“Ms. Johnson, you and your mother say that even though the father of your two-year-old son Jayden Taylor is a deadbeat dad, he has never denied him—up until a couple of weeks ago. And today, you claim to have medical evidence that proves Mr. Taylor is the father of your son. Is that correct?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

Judge Lake turned to the other side of the courtroom, where a young man sat stiffly next to a woman with the same jawline and the same defensive posture.

“Mr. Taylor, you and your mom say you have valid reasons why you believe you are not Jayden’s biological father, and you now refuse to be in his life because he’s not your child.”

Jaylon Taylor nodded, his voice tight. “Yes, Your Honor.”

“So, Ms. Johnson, explain to me what happened a couple of weeks ago.”

Dajaniqua Johnson shifted in her seat, her hands wrapped around a worn folder. “My son was over his house. He was only over there five days, and he texted me like, ‘You need to get your son, and I’m not getting him until I get a blood test.’”

“Out of the blue?” Judge Lake asked.

“Out of the blue, yes. And I have here some evidence, too.”

“What kind of evidence?”

“A message that I would like to show you.”

Judge Lake took the phone and read aloud. “Get your son. I’m not getting him till I get a blood test. Somebody told me what you said, so I don’t want him till I get a blood test. I don’t need him another day.”

She looked up at Jaylon. “You sent this message, Mr. Taylor?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Why did you send this out of the blue?”

Jaylon leaned forward, his story spilling out in a rush. “It was actually a week ago. Me and my son was in the house playing around. I was told someone was outside for me. I went outside, a girl told me she has something to tell me about my baby mother. She said Ms. Johnson told another girl that Jayden wasn’t mine. So I inboxed Ms. Johnson and told her I don’t want him another day.”

Judge Lake’s brow furrowed. “So you actually had Jayden at that time?”

“Yes.”

“You’re thinking, ‘This is my biological child, I’m spending time with my son.’ And then somebody just comes over to your house, knocking on the door?”

“Yes. I mean, I believe it because she always says stuff like that. She always says he’s not mine. I actually have a recording saying she said he’s not mine.”

He handed up his phone, and Judge Lake hit play.

The courtroom fell silent as Dajaniqua’s voice crackled through the speaker: “That’s not your baby. That’s not your baby. You right. That’s not your baby. Somebody else’s the daddy. Somebody else is the daddy. Take him off of your… Take him all the way completely off of your… period. Take him off. Now I’m gonna come get my own baby. How about that? Because that’s mine. That’s my baby.”

The audience murmured. Judge Lake held up a hand.

“Ms. Johnson, is that you?”

“Yes, it is me.”

“This is you telling him it’s not his child?”

“Yes. This is after he messaged me that.”

Jaylon’s mother, Yolanda, jumped in. “If he’s denying it, I mean, why wouldn’t she say it? You tell her—”

Jacrisha, Dajaniqua’s mother, shot back. “He said, ‘Come get your baby.’ So of course they’re young. She’s gonna say whatever to make him mad, just like he’s saying stuff to make her mad.”

Judge Lake nodded slowly. “So you believe, Ms. Johnson, that she’s just talking out of anger?”

Jacrisha nodded firmly. “Yes. I think that was all out of anger.”

“But wait a minute.” Judge Lake turned back to Dajaniqua. “You didn’t just say, ‘Let me come get my baby.’ You said, ‘You right, it’s not your baby.’”

Dajaniqua shrugged. “Yeah. Because he don’t have to be. That’s what I said.”

“So let me ask you this, Ms. Johnson. Why do you think someone would just randomly come up to him and start talking about how you told somebody that he’s not Jayden’s biological father?”

“He made it up, me personally, Your Honor.”

“Why do you think he’d make it up?”

Jacrisha answered for her daughter. “Because he don’t wanna step up to the plate and be a dad. He does nothing.”

Jaylon’s voice rose. “That’s a lie.”

“What do you do?” Jacrisha demanded. “You ain’t seen him in five months. So what do you do?”

Jaylon opened his mouth, but Yolanda cut him off. “He don’t have to have receipts. She knows what we do for him.”

“What do you do, Yolanda?” Jacrisha fired back.

Yolanda’s chin lifted. “I buy him stuff.”

“He’s not being at home.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Yolanda said. “As long as he’s being taken care of. At the end of the day, when he’s at my house and Jaylon has something to do, Ms. Johnson will not come and get him. I text her one time. My daughter text her and said, ‘Can you come and get him? My momma need to go to the hospital.’ She never showed up.”

