“Ms. Dallas, you have dragged the defendant, Mr. Stewart, into court today to prove that he is the father of your newborn son, one-month-old Lamar. You say you are shocked that he’s denying his baby, Lamar’s biological dad, especially since you discovered he’s the one leading a double life. Is that correct?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

Judge Lake turned to the man across the aisle. “Mr. Stewart, you claim that it’s Ms. Dallas who’s been far from faithful, and you believe that baby Lamar’s dad could be any one of multiple men.”

“That’s correct.”

“So, Ms. Dallas, take us to your relationship before you found out about Mr. Stewart’s alleged double life.”

She took a breath. “I met Cedric—Mr. Stewart—in June of 2016. I was out having breakfast with my friend, probably about six o’clock in the morning, and he walked up to me, offered to pay for my breakfast. After that, we exchanged numbers, and from there, we hooked up a couple of times.”

“So first, you’re just dating casually.”

“Yeah. Okay. And we always had to get a room. I used to ask him, ‘I’m tired of going to the room. Can we go to your house? You said you have a house you own.’ And he was like, ‘I have unwanted company there.’ So I’m like, ‘Unwanted company? You got a girlfriend?’ He like, ‘No.’ I’m like, ‘You have a baby mom there?’ He like, ‘No.’ I’m like, ‘You got a wife?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, right.’ And that’s when he proceeded to tell me that they were separated, they’re going through a divorce.”

Judge Lake turned to Mr. Stewart. “Mr. Stewart, yes. Did you meet Ms. Dallas, date her casually, have sex with her, and finally later tell her that you were married?”

“Quite like that. How did it go?”

He shrugged. “It didn’t come up.”

“How did it not come up? That’s relevant information, is it not?”

“Yeah. True.”

“So wait. You were basically out acting like a single man.”

“I wouldn’t act—yeah.”

“Yes. Yes. I’m glad you just owned up to the truth. I had to think about it. Okay. So you were out there acting like a single man, but you were married.”

“Yeah.”

“Were you getting a divorce then?”

“I wasn’t—I didn’t have it filed, but in my head, yeah, I was getting a divorce.”

“In your head means you’re still married.”

“Yes.”

Judge Lake shook her head. “Moving on. You’re married, with your wife living there.”

“Every day. He would come over there when he got off work. The only time he probably went to his house was when he went to change his clothes or put on his work clothes.”

“Mr. Stewart, during this time, were you still intimate with your wife?”

“No. Not at the time. We were living together, but we were having problems of our own.”

“So, Ms. Dallas, once you found out he was married, did you have second thoughts about dating a married man?”

“Yes, I did have second thoughts. But once everything started hitting the floor, I was already pregnant. I love Cedric. And he was telling me, ‘I want to do a divorce. We’re gonna have a house. We’re gonna raise our son together.’ I was believing him because that’s all I had to do was believe him.”

“So he had you high off the promises and drunk dreams.”

“It was all right.”

Judge Lake turned back to Mr. Stewart. “Now listen. This is what happened. You were a married man out there trying to probably keep this young girl and date his wife too and have your wife too. But at some point, you found out you were pregnant. Then that will sober you up.”

Ms. Dallas nodded. “I thought everything was gonna be okay after that. When I found out I was pregnant, Cedric was happy.”

“Oh, you were genuine? Even though you were still married to your wife, you were happy your mistress was pregnant?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any other children?”

“Yes. You do. How many?”

“Three.”

“With your wife?”

“No. We have no kids. But you have three children from a previous relationship.”

“Yes.”

“How long have you been married?”

“Ten years.”

“So you found out about this baby, and you were happy. But you didn’t have doubt at that time?”

“No.”

“He started having doubts. So-called my associate was telling him and his wife that I was sleeping around with multiple men when I conceived Lamar.”

“Someone gave you information.”

“But it was the same friend that sent him naked pictures of herself to him, telling him I was sleeping around with somebody else.”

“So why won’t you say that she wanted to sleep with you? The friend sent you naked pictures, Mr. Stewart.”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“So don’t you believe that would discredit her?”

“Yeah, but that was one of my doubts.”

