CHANGE OF LIFE - Chapter 17

On Monday Maggie, the two girls, and I went to the police station which had answered my call. At the police station Maggie talked to the desk sergeant.

“Sergeant, I need some advice concerning the law. I don’t know who to see to get an order to protect my daughters. Last Friday, my husband showed up at the house demanding to see his daughters. He was going to take them with him. He was drinking and mean.  He slapped my babysitter, knocking her to the ground.

“He left us last year, the day before Thanksgiving. I haven’t heard from him since then. He hasn’t sent any money to help support our daughters. The policeman who responded to the call said that I need a court order or else he has a legal right to see them or take them with him. Who do I see to get a court order?  I can’t afford a lawyer; I am barely able to support us. I have to work, but now I am afraid to go away from the house.”

“Go to the Department of Human Services. Ask to speak with a Child Protection officer. Tell him or her what you have just told me. Let me see if that incident report from last Friday has been typed. If it has, your babysitter can sign it; I’ll give her a copy. Take her copy with you.”

He went into another room.

“Sit down and wait just a few minutes. I told them to put that report on the top of the pile. Someone is typing it as we speak.”

In about ten minutes, a middle aged woman came out of the other room with several copies of a form. She had me sign the report and then gave Maggie a copy. The sergeant gave us directions to the nearest DHS office. The house was on the way. We stopped and fortified ourselves with milk and cookies and freshened up before continuing on our way.

The DHS office was very busy. The waiting room was filled with people of all ages. They were all alike in one respect – they were poor and losing hope. Maggie went to the reception desk and told them that she wanted to see a Child Protection officer.  She was given a number.

Apparently the crowd was not waiting on the Child Protection officer. Her number was called in about five minutes. A kindly woman with grey hair, frameless glasses, and a neat blouse and skirt stood up to greet her. Later Maggie told me what happened.

“Mrs. O’Toole, my name is Martha Kappell. An officer from our Department, Mrs. Elizabeth Shepherd, visited with you a week or so ago. I have her report here on my desk. How can I help you?”

Maggie told her what had happened on Friday. She gave her the police report.

“Mrs. O’Toole, there are several ways that we can help you. First, you can apply for food stamps. That will ease your economic pressure somewhat. With this police report, our legal staff can get a protection order for you, your children, and whoever cares for your children while you are working. They can ask the judge for an order of supervised visitation. Your husband would have to visit the girls at a place and time we specify and he would be supervised by one of our employees. Finally, they can ask the judge to order your husband to pay child support. If he doesn’t start paying in a reasonable time, then we will go after him for it ourselves.

“I want you to know that Mrs. Shepherd said many good things about you, about your home, and about your two girls. We want to help you in every way we can. Being a single mom is difficult under the best circumstances. You don’t need to be worrying about money and worrying about the safety of your girls. I’m going to take you over to the food stamp worker. I will make a copy of this police report so I can return this copy to your babysitter. I will also tell our legal staff to get a copy of the missing person report you filed and the result of it.”

I waited with the two girls for over an hour. When Maggie came out she was smiling.

“These girls have been so good I would like to treat them and us to some ice cream,” I said.

In the days and week to follow, Maggie’s visit generated a half dozen letters from the DHS: A letter summarizing her visit, a letter from the legal staff telling her when Family Court would be hearing her complaint against Sean Casey O’Toole. She received a temporary order of protection. Then she received a card containing her food stamp amount for the month. It would be reloaded every month.

The girls and I resumed our daily walks. I found a used clothing store and was able to buy several nice dresses, some skirts and blouses, and a pair of blue jeans. On Friday I took the girls on the el to the Lincoln Park Zoo. We spent the whole day there.

On Saturday, at Story Hour, there were even more children. This day I read the book The Story of Babar the Little Elephant.  After reading each page I would show the illustration on that page to the children. I would ask questions to see if they were understanding the story. I was surprised that the older children liked the book. Afterward, I showed them the other books about Babar that the Library had to loan. Then I read The Giving Tree, the book I had picked for the older children.

I felt good about how well the children were responding to Story Hour, at how well behaved they were, and how I was learning the children’s names and developing a real bond of affection for them. I had never been a mother, but the maternal instincts in me were awakening.  

On Sunday I took the girls to Sunday School and church at the Methodist church. In the women’s class a woman came up to me,

“You are the woman that all the kids call ‘Dolly’.”  My name is Mrs. Victoria Halstead. I have a girl who is in the fourth grade, Linda. Her reading is so poor that they were going to hold her back. I begged them not to do it. They are going to give her a reading test when school begins. If she doesn’t pass it, she will have to repeat the fourth grade. I was wondering if you would give her reading lessons this summer?  I believe God has sent you to us. Will you please?”

“I will have to talk to Mrs. O’Toole. I am watching her girls when she is at work. Give me your address and phone number and I will be in touch with you.”

