Series: Four Lives, One Last Chance - A Year In Drug Court: Part 21 Of 41

ACT III. JENNIFER. FACING THE JUDGE

A visit to the doctor finally disperses any doubt:

Jennifer and Ben are going to have a baby.

The day of her doctor's appointment is also her day for a drug screen and
counseling at Drug Court. When she arrives, Jennifer can barely contain her
enthusiasm. She quickly spills the news to Charity, her parole officer,
even though Ben had warned her not to tell anyone at Drug Court.

Jennifer had been barred from seeing Ben after the two lovers fought
several months earlier. The judge told her the ban would be part of her
probation, just like the requirements to have a job and stay off drugs.

For the last couple of months, she and Ben have been sneaking around to see
each other, anyway. Many of the Drug Court counselors and parole officers
suspect what's going on, but they've been unable to prove that they've been
dating.

But now that she has admitted to being pregnant, they can't look the other
way. They know who the father is.

Jennifer has violated the court's order.

Charity says he has to tell the judge, and he warns Jennifer that she could
be revoked from the program and sent to jail.

Jennifer goes outside and paces the sidewalk, pondering the judge's
choices. Her moment of joy has dissolved into consternation and stress.

"What if I go to jail?" she says through her tears. "What if he revokes me?"

Jennifer spends several days that week writing out a five-page letter to
read to the judge, to plead her case. But she's planning for the worst.

She writes down her bills and the amounts that have to be paid, then gives
the list and her apartment keys to Ben. Then she asks her mother to drive
her to court, just in case she won't be going home.

In court, Charity lays out the facts. Then Judge Conway calls Jennifer to
step forward.

"All right, Jennifer," he says. "Some changes since we last met?"

"Yes, sir," she mumbles.

"Let me ask you this: Are you going to outpatient counseling now?" he asks,
referring to a psychiatrist she has been seeing outside the Drug Court program.

"Yes, sir," she says.

"Is there any chance Ben can go with you?"

Jennifer brightens a bit as she answers.

"Yes, sir."

The judge recommends that the two of them attend counseling together, then
he continues.

He says he's going to demote her from the aftercare stage of the program to
Phase Four, but his decision is not a punishment. Rather, he wants her to
have more supervision, where she can talk about the choices she makes.

"It seems to me you're bouncing around, and I don't want to lose you," he
tells her. "I want you to be mature in your judgements and think this out
and make the proper decisions about this relationship in the future."

His eyes shift around the room as he searches for the right words, the
right sentiment.

"I do not think a jail sanction is appropriate. But I am concerned that in
your search for ratification ... " he says, before pausing. "I just want
you to make the right choices."

Jennifer, nervous and squirmy, shifts her weight from foot to foot.

"Well ... so ... he wants to go to the doctor's with me," she says,
sheepishly. "Is the order from back in December still on?"

The judge looks straight at Jennifer with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"I'm not going to enforce any prohibition that would remove this man from
any parental duties," he says. "The ultimate contact has occurred, so what
use would it be for a judge to say now, 'No contact?' "

He ends their chat with a philosophical warning about people and relationships.

"Happiness comes from within," he advises. "It's not external."

Although her demotion to Phase Four means Jennifer probably won't graduate
from the program on time, she can continue dating Ben. As she returns to
her seat, she brushes her hand across her brow.

"Whew," she says.