Bentley\u2019s hand was clamped around his sister\u2019s sleeve when I opened the door with Ray\u2019s key.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d put himself between Maddie and me. She had on a pink coat zipped up to her chin, indoors, and she was holding out an empty sippy cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease don\u2019t call anybody,\u201d Bentley said.<\/p>\n
I was seventy years old and standing in a cold duplex with a key ring shaking in my hand. I didn\u2019t know yet where Amber was. I didn\u2019t know how long those children had been alone.<\/p>\n
I only knew I\u2019d spent nine mornings filling Bentley\u2019s water bottle and had never asked why he needed it.<\/p>\n
Ray and I bought the duplex on Kilgore Avenue in Muncie in 1981. We lived on the left side and rented the right. The rent helped buy groceries for forty years. Ray kept the spare keys in a kitchen drawer, all on one ring, with a red tag that said RIGHT SIDE.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s been gone six years now. My son Doug manages the rental for me. He collects rent, calls repairmen, and tells me not to get involved. I used to say I was grateful. Mostly, I was.<\/p>\n
For the last two years, Amber and her kids lived on the right. Bentley was ten. Maddie was three, with curls that stuck out around her head no matter what Amber did with them.<\/p>\n
Amber worked nights at a warehouse out by the highway. Some months her rent came a few days late. She always caught up. She\u2019d brought me a grocery-store pie after I watched Maddie twice when her sitter fell through.<\/p>\n
One evening, she told me she\u2019d grown up in foster care. Three homes in four years. She\u2019d said it over coffee, while Maddie slept on her lap.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody\u2019s splitting up my babies,\u201d she told me.<\/p>\n
I remember that because she said it like she was making a promise to someone besides me.<\/p>\n
This month, rent didn\u2019t come on the first. On the fifth, Doug taped a ten-day notice to Amber\u2019s door. The notice curled at the bottom after it rained. I saw it every time I took out the trash.<\/p>\n
\u201cMa, it\u2019s business,\u201d Doug told me.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s always caught up before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd she\u2019s always behind. Let me handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I let him. I told myself I didn\u2019t know what was going on inside that house. I also told myself that a ten-day notice wasn\u2019t the same as putting someone out. I was good at making a thing sound smaller if it meant I didn\u2019t have to act.<\/p>\n
The water was in our name for both sides. Doug told me he\u2019d shut it off on the tenth because Amber hadn\u2019t paid the bill. I didn\u2019t ask how he could do that with children living there. I didn\u2019t ask whether he\u2019d checked with a lawyer. I thought about asking, then let it go.<\/p>\n
That was the choice I made. Everything after it came from there.<\/p>\n
The knocking started the next week.<\/p>\n
At 7:10 every morning, Bentley stood on my porch in his hoodie with his backpack on both shoulders. He\u2019d knock twice, wait, then knock once more.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiss Arlene, can I use your bathroom? Our water\u2019s being dumb.\u201d<\/p>\n
I said yes. He\u2019d use the bathroom, wash his hands, and come out holding his plastic water bottle.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I fill this too?\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, I said. I filled it at my kitchen sink.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know why I remember that the cap had a little crack near the top. I remember because he used his thumb to press it shut while I filled the bottle. It leaked a little either way.<\/p>\n
On the third morning, he asked for saltines. He said they were for recess. I gave him a sleeve. Three days later, he asked for two.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing boy,\u201d I said, and he gave a small smile.<\/p>\n
Then he left for the bus.<\/p>\n
I watched him walk down the alley toward the corner. I never saw him get on. I assumed I just missed it. At my age, I can make a whole explanation out of not looking long enough.<\/p>\n
The first thing that bothered me was Amber\u2019s car. It was a blue sedan, old enough that one of the hubcaps didn\u2019t match. I hadn\u2019t seen it in several days. I figured she was parking closer to the warehouse, or Doug had asked her to move it. I didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
Then Bentley started coming back before lunch.<\/p>\n
I saw him once from my kitchen window, walking past the side gate with his backpack still on. I looked at the clock. It was 10:48. I told myself maybe the school had a half day.<\/p>\n
The next time, it was 11:21.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t call the school. I didn\u2019t call Amber. I told myself I wasn\u2019t his parent. I told myself I didn\u2019t want to make trouble when the family was already having trouble.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the sort of sentence people use when they want to stay comfortable.Three days later, I noticed the blanket over the front window on the right side. It wasn\u2019t there before. The notice was still on the door, curled at the corners. I didn\u2019t see Amber\u2019s car.<\/p>\n
I knocked once on their door in the afternoon. No answer. I stood there longer than I needed to, then went home.<\/p>\n
