Meg watched with some trepidation as the little girl devoured the food on her plate. Finally she placed a light hand on her arm. “Slow down sweetheart, you’re going to choke.” The waif’s reaction was instantaneous; she dropped the sandwich and sat with her head bowed. A tremor passed through Meg’s chest, something was desperately wrong. “I didn’t mean for you to stop eating, just slow down a bit.”
Meg picked up a pen –
1. Call Annie.
2. Call Annie!!
3. Tell Josh to bring milk.
The girl picked up her sandwich and took a bite, chewing carefully before she swallowed. She ate her way through two cheese sandwiches before tackling the soup, and then the sliced carrots and apple pieces. Even after it was all gone Meg could see her hunting the table for possible scraps.
“What’s your name honey?” Meg asked.
“I’m Libby,” she said. “You look like a movie star,” she added then ducked her head.
A bubble of laughter escaped Meg. “I do kind of look silly wearing this summer dress in the middle of winter,” she said.
“Oh no,” Libby cried. “I don’t think you’re silly at all. You’re beautiful and you smell nice.”
A wry smile twisted Meg’s mouth as she watched the grimy little creature in front of her. “What a lovely thing to say. But I honestly can’t say the same about you. When was the last time your mother gave you a bath?”
Libby’s bright blue eyes looked up into Meg’s. “I don’t got a mommy.”
“Okay…what about your father?”
“I don’t have a daddy neither. They’re both dead. And Mrs. Speck says I’m not allowed to have a bath. She says that me an Kyle can’t have baths cause we’re dirty heretics and deserve to look the same on the outside as we do on the inside.”
Meg looked at the troubled eyes under the greasy matted hair and felt as if someone had suddenly started a small fire right in the middle of her chest. “But…ah…why…who is Mrs. Speck?”
“She’s the lady in charge at the Home,” Libby said.
This is not happening, Meg thought. This is not happening. “So…um…why is it that she thinks you shouldn’t have a bath?” Meg asked, keeping her voice as light as she could.
Libby shifted her weight around and swung her legs back and forth in the chair. She licked one grimy finger and touched the crumbs on the plate then stuck it into her mouth. “Mrs. Speck says that Mommy and Daddy are dead because they wanted to be angels in heaven, but Kyle says that’s not really real, it’s just what adults say to kids. He says Mommy and Daddy wouldn’ta wanted to leave us even to be angels. And when she heard that, Mrs. Speck said children who don’t believe in angels are dirty, filthy heretics. What’s a heretic?” she asked.
“Just one sec Hon,” Meg said, she walked over to the counter and picked up her cell phone and flipped open the keypad.
Annie are you home? Can you get to my house ASAP?
Sure thing Meg. Something the matter?
Yes. Bring your jump kit okay.
“Do you think that your brother might want some lunch?” Meg asked Libby.
The little girl nodded her head vigorously. “He’s prob-ly starving too. We’re not allowed to eat at the Home until at the night-time.”
It took a little convincing to coax Kyle into the house for lunch. Meg had to promise him several times that he could finish the drive later and she would still give him the fifteen dollars. She laid the money on the table in front of him while he was wolfing down his food.
“Don’t eat so fast, you’ll choke,” Libby said to her brother and smiled up at Meg.
“So what’s so important about getting that money?” Meg asked.
With his mouth full of food Libby answered for him. “Kyled googlied the information at the library. He says that we can’t run away from the Home cause then the police will take us back. Then Mrs. Speck would be really mad and lock us in The Room. So Kyle says he’s gonna get money as a restrainer for a lawyer who can make her give us more food, or maybe even get us another place to live.”
The doorbell rang and Meg heard Annie walk into the porch. “In the kitchen,” she called. “That’s my friend Annie,” she explained to the two wide-eyed children at the table. She saw their shoulders relax, just a little.
Cold air followed Annie in, her plump red cheeks indicated that the weather hadn’t warmed up at all. Her grey curls had a sprinkling of white which began to melt in the warm room. Annie smiled wide and embraced Meg in a bear hug. “You’re too skinny,” she announced and then turned with a smile to the children. “And who have we here?”
With her years of experience behind her Annie quickly assessed the situation and soon had all the information she needed. “Well,” she said. “I think I have to go now,” she shot a knowing look at Meg. “I’m assuming you can handle this for the next couple of days,” she said and waggled her finger in a circle. Meg nodded then walked her to the door. “I’ve seen a lot worse,” Annie whispered into Meg’s ear. “Take care of them and I’ll take care of Mrs. Speck.”
Two hours later the children were napping on the large sofa in front of the fire-place while Meg was furiously scribbling out a list, it was already four pages long. She had changed into a comfy pair of jeans and pulled one of Josh’s old college sweatshirts on, and sat cross-legged in the middle of several thick books, their pages bristling with sticky notes. An envelope with fifteen dollars inside had the word “Retainer” written in the front, sat on top of some old legal briefs in her open case. Its leather still coated with a year’s worth of dust.
Meg looked up when the front door opened and watched her husband walk toward her carrying a carton of milk. “Who shoveled the driveway?” he asked.
Photo Credit
Photo from the Microsoft Office Clipart Collection
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You tell a lovely story and very well at that.It might have been maudlin in less accomplished hands but it is strong, unsentimental, full of real things. A pleasure to read.
You truly are a fine storyteller, Ms. Gab.
Wow, you’ve got my interest. Good story.