Roman had sent his most studious junior attorney to aide the exasperated Jena. Peyton was a gorgeous raven-haired thirty-something, on her way to greater things. She was concise, and well-versed in the local laws, but most importantly she was success-driven with a mean streak. It was what Jena sought most in her legal representation. Jena's patience had more than worn thin at this point. Ivy-Mae's filings were pages upon pages of nothing but complete falsehoods, all of which were intentionally meant to degrade or humiliate Jena in one way or another. The court date alone was insulting. Ivy-Mae's lawyer made sure it was the day of Jena and Nate's anniversary. It was a date that Ivy-Mae had always taken issue with due to the elopement. Ivy-Mae believed that she should have been consulted beforehand. Thus, she refused to acknowledge or attend any of her son's anniversary celebrations thereafter.
For the most part, Peyton attended the hearings, sans Jena, who preferred to go about her day without having to deal with all of the foolishness. Jena found it to be too trifling to be worth the gas looking for parking near the courthouse. On the day of the actual trial, Jena had to be present, something she was already unhappy about due to it being another day she would miss work. In court, Ivy-Mae sat with a smug smile on her face with freshly permed hair, while her lawyer in the vocal inflection of a Southern evangelical preacher made seemingly every accusation against Jena barring her being the devil incarnate. An on-looker with any critical thinking skills would have found the scene to be comical, however, the old-timer judge allowed the theatrics to go unchecked.
Peyton didn't object at any point either. Instead, she calmly referenced the documentation submitted in her rebuttal. From the judge's response, Jena wondered if he had read the case documents at all. He seemed to want to move on from any specifics when pressed. The judge made his ruling on the spot after Ivy-Mae's lawyer in a final swan song wrapped up with a tall tale implying that a close relative of Jena's had the same backstory as the villain from the horror film franchise, Jason. Jena couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief at the scene. It was a true mockery of the legal system playing out before her in real time.
Clearing his throat from what Jena surmised was hoarseness due to a lifetime of shouting people down, the judge stated that despite the legality of the matter, he would have to follow his heart. Peyton had Jena stand up as if she were a criminal waiting to be sentenced.
The judge explained, that because Oklahoma was a state that did recognize common law marriage and that Nate had claimed Jena as his spouse in tax filings, she could continue to live with all the responsibilities that being Nate's wife imparted because he was still technically "not dead." This confused Jena, who looked to Peyton for a reaction, but found she was already reading a file for another client from her briefcase. The judge continued, this time addressing Ivy-Mae, saying that because Nate had never taken the time to "properly" wed Jena in the Continental United States, he could only assume that Nate was not truly "invested" in the marriage and therefore that Ivy-Mae who was still listed as the primary beneficiary on Nate's retirement accounts would receive all possible death benefits when he did eventually "expire." Jena thought as the judge spoke, that Nate had set up those retirement accounts when KT Construction was in its infancy. Those things were from before Nate had married her, which was likely why his mother was still listed instead of her. This flashing thought passed as Jena snapped back to realizing that Nate was a self-centered pig who gave no thought to Jena's wellbeing regardless. She had always been on her own when it came to him, he made no promises otherwise.
With that, the court adjourned with all parties being dismissed. The rotund bailiff ushered them out. In the courthouse lobby, Jena rushed to Peyton who was walking swiftly in front of her. "Peyton, could you please explain to me what the ruling means in common terms? I'm so confused." Peyton annoyed by the question answered shortly, "It means you can live in the house and use the cars Nate owns, but not sell anything. Also, you have to pay all of the bills, taxes, and other maintenance on those things or your mother-in-law can sue you for damages. Your husband's accounts will remain locked until after he dies. From that point, everything defaults to your mother-in-law. Essentially you are the steward of Nate's estate until it can be formally turned over to Ivy-Mae."
