Dissonance - Chapter 44

The next week dragged on. I was barely present at our shows on the weekend, but everyone, except Marco, understood. Monday was my emancipation hearing, and it would determine the course of the rest of my life.

Mr. Eaves didn’t seem worried when I met him at the family courthouse in Asheville, but I’d barely slept a wink all night. I was wearing a suit and tie that Mrs. Phillips had gotten for me, adding to the already unpayable debt that I owed her. She hadn’t asked for anything from me and said it was a gift, but at some point, I needed to pay her back for everything she was doing for me. Her and Chef.

“Don’t look so worried,” he said, seeing my face. “Today should go okay. Your parents asked for no discovery in their petition reply, I’m not sure they even hired an attorney. If they didn’t, today will probably go well.”

“What did the response say?”

“You don’t have to worry about the specifics. It was mostly grievances, missed any legal points of rebuttal, and was clearly written by a layperson. That’s good for us. If they represent themselves, it makes the outcome a lot more likely to be in our favor.”

It didn’t surprise me that Dad would try and do it all himself. The man was a narcissist who always believed he knew better than everyone else.

“Will they let them represent themselves?”

“Yes. Family court isn’t a criminal court, or even a civil court. There are still rules and proceedings, but things are more informal and lax. The judges tend to ask a lot more questions directly to the parties involved, and there is a lot more variability in the outcomes because of it. The most important thing for you to do is keep calm, don’t look at your parents, and when the judge asks you questions, answer as honestly and directly as possible. We’ve gone over some of the questions she might ask, but don’t be surprised if she asks something I didn’t prepare you for. That can happen. Just stay calm, try to answer her directly, and don’t add anything she didn’t ask for. Embellishment hurts us. Let the situation speak for itself.”

“Okay,” I said, gripping my hands together to keep from fidgeting.

“You’ll do fine,” he said, patting me on the back.

Neither Mom, Dad nor the judge were there when we went into the courtroom. Apparently, for the first case, the judge didn’t enter the courtroom until the parties were all there, and Mom and Dad were late. They showed up just before the hearing was supposed to start, cutting it very close.

Once they were there, the bailiff had everyone stand up, and the judge came in. The beginning of the case was pretty much what I expected based on Kat’s hearing, and was mostly legal paperwork stuff. The judge confirmed why we were there, that all of us were present, and laid out how the hearing was going to go. After that step, she read my petition, which would be followed by Dad’s response. Dad, however, couldn’t keep his mouth closed, as normal.

Halfway through the reading of the petition, he interrupted the judge and said, “That isn’t true, Your Honor. I want to …”

“Mr. Nelson,” she said, talking over him, clearly annoyed. “You will have a chance to have your response read into the record, and I will hear from both of you in due course. Until then, please sit down and do not interrupt me again.”

He, of course, did interrupt her again, before she even finished reading the petition. She told him to shut up again, although in legalese, and warned him he could be found in contempt if he interrupted her again. That, at least, got him to shut up. Considering he’d already been through one trial in his life, I would have thought he’d figured out how to act in a courtroom. Hell, I knew better than to interrupt a judge, and I hadn’t been a defendant before.

I also found out why Mr. Eaves didn’t want me to read the response. It wasn’t so much a response, but more of a tirade against me. In it, he rambled on about how unfit I was to take care of myself, pointed out how violent I was, including how I often got into fights, had a restraining order taken out against me and my attacks on him, and a weird section about my immaturity, which I actually couldn’t understand his reasoning or what he was trying to say.

When she finished, she set the petition down and looked at me.

“I’ve read your petition and their response, but I want to hear it from you. Why do you think you should be emancipated?”

This part Mr. Eaves had coached me on. The previous week we’d gone over what I would say over and over again, and he pointed out all of the things I shouldn’t say and what I needed to make sure I did say.

“Because I don’t think my parents are making decisions in my best interest and I fear for my safety living with them. What my father said was true, we have had several physical altercations, but I never initiated them. Both times, I was either defending myself or defending my mother. My father is a violent man, and has been my entire life, which is one of the reasons I started taking self-defense training last year. He was still in prison at the time, for killing a man in a bar fight, but I was worried he might come back. When I was little, he would beat on me and my mom whenever he was upset, and I didn’t want that to happen anymore. Because of the training I’ve received, I was able to defend myself this time, but I did not start any of the fights. I only wanted to protect myself and my mother.”

