Her Journey Begins (2 page)

 
“
How can you say it
’
s going to be alright? Who
’
s going to take care of them if I
’
m not here? I can
’
t just leave them! Why are you taking me away? Why not take them and place them in a new home?
”

Miss Vetro sighs,
“
I can
’
t because I
’
m not their social worker, but as soon as we get back to my office, I will talk to my supervisor and try to have them placed elsewhere, okay?
”

   Chris looks over at the house and sees Jason watching her through the steamed up window. Seeing the tears run down his cheeks, she whispers.
“
I
’
m sorry.
”

It has been cloudy all morning. Chris watches the first few drops of rain splash onto the sidewalk and she shivers.

  
“
Are you cold? Did you bring a jacket?
”

Still staring out the window, Chris sadly shakes her head,
“
I don
’
t have a jacket.
”



Miss Vetro takes Chris into a small office. Chris looks around the room at the sparse furnishings. Nothing fancy, kind of plain actually. There is a desk and chairs, a small table in the corner and a filing cabinet against the wall.

  
“
Chris, I
’
m going to have you wait here while I go talk to my supervisor, okay?
”
Chris nods her head.
“
There are some books on the table over there if you like to read.
”
Miss Vetro points to the corner of the room, walks out, and closes the door behind her. Chris walks over and shuffles through the stack of books. Surprised to find one she had started reading in the library at school a couple of weeks ago, Chris picks it up. Not being allowed to check the books out from school and bring them home because of her erratic attendance, Chris is eager to pick up where she left off. She sits down and flips through the pages.



   Hearing the squeak of the hinges startles Chris out of the make believe world of the book and she looks up. Miss Vetro smiles at her.

  
“
Chris, come with me. My supervisor would like to talk to you.
”
Chris furrows her brow and looks down at the book. Miss Vetro smiles and nods.
“
You can fold down the corner if you want.
”

  
“
No, it
’
s not my book.
”

Miss Vetro hands her a sheet of paper.

  
“
Here, use this as a book mark.
”

  
“
Thank you
”
Chris slips the paper between the pages and lays the book back on the table.



   Miss Vetro knocks and opens the door.   

  
“
Chris this is my supervisor, Mrs. Vickers, and she
’
s going to ask you some questions while I go make some phone calls. Mrs. Vickers stands up and nods to Miss Vetro.  Chris notices this office is about the same size as the other one, but it has more of a personal touch to it. The supervisor has a couple of plants, a large bookcase filled with books, and various picture frames with pictures of smiling people on her desk. Chris walks over to the window. Looking out at the rain reminds Chris of Jason
’
s tears running down his chubby cheeks and she turns away.

  
“
Hi Chris, please sit down.
”
Chris sits down in the chair across the desk from the supervisor and Mrs. Vickers looks at her,
“
Chris can you tell me a little bit about the foster family that you are with and why you haven
’
t been in school?
”
Chris has her hands clenched in her lap. Looking down at them she doesn
’
t respond.
“
Okay, let me ask you this, Does your foster mother hit you or any of the other three children?
”
Chris shakes her head no.
“
And why haven
’
t you been in school?
”
Afraid to say anything, Chris doesn
‘
t answer.
“
Chris I can
’
t help you if you don
’
t talk to me.
”

With determination in her eyes Chris looks up at her,
“
Are you going to help the other three that are still there? Because if you aren
’
t, then I need to go back.
”

  
“
Chris, I will do what I can to find another home to place them in. What you have to understand is
…”

Chris puts her hands up and shakes them,
“
No, what you
don
’
t
understand is, that if I
’
m not there, they won
’
t get dinner tonight and even though Jason is a big help, he can
’
t take care of the other two. There
‘
s only so much a 4
½
year old little boy can do.
”

   
“
I will do whatever I can to get them moved on Tuesday.
”

Chris stands up and Mrs. Vickers can hear the unwavering tone in Chris
’
voice.

   
“
Then take me back there until then.
”

Mrs. Vickers gets up and walks around the desk. Chris looks at her with tears in her eyes and Mrs. Vickers puts her hand on Chris
‘
shoulder.
“
Here, sit back down, okay?
”
Looking away Chris sits down.

  
“
Chris your foster mom told Miss Vetro that the reason you haven
’
t been in school is because you refuse to go, is that true?
”

Chris grimaces, takes a deep breath, clenches her hands, and looks Mrs. Vickers in the eye.

   
“
Let me ask you a question. Do you know what it
’
s like to listen to a one year old scream when you put him in the tub after he has sat in a wet, messy diaper all day? Or hearing his tummy gurgle because all he
’
s had to eat all day, if he was lucky, was a bottle of cold milk?
”

Mrs. Vickers stares at the child who is aged beyond her years.

  
“
I
’
ll make some calls to see if I can find a place for the others and I
’
ll go pick them up myself, but my main concern right now is finding you a place to stay, because we are not sending you back there.
”
Knowing she doesn
’
t want to send Chris to the juvenile facility and have her get lost in the system, Mrs. Vickers is hoping Miss Vetro can convince the Clancy
’
s to take Chris until Tuesday. Miss Vetro taps on the door and Mrs. Vickers steps out into the hallway with her. With the door partially open Chris listens to the two women talking softly.