“What’s your other doubt?”

“Well, the other doubt was, when he got here, he don’t look like me. Look at his hair. He looked mixed. He don’t look like—”

Judge Lake cut him off. “All babies come out with fine hair. So what point did you have to come clean with your wife about this baby?”

He hesitated. “I told her.”

Ms. Dallas shook her head. “His wife sent me a picture of her, him, and Cedric in the bed. He has my name tattooed on him. She sent me a picture of him and her in the bed naked together. His wife sends a picture to you of them in the bed.”

“Yes. And he was asleep, and she was taking a picture. She sent it to me.”

“You were pregnant.”

“She didn’t know I was pregnant. We was in the hospital at the time all this was going on, and I found out I was pregnant. And I sent her a picture of the pregnancy test.”

Judge Lake’s eyebrows rose. “You sent his wife your pregnancy test?”

“Yeah.”

Judge Lake turned to the bailiff. “Jerome, I want to hear from his wife. Please escort Ms. Stewart into the courtroom.”

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

“Good morning, Ms. Stewart. Thank you for joining us today. This testimony is troubling.”

She nodded. “Yes, very troubling. And it was not true.”

“What part of the testimony do you dispute?”

“How they met. Cedric met her online. She said they met at a restaurant. He met her online.”

“So you believe he was actually looking for a relationship outside the marriage?”

“I wouldn’t say a relationship, but relations.”

“Exactly. Do you believe Ms. Dallas knew he was married from the beginning?”

“I wouldn’t say she knew from the beginning, but she knew very, very early.”

“And how do you know that for certain?”

“She called me and said, ‘Are you and Cedric still together?’”

Ms. Dallas shook her head. “I never called you and said that.”

Ms. Stewart’s voice was sharp. “Yes, you did. I have receipts that I brought.”

“So Ms. Stewart, you’re claiming that what you’ve presented to the court are messages which indicate she was not just entertaining your husband, but multiple men.”

“That’s not true,” Ms. Dallas said. “I can’t help when people send me messages on Facebook. Whatever they asking me, I can’t help that.”

“So, Ms. Stewart, you believe that Ms. Dallas was having sex with multiple men in addition to your husband.”

“Exactly. And that’s why I doubt that this child is my husband’s biological child.”

“Exactly.”

Judge Lake turned to Ms. Dallas. “Were you intimate with anyone else around the time baby Lamar was conceived?”

“No. Anybody else? No. Not at all.”

“Does Mr. Stewart have a relationship with baby Lamar?”

“Yes. He participated in doctor’s appointments. He was there. And at the birth, he was there. He signed the birth certificate.”

“So, Mr. Stewart, why would you sign the birth certificate if people have been telling you that she was also sleeping with other people and you had doubt?”

He shifted. “I guess I’ve been there so long. She got other kids. I got a relationship with them. I wouldn’t just be gone.”

Judge Lake leaned forward. “Wait a minute. Who are you with right now? Actually, right now. Who are you with?”

He looked at Ms. Dallas. “Lakita.”

“So you and Ms. Dallas are together?”

“Yeah. We live together.”

“You’re still married.”

“Legally, we’re still married.”

Judge Lake turned to the wife. “Ms. Stewart, do you want this marriage to work?”

Ms. Stewart shook her head. “Roberta knows what Roberta has to do for herself at this point. Cedric has three children of his own that he has neglected to take care of.”

Ms. Dallas shook her head. “That’s not true. Me and him take the baby over there, and my other kids. He does for his kids.”

Ms. Stewart’s voice rose. “You haven’t even been knowing him for a year.”

Judge Lake held up a hand. “Ladies, ladies, ladies. And then Lakita also told him that she has all her children two months early.”

Ms. Dallas shook her head. “No, I did not. That’s why the timing did not add up. They were going off the measurement of my belly. I started showing. I was like eight months, really getting a belly. But the measurements were thrown off. The ultrasound was right on point.”

Judge Lake shook her head. “So wait a minute. You all have so much information. You all have had so much conversation. It’s like you women have all the facts, and I can’t get a straight answer out of Mr. Stewart.”

