Extraordinary Girl, chapter 6

Though just meeting Hailey had changed my life in a way I wouldn't know until much later, the next few hours effected me so much that it's hard to even describe. I've heard some pretty bad stories of broken homes and childhoods that never really were. I mean, I grew up in Oakland. But Hailey's story made me want to go hide in a dark corner somewhere. Her words made me, literally, cringe.

"I have to tell you something."

That's what opened the can of worms, so to speak. I pushed my bowl of cereal to the side while she began to talk. For most of this time she did not meet my eyes.

"You can't send me back to them."

I sigh, thinking that this would turn into a whole 'thing'. I figured, okay, I did a good thing, right? We'd just get Hailey back to her foster home and all would be well.

"Look, Hailey, don't get me wrong, you're a sweet kid. And something really bad's happened to you. But that's not my--"

"No, Mike, please listen."

It's the first time she's ever said my name to me, and it's the first time she's stared me in the eye for more than two seconds, so I shut my mouth, meet her gaze and listen.

"You can't send me back..." She says again in an even smaller voice--if possible--and the tears stream down her face faster. I get up and grab a box of tissues.

"Okay, Tell me why."

Hailey takes a long, shakey breath, folding and re-folding the dampened tissue, thinking of the right words.

"I...I can't." She says quietly after what seems like forever.

"Hailey. Look at me." I ordered, something I knew was hard for her to do. She looked at me, her eyes puffy and glistening with tears, which illuminated her green irises.

"You have to tell me if you want me to help you."

Hailey breaks her gaze and contemplates her hands again. "O--okay."

I brace myself.

"This..." She traces her finger along the deep cut on her neck, wincing again. "This wasn't from...the guy that mugged me."

I raise an eyebrow, thinking she meant it was an accident.

"In fact...there was no guy that mugged me."

I sit there, confused. Lost. "What?"

Her breathing is shaky and uneven. "My...my foster parents..." She pauses again, then looks me in the eye. And suddenly, it all comes pouring out, hitting me harder than I expected.

"My foster dad has abused me and raped me before and no one knew and I got so sick and tired of it and my foster mom's an alcoholic, actually they both are, they do drugs, too, and the other night my dad came home and he was really drunk -- I don't know where my mom was -- and he started coming at me and telling me to take my clothes off and I was just so sick...so sick of it...I said no...he called me a bitch and hit me with a beer bottle which hit my neck...so I ran away and wound up in that alley where you found me."

I was beyond stunned. Beyond speechless. Unable to even move. I was NOT expecting any of that. I feel frozen, unable to think, not sure of what to do. Hailey's still crying and I'm holding my head in my hands, frusterated and confused, when Sarah walks in.

"What's going on?"

***

I repeated Hailey's story, word for word, to Sarah. When I finished, she was crying herself, hand pressed to her mouth, whispering "Oh my God, oh my God..." She even hugged Hailey and told her we'd figure everything out. I told Hailey she could watch TV or something -- though I knew she wouldn't -- and excused me and Sarah from the room. We quietly slipped into our bedroom.

"Oh, my God." Sarah was still saying.

"I know."

"What...what are we going to do?" Sarah sits and holds her head in her heads. We're both still in our pajamas.

I sit next to her. "I don't know. We can't let her go back..."

"Obviously, But, they'd just send her to another foster family."

I sigh and clothes my eyes. I feel almost hopeless. Hopeless in the worst way, because I knew this girl's life might be depending on Sarah and I.

"Okay." I say. "We need to call her foster parents."