Page 91 - It Ends with Us

He took a de ep breat h like he di dn’t wan t to tell me an y more. Bu t the n he

star ted tal king ag ai n. “I’ve been stay ing with a friend of mine an d hi s fam ily
since the n, but hi s dad got a tran sfer to Colorado an d the y moved. The y
couldn ’t tak e me with the m, of course. His parents were just being nice by
letting me stay with the m an d I knew that , so I told the m I tal ked to my mom
an d that I was moving bac k ho me. The day the y left, I di dn ’t hav e an ywhe re to
go. So I went back ho me an d told my mom I’d like to move bac k in until I

gradu at ed. She wouldn ’t let me. Sai d it would upset my stepfat he r.”
He turned hi s he ad an d looked at the wal l. “So I just wan de red around for
a few day s until I saw that ho use. Figured I would just stay the re until
somethi ng better cam e al ong or until I gradu at ed. I’m signed up to go to the
Mar ines come May, so I’m just tr ying to han g on until the n.”
May is six months aw ay, Ellen. Six.
I had tear s in my eyes whe n he finishe d telling me al l that . I as ked hi m why

he di dn ’t just as k someone if the y could he lp hi m. He sai d he tried, but it’s
har de r for an ad ult than a kid, an d he ’s al ready eight een. He sai d someone
gav e hi m a number for some she lters who might he lp hi m. The re were three
she lters in a twenty-mile radi us of our town, but two of the m were for bat tered
women. The othe r one was a ho meless she lter, but the y only had a few beds an d
it was too far aw ay for hi m to wal k the re if he wan ted to go to scho ol ever y day.

Plus, you hav e to wai t in a long line to tr y an d get a bed. He said he tried it
once, but he feels saf er in that old ho use than he di d at the she lter.
Li ke the naï ve girl I am whe n it comes to situat ions like hi s, I sai d, “Bu t
aren’t the re othe r options? Can ’t you just tell the scho ol counselor what your
mom di d? ”
He sho ok hi s he ad an d sai d he ’s too old for foster care. He’s eight een, so hi s
mothe r can ’t get in trouble for not al lowing hi m to go bac k ho me. He sai d he

cal led ab out getting food stam ps las t week, but he di dn ’t hav e a ride or money
to get to hi s ap pointment. No t to mention he do esn’t hav e a car, so he can ’t
ver y well find a job. He sai d he’s been looking, tho ugh. After he leav es my
ho use in the af ternoons he goes and ap plies at plac es, but he do esn’t hav e an
addr ess or a pho ne number to put do wn on the ap plicat ions so that mak es it
har de r for hi m.

I swear, Ellen, ever y question I threw at hi m, he had an an swer for. It’s like
he ’s tried ever ythi ng not to be stuck in the situat ion he ’s in, but the re isn’t
enough help out the re for people like hi m. I got so mad at hi s who le situat ion, I
told hi m he was craz y for wan ting to go into the militar y. I was n’t so much