Big Mama's Plan

Sherie stood there smiling until the agent actually put the keys in her hand. The moment that happened she loudly screamed Halleluiah while continuously jumping up and down, around and around the room for several minutes. Although Henry Akin had experienced many other clients of his expressing jubilation during the process of completing a home sale he was certainly taken aback by Sherie’s act of joyful celebration. After several minutes of watching her try to calm herself he finally asked if she were ok and then stated, I bet your parents are quite proud of you for being able to purchase yourself your own very first home. His words stopped her dead in her tracks. She stood motionless for a moment, gathered herself and quietly replied to the agent. No. She said I truly know that they are not proud of me at all. As her tears started flowing uncontrollably, she stood there momentarily, but in her mind she stood there a lifetime reminiscing about so many of the hurtful events of her life with all of its trauma, tribulations and tears. She knew that this man could never comprehend how much that word home was resonating in her heart, mind, and soul. Home is not a word that she could or would have ever used before as a description of any place that she had ever lived. Sherie had just recently celebrated her 19th birthday alone in the same unremarkable hotel room that she had been renting for the past six months. Although the cost was making a serious dent to her limited bank account, she would continue her personal vow to never return to her mother’s house under any circumstances nor for any reason. Freedom could not be complete until she was able to accomplish her set goal of securing her very own home. For now that hotel room had provided the rest and security that she had so desperately needed for so awfully long as protection from her mother’s threats and control. With her grandmother now gone there seemingly had been no other place she could have run to for even the limited amount of sanctuary Big Mama’s house had sometimes provided. The recent few weeks of time that she had been able to stay there mostly alone had been such a blessing in that it was the catalyst to the incomprehensible changes that were now happening in her life.

Her Big Mama was the only person in her life who had always provided her the unconditional love she believed that she was supposed to have had. The grandmother had also always provided Sherie’s father an unconditional love that was beyond almost anyone’s comprehension due to the type of person he was. It did not matter to her that Doctors had informed the family when she was a toddler that Sherie’s life would always include certain mental challenges and would likely require professional guidance throughout her lifetime for many of her personal needs. The grandmother always provided unconditional love for that father as well as her granddaughter. It didn’t ever matter to her that Doctors believed that her granddaughters’ mental deficiencies were a likely result of the parents documented heavy use of Drugs and Alcohol even extensively during the pregnancy period before the child’s birth. It didn’t matter to the grandmother that her son was a habitual criminal and a drug dealing Thug. Because of that grandmother’s unconditional love for her offspring, she seemed to ignore too many things that were happening even in her own home to her own detriment. Big Mama’s shortcomings while disheartening did not preclude her from providing a house full of many comforts, in fact the best times of Sherie’s life had been spent in her grandmother’s home. Life seemed so good for Sherie at least up until her witnessing of the horrible murders committed there by her father during a drug transaction gone wrong. Despite bogus explanations provided to police by her parents and grandmother describing a self-defense scenario that they say happened in that house on that terrible night it was quite easy for Criminal Psychologists to probe the mind of a small child and garner the true facts of what really happened. Newspaper articles of that time described a harrowing tale recounted from a child’s memory of the summary executions of three men, one an undercover police officer by a notorious drug dealer in a well-known drug house. The sensational story uncovered and highlighted the horrific events witnessed by a child during this terrible event. Young Sherie’s detailed memory of what actually happened was confirmed as was revealed that the child’s mother and grandmother were present and may have participated in the heinous crimes with the father as well. After the trial and her father’s sentencing it would be a very long time before Sherie was able to return to her grandmother’s house again. Although Big Mama was not charged in the incident the child’s mother was indicted and had to contend with an assortment of charges for a lengthy period of time. Big Mama’s unconditional love for Sherie was readily evident as she fought stoutheartedly without success to gain custody of her granddaughter when Maxie the mother of the child was forced into a drug rehab facility in lieu of a prison sentence for her participation in the crimes. Maxine Johnson, the child’s mother’s contempt for her own daughter from that time on would be quite evident thereafter as she openly blames Sherie for telling the authorities what she witnessed.

