Page 116 of Left Behind

There were four chairs, placed in groups of two, in front of the judge’s desk. Corina and Ashton sat in one group, Wiley and Ray Greeley in the other.

Judge Beale had read all of the paperwork regarding both parties. On paper, the mother had offered no hardship reasons other than that she didn’t want the child, and the half brother’s immediate willingness to take her to raise was commendable.

He had Corina Dalton’s rap sheet and Wiley Pope’s résumé, his commendations, which were many, and a glowing letter of recommendation from his chief of police. He also knew that Wiley Pope and Ava Dalton were the children of one Clyde Wallace, a convicted murderer now residing in a state-run Arkansas prison.

Beale was a God-fearing man who kept his personal life within the teaching of the Holy Bible, but he was also a man who did not believe that the sins of a father should be carried upon the shoulders of his children and was reserving judgment until meeting them face-to-face.

And then they walked into his office.

The Dalton woman appeared nervous, but angry.

But he couldn’t read Wiley Pope.

And so he began.

“I am Judge Beale. You have both come before me with a common interest. The well-being of a seven-year-old girl named Ava Joy Dalton.” He turned his gaze to Corina. “Miss Dalton. It is ‘Miss,’ right?”

Corina’s face flushed. “Yes, Your Honor.”

“Will you please tell the court why you wish to give up all rights to your daughter, Ava?”

“Yes, Your Honor. Miss Mattie, her regular babysitter died. I didn’t have anyone to watch her while I worked. Miss Mattie watched her for free. I can’t afford to pay, and I’m leaving the first of September to go to work on a cruise line. I had to do something, so asking her half brothers to help was my solution. And I’ll be honest, Judge. I never wanted kids.”

Judge Beale turned to Wiley.

“Mr. Pope, what prompted you to make this offer?”

Every muscle in Corina’s body went on alert, but she stayed silent. No matter what he said, she couldn’t be forced to keep Ava if she wanted to give her up.

Wiley knew she was worried, but he wasn’t about to sugarcoat anything.

“We didn’t know we had a half sister until Corina showed up at the police station where my brother Aaron and I are officers in the Jubilee PD. She came to file charges against Aaron for abandonment of her and her child. She told our police chief that Aaron was the father and had skipped town and changed his name to hide from her and pulled out a DNA report she’d had made on Ava when she was just a baby. Aaron didn’t know who she was, but I did. I knew she was one of our father’s side pieces.

“I told our chief right then that Ava was likely related, but she’d be our half sister, not Aaron’s child. At first, all I felt was anger on my brother’s behalf, and then I saw the child Corina had dragged into the station with her. She was bone-thin, pale, shaking and covered in bruises, and so quiet I hadn’t even noticed she was there. Later, I found out that was one of Ava’s behaviors when she wanted to disappear. When grown-ups yell and throw things, she told me, she just gets really quiet, and then they can’t see her anymore.”

The judge gave Corina a look, then refocused on Wiley. “Please continue, Mr. Pope.”

Wiley nodded. “While everyone else was dealing with accusations and DNA reports and researching the parents’ names on Ava’s birth certificate, I took her to the break room to get something to eat. She inhaled a doughnut and a carton of milk so fast she didn’t even chew. I took a picture of her then. I’ve taken several pictures since. They are in the file you were given. At first, she wouldn’t talk, and she didn’t want to be touched. It broke my heart. I asked her what she wanted most in the world. It was the first time she looked me square in the eyes. She said, ‘A bed and a pillow,’ and that she’d never had one. I told her we were brother and sister and asked her would she like to live with me.”

Beale was stunned. He’d heard a lot of stories in his life, but this was a hard one.

“Why did you not bring her with you today?” he asked.

“Because the entire first week Ava was with me, her biggest fear was doing something wrong that would make me give her back to Corina, and those were her words, not mine. My concerns weren’t just for her emotional well-being. I was concerned about what she’d gone through physically, too. I asked her if the random people Corina left her with had ever hurt her or touched her when they shouldn’t. She assured me that they had not, and they mostly just ignored her. I asked her about the bruises, and if Corina hurt her. She said sometimes Corina threw stuff at her, and that it hurt, but it never bled. The fact that her point of reference for being abused had to do with how much you bleed nearly killed me. And bringing her back here today would have destroyed her faith in me. I promised to keep her safe. I promised to love her forever, and I do. We all do. My brothers. My mother, and me.”

Beale jumped on the reference to Clyde Wallace’s wife. “Your mother has no problem with the child belonging to another woman?”

Wiley looked back at the judge. “Why would she? We all belong to the man she married. She’s the first one I called. She’s the one who urged me to follow my heart and said she’d back me all the way. Ava calls her Grammy now.”

Corina shifted nervously in her seat and stared at the floor.

“Does Ava ask about Corina?” Beale asked.

“No. She talks about Miss Mattie. She always refers to her old babysitter as ‘Miss Mattie, who dropped dead.’ But she does not inquire about Corina. She does ask from time to time if I’m still gonna keep her.”

“Are you married, Mr. Pope?” Beale asked.

“I have a fiancée. Her name is Linette Elgin. She’s a nurse on the children’s ward at the hospital in Jubilee. She and Ava bonded instantly. She has fulfilled Ava’s desire for the mommy she never had, and I have stepped in as the daddy figure. The first thing Ava asked me was could she call me Daddy? I would have given the world to say yes, but I explained how that wouldn’t work because we are brother and sister. So, we are Linnie and Bubba to her, and I will die on that hill and dare anyone to knock me off it.”

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