He shrugged. “You said you weren’t gonna get on here and try to make me look like a fool.”

“We’re here to tell the truth. That’s what we’re here for. We’re here to see why you would question paternity if you had no doubts.”

“You had questions when she first told you she was pregnant. You asked for a DNA test. And Lakita also told me, ‘I’m going to give him a paternity test.’ We agreed on that before I even got—we found out I was pregnant.”

Judge Lake looked at both women. “Both of you have been in touch. You all have had conversations. You all basically know exactly what’s happening here, and you know he’s playing you all. But you’re still standing here getting played. That’s what I’m trying to understand why. And you’re arguing with one another, but nobody’s holding him accountable.”

Ms. Stewart nodded. “I hold him accountable for everything. I did not marry Lakita. I married this person. My issue is with Cedric. The only issue I have with Lakita is, if we have women out here like you, what marriage is gonna last? If you know you’re sleeping with a married man.”

“No marriage is gonna last,” Ms. Dallas said, “because they know they can go to her, her, or her.”

Judge Lake held up a hand. “Hold on now, Ms. Stewart. It’s just your husband’s doing. He told me before you came in the courtroom, I said, ‘Were you out acting like a single man?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ That’s it. Because when a married man acts like a married man, there ain’t nothing Ms. Dallas can do. I don’t even think he knows what a married man should act like. And that is the point. He’s made his own lane, and it’s right smack dab in the middle of both of your neighborhoods. He’s just going back and forth.”

She turned to Mr. Stewart. “So, if baby Lamar is your biological child, are you planning to have a life and a relationship with Ms. Dallas?”

“Yes.”

“And if he is not your biological child, then?”

“Nobody.”

Judge Lake turned to the wife. “Ms. Stewart, what is Mr. Stewart saying to you right now? Ms. Dallas is saying he’s saying, ‘You’re gonna have a house, we’re gonna do this.’ He’s telling me he’s just trying to see if this is his son, because if this is his son, he’s going to court to ask for full custody of his son.”

Ms. Stewart nodded. “And I’m saying that he wants to be with you. He even said that he was like, ‘This could make us better as a whole.’ And I’m like, ‘What?’ I said, ‘I don’t want to raise nobody else’s child.’ I have texts. I have receipts where he says, ‘I thought you was gonna help me raise him.’ I said, ‘Cedric, I don’t have that problem with helping you raise your son, but I’m not going to be in the middle of you wanting to be with her today, her tomorrow, the next day. I’m not gonna be in the middle of that.’”

Judge Lake reached for the envelope. “All right. Well, the only way we’re gonna move forward in this situation. Jerome, thank you.”

The bailiff handed it over.

“These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. In the case of Dallas versus Stewart, when it comes to one-month-old Lamar Stewart, it has been determined by this court that Mr. Stewart, you are the father.”

Ms. Dallas burst into tears. “I told you, baby. I told you. I ain’t got no reason to lie at all.”

Judge Lake looked at her. “So listen, Ms. Dallas, I see you are in tears.”

“I go through so much with him and his wife. You don’t understand.”

“And you will continue to go through it. But I’m not trying to go through that no more.”

Judge Lake turned to Mr. Stewart. “Mr. Stewart, what I’m here to ask you all, as we look at this beautiful baby—he’s here now. He’s your son. He looks like you. And it is not my place to tell you what to do with your life. But what I am saying, Mr. Stewart, is if you don’t make a call, your son is going to grow up amidst this level of toxic behavior.”

The bailiff called the next case.

“Ms. Thompson, you are summoning Mr. McKinley to court to prove to him and his wife that he fathered your six-month-old son, Legend. You say his wife is petty and she is the cause of his paternity denial. Is that correct?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

Judge Lake turned to the man across the aisle. “Mr. McKinley, you admit that Ms. Thompson was an affair gone wrong, and you say Ms. Thompson needs to leave you and your wife of seventeen years alone and find her baby’s father. Is that correct?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“So, Ms. Thompson, how did you end up in a relationship with a married man?”

