CHANGE OF LIFE - Chapter 15

Maggie was off Thursday; I decided to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles to inquire about either transferring my Arkansas driver’s license or else getting a picture identification card. The man at the “Information” window told me that I could transfer my license by just passing the written exam. He gave me a manual of driving laws and practices, told me to study it, and come back when I was ready to take the test.

I decided to find a quiet place, study the booklet, and try to pass the test this afternoon. Outside it was sunny and warm, but I found some benches under a big shade tree. After a while, it became hard to stay awake. I stood up and started walking around the building while I was studying.

Across the street there was a Starbuck’s store. I went inside, got coffee and a muffin and sat in that air conditioned venue studying. I nursed my coffee and muffin so that I could stay. At 3:00PM I went back to the DMV, took the test, passed it, and walked out of the building the proud possessor of an Illinois driver’s license in the name Dolores Elaine Kosciuszko.

Maggie O’Toole’s told me later the day held some excitement at her home. It was providential that this was her day off and that she was at home. At 10:00 AM there was a loud knocking on the front door.

“Are you Mrs. Margaret O’Toole?”

“Yes.”

“My name is Ms. Elizabeth Shepherd. I am a case worker for the Department of Human Services, Division of Child Welfare. There has been a complaint of child neglect by one of your neighbors. We are obligated to investigate such complaints within forty-eight hours. May I come in?”

“Certainly.”

Mrs. Shepherd frowned when she saw boxes and other things in the downstairs living room.

Maggie explained, “We use this room as a storage room. As you can see it has a ceiling twelve foot high. It is impossible to heat in the winter and it is hard to clean walls that high. Our living quarters are on the second and third floors. If you will follow me I’ll show them to you.”

Maggie was a spotless housekeeper and had nothing to fear from the inspector on that account. After briefly looking at the living room and kitchen, Mrs. Shepherd saw that the furnishings were poor but everything was clean. The kitchen was clean also and there were no dirty dishes in the sink or on the table.

“Could I see the girls and their bedroom?.”

“Yes, they are playing upstairs. I’ll take you up to them. Before I do so, I want you to know something about the one who complained. I know that  you can’t give me the name, but I can give you the name. It was Mrs. Higgins who lives a half block up the street. Yesterday, my girls were playing jump rope out on the sidewalk. My babysitter was sitting on our front steps watching them. Mrs. Higgins came charging down the street and demanded to know who she was and what was she doing with those girls.

“The babysitter gave her name and told her that I had asked her to watch the girls while I was at work. Mrs. Higgins proceeded to say what a bad mother I am. Dolores, the babysitter, disagreed and told her how polite, well-behaved, and intelligent my girls are. When Mrs. Higgins retorted that I was not only a bad mother, but a bad Catholic as well, Dolores said she bet that the Pope wishes that he had a million more mothers just like Maggie O’Toole. With that Mrs. Higgins stormed off and deliberately knocked my youngest daughter to the ground. You should know that Mrs. Higgins is my missing husband’s aunt. ”

“What do you mean by missing husband?”

“Just that. The day before Thanksgiving last year, he didn’t come home from work. The day after Thanksgiving I went to the police and filed a missing person report. Late the next week they called me on my cell phone to tell me that they found my husband Sean Casey O’Toole. I asked where he is living. The officer said that he couldn’t reveal that information without a court order.

“My husband told the officers that he had left his wife and was not going to go back to her. I had to find a job right away or I would have lost my children and my home.  At the time the children were in school. I usually come home from work about 4:00PM. When school was out my girls would go to a house two doors up where their girl friends live. I would pick them up less than an hour later.

“Now school is out. I was having a hard time arranging places for the girls to go while I was at work. Dolores came to my house looking for a room to rent. A friend of mine had recommended me to her. In the process of negotiating to rent a room, we came to an agreement for her to babysit my girls this summer.”

“Let me see the girls and their room now.”

“Okay. GIRLS, I am bringing a visitor up to your room.”

“Karen, Kaitlynn, this is Ms. Shepherd.”

The girls had been giggling just before Mrs. Shepherd stepped into the room. Mrs. Shepherd saw that the beds were made, the girls were clean and dressed, and that the girls seemed very healthy and happy.

“Mrs. O’Toole, I have seen enough. Your girls hardly seem to be neglected. Someone has wasted my time out of spite. I thank you for your cooperation. I apologize for any inconvenience I have caused to you.”

Ms. Shepherd picked her way carefully down the steep stairway and continued on down to the first floor. Outside she again thanked Maggie for her cooperation.

When I came home, Maggie told me what had happened,

“I can see the importance of having a notarized letter drawn up for you. I’ll do that the next time that I have a week day off. I might even be able to do it on my way home from work tomorrow.”

Friday, after breakfast and after I washed the dishes and the girls made their beds and straightened their room, we left for our walk. Today, we would go to the library. I told the girls to bring their library cards. At the Library I applied for a library card for myself. The Illinois driver’s license made it easy for me to obtain a library card. I asked the Librarian,

“Do you have a story hour for the children?”

“We were going to have one on Saturday morning. I just took the signs down today. I expect that we will have a lot of children show up for it though. The woman who held our story hour called up today and said that she and her husband had decided to spend the summer touring the country in their motor home.”

Without even thinking about it, I asked, “Would you let me try to do it?  I used to love reading the Dr. Seuss books out loud to myself. You could suggest other books for me to read to the children.”

