Tracy felt relieved and asked for his business card. It was always good to know a good Attorney. You never know when you might need one. Plus, he seemed like a nice and trustworthy guy. He had a friendly voice like Billy Dee Williams. He kind of looked like him too. It helped the ladies to calm down and feel like everything was going to be alright. They spent the rest of the hour making plans. Delilah told him about her father coming later and knew he would want to meet the lawyer. They set up another appointment for later in the week.
He told her, "The most important thing to do right now is to separate and keep your kids safe. How old are they?" Delilah said, "Jasmine is my oldest, she is 15. Amber is my middle child; she is almost 14. Christopher is my youngest, he is almost 11." Tracy said, "I have another daughter from my first marriage who is 14, Caitlyn is 9 and Jimmy is almost 8." He said, "Good, the older 2 are old enough to decide who they want to live with. The judge will consider the other children's statements. I'm sure if they all agree they want to live with their mothers the judge will allow it. We can file for temporary custody right now so the kids can stay with their mothers."
Tracy felt relieved. She didn't want her kids to be abused and James was a ticking time bomb. There was no telling what would set him off. She felt good with Delilah supporting her. They became unlikely friends. James had good taste in women, he just didn't know how to keep them. They filed the temporary paperwork and made a court appointment. It would take about a month or so to see the judge because the courts were too busy. Jessie assured them that was normal and not to worry.
They left the lawyer's office feeling assured and confident in what they needed to do next. Tracy left to go home and talk to her husband. Delilah went to pick up her kids from school. They agreed to meet up later at the park. Delilah wanted to stay away from James until her father arrived. She didn't want to fight James alone. He was around 6 ft tall, and his frame was muscled. She was around 5 ft 6 inches and had a medium-thin frame. He could overpower her if he got angry. She was like a protective mamma bear and wouldn't let her kids get hurt anymore. The best thing to do was to avoid a fight if possible. She had loved him, but she loved her kids more.
She picked up her kids from school and they were surprised. Usually, Amber would go to her mom's job after school and help her file paperwork for an hour until they went home, and Jasmine would walk home with the younger kids. Amber was surprised to see her mom and asked, "Is everything ok? Do I have a dentist appointment?" It was already close to 3, but she got out of school a few minutes early because Delilah didn't want to miss her. She said, "Not today, I just took a half day off work and didn't want you to ride the bus to find out I wasn't there." Amber got in the car and nodded. She noticed her mom only picked her up, but they were headed toward her younger siblings' school. They got out at 3 but would wait for Jasmine at After School recess. She asked her mom, "Why did you take a half day? Are you sick?" She was worried because her mom never took time off even if she was sick. She had to be very sick to call in to work.
Delilah patted her daughter's head and said, "Don't worry. I'm not sick. I just had some things to take care of. Your Grandpa Frank is coming in later tonight." Amber got excited! She didn't get to see Grandpa Frank very often because he lived in Louisiana, but they would go visit sometime in the summer. He was very fun and took them to the aquarium and on a riverboat ferry.
They picked up Christopher from his elementary school. Tracy had already picked up Caitlyn and Jimmy. It was a good thing because the BMW could only seat 4 people. Delilah and her kids made up 4 people. She was glad Tracy was able to pick up her kids after talking to her husband. Next, they went to pick up Jasmine next door at the High School. Jasmine was in her last class because her school didn't let out until 4. It was already 3:30, but she was a little surprised when she was called out of class.
She grabbed her backpack and followed the office messenger. He told her, "Your mom is here to pick you up." She nodded and went to the office to meet her mom. She followed her mom to the car and the younger kids went into the back seat. They loved driving in the convertible and Delilah had the top down to enjoy the sunshine. They drove to the park downtown and stopped on the way to get some snacks from a fruit store. The store sold fruit cups and fruit bars. They each got their favorite snacks.
Delilah loved the strawberries covered in sweet cream. Jasmine got a watermelon fruit cup without any toppings. Since it was a Mexican fruit shop, they would usually top the fruit with salt, lime juice, and chili powder. She could not handle anything spicy and preferred her fruit to taste sweet rather than salty or sour. I remember in my past life the first time I took Thomas to get a fruit cup. They asked, "Sal, limon y chile?" He didn't speak Spanish and didn't understand. I translated for him without any inflection," salt, lime, and chili powder." He misunderstood and thought that I liked the toppings. He decided to try the toppings on his fruit cup to not be rude. The face he made was priceless! His sour puckered face was too funny!
Luckily "no" is the same in Spanish and English, so next time he told them no when they asked if he wanted the toppings on his fruit. I got mine the same way, just plain fruit. They had the best fruits straight from Mexico. They were big, juicy, and sweet. They also offered roasted corn with cheese and spices. I wasn't a fan, but it was popular in our city. For now, we just enjoyed our fruit.
We went to the park and met Tracy, Caitlyn, Jimmy, and their older half-sister Amber. We all got along and played well together while my mom and Tracy talked. My mom shared some strawberries with Tracy, and they talked about what would happen next. Tracy said, "I should probably tell James the kids are coming with me. Do you think we will need a police officer?" Delilah said, "James knows some cop friends, so I don't think we should involve the police unless it gets messy. My dad should be in town around 8 tonight if he left after we talked." It was almost a 9-hour drive from New Orleans to our seaside city. Texas is a very big state, and it takes a long time to drive from one border to the next.
Tracy said, "I can bring Jerry just in case. I talked to him earlier and he said he never liked James. He was mad that James had been abusing the kids and said he wanted to protect the kids. They can stay with us from now on. I just hope the judges are on our side." Delilah said, " The lawyer said we should have a good chance especially if the kids all testify the same thing. We will figure it out together." They leaned on each other and gave each other comfort. Strong women need help from other strong women sometimes too.
We played at the park until it got dark and then went to Sonic to get some dinner. We ate our corn dogs while the moms got chicken sandwiches. We stayed at the playground until around 7:30. When we all went home James was worried because no one was home when he got there. He didn't make dinner because he didn't know where they were. Jasmine stayed outside with her siblings while Delilah went inside to talk to James. She told him her dad was coming to town tonight.
James was a little confused. It wasn't a holiday. Why were they out all day and her dad suddenly coming to town? Also, why was his ex-wife here? Delilah tried to talk to him calmly and asked about what she heard from her kids. He defended himself and said the kids were making things up. Delilah said, "All of the kids said the same thing even when I asked them individually." He got defensive and said, "Are you going to believe those lying brats over me? Your husband?" She said, "They are a part of me, not brats. I believe them."