Judge Lake raised a hand to stop the crossfire. “So you’re saying Ms. Johnson leaves Jayden there and doesn’t come back and pick him up?”

Yolanda nodded. “Don’t come back and get him. That’s usually why I don’t get him, because she never comes back. It took for my son to have pneumonia. Mild pneumonia in the hospital, for them to even answer the phone.”

Jacrisha shook her head violently. “He’s lying. Lying.”

Judge Lake exhaled. “All right. Up until this point, Ms. Johnson, he never denied Jayden up until about a week ago.”

Dajaniqua agreed. “I’ve never heard it come out of his mouth. I just heard rumors.”

“When the baby was born,” Jacrisha added, “they had their whole family there. Daughters, with the baby’s father there. Everybody.”

Judge Lake turned to Jaylon. “Was the whole family there?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Do you remember when your son said, ‘Somebody told me the baby is not mine’?”

Yolanda shook her head. “Actually, I didn’t hear that until just recently.”

Judge Lake’s voice dropped. “Mr. Taylor, something that important, you never told your mother?”

Jaylon shifted. “She’d be a little too busy.”

“Too busy to find out that the grandchild she thinks is hers is not her biological child?”

The audience gasped.

“Have you ever asked for a DNA test?” Judge Lake asked.

“Yes, Your Honor. I have proof of that right here.”

He handed up paperwork. Judge Lake scanned it. “You asked for a DNA test. Tell me the story. How did that happen?”

Jaylon explained. “Actually, the court sent in a paper saying I had to go take a DNA test. I went down there. Ms. Johnson had told me she was supposed to come with me. After that, I told her she had to go down there and reschedule. She never went down there.”

Dajaniqua cut in. “He only went because the child support started sending him letters in the mail. That’s why he went.”

“So he was ordered to submit,” Judge Lake clarified. “He didn’t ask for it?”

“Yes.”

Judge Lake looked at the paperwork again. “This confirms that you did go and submit to the DNA testing. But what you’re saying is she never showed?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

Judge Lake turned to Dajaniqua. “Did you not show up with Jayden, Ms. Johnson?”

“Not intentionally.”

“But Jayden was about nine months old when this happened. That’s over a year ago. Have you ever showed up to get the DNA test done?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Dajaniqua’s voice was defensive. “Because I felt that it wasn’t necessary. He wasn’t denying him then. I knew he was the father.”

“So you’re saying he was not denying Jayden, so you felt like, ‘What’s the use?’”

“Right. It wasn’t no question supposedly then. He was all over his Facebook and everything.”

Judge Lake turned back to Jaylon. “Did her not showing up fuel your doubt?”

“A little bit. I mean, I’ve always been around him. He was always with me. Like she said, he’s all over my Facebook, videos, pictures. So how is it that one person out of the blue can walk up to you and just say, ‘That baby you’ve been with for two years, that’s not your child’?”

“She always says it,” Jacrisha insisted. “Whenever we get into an argument.”

Judge Lake nodded slowly. “Well, the point is, when you get into an argument, Ms. Johnson confirms it. Have you said it more than one time, Ms. Johnson?”

Dajaniqua nodded. “Mmm-hmm.”

“So you know you can’t unring that bell. You know that?”

“Yes.”

“I mean, you know once you say that to a man, he’s never gonna forget that.”

Dajaniqua’s voice was small. “Mmm-hmm.”

“Men forget a lot of things,” Judge Lake said, glancing at her bailiff Jerome with a hint of dark humor. “Right, Jerome? But they don’t forget that.”

Jerome shook his head. “True.”

Judge Lake leaned forward. “And honestly, how could they? So you know you have a part to play in fueling this doubt. Right, Ms. Johnson?”

“Yes.”

She reached into her folder. “I do have one paper that I would like to show you.”

“What is this evidence showing?”

Dajaniqua handed it up. “This is just basically his eczema that he has. And a heart murmur, yes.”

Judge Lake studied the document. “The child has eczema and a heart murmur? And you believe these are two medical issues that the child has in common with Mr. Taylor?”

“Yes.”

Judge Lake turned to Jaylon. “Mr. Taylor, do you have a heart murmur?”

“Yes, I do.”

“And Ms. Johnson, you say Jayden was born with a heart murmur?”

“Yes, diagnosed at the hospital at one day old.”

Judge Lake pressed a button on her bench. “I’m very curious about this heart murmur issue, and I would like to hear from an expert on this. Jerome, can you please escort Dr. Tasneem Bhatia into the courtroom?”

The side door opened, and a woman in a white coat walked to the witness stand.