Since some, too many, people she encountered throughout her life would sometimes call her slow and too many even called her a retard Sherie cherished her valuable secret of her photographic memory as one of her most important personal assets always believing it was vital to remember certain facts for her personal use whenever necessary. It was always easy for her to picture Big Mama’s house, the house that she was born in, even the way it was back then. She could vividly picture her elementary school years when she always able visit and even sometimes live part-time with her grandmother there. Unfortunately, it is always painful to see in her mind and recall the County Institution and the foster homes she had also lived in until that time that her mother was able to regain custody. Some of her worst visuals and memories to recall are living most of her life with her mother and stepfather during her prescribed duties as part of their money making hustles . She could vividly remember the shanty apartments that she and her dysfunctional family were constantly moving in and out of as they continuously tried to contend with numerous County Court Orders and Child protective services invasive inquiries. Too many times she still wonders if it had been better to have stayed in that Institution instead of returning to back to her mother. So often she still wonders if being slapped, beaten, starved, or even locked away in dark closets had been a better alternative. The obvious facts that those so-called Foster Parents too often cared more about the monthly checks coming on time than they did about her well-being was quite hurtful, but she realized that those people didn’t know or love her which is a likely reason that they didn’t actually care. They like some of the people at the Institution did come to care whenever they were faced with her reports and vivid accounts of their mistreatment. No matter their denials Sherie’s detailed allegations of their many misdeeds were almost always supported with evidence that was indisputable.

Maxie Johnson was a survivor. She was habitual is telling her stories of having grown up in the mean streets of Sunny South Dallas living amongst her peers who were also living their lives as Hustlers, Thieves, Gangsters and Pimps. She was also fond of very often claiming the title of victim as she would recount to many listeners her tales of being used and abused by some of the same so called friends she usually also bragged about committing various crimes with. The circumstances of her life since her husband’s incarceration were constantly boomeranging from bad to worse even to a point that she was desperate to find a new hustle to give her a type of financial security that could help her avoid future incarceration herself. Although she was staying away from the drug hustle she had now connected herself with a man who called himself a pimp and somehow believing that selling herself as a prostitute would not gain any undo attention from her Probation Officer. They together were quite content in using the internet to arraign her work in Hotels and homes which was much easier in that the times had changed from the old days when those like her had to work the street corners. But even like the old days, she did not have control of the money she made. As she had been most of her life, she was the property of a man. Her new man who she called her Daddy controlled virtually everything she did as well as everything she had. Maxie determined in her mind that she had to have something that she herself could control. Her plan was to find a way to regain custody of her daughter and the income that the County would provide for the childs necessary care.

After having lived in a County Institution for more than a year and being bounced around several Foster homes for several more Sherie was told one day that she was scheduled to be in a court hearing soon concerning her custody. She assumed that this was just another court ordered procedure to determine yet another Foster Home destination. She was shocked and surprised to be led into a Custody Hearing to find both her Mother and Grandmother present. Her counselor explained that both her mother and grandmother had recently applied for her custody and that this hearing was to determine who she would go to live with on that very day. By this time it had been more that four years since Sherie had lived with her original family and she had now come to believe that she would never be able to see any of them ever again. She hardly recognized her own mother and while listening to her words throughout the hearing Sherie could not even comprehend that her mother could possibly possess the love for her that she proclaimed to all on that particular day. Regardless of the words she was now hearing from her mother’s mouth Sherie reminisced back into the past recalling the scenes of her mother screaming vulgar names and obscenities at her during the sporadic periods of time before she was taken away. Because there were many witnesses to her previous words and actions during the periods that Sherie was in her presence after her father’s incarceration authorities were in fear that the Mother might harm the young girl if left in her custody. In contrast her Grandmother spoke convincing words of compassion that moved not only Sherie, but seemingly most that were present. All of Sherie’s past memories of her grandmother were confirmed which the girl hoped and even believed would allow her grandmother’s house of refuge to become her own home. When Court Records were produced by counsel for her mother against Sherie’s grandmother the documentation detailed a Criminal Record that Sherie couldn’t possibly comprehend nor had ever been aware of. Sherie had no idea that in fact Her Father’s mother had a lengthy criminal record dating back many years even including the time during the incident which had sent her father away on murder convictions. As it turned out Sherie’s grandmother had been the actual Drug Kingpin under who’s direction her father was working when he committed those crimes. Grandmother’s money had thwarted any convictions for her, but the Courts were determined to continuously seek future evidence for her alleged crimes. The Court sided with the mother and Maxine Johnson left the Hearing elated with a very dejected daughter unknowingly heading to a future fraught with peril.