She flipped her hair. “Okay. I ended up in a relationship with Terrell, and I wouldn’t consider it a relationship. I would consider it friends with benefits. I was on Facebook, and he was always liking my pictures, commenting on my pictures, always trying to get attention to be noticed. One day—excuse me, I’ll let you talk—one day, I finally gave him a chance because he was real thirsty. I gave him a chance because I was like, ‘Okay, I want to go out on a date.’ I hadn’t even started talking to him, but I chose him to go out with obviously because he was always giving me nice notes. I wouldn’t be here today, or we wouldn’t even be asking, if he was my baby’s father. So, yeah, he was attracted to me.”

Judge Lake raised an eyebrow. “To make a long story short, I dated him. We had rap in common because I rap. I write music, I sing. I took him to the studio. We spit some bars. We ended up having sexual encounters. We protected ourselves the majority of the time. I had been drinking, and we had messed around. I wasn’t sober enough to make the right decisions, and he knew that. He took advantage of that.”

“So wait a minute. Did you know he was married?”

“He told me that he was separated.”

Mr. McKinley shook his head. “I went on his Facebook. She’s always posting new pictures. I post a picture of me leaving the studio. Ms. Thompson got in my DM: ‘When you gonna bring me to the studio?’ I said, ‘Well, I don’t know. Do you rap?’ She like, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘Well, okay, I’ll come and bring you today.’ The next day, she got in my inbox: ‘I thought you was gonna bring me to the studio.’ She was a side chick.”

“Hold on. That’s interesting. Let’s talk one at a time. So out of the blue, she just sends you a message and says, ‘When are you going to take me to the studio?’ And you don’t know who this girl is?”

“No. I just knew she was one of my friends on Facebook.”

Judge Lake turned to the wife. “Ms. McKinley, I want to know from you: how did you find out about him?”

She crossed her arms. “One of the girls up there told me that my husband had a young girl in the room. I knew how the girl looked. I went over myself. I knocked on the door. He asked who it was. I didn’t answer. He opened the door. I went in there. She was under the covers in the bed. I took the cover off of her head, and I’m like asking him, ‘What’s going on?’ He like, ‘We doing music.’ I was like, ‘No, you’re not doing music in the bed under the covers.’ And that’s how I found out.”

Ms. Thompson shook her head. “I was having an affair like they said. How is it that me and him ended up going to New Orleans and I met his entire family? I went with him. He introduced me to his family—his sister, his cousins. I went swimming. It’s like I’m his girlfriend. But in my mind, I’m like, ‘Okay, this man is too old for me.’ But at the time, it was fun. I’m young, and I’m having fun, and I’m enjoying his company.”

She took a breath. “I went to Tulane Hospital because I wasn’t feeling good. He took me. I told him that I was expecting. I did not say it was his. I told him that I was expecting because I’m a woman, I own up to my stuff. I said, ‘Okay, it’s a chance that this might not be your child.’ He was upset. He got in his feelings.”

Mr. McKinley shook his head. “This man is lying. Look at me. He was all up in my face. He spent money on me. He let me drive his car. At the same time, I had fun. He loves this child, and I know he does. But this woman here—she’s been saying that I’m childish. I’m upset. That’s my baby right there. I love my child. I take care of him. I have been going through hell because all I want him to do is be a father. I have let them see my child. They have taken pictures with my child. Now they’re on the courthouse saying, ‘Oh, I don’t think that’s my baby.’ That’s not true.”

Ms. McKinley shook her head. “I don’t want your man. For one, he’s too old for me. He ain’t even attractive to me. He was just, at the time, he was just something to do.”

Judge Lake held up a hand. “Let me tell you something. I called him in the hospital on the second day because I looked at my child and I said, ‘I’m gonna own up today. I did not want him to be the father, but my child sure do got a lot of features.’ This evidence shows that he has a stacked toe. He grew into it, but when he was born, it’s genetic. I asked Terrell about my son. I told him about it. He said, ‘Oh yeah, that’s me.’ So if that ain’t your baby, take your shoe off. Let me see your toes.”

Mr. McKinley shook his head. “Nothing wrong with my toes.”