“Hello, Dr. Tas. Thank you for joining us. Number one: heart murmurs. The plaintiff has asserted that the child suffers from a heart murmur, as does the defendant. What exactly is a heart murmur?”

Dr. Bhatia explained. “A heart murmur is really just an abnormal sound in the heart rhythm. Normally, you’re used to listening to the heart and it goes ‘lub-dub.’ With a heart murmur, you may have an extra sound or sounds that are not classic to the normal pattern.”

“Are they hereditary? Is there a genetic link?”

“That’s a great question. There is not a genetic link with heart murmurs. The majority of heart murmurs are innocent heart murmurs, meaning they’re just changes in flow. They come on with either a newborn right at birth or in an adult with something to do with pregnancy or things like that. Heart murmurs are not genetically linked.”

Judge Lake turned back to Dajaniqua. “After hearing that testimony, are your feelings still the same?”

Dajaniqua nodded stubbornly. “Mmm-hmm. He knows. He knows that I ran away from my mom’s house. We had to play the truth game, truth or dare, one time, which led to us having a baby.”

Jaylon shook his head. “It wasn’t that. We didn’t have sex that day. We had sex the next day.”

“So what? You were already told the conception day and everything. You know this. I don’t even know why you’re standing up here playing with me.”

Yolanda scoffed. “Well, did you know that she ran away to his house?”

Jacrisha fired back. “She actually ran away, but whenever I found her, she was over at his house. See, Yolanda’s never at home, so she didn’t know who’s in her house. So whenever I would come by and see Daja, I would always know where she was.”

Yolanda’s voice was sharp. “Apparently, I was there. I didn’t abandon. When Ms. Johnson came over there, I was there sitting in the dining room. So if I’m never there—”

“Everybody walks through your door,” Jacrisha muttered.

Judge Lake slammed her hand lightly on the bench. “Listen, listen, listen. At the end of the day, these were two young people that needed a little more supervision. But a game of truth or dare has led you to Paternity Court. And now we have yet another young person in the middle of this thing. Then in a minute, he’s gonna be standing in front of me if we don’t stop this train from rolling. So let’s get back to the issue at hand. Were you intimate during that time with anyone else besides Mr. Taylor?”

Dajaniqua shook her head. “No.”

Yolanda scoffed loudly.

Judge Lake looked at her. “Why that response?”

“How would you know?” Yolanda asked.

“She was not, Your Honor,” Jacrisha said.

“How do you know?” Yolanda pressed. “She was out there. She was promiscuous. She was known to be.”

Jacrisha shot back. “Like you, huh?”

The courtroom erupted in uneasy laughter. Judge Lake let it hang for a moment, then sighed.

“This is a difficult situation. Even more difficult because we’re dealing with very young people.” She looked at Jaylon. “What are you hoping for?”

“To be honest, I just want to get it over with. I want to know if he is or isn’t. Because if he isn’t, then I won’t be there. But if he is, I’ll be there. I’ve been there his whole life.”

“And Ms. Johnson, you’re emotional. What are you feeling?”

Dajaniqua’s voice was flat. “I don’t care. I don’t even care. I’m ready for this to be over with. I don’t even care no more.”

“You don’t care if your child knows his biological father?”

“No, I don’t care. He don’t need him.”

“He does,” Yolanda said.

“No, he don’t.”

“If he’s his biological father,” Judge Lake said carefully, “he needs his father. And you need yours.”

Yolanda nodded. “That’s right.”

Judge Lake’s voice softened. “Let me tell you something. I’ve been doing this too long. I know those tears. I just wanted you to be able to say it for yourself, because that’s one of the reasons why this courtroom is here: to give people a voice. I don’t care how young you are or how old you are, everybody deserves a moment to be heard. If you don’t want to express it or you’re not ready to express it, that’s fine. And you may not have the words. But what you’re not gonna sit up here and do is talk for Jayden irresponsibly and say what he doesn’t need in the form of a father. Because he does.”

She reached for the envelope. “And because of that, I’m gonna get these results. Not just for you, but for this child as well. Jerome, I’m ready.”

The bailiff took the envelope and handed it to the judge.

Judge Lake opened it. The courtroom held its breath.

“These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. In the case of Johnson v. Taylor, when it comes to two-year-old Jayden Taylor, it has been determined by this court that Mr. Taylor, you are the father.”

Jacrisha threw her hands up. “Exactly, Your Honor. Thank you.”

Dajaniqua wiped her eyes. “Like I told you.”

Jaylon sat frozen. His mother put a hand on his shoulder.