My heart nearly took wings. I didn’t have a day of college, but here I was reading books to children, and now a mother was asking me to help her daughter with reading. I had set out to find if I had worth as an individual. Already I was finding experiences that made me feel worthy. I am valuable to people besides myself.

 Monday was my day off. I decided to go to some department stores and furniture stores to look at futons. I went to a number of stores and finally found what I wanted. It had a wood frame and arms. There were springs in the frame and it had an 8” thick mattress. I inquired about delivery schedules and put a deposit on the item. I took the el back to my bank, withdrew $550, and took the el back to the store.

That evening I talked to Maggie about tutoring Linda Halstead.

“I wanted to talk to you about whether it would be all right to have her here with the girls for an hour.”

“I have no objection to her being here with the girls. However, I think it would be asking the girls to schedule her tutoring into their day. They look forward to the walks they have been taking and other ways that you interact with them. I think a better solution would be for you to go to the Halstead’s house in the evening, after I am here to watch the girls.”

I decided to go to the Halstead’s then, before it was dark.

I walked the four blocks to the Halstead’s house and knocked on the door. A man answered the door.

“I came to talk to Mrs. Halstead.”

“Why?  What are you selling?”

“I’m not selling. Mrs. Halstead talked to me at church and asked me to come and talk to her about Linda’s reading.”

“Well, I’ll call her. V-I-C-T-O-R-I-A”

Victoria Halstead appeared and her husband stepped away.

“Dolly!  I’m so glad that you came. Please come in. We can go into the kitchen. My husband is watching the evening news.

“I wanted to talk to you about helping Linda with her reading. Maggie and I talked it over. Could I come to your house Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings?”

“That sounds fine to me. Linda is at her girl friend’s house for a sleepover. I’ll tell her when she comes home tomorrow.”

“Good. I’d better be heading back to Maggie’s house before it gets dark.”

“Thank you for coming. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

I walked back to Maggie’s house. The only thing about this that made me anxious was that I would be walking home after dark,

I asked Maggie if I could use the washing machine and dryer tomorrow. I had quite a few pieces of clothing to wash, including most of what I bought at the used clothing store.

“I will try to finish my washing tomorrow. Then on Wednesday I will have the girls help me to wash your family clothes and linens. If I teach them how to do it, that could become a routine chore for them.”

“That would really be nice.”

By then it was time for Maggie to read the Bible to her girls. I usually sat in with them.

Tuesday, after putting a load of wash into the machine, I took the girls to the library. While the girls were looking for books for themselves, I consulted with the Librarian about books to read on Saturday at the Story Hour and also a book to use with Linda Halstead. When we returned from the Library, the first load of laundry was complete.  I took it out and put it into a basket. Then I put my other load into the washer. I carried the basket downstairs and hung the clothes on the clothesline in the back yard.

By then it was time to make lunch. I let the girls make a slice of toast by themselves, spread peanut butter on it, and then slice a banana on top of that. I called it a Monkey Butter Sandwich. The girls giggled. By the time they had finished lunch, the second load of wash was ready. I carried it outside and hung it on the clothesline.

The girls read books that afternoon and I prepared for my first lesson with Linda Halstead. When Maggie returned from work, I went outside and took the clothes off the clothesline. I took them to my room, folded them, and put them in the chest of drawers or hung them on a hanger on the clothes rack. Then I went upstairs to help with supper. The girls had already told their mother about their Monkey Butter sandwiches.

When I arrived at Linda Halstead’s house, she met me at the door and took me into the kitchen. Mrs. Halstead was there seated at the table.

I said, “Mrs. Halstead, I think it would be easier for Linda if we could work in private.”

Mrs. Halstead scowled and said, “I’ll have to go to my bedroom then. Harry likes to have the living room to himself.”

I had brought along the book The Story of Babar. I asked Linda to read the first page. Linda was squinting, hunching over the page, and struggling to read one word at a time.

“Linda, I want you to bring me a notebook and a pencil. Do you have them in your room?”

Linda ran up the stairs and came back down with a notebook and pencil. I copied the first page of Babar using letters with the capitals two lines tall and the other letters taking the space of one line.

“Now, Linda, try reading this page that I have written in your notebook.”

There were still words that Linda needed help with, but her reading had improved 100%.

“Linda, call your mother down here.”

When Mrs. Halstead came into the room, I said,

“Mrs. Halstead, Linda needs eyeglasses. Her reading is so poor because she cannot see the words clearly. That is why she squints. She still needs help with reading even after she gets eyeglasses because she has fallen behind by not being able to see the words. I am going to try to find a book at the library with large print to use until you can get her some eyeglasses.”

Mrs. Halstead did not look happy about the news I had given her.

“Well, I’ll be seeing you both tomorrow evening.”

