The dragon lady turned to the others on the board, whispering. Did she think Mrs. Henson was full of hot air? That she didn’t know what she was talking about? Mrs. Henson had a lot of experience, but Tamara still had a hard time believing Mrs. Henson knew what she was talking about as far as Tamara’s parenting skills went. She didn’t know what a pitiful job Tamara had done taking care of Corrine and Julie. It wasn’t just that she had killed them while suffering from the psychosis of an earlier pregnancy. Even before that, the Bakers had criticized and berated Tamara, shouted at her for putting the children in danger and beating her for her errors. If Mrs. Henson knew what a screw-up she had been with the Baker children, she wouldn’t be so quick to say Tamara would be a good mother to her own baby.
But it was her one slim chance of getting out instead of a delay of another year while trying to show everyone what an exemplary juvie she was. If she could convince them that she wanted to be a mother to her baby, they had to let her out. The baby was already a few months old. In another year, her chances of being able to bond with him properly would be that much lower. Earlier was better. Mrs. Henson kept emphasizing how important it was.
“My baby needs a mother,” Tamara said. “I don’t want him having to go from one foster home to another his whole life. I don’t want him to not have any parents, like me.” Tamara blinked tears. “Lots of the girls in juvie didn’t have a real mom in their lives. I don’t want my baby to end up somewhere like this.”
The board members looked at her for a moment, then resumed whispering. Tamara could hear Mrs. Henson shifting in her chair back behind Tamara. She knew Mrs. Henson wanted to be there beside her, holding her hand to encourage her and show the board how sure she was and how much she would help and support Tamara. Mrs. Henson was used to getting her way with Social Services. Tamara wasn’t sure Mrs. Henson would have as much sway with the parole board.
Tamara closed her eyes, focused on keeping her breathing steady. She waited for the board to announce their decision.
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Vanishing Teardrops, book 4 of the Tamara’s Teardrops series, is coming soon!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
FOR AS LONG as P.D. Workman can remember, the blank page has held an incredible allure. After a number of false starts, she finally wrote her first complete novel at the age of twelve. It was full of fantastic ideas. It was the spring board for many stories over the next few years. Then, forty-some novels later, P.D. Workman finally decided to start publishing. Lots more are on the way!
P.D. Workman is a devout wife and a mother of one, born and raised in Alberta, Canada. She is a homeschooler and an Executive Assistant. She has a passion for art and nature, creative cooking for special diets, and running. She loves to read, to listen to audio books, and to share books out loud with her family. She is a technology geek with a love for all kinds of gadgets and tools to make her writing and work easier and more fun. In person, she is far less well-spoken than on the written page and tends to be shy and reserved with all but those closest to her.
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Please visit P.D. Workman at pdworkman.com to see what else she is working on, to join her mailing list, and to link to her social networks.
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