My landlord threw a pair of heavy black MMA gloves onto my shoes and threatened to put me in the hospital right in front of my eight-year-old sister.
During my lunch break, I walked the five blocks to the municipal court building, making my way to the Legal Aid office tucked away in a quiet corner. Samuel Carver, a legal aid attorney, was a soft-spoken man with tired eyes, hunched over a desk piled high with files. His office was small, smelling faintly of old paper and lukewarm coffee.
I handed him the emergency petition Marcus had filed. Carver pushed his glasses up his nose, reading through the documents methodically.
“He’s attached a handwritten affidavit,” Carver murmured, his finger tracing a line on the paper. “Claims you have an unrecorded criminal past. A violent offender.”
A knot tightened in my stomach. The state had sealed my juvenile record years ago after I completed the youth athletic discipline program and got my mechanics certification. It was supposed to be erased, a closed chapter.
“My record was sealed, sir,” I said, my voice low. “After I completed the program, when I turned eighteen.”
Carver nodded, not looking up. “He’s trying to establish a pattern of dangerous behavior. To justify an immediate lockout.”
He looked at me over the rim of his glasses. “The judge will prioritize peace. Without physical proof showing exactly where that $4,500 went before 9:00 AM tomorrow, the magistrate will likely issue a temporary vacate order. To maintain peace between the parties.”
The words hung in the air: temporary vacate order. It meant Maya and I would be out on the street.
I left his office with a hollow feeling, the weight of the expedited court summons pressing down on me.
When I returned to the duplex at dusk, the setting sun cast long shadows across our small lawn. Marcus was sitting on his upper deck, a beer bottle clutched in his hand, staring silently at the driveway. He didn’t move, didn’t acknowledge me.
A bright yellow legal warning notice was tacked across the basement door handles, flapping gently in the evening breeze.
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