Soon thereafter Sherie was taken by her mother to reside in that house of ill repute which was a known haven for varieties of men constantly coming and going, day and night. This is where a mentally challenged twelve-year-old young girl was assigned to live because it was deemed suitable by the Court. How could the Court make such a determination or be so unaware of who Maxi Johnson the woman was? The type of lifestyle that she lived as well as the type of woman she was had been well known and documented by the Courts and she was well known throughout the community that she lived in. Maxi’s fiendish plan had counted on the Courts to do just what the Courts usually do with people like her daughter and herself. Produce the documentation, disburse the checks and close the case. Maxi vowed to herself that she would carefully present herself as always being fully compliant will all Court Ordered policies and procedures, especially with interactions with Sherie’s Court Advocates and Doctors. In normal circumstances it can be expected that most children will recognize right from wrong, but Sherie Johnson was not like most children in that she was diagnosed as having the mental intellect of a child much younger than the twelve-year-old that she was. Maxi’s intuition as her mother readily recognized that her daughter was actually much smarter than most others actually knew, therefore she plotted a slow and careful schooling process for her daughter. Maxi the hustler also fully understood that her plan for her daughter would most definitely need to provide certain dangerous concessions to Daddy because of who he was therefore she decided to begin her daughter’s hustling education as soon as possible. The mother started by discreetly assigning chores to the girl which would continuously expose her to various images of young women seemingly enjoying certain sexually related activities. Sherie’s regular chores also included the regular cleaning of her mother’s private bedroom which was not the room that Maxi and Daddy slept in but Momma’s “special room”. In the beginning Sherie believed that life was now going to be as good as it had ever been because her mother now seemed to treat her like a princess and even began calling her such to Daddy, and to many of the regular males that often visited. Sherie for the first time was given her own bedroom all to herself including what the young girl though was the privacy of a connecting bathroom. The couple believed that the child had no idea that what she was told to be her personal bathroom was in fact designed and used like a modelling platform designed especially for her.

On Visitor’s day when the Guard called out his number Bartholomew“Butch”Johnson headed down to the visitor’s hall looking forward to his mother’s regular visit knowing that she would be there with smiles as well as updates as to how much progress had been made concerning his Lawyer’s efforts through the Courts of gaining a chance at a new trial. He and his mother had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over many years hoping to have the Courts review and dismiss certain evidence that they believed would then garner hope of a retrial for his murder convictions. Their efforts centered on the testimony of his own mentally challenged daughter, Sherie. They believed that they could prove that her statements were coerced and that the Courts had unlawfully convicted him solely on what the child had said without producing any other viable evidence. After she parked her car she decided to sit there for a few minutes in order to get her thoughts together properly since this would be the day that Big Mama would finally bring her son up to date on the type of young lady his daughter had now likely become. Big Mama suspected that Sherie’s mental limitations had afforded Maxi unlimited opportunity to train and manipulate her own daughter into a limited vocation of prostitution. Big Mama still had hope that she would somehow rescue her granddaughter away from that life, but for now she prepared to only explain certain details to her son about the kind of unwholesome environment that his daughter was now living in. She had to sternly warn him with her words of understanding of how important it was for him to recognize that the Sherie that he once knew was probably long gone and in fact was now not the naive little girl that he once knew but may actually be a somewhat wily young hustler herself. Big Mama had come to expect that Sherie could be fully versed in the trades of manipulating men much like her mother. Big Mama loved her granddaughter as well as she loved her son but she was well aware of her sons’ pronounced hate for his daughter, therefore she could only hope that he would set his emotions aside so that he would be able to speak to Sherie like a loving father needing his daughter’s help. Since the day of his conviction and subsequent incarceration Buck’s harsh words concerning his daughter were contemptuous at best therefore Big Mama knew that she had to cleverly educate him with her words today to ensure he would have an understanding of how important it was for him to carefully reembrace his daughter Sherie. Thankfully Buck listened intently as she explained his part in their vital plan with the both of them knowing that it was likely that his interaction with Sherie would be the most critical part of the process needed to convince his teenage daughter into recanting her previous testimony in a manner that could help substantiate the effort to retry his case. After Buck’s visitor departed and he headed back to his cellblock he immediately went to work on another plan that did not involve his mother since He had also formulated a plan of vengeance against both his wife Maxi and a man who was a former street rival. The man that his wife was now calling Daddy.

