Rescue Me

As we loaded the car with our picnic food for a Forest Park outing, I noticed a neighbor across the street. She called out my name and began to motion me with her hand to come over to her. We met at the curb and she pointed behind her to explain a teenage girl that was sitting just at the corner. She was without a place to go and had a duffle bag and purse positioned beside her in the grass. Somehow she had ended up in our neighborhood and was just sitting alone waiting for someone...anyone really. I walked briskly toward the girl who kept her head low and eyes fixed on the ground.

She wore shorts that were short enough to be her underwear and a tank top with a push-up bra. She had tattoos and a diamond nose ring.  I immediately sat close to her on the grass and asked her some very straightforward questions. One of the things I determined from the questions was that she attended Fern Ridge High School; a school in the area for troubled teens. Her name was Jessica. My eyes concentrated on her face as she answered.

Where did she live?
How old was she?
Was she alone?
How did she get to our neighborhood?
Did she need help? and what help could we provide?

In a nutshell, she was not allowed in her home in South County by her mother's boyfriend while her mother was out partying on a float trip with friends. When she began talking about her situation, especially when it referred to her mother, she got a little solemn and near tears.

At one point I said,

" Are you a run-away? because I am a mother and if you were my daughter I would be worried about you."

She replied quietly,

" She doesn't care. She's out having fun."

I felt my heart sink.

From all the questions I understood she wanted a ride to Wildwood to stay with a friend...a boy she had worked with. I told her several times that she should not be in a house alone with a boy and I asked if his parents be there. I sensed that this much care and regulation wasn't something she was accustomed to. But when I expressed my concern about being alone with a boy, she said,

" I understand, I know what you are saying."

When she said she hadn't eaten all day I walked back to my driveway and opened the car trunk and took out my prepared picnic food. She sat on my porch and ate chicken, brownies, grapes and pasta salad while Jon spoke to the boy's mother.

In the end, another neighbor took her to Wildwood. But before she left she thanked me several times. She even looked into my eyes one of those times.

My mind, my stomach and my heart were all out of sorts after she left.

What will become of her?
Who will watch out for her?
How do I rescue one in such huge need?
Did I do the right thing? I even thought about taking her with us to the park at one point.

I can't get her out of my head today. I don't even know if I can believe her story but I am still out of sorts about the troubled girl sitting alone in the neighborhood waiting for...

...anyone to come by and rescue her.