Judge Lake looked at the medical report. “Overlapping toes affect an estimated ten percent of the population, and it’s more than likely that heredity plays a part. When children and infants have overlapping toes, it’s usually the case that one or both parents have the same condition. Do you have an overlapping toe, Mr. McKinley?”

“No.”

Ms. Thompson pulled out her phone. “I have this evidence. We got this about three months ago. He was telling my husband, ‘Oh, this Legend.’ This evidence is a picture you said you saw where—as a matter of fact, it’s still in her phone. His real father.”

Mr. McKinley shook his head. “I have nothing to hide. I did not say that.”

Ms. Thompson’s voice rose. “You think they got this text if it didn’t come from you? This woman made a fake page. My page is private. That’s how I know it’s gotta be an app. She made up a whole fake page. All of this that they’re doing is to make me look bad. But I’m really upset because I could care less if he’s in his life or not. I just want to know who the father is so I can get the help that I need. I’m struggling with my child.”

Judge Lake turned to the wife. “If you want to meet her, that’s fine, but she don’t gotta tag along on your coattail just to go see your child.”

“I didn’t have sex with her. I don’t mind her coming.”

“We are sleeping together,” Ms. Thompson said. “I don’t want him. This is not about Legend. This is my husband.”

“It’s about me,” Ms. McKinley shot back. “She calls me and my husband. I got voicemails. I got text messages.”

Judge Lake turned to Ms. Thompson. “Let me ask you one question. Have you ever been married?”

“No. I’ve not been married.”

“Okay. I can understand now why your perspective is so one-sided, and you don’t understand. I’m accepting your mouthing off because I know it comes from a place of hurt. I’m trying to refrain from beating you down because the truth is, you are a young girl. You stand here now, and it’s ‘I want him, I want him.’ You slept with him. You knew he didn’t have no money. You knew he worked at the Goodwill. You knew he had a wife. And you knew he didn’t have anything.”

Ms. Thompson shook her head. “Hold on. I let you talk all day. Now I’m gonna talk. You knew all this about this man, and I’m not saying he’s right because he’s wrong as the day is long. But what I’m saying to you is that as you speak—at first I wanted you to get the chip off your shoulder because I thought maybe after you got it off, we could get to really who you are and how this happened. All in my mind, as I’m saying, is what are we going to do? How do we do that?”

Ms. Thompson’s voice cracked. “I made a mistake. Of course I did.”

Judge Lake nodded. “Now, Legend is born. You say you want to be a part of Legend’s life until you figure out if in fact it’s your biological child. Yes. You’re attempting to do that. Ms. Thompson is saying every time they come, the wife has to come. I realize what that’s rooted in. It’s insecurity. What in the world is going to be going on when she goes over there? So I get all that. How often have you seen Legend?”

“Three times in six months.”

“Before I left New Orleans to return back to Dallas, I called Ms. Thompson. ‘How are we gonna handle this?’ I said, ‘You don’t trust me around my wife. My wife don’t trust me around you. But that still should not involve Legend in the middle of this fight.’”

Judge Lake looked at Ms. Thompson. “You say you don’t want me. So what’s the problem with my wife being with me? It’s about Legend.”

“I want a DNA test. Because you’re saying—and she’s admitted in court today—that this child may or may not be your biological child.”

Judge Lake nodded. “That’s probably the most sense she’s made.”

Mr. McKinley shook his head. “It didn’t make no sense. Of course it wasn’t true.”

Ms. Thompson’s voice trembled. “I have to feel sorry for my children. I have been taking care of them. I put a roof over their head. I don’t have to explain it to you. You’re looking at me pitiful like you feel sorry for me. Don’t feel sorry for me. I have this anger built up because he does not take care of his child. So if he doesn’t or does, I’m gonna take care of him anyway. And he’s still happy.”

Judge Lake shook her head. “I’m so glad we’re here. Every day, Ron, that’s all I can say.”

Ms. Thompson wiped her eyes. “I’m so glad I was woke up this morning to be here.”

“You got your moment to be able to say what you need to say. That’s what this moment is.”

She nodded. “I feel better.”

