Page 45 of Tex's Angel

“How many children are here?” I ask. The woman seems nice, but I hate to think of Robbie as one of many nameless kids in this institution.

“We have spaces for ten, but at the moment there’s six children here.”

I glance up at her and reply, “I’ll bet taking care of six kids keeps you hopping.”

“It surely does. We have weekend staff that come to help, so that means the kids get to do more on the weekends. Six is a good number, we can give them all personal attention, so it’s more like a family setting than a group home.”

We introduce ourselves individually and follow her into the building. Robbie holds my hand like he’s scared I’m going to disappear again. It breaks my heart that I’m the only link to his old life. I shoot Tex as quick glance and find he’s gazing at Robbie, clearly fascinated by his resilience.

We all sit down in a big living room with lots of kids’ stuff neatly organized around the room.

Mrs. Ayers asks, “What can we do for you today? Mattie said you had some questions about Robbie’s father.”

I speak up, “I’m Robbie’s former teacher and I reported his case to CPS. We’re still tying up loose ends and his CPS supervisor wanted us to talk with Robbie about a few things.”

Turning to Robbie, Mrs. Ayers asks, “Do you want me to stay with you until your friends are done visiting or can I go clear up the kitchen from breakfast? I’ll stay if you want me to.”

He turns to look at me and I tell him, “Your choice, Robbie. Either way is fine with me.”

“I’m okay, Mrs. A,” he says with a smile.

“Okay, but if you need me for anything just call my name.” Turning to us she murmurs, “All the rooms have cameras, and the security alarm will go off if there are anyproblems. Not that we have any kids with behavioral issues at the moment.”

I tell her politely, “I understand completely. Safety first.”

Rigs stands when she does, and says, “I actually might have a couple of questions for you, ma’am.”

Wearing all black with a big cross around his neck, Rigs looks every inch the community pastor. I guess I’m seeing him in a new light, because I’d only ever seen him wearing his leather vest. Mrs. Ayers smiles, “Of course, Reverend. We can talk while I work. I need to clean up after breakfast in order to get lunch ready on time.”

“Got it,” he replies personably and off they go. I notice that he doesn’t correct her about his title.

Robbie is looking at me, clearly waiting for me to say something. I start out by telling him, “You’re looking a lot better than the last time I saw you. How are you feeling?”

A dark expression crosses his face. “I’m feeling better. My mama fell asleep and didn’t wake up again and my dad ran away. When I got out of the hospital, they sent me to live with people who had a bunch of mean kids. I kept asking for my dad, but he never came for me.” Glancing away he adds, “I still have bad dreams of that house, and I wish they would stop.”

Tex reaches out to pat the boy on the back. “They will go away one day if y’all hang in there and keep talking to your therapist.”

His expression brightens. “You mean Jose? I like talking to him because we play games while we talk.”

“That’s really good, Robbie. He sounds like a really good therapist,” I tell him. “Jose sounds like a really good guy.”

“Yeah, he tells me none of what happened was my fault and I guess he’s right.”

“What makes you think any of it was your fault?” I ask.

His eyes dart around the big room as he answers. “Cause my mom died and my dad got really mad at me. He came to see when I was at the house with the mean kids and told me she was dead.”

So, his dad visited after his mother overdosed and somehow made Robbie feel like was his fault.

“Do you remember what he was mad about?” Tex asks.

Robbie shrugs and starts staring at a fishtank on the other side of the room. Rather than pressuring him, we just let a silence fill the space for a few minutes.

He eventually says in a low tone of voice. “He was angry at me for ending up in hospital and he was angry at all of you. He said she never would have died if you hadn’t taken me away from her.”

I quickly kneel down in front of him. “None of what your dad told you is true. Some of the medicine your mama took was spoiled and that’s why she died.”

Robbie’s expression lifts a little. “That’s what Jose says. I just didn’t know whether to believe him or not.”

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