I Speak For This Child: True Stories of a Child Advocate (49 page)

Mrs. Hunt states that she might consider having Simone back and wishes to keep Julie, but that she does not want Nicole again because she is afraid Nicole might become violent and hurt her. She thinks the Baldwin and Lamb families are taking care of her daughters because of “what they are going to get out of it financially.”

 

Under my “summary and recommendations” I stated:

Ultimately, the best solution for the Colby sisters would be a permanent, stable home where all three could live together and be financially secure.

 

I then presented separate recommendations for each child. For Simone and Nicole I suggested that they remain in their current homes and have more frequent contact with each other. When it came to Julie, I stated that I had been a witness to the extreme nature of the clash between mother and child. Mrs. Hunt had not been the primary parent for most of this child’s life, and the bond between mother and daughter was tenuous. Julie was sad, distressed, possibly malnourished, and depressed. She was unable to concentrate in school and was underachieving. I wrote, “Julie desires to live anywhere but with her mother, including to be returned to the Holy Family Home in Miami, to live with the family of one of her friends, or any other yet unknown, but caring family. Ideally she would like to be reunited with her sisters in a home where she would be cared for and trusted, not be left home alone, and would receive dinners every night.”

My recommendations included that Julie be moved to a temporary, nurturing home for a cooling-off period between mother and daughter, and that it should be in the county to facilitate stability at her current school as well as to enable the sisters to see one another often. I wanted her to receive counseling from a qualified therapist with at least a master’s degree and receive testing and evaluation. Most important was that a more permanent long-term placement, with a genuine commitment from another family, be sought for Julie. I suggested that a placement that might include Nicole and possibly Simone be given primary consideration, rather than just looking for a home to place Julie. In any case, I wanted HRS and the families concerned to facilitate frequent contact among the sisters. There was a notation to ask Mr. Colby and Mrs. Hunt to contribute at least fifty dollars per month each for Julie’s upkeep.

This report, like all other official ones, was submitted with a certificate of service to all parties in the case including the HRS attorney, the caseworker, the parents, their attorneys, and the Guardian ad Litem.

Two days later, I received a phone call from Mrs. Baldwin. “Julie is gone.”

“What do you mean?”

“Her mother was so upset when she read your report saying that Julie didn’t want to live with her, that she shipped her off to that place in Miami last night. Can she do that?”

“She still has legal custody of her children.”

“Now Simone is worried that her mother might do the same with her.”

“She could.”

“You mean that after eighteen months with us, Lottie Hunt could march in and send Simone to Miami?”

“Until the court changes the children’s status to foster care, HRS only will intervene in a crisis.”

“A lot of good they’ve ever done,” Carol Baldwin said with a sniff.

“My goal is to get the kids into a much stronger legal position and my report was the first step.”

“What about poor Julie? She wasn’t even given a chance to say goodbye to anyone.”

“I want her back in the county, but not with her mother.”

“We’re in her school district.”

“Would you take her?”

“For a few weeks.”

“Thanks, Carol. It would help if she could be with Simone, and you’ve worked with her speech problem so she knows and trusts you. Court is on Tuesday. We’ll tell the judge exactly what happened and let him decide.”

Judge Donovan was not pleased. No matter how Mrs. Hunt or her attorney tried to explain it, it was obvious that Julie had been sent away to spite both the guardian and the child. The judge ordered that Julie be returned to our district immediately.

I conveyed that the Baldwin family was willing to keep her until something else could be found. The HRS attorney added that since the agency already had approved the Baldwin family for Simone’s care, he had no objections.

The judge ruled that Julie be returned from the Holy Family Home and placed with the Baldwin family, where Simone resided, that protective supervision by HRS should continue, and that Mrs. Hunt should select a mental health counselor for her children to see.

As we were leaving the judge’s chambers, Mr. Colby, still in his prisoner’s suit, clanged by in his leg irons. “May I talk to my girls?” he asked the bailiff.

The bailiff looked at me. I introduced myself to Mr. Colby. “Only Simone and Nicole are here. I’ll get them.”

Buddy Colby kissed each daughter on the cheek and put his arms around them. “I love both of you, you know that?” They nodded but were clearly uncomfortable being hugged in a public hallway by a man in an orange uniform.