“Don’t let hurt, anger, frustration make you bitter. Your teeth so clenched, it was like your head was gonna pop off.”

“I was upset.”

“I could see that. That’s why I brought it down. I knew there was another you in there somewhere.”

Ms. Thompson shook her head. “I’m not gonna cry. My makeup’s pretty.”

“You do look pretty. You’re a pretty girl. You’re a young girl. You have dreams for your life. When you get so hard sometimes and you get so angry, you can’t let anything in. You’re trying to keep the bad out, but sometimes you can’t let the good in.”

She took a shaky breath. “I just get overwhelmed. Being a single mom, doing the right thing, going without to make sure that they have—which I do, and most women my age don’t—it’s overwhelming. Especially to have extra drama. All you got to do is take care of this and wait till the results come. You didn’t have to do all of this.”

“But I was willing to come, and I’m getting it taken care of.”

Judge Lake nodded. “So you got in a situation. You and Mr. McKinley got in a situation. He ain’t off the hook. But I’m more concerned with you because he’s got support, and you stand there by yourself.”

Ms. Thompson nodded. “Thank you for understanding. That’s why I’m here.”

“All right. Are we ready for the results?”

Ms. Thompson held up a hand. “I wanted to say something. I made a rap about the whole situation. Can I express that with no interruptions?”

Judge Lake nodded. “Ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Thompson has the courtroom.”

Ms. Thompson took a breath and began:

“Let me tell you a little something about me. Pretty, mad, Kool-Aid, solo, grinding one deep. I met him on Facebook, he inboxed me, trying to see if he could take me out to eat. I’m knowing this dude want to get in them sheets. I’m from Triple D, so I’m so discreet. Made the dude say he want to marry me. I don’t got time, I’m on my grind. Money, money, that’s on my mind. He got me pregnant, stuff got hectic. I got on that phone and started talking reckless. I can’t help it, I’ll be stressing. But my kids, yeah, they a blessing.”

The audience applauded. Judge Lake smiled. “Very good. Very good.”

She turned to the bailiff. “The envelope, please. Ron.”

The bailiff handed it over.

“In the case of Thompson versus McKinley, when it comes to six-month-old Legend, it has been determined by this court that Mr. McKinley, you are the father.”

Ms. Thompson exhaled. The audience applauded again.

Judge Lake looked at the baby. “He’s a handsome young man. He’s a handsome baby. In the spirit of that beauty and that innocence, let’s go forward better than we have before.”

Ms. Thompson nodded. “I don’t want drama. I never did want drama. It’s just hurt me when I asked for something and they don’t do it.”

“I wish I had little boxes and I could wrap it up for you all, put a bow on it, and send you out like life is perfect now. But that takes work. It’s gonna take you all to stay in this place.”

Judge Lake turned to Mr. McKinley. “I see tears in your eyes, Mr. McKinley.”

“Yes. Because I’ve been wanting to be a part, but she limited—”

“Don’t go back. You see what I’m saying? Don’t go back. There were issues. Don’t go back.”

The bailiff called the next case.

“Ms. Jackson, you say you’re here to confront your husband’s mistress and to prove her one-month-old daughter KeAsia is not his biological child. Furthermore, you say if you learn today that the child is in fact your husband’s, your marriage is over.”

“That’s right.”

Judge Lake turned to the other woman. “Ms. Lipscomb, you say that you have no doubt your child is her husband’s daughter. You claim he had sex with you, made a baby, and now she needs to deal with the truth.”

“That’s right.”

Judge Lake looked at her notes. “Mr. Jackson is waiting outside the courtroom, and we’ll meet him shortly. But first, Ms. Jackson, tell me: how did you find out your husband may be having a child with his mistress?”

Ms. Jackson crossed her arms. “I got an epiphany. Call it woman’s intuition, whatever you want. I went to my husband’s job. It was about 9:30 or 10:30 at night. He approached the car. We talked for a few minutes. To end our conversation, I told him I feel as though there’s something going on that you haven’t told me, because he had been distant. As we were standing outside the building, the defendant pops up in her car like she’s Ricky Raccoon. Upon hearing my voice, I turned around and went and knocked on the window. I asked her if she knew my husband. I called him by name. She said she did. She introduced herself as his girlfriend. I said, ‘Well, girlfriend, because I’m his wife, at this point your role is kind of insignificant.’ So she and I proceeded to talk. She started to tell me about how they were intimate, how she lived with him at the hotel that he was presently staying at. She told me she was three weeks pregnant. This was November 25th.”