The Librarian’s face softened.  “I could hug you!   Be here tomorrow at 9:30 AM. The Story Hour starts at 10 AM but some of the kids will come early. Be sure to find the Dr. Seuss book you will be reading. Then I will pull all the other Dr. Seuss books off the shelf and have them on a table. You can tell them if they want to read a Dr. Seuss story by themselves at home that they can borrow one of the books on the table.”

I went to the children’s section and found The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham   I would see which one I could do the best and I might need a back-up if the kids demanded an encore. Then I found a couple books for myself, some mysteries by Dorothy Sayer and a book of poetry by T.S. Eliot.

The girls were having a wonderful time and I let them go through the books for as long as they wanted. They checked out their books and then we started home.

When we were more than a half block from the house, I saw a man get out of a car and stand in front of the O’Toole house. I asked Karen,

“Do you know who that man is?”

“It’s our Daddy. I’m scared.”

“Why are you scared?”

“Mommy said that he might try to take us away from her.”

“Is Kaitlynn scared too?”

“I think so.”

“Here is the key to the house. When we get there, I’ll try to hold him off. You unlock the door. As soon as Kaitlynn and you are inside, lock the door, go upstairs and watch out the window. Don’t come down to unlock it until you see him leave.”

When we came to the house, I put myself between the father and the girls. He shoved me, but I stood my ground. Meantime, I heard the girls go into the house and lock the door. Their father had been drinking and was talking loud.

“Those are my girls and I have a right to see them.”

“You abandoned those girls eight months ago. Those girls are afraid of you, because you’ve been drinking.”

“I’m their father and I have a legal right to see them or take them with me if I want to do so.”

“Okay. I’m calling the police right now. It is their job to see that things are done legally. I should know, my husband is a sergeant in the police department. I think they are going to tell you that after abandoning your children for eight months, you will have to have a judge say when you have a right to see them. You can’t show up any time you want and think you can visit with the girls.”

As I was talking to him, I was dialing the number of the police.

“Yes, please take this address. I am a babysitter. A man that I do not know has shown up at this house claiming to be the girls’ father. If he is, their father abandoned them last year. The mother is at work now. This man has been drinking. I need a policeman here to protect me and help me handle this situation. The girls are scared and crying.”

Sean swore at me and then slapped me so hard it stunned me. I crumpled to the ground.  He swaggered to his car and drove off. Karen ran down the stairs and out to me. She was kneeling over me when the police car arrived.

“Are you all right, lady?”

“I guess so. Would you help me stand up?”

I tried standing and then went over to the steps and sat down.

“Karen, run upstairs and bring me a wash cloth. Run cold water on it and then wring it out.”

“Can you tell me what happened?  Give me your name and some identification first.”

I handed him my driver’s license. “I am the babysitter for two little girls, Karen and Kaitlynn O’Toole.  I took them to the library this morning. We were walking home. When we were a half block away, I saw a man get out of a car and stand in front of the house. I asked Karen if she knew who it was. She said that it was her Daddy and that she was scared because her mother said that he might try to take the girls away from her. I gave Karen the house key and told her to get herself and Kaitlynn into the house and lock the door.

“When we approached the house, he tried to reach the girls and grab them. I put myself in his way. He said that he had a legal right to see the girls and take them with him since he was their father. I told him that I would call the police, that it was their job to see to it that things are done legally. I told him that, in my opinion, after abandoning the girls for eight months, he probably would have to have a judge say when he has a right to see them, but that he couldn’t drop by unannounced and take them away.

“Then I called the police. When I finished talking to the police station, he cursed me, and slapped me so hard that I got dizzy and fell to the ground.”

“I’m going to type this up. Sometime early next week, come into the station and sign the report. You will get a copy of the report. If you have to see a doctor, bring his treatment summary and we will attach it to this report. Meanwhile, before you do any more babysitting, find out if the mother has gone before a family court judge and been granted custody. Until she does, the father does have a right to show up whenever he wants and take the girls wherever he wants.”

When Maggie came home, I told her what had happened and emphasized what the policeman had said about family court and custody.

Saturday I held Story Hour at the library, but Maggie stayed home with the girls. I was greeted by about twenty children ranging in age from pre-school to ten or eleven years old. There were white children, African-American children, and Hispanic children. The thing that they had in common was that they were poor. It showed not only in the way they were dressed but also in their expressions – somber and sad.

“My name is Dolores Kosciuszko. Can you say that?”

Several tried and it sounded like a sneeze.

“Pretty hard to say. So you can call me Dolly. I hope that in the coming weeks I will learn all your names. Do any of you have a cat?  Raise your hands. What is your name, and your name, and your name?  Today I am going to read you a story about a cat in a hat.”

I then read Dr. Seuss’ The Cat In The Hat. I read one page at a time and held it up so they could see the illustrations. When I finished, they begged me to read another story.

“What did you eat for breakfast?  Raise your hands and I’ll call on several of you. Tell me your name if I call on you. Did anyone here eat green eggs?  Has anyone ever seen green eggs?”  I then read Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham. When I finished I said,

“If you liked these stories and want to read some Dr. Seuss stories on your own, all the books on this table are Dr. Seuss books that you can borrow.”

On Sunday Maggie had to work. I took the girls to the Methodist Church where they were accustomed to going to Sunday School. I went to the women’s class. We all three attended worship, ate lunch, and then I read to them the Dr. Seuss stories that I read at Story Hour.