Although my record contract might have been the bigger motivating factor for me in getting emancipated, Mr. Eaves felt the abuse side was more important for us to play into. Apparently, physical abuse was the number one thing courts looked for in emancipation proceedings. To be honest, I actually didn’t fear Dad at all. I’d already shown that I could take him. I was worried the court would see that, too. Mr. Eaves had prepared me for that as well.

“From your parents’ response, my understanding is you injured your father in one of those altercations. Why would you fear for your safety if you are able to protect yourself?”

“I fear for all of our safety. For one, I don’t think it will stop with him just using his hands. My father stabbed a man the last time he went to prison. He doesn’t like to lose, and I wouldn’t put it past him to come at me with a weapon next time. For another, I don’t want to be in a position where I might hurt him. In both of our previous fights, I stayed in control and stopped short of causing him any permanent injury, although I could have. However, seeing my mom in pain, on the floor, watching him kick her in the stomach and ribs, was traumatic. I worry about what would happen if I would lose control in a situation where I try to defend her. I understand I am responsible for my own behavior, but the child shouldn’t be the one who has to maintain control of their actions in a home. That is something parents are supposed to do. They are supposed to provide a safe, loving environment where I can grow up without having to worry if this is the time Dad goes too far and hurts us, or worse.”

“That little shit can’t …” Dad blurted out, not able to contain himself.

“Mr. Nelson,” the judge said, finally raising her voice. “I warned you once. I am holding you in contempt. You will pay one hundred dollars to the clerk at the end of these proceedings. If you speak out of turn again, you will spend a night in the city jail. Do you understand?”

Dad sat back and crossed his arms like an angry child.

“I asked you if you understand, Mr. Nelson.”

“Yes,” he said, clearly fuming.

“Now,” she said, turning back to me. “Is this the only reason you want to be emancipated?”

She knew the answer before she asked the question, since we put it in the petition, but I guess they had to ask about everything in a specific way in cases like this.

“No, Your Honor. Last summer I received a record contract from MAC Records to both tour and record an album, with my mother listed as my guardian. Although the contract was for me, because I’m a minor, she had to sign off on everything I did with them. The same went for any bank accounts I opened. When Dad returned, he convinced my mother to allow him to call the record label, on her behalf, and started making demands of them. He used to be a musician himself and saw this as a way to get his career back after getting out of prison. At this moment, the label has already warned me they might cancel my contract with them because of my father’s continued interference. Instead of being my guardian and representing me in this situation, he is trying to use my work to further himself. His greed and selfishness are very close to losing me everything I have worked for. The only reason it hasn’t yet is because the record label is happy with my performance so far. He has also emptied out my bank accounts of everything I made over the summer, using the money to buy instruments and other things for himself. I have other musicians who play with me, who I’m responsible for paying. His taking all of the money has made it difficult for me to continue to meet my obligations to them, further putting my future career into jeopardy.”

“We have signed affidavits from a representative of the record label as well as the other musicians, along with bank transcripts to show the transactions mentioned, Your Honor,” Mr. Eaves said, holding out pieces of paper for the bailiff, who took them and carried them to the judge.

I had been against him calling Kent. My goal was to keep the label as far from this as possible, since they were already annoyed with me, but Mr. Eaves had been insistent. He said the court was very reluctant to take away a parent’s rights, so we needed to prove to the judge how bad the situation was. That was also why I kept mentioning Dad’s being in prison and his killing someone. In a criminal case or in front of a jury, that wouldn’t be allowed; but here, it was definitely fair game and Mr. Eaves wanted to judge to be reminded of it regularly.

“He has also tried to take me out of school and switch me to homeschooling, so I can tour more and make more money,” I added. “I don’t want to get a GED and I’d like to go to college. Homeschooling won’t get me there. I was homeschooled until my father ended up in prison and we settled down in Wellsville. I was so far behind, I had to go into remedial classes and work with a personal tutor to get caught up on all the stuff I didn’t know. I’m at my peer level now, but if I was to drop out and go through that same homeschooling, there’s no way I’d be able to get into a decent college program. The label has already agreed to work around my school schedule, so it doesn’t put my contract in jeopardy. It is hard to not feel like his only motivation is for me to make money for him, instead of what I want, or even what is best for me. Everyone knows how unpredictable the music industry is. Just because I’m making money today doesn’t mean I will still be able to make money doing it next year. That’s why I want to get my high school diploma and go on to college, so I have other options if, one day, my career falls apart.”