Judge Lake pointed at Jacrisha. “If you’re not gonna—don’t start that nonsense. When I gave you a chance to say something, you had nothing to say. Now I read the result, you’re gonna pop off? Not in here. That’s what we’re not gonna do, because this is an important moment.”

She looked at both families. “I’m going easy on you both, because you ain’t nothing but young people running around here engaging in activities that produce human beings, human life, and you can’t take care of yourself and you can’t take care of them. You’ve got to grow up now, and we’ve got to pull this thing together for this child. I mean it when I say I don’t want to see him in here twenty years from now. I can’t tell you how many times I sit in this seat and someone stands right where you’re standing and says, ‘I didn’t know my father. My mother didn’t know her father.’ This will continue unless you stop it. And the way you stop it is to figure out how to co-parent.”

The courtroom settled as the next case was called.

“Mr. Clark, you’re here to prove Ms. Bolden that you’re the biological father of her three-year-old daughter, Lakierny Clark. And once the DNA results prove you’re right, you want to be able to spend more time with your daughter.”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

Judge Lake turned to the young woman on the other side. “Ms. Bolden, you say you’ve always told Mr. Clark he was not your daughter’s father, and you hope that once these results are revealed, the real biological father, Mr. Moore, who will enter the court in a moment, will step up.”

Latoyia Bolden nodded. “Yes, Your Honor.”

“Mr. Clark, why are these results so important to you?”

Clark’s voice cracked. “Because it’s a little child’s life at stake, and my life is at stake too. She is everything to me. She is my princess, and I really care about her.”

“So you are convinced that you are in fact the father. But you say, Ms. Bolden, that’s not the case.”

“No, ma’am.”

“Explain.”

Latoyia folded her arms. “One day we had an argument about bills. About his half on the bills. He stormed out the door, so I stormed out the door too. I called Mr. Moore, and we got a hotel room. And then I had sex with Mr. Moore. That’s the night I think I conceived.”

“So you were dating Mr. Clark, got into an argument, stormed out, and cheated with Mr. Moore.”

“Yes.”

“Mr. Clark, while all this was going on, you believed you were the father all along?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Were you ever given any indication that you were not?”

“No, Your Honor.”

“When you found out she was pregnant, you immediately said, ‘This is my child.’”

“Yes, Your Honor. I had no doubts.”

“Did you go to doctor’s appointments?”

“No, Your Honor.”

“Were you at the hospital when the baby was born?”

“After. After, Your Honor.”

“Did you sign the birth certificate?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

Judge Lake reviewed the document. “Ms. Bolden, all this is going on, and he is signing the birth certificate, and he thinks this is his child. But you know, in your mind, that it’s not.”

“Yes.”

“So during your pregnancy, during the child’s birth, did you ever say anything? Give a hint?”

“Yes, ma’am. We got into it one day about the bills, as usual. I was seven months pregnant. I went to the doctor and got an ultrasound for my baby. When I came home, I showed him the ultrasound. And I told him he might not be the father.”

Judge Lake turned to Clark. “Do you remember that conversation, Mr. Clark?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“She did say you may not be the father?”

“This was after we separated.”

“But this was before Lakierny was born?”

“This was after she gave birth to Lakierny.”

“So you had no clue until afterward?”

“Right.”

Judge Lake’s voice was sharp. “Ms. Bolden, you’re saying you told him specifically before?”

“Yes, I did.”

“So at what point did you tell the other man that he was a possibility?”

“He already knew. He never had doubts of my baby. He always said he just wanted a DNA test to prove that he is the father.”

Judge Lake turned to Clark. “Mr. Clark, did you know there was another man she was talking about a DNA test with?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“When did you find this out?”

“During the relationship, I knew she cheated. But like I said, I had no doubt that she was my daughter. No doubt in my mind whatsoever.”

“So when she was born, you started a relationship with her. You became her father.”

“I had a bond, Your Honor.”

“And you still have a bond?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

Judge Lake turned back to Latoyia. “Ms. Bolden, while you’re seeing this bond develop and you know in your mind that there’s another possibility, are you reminding Mr. Clark?”

“No, ma’am, I’m not.”

“So you’re just letting him go and believe that Lakierny is his child?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I really didn’t want to hurt his feelings anymore about my baby might not be his.”

“So at what point did you decide to say, ‘I gotta tell him’?”

“My baby was like one year old.”

“What did you say?”

“I told him there’s a possibility that my baby might not be his.”

“What made you say that?”

“Just looking at my baby. She don’t look like him. She has no similarities to him, period.”