“You miss them,” I said matter-of-factly as I moved to extricate the sisters from his grip. “When you are free, I’ll help you to see them as often as possible.”

Just then Mrs. Hunt walked by. Mr. Colby turned to face the wall rather than confront her. I led the girls back to where Mrs. Baldwin was waiting to take them to school and told them I’d call that night.

On the way out of court, the HRS attorney, Calvin Reynolds, stopped me. “Mrs. Courter, when I saw that you had been assigned the Colby case, I knew that it was a lucky day for those girls.”

“Thank you.” I was taken aback because Calvin wasn’t usually complimentary to guardians.

“These children take up an entire file drawer in my office,” he said shaking his head sadly.

To me this drawer represented a family’s painful past. “Want to clean it out for good?”

“You bet!”

“Then don’t fight me when I ask for a termination of parental rights.”

“Why go to that trouble?”

“So they can be adopted.”

“Individually?”

“No, as a family group.”

“Nobody will ever adopt three adolescent girls.”

“Don’t you believe in miracles?”

Calvin’s face changed from dubious to challenging. “If anyone can do it, you can.”

“If this works, I won’t be able to take the credit.”

“Who then?”

“I leave that to you to figure out.”

My first phone call was to the Slaters. “Julie’s coming back!”

“Great!” Jeanne said. I had to remind myself that they had never met.

The Slaters and I made plans to have dinner with the sisters a few days later. Before then, however, I took the girls out for burgers and played a game of “what if.”

“What if you could live together with one family, is that what you want?”

“Yes,” they chorused.

“Even you, Simone? You have a good deal with the Baldwins.”

“I’d rather be with my sisters.”

Nicole had a faraway look.

“The Lambs aren’t working out, are they?” I asked her.

“No.” Nicole’s lips narrowed into a tight, angry line. “Now they won’t let me call Julie because she’s with the Baldwins.” She started breathing rapidly and I could sense the rage beneath the surface. I gently rubbed her neck and shoulders until she relaxed slightly.

“Listen, girls, there is a family I want you to meet. They heard about three sisters who weren’t living together and wanted to help out. I don’t want to get your hopes up because there are many legal steps to go through and lots of ways this could fall apart. Plus, your mother is still in charge of you and can make any final decision about where you live.”

“Do they have a dog with a wrinkled face?” Julie asked.

“Come on, Julie, don’t be stupid,” Nicole said.

“Well, Julie,” I said with a tense laugh, “actually they do. His name is Squire.”

We met at the Pasta Place. I brought Julie, Nicole, and Simone. The Slaters arrived with their grandsons, Jared and Zane, who were six and seven. Both were freckled redheads, but Jared was skinny, serious, and wore glasses, while Zane was considerably taller, more robust, and talkative. Julie plopped herself down between them, saying, “I always wanted two brothers.”

My heart fluttered. Had I set them up to expect too much? Soon they were chattering away. Nicole was next to Jeanne and their resemblance in person was even more striking than it had appeared in the photos. Even their bodies had matching curves, and I could see Nicole raiding Jeanne’s closet at the first opportunity. Vic and Simone were talking about sports. Both liked the Miami Dolphins and the Atlanta Braves. Vic coached the boys’ ball team but said he preferred golf, and Simone admitted she was on the school’s golf team.

Considering what was at stake here, everyone was remarkably relaxed. There were jokes and giggles and tastes of different pasta sauces and lots of thank yous for the garlic bread and extra sodas.

During a lull in the chatter, I overheard Zane talking to Julie. “We haven’t seen our father since we were babies and we can’t live with our mother anymore, so we’re going to stay with Granny and Grampy forever.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” Jared said.

“Yes, I do, right, Gramps?”

Vic nodded while he chewed. After he swallowed, he said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “We have custody of these boys. They’ve been here three years already, and as far as we are concerned, they’ll grow up in our house.”

“That’s because of what happened to our mother,” Zane continued.

“Zane!” Jared admonished under his breath.

“I can tell them anything I want,” Zane protested. By now he had everyone’s attention. “You see, our mom’s in jail for a long time, at least until we grow up.”

