Amara was born in 1992. She was a beautiful baby with light blonde hair and blue eyes. Her mother Nancy had conceived her with a local attorney who never became a true father. Nancy was on her own when it came to raising her. Dear old dad was never in the picture, choosing to ignore his daughter and the woman who gave birth to her. He had another life and was uninterested in any problems as he set his sights on a lucrative criminal law practice.
Amara's mother liked to call her Mari. She loved her daughter with all her heart, but Nancy had a problem that was stronger than love. She was an addict and love of daughter fell to the side so she could maintain her high. Unfortunately, shooting up reigned supreme over a mother’s love. Nancy’s addiction blinded her love and tucked it conveniently away in a dark closet in her mind.
Nancy’s addiction place Mari in great danger. When Mari was about 12 years old, Nancy’s drug dealer, Tom, noticed her. His eyes lit up with possibility. Nancy would have a new means of paying for her drug and Tom would see to it that she was adequately nourished with his evil brew. Tom traded drugs for a child.
Her mother was far from coherent when Tom the dealer took Amara. He coaxed her to give Maria a final message, “Go with Tom!” she whispered her command.
Mari went out the door without further goodbye, Tom took her by the hand. It might have appeared that she went willingly with this criminal. But there was underlying reason for her going hand in hand with a man who addicted her mother to drugs.
Mari was a most unusual child and was very grown up for her youthful age. She was highly intelligent and acted older than she was. She was great with words and could hold her own in any adult conversation.
However, the underlying factor in all of this was Amara’s love and care for her (underserving) mother. She had taken care of her Nancy many times and learned early in life how to say the right thing at the right moment to maneuver adults and keep them from becoming too intrusive. She was worried that her mom could easily lose Mari to the system. To make matters worse, Mari had saved her mother’s life during a drug overdose, before she was even 12 years old!
Everyone agreed that Mari was truly a gift from God. In every decision she made, it was in the service of others. She was truly empathetic to everyone around her. She loved little children and had a dream of being a teacher. Unfortunately, those dreams were dashed that day that Tom took her and were all for naught.
In going with Tom, Mari fully believed that her mom gave her to him because she could not afford a home for them. Tom told her he was her boyfriend. He told her that he also had work for her. If she did what he asked, Tom would give her mom money. She did not realize that he gave her mom drugs in exchange for her daughter.
Although Mari had never been with a boy, she was not completely innocent of the darker world, nevertheless she was inexperienced, despite that she had seen and heard things a child her age should never go through.
Tom looked at Mari as a cash cow. He would use her to mule drugs and sell her for pornography and sex. Mari was a human ATM machine with an unlimited supply of cash.
When Amara’s mother wanted drugs, she would show up at Tom’s residence. Amara could hear Nancy yelling for her from outside. The dealer gave her mom drugs, and she went away. Amara was making the money for her mom’s drugs and more. Tom was selling her for sex to his drug customers and for pornography to a photographer.
Amara did not resist. She felt she was helping her mom and she had no one else in the world.
Flash forward…
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