“So you felt like as she grew and developed, you just didn’t see a similarity.”

“No, ma’am, I didn’t.”

Judge Lake turned to Clark. “Do you remember that day, Mr. Clark?”

“Yes, Your Honor. This was after we broke up. Lakierny was already born.”

“So Ms. Bolden, you said you told him before after the ultrasound, and then you brought it up again when Lakierny was one. So now we are at the instance when she is one year old. What did she say exactly, Mr. Clark?”

Clark’s jaw tightened. “We stayed arguing all the time. She made statements, I guess just to hurt me, that she wasn’t mine. But yet and still, I had no doubt in my mind that that little girl is mine. I always felt like she was my daughter. And I feel that still. Whenever me and Lakierny meet, it’s magical. She is very happy when she sees me.”

Latoyia shot back. “That’s because you’re the only person she knows.”

“So now that you’ve told the other man, Mr. Moore, has he developed any type of relationship with Lakierny?”

“He wants to be involved. He just says he needs a DNA test to prove that he is the father. He barely comes around because he don’t know where I stay and he don’t know my number. Only time he can contact me is on Facebook.”

Judge Lake’s eyebrows rose. “So if he’s your daughter’s father, if there’s a possibility he is, why doesn’t he have any way to contact you?”

“Because I’m always changing my number. I change my number like three times a month.”

The audience erupted in exclamations. Judge Lake stared at her. “You do? Why?”

“Because certain people have my number, and I don’t want them having my number, so I just change my number.”

“But if this man could be your child’s father, how can they keep up with their child?”

Latoyia waved a hand. “Actually, they know where my brother stays. They know where my grandma lives at. I be over there checking on her sometimes. I just don’t want them having my number.”

“Ms. Bolden, does Mr. Clark have your number? Does he get to see Lakierny?”

“Only time he gets to see her is when she’s at my sister’s house. No, he don’t have my number, and no, he don’t know where I stay. His attitude towards me is so terrible, so I try not to deal with him on any type of level.”

“So you all have been having a lot of trouble getting along.”

“Right.”

Judge Lake looked at Clark. “Mr. Clark, as I look at your face, it seems like you’re really hurt about this.”

“I am, Your Honor. I feel devastated. It’s unexplainable right now. I don’t know what I’ll do if I find out Lakierny wasn’t mine.”

“So you’re here today, and you’re truly hoping that this little girl is yours.”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“So now, this other father. Does he want to be a father too? Does he want to be involved?”

Latoyia nodded. “Yes, Your Honor.”

“Are you in a relationship with him at all?”

“No, ma’am, I’m not.”

Judge Lake gestured to the bailiff. “Jerome, I want to meet this other possible father. Can you please escort Mr. Moore in?”

The side door opened, and a young man walked to the front.

“Mr. Moore, thank you for being here. We’re here discussing the paternity as it relates to Lakierny. Do you believe you’re this child’s biological father?”

Billy Moore nodded. “Yes, Your Honor.”

“Why do you believe that?”

“I believe that ’cause she looks like me and my son, Your Honor.”

“So you see a strong resemblance.”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to be her father? You want to be there for her?”

“Yes.”

“How involved have you been in her life?”

“Not that much.”

“So if you want her to be your child, and you think she’s your child, why are you not involved in her life?”

“‘Cause she don’t bring her around. It’s hard to keep up with her.”

“Well, we’ve heard testimony that would validate that for certain. She says she changes her number.”

The audience chuckled. Judge Lake turned to Latoyia. “Ms. Bolden, let me hear from your witness. Please stand up, ma’am. State your name.”

“Wanda Moore.”

“Who are you related to in this situation?”

“Billy Moore. That’s my brother.”

“You’re standing with Ms. Bolden?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“What do you know about this situation?”

“What I know is that’s my niece. I know it from day one that that little girl was my niece. I made sure she get things for her birthday. I done spent time with her. My kids know her. She knows my son.”

“Why are you so certain?”

“‘Cause she looks just like us. Nose, mouth, everything. She even acts like us.”

Judge Lake turned to Latoyia. “Ms. Bolden, you’re allowing Ms. Moore to do these things for Lakierny, right?”

“Right.”

“She has your number?”

“No, ma’am.”

The audience laughed again. Latoyia shrugged. “We contact each other on Facebook.”

“So you allow her to be a part of Lakierny’s life in this way?”

“Yes, ma’am, because we get along.”

Judge Lake turned to Clark. “Mr. Clark, when you hear about how she’s allowing the Moore family to really take Lakierny in and accept her as their own, what does that make you feel?”