  
“
I talked to Mrs. Clancy and she has agreed to keep Chris until Tuesday.
”

  
“
Okay, that
’
s good, now go back and make a few more calls because we need to get the other three out of there today.
”

  
“
I
’
m way ahead of you. I made a couple of other calls and I can get the two younger ones in one home until Tuesday and Jason into a different one, but that
’
s the best that I can do for now. I can
’
t seem to find one that will take all three for the weekend, so we will have some driving to do.
”

Mrs. Vickers and Miss Vetro walk back in and Miss Vetro hands Chris her bag of clothes and the book Chris was reading in her office.

  
“
This isn
’
t mine.
”
Chris tells her as she attempts to hand the book back to Miss Vetro.

   
“
I want you to have it. Just think of it as a birthday present from me, okay?
”

Fighting back the tears, Chris
’
voice trembles.
“
Thank you.
”

Miss Vetro looks at Mrs. Vickers.

  
“
We going to take your car or mine?
”



    The rain has slowed down to a drizzle as they pull up in front of a two story house. Chris notices it has a wide porch that runs the length of the front with railing all around. She closes her eyes and takes in the scent of the neatly trimmed rosebushes along the front of the porch as they walk up the four steps. The door opens and a slim woman with shoulder length brown hair steps out. She is wearing a pair of faded jeans and a pull over sweater. Chris can see crinkles at the corner of  her eyes as she smiles and  puts her hand out to shake Mrs. Vickers
’
outstretched hand.

  
“
Please come in.
”
She leads them into the living room and motions for them to sit down. Introducing themselves, Barb holds out her hand to Chris.
“
Hi Chris, I
’
m Barbra Clancy, but you can call me Barb, okay?
”
Chris nods and then sits quietly and looks around the room as the three women talk. Finally Miss Vetro stands up and holds out her business card to Barb.

  
“
Here is my card. I
’
ve written my home number on it. Please don
’
t hesitate to call if you have any questions or need anything.
”

  
“
Oh don
’
t worry, I will.
”
Mrs. Clancy says with a nervous laugh.

  
“
Also, here is twenty five dollars from the emergency fund for anything she might need. I
’
ll be back on Tuesday at, let
’
s say 10 a.m. Will that work for you?
”

Taking the card, Mrs. Clancy smiles.
“
Yes, that will be fine.
”



   Miss Vetro puts her arms around Chris.

  
“
We are going to go pick up the three little ones now, so don
’
t worry and I
’
ll be back to see you on Tuesday, okay?
”

Chris nods and whispers,
“
Thank you.
”



   Chris smiles at Mrs. Clancy
’
s incessant chatter as Mrs. Clancy leads her up the stairs to a small bedroom.

  
“
I
’
ll show you where everything is and where you are going to sleep. I hope it
’
s okay. I decorated it in blue though. I
‘
m sorry. Do you like blue? Maybe I should have decorated it in a neutral color, like yellow, or green. It
’
s just that blue
’
s my favorite color and if we had gotten a little boy, then pink wouldn
’
t have worked. Oh listen to me going on and on.
”
Looking around the room Chris notices that it smells nice. A clean fresh smell, much different from the stale cigarette smell of her other foster homes and yes it is decorated in blue. From the light blue cover on the twin bed to the matching curtains, to the two throw rugs in a darker blue. There
’
s no carpeting, but Chris sees the hardwood floors are clean and shiny.

  
“
You
’
ll sleep here. You can put your clothes in the drawers if you want. And follow me this way and I
’
ll show you where the restroom is.
”
Chris follows her down the hall.
“
You
’
ll use this one. There
’
s soap, shampoo, a new toothbrush and toothpaste. Let me know if there is anything else you need. Let
’
s see what kind of clothes you have, so I can get an idea of what we might need to get tomorrow.
”
They go back into the bedroom. Chris averts her eyes not wanting to look at Mrs. Clancy as she pulls her worn tattered clothes out of the bag. Looking at the clothes Mrs. Clancy tells her,
“
I think you are about my size. I have a pair of jeans that just might fit you, but you might have to cuff them up a little, since you are a little shorter then I am. Let me go check.
”
And she walks out of the room. Mrs. Clancy is carrying a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, and a pair of flannel pajamas when she comes back.
“
How about you take a bath and get cleaned up before dinner. You can put these on and I
’
ll put these
…”
Mrs. Clancy holds up the pajamas.
“
In the drawer for later tonight. And tomorrow we will go clothes shopping, okay? I
’
ll take your clothes and will be downstairs in the kitchen, so when you
’
re done, come join me there. It
’
s right
…”
Mrs. Clancy starts pointing with her hands, first one way then the other, making Chris smile.
“
Well it
’
s down there somewhere. If you get lost, just yell.
”