YESTERDAY... all MY troubles seemed so far away.



it was actually a few days ago now that i received a rather odd phone call from a friend out here in boston. something about needing me to go with him to florida that night to help pick up a girl and take her to just outside of DC.

huh?


so i called him back and got the scoop, called my work and 3 1/2 hours after the first call, i was headed to the airport- florida bound. random.


turns out that david works for a youth transport company, helping families escort their troubled teen to a boarding school or detox place. this particular transfer happened to be a girl, and he needed someone of the opposite gender to go along- for all the obvious reasons.


while at the airport, i got the debriefing.

+ kristin (names and some details changed to protect the innocent)
+ age 16
+ currently lives with extended relatives in florida
+ she is no longer welcome there due to bad and rebellious behavior
+ the family is rather poor and all of the aunts and uncles and grandma and grandpa have all gotten their money together to pay for us to come and get her.
+ being shipped back to her mother just outside of DC
+ mother does not know she is coming
+ kristin does not know we are coming
+ on RED alert for the following: violence, vulgarity, obstinance.
+ she has escaped juvanile detention and detox before
+ she will probably attempt to escape us (but we have restraints provided, just in case)

the plan: pick her up at 1:30 am, take her from her home in ft. lauderdale, drive 3 hours to orlando, get on a plane to DC, drive an hour and a half to the drop off point, drive back to DC, get on plane to boston, be home by thursday evening.

what did i just get myself into? i'm not trained in this kind of stuff! and how long am i going to be traveling with this possibly dangerous girl? what do i do if she tries to hurt me? yikes. that'll teach me to help out a friend in need ever again!

ft. lauderdale: it's so humid i feel like we've just walked into a sauna. sheesh! and i thought new england was bad! we pick up the rental and eventually meet one of the family members outside of the tiny trailer park. they show us where to go and direct us to just walk in.

wait a minute- so you're not going to go in with us? you're not going to explain to her why these two strangers are coming into her home and taking her away? WHAT?!?!?

so david took the lead, walked through the door and scared the crap out of kristin. rightfully so. fear quickly turned to anger when she saw that there were two of us and heard that our purpose for being there was to take her back to her mother.

kristin:
call the cops, i'm not going with you!
i've escaped people like you before
stan (uncle who was the only family member awake)- go wake up grandma and grandpa and ask them if they know anything about this (stan said nothing)
how do i know you guys are for real?

us:
we have a flight to catch- we need to go. you can either help us out, or we'll have to restrain you.


kristin:
i'm not going anywhere with you! (jumps up on her bed)
i will do anything not to get on that plane- i'll scream rape- i'll scream i have a bomb
you don't even know- i'm not going anywhere. i will jump out of the car while your driving it- i've done it before, i've got marks all over my body from when i did it before.
who called you to tell you to come- i don't even know you!

us:
janice called us. she would like us to take you to your mom. should i pack for you?

kristin:
you're not touching my stuff!
besides- my mom won't let me come home- she doesn't want me there. she won't even let me get one foot in the door!
stan- do you know about this? (stan remains silent)

us:
really, kristin it's time to go. you have two choices right now: 1- you can come with us and sort all of this out with your mom when we get there or 2- we will have to restrain you and carry you out. and we would rather not do that.

kristin:
fine- restrain me- i'll get out of them!

david starts toward her.

kristin:
FINE- but just let me pack my own (crap) and let me have a cigarette- you guys are freakin' me out!


it only took her a few moments to decide to leave all of her stuff and grab 4 items to take with her. once in the car the tension broke just a bit. kristin used a lot of humor to deal with the situation, which i pointed out. i told her it takes only the best kind of people to be able to laugh when life sucks.

the three hour car ride was, in a word, interesting. it was rainy for most of the time i was behind the wheel- the scary kind of rain where you can't see much- and that didn't seem to help kristin calm down one bit. she talked non-stop for at least 2 hours. she was angry and i did my best to validate that- she had every right to be angry about what just happened to her. in those two hours she continued to hide behind her tough girl image- she managed to ask me if i liked looking at women because she knew of this really great strip joint we could go to, told us of her many deals she made hustling women, how she hated authority and that's why she couldn't do school and finally said "yeah i was just born with a lot of satan inside of me."


i almost jumped out of my seat and quickly retorted "kristin don't you dare say that again- that is so not true." she giggled a little and said she guessed so. bingo- the defenses started to crumble- i saw a weak spot and she was aching for someone to notice.


it wasn't long before she let her guard all the way down and began acting like any other 16 year-old kid. she started squealing over the pictures in david's phone, singing along with me to alicia keys and talking about boys and friends that she had where we were headed. it also started to dawn on her that her whole family must have known what was happening to her- you could hear it in her voice- the pain.


with an hour to go, david and i switched places and he took his place behind the wheel. i offered my lap for kristin to sleep in and she immediately snuggled up at the suggestion. i couldn't help but think about my own mom in times that were scary for me and how sometimes just sitting really close to her made all the difference. it saddened me to think that this sweet girl was willing to snuggle up to anyone willing to offer. she was just like all of us and needed kindness in this very freaky time. my heart began to ache for her. we then talked a lot about life. what she wanted to be when she grew up. how she came to be where she is today. it was like a slumber party and we giggled and talked until she finally fell asleep.


making it to the airport was the easy part. reining in kristin once we got there was another story. she was really hyper. and my fear was that she would use this opportunity to run. we were still on high alert, so getting on that plane and watching them close the doors was the biggest relief of the moment. finally my body was able to relax. luckily there weren't many people willing to fly at 6:15 am and we all ended up with our own row. i put my head down and before we had even taken off, i was asleep.


two hours later we were in DC. as we drove the final hour and a half, kristin again became agitated- her language became vulgar again and she began to complain about everything and threatened that she needed to throw up. a few jokes and some changes of topic and she had calmed down again- but you could clearly see how nervous she was as we encroached upon her old home-town... the one she was no longer welcome in.

to cut to the chase- mom wasn't home and not answering her phone. we finally got a hold of mom's boyfriend and arranged to drop her off at his work. saying goodbye to my new friend was a sobering moment. what was going to happen to this girl that no one wanted? where would she end up? would there be any chance that she would change her life around and come out on top? before the final hug goodbye- she handed me her email address and asked me to stay in touch. i felt honored and promised i would.

as we raced back to DC to catch our flight (which we missed by 8 minutes!) david and i talked about the intensity of this experience. shared our favorite highlights and laughed off the truly scary moments. yet, i couldn't shake the heavy irony: this year my family pooled their money together to buy me a plane ticket so that i could be with them for christmas. and this year, this sweet little girl's family pooled their money together to get rid of her.

i am truly blessed and so grateful for opportunities like this one to help me realize all of the good in my life. i know this is going to sound cheesy- but will you please remember kristin (and all of the kids like her) in your prayers tonight?