First Car

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First Car?All rise! This court is now in session. The Honorable Judge Susan Joyner presiding,? the bailiff announced.?Please be seated,? said the authentic looking brown-skinned woman who had upswept hair and wore a maroon robe. Looking around the sparsely populated room, the family court judge cleared her throat delicately. ?First of all, Mr. Spencer the court thanks you for your dedicated service on behalf of Ms. Carsandra Evans as her guardian ad litem. I have reviewed the letter prepared by you and I am not ready to render my decision.?The jurist continued, ?I am hereby appointing an attorney ad litem to represent Ms. Evans to seek termination of the parental rights of both her mother and father. This is a grave manner and my clerk has been on the phone diligently. Ms. Evans will continue to have Mr. Nathan Spencer to serve as guardian ad litem and I?m appointing Ms. Celeste Patterson of Worrell, Ladson, and Maxie as attorney ad litem.??I will hear arguments from all parties two months from today,? the judge went on. ?Carsandra, I?m also ordering that you stay in the custody of the State with the recommendation that you remain with your current foster family. Your attorney should meet with you soon. If not, please inform Mr. Spencer and he will let me know. Adjourned,? she tapped her gavel and exited the dais.Nathan Spencer gave the fifteen year-old for whom he advocated a fist bump. She was smiling profusely. Her foster father placed a hand on Nathan?s shoulder and gave it a firm grip. Her foster mother had tears in her eyes of joy.A day later, Celeste Patterson made contact with the tall medium brown-skinned man with dreadlocks that fell past the middle of his back. They set up a time so they could both meet with Carsandra. They also agreed to grab a late lunch before picking up the minor from school for the conference.The five-foot-seven woman with shoulder-length, straightened, dark brown hair and warm bronze skin walked into the cafe. She carried a leather attache and wore a sleek red blazer and pencil skirt suit. Nathan stood and waved her over.?Mr, Spencer,? she said.?Please. Call me Nathan.??Cool beans! I?m Celeste.??I know,? he gave his Cheshire cat smile.?Shall we order???You already know what you want,? he inquired.?Yes! I looked at the menu last night. I like to be prepared,? she laughed.?That?s a good thing. Let me flag down the waiter.?Celeste chose country fried steak, mashed potatoes, and fried okra. White grave on the meat. Brown gravy on the potatoes. Nathan selected blackened tilapia, rice pilaf, and a house salad.She smiled, ?I eat nowhere near as healthy as you I see.??Don?t let this order fool you. I?ve found I have to do a little more working out at my age.??At your age,? she narrowed her light brown eyes.?Yeah!! I?m forty-three,? the trim and lean man shook his head.?You don?t look it. Plus it?s not that old.??Hey, it?s older than I used to be.??Fair enough. So tell me about Carsandra.?Nathan began explaining. They paused briefly when the waiter brought their food. He shared that Carsandra?s father lived across the country and had zero contact with his daughter. His paycheck was being garnished for the c***d support payments. The teen?s mother had placed her in foster voluntarily four years ago for the first time. After a couple of month?s the State would reroute the support payments from Carsandra?s mom the State for use by the foster family.Carsandra?s mom would then request to take back custody. The woman would get three of four checks and place the girl back with the State. This would be the sixth such cycle and Carsandra felt like she was just a pawn. Also, she now had a loving set of foster parents in their late sixties that truly seemed to care for her. They were interested in adoption if Carsandra could get her parents? parental rights terminated.?That?s fucking deplorable,? Celeste frowned. ?Excuse me, Mr. Spencer.??Girl, you don?t have to apologize to me. I said the same thing. And it?s Nathan,? he winked.?How long have you been her guardian ad litem.??I just got her about 10 months ago.??Kudos to you. It?s nice to see young Black men doing their thing. Do you have c***dren of your own.??One. A son.??He and your wife must be very proud of you.??Well, his mom and I split up a long time ago. And my son is pretty much grown now.??Doesn?t mean he isn?t proud. How old is he???He?s twenty-two. Figuring out life you know.??I get it. May I ask what you do for a living???Sure, I don?t mind. I?m the I.T. director for the state medical board.??Uh oh! Big timer!?Nathan chuckled, ?Not really. I?m pretty much self taught, but got the certs they needed so they hired me.??Still sounds like a sweet gig.??Says the lawyer.?Celeste rolled her eyes.They left to meet with Carsandra at the school she attended.Over the next few weeks, Carsandra worked pro bono on the case as she handled her other billable duties for the firm. She reached out to her client?s father and mother. The father wrote back that he was fine with that and only wanted to know if the c***d support payments would stop. She assured him he would no longer be on the hook for them should the judge terminate the rights. She readied an affidavit for him to sign, have notarized, and return to her. The mother on the other hand had retained an attorney - albeit a ham scam one.Celeste had to wrangle a little harder with the woman?s lawyer. She worked on witnesses based on feedback from Carsandra, the girl?s teachers, foster parents, and others. She felt pretty confident she had painted an appropriate picture of the single mom?s unfitness to be a mother to her client.Over this time, Celeste and Nathan would talk occasionally. One conversation started around 6:00 p.m. and ended about forty minutes later with Nathan asking if he could call back after playing a ball game. She agreed.The phone rang at 10:04 p.m.?Hello,? she answered.?Did I call too late,? he checked apprehensively.?No, Nathan! You?re fine.??Am I though,? he chuckled.?I think so,? she teased back.?Alright now! Don?t get nothing started.??You?re silly! How was the game???We won!??Congratulations!?The conversation ran on for nearly two hours. They discussed politics, their c***dhoods, religion, Carsandra, and current affairs. As the hearing approached, they spoke nightly. Often the conversation would consist of about fifteen minutes of talk about upcoming court proceedings and then hours of other topics. The two certainly had a rapport and some serious chemistry. The date arrived. Everyone was present. It ended up lasting a day and a half because Celeste called eight witnesses to paint the picture of her client?s parents being unwilling