Strip

Chapter 38

Chapter 38 

The next morning we were waken to the sound of the cell door clanking open. I sat up, and looked at the officer who stood in the doorway.

"We have someone here to talk to you about orphanages."

I felt like a golf ball was lodged in my throat as the events of the past night flooded back through my memory. James' tiny fingers wove through mine as we stood up and followed the officer.

He lead us to a room that felt more open than the one I had been in the night before. It was larger, with more tables and chairs. A single window with thick, and most likely bullet proof, glass was placed high against one of the walls, sunlight illuminating the room. A woman sat at one of the tables in the middle, a folder stuffed with papers sitting in front of her. The officer stayed positioned next to the door.

I slowly approached the woman, James following behind me. She looked up at me and flashed a huge smile. She had a gap between her two front teeth.

"Hello Molly," She said. She craned her neck to see James hiding behind me. She waved at him. He didn't reply.

"You can call me Jennifer," She said. "Take a seat."

I did. She opened the folder and thumbed through a couple of the papers. She had thin dark hair that she wore in a pony tail, and thick glasses. Her nails were stubby, barely breaking free from her skin. 

Which meant she was a grown woman who bit her nails. I didn't want advice from a grown woman who bit her nails.

She looked up from the papers, her face growing more serious. "So let's talk about your options."

I was silent. Strands of my greasy hair had fallen out around my face, and I was sure I had dried mascara smudged around my eyes. I couldn't be a pretty sight.

"You're actually very lucky," She said, plucking a pamphlet from the folder. "A nearby orphanage actually has a few open places right now- we'd be able to fit in both of you."

She held out the pamphlet to me. The cover displayed young children playing in a garden, looking like they had never been happier than knee deep in mud. I took it from her, and flipped it open. The inside showed picture of couples holding babies in fuzzy blankets, smiling up at the camera. Text filled the rest of the pages, but I could barely bring myself to look at it.

"It's a very nice place," She continued. "The kids there are all very happy. It has a great foster program too." 

She cleared her throat slightly and looked at me. "Obviously, you'd only be staying for..."

"5 months," I replied quietly.

She nodded slightly. "They also have a program for people who leave their orphanages." She spoke slightly slower now, as if to make sure I was getting every word. "They make sure you're provided with enough money to last you the next 6 months after leaving so you can get back on your feet. It could be really helpful for you."

"Maybe." I paused. "But I want to become James legal guardian as soon after turning 18 as possible."

Jennifer's mouth formed a stiff line. "That's unlikely."

"Why?"

"Molly," She leaned forward, her face softening. "Yes, you did take care of James all this time, which is pretty impressive. But, the living condition of you two hasn't been particularly credible from what we've seen."

"I've been taking great care of James," I said, making fists under the table.

"We found very little food at your house, most of which was fast food, or otherwise incredibly unhealthy. The living space itself hasn't been taken care of very well, and we found a woman living downstairs from you saying you left James alone with her for sometimes as much as 10 hours-"

"Mrs. Copper is fine-"

"Her living condition is also unfit for a child-"

"He isn't living with her." I struggled to keep my voice steady. "He's living with me."

She sighed. "And, since you kept up school, I have to think you took up a less orthodox method of income?"

My mouth was as dry as a desert. "I-"

"It's pretty common in this kind of case," She said. "We have no proof of course, but you are under aged, and going into court could bring this up, which along with making a judge rather un-favorable of you, could lead to actual jail time."

My heart was having seizures in my chest. 

"Plus, compared to James' other options, I doubt any judge would choose you over them."

"What other options?"

"Foster care is the best," She said. "A sweet kid like James would be picked up pretty quickly- I bet a month, tops. He would stay with a sweet family, probably one who had seen foster kids in the past. If all goes well, he could even be adopted."

She paused. "And, I'm sure any foster family he gets would be fine with letting you visit him, maybe even as much as once a week."

I tightened my grip on James' hand. "James lives with me though."

"I know, but that might not be the best place for him."

I was boiling with anger, while a feeling of defeat washed over me at the same time. I loosened my grip on James and slouched slightly.

"So will you be going to the orphanage? At least for the time being?"

I looked down at James. "Do you want to go to an orphanage."

"Do I have a choice," He muttered, his usual bubbly happiness gone without a trace.

I looked back at the woman. "Guess we will."

---

It's my birthday!!!

And I got a fucking kick ass Mac Book Air and it's 700 times easier to type on than my old shit computer, so hopefully this will motivate me to write more!

Thank you guys for reading! Sorry if all of this stuff about guardianship and foster programs and stuff is totally wrong, I did some research, but I just guessed for most of it. Plus, sorry, but I kinda care about the plot more than the facts.

If you liked it, please vote, comment, you know... that stuff.

Sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes.

I love you all, you wonderful little sunfish.

Also, thank you for all the follows. Like, it's not that many in comparison to some people I guess, but it's enough so that if we all got together, we could totally go beat up every person who was ever mean to us.

We should totally do that.

Ok, I'm doing that thing I always do when I make the author's not way too long.

Ok, bye

XOX