“Go upstairs, okay, Kalinda?” My mother suggested as she looked over the stranger that was standing in the door way.
I nodded and ran up the stairs and sat behind the railing.
“You can’t take her away!” My mother shrieked.
“Look, we got a call saying that the parents here are always leaving with their four-year-old daughter and she comes back with bruises covering every inch on her body,” the stranger explained.
My mother sighed a loud sigh and said, “We have horses out in Virginia, and they’re always bucking us off, including the little one.”
“I’m sorry; Mrs. Summers, but we have no choice.”
I heard footsteps running up the staircase, so I dashed to my room and hid in my closet.
“Kalinda come here,” the stranger ordered.
I didn’t say anything; I just sat there cowering behind all of my dresses. When the clothes shifted to one side and a pair of hands came out to grab me, I pushed him down into my toy box and ran out of my closet, out of the room, down the stairs, and into another pair of arms.
“I’ve got her, Jon,” the man that held me hollered.
“Bring her to the car,” Jon yelled from upstairs.
“No! Kalinda!” My mother cried.
They led me out to a large van with the letters “CPS” on the side.
“No I won’t go!” I stubbornly stuck my feet out to trip the person holding me, but he just swept me up in his arms and carried me to the van.
I screamed, kicked, and punched until I was strapped into the van. I looked out the window to see my mother sitting on the front step bent over her knees sobbing.
“Mommy!” I screamed.
She looked up and waved good-bye to me; she turned to Jon and asked him something. He hesitated, looked my way, and nodded. The glass went down and my mother walked over to me.
“Everything will be alright my little butterfly, we will find each other eventually,” she promised.
My mother kissed me on the cheek and walked inside. I watched as my house disappeared behind the horizon. Beside me, a woman (that I didn’t see come in the house) sat. I didn’t see what they looked like for I was too disgusted at them to even pass them a glance.
“Kalinda, you do know why we took you away, right?” the woman asked.
“No, and I don’t care I want to go back home!” I shrieked back.
“We can’t take you back. Trust me you’re going to go to a better place. A nice family will adopt you and you’ll be happy.” She promised.
I shook my head, sighed, and laid my head on the door. In no time I fell asleep to the loud rumbling of the van.
