Pt.1 The Girl in the Barn
“Sabrina, you need to get up now. I’m not going to tell you again,” said the middle aged woman. “Your new foster family will be here any minute.”
After repeated wake-up calls, Mrs. Daly inched toward the lower bunk bed where Sabrina slept and gently rolled up the covers.
She took Sabrina’s hand into her own while gently massaging her short hair.
“Come, now,” Mrs Daly ordered as she tugged at the
teenagers hand.
Sabrina quietly obliged, looking up at her with soft gentle eyes and sat up in the bed.
“Get dressed.” Mrs. Daly handed her an outfit that she already picked out.
“I’m wet. I need a shower,” she whispered into Mrs. Daly’s ear through muffled sobs.
“No time. Just get in the bathroom, and wipe up.”
The shy girl did not oblige without additional intervention, as Mrs daily took her hands and implied she get up.
Mrs. Daily escorted her to the bathroom and set her new outfit on the vanity.
As Mrs. Daily left, a panicked voice cracked, “but, but Pastor Dean says girls do not wear jeans.”
“Sabrina, you will not have to listen Pastor Dean anymore.”
“I want to wear my flow flow dress.”
“This is what we have picked honey and we are running very late. You can change when you get to your new home with Mr and Mrs. Garcia.”
“Five minutes. Clean up and change.”
Sabrina slipped off the heavy garment, and it thudded on the floor and cleaned up with a baby wipe.
She was fascinated by how clean and fresh all the clothes here smelled, as she changed. Nothing was ever clean at the farm.
Back into the dorm-like room, some of the older girls were snickering and glancing in her direction."
“I looks like the barn girl is leaving, bye tard breath” said Scarlett, a tough looking teen with a shaved head and a tattoo on her neck."
“That’s enough,” Mrs. Daly snapped.
“Mrs. Daly, someone left a wet pull-up in the bathroom floor,” someone yelled.
“Barn girl was the last one on there,” Scarlett scoffed. “barn girl isn’t even potty trained.”
“Never mind them, Sabrina. They are just jealous.”
“Can I say bye to Jin?”
“Yes of course but it will have to be quick. Don’t forget the picture you made her.”
“Oh, I want to give her the picture I wrote,” Sabrina repeated, as if it was her own idea.
Mrs. Daley held Sabrina’s hand as they passed through the common room.
A black haired girl looked up from her book, noticing them passing. “Are you leaving now sabeena,” the six-year-old asked tearfully. “will you come back to play again.”
Sabrina shrugged. “You can come play with me at my new house maybe” anyone exclaimed hopefully.
“I made you something,” Sabrina handed a page to Jin.
“I colored a card for you.” The card had two stick figures side by side and “best frends,” written in messy letters.
The younger girl was the only other peer that Sabrina bonded with at the hospital ward. They hugged and said goodbyes.
There were a couple of nervous looking strangers waiting; A tall, thin middle-aged man with a salt-and-pepper pony tail and wayfarer glasses stood with an equally tall strawberry-blonde haired woman wearing a black leather jacket.
Sabrina shyly clung to Mrs. Daly as they approached these new adults.
Mrs. Daly turned to Sabrina and said, "this is Eva and Andrew Garcia, you will be staying with them for a while.
The teenager looked despondent and scared as she stared ahead like a deer in the headlights, with thumb in mouth.
“She is very shy,” Mrs Daly said encouragingly as the clingy teen hid behind her shyly.
“I will see you soon Sabrina. I am in charge of making sure you are safe,” Mrs. Daly said, encouraging her to come closer to her new guardians. I will always come check on you, I promise."
Sabrina started weeping loudly.
“No.”
Mrs. Daly gently took her hand now leading forward intently. "let’s go to the car.
The scared, docile girl followed, and Mrs Daly buckled her into the back seat.
Mrs. Daly turned to the Garcias.
“We talked about all of the need-to-know things that might come up, early on, but feel free to call me any time, she is really one of the most delightful young people I have ever met.”
“You know how much we enjoy taking in the children who need a family the most, so thank you,” Mrs Garcia smiled.
Sabrina was mesmerized by this fancy car she was in. It even had a small TV talking box thing in the back seat. The car smelled so strange and new.
Mrs. Daly approached the door where Sabrina was seated. “Are you comfortable, it’s going to be a long ride so would you like to watch a DVD.”
Sabrina did not seem to understand so Eva took a few DVD cases and showed them to Sabrina.
Sabrina picked the brightest colors. Without judgement she played a copy of “Baby Genius, Silly songs.”
“Dillon used to love watching this,” Eva smiled.
Andrew looked into the rear view mirror slightly shocked that she was a 16 year old but seemed younger than his youngest son.
Eva secured the lock and closed the door. “One more thing,” she asked Mrs. Daly. “You mentioned training pants, right? Is she wearing them now”
“No, she only wears pull-ups to bed, but I didn’t think about the car ride. Make sure to stop along the way and keep reminding her. She has been pretty good during the daytime while staying here at Northwest Center.”
