pick pocketing strangers in the street. Using the Clarksons’ bathroom door, Tanner taught himself how to pick a lock with nothing but a paperclip.
The skill came in handy a number of times when it came to breaking into the Clarksons’ bedroom to steal small amounts of cash that should have been their allowance anyway.
Everything changed one night—The night of Tanner’s thirteenth birthday.
As Tanner and Jacob walked home from school, a strange woman approached them on the street.
She was dark-skinned, with a white bandage on her nose. One of her eyes was bloodshot, and her hair was grey and thin.
It was Jalene—the boys’ mother.
She’d spent a whole decade trying to get her children back, but her criminal record had made things difficult.
She saved every single penny she could to hire a lawyer to get her passport approved for entry into the country. The process took an entire decade, but eventually, she was successful.
Her lawyer explained to her that, if she wanted her kids back, she needed to establish residency in the same town the children lived in.
Jalene moved to Snowbrooke, established a permanent address, got her driver’s license and even voted at a local election.
Once she was fully established as a resident of Snowbrooke, she went to the Clarksons and asked to see her sons.
They refused.
Losing Tanner and Jacob meant losing twelve hundred dollars every month—and they weren’t prepared to do that. They demanded the desperate mother leave.
Jalene left, but she came back again the next day to try again. Again, the Clarksons told her to leave, this time threatening to call the police.
After she left, they filed a restraining order, claiming that Jalene “was psychotic” and that “she was violent and aggressive”.
The police told Jalene to stay away from the Clarksons, and all of the children in their care.
Jalene started to sit at a café, across from her kids’ elementary school. She sat there all day, secretly watching her grown children, trying to think of a way she could get them back. Seeing her kids grown up for the first time was incredibly emotional for the mother.
One day, the kids went across the street to the local convenience store. Jalene secretly followed them, keeping her hood on her head. The sound of her kids’ voices made her unexpectedly emotional.
She broke down crying in the convenience store. The storeowner thought that she was insane, so he called the police.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
DIVINE INTERVENTION
Jalene ended up being fined for breaking her restraining order. Tanner and Jacob were still completely ignorant to who the crying woman was—they simply remembered her as “the crazy crying lady”.
The next day, a tall slender white man with a thick moustache showed up at Jalene’s door. He discreetly showed her a police badge, and politely asked her to get into his car. The undercover cop didn’t want to make a scene, and he didn’t want to embarrass the disgraced mother.
Jalene refused to go with him. The cop begged her to be civil for her own sake. “I don’t want to have to use the cuffs,” he said. “I don’t want this to be embarrassing.”
“Where are you taking me?” Jalene asked.
“Mrs. White—I’m afraid you’ve broken the conditions of your working Visa. You’re being deported.”
“But—But I’ve only been here a few months. I established residency,” she said.
“You’ll be able to reapply for another Visa in five years, once the restraining order expires.”
“Please—I spent ten years getting this Visa. Please don’t do this.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. White. It’s not my decision.”
“My children—I just want to see my children.”
“The sooner you get home, the sooner you’ll be able to apply for re-entry into the country. Now please—I need you to understand that I’m trying to be nice here. If you are charged with resisting arrest, you might never be able to see your kids.”
Jalene wished a bolt of
The skill came in handy a number of times when it came to breaking into the Clarksons’ bedroom to steal small amounts of cash that should have been their allowance anyway.
Everything changed one night—The night of Tanner’s thirteenth birthday.
As Tanner and Jacob walked home from school, a strange woman approached them on the street.
She was dark-skinned, with a white bandage on her nose. One of her eyes was bloodshot, and her hair was grey and thin.
It was Jalene—the boys’ mother.
She’d spent a whole decade trying to get her children back, but her criminal record had made things difficult.
She saved every single penny she could to hire a lawyer to get her passport approved for entry into the country. The process took an entire decade, but eventually, she was successful.
Her lawyer explained to her that, if she wanted her kids back, she needed to establish residency in the same town the children lived in.
Jalene moved to Snowbrooke, established a permanent address, got her driver’s license and even voted at a local election.
Once she was fully established as a resident of Snowbrooke, she went to the Clarksons and asked to see her sons.
They refused.
Losing Tanner and Jacob meant losing twelve hundred dollars every month—and they weren’t prepared to do that. They demanded the desperate mother leave.
Jalene left, but she came back again the next day to try again. Again, the Clarksons told her to leave, this time threatening to call the police.
After she left, they filed a restraining order, claiming that Jalene “was psychotic” and that “she was violent and aggressive”.
The police told Jalene to stay away from the Clarksons, and all of the children in their care.
Jalene started to sit at a café, across from her kids’ elementary school. She sat there all day, secretly watching her grown children, trying to think of a way she could get them back. Seeing her kids grown up for the first time was incredibly emotional for the mother.
One day, the kids went across the street to the local convenience store. Jalene secretly followed them, keeping her hood on her head. The sound of her kids’ voices made her unexpectedly emotional.
She broke down crying in the convenience store. The storeowner thought that she was insane, so he called the police.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
DIVINE INTERVENTION
Jalene ended up being fined for breaking her restraining order. Tanner and Jacob were still completely ignorant to who the crying woman was—they simply remembered her as “the crazy crying lady”.
The next day, a tall slender white man with a thick moustache showed up at Jalene’s door. He discreetly showed her a police badge, and politely asked her to get into his car. The undercover cop didn’t want to make a scene, and he didn’t want to embarrass the disgraced mother.
Jalene refused to go with him. The cop begged her to be civil for her own sake. “I don’t want to have to use the cuffs,” he said. “I don’t want this to be embarrassing.”
“Where are you taking me?” Jalene asked.
“Mrs. White—I’m afraid you’ve broken the conditions of your working Visa. You’re being deported.”
“But—But I’ve only been here a few months. I established residency,” she said.
“You’ll be able to reapply for another Visa in five years, once the restraining order expires.”
“Please—I spent ten years getting this Visa. Please don’t do this.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. White. It’s not my decision.”
“My children—I just want to see my children.”
“The sooner you get home, the sooner you’ll be able to apply for re-entry into the country. Now please—I need you to understand that I’m trying to be nice here. If you are charged with resisting arrest, you might never be able to see your kids.”
Jalene wished a bolt of
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