“Mr. Nelson,” she said, turning towards my father. “In your response, you said your son was too immature to decide his own future. Did you ask for him to be taken out of school so he could work more? That seems to me to be the less mature of the options available to you.”

“I know the record industry, Your Honor,” Dad said, I guess remembering he couldn’t just lecture and yell at everyone. “Charlie’s at the beginning of his career, and it could all go away really fast. If he doesn’t make the right decisions now, he could be throwing his entire future away.”

“What about his schooling? You previously homeschooled him?”

“His mother did. She tried her best, but we were living on just my earnings, and struggling, so we didn’t have any help. Now, he has regular gigs and I’m sure I could get his label to help cover the expense.”

“Have you spoken to them about it?”

“Well, not yet, but …”

“And you tried to have him removed from school anyway, before you had a concrete plan for his education? Was there a reason you tried to move so quickly?”

“His album was coming out and he really needed to get out there promoting it. Besides, his previous manager, which he had fired, had already booked him a whole Midwest tour that would have made really good money. I was already working to get that manager back so that once Charlie was switched to homeschooling, we could try and get some of those dates back.”

“Why did he have the previous manager fired?” the judge asked.

“Because they didn’t get along. Charlie is very argumentative and, like most kids his age, thinks he knows everything. He threw a fit and the label removed him. It was short-sighted, but kids make mistakes. As his guardian, I was working to fix that.”

“Your Honor,” Mr. Eaves said, standing.

“You have something to add, counselor?”

“Yes. As the affidavit I provided from the MAC Records will show, Charlie requested the removal of his previous manager because he had booked performances during the school year, in violation of his contract with the label, in addition to some other infractions against the contract. The label agreed with Charlie, removed that manager, and subsequently fired him entirely from their employment.”

I was surprised that Mr. Eaves had thought far enough ahead to have the thing from the record label not only talk about all the stuff Dad had done, but also the problems with Brent. I’d already gotten the sense he was a good lawyer, but seeing him in court and how very prepared he was, I realized I still hadn’t given him enough credit.

“I see,” she said, picking up the affidavit and looking at it. “Okay, about Charlie’s current living conditions. I understand he’s been staying with a neighbor for over a month now. Is that correct?”

“Yes, Your Honor. After the first altercation with his father, Charlie was concerned about the domestic violence, specifically the vicious attack his father perpetrated on his mother and asked her if she was going to take any steps to keep his father from returning to their home. Considering the long history of domestic abuse perpetrated by Mr. Nelson prior to his incarceration, and how quickly he had returned to his abusive ways, Charlie was concerned that this would not be an isolated incident. When his mother indicated that she was planning on letting his father return and had no plans for taking any steps to limit the abuse, Charlie asked if he could stay with his neighbor for the time being, until they could find a solution. His mother agreed.”

“So this wasn’t for one night?” the judge asked.

“No, Your Honor. It was clear to everyone involved that this was going to be an extended stay. That neighbor is also acting as an official guardian of another child who had undergone abuse, and rearranged the bedrooms in her house, including her college-aged daughter’s bedroom, to more permanently house Charlie.”

“In the response, I see something about Charlie being reported as a runaway. I’m confused how he was a runaway if the mother knew and allowed for his temporary relocation?”

“I called that in, Your Honor,” Dad said, I think missing what the judge was really saying. “My wife agreed to it, but I didn’t. Charlie had been missing for a long time, and I just wanted him to come home so we could work everything out.”

“Your Honor,” Mr. Eaves said again. “If you’ll look at the submitted police report from the Wellsville Sheriff’s office as part of our most recent amendments to the petition, you will see the report was investigated by the sheriff and Charlie was found to not only not be a runaway, but was residing there with permission from his parents. Moreover, Charlie was granted a TRO based on this pending hearing and the incidents of violence in the Nelson home. I would also like to point out the date on that report. Charlie had been living with his neighbor for almost a month by the time that report was filed. Moreover, if you look at the previously submitted bank records, you will see that the emptying of Charlie’s accounts happened shortly before the police report was filed. I have here an additional affidavit from the owner of the restaurant and bar that Charlie plays at on weekends, attesting to the date Charlie asked to stop being paid by check, and instead asked to be paid in cash for his performances, as a result of his father confiscating all of Charlie’s money. It was only after Charlie stopped the flow of money that his father had access to that the police report was filed.”

