Chapter 4

It was a different Deputy that pushed my chair to the Chambers. He was older, kinder and infinitely more alert. It was my guess that the fact that a court escort deputy allowed a prisoner to attack a child in a crowded courtroom was going to send shock waves through the entire operation. Now that the barn was empty, it was time to pretend to lock all the doors. Sondra held my hand as we walked. Sienna almost guarded my other side, and two more court officers followed us at a discreet distance just to be on the safe side.

Once we were behind closed doors, Doctor Halberstadt asked Sienna to undress me for examination. Sondra helped her lift me clear of the chair, which was quickly wheeled out from under me by a very solicitous Jeanette. Both women continued to hold me up while the doctor did a very efficient top to bottom check. When he asked me to lean over the desk to show the judge Ross’ damaged rectum, I heard him suck in a breath and mumble something unintelligible.

The doctor was mercifully quick and the examination was almost painless. Once Halberstadt was satisfied that there were no obvious signs of new injury, other than those to my head and face, he asked Sienna to help me dress and get back to my chair.

When I was once more seated, Jeanette looked at the judge for guidance. He mulled things over for several minutes, and then touched a button on his phone and directed someone to come in to take an order.

Instead of waiting, the judge addressed the two officers. “I am ordering Hazel Thompson held without bail, for the charges presented by the State Attorney. There will be additional charges as soon as Miss Wilmont has a chance to get back to her office to prepare them. Am I right, Miss Wilmont?” She nodded, vigorously.

His assistant, or whatever she was, showed up and he included her in his orders. “I am rescinding any access Child and Family Services has to Ross Thompson. Your agency is ordered to make certain that no official from that, or any other county agency visits, questions, interferes with, or harasses him in any way, for any reason, without my written authorization.”

To his clerk, he said, “I am also ordering the State of North Carolina to open a full investigation into the agency. If Mildred Derron was abusing this boy in such brutal and torturous ways, I would suspect that she was committing those and other offenses against other children that come under their purview.

“In the meantime, I expect the Sheriff to dedicate as much manpower as is necessary to make certain that no officials of the county are molesting any children, anywhere, for any reason. Do I make myself perfectly clear?” Everybody got the message. He was speaking very loud so that I could hear, which means the rest of the group thought he might be yelling at them.

The judge took my hand, and speaking very clearly, said, “Ross ... I am so sorry that you were attacked and injured in my court. Doctor Halberstadt thinks your mother did not do serious damage to your ears, but he needs you back in the hospital to be certain. I am ordering the county to provide you with any protection and attention that is necessary while you are in our care.

“You still have an appointment with Judge Marshall in family court, and I intend to accompany you to the hearing. It is my thought that she might appreciate hearing of your adventure right from my lips. We need to go see her to officially cut your mother off from any contact with you, whatsoever.

“I have issued an order forbidding her from coming near you and she already violated it, which means that no matter what sentence the trial judge hands down, she still will go to jail for what she did in my court.

“Now, why don’t we go see Judge Marshall and take care of her need, so that the doctor can get you back in your bed?”

He personally wheeled me through the labyrinth of halls to a back entrance to another courtroom. The court was empty except for Judge Marshall and two clerks. She stood and came to me as soon as the door opened. “Ross, I heard you had trouble court this morning. We are so sorry.”

I could just about make out her words, but wasn’t certain, so I stayed quiet. Jeanette spoke up, and said, “Hazel broke free of her restraints and attacked Ross. It was awful. She kicked and hit him with her handcuffs and apparently re-injured his already battered eardrums.” Understanding that I was having trouble hearing, she turned fully towards me and repeated every word, taking care to speak clear and loud.

Having finished with me, she turned to the other judge, and asked? “Roland. What brings you to my courtroom this fine morning?” Once she consulted her watch, she said, “I guess I should be saying, this afternoon. It is after twelve.”

He looked as sad as I felt. “Marion, things didn’t go well this morning. You’ve only heard a bit about our excitement. Hazel Thompson attacked Ross using what I will describe to you as, ‘lethal force.’ It appears she intended to kill him, and would have except for two deputies that finally got their butts in gear and took action.

“I’ve ordered her held without bond pending a number of actions, including one for violating my order to stay away from young Ross, here. Doctor Halberstadt was gracious enough to give Ross a full examination in my chambers, and indicates that the boy had sustained new and worse damage to his eardrums. I’ve ordered county services to stay away from him, because it turns out that the social worker assigned to his case was apparently one of his molesters and fled the court when the facts came to light.

“Until things are more ... settled, I’ve ordered the county to pay for Ross’ continued hospital stay, but no county welfare employees are permitted to have any contact with him. We don’t know how deep this abuse runs and if other county employees are part of a ring.” He smiled a sad smile, and then said, “The rest is up to the Family Court. I am happy to testify on the record if you need me. Either way, nobody is going to hurt this boy while I sit on the bench.”

Marion Marshall smiled. She liked the judge. I could tell. “I am fully prepared to rule on the issues within my purview, Roland. Thank you for the updates. I will take it from here.”

Judge Marcus wished me well and excused himself. Marion Marshall looked at the condition of my bandages, and turned to Doctor Halberstadt. “Why don’t you hit the highlights for me?”

She listened attentively as he described the potential new damage and likelihood of redoing the surgery on both eardrums. When he got to the issue of Hazel’s violent attack, she stopped him. “Let’s do this properly. Candace? Let’s get everything set up for a hearing.”

People bustled around her while the judge typed some things on her computer that was set up in front of her. Eventually she looked around the courtroom, and asked, “Does Hazel Thompson have an attorney?” I heard that and wondered if some of the lost hearing was returning.

A deputy spoke up. “Judge Marcus was quite irked with Hazel’s lawyer, and as far as I know, he is still sitting in the other court, waiting for someone to tell him what comes next.”

Marion thought that was priceless. “Would you please run down and invite her attorney to join us so that we can dispose of the family court issues of this case?”

Soon the door opened and the other attorney was admitted. He stalked across the room and sat down at the far table. The deputy parked my wheelchair at the end of the table nearest the judge. Jeanette stayed right beside me. There was no pretense that she wasn’t representing my rights at this hearing, like she had in the other court. Sondra sat beside her. Doctor Halberstadt and Sienna took seats just behind us.