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Chapter Fifty-Two
Not The Way She Planned
Like she suspected, the questioning got underway straight away. Esmerelda knew this woman was going to try and get her to lie or upset her but she was not going to listen to her.
"How would you describe your relationship with your parents before your sisters pregnancy?" Mrtyle started by asking clearly expecting Esmerelda to say she loved them so much and they were her best friends.
"Well...we didn't really have one unless you count controlling me a relationship, they controlled everything I did" Esmerelda replied knowing if she said anything else she would be lying.
"Yes well you are their child, they have to help you to be a good witch" the woman replied as if it was that simple.
"If they cared about that so much they would have found a solution to me getting my powers back straight away instead of waiting for their younger daughter to find a dangerous one" Esmerelda replied still annoyed Ethel had had to be the one to find a solution for that.
Myrtle seemed taken a back by her answer. Esmie looked at her and smiled as she realised something. Her parents had always known she was afraid of them and they had told Myrtle she was an easy target and she thought she would have no trouble breaking her down, it clearly was not going the way she planned. In fact she took so long to say anything Gladys managed to ask a question of her own.
"Can you tell me how you find it living at your foster mother's house, how have things changed? How have you changed?" she asked her using Myrtle's shock to her advantage.
"I have not finished asking my questions yet!" Myrtle yelled as she came back to reality at that.
"Overruled, I want to hear what the girl has to say" the judge said telling her he was allowing the question to go through.
Esmerelda smiled gratefully before she went to answer what Gladys had asked her.
"When my sisters and I were living at home it was not all the fun and games my parents liked to pretend it was, it was lonely, we had this huge house but most of the things kids do were banned, my parents hated mess and childish behaviour, my sisters and I only had each other, which I am grateful for as we would not be so close anywise but it was not the ideal environment." Esmerelda started by replying.
"As the eldest sister my parents expected a lot of me, I was told how to dress, how to act, how to eat, they even taught me the right time to use the bathroom" Esmerelda said remembering how her parents had told her time and time again leaving during a time when they had guests was rude and to either wait until they left or go before they arrived. She shook her head trying to forget about that.
"I found that hard, I didn't know how to be perfect as I had flaws, I tried to do everything perfectly but it just never seemed good enough no matter how much I improved, my parents would hit me when I messed up and I came to fear them and tried to refrain from messing up as much as possible" Esmerelda told the court and she caught a glance of Myrtle seeing she looked like she was boiling with anger. Good. She deserved this for trying to separate her sisters and her. Esmie glanced at her arms for a second, seeing the faint scars and burns that were still there from her self injuring.
"I started self-harming and it became worse when I lost my magic, which happened last year after something happened at school, I think I spiralled in to depression but my parents never noticed, I was not happy at home and at first I was not happy about living with Julie either" Esmerelda admitted as saying she was would be lying.
"And how do you feel now?" Gladys asked and Esmie looked around seeing everyone waiting, this was the moment everyone was waiting for.
"I took on the role of mothering my sisters since the day they were born but I never myself cared or not about having a mother, I always was independent and could do everything myself but Julie loved me, she loved all of us and showered us with it, she didn't give up trying even when I was acting like a teenager and being stroppy with her, I tried to resist her as I honestly thought I didn't need a mother but as time went on I realised I do, I need a mother as well, not just my sisters, Julie never compared my sisters and I and treated us like her own. In answer to your question, I love living with Julie and Mildred and we are all happy" she said before she turned to the judge to look at him.
"You can send us back to live with our parents if you wish your honour but we won't stay, I will run with Sybil each time we are taken back, I am not letting Sybil go back to that house as our family is with Julie and Mildred and Prue's home is with all of us" Esmerelda told him wearing one of the most serious expressions she could master. The judge nodded seeming satisfied.
"Alright I think you have made your point, thank you, can we have Ethel next?" he asked as Esmerelda stood down. This was to much for Myrtle.
"I didn't get to finish with my questions!" she said expecting the judge to have a moment of recognition and would tell Esmerelda to come back.
"The idea of questioning the girl was to see where she wishes to reside, I don't think we need to hear anything else" he told the woman who glared at him.
Esmerelda walked back to the seats and Ethel beamed at her thinking she had done well. She handed Prudence to her auntie as she couldn't take her to the stand with her before she herself walked to the stand and waited. This time though Myrtle was going to get her questioning to go how she wanted.
"You and your parents never have being close have you?" she asked Ethel clearly trying to strike a nerve.
"No, but that is not my fault, they have always pushed me aside" Ethel told the woman truthfully.
"So when you found out you were pregnant, you had an argument?" Myrtle asked speaking to Ethel like she was thick so Ethel nodded slowly.
"Yes, they abandoned me because I refused to abort my unborn child" Ethel told the court and people gasped, sickened, as she revealed that. It was clear many of them were wondering how any parents could their child to do that, even if she was young.
"When they basically made me homeless I was terrified but I never expected Esmie to put a section four in order, but I am glad it happened, I am glad everything happened" Ethel told everyone and Gladys cut in.
"Why is that Ethel?" Gladys asked before Myrtle could get another question in.
"My whole life I wanted to be loved by my parents like other children were, and I didn't want them to only love me because I did something well, I wanted them to love me unconditionally, but they don't, they never did. I got upset about it and angry when I saw other people having a good relationship with their parents, to be honest I was jealous of my foster sister Mildred as she had the mother I always wanted" Ethel told the courtroom.
"After I was attacked that became less important to me, especially once I found out I myself would soon have my own child and that is all I wanted to focus on but then we moved in with Julie" Ethel told everyone looking around.
"And how did that go?" Gladys asked looking at Ethel curiously.
"Julie was nice to me and my sisters from the off, I didn't want to become attached to her because I had always being let down in the past but she gave me the love I had wanted, she never made me feel like I was less superior to anyone else like my parents always had" Ethel told the court with a smile.
"I have a little girl now Prue, she is happy and healthy and she is being raised in a family that gives her unconditional love, something I never had in the home I was in growing up except for from my sisters, we are all a perfect family and my baby girl loves her aunties, taking them away would destroy her, she is used to seeing them everyday" Ethel told everyone knowing Prudence would be really upset as she loves her aunties so much. "I would also be really distraught, my sisters are my world, they were the first people I ever loved and I don't think I would cope well without them there to help them" Ethel told everyone.
Ethel looked over at her sisters who smiled at her happily and Prue looked at her mother before she started to cry, clearly not understanding what was happening. Esmerelda rushed out the courtroom with her as Ethel finished her speech.
"Please don't remove my sisters, they need to stay with us, we are all happier than we have ever being and going home will not help them, my sisters don't need money and material items our parents gave them, they need the love Julie has given us" Ethel told everyone.
Everyone fell silent then as they finished taking in what Ethel had said and Ethel only hoped it had being enough.
"Thank you, you have gave us your side of the story, I would like to hear from your sister now" he said looking at Sybil. Once again it had not gone the way Myrtle had planned and she was furious. She smiled though as she looked at the youngest girl who was shaking from fear. She would be the easiest target.
Sybil tried not to look at anyone as she walked up to the stand, instead keeping her eyes focused on the floor and her playing with her hands. She had to be brave, or she might not be going home with Julie.
Sybil took a breath and stood on the stand and waited, telling herself she could be brave and she just had to tell them the truth.