End of the tunnel

SIX

         Natalia Belle Sparks. The apple of Jennette's eyes, the outcome of Jenn and Nath's love story. Being the only thing Jenn had after she moved away from home, she worked hard to provide for her daughter. Studying law and doing any job she could so they would be comfortable.

       Natalia was a combination of both parents, she had Jennette's hair colour, perfect button nose and wit, Nathaniel's full lips and calmness. She was able to cope with Jennette's angry fits. Whenever her mum started scolding angrily, Natalia would calmly make her mother laugh by saying something sarcastic just like Nath had done before he left her. Light skin black as a result of her dad being African-American, always happy and cheerful.

      Lia as her mother calls her, sometimes reminded Jennette of her tomboyish self when she was in high school. She played soccer since she was seven another thing that reminded Jennette of Nath was the fact that Natalia loved to play the guitar like her father who she has never met.

     After getting pregnant and abandoned by Nathaniel, Lia became her mother's whole life . Moving away from home and her judgmental  father, living in the slums of New York and leaving her thirteen–month old child at her old neighbor's place so she could provide a good life for her daughter  as she made her way through university and law school.

     Achieving more than she hoped for and becoming one of the best lawyer in New York but her daughter was snatched from her life the way she came in unexpectedly. Life has been playing a cruel game with her. From never having anything to do with a guy she fell in love and placed all her trust in one guy who left her pregnant and alone as if that wasn't enough, when her life was set and on the right part after years of hardwork it snatched the one thing she lived for, her daughter.

     Being known as one of the best lawyer in the state has its own disadvantage. Downside like not having enough time for herself or her daughter. The pay is great, it got her a beautiful house furnished with expensive furnitures, the latest car, most of all it gave her what she was aiming at– a good life for her baby girl– but it also took away the moments she could spend with her leaving only one day in a week in which she still worked a little through phone calls.

      Jennette made it a ritual for Natalia to spend time with her every Sunday throughout even though she has to attend to some important calls in between, but she ensured she never broke the rule of her Sunday afternoon belonging to her daughter so they could go through what happened during the week and what they planned for the new week.

        20th November 2016 was another Sunday for the mother and daughter to spend together but only that on this Sunday Natalia Belle Sparks would be taken away from her mother. Jennette was in the middle of a light hearted discussion with her daughter at Central Park when her phone rang, leaving the noisy area and taking her eyes of her daughter for a few minutes only to go back to the seat at the park where she left her and find Natalia gone, thinking it was to the bathroom she searched until she saw the whole park was in a turmoil and other children especially girls were missing that was the beginning of Jenn's pain.

       With her connections to people in the at the police the department and FBI she was able to find proof against a man named Harry Nickson  but he was discharged and acquitted on the basis of no solid proof, he eventually moved away when the case was over.
Hurt and enraged she blamed herself for taking that call and for not being able to prove Harry guilty so she stopped practicing law.

         Her father despite the tough exterior he put on cried for his granddaughter who he loves so much and for his daughter who had gone through a lot in life partly because of him. Her family tried their best to make her go back to Florida all to no avail but she wanted to live in a place where she could still feel connected to her daughter and she refused to go back to her parents house broken. Evelynn being her only friend living close enough to be able to pop in on her anytime for frequent check up.

      Now the opportunity for a re appeal has presented it self and she would make sure she win this case this time. The mother in her having a conflicting emotion of happiness and revenge, the lawyer in her angry and seeking justice. Seeing Jennette's face, rose left the house giving her card to Evelynn so Jennette could contact her.