Judge Lake turned to Ms. Lipscomb. “You remember this?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“And she’s not being all the way honest.”

“What is it you feel she’s leaving out?”

Ms. Lipscomb shook her head. “I don’t know what her intentions were when she came to that job. Why did she come up there? I’d never seen her a day in my life. I knew her voice because when I’m around Mr. Jackson and she calls, I can hear her through the phone. But she was always labeled as my ‘BM’—my baby mother. ‘BM’ does not spell ‘wife.’ ‘Wife’ is spelled W-I-F-E. So it didn’t dawn on me to ask, ‘Are you married?’ Because if you’re married, why have you been living in a room for three to four months? I never knew anything about a wife.”

“So he never said, ‘My wife put me out’?”

“No. He was like, ‘My baby mother.’ And he didn’t have a ring on. He had the ring, but the ring was never saying that this is my wife.”

Judge Lake shook her head. “Why do you wear a ring from a previous marriage?”

Mr. Jackson, who had just been escorted in, shrugged. “He wear what he want to wear. He do what he want to do.”

Ms. Jackson looked at him. “At that point, I feel like if this is your husband and you say y’all working on your family, trying to get it together, why is your husband in a room and not at home with his kids?”

Ms. Lipscomb shook her head. “When I met her in the car that night, she told me she was pregnant. Maybe a week after that, my husband went to jail that night. I was angry enough. It was an impulsive decision, and I understand it was not the right decision, but yes, I sent him to jail because I knew he had some legal issues going on in another state. The next morning, I go to the room to find Ms. Lipscomb laying in bed crying.”

Judge Lake held up a hand. “All right. Bottom line: we’ve got a wife and a mistress fighting over one man. Jerome, I’m ready to meet this man.”

Mr. Jackson walked to the stand.

“Mr. Jackson, thank you for joining us today. How you doing?”

He shrugged. “I’m still here because I’m listening to a mess.”

“Ms. Lipscomb says she had no idea you had a wife.”

“No, she didn’t. Because I never mentioned it to her.”

“So you never told her you were married.”

“I didn’t tell her no lie. I just never mentioned it.”

Judge Lake’s voice was sharp. “Anything less than the whole truth is a lie.”

She turned to Ms. Jackson. “Not only have we had conversations before, I didn’t deny the child. I went and bought over nine hundred dollars’ worth of stuff for her baby. I told her, from one woman to another, I understand that we all have shortcomings. Yes, I went and bought things for the baby. At that time, I believed that she had left like she was done trying to be with my husband.”

“As far as I know, it ended when Mr. Jackson went to jail.”

Judge Lake turned to Ms. Lipscomb. “Did the affair end when he went to jail?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“So you have not been intimate with him since?”

She hesitated. “I’m not even gonna lie. Yes, I have.”

Judge Lake turned to Mr. Jackson. “What happened when you found out your mistress was pregnant?”

“I found out when I was in jail. Her birthday, she got sick and went to the hospital. My wife told me that she said she was pregnant. Then on her Facebook page, she had listed that she was going to the hospital. At that time, she was with another man. I have evidence.”

He handed up his phone. Judge Lake read it. “So what you’re saying is, this piece of evidence shows that she was also dealing with another man.”

“Yes. In the beginning, your husband knew just like you did. She was saying that the young man’s baby—from my standpoint, it’s a community baby. It’s anybody’s baby.”

Judge Lake turned to Ms. Lipscomb. “Do you believe there’s another man Ms. Lipscomb has been involved with sexually who could be the father of this child?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Ms. Lipscomb, when you had the baby, was he at the hospital? Did he cut the cord?”

“He was there.”

“Mr. Jackson, did you sign the birth certificate?”

“Yes.”

