September thirteenth of 2013, my brother Cormick and I were taken from my mother's custody. It was a normal day until about second or third period. The counselor, Mrs.Viele called me down to her office during first hour. I wasn't worried at all because I always visited her office, it was another home for me. We talked about random things like always and then she said, "Ezra, last night at open house I noticed that your step-father Luca was standing really close to you and that's not normal. Does he do this all the time?". Not knowing what would happen next I replied with a simple "yes". It was then she asked me, "Honey, is he doing anything to you at home that should not be done to a girl your age?", even though it was true, that he did things to me, I told her "No, he doesn't do that kind of thing to me at all. He would never do that"! She asked me if I was lying and I told her "No, I'm not lying". So she let me return to class and on my way out she asked, "Ezra, if he was doing anything to you would you let me or someone else know?", I said "Yes, I would", and then I walked out. During third hour, she called me back down to her office. On my way down this time, I was nervous. When I walked into her office, I noticed two police officers and I wondered if maybe she had caught onto something. Maybe it was the way I got so defensive or maybe it was something else but I had no idea what was going on at that point. She introduced me to the lady police officer and the man police officer and told me I could be honest and truthful and I won't get in trouble for anything I said. Once again she pointed out that she noticed my step-father standing really close to me last night and informed me that it wasn't a normal thing to do. Then she went on to ask me two questions, "Does he do this thing all the time?", and "Is he doing anything to you that shouldn't be happening to a girl your age"? Once again, I replied with a "No.", but this time it was gentle. She asked me this same question three other times and the last time she asked me she said, "Ezra, look up at me and answer. Remember it's okay to tell. We are here to help you and not hurt you". She asked me once more and I looked up into her eyes and said, "Yes, he does things to me. He wakes me up in the middle of the night and does things to me. Sometimes he makes me do grown up things to him and other times he haves me make sex noises. When we are alone at home together, he bribes me to do things for him and when he's done with me, gives me the money that I earned from today's "chore". When mom gets home, I try to hide my money because I don't want her to know what he's doing, she loves him. Sometimes she finds it and asks me how I got it and I tell her that a neighbor gave it to me for helping them"! By the time I got done talking, I was crying. The lady officer was rubbing my back and Mrs.Viele was kneeling down in front of me holding my hands and she kept telling me, "It's okay", or "He's not going to hurt you anymore, you're safe". The man police officer was writing on a tiny notepad. The counselor let me go back to class and by now it was forth hour, I had Science with Ms.Countryman who was my favorite teacher. I don't know what it was about her, maybe it was the way she understood me when nobody else could or even when I didn't understand myself, maybe it was the way she reminded me of my grandma. Her gentle tone, her bright eyes that gave me hope when I had none, I loved her. I was only in class for fifteen minutes and before I knew it, lunch came. I always sat alone and ate from my brown sack lunch that my mother would pack left overs in from the night before. I never really ate my home lunch because I was afraid people would judge me because of what was in there. During lunch, Mrs.Viele came and got me and we went back to her office. This time when I walked in, there were two police officers and another lady. The other lady was an investigator for children and her name was Kelly. The guy officer left the room and my counselor told the lady everything I had told her earlier. After she told her that, she asked me the same question that Mrs.Viele asked me earlier. I told her everything that I told my counselor and this time I wasn't crying. She had me leave the room and go back to class and the man police officer went back in there. Seventh hour came before I knew it and I was now in the orchestra room playing with the other violinists. The teacher got a phone call and when she hung up, walked over to me and whispered, "The counselor would like to visit with you for a little bit". I put my instrument back in its case and went back to the counselors office. By now I was annoyed and really didn't want to go to her office. When I got to her office again, this time there were the two police officers, Kelly, Mrs.Viele, and my brother. She had me go out of the room to the other counselors office and talked to my brother. After a while, she let me come back in and then we got to hang out for a little bit. Now school is out and all the other kids are gone. We finish up and the counselor tells my brother and I that my mom was in the hospital and we would have to go to another home for a bit. So, Kelly took Cormick and I to her office at the Division of Family Services office in Springfield, Missouri. She asked us if we knew anyone that might have been willing to take us so my brother have her a couple of family members names and phone numbers. She called them and informed them that we were being taken into state custody and asked if we could stay with them for a while. All of them said they couldn't either because of their health or that they had no room. We were at the office for about two hours while she was trying to find placements. We watched a movie and ate snacks. I cried a little bit and I knew that my brother was close to crying but he never lets his feelings out because my step-father used to tell him, "Boys that cry are weak!", so he holds everything inside of him. After a while Kelly came out to my brother and I and said, "Grab your stuff. I couldn't find a home so I'm placing you in an emergency placement for a while until I can. It's called 'Boys and Girls Town' and they're really nice. You ready"? Then, we grabbed our stuff and left for a group home. When we got there, we had to give up our phones and then a lady named 'Ms.Holly' showed us around. The staff went through our belongings and initialed things and then showed us our rooms. The boys were separated from the girls so Cormick's room was across the hall next to the day room. We had a therapist there and his name was 'Mr.Joey', he gave my brother and I journals when we met him. We still got to attend the same school as before and we stayed there for about three weeks. On October 4th during the year of 2013, my teachers told me to clean out my locker and return all library books. I thought everybody else was doing it too but then during sixth hour, my counselor called both my brother and I to her office and told us we were leaving 'Boys and Girls Town' to go to a foster home in Forsyth, Missouri. The news took a while to settle in and when it did, I couldn't help but cry. I was afraid of going to a home that I didn't know and I was afraid of going to a school that I didn't know. After school while Cormick and I were waiting for a staff to pick us up to go back, my science teacher Ms.Countryman gave me a watch with a little note inside. She told me to read it when I get upset and I read it all the way to the foster home. When we got to the group home, my brother and I packed our stuff and when our foster mom got there, our new case worker Kim gave us some stuff on we were on our way. The foster care system was definitely a long journey but we made it together. I still read the little note that Ms.Countryman gave me when I get upset.