“It upsets me. Like this past Christmas. I don’t work, you know what I’m saying, but I’m self-employed. I cut hair. I do tattoos from time to time. I took my hard-working money and bought Lakierny two gifts. I dropped them out to her house. She wasn’t there this Christmas. I didn’t get to see her. I got worried that she had to open up her gifts on the porch because they were from me. And I feel like that was wrong.”

Judge Lake looked at Latoyia. “Why would you do that, Ms. Bolden?”

“Only reason why I got the gifts off the porch is because my baby seen them. Just like on Facebook, I’ve seen Mr. Moore holding a picture of Lakierny. It upset me. That’s not your child.”

“But she is the one who posted the picture, though. And she knew I was gonna see it, so she did that in spite. Just to hurt me, to get at me.”

“I didn’t know if he was gonna see it ’cause you’re blocked on Facebook on my profile.”

“At that time, I wasn’t.”

Judge Lake held up a hand. “So you saw this picture on Facebook of Mr. Moore and the little girl you say is your daughter, but it’s referring to Mr. Moore as daddy.”

Clark nodded. “Right. I just can’t do nothing but go through with it until I find out what’s going on today.”

“So you’ve brought a witness as well. I’d like to hear from your witness. Please stand, ma’am. State your name.”

“Clauzette Moore.”

“You’re another Moore?”

“Yes. Billy Moore’s sister.”

“You’re standing with Mr. Clark?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“What do you have to add to this?”

“Well, Your Honor, the reason why I’m here is because Latoyia and Mr. Clark were staying together at the time that the baby was made. But she told my brother it was his baby as well.”

“She told him it wasn’t his and turned around and told him it was. That’s what got me with little doubts that this baby is Mr. Clark’s baby.”

“So you believe Lakierny is Mr. Clark’s child?”

“Yes, Your Honor. A little bit.”

“Why?”

“Because at first, you were saying Ms. Bolden told Mr. Moore it was not his child.”

“Yes, ma’am, and that’s why I got doubts. Mr. Clark was there. And Lakierny calls me Daddy.”

Latoyia nodded. “She calls both men Daddy.”

“Is that confusing for her?” Judge Lake asked.

“Yes, it is.”

Judge Lake turned to Latoyia. “So, Ms. Bolden, are you hoping Mr. Clark is not the biological father?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Or do you truly believe he’s not?”

“I truly believe he’s not.”

Clauzette shook her head. “On our behalf, like I said, they were staying together. Had a relationship together. So that’s why I say it’s Mr. Clark’s baby, because they was in a relationship. But she looks just like us and everything. I just wanna know if it’s my brother’s baby. And I just wanna know the truth, too.”

Judge Lake reached for the envelope. “And I have that truth for you. Jerome, let’s have the results.”

The bailiff handed it over.

“These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. In the case of Clark v. Bolden, when it comes to three-year-old Lakierny Clark, and whether Mr. Clark or Mr. Moore is her biological father, it has been determined by this court that the biological father is Mr. Clark.”

The audience erupted in applause. Clark buried his face in his hands.

“I knew it,” he whispered.

Judge Lake turned to Latoyia. “How do you feel?”

“I mean, I feel the same. No difference. And neither one of them is in her life.”

“Do you want Mr. Clark to step up and play a bigger role in her life?”

“To be honest with you, Your Honor, no. We just don’t get along.”

“He does have a legal right to see his child. Wouldn’t it be easier on Lakierny if you all could figure out some type of visitation and a way to work together?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to work on that, Mr. Clark?”

“Yes, Your Honor, for the baby’s sake.”

Judge Lake looked at Wanda Moore, who was wiping her eyes. “Ms. Moore, I see that you are very sad. You really, really hoped that that was your niece.”

Wanda nodded, her voice shaking. “Yeah. We been there.”

“Will you all still stay in her life?”

“We’re not gonna leave her life. Yes. I’m still gonna be there for her.”

Judge Lake smiled gently. “So that means, if we do this right, family, she could have an amazing village around her of people that love her. Ms. Bolden, is it okay if Mr. Clark sees his little girl?”

“No, ma’am. It’s not.”

“You just want him to pay?”

“Right.”

Judge Lake sighed and called the next case.

“Ms. Henderson, you claim that you believed Mr. Henderson was your biological father, but at the age of fifteen, Mr. Rycraw claimed he is your dad. You are doubtful and have opened today’s case to get the truth. Is that correct?”

Thirty-three-year-old Mercedez Henderson nodded, her hands trembling. “Yes, Your Honor.”

