A Street Girl Named Desire: A Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

you are acting on emotions, but in time youwill see the reasoning of my decision. At this point and time, Ms. Mitchell, you must look at your present circumstances. You are homeless, unemployed, and addicted to an illegal substance. With all these things going against you, what could you possibly offer your daughter?”
    Nika sadly eyed the floor.
    “Ms. Mitchell,” the judge said softly. “I have three children of my own. I cannot come close to knowing how it would feel to have my children taken away from me. However, I do know this … I know that if I weren't in the position to care for them, I would be happy and grateful to place my babies with someone who can do better than me.”
    Nika looked up, directly into the judge's eyes. Her experiences with Nurse Dixon and Hattie Mae had humbled her. Though initially they seemed to be the enemies, something inside of Nika allowed her to look past the possibility they were threats and understand that they could actually want what was best for her. She had not been expecting a lecture along with her sentence, but the judge had convinced her of something she hadn't wanted to see. She put her head down in devastation, letting the judge's words sink in.
    “You have not lost your parental rights. You will be allowed to see your daughter on a supervisory basis, until you complete your rehabilitation program, get housing, and demonstrate to the court your transition into society,” the judge announced.
    Still uneasy and desperate, Nika pleaded, “Your Honor, ma'am, I understand everything you said and you are right. I'm gonna do everything I gotta do, but not knowing the people who gonna get my baby, I'm not sure if they gonna give my baby the attentionshe needs. My lawyer had warned me this might happen. So we filed papers to have somebody I know take temporary custody.”
    “Yes, I read the petition. However, that would apply only to the maternal grandparent only. And even still, for someone to be considered a candidate or a foster parent, they have to meet certain criteria. Unfortunately, the candidate was rejected because of age. At sixty-five, she is well past the foster parent maximum age, and that rules her out already.”
    The courtroom grew still. The judge shuffled the papers a few more times, then she noticed the name of the petitioner: Hattie Mae Evans. She stared at Nika for a moment.
    “However …,” the judge's voice dragged, “howwweverrrr, I'm overruling the decision and will grant temporary custody to the petitioner.”
    Nika couldn't believe her ears.

CHAPTER FOUR
     
    F or the first seven Month of her year-and-a-half-long-stay, Nika had a hard time adapting to the Therapeutic Community she was placed in.
    A typical TC is a long-term drug rehabilitation center in which the stay can last from twelve to thirty-six months. Similar to a boot camp, it is designed to break a person down and then rebuild him or her, both mentally and spiritually. Nika wanted to leave as soon as she arrived. Never in her life had she had to follow such strict orders and allow people to talk to her any old kind of way. On many days, she felt she could not take it any longer and wanted to leave, but always one thing stopped her—her baby. She knew she had to survive without so much as a glitch.

     
    Hattie Mae and Desire had bonded. At eighteen months old, Desire's health was no longer an issue. In addition to having Miss Hattie as a foster mother, Desire had Hattie Mae's church congregation behind her. Miss Hattie beamed with newfound pride and joy when she watched Desire get baptized. She praised the Lord for Desire's deliverance into God's kingdom and knew from that day on that He would take care of her.
    Over the course of time, Nika hadn't missed a single supervised visit and became a model recovering addict inside her program. She obtained her GED, and her social worker was so impressed that she recommended unsupervised visits. In her mind, Nika started to become the person