They knew that they had be very smart in the way that they manipulated their dumb little princess. Daddy had excepted and agreed not out of respect for Maxi, but more so out of fear of a rape charge if it could ever be determined that any type of sexual contact could be proved concerning Maxi’s daughter. Besides Maxi had assured him that her plans for her daughter would definitely change to his advantage if he would just be patient. The both of them were quite confident that by the time the Courts were no longer involved their manipulative training would have her consenting to almost anything they needed and that the girl would then be totally receptive of the lifestyle that she had been trained for. They had spent several years grooming her in a manner that they believed had been quite effective because young Sherie never complained about the numerous cable channels that openly broadcast explicit sex scenes on all the televisions throughout the house only excluding the TV designated for her room. It didn’t shock Sherie anymore having to watch from the bathroom mirror as her mother engaged in various sex acts on a regular basis with not only Daddy, but numerous other visiting males on a somewhat regular basis. She accepted and performed her clean up duties and made sure to keep Maxi’s special room ready for all of its adventures. For Sherie the worst days for her were the days that she was somewhat forced to watch Maxi perform a regular duty for Daddy called Sitting in the Chair. As always He would stand there smiling and moaning while trying to make sure that Sherie was able to hear or see just what and how Maxi could do what she did. Maxi would always explain to Sherie that that’s what a good woman should and had to do for her daddy. Maxi would also always say, “when you’re old enough, you will to”. Sherie believed in her heart that she hated her mother. She knew that she hated Daddy. She was so tired of the both of them saying “don’t look so dumb”, or remember “your brains are bad, but your body is beautiful”. She would usually stand there silently listening to them, saying to herself “ I’m not as dumb as I look” knowing in her heart that one day they were both going to find out just how smart she really was. Sherie spoke to herself often believing that confident words to herself would help her maintain the patience she needed to help her survive long enough to be emancipated. She hoped and prayed that she could find a way to prove to her counselor that she was in fact capable of taking care of herself on her own without the supervision of anyone else especially her mother. Her counselor had already explained that she didn’t have enough confidence yet to prepare and then submit a proposal to the Courts that would bring about a successful determination for emancipation. Every month Sherie had come to expect that she would hear that same conclusion based on those absurd tests that she was constantly failing. Sherie also knew that if she tried to expose the sexual exploitation she was experiencing from her mother and daddy she would likely spend the forceable future stranded away in County Institutions where she believed she would likely be exploited even more than she was living under her mother’s control. She knew that whenever she did start to reveal the truths about the way she was being used by her parents it needed to be as close to her 18th birthday as possible. Even though most everybody thought she was too dumb to know it, she did in fact understand that at eighteen she would no longer be a minor and would lawfully gain certain new rights regarding the Courts. So, She waited.

Before Big Mama could arraign a visit for Sherie to see her Father in prison she had to visit Maxi and Sherie, a task which she rarely did over the years, but by now she knew it was critical to get certain things done before it was too late. Big Mama was quietly battling Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer by this time and was certain that she would not be around to see her son released from prison, but she felt she could at least use her best opportunity to try and unite father and daughter together in some manner. Sherie wasn’t surprised when she recognized how alarmed both her mother and daddy had become after Big Mama’s visit. Sherie could well remember her father as a man who projected fear towards any person he perceived to have slighted him in any manner. She smiled at the thought of what her real daddy would do to Maxi and Daddy if there were any way that he could. Sherie wondered if her father would care about her now and how her he would react if she spoke of the many abuses she was experiencing by her mother and daddy. Her memory was quite vivid as she recalled the voracious anger her shouted at her way back then before he was gone. Sherie also realized that she was probably just as scared as they were at the prospect of seeing her father. During the weeks before she was scheduled to visit her father there was a noticeable change in the house especially the changes that were made to the house causing it to look and feel more like a comfortable and respectable homestead. Sherie was now actually treated like a Princess because the Princess was going to see the King.