“Mr. Rycraw, you say you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Ms. Henderson is your daughter. You are here with her mother’s twin sister, who claims that she too is certain you are the biological father. Is that correct?”

William Rycraw stood. “Yes, Your Honor.”

Judge Lake turned back to Mercedez. “Ms. Henderson, I’ll start with you. How has life been without knowing who your father is?”

Mercedez’s voice was raw. “It’s lonely. My kids, they wanna know their grandparents. My daughter tells me all the time, ‘Mom, we’re gonna find your dad.’ So I’m just ready. I wanna be close to somebody. I’ll always been close to him. But I need to know the truth.”

Mr. Rycraw leaned forward. “When we met, I just felt it. I just felt that she was my daughter.”

Sharon, Mercedez’s aunt, nodded vigorously. “And just to know that my sister’s resting in her grave and that my niece needs to know who her family really is, I just need to know too, for sure. So she can get her peace of mind. So we can all move on. But the point is, either way it goes, he’s been her father.”

Mercedez wiped her eyes. “I know that she’s saying that he’s my father, but I need to know the truth. I don’t want to just think that someone’s my father. I wanna know. Growing up, I was treated different from my sisters. They used to tell me that I wasn’t their uncle’s daughter, that I was adopted.”

The audience gasped.

“I asked her, and I asked him too,” Mercedez continued. “I said, ‘Daddy, are you my daddy?’ And he told me, ‘I’m the only daddy you got.’ So when my mom came home, I told her I know that Walter isn’t my dad. I don’t look like my sisters. So she just gave me another name. I’m just tired of hearing all these different names. I need to know.”

Judge Lake turned to Walter Henderson. “Mr. Henderson, I need to ask you. What was your relationship like with her mother?”

“We were still good. I mean, that was my wife. I treat my wife like my wife, regardless what she was doing.”

“She was your wife, so why was there any question about Ms. Henderson’s paternity?”

“Because she left me in California, went to visit her mother in Arkansas. When she came back about a month or two, my other daughter told me that my mom is pregnant. So when you find that out—”

“You assumed she cheated, or you assumed this is my baby, she was pregnant before she left?”

“Well, Your Honor, actually, when I talked to her, I told her if it’s a girl, it’s ours. If it’s a boy, you got to go.”

The audience murmured. Judge Lake raised an eyebrow. “So you had an inkling. You had a suspicion.”

“That it wasn’t mine.”

“Are you on the birth certificate?”

“No.”

Judge Lake held up a document. “You are. You are. There you are, Walter Henderson.”

Walter blinked. “Oh, I didn’t know.”

“Well, especially if she was married to you, then you would likely be on the birth certificate as father. Ms. Henderson, take me to the day you met Mr. Rycraw. What was that day like?”

Mercedez took a breath. “Well, my aunt called me. She told me to come meet my dad. When we met and we held each other, it was good. But I asked my mom after that about him, and she told me, ‘I don’t know why William thinks he’s your dad. The last time I was with him, I was eighteen. And I had you when I was twenty-five or twenty-six.”

Sharon jumped in. “My sister, when it comes to telling the truth on a certain thing, they’d beat around the bush. She didn’t answer him when she came back. She didn’t tell her the truth either.”

“Why do you think your sister didn’t tell the truth?”

“Because they both was in a relationship. They both was married. And then when my sister called and told me, I said, ‘It’s not my place to tell.’”

“So at what point did your sister tell you the secret?”

“After she’d been here two years.”

The audience gasped again. Judge Lake leaned forward. “What did she say? How did she say it?”

“I said, ‘Who is her daddy?’ I said, ‘You can’t lie to me ’cause we twins. Who is her daddy?’ And she said, ‘William.’”

“So the truth is, they were both having affairs.”

“With each other,” Sharon confirmed.

“And that’s why this thing went hush-hush.”

“Hush-hush, under the rug, as the old folks say. Swept that dirt under the rug. Yes, ma’am. I was tired of her just beating around the bush and not saying nothing about it, so I went on and told her, ‘Do you want to meet your daddy?’ And I called her that day. And I asked him, did he want to meet his daughter? I called him, and he came to revival, and I said, ‘You wanna meet your daughter?’”

Judge Lake turned to William. “Mr. Rycraw, what was that day like?”

William’s voice was thick. “I don’t know. I just—I believe she’s my daughter because before Karen went back to California, I believed she was pregnant. I believed it. And we met, and it was so emotional. But I accepted her because I believed in my heart that she was.”

