RM appears not to notice other persons waiting in the lobby to see social workers, probation officers, counsellors or to rest their feet as they wait in a long line, comprising persons with cases to be heard in the courtrooms on the building's third floor.
"How you mean, why mi ah carry him go family court? 'Cause him not minding him pickney ... Him still nah send nothing," RM continues.
There is a pause. Furious Talking. End.
Telephone conversation over, RM becomes aware of the
others in the lobby, including The Sunday Gleaner reporter. She is embarrassed.
"I don't want to talk about this right here with these people staring at me," she says to The Sunday Gleaner with a sigh.
But a short time later, she changes her mind.
"We were to come for counselling. I was saying for the baby's sake, I wanted to be rational, saying let's try to be parents," she relates.
According to Beryl Marshall, court administrator, counselling is usually recommended to clients as a means of discussing problems, informing persons about available avenues,
deciding what is in the best
interests of the parties and to see whether some issues can be
settled outside of court. But sometimes, counselling does not work.
In RM's case, it seemed that her boyfriend, who had been with her for four years before the break up a few months, wanted none of this.
"I decided (to do this) a month ago when he wasn't contacting us ... When I told him, he was hysterical. He used a lot of derogatory terms, cursing bad words, blame. Now, I have been trying to reach him," says RM, who is unemployed.
She later reveals that the end of her romantic relationship
also ended a business partnership, which involved making and selling crafts and doing printing.
The money is especially
necessary because RM is again pregnant another memento from the broken relationship.
"To top it all off, when I found out, I called him to let him know and he has shown no interest."
The sentence trails off. RM turns away, grabs a rag and dabs at her eyes as she tries to calm the now fussy baby and regain composure.
It is difficult.
The clock continues ticking.
RM's cellular telephone does not ring and her child's father does not walk through the door.
For RM, this means not only renewed heartbreak but a need to gather strength. After all, she may very well have to come to the Family court again.
matters of affiliation
In an interview with The Sunday Gleaner on Friday, Ms. Marshall pointed out
that the majority of the cases coming before the Kingston
and St. Andrew Family Court deal with matters of affiliation, which refers to cases where partners who are not married
to each other seek child
support for children from
that relationship.
Court statistics showed that the number of matters coming to court relating to affiliation dipped between 2002 and 2003, moving from 1929 to 1,407 before rising again in 2004 to 1,577. More than 1,400 were settled in 2004.
Persons also seek maintenance, which refers to where persons who are married seek support from partners for themselves or their children. There were 568 maintenance cases in 2002, 499 in 2003 and 475 in 2004. Nearly 425 were settled in 2004.
Other matters looked at by the Family Court in 2004 included 29 petty sessions, 516 custody cases and 68 cases of adoption.
