shut off my engine. “I’m here, and I’ve got to jump if I don’t want to be late.”
“Okay. Let me know if there’s anything that little girl needs and my knitting circle girls will get it for her.”
“You’ve got an ooey-gooey heart in there, Penny.”
“Oh, hush. Get going, you troublemaker.”
I chuckled. “Thanks for managing the schedule. I’ll check back in with you when I’m done here.”
“Sounds good.”
I hit End on my screen and switched my phone to silent. I always made sure the first meeting was free of any and all distractions. Often, it was the first time someone had truly listened to what the child had to say and made them feel like a priority. When they felt important, like I genuinely valued whatever they might share, that was where the magic happened.
I rounded the old craftsman building that housed the Alliance and headed to the back where there was a playground and a small field. A handful of other kids and adults were present for their own meetings and mentorship time. Callie caught my eye and waved me over to a picnic table. “Zoe, this is Crosby, the man I was telling you about. He’s going to help you tell the judge what you want.”
The brown-haired girl at the picnic table was tiny. I’d assumed she couldn’t be more than eight years old, but I’d learned from her file that she was actually nine. The idea that her slight frame could be from malnutrition had my gut twisting.
“I want to go back with my mom.” Zoe’s voice was timid, and she didn’t meet either of our gazes. But at least she was telling us what she wanted. Some kids didn’t open up for weeks.
Callie rubbed a hand up and down Zoe’s back. “I know, sweetie, but your mom isn’t well enough to take care of you right now.”
“She probably just needs more medicine. She always gets sick when she doesn’t have it. Maybe the doctor could get her some more.”
There was a burning sensation along my sternum. Drugs. Zoe, not even ten years old, knew that her mother needed drugs to function in any capacity. And her mom had trained her to think of them as medicine. I eased down on the bench. “The medicine your mom has been taking is a bad kind. It’s not good for her, so some people are going to try and help her.”
Eyes wise beyond their years blinked back at me. “They do make her crazy sometimes. Or really sleepy. Sometimes, she doesn’t wake up for a whole day.”
I fought to keep the anger currently coursing through me from showing on my face. “So, it’s good she’s not going to be taking it anymore, right?”
Zoe twisted the end of one of her braids, wrapping strands of hair around her finger. “I guess. But how long is she going to be gone?”
I glanced at Callie over Zoe’s head. “We don’t know that yet. But you’re doing okay with the Calhouns, right?”
Zoe’s little body stiffened slightly. “I want to go home.”
Zoe’s home no longer existed. The trailer her mother had rented was now back in the hands of their landlord. Thankfully, Callie had gotten in to grab a few of Zoe’s belongings before the rest of the items were trashed.
Callie patted Zoe’s knee. “I know being in a new place is scary, but just give it some time.”
Something in the way the little girl had tensed at the mention of her foster parents had concern flashing through me.
Another volunteer motioned for Callie, and she rose from the picnic table. “I’m going to leave you to hang out with Crosby, but I’ll be right over there.”
Zoe nodded and then dropped her gaze to her lap, twirling her thumbs in circles around each other.
“So, what’s your favorite thing to do at recess? Maybe we could play that today.”
Her gaze lifted slightly. I braced myself for her to say “playing house” or something of the sort. I had gotten roped into playing Barbies on more than one occasion at this very picnic table. But I had to admit, I was good at doing the voices. “Soccer,” she answered.
My brows lifted, and a grin stretched across my face. “I happen to love soccer. But it’s been a while since I’ve played. Think you could remind me how?”
Zoe’s little head bobbed up and down. “I’m one of the best girls in my class. The boys only let me and Cindy play with them because all the other girls are