My daughter's new friend whispered "Please don't let me go home." Then I...

Описание: My daughter's new friend whispered "Please don't let me go home." Then I heard her mother's car pull into the driveway. Emma had invited this girl over for the first time. They'd just started fourth grade together and I was happy my daughter was making friends. The girl's name was Lily and she was quiet, almost too quiet for a 9-year-old.
They played in Emma's room for two hours. Everything seemed normal until Lily came downstairs alone while Emma was in the bathroom. She stood in my kitchen doorway looking at her shoes. Her backpack was clutched against her chest like a shield.
"Mrs. Chen, can I ask you something?"
I smiled and said of course. That's when she whispered those words that made my blood run cold.
"Please don't let me go home."
My heart stopped. I'd been a teacher for fifteen years and I knew that tone. That wasn't a kid being dramatic. That was fear.
Before I could respond, I heard tires on gravel. Through the window, I saw a black SUV pull into my driveway. A woman got out, checking her phone and stumbling slightly.
Lily's whole body tensed up. Her hands started shaking. She backed away from the door.
I knelt down to her level. "Lily, why don't you want to go home?"
"Mom gets really mad when I'm gone too long. Last time I was at a friend's house, she didn't pick me up for six hours. Then she yelled at me all night for making her look bad." She paused. "Sometimes she forgets to pick me up at all."
The doorbell rang. Lily flinched so hard she dropped her backpack.
I made a decision right there. I told Lily to go upstairs with Emma and close the door. I watched her run up the stairs before I opened the front door.
When I opened it, Lily's mom barely looked at me. Her makeup was smudged and her words were slightly slurred. "Where's my daughter? We need to go."
I stayed in the doorway blocking her view inside. "Actually, the girls are having such a good time. Would you like to come in for coffee? I'd love to get to know you since they're becoming friends."
Her face changed. "I don't have time for this. Tell Lily to get her stuff now."
That's when I saw her pupils. And smelled the alcohol. It was three in the afternoon.
"I think it's better if Lily stays for dinner. I can bring her home later, around seven."
"Who do you think you are?" She tried to push past me.
I didn't move. "I'm calling CPS right now if you don't leave."
She laughed. "For what? Picking up my own kid?"
"For driving drunk to pick up your daughter." I held up my phone, already recording. "I'm recording this conversation and you reek of alcohol. Leave now, and we can talk about this tomorrow when you're sober."
Her face went pale. She looked at my phone, then at me, then back at her car.
"You have no right—"
"I have every right to protect a child. Your daughter begged me not to let her leave. That alone is enough for me to make this call."
She stood there for a long moment, swaying slightly. Then she turned and walked back to her car, screaming that she'd call the police and that I'd regret this.
I waited until she drove away before I went back inside. My hands were shaking.
I did call CPS that night. And my lawyer friend. Lily stayed over. Emma held her hand the whole time I made the calls.
Two days later, a social worker came by. Turned out Lily's mom had three DUIs and a pending investigation already. They'd been looking for evidence to remove Lily from the home.
Lily moved in with her grandmother across town. But Emma still sees her at school every day. They're best friends now.
Last week, Lily gave me a drawing. It was of my house with the words "Thank you for keeping me safe" written at the bottom. She'd drawn herself smiling for the first time.
Her grandmother hugged me at pickup and said Lily finally sleeps through the night now.
Sometimes the hardest thing to do is exactly what you need to do.


#aliza