Buck was scared knowing that any hopes he may have previously expected were likely gone. His mother and their money had been the only viable way he could continue his quest for release. The lawyers would not even answer his calls or letters because they had previously only communicated through his mother. For many years Buck and his Mother had been able to stash away an enormous amount of money that they had hustled for and hidden away from authorities to preclude confiscation as crime receipts. They had been careful to use an obscure method to hide their monies under a name that he himself was unsure of but did know that Big Mama and the Lawyer had all the particular information that would lead to the Cash Cow that he needed. He now had to coerce his princess to without the help of his mother’s direction or guidance. To say that Sherie was disappointed after her visit with her father would be an understatement because she was in fact as angry as she felt she had ever been in her whole life. Buck Johnson was just as mean and angry as she had ever seen him. Not only did he not show any type of sorrow over the death of his mother but what was worst was fact that the only times he did mention Big Mama was when he was demanding that Sherie get into his mother’s house and find a certain little Black Book. The only other thing that seemed important to him was his coy request that she again listen to his version of what he said had happened in his mother’s house that caused his incarceration. It was quite clear to Sherie that he didn’t possess any type of fatherly love for her at all, but instead he showed that he only had a need to use her as a tool for his own personal gain. Sherie recognized that Her Father was much like her Mother, a hustler who didn’t see her as a daughter who needed his love, but as a useful tool to be used.

There was sparse attendance that day including a number of strangers but it seemed that everybody Sherie actually knew was at Big Mama’s funeral including her father who was wearing handcuffs and very visible frowns throughout the proceedings. Maxine Johnson did not actually sit next to Sherie, nor was she sitting anywhere near her husband Buck because thankfully the Guards sitting on either side of him seemed to keep him quite apart from all others in attendance. Daddy was there as well but stayed towards the rear of the room during the whole service. Sherie also noticed that there were several men there that the guards seemed to nervously stare towards throughout that short period of time that Buck Johnson was kept in the room. It had been a somber uneventful service until a certain unidentified woman attempted to walk towards the area where the guards were stationed with Buck. It was then that a commotion happened in the back of the room and the loud booms of gunfire erupted inside of the room and pandemonium ensued as people scattered in various directions including the guards who hustled Buck out a side door. By the time the local Police and other emergency personnel arrived at the location very few of the attendants had remained on the scene. What the Police found was the bullet riddled body of the man identified as a notorious Pimp named Duane Wilson, otherwise known to many including Police Detectives by his street name, Daddy. No one was ever charged for his murder even though there were many witnesses questioned for being present when the crime happened. No one spoke of what they witnessed including Sherie who immediately realized that she actually recognized the man who she saw fire several bullets directly into the head of Daddy before disappearing with many others.

After that day Sherie started to spend considerable time for many days and weeks in and out of Courtrooms and Hearings not only fighting for control from her mother’s grip, but also against a Family Court System she was determined to beat. Her assigned Psychologists and Counselors were somewhat amazed at an abrupt change from a seemingly unintelligent child into a smart and determined young woman who could easily excel past the previous metrics that had been used to determine her station in in the life that they had always controlled. She was also having to fight her own father through the courts after she had refused to visit him ever again. Upon her impending death Big Mama had explained to her son that she would likely pass soon and that everything that she would leave for him had been in a little black book that she had kept for him for many years and that her final hope was that he would remember it and its contents since its contents provided the only hope she had for him. Butch foolishly believed that her words were some type of code that would direct him to monetary riches. Butch had expected that whenever his mother’s estate was fully audited that afterwards he would then acquire a considerable cash outlay knowing that he and his mother couldn’t have possibly have consumed away the larger percentage of their stash, Butch did not receive as much Cash as he expected and though he had inherited his mother’s home he was quickly using every avenue available to him to sell the house quickly as was possible even while squashing any hope or dreams that Sherie may have had for that house as a future home. Although she had refused to ever visit him again, Sherie was receiving constant cajoling correspondence from him concerning his mother’s house and some mysterious little black book that he wanted her to find that was supposed to be among the possessions left behind for him by her grandmother. For Sherie the most important quest she had in life at that time was for the Family Court Hearings to succeed in her favor and allow for emancipation from her mother. Even before the Court had allowed Sherie to move temporarily into the vacant home of her grandmother Maxi had continuously harassed and threatened her daughter trying everything she could to keep control of her, but Sherie stood steadfast with her insistence to her mother and counselor that she could fend for herself as an adult since she was now past her eighteenth birthday. Maxi had tried in vain to keep control of Sherie until daughter confronted mother with vivid recounts of the numerous crimes her mother had committed. Maxi was no fool, she knew that if her daughter were to disclose even some of what she knew Sherie could certainly provide descriptive evidence that would surely send her away for a lengthy Prison Sentence. Sherie told her mother that she had been saving selective evidence for many years awaiting the right time to use for her own advantage, because as she explained to Maxi before she left, “My brain is not bad”.