“Just to clarify, she is potty trained?” Andrew asked.
“Well, not entirely, but close. I feel trusting her and giving her the dignity to choose will help her keep good habits. Pull ups are just diapers and encourage children to keep using them as such. But from here on out it’s up to you. You are now her guardians.”
“I agree, completely,” said eva.
“Just remember, the poor girl has never had a chance to learn how to function socially and is set back many many years. She does slip when not reminded, but she is highly intelligent and she does get it, I think.”
We are halfway there Sabrina, Andrew announced. He pulled into the pump at a gas station and unlocked all the doors.
“Everyone do what you have to do.”
Eva came around to help Sabrina out of her seat. “Let’s go to the bathroom, okay.”
Sabrina followed and Eva led her to the cashier and took a key. “Can you go in there by yourself,” Eva asked. The teen kept her usual vague disposition with no clear response. Eva ushered her to the door and closed it behind her and waited outside.
Sabrina went inside and noticed something she had never seen before. A white box with a big silver button attached to the wall.
She pushed the button and jumped back as the whoosh of air came out. She walked closer and felt the warm air and laughed. It stopped. She pressed the button again. A knock came at the door.
“Are you done,” Eva’s voice muffled through the door.
Sabrina came out of the bathroom.
“Okay wait here for while I go.”
Eva buckled Sabrina back into the back seat and closed the door. Sabrina enjoyed her snack she never had before.
The little red fishes were so cute too.
She looked at the design on the bag and recognised the S. S is for Sabrina. W is for whale she mused on the letters trying to make out what they might say.
Sabrina daydreamed, musing on her former life. She had a friend named Steven who helped her to read.
Pastor Dean says girls should not go to school, she thought to herself. They are made by god to be wives.
She sat and daydreamed about the days in the house with the wives and the junior wives learning how to crochet.
She still wondered what happened that nobody is telling the truth about. She saw all the police and all they said was there had been a fire.
All she knew was that it was bad and mommy died.
She felt the familiar warmth spread across her lap realizing she forgot to pee in the toilet and was scared to tell these new people. Will she have to stay in the barn at their house too?
“Sabrina!” Eva exclaimed, “You’re soaked.”
Sabrina looked up and had a lost look in her eyes. “What happened.” No response came.
“Well it’s okay don’t think we are mad. This is not anything new for us. We have had dozens of kids ride in this car and there has been an accident or two.”
They finally pulled up to a very nice house. It had large archway that led into a outdoor patio garden. The house even had two stories. When they walked in two little kids were already at the door.
A little blonde boy ran up to Sabrina. "Your my new sister, he exclaimed. I’m Dillon I’m five. “I’m ivy” An older girl said with a huge smile. Ivy ran up for a side hug avoiding the front of Sabrina’s pants. Both youngsters seemed to notices Sabrina’s accident but were understanding and polite enough not to say anything.
A girl about Sabrina’s age was rounding up the young ones so that Sabrina could settle in. I’m Celeste the older girl said. “I live next door and babysit Dillon and Ivy.”
Everyone seemed a bit taken aback by Sabrina’s mute and inattentive state but tried to accommodate her well.
“Come Sabrina. I will show your your room.”
Sabrina followed Eva up the stairs and into the first room on the right.
The room had lavender walls and a huge bed with big fluffy pillows. There was a dresser with pink patterns and lots of trophies with horses and ribbons. “This was Emily’s room, before she went to college.” she is our oldest.
Gigi is out at soccer practice, she is 12 and you two will get along great and you met Dillon and ivy.
You will find we have bought you a few outfits, Eva exclaimed as she showed where each item lived in its respective drawer.
Eve pointed out a white hamper. “this is the laundry hamper, please use it we don’t keep clothing on the floor here.”
And this is only for dirty night underwear, Eva pointed out a diaper genie corner.
“The are in the bottom drawer, they are different from what you are used to we are a green household, so they are reusable pants. I will show you how to put them on tonight.”
The drawer on one side contained several pairs of colorful cloth diapers with snaps on each side and a soft fleece back. There was also a tall stack of stuffers.
“Diapers?” asked Sabrina.
“No, they have elastic to pull on just like Goodnites but the snaps make them easy to clean and adjust to different sizes.”
Sabrina seemed to be fine with this explanation and didn’t say anything more.
“The bathroom is across the hall. Get showered and changed before dinner, okay.”
Eva left Sabrina to her own devices for 15 minutes only to find her sitting on the floor in the same clothes staring off.
“Pastor Dean, lead us forward. You are the one in whom we trust…,” she repeated until she realized Eva was watching.
It then occurred to Eva exactly what Mrs. Daly meant when they had their meeting two weeks prior what Mrs. Daly meant by "completely dependent.