Bill Arce stood in the hallway of the courthouse and stared at his shoes. He could hear his lawyer droning in and on about appeals and other such matters, but all he could hear where the judge’s proclamation— “I award full custody to the mother!”
The words stung. Bill worked hard as a police officer, and sure he might slap his kids around when they misbehaved, but he didn’t want them breaking the law when they grew up. That was no reason for his ex wife Sarah to try to end their joint custody. It was unfair. And that stupid judge was all part of it. She just wanted to take his kids away from him. This was bullshit.
Bill noticed his lawyer had stopped talking. He looked up at the young man, fresh out of law school. His lawyer was staring at him, wearing a black suit. It was clear the young man expected a response. Bill shook his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that last part.”
“I said I can start filing appeals paperwork once you pay me,” the young man said.
Bill frowned. This stupid kid was no older than 27, with short brown hair and a youthful face.
“It’ll be next week,I think,” Bill responded. He wasn’t sure he could even afford it. The young lawyer nodded and they shook hands and the young man turned and started walking away down the courthouse hallway.
Bill sighed. This sucked. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to check for text messages, but accidentally opened an odd app he didn’t remember downloading. He read the instructions and squinted. Might as well try, he thought. He picked his lawyer.
“This 27 year old attorney just intentionally lost a custody hearing.”
Bill’s jaw dropped. What. The. Fuck. The little shit!
He quickly edited the sentence, changing