“That man inside will be taken into federal custody,” my father said firmly. “No bail.”
The marshal nodded.
Six months later I sat in the garden of my father’s Virginia estate while cherry blossoms drifted through the warm spring air.
My body had healed from the injuries but the loss of my child remained a silent ache inside my heart.
I opened a newspaper and read the headline about Gregory Gaines receiving a twenty five year prison sentence for assault and financial crimes that investigators discovered during the trial.
My father joined me on the bench and handed me a cup of tea.
“You look stronger today,” he said kindly.
“I feel stronger,” I replied while folding the newspaper.
“I applied to Columbia Law School yesterday.”
My father raised his eyebrows with surprise.
“I thought you hated the law,” he said.
“I hated the pressure of living under it,” I explained calmly. “But that night I learned something important.”
“What did you learn,” he asked.
“The law can be used as a weapon by cruel people,” I said quietly. “But it also belongs to those brave enough to defend the truth.”
My father smiled proudly and placed his arm around my shoulders.
“You will become a formidable lawyer,” he said.
I looked across the garden and remembered the child I lost and the life that ended before it began. But I also understood that silence had almost destroyed me once and I would never allow it to control my future again.
My name was Amelia Parker and the law was no longer something used against me. It had become the voice I would use to protect others.