Judge Lake turned to Mercedez. “When you listen to this testimony, does it make you believe that Mr. Rycraw is your biological father?”

“No. Because before my mom passed, I was questioning her who was my dad, and she gave me this man’s name. It wasn’t until I got older that I decided to go and see this man. So I don’t know what to believe right now.”

“What happened when you met him?”

“I did. And I thought I looked like him too. And he remembered my mom. And we got a test. And I called up to get the results, but they didn’t give me the results. So he called me and told me that he wasn’t my dad. So I never saw the results.”

“So up until that point, did you believe he was your biological father?”

“That’s what my mom told me.”

Judge Lake watched Mercedez crumble. “I can see how much that hurts you. Did you build a relationship with that man?”

“No. I wouldn’t allow myself to build it with him or that man, because I don’t wanna be just building relationships with people and it’s not my dad. I don’t wanna do that. I don’t want that. I want the truth. That’s what I want. I wanna know the right one, so I can have the right connection. I’m upset because I went through so much, and I couldn’t be with my dad. My sisters had an okay life, and I didn’t. Nobody was there for me.”

Judge Lake held up a document. “Ms. Henderson, the other man, the third man, the man your mother told you is your biological father. This court was able to get ahold of those test results. As it relates to this other gentleman, the probability of paternity was determined to be zero percent. He’s not your biological father.”

The audience erupted. Sharon gasped and swayed. Jerome caught her as she fainted.

“Get the medic, get the medic,” Judge Lake called.

The courtroom scrambled. Someone brought a chair. Sharon slumped into it, fanning herself.

Mercedez stared at the judge, her face pale. “I’m just even more scared.”

“When you say you’re even more scared, why?”

“Because what if it’s nobody?”

William reached for her. “I’ll always be your dad, Mercedez.”

“I know, Daddy, I know. But that’s not what I’m looking for.”

Judge Lake asked gently, “Does it make it more possible in your mind, more feasible, that Mr. Rycraw could be your biological father, just as your aunt stated?”

Mercedez shook her head. “I don’t know what to think right now. ‘Cause my mom told me that even when she was dying. And when she was dying, I kept asking her, ‘Was it him?’ She gave me another person that she didn’t know his name.”

William stood firm. “Your Honor, I still believe she’s my daughter. I can’t shake that feeling. And I love her. I been loving her for a long time.”

Judge Lake turned to the witness he’d brought. “Ma’am, will you please stand and step over to the podium? State your name for the record.”

“Mercedez Banks.”

“You are Mr. Rycraw’s oldest daughter?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Can you tell the court what your understanding is as it relates to Ms. Henderson? Were you told that that’s your sister?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Do you believe she’s your sister?”

“I don’t.”

The audience gasped. Mercedez Banks continued, her voice measured. “I just don’t have that connection with her that I have with my other siblings. I can’t say that she isn’t my sister. But I just don’t believe that she’s my sister. We accepted her and loved her because my dad loves her. We just wanna know the truth. Me and my siblings. We just wanna know the truth.”

Judge Lake nodded. “And that’s exactly what this court is about. Getting to the truth. Ms. Henderson, if you are ready.”

Mercedez steadied herself. “I’m ready.”

“Jerome, I’m ready for the results.”

The bailiff handed over the envelope.

“These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. In the case of Henderson v. Rycraw, when it comes to thirty-three-year-old Mercedez Henderson, it has been determined by this court that Mr. Henderson, you are not the father.”

Walter sat back, his face unreadable.

Judge Lake opened the second page. “The next result reads as follows. In the case of Henderson v. Rycraw, when it comes to thirty-three-year-old Mercedez Henderson, it has been determined by this court that Mr. Rycraw, you are not the father.”

The air left the room. Mercedez collapsed into sobs. William reached for her, his own face crumpling.

Mercedez’s aunt Sharon rose on shaky legs and wrapped her arms around her niece. “We love you,” she whispered. “We love you.”

Walter touched Mercedez’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, okay? Don’t worry.”

Judge Lake’s voice was soft. “Life deals us blows that we don’t expect and that we don’t deserve. But we got your back. If you need us, we’re here. All right? I wish you all the very best. Court is adjourned.”

Mercedez stood, still weeping. Sharon pulled her into a hug. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry. You gonna be okay? This is just one day. And we gonna march on. We gonna heal, right? And think about everything you do have. That’s a blessing in your life.”

The courtroom slowly emptied, but Mercedez stayed in her aunt’s arms, a woman who came looking for a father and left with something else entirely: the truth, sharp and merciless, and the love of the family who chose her anyway.