The bailiff took another document Charlie hadn’t realized Mr. Eaves had, and took it to the judge, who looked it over along with the other documents Mr. Eaves had referenced.

“Mr. Nelson, it seems you were the only one who didn’t know where your son was when you filed the police report. Why did you not speak to your wife about it beforehand? Also, why did you wait so long to file the report? It is difficult not to come to the conclusion, looking at these, that your main concern wasn’t for Charlie, but rather for Charlie’s money.”

“I … it wasn’t … I just wanted him to come home,” Dad said.

“Are you employed, Mr. Nelson?” the judge asked.

“What?”

“Employed? Do you have a job?”

“No, uhh, Your Honor. I don’t. When I learned about Charlie’s contract and considering my previous experience, I thought I could be his manager. Keep it all in the family and make sure he was protected. Making the right decisions.”

“I see. Mr. Eaves, if I was to grant Charlie’s petition, how would he support himself?”

“As you will see in our petition, Charlie has ongoing employment. Beyond his record label contract, Chef Tang has included in his affidavit his plan to continue hiring Charlie to play at his restaurant on the weekends. Moreover, he has included a guarantee that, even if Charlie were unable to play music, he would still have gainful employment for Charlie as long as he needed it. I also have here an affidavit from Jennifer Phillips, the neighbor who is currently housing Charlie, guaranteeing him a place to stay and support for him as long as needed. She has further guaranteed that she will work with Charlie to help him get into a college program, should he remain in her custody, ensuring that he does not become a burden to the state.”

“If she is willing to do all of this, why should we grant Charlie emancipation? Considering she’s already been placed as the guardian of another juvenile, wouldn’t it be better to have Charlie simply remanded to her custody until he comes of age?”

“In any other case, I would agree, Your Honor. However, Charlie is an exception. His contract with MAC Records, his regular contracts with clubs he plays at, and the potential amount of money involved all make this case unique. There is a long history in this country of parents who have used children in their care as piggy banks and step stools to advance their own desires, instead of providing for the children who need to be protected and nurtured. One such incident led to the passing of The California Child Actor’s Bill, also known as the Coogan Law. It isn’t always parents, either. Because of the volume of agreements, decisions, and choices performers in the public eye must make, others beyond their guardians also come into play. For adults, the defense against these agreements and decisions being made against the performer’s best interest has always been the possibility of legal action. Charlie needs the ability to sign contracts and, more importantly, force adherence through those contracts to protect himself. That requires him to legally be an adult. If his parents had been willing to zealously defend and protect Charlie, that wouldn’t be necessary, but they weren’t. If he were younger, then this might not be an option. Charlie is, however, a unique case. He has a need to create contracts, has a need to be able to take legal action in his own name, and has shown he is capable of supporting himself while maintaining both scholastic and professional responsibility. He is also just over a year away from natural adulthood. In my twenty years working as a lawyer, I have never seen a more justified case for emancipation.”

“I see. Mr. Nelson, beyond what is in your response, is there a reason you believe it would be in Charlie’s best interest to remain in your custody?”

“Yes,” Dad said, standing up and pulling on his ill-fitting suit jacket. “We’re his parents. We’ve raised him since he was little and know what’s best for him. We may have gone a little overboard in trying to help him get what he wanted, but that’s only because we love him and want him to achieve his dreams. I think his, uhh, record of violence at school and towards me should show how unfit he is to be out on his own. Without us, I think he’s just going to get worse, and maybe ruin his own life in the process. We have rights here too, and he needs to come home.”

Dad wound down and the judge sat looking at him for a second, I guess to see if he’d finished. When it was clear he had, she took off her glasses and sat them down on top of the papers Mr. Eaves had given her.

