Chapter 7

We drove for an hour heading downtown. Then he pulled into a large parking lot in front of a large building.

"Okay, we're here," he said.

He shut off the truck and we got out. I grabbed my backpack and shut the door.

I followed closely behind him. We walked down the hall passing the closed doors of offices.

Then we stopped at a door and he opened it.

"Go ahead," he said as he let me in.

I walked in and saw a lady sitting at her desk busily working on the computer.

She looked at us and saw Mr. Countrymen and smiled.

"Hi Mike, it's nice to see you," she said as she stood up.

"You too," he said as he hugged her.

Then he introduced us.

"This is Kate, she's going to be your social worker. She'll take good care of you," he said.

She smiled. "Hi," she said as she shook my hand.

"Hi, I'm Lily," I said.

"It's nice to meet you Lily," she said as she sat down. "Go ahead and sit down you guys."

Both Mr. countrymen and I sat down.

I looked around her large office noticing the awards that were hung along with many pictures of her and children. She had two large file cabinets behind her desk and a couch in the back of her office. And she had a wonderful view of the city.

Then I looked at her. She kind of looked like my mom. She had light brown hair that went just past her shoulders. It was wavy and it shined in the sunlight. She also had a light tan complexion and soft blue eyes.

She put her glasses on and then grabbed a pen and piece of paper.

"Lily, so how old are you?" she asked.

"Fourteen," I replied.

"And you're finishing 8th grade?" she questioned.

"Yes," I said.

"What's your last name?" she asked.

"Ward," I said.

"And you're adopted?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said.

She continued to ask me all sorts of questions for the next hour. She sat back in her chair and wrote everything down that I said.

"Okay, I think that's everything," she said. "I'll work on getting you a place to say right now. But in the mean time why don't you have Mike take you to McDonald's. I'm sure you're starving."

"Yeah, I'm kind of hungry," I said.

"All right then, let's go," he said.

I grabbed my backpack and we left.

We drove to the closest McDonald's and got down.

"What do you want?" he asked while we stood in line.

"Just a cheeseburger and fries," I replied.

"Okay. Why don't you get Ketchup for us and napkins and find us a spot to sit?" he suggested.

"Okay," I said.

Then I got out of line to get the napkins and Ketchup. Once I did that I found us a place to sit and sat down. I rested my chin on my hand and stared out the window.

Mr. Countrymen got the food and then brought it to Lily. He sat down and placed the food in front of her.

"Lily," he said as she continued to stare out the window. "Lily."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said as I looked at him.

"Where were you?" he asked.

"Just thinking," I said.

"A little too hard it seems," he said as he smiled. "Oh, I didn't get you your drink because I didn't know what you wanted. So here's your cup, and the drinks are right up there."

"All right," I said as I took m cup and walked up to the front.

I pushed the button for Dr. Pepper. Then I went and sat back down. He had set out my food for me.

"Thank you," I said as I began to eat.

"You're welcome sweetie," he said.

Then we began to eat. I finished both my cheeseburger and fries before he could finish his Big Mac.

"I've never seen someone eat their food so fast," he said as he stared at me.

"I guess I was slightly hungry," I said.

"Yeah, slightly," he said.

Then I sat there waiting for him to finish.

"I'm keeping you from work, aren't I?" I questioned.

"Um, keeping me is not the word. It's more like saving me," he said as he smiled.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes, believe me. I needed a break. I mean you saw that paper work on my desk, didn't you?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"It seems to come into my office by the truck loads," he said.

I laughed. "Glad I could help then."

"So am I," he said.

"Um, can I ask you another question?" I asked.

"Sure, go ahead," he said.

"Why did you stop by this morning?" I asked curiously.

"To check on you," he said.

"Check on me, why?" I asked.

"Because you weren't in school. And I wanted to know whether you were sick or you just didn't want to go. Especially since you had told me how your first day was," he said.

"Oh, yeah," I said.

