French Twist Excerpt - Janine’s Mother Was a Fierce Protector of Her Children

janine winters motherJanine Winters Mother - her Mamita

From pages 23-24 and 32-33 of the memoir, French Twist - A Tale of Travel, Testing and Triumph.

My mother was a kind and loving parent, but when necessary, she protected us like a lioness watching over her cubs. When my father returned from Spain, we were still attending the boarding school. He agreed to the arrangement on one condition: Mom had to move back in with him. He was involved in the real-estate business and was using her to cover some of his shady dealings.

Later, my parents agreed to a divorce, but it was a scam on Dad’s part to hide his income. He put his properties in her name and got away with it. In Morocco, the man is the boss of his wife and children. She wasn’t able to handle the business without a male involved, yet Dad had contrived ways to keep himself out of trouble using our mother as part of his schemes. Mom agreed to all this on one condition: she was to retain custody of the children in the divorce.

One night, my father told the three of us about the divorce. “Children,” he began, “your mother and I aren’t going to stay married. But it’s not that we’re really breaking up. It’s a way to help maintain some business interests. You have to trust me about this. Believe me, it’s for the best.”

There it was. He informed us that it wasn’t real and was only to protect his real-estate assets. For me, it was a release, since I wished we could walk away from him.

Dad was mean to Mom and often called her names. Sometimes she defended herself, even though that put her in greater danger. She knew too much about his dealings, and we often heard them arguing. It wasn’t clear what they were talking about, but the sound of their voices was enough for us to be afraid that something awful was going to happen. We could hear Mom accusing him and warning him to stop.

Mom, Alain, and I moved into an apartment above Aunt Eliane’s place. Dad was furious, but there was nothing he could do to force us back home. We tried to live a normal life, but with my father there was no normal.

I was the reason my mom left him. She was willing to do whatever was necessary to protect me. I knew that sooner or later he’d make me pay.

Eventually, my parents were legally divorced, and Mom got custody of her three children. We began making plans to leave Morocco and move to Algeria. Mom prepared our passports with the French embassy and bought our plane tickets. We moved to a hotel near the airport to spend our last night. Several family members came to say goodbye. We were so scared he’d find us, and it was only when the airplane took off that we realized we were free!

Dealing with the challenges growing up and having a strong mother to guide and protect her helped Janine as she grew into an adult and had children of her own. She loves her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren dearly and she hopes that her memoir helps them understand her life and all that she has learned on her amazing journey.