Big Mama had never let it show just how disappointed she was with her one and only son. She had groomed him for more years than she cared to remember, but alas, she had come to accept the fact that her Bartholomew was too foolish to recognize that his uncontrollable anger was the root cause of too many problems of the past and would also be the cause of an effectuated death at the hands of the State. As a Texan she knew that the State would carry out his sentence sometime in the foreseeable future. His death sentence would not be overturned no matter the futile efforts they could raise using any type of scheme to flip evidence. She had now decided that she had allowed enough of their saved resources to be squandered by and for him and that what was left would be passed on in their bloodline through their offspring, Sherie. For several years her Lawyer had admonished her to consider the prescribed Cancer treatments that were available and could likely abate the progress of her disease before it would ravage her body beyond repair. Treatment cost were not a factor that Beatrice had to worry about because he knew that she could easily be considered a very wealthy woman. She had been able to confide in him because he had known Beatrice as not only as a client but also as a friend for most of their lives. They had grown up together in the same neighborhood as children and he had remained a friend, confidant, some time lover and the one and only person who would ever know certain intimate details of her very private life. Because he had hidden her considerable savings for years in various hidden accounts he wasn’t surprised when he was directed how to move it upon her passing.

When the Constable knocked on the door the first time Sherie was too scared to answer so she pretended that no one was home. He persisted and knocked for several more minutes before leaving. The same thing happened the next day and the next, but she did not answer. Not until she was startled outside of the back door by two of them when she was about to reenter after returning from the grocery store she was told the reason for their presence. The house was already sold, she had less than thirty days to vacant the premises. Up until that day Sherie had thought that life was set with a great future. She had thought that her grandmother’s house was the safe haven she had long sought. She had already gained her emancipation. She was receiving a regular monthly check from the county, enough for her basic needs, food, utilities, bus fares and even a little money every month to add to her meager savings. She wasn’t ready for this and didn’t know how to even follow the directives provided by those Constables telling her that she must have all the house’s furniture as well as any personal belonging out of the house before the fifteenth day of next month because the new owners would take possession on that date. She received a stern warning that anything on the property on that day would be carted away and discarded. It took Sherie nearly two weeks to gather together all the things of her grandmother’s that she felt passion for in that they were things that reminded her of the grandmother. Many of the things that she sat aside were remembered items that had been there since she was a very young girl. She only took what she knew was small enough to fit in a few boxes and her luggage since she would be staying in a low rent hotel that she could afford even though it’s monthly cost would consume nearly all of her monthly income leaving barely enough for her buy the necessary food she would always need.

For weeks Sherie sat in her room crying and lamenting that she was lost without hope. She couldn’t think of anything she could do to change her life’s circumstances. She didn’t think that there was anyone in the world who cared about her and she longed for that kind of caring love she had previously received from her grandmother as it was the only real love she felt that she had ever experienced. One day as she was rumbling through some of grandmother’s things she sifted through a shoe box that contained a few family heirlooms including her grandmother’s personal Bible, She also noticed another much smaller Bible that actually had her father’s name imprinted in gold lettering on the front cover. As she picked it up a peculiar feeling of awe enveloped her as she opened it and noticed that it appeared to have been rarely used. A quick flip through it pages showed that the only signs of it previous use were two highlighted verses. “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children—and “A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just”. Sherie thought that those words may have been prepared for her father back in a time when he was likely a teenager himself. She was intrigued and therefor she read. Before the discovery of his Bible she had been extremely distressed with her condition, bit she was now quit surprised in the comfort she was receiving with what had become daily readings of hers from that little black book. Sherie wasn’t quite sure that she could understand the reason that hope seemed to exude from somewhere inside of her, something that she had never experienced before in life. The more that she read the more that she felt quite content with herself without any fear of her future. She learned, then believed that there was in fact something or someone that she believed knew her more that she knew herself and that whoever God was he would provide the guidance she so badly needed. Sherie couldn’t even explain it to herself but she knew that she was forever changed. Through the directions of that little black book she started to Pray as often as she could, talking her hopes and dreams and believing that He was listening. It wasn’t long after that a lawyer knocked on her door.