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𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 , 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧
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BEFORE
"FOUR FOSTER HOMES in seven months and now juvie—again! I don't know what's going on with you, but you need to get it together."
"There's an easy solution to make sure we never have this conversation again."
Lina Mitchel sighed as she lead the girl through the cramped and busy hallway before turning down a corner and unlocking the door to an office Sadie had been all too familiar with at this point. Hell, she had gotten so comfortable in the chair across her case worker's desk that it may as well have become her bed with how much time she spent lounging in it.
Once again, the young girl had found herself at trouble's front door. It was quite the routine at this point. The moment Lina assumed she had made a breakthrough with finding her next solution with Sadie; there came the calls. Whether it had been from her current foster parents, her school, or even the police—much like now as Lina had just picked the girl up from the local precinct. Thus being the reason behind the scowl that had not looked like it was going to make its way off her face any time soon.
"Is it fun?" she asked the girl. "Is that it? Is this some sort of adrenaline junky thing? Because there are other options, you know? It doesn't always have to be things that could give people a migraine. You know, people like me?"
"I get a migraine every time you put me with a family so questionable, I have to wonder why or how they even got approved by the state to take in a child in the first place."
The woman rubbed her temples as they each took their seats. "Look, I know it's hard—"
But the attempt to lighten her tone in an effort to console Sadie only further aggravated her. Despite the fact that Lina had always wanted what was best for her, it all felt so condescending. To tell her she understood when Sadie had known they were in two completely different worlds. "You sit behind a desk all day and go home to a cozy bed knowing your next meal is there whenever you want it," she shook her head throwing her ratty duffel bag down on the floor. "you wouldn't know what it's like to be in my position."
