albert, Rita and Lynn Sr. goodbye Aunt Ruth and the Louds parted ways.
"What a day," Albert remarked while Lynn Sr. drove the family van towards home.
Meanwhile Luna, Lynn Jr. and the younger girls except Lisa remained stony silent,
Once they stepped inside the house, they saw Melba appearing from the dining room area. Lily was upstairs taking a nap.
"Good afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Loud," Melba greeted, "I hope you don't mind but I baked some macaroni and cheese and sausages for dinner."
Lynn Sr. smiled warmly at her, "Thank you Melba,"
"And the little cutie is upstairs taking a nap," she continued.
Once Albert and Rita thanked Melba for being available to babysit, Melba grabbed her bag and left after Lynn Sr. gave her fifty dollars for her babysitting services.
Grateful they could get the opportunity to have dinner a little earlier, the children went upstairs to wash their hands. After eating Lincoln began yawning so he headed upstairs to get a little shut eye before deciding if he should visit Clyde later. An hour later when Lincoln awoke he immediately called Clyde on his walkie talkie. At the present moment his best friend and Ronnie Anne sat in the McBride's living room on the couch watching some kids adventure show on TV. Once the dismissal bell rang that afternoon as Clyde retrieved some belongings from his locker Ronnie Anne approached him and asked if she could hang out with Clyde at his house for the opportunity to discuss matters with Lincoln if he was coming over and Clyde agreed.
Clyde heard the static from his walkie-talkie then Lincoln's voice saying, 'Come in Clyde Lincoln speaking," and snatched up the device laying on the coffee table.
"What's up Buddy, Clyde greeted.
"Hey Clyde we had dinner a little earlier so I'll be coming over right now
"See you buddy, over," Clyde said before signing off and faced Ronnie Anne sitting beside him.
"He'll be here within a few minutes, he told her
They continued watching their show until the doorbell rang and Clyde rushed to answer it.
Before Lincoln got the chance to say hello Clyde whispered, "Ronnie Anne's here she insisted on coming over to speak with you."