The next morning, Bentley knocked at 7:10 again.<\/p>\n
His hoodie smelled faintly like smoke from somebody\u2019s fireplace. His hair was flattened on one side. I thought about asking if Amber was all right, but he looked at the floor and asked for water.<\/p>\n
I filled the bottle.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t ask for crackers that morning. That bothered me more than it should have. I kept thinking of his two sleeves of saltines and then feeling silly for thinking of them.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, around one, I was folding towels in the back bedroom. The wall between the bedrooms is thin. Ray used to complain that he could hear the neighbors\u2019 television through it.<\/p>\n
I heard a boy reading.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe little bear looked for his mama,\u201d he said, slowly. \u201cHe looked in the cave and by the river.\u201d<\/p>\n
A tiny voice answered, \u201cAgain.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped folding.<\/p>\n
Bentley was supposed to be in fourth grade at the elementary school two miles away. I\u2019d seen him walk toward the bus. I\u2019d watched him go down the alley.<\/p>\n
I picked up the phone and called the school. My hand was damp against the receiver. The secretary said she couldn\u2019t tell me much, because I wasn\u2019t family. I said I was a neighbor and I was worried.<\/p>\n
There was a pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cMa\u2019am, Bentley hasn\u2019t been here since the eleventh.\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked her to repeat it. She did.<\/p>\n
Nine school days.<\/p>\n
My mind tried to do the math another way, but there was no other way. He\u2019d gone to the corner, waited for the bus, let it drive off, then walked back home. Nine times. While I stood in my kitchen and filled his bottle.<\/p>\n
I called Doug.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs their water on?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t answer right away.<\/p>\n
That was my answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cMa, I told you. I shut it off.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are children in there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe should\u2019ve paid the rent.\u201d<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cYou can\u2019t shut off water on a family because of rent.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cIt\u2019s our property.\u201d<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t remember what I said after that. I hung up on my own son for the first time in forty-five years.<\/p>\n
Then I opened the kitchen drawer and took out Ray\u2019s key ring. The red tag had faded, but you could still read RIGHT SIDE. I put on my coat and went around the building.<\/p>\n
My knees were shaking on the porch steps. I held the railing with one hand and the keys with the other. I knocked on the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cBentley, it\u2019s Miss Arlene. I\u2019m not mad, honey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
I waited. I knocked again. Still nothing.<\/p>\n
I put the key in the lock. I wasn\u2019t supposed to enter without permission. I knew that. I also knew I\u2019d heard a three-year-old ask to hear the bear story again in the middle of a school day.<\/p>\n
The door opened.<\/p>\n
The house was cold. Not frozen, but cold enough that I kept my coat on. It smelled like saltines and something sour. The front window was covered with a blanket.<\/p>\n
Maddie stood in the hallway with her empty cup.<\/p>\n
Bentley came out of the back room fast. He grabbed her sleeve and stepped in front of her.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease don\u2019t call anybody,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Maddie lifted the cup toward me. \u201cMama\u2019s sleeping at the hospital,\u201d she said. \u201cBentley says if anybody finds out, they\u2019ll put us in two different houses.\u201d<\/p>\n
I set the keys on the floor so Bentley could see my hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one\u2019s taking her away from you right now,\u201d I told him. \u201cI\u2019m getting help.\u201d<\/p>\n
I called 911 from the doorway. I told the dispatcher I had two children alone in the rental, one was three, and the water had been shut off. I heard my own voice getting too loud. I lowered it because Bentley had started holding Maddie tighter.<\/p>\n
The dispatcher asked if either child was hurt. I asked them. Bentley shook his head. Maddie held the cup out again.<\/p>\n
I filled it from the bottle I\u2019d brought over from my own kitchen. It wasn\u2019t much. She drank like she was trying to be polite about being thirsty.<\/p>\n
The police arrived first, then an ambulance crew. A woman from child services came not long after. She was calm with the children and didn\u2019t make promises she couldn\u2019t keep. Bentley stayed close to Maddie, even when she asked him to sit down.<\/p>\n
I gave her the number for the hospital and Amber\u2019s full name. I gave her Doug\u2019s number too, though I wasn\u2019t sure why. Maybe because I wanted someone else to be responsible for a minute.The woman took the children to get checked out. Before they left, Bentley looked at me and asked if he could bring the bear book.<\/p>\n
I said yes.<\/p>\n
I watched their car pull away with Maddie buckled in and Bentley beside her, the book held against his chest. I went back inside and sat at my kitchen table. Ray\u2019s keys were still on the floor in the other house.<\/p>\n
