“My mom always gives me the best food on the plate,” he told the judge. “She says she isn’t hungry, but I know she is. She stays up to help me study science when she can barely keep her eyes open.

She works so hard because she wants me to have nice things, not because she wants to be away from me.”

Russell shifted in his seat and cleared his throat.

Toby reached down and flipped the lower hem of his shirt upward. “I wrote something in here.”

Judge Leonard leaned forward. “What did you write inside your shirt, son?”

Toby turned to look at me. “Can I show him?”