Once they got back to the truck, Ben realized he had forgotten to take his phone off vibrate when they had gotten out of the movie theater. Though he had checked once they had gotten in the truck. But it had been a quick glance while they were deciding where to eat. So, when Ben checked again, there was a missed call and a voicemail from a caseworker.
He listened to the voicemail first. The case manager was an old-fashioned, formal man, named Leonard, whom they had worked with about a year ago, when one of his kids stayed with them for a month.
"That phone is wasted on you," Claudia remarked towards the smart phone in his hand, and how nice it was.
"And why is that?" he asked her, glancing up from the screen.
"Because you don't even use social media."
Ben slipped the stylus back inside the phone before he pressed the call-back and put the phone to his ear. "Well, I was told it had the best note-taking features." And it did, in his opinion. Of Android anyway. Kayla was the Apple user of the two, and Ben once tried it, but eventually went back to Android. He wasn't a technology idiot. Ben just wasn't into owning something that did not interest him, and the phone he had now worked for him the best.
It rang three times before Leonard answered.
"Hello, Leonard. How are you?" Ben asked formally, while opening his door to step out.
"I am doing well, Benjamin, and how about yourself?" He said in return.
Ben shut his door and walked towards the back of his truck to speak in private, since confidentiality was a huge must. "I'm doing well, myself. I apologize for missing your call. We played hooky from school today and went to the movies for a mental health day, and I guess I never took my phone off silent afterwards."
"No problem, Benjamin. It happens to the best of us," he assured. "I was just calling to see if you had an open bed at the moment."
"We do, actually."
"For a nine-year-old girl?" He asked.
"Uh, we might have to make arrangements. I can check with my wife and get back to you," he suggested.
"No problem. Just let me know, as soon as possible."
"So, what's her name?" he asked, getting to the usual new placement questions.
"Kimmy Dooley."
Hearing the older man use a nickname took Ben by surprise. He wasn't sure if he heard that right. Leonard was so old-fashioned and formal, he never used nicknames, even if the person preferred it. In fact, other than his parents, Leonard was the only one who called him Benjamin. "Come again?"
"Kimmy Dooley," Leonard repeated.
It was clear this time, but Ben still did not believe. "Not Kimberly?"
"Says Kimmy on her birth certificate," the older man said, as if missing what Ben was getting at. "She has an older brother named Zach, as well, about two years older."
Ben turned halfway to lean his arms on the truck. "They're not staying together?" he asked.
"Zach has special needs that require around-the-clock care. Otherwise, we would keep them together," Leonard explained.
"So, why were the kids removed from their home?"
"Neglect," he answered and filled Ben in on the condition of the family's apartment, with mold and a roach infestation, and Zach found sitting in his own feces. "On top of that, Kimmy had quite a few absences from school to the point the vice principal was showing up each morning to make sure she went to school."
"But she wasn't actually sick?"
"Apparently not. She just didn't want to go to school," Leonard said.
"How is she in school? I'm guessing not too well if she's trying to get out of it," Ben continued to probe.
"We haven't gotten her transcripts yet, so I'm not sure exactly. But that would be my guess, as well."
Ben was staring inside the back of his truck at nothing in particular. "Will this be her first foster home, or is she at another one at the moment?"
"Right now, she's been staying at a girl's group home while her mother was supposed to be getting the things she needed to do taken care of." Leonard paused to let out a tired yawn as if he's been working more than a man his age should. "But it's taking longer than expected. So, in the meantime, both kids have been assigned to me while she does what she needs to do," he explained.
"So, the case will be reunification," Ben said for clarity.
"Hopefully, yes."
"Okay," he said, pacing himself while taking everything in.
"There is also one other thing you should know about Kimmy," Leonard continued.
"What's that?" Should he be concerned?
"Kimmy is mute. From what I've heard and have witnessed myself when I met her, she hasn't spoken at all. Not to the workers who picked them up, not to the staff at the group home, or even to the other kids"
Ben's eyebrows rose the highest they could go. "She hasn't spoken at all?"
"Not a word," he replied.
"Do you know if she is able to speak?"
"According to the mother, she can. But even the vice principal reported they haven't heard her speak." Not even Miguel was that shy when he and his sister first came into foster care.
"And you're absolutely sure there wasn't any kind of abuse other than neglect? What about the father? What happened to him?"
"The mother hasn't heard from him since the kids were young. She got him for child support at least, but other than that, he wants nothing to do with them."
Ben shook his head at the situation. "But there's no report that he did anything that might've caused Kimmy to become mute?"
"According to the mother, Kimmy talks at home just fine. She's even quite the chatter-box. It's outside the home when she chooses not to."
Ben tried desperately to wrap his mind around a kid going mute anywhere but at home. That was the worst case of shyness he had ever heard of. In fact, he hadn't known anyone like that since...
Ben suddenly shook his head right out of his thoughts and asked, "Is there anything else we should know?"
"I think that just about covers it for now," said Leonard. "At least what we know so far, anyway."
"Okay, well, we're in a parking lot right now." Ben stood up from where he was still leaning against his truck. "I will discuss this with Kayla, and will get back to you shortly."
"Sounds great, Benjamin. Thank you for your time."
"My pleasure," Ben said with a smile, and the men ended the call before he walked back to open his door and slide in under the steering wheel. Ben noticed the radio was on one of his country music stations. "You were willingly listening to this?"
Claudia shrugged. "Hey, not all your tastes are bad."
He frowned at that, not amused by having his tastes poked fun at. "Thanks," he said sarcastically.
"No problem," she said, clearly ignoring the obvious sarcasm.