Nobody moved. This was news to me. I saw Julie staring at Nicole. Simone turned away. Nicole glanced down at her plate. Julie looked at me for permission. I gave her a little nod.

“That’s okay,” Julie said. “Our dad’s in jail too.”

The phone rang within fifteen minutes after I had returned home. “We want them, any time, any way,” Vic said.

“Well … we do have a problem right now with Nicole.” I explained that the Lambs were putting too much pressure on Nicole to conform to their way of life.

“I thought so,” Vic said. After the spaghetti dinner, the Slaters and Colby girls had exchanged phone numbers. Already Nicole had called to talk to Jeanne.

“Jeanne said Nicole sounded lonely.”

“She is.”

“We have a bed ready and waiting.”

I explained the problems with informally moving the children around, the fact that Nicole would come with no financial subsidies or medical insurance, and her mother could jerk her away at any time.

“How can I say this without sounding like a lunatic?” Vic asked. “We just feel that somehow it was meant to be.”

“Me too, but that isn’t going to hold up in court.”

We laughed. Then I became more serious. I explained about my court report and the fact that Mrs. Hunt deeply resented me at the moment.

“May I have your permission to call Mrs. Hunt myself?” Vic asked.

“It can’t hurt,” I said, then wondered what in the world he would say to Mrs. Hunt.

“It’s done,” Vic said on the phone two days later. “Nicole is moving here this weekend.”

I was astonished by his explanation. Nicole had spoken to Jeanne again and had had a heart-to-heart talk. Jeanne had called Fay Lamb at work that afternoon, who admitted that they were tired of being harassed by Nicole’s requests to see her sisters. Then, without consulting me or anyone else, Jeanne had phoned Lottie Hunt, introduced herself, and asked permission to take her daughter. Mrs. Hunt said she never did like Fay Lamb, but didn’t know the Slaters. Jeanne agreed that Lottie should not make a decision until she met her, but Mrs. Hunt said she was in a fishing tournament that afternoon. Jeanne left work early and went to meet her at the marina. Using a copy of Mrs. Lamb’s power of attorney, Jeanne whited out the Lambs’ name, made another copy, wrote in hers, and took it to Mrs. Hunt, who after fifteen minutes with Jeanne, signed on the dotted line.

“Amazing,” I said. “Jeanne’s incredible.”

“I was worried you might think that she stepped on your toes,” Vic said.

“Not at all. I’m impressed by her determination.”

“When Jeanne wants something, there’s no stopping her.”

“Then we’re going to get along fine.”

As I wrote up my notes, I realized that I had been the Colby children’s Guardian ad Litem for one month and three days. Because of my experience with other cases, I had resolved to make some changes fast, but I could never have predicted that so much could have happened in so short a time. Totaling my time sheets, I already had spent sixty-seven hours on the phone, at meetings, and with the children, and had driven 354 miles. That was a lot for a given month, yet thirty-three days later the sisters were in better homes, two of the girls were reunited, the HRS attorney was on my side, and the family that had come forward to offer the three children a permanent placement was now caring for one of the girls. Buoyed with so many successes, I felt the best course was to forge ahead so that all three could live with the Slaters under some legally binding ruling. As yet, I knew nothing about adoption law, nor the process of getting the rights of the natural parents terminated.

In recent months, though, the nation had been privy to the most famous termination of parental rights case ever: Gregory K., which had influenced my direction on the Colby case. Gregory K. had been living at the ranch where Cory Stevenson had been placed for a while. While at the ranch, a local attorney, George Russ, came for a tour and spent some time with Gregory. Shortly thereafter he became Gregory’s foster parent and wanted to adopt him. Early on, before the media became involved, I had heard about the situation. Mr. Russ’s law partner’s daughter and my son had both attended the same boarding school and now were at the same university, and our families had become fast friends. In fact, I had asked George Russ’s partner to take Lydia, the girl who had been falsely accused of a crime, when I had been searching for a home for her. They might have been interested if Lydia hadn’t required a Pentecostal home. Knowing my interest in child abuse cases, this family had told me about Gregory being taken in by the Russ family even though they already had eight children of their own.