April looked at her father after she told her story. He avoided her glances. She finally caught him looking at her. He had a dazed, forlorn look on his face.

“No further questions. Your honor” The lawyer said,
“April you may be seated”

She sad back down beside her mother. She had a look of relief on her face. She was finished. As far as she was concerned, everything was downhill from here.

“Counselor, your next witness please?” The judge requested.

“Toni please approach the bench?” The lawyer said in a calm and steady voice.

“Toni, can you please tell the jury what happened that night?”
The lawyer began his examination.

“When I got home from work, Mark was in a rage. He was drunk and angry about something. I don’t know what. He kept going on and on about April not doing her homework. He made comments about her performance in school, and her grades. This infuriated me, because he had no idea what he was talking about. He picked an odd time to be concerned about her grades” Toni lamented.