Chapter
23
"See,
that wasn't so bad," Brian said, as he and Katelyn climbed back into the
car. They had spent the last hour in the police station.
Katelyn rolled
her eyes. "I thought it was," she said. She had hated having to tell
the police all about her mother's abuse and answer countless questions. And she
knew there would be more.
The police had
told her to hire a lawyer and prepare to go to court in order to give Brian
legal custody of her. Katelyn knew she had a long road ahead of her. She was
anxious to get it over with. She knew that when it was all over, she would
probably be living with Brian or his parents until she graduated high school.
After high school,
she didn't know what her plans would be. She was very smart, but she knew she
didn't have the money for college. Her future was undecided. But she decided
she would worry about her education later. The important thing now was getting
away from her mother.
***
Two months later
"We
won!" Brian cried, as they exited the courthouse, slapping Katelyn a high
five.
She grinned.
She felt on top of the world right then. The stress of the past three months of
questioning, meetings with her lawyer, and getting ready to go to court was all
gone. Katelyn and her attorney had gone to court that day to sue Janet and give
custody of her to the Littrells. They had won the case. Janet had a restraining
order against Katelyn and no longer had custody of her. She wasn't going to
jail, but had many hours of community service and a large fine to pay.
It was now the
middle of August. Katelyn would start the school year in Lexington as a senior
at Tates Creek High School, Brian's alma mater. She was looking forward to
making new friends, she missed her old friends back in Cincinnati, especially
Jennie. Jennie had been shocked when she had found out about all that was
happening. She felt horribly guilty about never knowing that her best friend
had been abused all these years. But Katelyn wasn't upset with her. She had
been so good at keeping everything hidden, that even Jennie would have had a
hard time figuring it out.
The next day,
Brian and Katelyn were renting a U-Haul to take to Cincinnati and get the rest
of Katelyn's things that were still at her old house. The police had made sure
that Janet would not be around during the time Brian and Katelyn were going to
be there, so Katelyn didn't have to worry about her mother at all.
***