CHAPTER ONE……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..PAGE 3
CHAPTER TWO…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….PAGE 4
CHAPTER THREE………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….PAGE 5
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….PAGE 6
CHAPTER ONE
Janice wasn’t an only child; she had one other sister who never quite fit in. After high school she dived into drugs, got pregnant and of course had a dead beat father for her child. This is something all too familiar around these parts of Massachusetts, but Janice wasn’t going to let it continue. If she could save just one life from letting drugs dictate their future, she would have served her purpose.
Janice worked 60+ hours a week at a local pizza joint. Everyone knew her there and loved her; she did her job well. When she started taking on up to 80 hours a week with a managerial position, the company thought they were losing money and fired her. But the worst was yet to come. Her sister, Delaney, was in trouble with the authorities and DSS. They threatened to take her child away if she didn’t get clean. Six months after her child was born, she still wasn’t sober and was addicted to a wide spreading epidemic of heroine. A local social worker took her child away and looked towards Janice for the care of her daughter, Emilia.
Janice loved her niece and always wanted her to be safe. She was saddened by her sister’s actions of refusal to come clean, but she was glad that Emilia was in good care. Janice always wanted to be a social worker because of her family’s background and the actions of locals. Too many babies are children of the streets and that wasn’t okay with Janice. For the next six months, Janice worked tooth and nail even without a steady job, to give Emilia the best care possible.
But then, a social worker studied her sister and found out she had been one month clean. After many legal battles within a short period of time and Delaney once again not being clean, social workers decided that it was time for foster care and Janice’s’ temporary guardianship with Emilia was over.
Baby Emilia was packed up and sent to a so-called loving family. One day, Janice was curious about the conditions that Emilia was living in, positive that they couldn’t provide a better life than Janice could. Janice called the social worker’s office that she was assigned and asked for the family Emilia was given to. Weeks went by where Janice hadn’t seen Emilia had no real update of her well-being or even the family she was with. Finally, she received a phone call.
“Hi, Janice? It’s Doreen.” Her social worker rings.
“Hi Doreen, it’s so good to hear from you. Any update?” Janice asked hesitantly.
“Well, the parents – I mean, foster parents, have given confirmation for you to come over and say hello to little Emilia.” Doreen said surprisingly happily.
“So am I supposed to get permission anytime I want to see my OWN niece?” Janice was getting a bit angrier.
“I’m sorry, Janice. This is how it has to be until we are able to give Emilia back into your sister’s care.” Doreen slammed her with the bittersweet message.
Janice thanked Doreen regardless and hung up the phone. She took the piece of paper with the address on it and immediately headed on over there. It was the middle of the day and she didn’t care to call. She wanted to surprise the family to see if Emilia was truly, in the best care. But upon her arrival, she noticed the garage door open with Emilia’s crib, toys and general supplies. Shocked that her personal belongings were placed in a garage and it seemed that she was given no real bedroom, Janice slammed the door furiously and headed to the front door, banging. A woman, Emilia’s foster mother, peeked from a small opening in the door. She looked as if she was in a dingy bathrobe and her mousy brown hair unkempt.
“What’re you doing here?” Stacy, the foster mother, asked.
“I’m here to see the filthy care you’ve put my niece in. Where is she?!” Janice yelled.
“She’s in her own bedroom upstairs, sleeping.” Stacy said.
“Prove it!” Janice yelled as Stacy still wouldn’t open the door.
“I’m sorry, I can’t allow you in right now.” Stacy said as Emilia started to cry in the background.
“You’re a liar!” Janice said as she tried opening the door.
Stacy then slammed the door shut and locked it. Knowing she couldn’t break in without suffering from social worker consequences later, Janice ran to Doreen’s office with her findings.
“Doreen, that baby has been living in their garage! Her toys, her crib, everything. In that fume invested garage! Did you even do a background check? Did you even VISIT to see if they had a safe home? What’s your job around here?!” Janice yelled and continued to ask questions. She wanted answers.
“What’re you talking about Janice? Calm down, sit.” Doreen tried calming down the situation.
“I went there myself to say hello and her crib and toys and belongings were just sitting in the back of the garage like they were keeping her there. I tried to talk to Stacy, her foster mother but she wouldn’t let me in and lied to me!” Janice was becoming increasingly more furious.
Doreen grabbed her coat and ran out the door. She got into Janice’s car and without a word, Janice drove right to the house in which Emilia was being cared for. As they pulled up, Stacy’s husband Dan was trying to move the furniture and make Janice seem like a liar. Doreen stepped out of the car and yelled to Dan.