The horses in the stable went wild; they knew of the coming storm.

The cops came for my mama that day, dragging her away in rusted handcuffs that seemed too tight.

"Don't worry," she told me with a kiss to my forehead.

"I'll get an appeal," she told me.

I didn't know what an appeal was back then and I didn't know now. All I knew was that mama didn't get one.

The cops told me mama was tak...