Kelsey Banks stood before the podium, her long blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was tall and thin and had a classy black dress suite on.

"Steven, have you ever testified before?" she asked my ex husband.

"No ma'am."

"How are you feeling today?"

"Nervous."

You have so many lies to keep track of, of course you're nervous. I thought with disgust.

"Okay," Ms. Banks nodded. "I just want to take you back to some of the questions that Mr. Wade had asked you. First of all, you felt that you had to leave the marital residence because you were forced out, correct?"

"Yes ma'am."

"And there was no physical force used to remove you from the home, correct?"

"No, ma'am."

"What kind of force do you feel that you were threatened by, and by who?"

"It's, the force would be... well, it's on a number of levels. It's psychological, emotional and like, spiritual abuse."

My attorney leaned over in his seat and whispered in my ear. "This guy is nuts."

Hearing that from my no nonsense lawyer shocked me. I wanted to laugh, but I knew I would get in trouble from doing that, so I bit my lower lip and swallowed the rising giggles.

Kelsey Banks held up a hand to Steven. "I'm going to stop you right there. So, you listed in your affidavit the psychological and emotional abuse that you've endured, correct?"

"Yes."

"Who were you victimized by?"

"Jane Rose, Michael Rose, Cheyanne Rose, and Claire Rose."

A series of memories flashed before my eyes. My parents pressuring me to stay in my abusive marriage, my sister sabotaging our band's first show and telling me to quit playing music, and my blood boiled.

You weren't the one victimized by them, Steven. I was...

Kelsey Banks' series of questions snapped me out of my thoughts. "And who are Jane and Michael Rose?"

"They're my mother and father-in-law."

"Okay, And the Rose family, the type of influence that they had over you. Did you have to be, did you have to address them in a certain way?"

"Yes, I did."

"And how so?"
Steven, as if on command, broke down sobbing. "I had to call them Mom and Dad!"

I blinked back my surprise. He's crying about that of all things? Did I miss something?

Mr. Wade glanced over at me. Our eyes briefly met, and he didn't have to say anything. I knew he was just as baffled as I was.

"Okay. If you need a second to collect your thoughts, you certainly can," Kelsey Banks said in a motherly tone that made my skin crawl. "What kind of threats did they tell you for you to move from the home?"

"They told me, well, they were telling me that I would never be able to see Oliver again, that I'm going to get visitation and it's going to be supervised visitation. They were just... controlling."

Kelsey Banks gave an encourage nod for him to continue.

"The threats," Steven continued. "It's like they were trying to get me to do things. They were telling me I'm someone I'm not. They were attacking me, like passive aggressively attacking me."

"They make you feel paranoid," Steven kept going, his eyes drilling into my skull. "They make you think everyone is against you and you have no friends, and there is no one you can trust except for them. I don't know how to explain it."

I knew Steven was right about my parents, even if he couldn't communicate it in a logical and coherent way. My family was extremely controlling and manipulative. I had always known, even as a child, that if I were to take too many steps out of line, that they would blot my name out of their family tree.

It was in my favor that Steven had already made himself look like a lunatic in front of the court. Ironically, he was just like my family, but he would never be able to see that within himself because of his delusions that he was somehow like Jesus.

"Okay, and this duress that you went through daily with the Rose family, did your wife also have to go through this type of, I guess, hand holding?"

"Yes, she did."

"Do you believe your wife, Christina is still under their influence?"

"Yes, she is."

No I'm not. And that's why my family is doing everything in their power to sabotage my life, just like you, Steven. You're just like them.

"Do you believe this is a healthy environment for your child?"

"No, it is not."

"Since you moved to Florida, what was your intent by doing that?"

"It was for me to be able to get myself together. It was for me to figure out what's going on and why everything is happening. It was just for me to get back to people I could trust."

No, it was so you could starve me out in the hopes that I'd come crawling back to you.

"Steven, let's go back to when you were asked if Cheyanne can properly clothe your son, and you said you don't know. Can you explain what you meant by that?"

"There is a number of times when Cheyanne has overdressed or underdressed him."

Each and every lie he told stung like a bee sting, each one releasing a poison into my veins that festered and grew into a raging fire that boiled within my stomach, but I kept it from reaching my face.

"Has Cheyanne ever tried getting in front of you and blocking you from leaving?"

"Many times in my marriage."

Lies! You did that to me!

"What was the purpose of her doing that?"

"To try and get me to hit her."

"Would you ever hit her?"

"No. I don't hit my wife."

I hadn't blocked his way out of the room, but I had disobeyed his orders in an attempt to get him to hit me. It was so my parents would finally grant their blessing for me getting a divorce.

I knew if I tried explaining that, it would look and sound bad. There was no way of clearing that situation up without losing credibility.

"Has your wife harmed you in any other way besides physical?"

"Yes."

"What has she done?"

"I can't even have my own opinion when I talk to her. I can't..." Steven sniffed. "Sorry, it's very hard for me."

And yet, you're contesting the divorce and want to live with me again... How does that even make any sense?

"And your intent in the interim of these proceedings until we can resolve this divorce and custody action is to what?"

"To do everything for my son and my family. I want to be apart of my family, I want them to be happy and healthy. I want my son to be raised correctly and not under toxic influences."

No, you just want me to be back under your thumb. You want everything to go back to the way it was before. I'm not that submissive, pathetic wife of yours anymore. I will never be your wife again. I will never live with you ever again!

"Your intent is to move back during the interim, correct?" Ms. Banks asked my ex husband.

"Yes, ma'am."

"And where would you like to reside?"

"In my marital home."

Salvador's comment about me moving out and living somewhere I could afford by myself echoed in my mind.

He's right. I need to move out so the house isn't my problem anymore.

Kelsey Banks looked satisfied. "I have no further questions, your honor."

The judge glanced at my attorney. "Do you have any recross?"
"I do, your honor," Mr. Wade said. "May I approach the witness, your honor?"

"Yes, you may."

*The dialogue in this chapter is also from the court interim hearing. It's all true.