Jeffrey added, “Grandma actually told us not to hate her.”
I looked down.
The judge asked, “Do you hate your mother?”
Jeffrey thought for several seconds.
“No.”
Vanessa looked up.
For the first time that day, something like hope appeared in her eyes.
Then Jeffrey continued.
“I don’t know her enough to hate her.”
Vanessa’s face fell.
He wasn’t cruel.
That made it harder.
“She might be a good person now,” he said. “I don’t know. But she isn’t our mom the way Grandma is.”
The judge asked, “What does that mean to you?”
Jeffrey looked toward me.
“Grandma knows I hate bananas unless they’re in pancakes.”
A few people smiled.
“She knows George gets headaches if he doesn’t drink enough water.”
George muttered, “I do.”
“She knows I can’t sleep before presentations.”
Jeffrey’s voice started trembling.
“She knows Dad’s birthday is hard for us even though we barely remember him.”
