"Let's see . . . ummm, no; there's no record of any hearing today. Are you sure it was today?" The woman at the court clerk's desk takes off her reading glasses and looks up at Angelo quizzically. Meanwhile another woman in the office is standing behind the front desk off to the right side and we hear her on the phone. She's looking directly at us, like she's speaking to us, but she's on the phone. "Yeah, they're here now . . . yeah." she giggles.
Our emergency hearing for spousal support, that we've been waiting five months for has suddenly been cancelled with no notice or reason. Apparently someone in the office thinks it's hilarious though. What does Mulva Fargo do to get the courthouse personnel to tamper with cases for her, I wonder.
"Who do you think that woman was talking to on the phone?" I say out loud to Angelo and Matt. We all already know the answer though. No one even answers me.
Matt and I both took off from work today. We weren't needed to testify and Frank wasn't going to be there, but we felt it was important for the judge to know that someone cares about Frank even though Angelo said we didn't have to go.
"We must have stepped in some deep shit here. I don't know what's going on, but that case was on the docket yesterday. I know because I checked it to make sure the time hadn't changed." Angelo looks like a mixture of anger and confusion. I think we all feel the same way. Suddenly I feel paranoid, like we just stepped into a private club where everyone knows each other and we are standing out like nudists at a suit convention.
"You guys get out of here. No sense hanging around. I'll see what I can find out." Angelo seems distracted. I was mixed with relief and disappointment. No one likes to feel duped or ridiculed, but I really wanted our day in court and I felt like doing some yelling. I had to leave it to Angelo to get to the bottom though, so Matt and I left. Since we were all dressed up with no place to go, we treated ourselves to a nice, quiet lunch at a beautiful old colonial restaurant near home. We don't talk about anything much but Frank these days though, and it's becoming exhausting.
Angelo tracked down the guy who schedules the docket for Delaware County Courthouse and asked him what happened to our case. "Yes, the other attorney told me that you weren't ready for the case." he said in his superior tone, as if this was a good reason.
"What do you mean? You take her word that I'm not ready for my case?" Angelo asks incredulously.
"She said that you couldn't proceed without a guardian for the plaintiff." the docket clerk explains.
"Where's the judge? Did she approve this? Because as far as I know you can't just cancel my hearing because the other attorney wants you to." Angelo is exasperated. The guy shows no reaction and has no response. He just walks away from Angelo quickly, like he has someplace more important to be and leaves Angelo standing there.
It's not like Fargo didn't know who Angelo was. He sent a very polite letter to her office introducing himself as Frank's attorney and in the final paragraph wrote that he was looking forward to meeting her on the 28th at the courthouse for the APL hearing. He got no response from her, probably because she wasn't planning on showing up for it. Keep in mind also, that this very same judge who was presiding over this case is the same judge that turned Mat down, twice, to be appointed guardian ad litem for Frank. It is required for a judge to approve the cancellation of a hearing if it is within twenty-four hours. So did she approve the cancellation of our hearing for need of a guardian and at the same time refuse to appoint Matt guardian? It's been six years that Fargo and Kat have delayed things, they're not going to stop now, especially when Frank has some unknown, i.e. not Delaware County, attorney that is easily manipulated by the courthouse employee shenanigans.
Before he left the courthouse Angelo checks the docket one more time to see if it was rescheduled at all. While perusing all files for 'Layton', he is surprised to see that there was a hearing three weeks ago. Angelo sucks in air, "What the hell is this?" he says to himself. He goes back into the office where the cabal of treacherous secretaries work. The three of them all look at each other when Angelo walks in. "Hey, can I get a transcript of this case?" He hands the woman a piece of paper with the case number on it. The same woman that was on the phone laughing at him before is still snickering with her head down. He looks at the name plate on her desk and makes a note to himself to find out who she is and why this case is so important to her. "I'm sorry sir, that case isn't in our files any longer. I'll have to order it from the records." the woman looks blankly at Angelo, but he's feeling all their eyes on him. He's tries to stay calm and not give the impression he's on to their tricks because he knows that will only make it worse. "Okay, that's fine." Angelo says calmly. "When will it be ready?"
"I don't know sir, it could be three weeks." the secretary claims.
Angelo gets in his car and drives an hour back home to Betty and the kids, and solace. He looks around his nice home and his beautiful family and thinks, "What the hell am I getting into here?" He feels like he just stepped out of the Twilight Zone.
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