“So if it’s not his child, why would he sign the birth certificate?”

Ms. Jackson shook her head. “He automatically claimed all legal and financial responsibilities to that child because he is deemed as my dependent on my military benefits. At which time, that child becomes my dependent as well. They have not paid for anything for my child. My child still has a $25,500 hospital bill from the hospital. So if he’s on your benefits, why haven’t they paid that?”

Mr. Jackson shrugged. “I just believe she wants to know if this is his child so she can divorce him.”

Ms. Lipscomb’s voice rose. “Don’t use my child as a crutch. If you want to divorce him, divorce him. Don’t use my child.”

Ms. Jackson shook her head. “This woman is delusional. The whole time I was pregnant, my husband was with me.”

Judge Lake held up a hand. “Every time. What did you just say, Mr. Jackson?”

Ms. Jackson put a hand on her belly. “I’m pregnant now. I’m due in May. Mr. Jackson knows about it. I’ve invited him to doctor’s appointments. He and I talked about it. He said to me, ‘Well, I don’t care what nobody think, because you’re my wife, and at the end of the day, that’s just what it is.’”

Judge Lake turned to Mr. Jackson. “So now your wife is pregnant. You don’t believe she’s pregnant?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know if she is or she’s not.”

Judge Lake looked at Ms. Lipscomb. “Are you still in a relationship with him?”

“It’s iffy. We’re friends. But he’s married.”

Judge Lake shook her head. “Ladies, and I’m being generous with my language, I don’t know if you all think you’re scoring points or impressing anybody with this tit-for-tat nonsense, but you just look silly. Because ultimately, he’s not fighting for either one of y’all. He’s sitting over here watching a random tennis match with two women going back and forth, and he’s sitting there with a smirk on his face. He’s a coward.”

She turned to Mr. Jackson. “You have said it four thousand times in open court that’s your husband.”

“He is my husband.”

“Your husband ain’t saying nothing.”

Mr. Jackson shrugged. “Even if I do say something, what’s the point? They’re still gonna go backwards and forward.”

Judge Lake looked at him. “Mr. Jackson, it could be a possibility. Yet you did sign the birth certificate and acknowledge paternity. So you legally are the father of this child.”

“Yes.”

“Are you paying child support?”

“No. But she’s on your wife’s military benefits.”

“I don’t even know how that happened.”

“You signed paternity.”

Judge Lake turned to Ms. Lipscomb. “Are you gonna raise this baby?”

He didn’t answer. Judge Lake waited. “He’s been a performance. You perform it. Now you’re this baby’s legal father, and sitting up here, I ask you three times, ‘Are you gonna raise her?’ Two feet away. Come on. Stop the nonsense.”

She looked at the baby. “This is exactly how lying, secrecy, sexual irresponsibility, infidelity—this is how it all mixes up to create an absolute nightmare for a gorgeous little girl. She makes me want another one. But what I dislike most about this situation is that we have been here talking back and forth about the nonsense, the messiness that you caused, that he allowed, that you realized he was causing, and still got pregnant by him again. And we’re not talking enough about KeAsia.”

She reached for the envelope. “Before I get to the results, if I said to you, Mr. Jackson, you could step down off of that witness stand and go stand at either podium next to the woman you support in this drama—”

He shook his head. “The one I support? I’d just stand in the middle, because it’s still going to be drama.”

Judge Lake looked at both women. “Ladies, you heard that. Ray Charles can see this now.”

She opened the envelope.

“In the case of Jackson versus Lipscomb-Jackson, when it comes to one-month-old KeAsia Jackson, Mr. Jackson, you are not the father.”

Ms. Jackson shook her head. “It’s still over. It’s still over, Your Honor.”

Judge Lake looked at the baby. “What about this beautiful little baby? Do you know who her father is?”

Ms. Lipscomb nodded. “Yes.”

“Is he going to want to be a part of her life?”

“No. Probably not.”

Judge Lake sighed. “Ladies, there are some days where you’ve got to put your big girl panties on. You put them on, do what you got to do, figure out what you got to figure out, and you get it done. Because he’s not gonna help.”