Page 7 of Damian & Jun, Episodes 9-12
“I am.”
“So, can you tell me if Mom’s going to get off and get him back, or are we free of her?”
Damian’s heart ached. “I don’t have all the facts. I can’t promise that she’ll lose her parental rights.”
Armada’s lip curled. “I’m more of our mother than she is.”
“I know.”
Armada stared at him, weighing some question in her mind. “I’m right, though, about us being brother and sister. I mean, you’re my uncle in my head, but science and all that. You believe me?”
“I believe you. There’s a technician coming down right now. I’m paying them to rush the results. They should have legal proof by Monday afternoon.”
She continued watching his face for a moment before Habibi moved his head and the bottle popped out of his mouth. Adjusting him broke her focus. “I did my research on you, you know. Saw your videos online, read about you. Mom said you were a no-good loser, but I’m guessing you made out.”
“I have a good mentor. He got me out, helped me get started.”
“Mom talked a lot of shit about you to some Asian-looking guy. He paid her money.”
“I figured she would. She told me she was going to if I didn’t pay her. I don’t give in to blackmail.”
“Was any of it true?”
“I don’t know what she said, so I can’t tell you.”
“That you abandoned us to sleep with some older man and his husband.”
Damian busted out laughing and shook his head. “I didn’t leave. My father, our father, had me arrested and then got a court order saying I could never come back.”
“Why?”
Damian weighed his words. “I don’t expect you to believe me, but I have witnesses. When you were a baby, he hit you.”
She snorted, not surprised.
“I hit him and told him not to do that again. We fought so hard we ended up in the front yard. The cops came. Dalia testified that I started it and our father pressed attempted murder charges.”
“Did you spend time in prison?”
“A few days in jail waiting to see a judge. I had a man I worked for part-time. He got me a lawyer and bailed me out. I was seventeen. He took over as my legal guardian until I was eighteen.”
“He hasn’t changed, Gramps. He hasn’t changed.” She looked away, bouncing Habibi gently against her.
“I’m guessing Dalia hasn’t either.”
Armada snorted. “She only had them call you because she’s embarrassed, and I deleted some of the other phone numbers from her phone.” She drew in a deep breath. “I can’t go back. None of us should go back. But I can’t. You’re the lawyer. What do I have to do to make sure they don’t send us back?”
“The judge has to find Dalia at fault sufficiently to sever her parental rights. She can lose them temporarily but work to gain them back. If they think her issue is just with you, she could lose parental rights to you but not the other children.”
“That’s fucking stupid. If she fucks up with me, why don’t they think she’ll do it with the others?”
Damian grimaced and shrugged. “The law is a blunt instrument.”
Armada snorted in disgust. “Tell me that Gramps at least won’t be around us. Rue is getting old enough to attract his attention.”
“Your testimony and the DNA should be sufficient to keep him away from you. It could take months, though, to work through the courts. I can’t say for certain he’ll be arrested right away, or if he is arrested, if then he’ll be held until sentencing. If he isn’t held till sentencing, he’ll still legally be allowed to stay in his house. Probably required to.”
“Which makes us homeless. Great. That sucks. Mom will try to move us back in with him in a heartbeat.”