Walking back to Maggie’s I was puzzled by Mrs. Halstead’s reaction. I thought that Mrs. Halstead should be happy that I had found the reason for Linda having difficulty reading.

 

CHANGE OF LIFE - Chapter 16

 

Tuesday night the freshly painted house welcomed Willard home. He was happy to be back to work on Wednesday. The trip made him appreciate his home and the small town where he lived. He was grateful for the break from work and routine, but now he was eager to get back to it.

At roll call the lieutenant again warned them about the smugglers. Ginger had been riding with another patrolman while Willard was gone. At roll call the lieutenant told her that she would be riding with Sergeant O’Reilly. It was plain to see that she was not happy about that;. The first couple hours they rode around the town, then went out into the residential areas. She asked a few polite questions about his vacation and complimented him on the new paint job on his house. Willard asked who she rode with while he was gone.

At 11:10 AM they had a call about a disturbance at the Acropolis Café. When they arrived, they saw a man with disheveled long hair and dirty clothes standing in the middle of the café ranting and raving that food was a right not a privilege.

“I should be fed whatever I order whether I have money to pay for it or not. That is why we elect presidents and governors and judges so they can protect the rights of the downtrodden. If you don’t serve me like you are supposed to do, the President will send tanks and fighter planes to destroy this building. Judgment is coming for everyone with a fat belly.”

Demetrius was ringing his hands.

“I told him that I would fix him a nice sandwich – he could have it for free – if he would just go away.”

“You cannot bribe me out of my rights. I shall be served at a table with a waiter at my beck and call. It is my right as an American citizen.”

“You are under arrest for disturbing the peace. These are your Miranda rights……”

He cuffed his hands behind his back and led him out to the squad car.

“Ginger call the dispatcher. Tell him that we have a “mental client”. Ask if we should bring him to the jail or take him to Emergency. They will probably want a doctor to see him first.”

They took him to the Emergency Room. The doctor wanted him taken out of his handcuffs. When Willard did so, the man went berserk. He grabbed anything loose in the examining room and was throwing them at the doctor, the nurse, the policeman, and the policewoman. Willard grabbed hold of him and held his arms back. Then the man tried kicking.

“Doctor, either sedate this man or restrain him. Otherwise he is going to hurt one or more of us.”

The doctor said, “Why did you bring him here?  We are not a mental hospital. We don’t have a locked ward or a psychiatrist on staff.”

“I brought him here because I was told to do so. I brought him here because he has a right to be seen by a doctor. There could be some medical reason for his bizarre behavior. I brought him here because you can order him to be taken to a mental hospital for psychiatric observation.”

“Very well. You can put the handcuffs on him. You will have to stay here with him while we run some tests.”

After several hours, the doctor signed an order to take him to the regional  hospital (which has a psychiatric ward, a psychologist on staff, and a psychiatrist on call). A nurse fed him before they sedated him.

By then it was near the end of shift. The regional hospital was more than an hour’s drive.

In the patrol car Willard said to Ginger,

“I can manage him alone if you want to go home at the end of shift.”

“That’s kind of you. My son’s counting on me to take him to Scout meeting.”  

“Call the dispatcher and see if that’s all right with him.”

The dispatcher answered, “The lieutenant says that you can let your partner out at the station and then transport the mental health client to the regional hospital solo.”

 Willard drove the man to the regional hospital, waited until they accepted him and signed off for him. Then he drove back to Prattsville. By then it was between 7:30 and 8:00 PM.

 Willard had not done any grocery shopping so he drove through McDonald’s and got a meal for his supper.

    When he arrived at home, he noticed that the grass had really grown high in his absence.  He went into the house, changed into his work clothes and was soon mowing his lawn, even though it was now dusk. As he was mowing, Mr. Sedlof from down the street stopped on the sidewalk and called to him,

“Mr. O’Reilly!”

Willard turned off the mower and came out to where Mr. Sedlof was standing.

“Mr. Sedlof, how’re you doing?   It’s been a long time since we talked.“

“Well, I don’t usually see you, except when you are going to work or when you are on the job. The reason I stopped is that I saw you fixing the gutters, caulking the frames of the windows and doors, and then painting. I belong to Habitat for Humanity. We build houses for people who can’t afford decent housing.

“They have a unique program. The houses we build are inexpensive because they are basic housing, built with volunteer labor, and some of the supplies are donated. The people who buy these houses make their down payment through sweat equity. They have to work so many hours helping build houses for other people. The amount of time they work is converted into its value as a laborer. That is credited to their account toward a down payment. When they get a house they have a mortgage for balance.”

“That sounds like a great program.”

“Here is where you can come in. We have a chapter in El Dorado. We meet on a Thursday evening once a month. Then we volunteer to work on building a house, usually on Saturday.  If you want to go, our next meeting is tomorrow night. I’ll be glad to pick you up and take you there if you would like to go and see if it is something you’d like to get involved with.”

