unproven. If Mr. McGilly is not the child’s father, certain evidence — particularly the video evidencepresented by Mr. Hamilton — persuades me that the Maycombs could provide Mimi Maycomb with ahealthier, more morally sound home environment.”
He took off his glasses to rub his eyes again. Lily wished his eyeballs would fall out into hishands. “Mr. Benny Jack McGilly,” the judge intoned, “I order you to submit to a DNA test to determinepaternity. If you are Mimi’s father, in the interest of the rights of biological fathers, I will award custodyto you and your wife, Lily McGilly. In the event that you have deceived this court and are not MimiMaycomb’s father, custody will be awarded to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Maycomb.”
The judge looked at Ben. “Mr. McGilly, I’ve already talked to the folks at the lab over at FaulknerCounty Hospital. I explained the rather urgent nature of this case, and they said if you come in at eightA.M. tomorrow and bring Mimi, they can rush the blood samples down to Atlanta and have the results byMonday morning. Is that agreeable to you, Mr. McGilly?”
“Yes, sir.” Ben’s face was as white as a sheet of paper. Lily remembered what he had said whenthey were hatching this ill-fated scheme: “Nobody in Faulkner County is gonna make a McGilly submitto a DNA test.”
“All right, then,” Judge Sanders said. “Court will reconvene Monday at ten A.M., at which timethe test results will be revealed and custody will be determined.”
Jeanie hugged Lily, and Ben clapped his son on the back. “Looks like y’all are about outta thewoods!” Big Ben said, grinning.
“I can’t believe Jake Sanders would make a McGilly take a DNA test!” Ben was clearly incensed.
Lily, however, didn’t have enough fight in her to be incensed. The judge’s decision had made itofficial: She had lost everything.
“Well, now,” Big Ben said to his son, “a judge is an elected official. If he came across like he wasgiving custody to a couple homos without there being any scientific reason for it, he’d get voted outtaoffice before he knew what hit him. This way, he can make it seem like the DNA test made the decision,not him. I know you don’t wanna have to go through the rigmarole of getting tested, but after the resultsget back, you’ve got no worries.”
“Right,” Ben muttered. “No worries.”
CHAPTER 21
It was awful, hearing Mimi wail as the lab technician pricked her to collect the blood sample. Butit was even more awful knowing that this fleeting bit of pain was the least of Mimi’s problems.
What kind of woman would Mimi grow up to be, being raised by the Maycombs? Would she rebel