Doug called twice. I didn\u2019t answer either time.<\/p>\n
The next few hours were phone calls and forms. I called the hospital and got transferred to a social worker. I explained that I was the landlord and a neighbor. I explained that I had just found the children. I said I should have done it sooner.<\/p>\n
The social worker told me Amber had been admitted after a medical emergency at work. She\u2019d had surgery and spent several days too sick and groggy to make calls. She\u2019d given the hospital the names of her children when she was able to talk, but the number she gave them was disconnected. The hospital had been trying to reach her emergency contact.<\/p>\n
I asked what number she\u2019d given them.<\/p>\n
Mine. My old landline number. I\u2019d canceled it after Ray died.<\/p>\n
I sat with the receiver against my ear and looked at the new cordless phone in my hand. The old number had been the one printed on the pie plate Amber brought over. I\u2019d put the plate in a cupboard and never thought about it again.<\/p>\n
The hospital social worker said Amber was awake now. She asked if I could come in the next morning. I said I would.<\/p>\n
That night, I called Doug back.<\/p>\n
He started with, \u201cMa, I\u2019m trying to protect the property.\u201d<\/p>\n
I told him the children had been alone and Bentley hadn\u2019t gone to school for nine days.<\/p>\n
He went quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew the water was off.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought she had a plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo did I.\u201d<\/p>\n
I said it too sharply, and I knew it. I wanted him to feel bad. That doesn\u2019t make what I did better.<\/p>\n
He said he\u2019d turn the water back on. I told him not to wait until morning. He called the utility company while I stayed on the phone. I heard him give them the address, then repeat the apartment side.<\/p>\n
By the time we hung up, the water was scheduled to be back on before midnight.<\/p>\n
The next morning, child services let me know the kids had been checked and were safe. They were staying together in a temporary placement while they checked on Amber and figured out what came next. I said I could take them if they needed a place, but the worker told me they had to do the proper checks first.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t argue. I had earned that answer.<\/p>\n
I drove to the hospital with a clean sweater for Amber and a bag of crackers for the kids. I didn\u2019t know if either was useful. I just couldn\u2019t show up empty-handed.<\/p>\n
Amber looked small in the bed. I\u2019d never seen her without her work clothes or one of the kids beside her. There was a hospital bracelet on her wrist. She had a dry, cracked spot on her lower lip, and I noticed it because I\u2019d brought lip balm but left it in the car.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
I reached for her hand, then stopped because I wasn\u2019t sure she wanted me to.<\/p>\n
\u201cI should\u2019ve checked,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
She looked at the blanket. \u201cI thought they were coming to get them.\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked if she knew the kids had been alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought Doug was letting them stay with his cousin,\u201d she said. \u201cHe told me he\u2019d work something out. I didn\u2019t know he\u2019d shut off the water.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t know what to say to that. I hadn\u2019t known either, not until I asked. There was plenty of blame to spread around, but the children had still been in that cold house.<\/p>\n
Amber said she\u2019d gone to the hospital in an ambulance from work. She\u2019d told Bentley she might be gone overnight. She thought her coworker had called Doug. She\u2019d been sedated after surgery, and when she woke, she couldn\u2019t remember the number she\u2019d given the hospital. She had no phone with her.<\/p>\n
None of it made nine days alone okay. She didn\u2019t pretend it did.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not asking you to make it sound fine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
She started crying then, quietly, with one hand over her eyes. I sat there and held the bag of crackers on my lap. I could have said I was sorry again. I didn\u2019t. It would have been for me.<\/p>\n
The children stayed with a licensed foster family for two nights while child services checked my home and ran the background checks. I hated every minute of it. I hated that I\u2019d first walked in carrying the key instead of calling someone sooner. I hated that my son\u2019s choices had put them there. I hated that I had let the rent notice sit on their door and told myself it wasn\u2019t my business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bentley\u2019s hand was clamped around his sister\u2019s sleeve when I opened the door with Ray\u2019s key. He\u2019d put himself between Maddie and me. She had on a pink coat zipped up to her chin, indoors, and she was holding out an empty sippy cup. \u201cPlease don\u2019t call anybody,\u201d Bentley said. I was seventy years old […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6022"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6023,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6022\/revisions\/6023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storydosee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}