“Sounds good. I’d like to go with you, with this caveat. I’ll go if nothing comes up at work.”

“Oh sure. I understand. I’ll pick you up at 6:30 PM. The meeting starts at 7:30 PM.

The next day, work went routinely. Ginger was gradually becoming friendly to him, and also beginning to respect him. There weren’t any incident calls. That night he went to the Habitat for Humanity chapter meeting with Mr. Sedlof. It was in many ways like a civic club.

He was gradually able to figure what the various committees did. One was responsible for raising funds and also the donation of building materials, another one ran a store where recycled building materials were sold , still another committee was responsible for scheduling workers. Before he left, he had volunteered his next Saturday off to help paint a house that was nearing completion.

The next day, he and Ginger were patrolling in a residential neighborhood. He saw a front door open and heard the voices of boys yelling and laughing.  He stopped the car.

“Ginger, The people who live there don’t have any children. I’m going around to the back. I want you to go up to the front door, bang real hard, and say, “THIS IS PRATTSVILLE POLICE. COME OUT RIGHT NOW!  I think that they will run out the back.”

Officer O’Reilly was right. The boys, in their early teens, came running out the back door. As they did so, he managed to grab each one by the arm.  He called for Ginger.

“I want you to cuff these young men, one at a time. Then we are going to take them to jail.”

“Oh, please, Officer, please don’t take us to jail.”

The other one said, “Please, please.”

“Where are your parents?”

“I don’t have a father. My mother is at work. If you call her at work, she could lose her job.”

“The same with me. I don’t have any father. Our moms work at the same place. Their boss is mean. He’ll fire you for the least little thing.”

He took them both to the squad car. After they were inside the car, he sent Ginger inside the house to assess the damage and to lock up the house when she left.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               .  They went back to the station. He asked the jailer if he had an empty cell, because he didn’t want juveniles mixed with adult offenders. He handed them over to the jailer who uncuffed them and put them in a cell away from the adult offenders.

“Ginger, how much damage did those boys do?”

“I don’t think they had a chance to get started. They probably were intent on mischievous vandalism. As it is, they threw some pillows on the floor, upset a magazine rack, and overturned a flower pot.”

“I’m going to talk to their mothers, bring them down to the jail, and then take them over to that house and make them apologize to the people. You go ahead home. I’m going to see this through to the end.”

Willard drove back to the house that had been vandalized. He went to the door and knocked.

“Ma’am, I am Sergeant O’Reilly of the Prattsville Police Department. Earlier today I apprehended two boys who had been inside your house bent on mischief. I have them in a jail cell now. If it is all right with you, I want to bring the boys and their mothers here and have them apologize to you. In order to do it that way I need you to sign a “Refusal to Prosecute”. By the way, what is your name?”

As she signed the form she said, “I am Elizabeth Treadwell. About noon my husband Homer thought that he was having a heart attack. That is why we rushed out of here and I must have left the door unlocked.”

“Mrs. Treadwell, may I have your permission to bring the boys and their mothers here tonight to apologize?”

“If you think that is the best thing to do and if you will promise me that there won’t be any dramatics. My nerves are shot.” 

“I thank you for your cooperation. I’ll be back with them in an hour or so.”

He drove over to the street where the two boys lived. He parked and waited. Soon a beat up old Chevy pulled in and parked at a house. Two women got out.

“Are you Mrs. Mulcahey and Ms. Simpson?  I am Sergeant O’Reilly.”

“Yes, we are. Is there trouble?  Were our boys hurt?”

“Your boys are both in jail right now. They went into the house of an elderly couple and were beginning to vandalize it when my partner and I caught them in the act. The first thing I want to know is why you have left your boys alone all day, bored, ready for whatever comes along.?”

“We don’t have money for babysitters or summer camps or anything else. We just have to trust them.”

“Ladies, if you told that to a judge he would call it child neglect. I want you to enroll them in the program at the YMCA which runs all summer and is designed for families where the adults have to work and there is no one at home to watch the children. If you can’t afford it, they know ways to get someone else to pay.

“Right now, I am going to take you to see your boys in jail. I am going to release them to your care. The next time, it won’t be that easy. From jail I am going to take the four of you to Mrs. Treadwell’s house to apologize to her. You mothers need to apologize to her also. While your boys were in her house intending to vandalize it, she was with her husband at the hospital. After this I am going to be checking with you about those boys. They are at an age when they could turn in either direction.“

When the boys saw their mothers, their faces turned white as a sheet.

“Boys, you are going back to that house with your mothers and you are all going to apologize to Mrs. Treadwell. She had rushed her husband to the hospital several hours before you walked into their home uninvited.”

The apology went well. He drove the two young men and their mothers home.

 

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.