"And I wanted to talk to your parents," he said.

"About what?" I asked.

"Well I wanted to know what your other school was like and what you were like. I also wanted to know what your other friends were like," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"So maybe I could introduce you to some girls like that," he said.

"Oh," I said."So, what were your friends like?" he asked.

"I don't have any," I said quietly.

"Not one?" he asked.

I shook my head no.

"I'm sorry Lily," he said.

"It's okay," I said as tears stung my eyes. "Excuse me, I have to use the rest room."

"Okay," he said.

I got up and quickly walked back to the rest rooms. I walked in and then went into a stall. I wiped away my tears. I didn't want to let him see me crying. I had all ready done enough crying in front of him.

I walked back out and he was waiting by the front door.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said.

We got into his truck and drove off.

"I'm going to call Kate," he said.

"All right," I said.

He took his cell phone and called her.

"Hello."

"Hi Kate."

"Oh hi Mike."

"Do you have anything for Lily?"

"Not yet, but I'm working hard. Give me a few more hours."

"Okay, thanks."

"Bye."

"Talk to you later," he said, then he hung up.

"Has she found a place for me yet?" I asked.

"Not yet, but she's working on it," he said confidently.

"Oh, okay," I said.

Then we pulled up to a movie theater.

"What are we doing?" I asked.

"Going to see a movie," he said. "Kate told me to give her a few more hours. And what better way to spend the time then watching a movie."

"Oh, that's okay, you don't have to take me to a movie. I can just wait back at the apartment or something. You've all ready done so much for me," I said.

"Lily, it's okay. I don't mind helping you and taking care of you. If I didn't, then I wouldn't be doing my job. And you're not going back to that apartment and staying by yourself," he said.

"Thank you," I said as I hugged him.

"You're welcome," he said. "Now let's go see a good Disney movie."

I whined. "Do we have to see a Disney movie? I am fourteen you know."

"Yes, I know," he said as he smiled. "But we're going to see a Disney movie."

"Oh, all right," I said as we got out.

He bought the tickets and then we went in.

I felt so relieved that he didn't make me go back to the apartment. I really didn't want to stay there alone, but I figured that he had somewhere else to be. Actually I couldn't believe that he was doing all of this for me. I had expected him to just drop me off and let me wait somewhere. I didn't think he would actually take care of me. I thanked God that I had been lucky enough to meet him.

We sat down and watched the movie, Dinosaur.

Once it was over with he took us back to Kate's office.

"Hi guys," she said.

"Hi," I said.

"So have you found anything yet?" Mr. Countrymen asked.

"Unfortunately, not yet. But I'm calling another family. The only problem is that she has six kids already, but she's good," she said.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, just give me a little while longer," she said.

I sat down on the couch. Then I put my backpack on the couch and laid my head down on it.

"Well I have to go back to work, so. . .," he said as he trailed off.

"She can stay here," Kate said.

He turned around and said, "Lily, is it okay if. . ."

"She fell asleep?" Kate asked, as she looked passed Mike.

"Yeah," he said.

"Then just leave her there. She'll be fine," she said.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'll take care of her," she said.

"Okay," he said. "Let me get her things from my truck."

"All right," she said.

He left and got out her things. Then he walked back into Kate's office.

"Do you have a blanket or something?" he questioned.

"Um, yeah. Actually I have one on the side of the couch there," she said as she pointed to the left side of the couch.

He went over there and picked it up. Then he placed it on Lily.

"Okay, and you have my number, right?" he asked.

"Yes, Mike," she said.

"Well give this to her anyways, just in case, he said as he handed her a paper with his number on it.

"Okay. I will," she said.

"And call me to let me know where she is," he said.

"Don't worry Mike. I'll take care of her," she said.

"I know you will, I'm just making sure," he said.

"I'll call you later," she said.

"Okay. Bye," he said as he hugged her.

"Bye," she said.

Then he left, closing the door behind him.