Ben just told the girl to put her seat belt on while he fastened his and put the truck in reverse to back out, checking for other cars first. "By the way, we might be getting another kid soon."
Claudia perked up in a genuine interest. "How old?"
"She's nine. I'm thinking we'll probably move Mary into your room and put Kimmy in that room." The siblings were each in the rooms that had a shared bathroom in between. Kayla had thought outside the box and figured it would be useful for siblings of different genders over the age of five. They weren't able to share a room due to Child Protective Services' requirements for foster homes. So the siblings would at least be close by.
Once Ben was backed out enough, he switched the gear into drive and turned the steering wheel and lightly stepped on the gas.
"Why can't the new girl stay in my room?"
"She's nine, kiddo," he reminded her.
"So?"
Ben glanced at her out of the corner of his eye while driving. "I remember my cousins who were a similar age to you both. Both of them hated sharing a room and constantly fought with each other and my oldest cousin begging my aunt for her own room."
She shrugged. "I don't mind."
"So, you won't come to me a few months from now, complaining that Kimmy's annoying you and wanting her out of your room?" he questioned.
She shrugged some more. "Have I complained about Miguel?"
"No, but you don't share a room with him either," Ben pointed out.
Claudia looked forward at the windshield. "I don't think Mary should have to change rooms, especially when she has her little brother."
"We did that so Miguel had someone familiar while he warmed up to the rest of us. I think he might be okay at this point. But I was gonna talk to them about it to see how they would feel, at least."
Claudia mumbled, "I think you should just let her sleep in my room," loud enough for him to hear it.
Ben glanced out of the corner of it eye before facing forward. "We'll see, kiddo."
-- & --
Once they got back to the house, Ben and Claudia went through the garage with Ben staying so he could talk to Kayla privately.
Depending how busy she could be at the office, the call might go to voicemail. Or he might catch her at lunch. It rang three times before Kayla answered.
"Hey, how did it go this morning?" She asked cheerfully.
"Uh, good, kind of," he answered.
"What does that mean?"
Ben filled Kayla in on Claudia pretending to hog the front seat, and also what happened once they got to the high school.
"I knew something had been bothering her, but she never wanted to tell me whenever I asked," Kayla said afterwards, with sympathy, and offered to talk more with Claudia later that evening when she got home. "I might even skip my women's group tonight."
"If you want," Ben encouraged. "I was able to talk to her a tiny bit about it."
But Kayla insisted this might be more of a girl's talk type of thing and said she would come straight home after work. "Your part was taking her to the movie. I'll take it from there."
"I mean, I tried," he tried to point out.
"I know, Ben," she assured, knowing how sweet he could be, and wasn't like many guys, especially compared to the ones Claudia has known.
Ben paced around the empty garage where Kayla normally parks her Jeep Wrangler as they talked. Once Kayla was filled in on the morning and everything was settled, he changed the subject. "So, anyway," he said with a sigh, "Leonard McElroy called while we were in the theater."
"Oh, James' case manager?"
"Yup, that's the one. Guess he thought of us for this newer kid."
"Another boy?"
"A girl this time." Ben then filled his wife in on what Leonard told him about Kimmy, including that she hadn't spoken to anyone yet. "So, what do you think? I was thinking of seeing if Mary can move in with Claudia and have Kimmy in that room since there's a huge age gap between Claudia and Kimmy. But, when I told Claudia about it, she insists she doesn't mind having a kid room with her."
"I mean, she says that now, but after some time has passed, she might feel different having a nine-year-old room with her. Did Leonard mention how well Kimmy gets along with others?"
Ben thought back to the phone interview he had with Leonard. "Uh, not really. I probably should have asked. He just mentioned she doesn't talk, not even to the other kids."
"So, maybe she's a kid who keeps to herself?" Kayla suggested.
"Maybe, but what do you think? Should we let Kimmy room with Claudia, and if there are issues down the line, have her switch with Mary?"
"Well, here's the thing. Would Kimmy be comfortable sharing a room with a practically grown kid?"
"True," he agreed. "So, what should we do?"
"Well, how about this? I will most definitely skip my women's group tonight. So, I should get there by seven-ish, and we can call a meeting with everyone and see if we can all come up with a solution. See if Miguel is ready to try and be apart from his sister," she explained.
"Okay, that sounds like a plan," he said, while going over everything in his head.
With a plan set in motion for now, Ben and Kayla ended the call.
Ben headed into the house, where he heard the water running in the kitchen. To his surprise, Claudia was washing the dishes from breakfast. Unless it was her after-dinner chore, she wouldn't normally volunteer. For anything, really.
"You didn't need to do that," he genuinely said.
She shrugged. "I wanted to."
He watched her in awe. "Well, thank you. I appreciate it. You want some help?"
Claudia continued washing the pot in her hands. "Nah, I'm almost done."
"Okay." Ben at least grabbed the dishwasher detergent to put inside the small compartment for her. "Kayla and I are calling a family meeting tonight when she gets home. So, don't say anything to Mary and Miguel, okay? We're all gonna discuss the room arrangements then."
"Whatever," she said with another shrug.
Samson came in through the large pet door, heading right over to greet Ben once he saw him.
"Hey, boy," Ben bent over to give Samson rubs and pets all over as the fluffy dog leaned all of his weight against his legs, accepting all of the pets and attention, licking Ben in the face when he leaned in closer. The dog's tail wagged from side to side.
"You're not making out with the dog, are you?" Claudia asked while she was setting the dishes in the dying rack.
Ben ignored the tease towards him but smiled down at Samson. As he watched the fluffy dog, talking to him in an affectionate voice, Ben caught his mind drift off to think about this new kid, and why she never speaks.
Author's Note:
Feedback is always appreciated!