Jena's mouth dropped open with this shocking realization. Nearly in tears, Jena spoke, "What?! I can't afford the house or the cars and I can't even move if I can't sell those things either. I'm lucky with the few hours of work I get already to manage some small grocery runs for myself. This means I'm bankrupt from things Nate bought, and has the money to pay for in accounts I'm not allowed to use. Is this even legal?" Peyton already turning to continue her way out of the building coolly responded, "If you don't like it you can file to overturn the verdict in an appellate court. We don't do that at our law firm, though. You'd need an appeals lawyer for something of that magnitude. They start as low as fifty thousand dollars for a retainer fee. There are only roughly eight in this state, I believe, and that's if one decided to take your case, which is very unlikely given your limited financial means. Now if you'll excuse me." Peyton brushed past Jena like she was a tipped-over garbage can she didn't want to stay near for fear that the smell of defeat would cling to her as well.
Jena was contemplating the meaning of the phrase "Kangaroo court" in her car as she drove home, only to be interrupted by none other than Turner himself. "Hi, Jena. Roman told me that court was done. How'd it go?" Jena was caught off guard because the whole ordeal had ended less than an hour prior. Jena, who was an emotional wreck, cried into the phone, "I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm supporting Beau's baby momma and now I have to figure out how to make money when I haven't been able to out here since I got back from overseas. I think I have to move in with my mom until an opportunity presents itself because there's no way that I can afford Nate's bills. There's just too many." Turner likely wasn't expecting such a reaction out of the upset Jena. He stammered for a moment and then said, "Who's Beau's baby momma?" Jena forgot that he was not around to know all that Thallea was putting her through. Jena decided to come clean and explained that she had gone behind his back to get Thallea a job under him. "She works at your ghost kitchen off of Central and Fourth Street. I just wanted her out of the house for a few hours every couple of days. She's been running me down so much with all the problems she makes. I'm sorry to have been so underhanded about it."
Turner not one to mince words told Jena, "I don't care if she's working there. I give the managers hiring discretion. Look, Jena, don't worry. All of Nate's assets are assigned to the company. I'll keep them on auto pay and everything will stay the same. You don't have to worry. It's already in order." This was oddly considerate of Turner, especially because Jena knew that Turner's first long-term girlfriend had terminated her pregnancy with their child because Turner would not allow her to live with or off of him. It had been a huge scandal at the time. Turner had all but had her run out of town when he found out about her betrayal. To this day, there isn't a resident of Meadows Parting with the name Emily because to speak it is to incur the wrath of Turner himself. Jena fumbling for the words to thank her unanticipated benefactor, simply said "Oh." to which Turner nonchalantly said his goodbye and hung up.
Even with her burdens being eased by Turner, Jena was still too stressed to force herself to oblige Thallea at the house. She decided taking the highway to her mother's would be best. Jena had almost made it to what she considered her real home when she paused thinking of the effects it would have on her dear sweet mom if she trauma dumped all her emotional baggage she had on the poor tired woman. Jena knew it would have added to her trouble because her problems had no foreseeable solution. She then opted to turn away and do what she so rarely did. Jena chose to visit her father. It was midevening when she got to the convalescent hospital that her father was a permanent resident of. Once there, Jena concocted a story that she had car trouble as an excuse to wait in her dad's room, telling the front desk security guard she'd only be there until a tow truck arrived. Jena was well aware that her father would be heavily medicated and that she could rest herself on the reclining chair in his room until she regained the fortitude to face all that she was hiding from.
She could only get past closing her eyes, but not fall asleep once she had made it inside. The other resident's cries and screams kept her awake, even with the door closed to the room. Her dad though was practically silent, except when he would make slurping sounds from his drool or occasionally erratically flailed a limb, unable to get up on his own. At midnight Jena had to get an orderly to help her after she noticed that her father had soiled himself. As they worked to clean him up together, the orderly asked her why she still was there. Jena lied and said she must have fallen asleep on the chair and that was why she was there after visiting hours. The orderly shrugged saying that he didn't mind the extra help. He went on to remark that he's never gotten over the morbidity of working the graveyard shift among the dementia population. Jena admitted she found it more jarring when she stayed in her comatose husband's room at night. The orderly wrestling with himself to speak his mind or not asked, "He'd have to have some motion or signs of life. Or he'd have been declared dead. That's the standard of care in those situations, right?" Jena smoothed the blanket back over her dad, not sure what to say she replied, "I'd assume so." They both paused for a moment, each deciding not to pursue the topic. It was abundantly clear that something was askew with the care being given to her husband.
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