“Normally, I am hesitant to grant any minor emancipation, as my record reflects. No matter how precocious the child, I believe it is usually best for every minor to have some kind of guardian to help protect and guide them to adulthood. I say that, because I want to make it clear that I do not take making this decision lightly. Looking at the letters of support from Charlie’s various employers plus the person currently housing Charlie, the clear record of poor decisions made by his parents on Charlie’s behalf, and the clearly shown need for Charlie to be able to make and enforce contracts in his own right, do make Charlie a unique case. Moreover, while Mr. Eaves may be correct about a growing problem of parents using children with some level of notoriety as a vessel for their own advancement, that is something that happens out west, and not here in North Carolina. I am appalled by the respondent’s complete abdication of their parental responsibility, and their clear desire to retain guardianship over Charlie purely for their own benefit. The fact that, in spite of the choices Charlie has in front of him, he is fighting to finish his schooling, and it is his parents who are fighting to end his schooling prematurely, is stunning to me. You two should be ashamed of yourselves.”

She paused, looked at my parents with her contempt clear on her face, and then looked back down at the documents in front of her.

“Having heard the evidence presented, it is clear Charlie meets all of the criteria necessary for emancipation and has shown a clear need for it. I am granting the petition. Written orders will follow by the end of business, this week. Good luck, Charlie. This is a big responsibility you are taking on yourself. I expect you to live up to it and to the faith this court is putting in you. This hearing is adjourned.”

She banged the gavel and stood up. Dad was just staring at her, his mouth hanging open, as it became clear she was granting me my emancipation. He was always so sure of himself that he probably couldn’t imagine he was going to lose. The man thought he was smarter than everyone else, no matter how many times he was proven wrong. His head swiveled and he looked in my direction, the realization hitting him that he’d lost the one thing that he could have used to get his career back, which is all he really cared about.

As we made eye contact, I smirked at him. I probably shouldn’t have, but seeing the look of devastation on his face was too much. After all of the pain he’d caused me, it was a little bit of vindication to see him defeated like this.

“You son of a bitch,” he screamed, pushing himself out of his chair towards me, arms outstretched.

The bailiff was across the room and ran towards him, but Dad was way closer to me. I stepped back into a ready stance, prepared to defend myself when Mr. Eaves dropped the papers in his hand and body-checked Dad. He didn’t have any momentum, but he was the same size and weight, roughly, as my father, and was enough to stop him, at least until the bailiff could get there and pull him off. I saw a fist smash into the side of Mr. Eaves’ face, and he staggered back, but by then the bailiff had got a hold of Dad and threw him to the ground.

The judge must have had a button or something she pressed, because three more officers came running in through the side doors, and swarmed my father, as I helped Mr. Eaves up, pulling him back from the chaos between the two tables.

“Put that man into custody,” the judge called out. “I want him booked for assault. You should leave.”

That last part was directed at me. Dad was still reaching towards me like a man possessed and it was clear he wasn’t going to stop while I was still nearby. Mom just sat at the other table, her head down, like she didn’t even see what was happening. I’d never seen her look so defeated.

Mr. Eaves grabbed his papers and briefcase and hustled me out of the courtroom, barely avoiding the mass of people still struggling on the floor.

“Are you okay?” I asked when we got out of the courtroom.

“Yeah. You weren’t kidding about his temper. I can’t believe he did that in front of a judge.”

“Is he going to jail?” I asked, hopefully.

He was no longer my guardian, but Dad was nothing if not vindictive, and I knew he wouldn’t let this drop just because a court said he didn’t have power over me. He’d see my winning as a personal attack by me on him, and feel he had to come back at me.

“Probably, although simple assault doesn’t come with a lot of jail time, and the jails are overcrowded as it is. He probably won’t be in for more than four to six months. Hopefully, he cools down some in the meantime.”

“Yeah, hopefully.”

Rubbing his jaw again, Mr. Eaves stuck out his opposite hand, “Congratulations, Charlie. You’re an adult now, at least legally.”

“I really appreciate everything you’ve done,” I said, shaking his hand. “Really. You can’t believe what a relief this is to me.”

“I imagine. Well, I’m going to go back to my office and put some ice on this, so it doesn’t swell. I have court on Wednesday, and the last thing I need is a giant bruise on the side of my face.”

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Eaves.”

“It’s not your fault. Take care of yourself,” he said, clapping me on the shoulder and walking out of the courthouse, still rubbing his jaw.

And just like that, I was free. Of course, now that I was my own person, I had a lot of work to do. Most importantly, I needed to fix all the stuff Dad screwed up with the record label. We’d lost a lot of time since the record release and the sidelining of Warren. I just hoped we could fix it in time.