"Oh, how I miss you so"

This white floor. This white wall. These grey doors. This orange shirt. These are the only colors Niesha has seen in the past eight months. "How is the weather?" "Is it cold? Is the sun shining?" These are the questions all inmates ask. "How is my Baby doing? When do I see my darling daughter again?" These are the questions Niesha asks. “My childhood is the exact opposit of what I want for my child. Lyla deserves a chance,” said Niesha. Very quietly the 25 years young woman describes her childhood and the many things she feels went wrong. When her mother was unable to pay for the drugs to feed her addiction, she prostituted Niesha instead. Niesha was 12 years-old. Soon, Niesha's only bond with her mother was being high together. 13 years later Niesha no longer has a home. She is currently serving a sentence in the Henry County Jail, Missouri, for bitten off the nose of another girl during a fight that was fueled by drugs. Three weeks before, Niesha gave birth to her daughter Lyla. “What I did was wrong and horrible. Yes, I deserve to be in jail. Yes, I deserve to be punished...but... I just miss my daughter”. Eight months into her sentence, Niesha feels ready to go out and start a new life: “Everything about me is changed. The way I look at the world and the way I look at what I wanna do in my life. My priorities are so much different now. I have so much waiting for me out there. I wanna be a mom. I wanna be a damn good mom.”